Hi all! So I saw the movie Cirque du Freak on Syfy…then after remembering how awful it was, I re-read some old fanfics (and plan on re-reading the book series soon). And when I got to "Different Paths, Different People"…I got all giddy even though it was my own story that I was reading, haha! But I noticed several things…like grammar, spelling, and, more importantly, plot. I feel like so much of it was rushed or condensed…

So I have decided to re-write it but REALLY write it! Really make it novel size! I hope that's interesting to y'all because I want to expand on characters (both my own and not) as well as improve some of the plotholes (i.e. the arranged marriage…). Or by not being so blunt (like the romance with Crepsley and Sam, haha). Also I plan on altering some things just completely…because I re-read some parts and just stared going, "Uuuuuhhhh…where the HELL was I going with THAT?!" Lol.

With that being said, I hope I keep your attention and maybe even gain some new readers, for I'll be pouring my heart and soul into this!


I don't even know how it happened. Ok, no, that's a lie. I know how it happened but sometimes, like now, I feel like it was all just by random chance. Did I really have a choice? Was I really that foolish and impulsive?

Uh…well, I was sixteen at the time. So…technically, duh! I was sixteen and thought the world, not "my" world, but the world was caving in around me. How sad to realize years later that it wasn't really the sky falling on my head…just the ceiling.

But look where it got me! Away from my family, my friends, my school, my home…and into the arms of a circus of freaks. Well, to make it sound fancier to the common folk, they called it Cirque du Freak…but come on; a freak is a freak no matter the language. They are exotic, period.

Not that I don't like the circus…or the vampire that became my Maker. In fact, quite the opposite! I really like the "freaks" I travel with…and the vampire, eh, he's not bad. So long as I don't interrupt his beauty sleep, he tends to be really chill. Alas, they are no substitute for what I had lost.

I guess I'm at that stage in life where I start realizing that there isn't a defined Beginning and End…it's just a blur, all of it. There isn't Black and White, but, like, fifty shades of grey (and let me tell you, pretending to read that in front of the vampire makes him shift uncomfortably and shut right the heck up!). But seriously, there is no Gain and Loss in such strict, defined terms…it's more of…well…I don't know. I guess that's the part where I'm at.

Naturally speaking about ends and starts, defined or not, has got me thinking of the past few years. Where to start? Well…let's start at the part that I call "Makings of a Bridge".

That is, when I first met the vampire, Mr. Larten Crepsley. I was sixteen years old and I was with my two best friends, Darren Shan and Steve Leopard. And I had stupidly opened my mouth to challenge them to a race…


"Did you finish the history paper?" We three walked through the streets at a casual pace. It was myself, Steve, and Darren. I had known the two since about first grade; at that time, they came in a pair, having befriended each other in kindergarten. Despite having "cooties" for the first few months, being a girl and all, the two took to me like a fish to water. Ok, maybe I took to them first…and subsequently wouldn't stop following them around until they let me play with them. Same difference.

Steve snorted as he stretched his arms in the sky, "Do I ever even do the reading, let alone the papers?"

I smacked his forearm and smirked. "I know, that's why I was asking Darren, dork."

Darren looked over just as Steve smacked me back. I was, in a sense, one of the boys. "Yeah, I finished it last night…I'm not sure if I had all the sources though." In the meanwhile, I had given Steve a playful shove…to which he did right back, creating the domino effect of me slamming into Darren. Not to be outdone, Darren shoved back and lo and behold, a human ping pong ball I became!

After about the first few yards of this, I finally stopped walking and couldn't stop laughing. "Alright guys, quit your shit! I'm gonna end up slamming into a fence or something stupid because someone's aim is bad." There was no basis to this, especially when the guys played soccer, but it certainly got them up to defend their pride!

"Hey, that wouldn't be me!"

"I never miss!"

I still laughed at their overlapping protests, regaining my balance as I did. When I looked back up, I noticed a sort of softness flash across Steve's eyes. That had happened before…as to why, I was clueless, but I knew I saw it. I pushed my blond bangs from my eyes, adjusting my backwards blue hat to keep them away. When I started to move again, the wind blew across the road and filled the area with the scent of grass. Ahh grass…it smelt lovely, and looked better when it was being ran on.

Suddenly an idea came to mind. "Hey guys." My green eyes darted between them both. "Last one to Baker Street plays soccer on Alan's team!" And despite being sixteen, we three sprinted like we were ten once more.

My well used tennis shoes were both a help and a hindrance. While they were certainly comfortable enough to run in, they weren't quite as strong as they once were for sharp turns. And I knew that if I fell or skid again in these brown capri pants, I'd rip them up for sure.

Despite having the last name of Ivy, my family was anything but wealthy. We scraped by on a single income source for our household. Being a tomboy to me saved money – have you seen the price of a stick of eyeliner lately? – although my mother would disagree. Conscious of these things in the back of my head, I took a left into an alley.

As I started down the less sharp path (ok, maybe it was a shortcut), I looked over my shoulder. Good, no one was following! Yet as I turned around, I found myself slamming into something similar to a wall, but warm, and flew back.

There was the sound of a slight rip – so much for my genius plan of taking care of my clothes – and a grunt from me as I hit the loose gravel. Once I stopped moving, I looked up with a grimace and snarled, "Hey, the hell man?! Watch it!" Yup, dude looks like a lady. Talks like one too.

The body before me turned to face me as if I had been just a mere fly. Imagine! A hand was offered though, the man's voice pleasant and polite enough with just a sharpness to the edge. It was certainly something I hadn't heard before…it wasn't a restrained sort of sharpness, just one that demanded something like respect. "I believe it was both of our eyes that failed to see one another."

He was so calm that I felt my peak of rage drop. I reached out without thinking and took his hand, brushing off my butt when he helped me up. "I guess…sorry." I muttered, a bit embarrassed at how I had went off on the guy. After looking up and studying the man who was a good foot taller than me, I paused. "You…aren't from here are you?" I would have definitely remembered seeing orange hair…and…and a scar. Yikes, that looked painful!

The man's eyes held a mischievous glint to them – proof that you could be old but still be young! "Do you not have a race to win, young lady?" His hand had extended out once more but this time it held a piece of bright green paper.

"Oh! Yeah!" With adrenaline kicking back in and the task at hand again, I grabbed the flyer without thinking and took off. Damned if I would be playing on Uncoordinated Alan's team!

As I jumped out of the alley and back to the outside world once more, I started to laugh. I could hear Steve's cursing and Darren's panting from behind me. They weren't too far behind, but enough to consider me a victor! Spotting the street sign, I cackled and jumped up, my hand wrapping around the pole as I spun around it. "I WIN!" I all but shouted, holding on tight as my body wrapped itself around the pole. Without having meant to and with gravity have taken care of it, I was hugging the pole like a drunk. "You're both last! You're both on Alan's team, ha!"

Before I could start doing my victory dance, failing to notice that sort of light, soft flash over Steve's eyes again, Darren spoke up. "What do you have there?" He pointed to my hand, the one that around the pole.

I looked down and uncrumbled the flyer as much as I could. Maybe it was my lucky token since I won the race. "I dunno, some weirdo I ran into in the alley gave it to me." A skip of silence. "Uh. Wait. No that sounded really wrong."

Before jokes could be made, however, we three stared down and fell silent.

Cirque du Freak


A/N: I upped the age for the characters in order to make better sense and reason for Sam's issues throughout the story. Again, I hope you enjoyed the re-write and will continue to enjoy each chapter that I post, new and improved!