That evening, when I was finished with everything, I couldn't fall asleep. Thoughts of the two rooms I'd discovered wouldn't leave me alone. So I reached for the book about vampires I'd brought with me that morning and opened it. Of course, I knew the typical legends about vampires—the sunlight, the fangs, the insatiable desire for blood.

But I'd never really delved deeply into the supernatural. Why should I? After all, it was nothing more than fantasy. Besides, I had enough problems of my own to worry about such fairy tales. And yet... something about this book captivated me.

I opened the book somewhere in the middle and read what...