'Get off of her,' I bellow, swatting at the bat.

And with another hiss, the creature flies off into the night.

'I don't feel so good,' Rachel says. She's gone as white as a sheet. She looks like she's about to faint.

Eddy and Emily quickly grab her and place her softly on the ground.

'What's happening to me?'

'Is she going to turn into a vampire?' shrieks Peni.

'What?' Rachel moans weakly, starting to close her eyes. 'Am I? I'm not impressed.'

'Sorry, but you will if we don't get you potion,' replied Emily.

'Slithering silly snakes,' says Hank. 'Where are we going to find potion?'

'My parents are potion makers,' replies Emily. 'I think they have a recipe for stopping vampire transformations. We need to get to my place.'

'What are we waiting for?' I burst out.

'I feel so tired,' mutters Rachel. 'So, so tired.'

'Rachel, you need to stay awake, okay,' says Emily. She then turns to everyone else. 'We need to move fast.'

'Will we get to your place and make the potion in time?' asks Eddy.

'I really don't know.'

'That could help us get there faster,' says Hank. He points to a tram on the street right outside the zoo.

It's a tunneling tram.

'Brilliant,' I reply. 'But wait. Does anyone know how to drive it?'

'I do,' says Eddy, nodding. 'My dad used to operate one.'

We all help carry Rachel over and inside, laying her down on a row of red velvet seats.

Eddy then goes to the front and sits behind the wheel. And with a push of a lever, the tram roars to life. 'Everyone, hold on tight.'

While helping secure Rachel down with one hand, I grab a handrail with the other.

Then with another push of a lever, the tram dives straight into the ground.

My stomach goes all queasy.

I think I ate too much candy.

Don't throw up. Don't throw up. Don't throw up.

Eddy pushes a button and lights blare all around.

I can see dirt and rocks outside whipping by us.

'Can this thing go any faster?' shouts Emily. 'Rachel's just passed out. We need the potion now.'

Rachel's more than passed out. There are black veiny things around the bite marks.

'Will do,' Eddy shouts back. He turns a big red dial and the tram rockets forward. 'UH, OH!'

Don't say that.

'We've got something on our tail,' Eddy continues with earnest. 'It's big and closing in fast.'

'How'd you know?' I quiver.

'I can see it on the tram's monitor.'

I turn my head and just see the earth reforming back in place behind us.

I gotta say, these tunneling trams are quite the marvel.

'I don't see anything,' I say.

'IT'S RIGHT ON US.'

WHAM!!

'AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!'

The tram lurches violently to the side, knocking everyone to the floor. We start swerving uncontrollably until Eddy gets back behind the wheel and rights us.

Scrambling back to my feet, I look behind again.

There's a wall of teeth. And it's about to bite down.

'Watch out,' I shout.

Eddy turns the steering wheel sharply, sending me back to the floor. I then hear teeth scraping metal.

It missed us.

'What the heck is that thing?' Hank shrieks.

'It's a craburrower,' yells Peni over the booming groan of the beast. 'Now I remember. The city stopped running the trams because of it. It's made a nest under the city.'

'It's coming again,' I yell.

Seriously, I hate being chased.

Eddy pulls back on the wheel and the tram shoots up.

Another miss.

I'm sweating buckets here.

The craburrower makes another attempt but Eddy pushes the wheel forward and we dive down once again.

Leveling out, Eddy shouts, 'I'm going to try something! Watch out guys!'

In an instant, the tram does a one-eighty and we start backtracking.

'What are you doing? bellows Emily.

Yeah, we want to go away from the craburrower not towards it.

'We need to put more time between us and the beast,' says Eddy, 'and this is the only manoeuvre that will work.'

And Eddy times it to perfection. One second I see a massive gross-looking tongue, ready to slurp us down, and the next, we're flying by a tail spinning like a propeller.

'I think we're close to your place now, Emily,' Eddy says after a bit. 'I'm taking it up. Prepare to surface.'

No more than several seconds later, the tram blasts out of the ground and shoots down a street with a screech.

Eddy hits the brakes hard and we start skidding, sparks beginning to fly.

'AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!'

From side to side we go, hitting carriages, jinx hydrants, magic mailboxes and all sorts of other things.

But thankfully, we come to a stop right before hitting a couple of witches turned to stone.

'Everyone out,' shouts Eddy, 'the craburrower's still on us.'

With the others, I grab Rachel and we bolt out of the tram.

We barely get to the side of the street when the craburrower appears, leaping out of the ground with a crash. It then comes down right on the tram, swallowing it whole, before disappearing back into the earth.

'Slithering silly snakes,' yells Hank.

'Now let's get inside,' I say, 'before some foul creature shows up to see what all the noise was.'

The Emporium for Rare Ingredients is only a few doors down. And when we enter, a mixture of smells waft over me. Like my parents' shop, there are shelves everywhere. But instead of bottles of monster ghosts, they're covered with all sorts of ingredients. From dried leaves from the First Forest to gold pixie wings.

Sheesh. These are rare ingredients.

'Let's put Rachel down over there,' says Emily, gesturing next to a cauldron in the corner.

We go over and lay her down on the floor. The black veiny things have spread all over Rachel's neck.

Emily disappears for a moment before returning with a massive leatherbound book. She opens it and flicks through the pages.

'Here we go,' she says. She runs her fingers down the ingredients. 'Good, we have everything here. And it doesn't take long to brew.'

'What do we need?' I say.

And as Emily reads off the ingredients, we get them for her.

It doesn't take long before there's a bottle of dragon's tears, a vial of water from the tallest peak in the Mighty Mountains, ground croczeeroo hair, juice from a wonderfruit, dust from a giant's house and the root of a nufloc plant in a pile by Emily.

Emily then turns the cauldron on and flames ignite under it with a whoosh. And as soon as it's hot enough, she adds all the ingredients.

I peer inside. It looks like the swamp by school.

Is it supposed to look like that?

'Now we just have to stir for three minutes and it should be done,' says Emily.

'We can handle that if you want to check on your parents,' I say.

'They're not here. They went for dinner at someone's house.'

The three minutes seem to go by so slowly. But they do.

I take another look and the mixture of ingredients has completely changed. There are bright swirls of sparkling red, gold and green. It looks promising.

Emily takes a spoonful of the potion, blows on it to cool it down and pours it over Rachel's bite marks.

We then wait. And wait. And wait.

'Why isn't it working?' asks Peni.

'Maybe she's too far gone,' says Hank.

'Don't say that.'

'Should we put more on?' I ask.

But then.

'Look,' Emily blurts out with a grin.

The black veiny things around Rachel's neck are beginning to vanish and color's returning to her face. Her eyes then pop open and she looks at us.

'Umm. What are you guys staring at?' she asks. 'Seriously, you're weirding me out. I'm not impressed.'

Thank goodness.

And now it's off to the lord's castle.