Novels by G. SAROWAR

“The hotel manager was here! How was that possible? No, that couldn’t be. Why would he be here? So, was there no connection between the hotel manager and the vampire?”Max and Paul had already spotted the hotel manager. Like Jack, the same questions were racing through their minds.Suddenly, the manager started moving toward them. They decided it was best to hide and slipped into a nearby bush. From their hiding spot, they watched as the manager slowly transformed into a vampire. They understood everything in an instant: this villain was the one committing all those awful deeds at the hotel. But one thing puzzled the boys. As far as they knew, vampires couldn’t stand sunlight. If sunlight touched them, they’d die. Yet this vampire-manager seemed fine in both daylight and darkness; nothing bothered him. This guy could walk around freely in broad daylight. How was that possible?Luna provided the answer. She explained, “Some vampires can tolerate sunlight.”Thanks to the vampire manag

The eastern sky was beginning to brighten. The sun hadn’t risen yet. The water was clear and blue. The sky matched it perfectly. Not a single cloud in sight.Jack was steering the boat, silently looking ahead. The boat sped forward. Right beside him sat Paul, also staring quietly into the distance. The rest were seated in the back. No one was speaking. It was as if they were observing a moment of silence.Luna had been looking down, lost in thought. Max had fiddled with the Annihilin gun, inspecting it from different angles. Tulip had pored over the Vampire’s Island map spread across her lap, examining it closely.“How much farther?” Max suddenly broke the silence.“Not much farther,” Paul replied. He was the only one among them who had ever been close to Vampire’s Island before. He turned to Tulip. “Pass me the binoculars, will you?”Without a word, Tulip handed the binoculars to Paul. Taking them, he raised them to his eyes and began scanning the area. In the northeast, he spotted a

“That meant you guys were planning to go to that island?” Luna had said, looking at the boys. They had been talking in the living room. Luna had been seated on a sofa in front of the boys. She had been around their age, with ash-colored hair and light blue eyes—a pretty girl. They had already told her everything.“Yep,” Jack had nodded.“Did you know you could die from this?”“I told them,” Tulip had replied on the boys’ behalf. “But they didn’t listen. By the way, I didn’t see Auntie around.” Tulip had looked around. “Was she not home?”“Nope, she wasn’t.”“Where did she go?”“New York. She’ll be back in a week.”“Oh! Anyway, did you have the exorcism water with you?”“Yes, I kept some from my dad. You guys sit tight; I’ll go get it.” Saying this, Luna had left. She had come back shortly, holding a glass jar with a kind of liquid inside—sacred exorcism water. “Let’s go,” Luna had said.“Go Where?” Tulip had asked in surprise. “Where were you planning to go?”“Why?” Luna had looked eq

“I’m not sure,” Paul said, shaking his head. “But a man named Mr. Byrne lived north of here. He studied vampires. He died a few months ago, but he had a daughter. She could help us.”“How far is Mr. Byrne’s house from here?”“Not far—maybe ten miles.”“Then let’s go,” Jack said. He looked at Max. “What do you think?”Max shrugged. “It’s your call.”“Paul, are you coming?”“Yes, I’ll go,” Paul said without hesitation.“Alright, let’s go,” Jack said.“Yeah, let’s go,” Max agreed.With Paul’s help, they rented a sedan from a nearby car service and drove toward Mr. Byrne’s house. Along the way, Paul explained that Mr. Byrne was of Italian descent, though he had settled in the area. Jack suddenly remembered that his grandfather’s house was also in Italy. Though Jack had never visited, he silently promised to go with his father one day.Lost in thought, they eventually arrived at Mr. Byrne’s house. After ringing the doorbell three times, a girl opened the door. She looked to be about their

Now, only the morning remained. The mystery of what had happened in that hotel might be solved by daybreak. They had spent the night on edge, nervously anticipating what was to come.Throughout the night, there had been numerous knocks on the door. The doorbell had chimed several times, too. Sometimes it was Mr. Parker, other times the hotel manager, and occasionally a staff member calling for them. But they never answered.Somehow, the hours passed, and dawn broke. The sun peeked over the eastern sky, bringing with it a sigh of relief from them. After freshening up in the bathroom, they were ready. Now, all that was left was to wait.Soon, Mr. Parker would bring breakfast. And that’s when everything would be explained—at least, they hoped it would. The mystery of the hotel might finally have an answer.A few moments later, the doorbell rang with a soft chime. They thought it might be Mr. Parker. Jack jumped out of bed and rushed to open the door.When he did, a young man—about twenty

No one spoke for a while. Max scanned the bushes carefully, but the darkness made it impossible to see anything.“Who do you think that could be?” Max asked.“Not ‘who,” Jack corrected him, “ask ‘what’.”“What do you mean, ‘what’?” Max frowned.“I’ll explain later. But first, let’s get out of here. It’s pitch-black around us.”“Alright, let’s go.”They hurried back to the hotel.“Now, tell me—why did you say that back there?” Max asked as he settled onto the bed.“What?”“Oh, come on! What you said while we were on the beach.”“Oh!” Jack raised an eyebrow. “You mean the thing that dashed away from the bushes? Are we even sure it was human?” he asked.“If it wasn’t a person, then what was it?” Max shot back. “You think it was some kind of animal?”“No,” Jack shook his head. “Not exactly. It wasn’t human, but it wasn’t an animal either. More like... both, somehow.”“Is your head alright?” Max raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? Not human, not animal, but both at the same time? What do