Read along with this story by, Stephanie Gibeault

Todd poked his head into the open classroom door. His friends jammed behind him in the hall, pushing against his back.

“Do you see anything?” whispered Anya as she adjusted her glasses.

“Is he sitting or flying?” asked Kobe.

Todd’s eyes searched the empty classroom. His friends pressed even closer and his foot slipped under their weight. They spilled over each other and fell into the room.

“Ahem!”

The kids jumped to their feet. Mr. Wurtzer stood tall over them. His tight pursed lips and pale complexion made them gulp nervously.

Their teacher straightened his yellow and purple striped tie. “Can I help you?” he asked.

Todd jumped up. “Yeah. Where were you hiding just now? Or should I say, where were you hanging?”

Mr. Wurtzer raised a wild and bushy eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you three be outside for recess right now?”

Anya yanked Todd back. “Never mind, Sir. We’re on our way.”

The three of them ran out into the schoolyard.

Todd turned to Anya. “Hey! I was just about to figure out our mystery. What gives?”

Anya placed her hands on her hips. “You don’t mess with a vampire!”

Before Todd could argue, Kobe said, “Yeah, we can’t just ask Mr. Wurtzer if he’s a blood-sucking monster. We’ll have to prove it.”

“Okay,” said Todd. “What do vampires hate most?”

“Garlic. Mirrors,” said Kobe and Anya at the same time.

Todd rolled his eyes. “I meant sunlight. We’ve never seen him outside and he keeps the classroom curtains closed. But you’re both right, they hate garlic and mirrors, too.”

He grabbed Kobe’s arm. “What if we tested them all?”

Kobe nodded. “That would prove it for sure. I’ll bring the garlic. He won’t eat that.”

“And I’ll bring the mirror,” said Anya. “We can see if he has a reflection.”

“And that leaves me in charge of putting him in the sunlight,” said Todd. “I bet he’ll turn into a bat and fly away as fast as he can.”

The next morning, in a corner of the school yard Kobe opened his bulging backpack. “My mom didn’t have any bulbs of fresh garlic, but she did have this giant jar of chopped garlic from the warehouse store. Same difference, right?”

“Well, it better be!” warned Todd.

Anya pulled out a small eyeshadow kit. “I borrowed this from my sister. There’s a mirror inside, see?” The tiny mirror was covered in eyeshadow powder.

“Good luck getting him to look in there,” said Todd. “And if not, I hope I do better with the sunlight.”

The bell rang and the kids ran to their desks. Kobe clutched his giant jar, Anya stuffed her eyeshadow in her pocket, and Todd stared at the closed curtains. They waited for the perfect moment to spring their traps.

When Mr. Wurtzer finished morning announcements, he asked if anybody had anything to add. This was it. Kobe raised his hand.

“I wanted to share this delicious garlic with you,” Kobe said. “It’s so tasty, you need to try it.” He uncapped the jar. The strong odor of garlic filled the room.

“How generous,” said Mr. Wurtzer as he walked over to Kobe’s desk. “I would love to have a taste. But I insist, you first.”

Kobe’s eyes widened. There was no way he could gulp a whole spoonful of garlic. “Ah, maybe at lunch,” he said, closing the jar.

Before Mr. Wurtzer could return to the front of the classroom, Anya ran over to him with her little mirror. She tried to point it right at the teacher’s face, but the mirror was too small and with all the eyeshadow dust, she could barely see a reflection of any kind.

Mr. Wurtzer watched her twist and turn the mirror as he picked, what appeared to be, animal fur off his tie. Before long he furrowed his fuzzy eyebrows and pointed to her seat. “Back to your desk please, Anya. I don’t need any makeup today.”

Todd tensed. It was all up to him. He ran to the windows. “Fire!” he yelled. “Everybody out the windows.” He pulled back the curtains, expecting sunlight to flood the room. But the sky was dark, and clouds blocked the sun.

“Sit down, Todd,” growled Mr. Wurtzer. “That’s enough silliness for one day.” He turned to the board and started the math lesson.

With slumped shoulders the kids looked at each other. Mr. Wurtzer had outsmarted them this time, but they wouldn’t give up so easily.

That evening they met at Todd’s house to come up with a new plan. Anya flipped through library books and Kobe read vampire websites while Todd took notes.

A full moon lit up the backyard. Suddenly they heard howling from outside.

Anya jumped. “Is that a coyote?”

“Nah, probably just the neighbor’s dogs,” said Todd. “Nothing to worry about.”

The kids went back to researching vampires while, unknown to them, a huge hairy beast prowled the backyard of the house.

It was a werewolf.

Saliva dripped from its long fangs as it raised its large head and howled at the moon again. The werewolf’s frightening bloodshot eyes were framed by a set of thick, bushy eyebrows while a familiar yellow and purple striped tie hung from his neck.

“No, kids! Not a vampire!” He growled snarling with an evil grin.

THE END

About the Author

Stephanie Gibeault is a freelance writer from Ontario, Canada. She is also a dog trainer who has trained many different dog breeds, but never any werewolves! In her free time, she loves to teach ever more complicated tricks to her tiny Chihuahua and her giant cat. Follow her on Twitter at @GibeaultWrites.