The Ascent of the Vampires - Book 1

Things had been different then, they had been happy. However, when Amy was thirteen, they had divorced . Now Amy's father lived far away. Christine wondered what he was doing now. She thought about her other daughter Jen and she hoped she was safe in Nevada, on her school camping trip.
    She was almost at the kitchen. She reached the door. Christine could hear a noise, but she didn't recognise it. She reached out her hand and grasped the door handle. Christine took a deep breath and opened it. Her heart was almost exploding with fear. It was...
    It was a raccoon. Christine put down the baseball bat and smiled. She realised that she had left the kitchen window open. The raccoon had entered and knocked over a glass jar full of cookies. It was a mess but at least it wasn't a vampire!
    "I am glad to see you, little fella ," she said happily, "I thought I had an intruder ."
    The raccoon looked at her as it nibbled a cookie. Suddenly, it screeched and jumped out of the kitchen window.
    "Hey! Come back!" Christine called, "don't leave me with all this mess."
    Christine sighed . She was about to pick up a brush when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was very cold and large. Christine's blood ran cold .
    She was no longer alone in the kitchen...
    __________________________

    >Glossary<

    cell phone – in British English ‘mobile’ or ‘mobile phone’. Handy
    nightmare – bad dream. Albtraum
    it was charged – in this context, ‘it had enough energy’. Es war geladen.
    Christine frowned – ‘to frown’ to make a facial expression when confused or unhappy. die Stirn runzeln
    gunfire – the sound guns make. Schüsse
    a crash – a loud noise. Krachen
    the baseball bat – the object used to hit the ball in baseball. Baseballschläger
    It was taken five years ago – here the passive verb form is used as the person who took the photo is not mentioned. Es wurde vor fünf Jahren gemacht. Hier wird die Passivform des Verbes benutzt, da die Person, die das Foto gemacht hat, nicht erwähnt wird.
    divorced – ‘to divorce’ is to end a marriage. sich scheiden lassen
    grasped – ‘to grasp’ is to take roughly. greifen, packen
    took a deep breath – ‘to take a deep breath’ is to breathe deeply. tief durchatmen
    knocked over – ‘to knock over’ is to cause to fall. umstoßen, umwerfen
    glass jar – a jar is a container. Glasgefäß
    fella – an informal word for ‘man’. Kerl, Typ
    intruder – someone who has come into a place uninvited. Eindringling
    nibbled – ‘to nibble’ is to eat a small piece of something. knabbern, naschen
    screeched – ‘to screech’ is to make a high-pitched noise. quietschen
    sighed – ‘to sigh’, to emit a breath when tired or sad. seufzen
    to pick up a brush – ‘to pick up’ is a phrasal verb, to take. aufheben, mitnehmen
    Christine's blood ran cold – she was extremely scared. Christines Blut gefror in ihren Adern.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

    9.15pm.
    Luigi's restaurant.

    The restaurant was chaos. People were talking, crying and shouting. Nobody knew what to do. Some people were trying to make calls on their mobile phones, but there was no signal.
    More shots were fired in the street and there was more screaming. Amy could hear dogs barking and an explosion.
    Suddenly, five people appeared at the restaurant door. They entered. Two of the men looked like soldiers and carried guns. Amy thought they looked cruel and dangerous.
    The other three looked strange. Two were women and one was a man. They all wore black leather clothes and were incredibly good-looking. They looked about twenty years old. One of the women was blond and the other was a redhead . Amy thought they must be vampires.
    "Humans," said the male, "I am Thandor. I am a vampire. I represent the new rulers of this country and the planet."
    Amy heard someone gasp in shock .
    "The human race is no longer free. We have come to take you to a warehouse. You are now our prisoners," he said.
    The room fell silent. One of the female customers started crying and fell to her knees. However, after a moment, Luigi stepped forward.
    "Go to hell! We don't belong to you," Luigi shouted, " get out of my restaurant !"
    Suddenly, as quick as lightening, Thandor grabbed Luigi and bit him on the throat. Luigi's blood squirted , it was dark red.
    The restaurant erupted into chaos. The customers began to rush towards the door. The two female vampires started attacking customers and the soldiers fired their guns. Thandor was