The Ascent of the Vampires - Book 1

her friends.
    " Go ahead ," said Anna.
    "Yes," said Jack, "you need to say goodbye."
    Amy took a deep breath and swallowed.
    "Mom, this time yesterday, you were giving me money to buy a new dress. I can still smell the butter melting on the toast and the fresh coffee..." Amy almost cried, but she bit her lip and continued.
    "I can smell your perfume and hear your voice. You said you loved me and you know what mom, I love you. You were the best mother anyone could ever wish for. Kind, generous, loving and just wonderful. I want to promise you now that I will find Jen for you and I'll look after her. I want to promise you too that I will fight the monsters that have taken you from me. I will never give up or surrender . I will do whatever it takes to send those blood-sucking monsters back to hell. I'll do it for you mom. Goodbye," Amy said.
    After those words, Amy turned to her friends.
    "I need some time alone now guys. Meet me back here in a few hours, we need to talk," she said.
    Anna and Jack watched their friend walk away.
    __________________________

    >Glossary<

    rescued – ‘to rescue’ is to save someone from danger. retten
    something is wrong – something doesn’t seem right. Etwas ist falsch. Etwas stimmt nicht.
    it was obvious – it was easy to see. Es war offensichtlich.
    frame – the wooden or metal part around a picture. Rahmen
    broke her heart – made her deeply sad. brach ihr Herz
    whimpered – ‘to whimper’ is to make a quiet, sad sound. winseln
    distraught – extremely sad. verzweifelt, bestürzt
    grave – a hole in the ground for a dead body. Grab
    dig – ‘to dig’ to make a hole in the ground. graben
    wiped her eyes – ‘to wipe’ is to rub. reiben
    placed – ‘to place’ means to put. platzieren
    go ahead – expression used to give permission. weitermachen
    melting – ‘to melt’ when a solid turns to a liquid. schmelzen
    surrender – ‘to surrender’ to give one’s self up to the enemy. aufgeben

CHAPTER NINETEEN

    A few hours later.
    The underground fortress, New York.

    The hall was full of vampires. They sat in rows on chairs. There wasn't enough room for them all so hundreds were standing too. At the front of the hall, Dragos stood on a stage. The vampires were chatting excitedly. They were describing what they had seen in the city. Destroyed buildings, burned cars, dead bodies. It was chaos. The world belonged to them now. The blood would flow...
    "Vampires," said Dragos.
    His loud, clear voice, rang like a bell in the busy room.
    The vampires stopped talking and looked at their leader.
    "We have waited. We have watched and hated. We hated the humans who played in the sun, while we hid in the shadows. Now we have risen !" shouted Dragos.
    The vampires cheered and shouted. They stood up and clapped. Dragos let them continue for a moment and then he spoke.
    "The whole planet is ours. We have killed millions of humans and taken many prisoners. We no longer have to live secretly. When the sun goes down, we can walk freely. Many brave vampires fought last night. Our human mercenaries fought well too. We must thank them," he said.
    The vampires cheered again, after a minute Dragos held up his hand for silence.
    "However, not everyone deserves your applause . There is one amongst us who failed ," Dragos said, as the room fell silent.
    The vampires looked around. Who was this person? What had they done? They didn't need to wait very long.
    "Bring him!" said Dragos.
    Two strong vampires brought Thandor, the squadron leader who had been in New Jersey. He had chains around his hands. They dragged him onto the stage and pushed him down onto his knees.
    "This vampire was in charge of New Jersey, it was an easy job. However, he allowed two humans to escape. They badly injured one vampire and killed another," said Dragos angrily.
    The vampires gasped in shock. Vampires were much stronger than humans. How could two teenagers kill a vampire and injure another?
    "Tatiana," said Dragos.
    Tatiana, the red-haired vampire from Luigi's, came onto the stage. She was wearing a blood red, leather dress. Her hair shone and her white skin glowed . She was beautiful, but she had only one arm.
    "This beautiful vampire is my cousin, Tatiana. She is brave, cruel and a true vampire. I am promoting her . She is now the leader of New Jersey. However, that means we no longer need Thandor," said Dragos.
    Next, Dragos gave Tatiana a huge sword . It shone in the candlelight of the hall. Tatiana