I stepped inside the house with the ghoul behind me. He had to duck his head to get through the door. The inside of the house was also decorated with garlic. It was everywhere, around all the windows, along the floorboards, around furniture. The place was going to smell like garlic for years.

“I want you two to stay inside while my partner and I cover the outside,” I said. “No matter what you hear, do not come outside.”

Mo’Lock checked his watch. “Five minutes, Cal.”

It was time to move. We left the house. The ghoul went left. I went right. There were substantial bushes for us to hide behind and wait for Junior to show up. I checked my gun to make sure I had a full clip. I did. I was hoping I didn’t have to kill the little punk, but I was pretty sure I’d have to.

We didn’t have to wait long. At the crack of midnight the gate in the fence was pushed open and I could see the silhouette of a thin, lanky teen. He looked like Mo’Lock but smaller. Something was definitely off. He shambled instead of walked, and when he stepped into the dim light, I could see he was losing his hair.

We stayed hidden as he got closer. More details popped. He had two fangs right in the middle of his open mouth. Two fangs? Going bald? I didn’t like the looks of that at all. Those were all the signs of Nosferatu.

Before Ellis reached the door, Mo’Lock and I stepped out into the light and flanked him. He reacted immediately and hissed at us. He was facing me, so Mo’Lock grabbed him from behind and held him. The teen tried to get loose but the ghoul was way too strong for him. That didn’t stop the boy from biting Mo’Lock’s arm. I’m sure it hurt, but ghouls are immune to the vampire funk.

I stepped up to the immobilized burgeoning Nosferatu. This was straight from the old world: the fangs and the bald head. I’d had several run-ins with these old-world types. In some ways they were easy to kill. They were susceptible to all the superstitious crap: crosses, garlic, holy water. Not like the modern vampires. You can kill them with a hammer if you have to.

I wanted to keep Ellis alive, though. If there was one of these bastards it usually meant there were others, and I needed to root them out before they multiplied.

I was about to slug the bloodsucker and go for a knockout when the front door flew open and there stood Sam and Sadie Griffin.