and do my homework." She took a step toward the creature, watching its reaction.
Ghouls were semi-vampires. They were what happened to a human who was bled out but didn't get quite enough vampire blood in exchange to become a true vampire. They were undead but rotting. They had very little mind, and only one idea in the world: to drink blood, which they usually did by eating as much of a human body as possible. They liked hearts.
This ghoul was a new one, about two weeks dead. It was male and looked as if it had been a body-builder, although by now it wasn't so much buff as puffed. Its body was swollen with the gas of decomposition. Its tongue and eyes were protruding, its cheeks were chipmunk-like, and bloody fluid was leaking from its nose.
And of course it didn't smell good.
As Jez edged closer, she suddenly realized that the ghoul wasn't alone. She could now see around the foot of the bed, and there was a boy lying on the carpet, apparently unconscious. The boy had light hair and rumpled clothes, but Jez couldn't see his face. The ghoul was stooping over him, reaching for him with sausage-shaped fingers.
"I don't think so," Jez told it softly. She could feel a dangerous smile settling on her face. She reached into her right boot and pulled out the dagger.
"What did you say?" Claire shouted from the other side of the door.
"Nothing, Claire. Just getting out my homework." Jez jumped onto the bed The ghoul was very big-she needed all the height she could get.
The ghoul turned to face her, its lackluster bugeyes on the dagger. It made a little hissing sound around its swollen tongue. Fortunately that was all the noise it could make.
Claire was rattling the door. "Did you lock this? What are you doing in there?"
"Just studying, Claire. Go away." Jez snapped a foot toward the ghoul, catching it under the chin. She needed to stun it and stake it fast Ghouls weren't smart, but like the Energizer Bunny they kept going and going. This one could eat the entire Goddard family tonight and still be hungry at dawn.
The ghoul hit the wall opposite the bed. Jez jumped down, putting herself between it and the boy on the floor.
"What was that noise?" Claire yelled. "I dropped a book."
The ghoul swung. Jez ducked. There were giant blisters on its arms, the brownish color of old blood.
It rushed her, trying to slam her against the chest of drawers. Jez flung herself backward, but she didn't have much room to maneuver. It caught her in the stomach with an elbow, a jarring blow.
Jez wouldn't let herself double over. She twisted and helped the ghoul in the direction it was already going, giving it impetus with her foot. It smacked into the window seat, facedown.
"What is going on in there?"
"Just looking for something." Jez moved before the ghoul could recover, jumping to straddle its legs. She grabbed its hair-not a good idea; it came off in clumps in her hand. Kneeling on it to keep it still, she raised the sum bamboo knife high and brought it down hard.
There was a puncturing sound and a terrible smell. The knife had penetrated just under the shoulder blade, six inches into the heart.
The ghoul convulsed once and stopped moving.
Claire's voice came piercingly from behind the closed door. "Mom! She's doing something in there!"
Then Aunt Nan's voice: "Jez, are you all right?"
Jez stood, pulling her bamboo dagger out, wiping it on the ghoul's shirt. "I'm just having a little trouble finding a ruler...." The ghoul was in a perfect position. She put her arms around its waist, ignoring the feeling of skin slipping loose under her fingers, and heaved it up onto the window seat. There weren't many human girls who could have picked up almost two hundred pounds of dead weight, and even Jez ended up a little breathless. She gave the ghoul a shove, rolling it over until it reached the open window, then she stuffed and maneuvered it out. It fell heavily into a bed of impatiens, squashing the flowers.
Good. She'd haul it away later tonight and dispose of it.
Jez caught her breath, brushed off her hands, and closed the window. She drew the curtains shut, then turned. The fair-haired boy was lying perfectly still. Jez touched his back gently, saw that he was breathing.
The door rattled and Claire's voice rose hysterically. "Mom, do you smell that smell?"
Aunt Nan called, "Jez!"
"Coming!" Jez glanced around the room. She needed something... there. The bed.
Grabbing a handful of material near the head of the bed, she flipped comforter, blankets and sheets over so they trailed off the foot, completely covering the boy. She tossed a couple of pillows on top of the pile for good measure, then grabbed a ruler off the desk. Then she opened the door, leaned against the doorframe casually, and summoned her brightest smile.
"Sorry about that," she said. "What can I do for you?"
Claire and Aunt Nan just stared at her.
Claire looked like a rumpled, angry kitten. The fine dark hair that framed her face was ruffled; she was breathing hard, and her almond-shaped eyes were flashing sparks. Aunt Nan looked more worried and dismayed.
"Are you okay?" she said, leaning in slightly to try and get a look at Jez's room. "We heard a lot of noise."
And you'd have heard more earlier if you hadn't been watching TV. "I'm fine. I'm great. You know how it is when you can't find something." Jez lifted the ruler. Then she stepped back and opened the door farther.
Aunt Nan's eyes widened as she took in the mess. "Jez... this does not happen when you can't find a ruler. This looks like Claire's room."
Claire made a choked sound of indignation. "It does not. My room's never been this bad. And what's that smell?" She slipped by Aunt Nan and advanced on Jez, who sidestepped to keep her from getting to the pile of blankets.
Claire stopped dead anyway, her face wrinkling. She put a hand to cover her nose and mouth. "It's you,"
she said, pointing at Jez. 'You smell like that."
"Sorry." It was true; what with all the contact she'd had with the ghoul, and the dirty knife in her boot, she was pretty ripe. "I think I stepped in something on the way home."
"I didn't smell anything when you came in," Claire said suspiciously.
"And that's another thing," Aunt Nan said. She had been glancing around the room, but there was nothing suspicious to see except the unusual clutter-the curtains hung motionless over the shut window;