Cirque du Freak: Captives of Vampire Mountain.
Hiya guys (and gals)! This is my first EVER fanfiction so please be kind when reviewing :) this prologue is for people who are not familiar to the Cirque du Freak storyline. If you are familiar to it, I recommend you skip to the first chapter which I will update soon.
Prologue.
Vampires are real. Not the garlic-fearing kind that can turn into bats at the bat of an eyelid (excuse the pun), but a noble race of (mostly) intellectual beings that are nimble and possess the ability to flit – travel for short periods of time at insanely high speeds, almost invisible to the naked eye. This is useful and rewarding but also tiring. Vampires do exist alongside humans and have done since the dawn of time, always lurking in the shadows. Being out in the sun for more than 4 hours can kill a vampire, so they usually wake at dusk and return to their coffins at daybreak. A well-aimed stake can kill a vampire but so could a gun or a sword. Vampires are much harder to kill than humans but not impossible. A vampire must drink human blood at least once a month to survive but they can feed off most animals such as cattle, etc. There is some animal blood that is deadly poisonous to them and an overdose can kill. You can only become a vampire by being blooded - a painful ritual where their blood mixes slowly with your own. This can last up to fifteen minutes but is usually considerably shorter because the both the host and the "victim" become exhausted almost instantly. Staying connected for a shorter time produces a lesser vampire...a half-vampire.
My name is Darren Shan. I used to be normal; I went to a normal school where I made normal friends, including my best friend turned jealous psycho, Steve Leopard. Like any normal kid, I enjoyed fooling around and I quickly became class clown. One night, me and Steve secretly snuck out late and went to visit a travelling circus, which had a reputation for killing off the elderly old man in the front row just out of fear. How was I to know that night in Cirque du Freak would change my life forever?
If I had the chance to change the past, I would seize it without hesitation. Not even thinking, I would travel back to that fateful night, and beg my past self to listen to my gut instinct – to back off, leave Steve for the creatures of the night and forget it ever happened. But no, I HAD to act the hero and, out of curiosity, I overlooked Steve trying to blood himself. Steve had always been fascinated by mythical creatures and was convinced vampires had to exist. His real reason for dragging me along to Cirque du Freak was to corner a vampire named Larten Crepsley and persuade him to blood my ex-best friend. To save Steve and myself, I reluctantly became a half-vampire. One thing led to another and after faking my death, I became Mr. Crespley's assistant and joined his act in Cirque du Freak.
After adjusting to my new found strengths and friendships, Mr. Crepsley decided we should leave my new life and make the hazardous trip to Vampire Mountain. I accepted half-heartedly and said goodbye to Evra Von, my true friend – the snake boy. We brought along Harkat Mulds, the first known Little Person to talk freely. We met up with another vampire, Gavner Purl and together, after a gruelling journey, our posse reached the base of Vampire Mountain.