Disclaimer: I don't own The Saga of Darren Shan or any of the characters; they all belong to Mr. Darren Shan.
A/N: This is my first fanfiction and I hope you all going to enjoy it! And many thanks to my beta Rowan Rawr for her great help!
Mr. Crepsley woke up in the middle of a frosty and snowy day in December, but the cold wasn´t the reason why he had woken up, at least not directly. He needed a few seconds to adjust to his surroundings: the few unmerciful rays of sunlight which found their way through the barricaded windows into this old and dark factory building in which he and his assistant had settled for the day, made it difficult for him to see right away what the reason for his involuntary awakening was.
His assistant! The Vampire turned around to where he knew Darren had made his bed for the day. At first everything looked normal but then he saw the little body of the boy was shivering under his thin blanket and his teeth were chattering; so that must have been the source of his awakening. His first impulse was to walk over to the boy and smack him over the head for waking him up - after all it wasn´t that cold, or was it?
Well, his travels around the world and his demanding journeys to the Vampire Mountain may have hardened him but this little boy was just getting used to the life of the creatures of the night and the sometimes really harsh conditions under which they had to live.
A thin smile formed on his face. He remembered just too well one night similar to this a long time ago...
He was just starting out as a Vampire´s assistant and was still a young human boy - not yet in his teens - and his master Seba Nile had wandered through a forest the whole night. It was a bitter cold night, one of the coldest he had ever witnessed and around midnight it started to snow. His feet were numb from the long walk and the grim cold, and more and more often he dropped behind his master, hardly able to follow him. By the time he was ready to collapse and to just lie there in the snow, his master slowed down and headed for a little cave, not long before sunrise. Young Larten thanked all the gods that may exist for that and rushed with the last bit of energy that was left in him to the cave to rest for the day.
The cave was only just big enough for the two of them to stand upright but it would do. He searched for the driest corner of the cave. Seba was never keen on using blankets or other conveniences of the humans but Larten at least expected him to light a small fire so that they wouldn´t freeze to death. But as his master laid his red cloak over a rock for it to dry and laid down next to it to rest, all his hope for a little warmth vanished. Larten just sat there in his corner and looked bewildered at his master, how could he just lie their about to sleep and he was soaked wet from the snow and couldn´t feel his feet any longer.
"Why are you not trying to get some sleep instead of staring at me young master Crepsley?"
Larten startled. He hadn´t expected his master to say anything since he had his back turned to him.
"Uh... I was... well I just wondered if..."
"What?" Seba snapped and turned around to face his assistant. He had no time for this, the sun was almost rising and the only thing he wanted to do was to rest, they had still a long walk before them.
Larten, still not common with the behaviour of his master, was unsure if he really should answer him but the look Seba gave him made it absolutely clear to him that it would be better to say something.
"Well... aren´t you going to make a fire..."
"A fire? In a cave this size? No we would suffocate, besides a true Vampire must endure discomfort. But you should take off your soaked clothes to make sure not to freeze to death and now sleep, we have still a long walk to go tomorrow night!"
And with that Seba turned around again and let his assistant on his own.
Larten undressed except for his underpants and crouched in his corner. He didn´t expect to sleep but he was too exhausted and as soon as he lay down he drifted into a dreamless sleep.
On the other side of the cave the elderly Vampire stared at the wall in front of him. He could hear his assistant shiver and how his teeth chattered and tried to ignore it but he couldn´t. It wasn´t the sound that annoyed him but it seemed like in this short time in which they were together that he cared more for this young boy than he had thought. Clearly his assistant was suffering and Seba didn't want this but he was also unused to caring for a child of his age or children at all.
He stood up and walked over to the shivering bundle, still unsure of what to do, and looked at him. It seemed like the boy was fast asleep. Seba looked around, the clothes of the boy were just as wet as his own cloak. The only source of heat was his own body. The mere thought made him feel uneasy: this wasn´t what he expected from having an assistant but he was responsible for him, he couldn´t deny that, and before he could think about it a second time he lay down next to the boy and wrapped his arm around him. Shortly after he could feel the boy relax. Seba had to smile, this wasn´t as bad as he thought and with his assistant being able to now sleep peacefully, he also drifted off to sleep.
Larten woke up in the late afternoon, feeling well rested. Not yet fully awake he wondered why he felt so warm; had he slept through the whole winter? No that couldn´t be it. He turned around and was face to face with a lightly snoring Vampire. He was taken by surprise and stumbled to his feet, away from the Vampire whose arm fell with a soft thud to the ground. Just now he realised that his master must have kept him warm the whole day.
Still standing there in nothing but his underpants he stared at the still sleeping Seba. He felt strange. Never before had somebody cared if he was warm during a cold winter night nor if he was able to rest peacefully. It just wasn´t possible with all the siblings he had and he had never expected this Vampire, which he knew for such a short time, to care for him like this. He was taken aback and he felt how a single tear found its way out of his eye and dropped to the floor. It seemed like he judged his master wrong.
He quickly put on his clothes and went out of the cave. The sun was still shining so he would have enough time to hunt for something for his master.
Seba awoke to the smell of fresh animal meat. He sat up and looked around. In the cave entrance sat his young assistant, in front of him a dead fox. Seba was surprised, Larten was still inexperienced with hunting and most of the time wasn´t able to catch something on his own, but it made him proud of his still so young assistant.
He stood up and went over to where the boy was and sat opposite of him and the dead animal.
"I see breakfast is ready!" Seba smiled at his assistant.
"Yes. I was up earlier and felt really well rested so I thought I could try my luck!"
Seba got the hint that his assistant wanted to thank him for his efforts to keep him warm but didn´t wanted to address it directly. Also unsure of how to answer this he said: "Well it seems like I do not have to accompany you on the hunt too often in the future."
Larten smiled at this. He rarely got compliments from his master.
After this they sat together in silence and ate. They never talked about this night again but both knew that it changed their relationship forever...
This was so long ago. Now Mr. Crepsley had his own assistant for which he was responsible and had to care for. His own childhood belonged to the past and it was difficult for him to fully empathise with children and he often had problems to fully understand Darren´s behaviour. But this wasn´t the time or the place to think about that: he would grow with the experiences.
He stood up and went over to his own young assistant, feeling absolutely sure about one thing: how secure and at ease he had felt after he had awoken all those years ago, and how glad he was to know that his master cared for him. He wanted Darren to feel the same. After all they would still be together for many years from now, and with that he lay down next to Darren, wrapped his arm around him and drifted off to sleep again in the knowledge that his assistant was safe and secure.
The End
Please review! I would really like to know what you think about my first story.