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Oskar would much rather hold hands with Eli than do "anything special" with any other girl; so he makes his peace with what he has just seen. And so, when his mother goes to bed, he takes the opportunity to sneak out of his own apartment and visit Eli. They end up sleeping together on some blankets on the floor of her living room.

The next morning, a bright and sunny one, he wakes up to find a note saying "Oskar, I'm in the bathroom. Please don't go in there. Do you want to hang out again this evening? I really like you. Love, your Eli."

Suddenly he hears someone breaking into her apartment. He hides under a table and watches. The intruder turns out to be Lacke, another tenant of the apartment complex, and he is carrying a knife. Alarmed, Oskar silently crawls out from under the table and follows Lacke. Lacke rips off the blanket that is covering one of the windows, allowing the sun to shine into the living room. Then he heads for the bathroom, picks the lock with his knife, opens the bathroom door and enters. To alert Eli without revealing her identity to Lacke, Oskar yells, "What's that knife for?"

"Don't worry, it's not for you," says Lacke, turning around to face Oskar. "It's for a vampire who's been attacking people around here. The cops'd never believe me if I told them; so I have to take care of this myself." Suddenly Eli jumps onto his back, bites him and starts drinking his blood. He staggers out of the bathroom, yelling and cursing. Confident that Eli will triumph over her would-be killer, Oskar waits.

Suddenly Oskar realizes that she is in terrible trouble. Lacke is heading right for the uncovered window! If he takes one more step, he will expose her to direct sunlight, which will kill her, unless she drops off, allowing him to whirl around and stab her. Oskar's only hope of blocking Lacke's path to the window is to brandish his own knife. But, if he does so, Lacke might decide to attack Oskar. Eli will be unable to help him and he will be no match for Lacke.

If you want Oskar to brandish his knife, turn to page 24.

Otherwise, turn to page 23.