Chapter 35: StrangerIvan arrived after sunset. I watched from the dining room windows as he got out of his car. He appeared bodiless, his head bobbing above a mass of shadow, skin glistening in the gossamer twilight.
As Ivan approached the front porch and scanned the yard, his eyes lingered in the direction of the maple trees.
“Come in,” I called.
“Daddy, who is it?” Antonia called from the kitchen. She’d abandoned the puzzle for reorganizing the shelf of cookbooks in the kitchen. She loved examining the pictures and asking questions like, “How do you pronounce hors d’oeuvres?”
“It’s Dracula!” Ivan said, using his best Count Dracula imitation. His voice ended with wicked, phony laughter. “I’ve come to drink your blood!”
Antonia squealed and I craned my neck to see Ivan enter the kitch
