“ Mr . Kade ?”
I turned in solemnness , my hands peacefully folded in front of me . “ I was looking at the flowers in the pedestal .”
Mr . Holstadtler ’ s brow furrowed slightly as he gazed at me strangely . “ You wanted a word , sir ?”
“ Indeed .” I walked over to my bag and took out a small hand-written note on yellow paper . “ These are instructions for the burial of your daughter .” Sara ’ s father took the paper from me slowly but continued to gaze at me as if in disbelief . “ Is there a problem , Mr . Holstadtler ?”
“ Why do we need instructions ? Funerals —”
“ It ’ s not about the funeral . They ’ re literal instructions on how the body must be laid to rest . Catholic , Christian , Jewish , Islamic matters not . As long as you follow these directions – to the letter – all will be saved .”
“ And if we don ’ t ?”
“ The Master vampire could find your daughter , resurrect her , and plague your family .”
Mr . Holstadtler ’ s eyes bulged as the bile in his stomach churned . He slapped a hand across his mouth , turned , and then grabbed his stomach with the other hand . I turned my gaze away out of curtesy and wiped the corner of my mouth . For a moment , I just stood there , staring in the dark at nothing , but soon came back to Mr . Holstadtler ’ s direction . He was now taking deep breaths as he patted his moistened forehead with his handkerchief . I kept watching him without saying a word .
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