Eighth Grade Bites Read Online Free PDF Page A

“It’s quite all right. Edgar Poe, isn’t it?”
    Eddie brushed some grime from his jeans and checked his camera for damage. “Yeah. Uh . . . well, Eddie, actually. Nobody but, uh . . . my mom calls me Edgar. Why? Do I know you?”
    A large vein on Eddie’s neck pulsed, sending a pang of hunger through the man’s stomach. “Eddie, I was wondering if you could assist me.”
    The boy looked wary, but he didn’t run.
    The man slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew the newspaper clipping. He held it up for the boy to see. “Do you recognize the boy standing next to you in this photo?”
    Eddie glanced at the clipping. “Uh . . . yeah. I guess. Vlad Tod, right?”
    The man licked his lips. The boy smelled like AB negative. Rare. Delectable. The champagne of blood types. “Where could I find him?”
    Eddie shrugged and plucked the bag from the ground. “I . . . I don’t know. The junior high, I guess.” He stepped around the man and continued down the alleyway.
    The man’s stomach clenched once in hunger. He grabbed Eddie’s shirt collar and opened his mouth wide, exposing his glistening fangs. “Don’t you walk away from me! Tell me where he is. Now. ”
    Eddie’s eyes widened with sudden terror. “What are you?”
    The man lifted Eddie from the ground and pulled him closer, until his fangs were just inches from Eddie’s small face. “I’m the boogeyman, Edgar. And I’ve come for your soul. Now tell me where I can find Vladimir Tod.”
    At first, the only sound coming from Eddie was the drizzle of liquid dripping from his jeans to the ground below. Then Eddie screamed.
    â€œEdgar!” From the house at the end of the alley came a high-pitched, screeching voice that could only be Eddie’s mother. “You’d better get home right now, Edgar! If I have to tell your father . . .”
    The man released Eddie and slipped unnoticed from the alley, regretfully walking away from a warm meal and the information he needed about Tomas’s son.

5
    OTIS OTIS
    V LAD ADJUSTED THE SUNGLASSES on his nose and walked up the steps to the school. He was thankful to have Henry with him. For some reason, the bullies kept their distance whenever Henry was around. Bill and Tom moved past them on the steps, but neither said a word. Principal Snelgrove was waiting at the top of the stairs, eyeing Vlad with his little mouse eyes. He twitched his nose, and Vlad chuckled out loud. The principal had hated Vlad since the first day he had been enrolled at Bathory. Bill and Tom had given him a welcoming shove down the hall, and Vlad bumped into Mrs. Kumus, who fell forward and subsequently broke her nose. It had been an accident, of course, but ever since that day, Principal Snelgrove had watched Vlad with his suspicious little rodent stare and twitched his nose distrustfully. Henry smiled as they passed the mouse man. “Good morning, Mr. Snelgrove.”
    Principal Snelgrove nodded, his eyes barely leaving Vlad before they’d returned again. “You’d do well to emulate your friend here, Mr. Tod.” When they passed him, Vlad suppressed another chuckle. Mr. Snelgrove smelled like cheese.
    At Mr. Craig’s classroom door, Henry bid Vlad good-bye and wandered off down the hall. It was strange having different teachers this year, but they still sat together at lunch, goofed their way through study hall, and walked home together after school. It wasn’t as much time together as either would prefer, but it would have to do. Vlad crossed the threshold of Room 6 and held his breath for a second, hoping that when he looked at the teacher’s desk, he wouldn’t see anyone trying to emulate crabby Mrs. Bell by glaring at him from behind her cat-eye-shaped glasses.
    To Vlad’s relief, the desk was unoccupied.
    He walked to the back left corner of the class and, after dropping his backpack