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MR CREPSLEY (OR VUR HORSTON, if that was his real name) smiled "So," he said, "I have been discovered I should not be surprised It had to happen eventually Tell me, boy, who sent you?"

"Nobody," Steve said

Mr Crepsley frowned "Co for? Who put you ontofor anybody," Steve insisted "I’ve got lots of books and azines at home about vampires and monsters There was a picture of you in one of them"

"A picture?" Mr Crepsley asked suspiciously

"A painting," Steve replied "It was done in 1903, in Paris You ith a rich woman The story said the two of you almost married, but she found out you were a vaood a reason as any Her friends thought she had invented a fantastic story to make herself look better"

"But it wasn’t a story, was it?" Steve asked

"No," Mr Crepsley agreed "It was not" He sighed and fixed Steve with a fierce gaze "Though it ht have been better for you if it had been!" he boomed

If I’d been in Steve’s place, I would have fled as soon as he said that But Steve didn’t even blink

"You won’t hurt me," he said

"Why not?" Mr Crepsley asked

"Because of my friend," Steve said "I told hi happens to me, he’ll tell the police"

"They will not believe him," Mr Crepsley snorted

"Probably not," Steve agreed "But if I turn up dead or ate You wouldn’t like that Lots of police asking questions, co here in the daytiust "Children!" he snarled "I hate children What is it you want? Money? Jewels? The rights to publish my story?"

"I want to join you," Steve said

I almost fell off the balcony when I heard that Join him?

"What do you mean?" Mr Crepsley asked, as stunned as I was

"I want to become a vampire," Steve said "I want you to make me a vampire and teach me your ways"

"You are crazy!" Mr Crepsley roared

"No," Steve said, "I’m not"

"I cannot turn a child into a vampire," Mr Crepsley said "I would be murdered by the Vampire Generals if I did"

"What are Vampire Generals?" Steve asked

"Never you mind," Mr Crepsley said "All you need to know is, it cannot be done We do not blood children It creates too ht away," Steve said "That’s okay I don’tI can be an apprentice I know vampires often have assistants who are half-human, half-vampire Let me be one I’ll work hard and prove h"

Mr Crepsley stared at Steve and thought it over He snapped his fingers while he was thinking and a chair flew up onto the stage fros

"Why do you want to be a vampire?" he asked "It is not ht Humans despise us We have to sleep in dirty old places like this We can never marry or have children or settle down It is a horrible life"

"I don’t care," Steve said stubbornly

"Is it because you want to live forever?" Mr Crepsley asked "If so, I er than humans, but we die all the same, sooner or later"

"I don’t care," Steve said again "I want to come with you I want to learn I want to become a vampire"

"What about your friends?" Mr Crepsley asked "You would not be able to see theain You would have to leave school and home and never return What about your parents? Would you not miss them?"

Steve shook his head miserably and looked down at the floor "My dad doesn’t live with us," he said softly "I hardly ever see him And my mom doesn’t love me She doesn’t care what I do She probably won’t even notice I’one"