Chapter One and Prologue: Explain
The Wakening is upon 15-year-old Darren Shan. It will put his love life, social standing, and mental health at great risk. He will be followed wherever he goes. A second shadow will be wherever he turns. Fate has played her trump card. This is all caused by the one thing Darren can never run from- himself.
Dpov
I'm sitting on my cot, quietly contemplating my life, when Mr. Crepsley walked through the door. worst enemy. Steve, my best friend before all of this happened, is now my mortal enemy who is supposed to kill me, or I him.
I can tell by the tenseness of his muscles that this is a personal matter. Mr. Crepsley is terrib1e at dealing with his emotions. He moves stiffly yet fluidly to stand by my cot. He- dare I say it- squirms a bit, and then asks if he may sit down. I let him, of course, and he wriggles into the cot. The image is hilarious. The only thing better would be seeing him try to sit in a beanbag chair with grace. He probably could, though, because he's a full-blown vampire.
His uncomfortable throat-clearing brought me out of my thoughts. ' Well, I think to myself ' -As long as a horde of lusty teenage girls aren't going to try and jump me, I'll be fine.'Little did I know, I wasn't at all far from the target.
"Well, Master Shan, you are coming into your own. You have been getting handsomer by the day. Herein lies the problem. All vampires have a mate, these mates are also vampires. Not humans, Little People, or anything else. Vampires usually spend a good bit of their lives looking for their mate. Just about every person on or in this mountain is going to want you for their mate. Now, Wednesday of this week which is obviously tomorrow, your Allure will start to work. It will never fade completely from someone as powerful as you, but it will settle down a bit once you find your mate. However, your… I am sorry but this fits…beauty will attract them. Yes, Master Shan, you are pretty. Get used to it, you won't be able to pass for the tough type. Your eyelashes are far too long."
Third Person
At that last bit, Darren lunged at Mr. Crepsley. Crepsley dodged the tackle, sniggering quietly under his breath. Darren stayed cross-legged on the floor, looking a bit like a wet kitten. It simply made him look cuter.
" Anyway, I will stay by your side to fend them off." Darren had a thought when he said that that. "But Mr. Crepsley, won't you be affected too?" He flushed a pale pink, and said "Yes, but I will do my best to not act upon my urges. No matter what they may think, you are still young." Meaning he would ignore his pains in the nether regions to keep me safe. He really would do just about anything to keep me happy, wouldn't he? I felt my heart expand and glow at the thought.
He shifted uncomfortably under my scrutinizing gaze. Mr. Crepsley wasn't too bad-looking either. He had a strong jaw line, angular nose, full pale lips, and a lithe (yet slightly bulky due to muscle) frame. Various small scars littered his body from what he could see, but one took the crown. A large, jagged, painful-looking scar stretched from his hairline to his collarbone.
"Anyway, in vampiric terms, you will be considered an adult tomorrow. You will have full responsibility of your actions. However, it is legal for adults to stay on as a charge if they so wish." Mr. Crepsley had also worked up the courage to ask me if I wanted to stay with him after this, however roundabout his way of saying so might be.
"However, another plus is that no one will be able to lie around you for the first month. If they try to, their mouth will open but no sound will come out until they stop trying to ask. Darren laughed, Mr. Crepsley smirked. "Yes, you will be a most amusing version of a lie detector. Unfortunately, this will also mean that everyone will want you around them to make sure that people are being truthful. We vampires might be a close-knit group, but we don't trust all of our own. You have the power to refuse , although I would accept if I was in your place. You can cash that debt in later in life, which is a very good thing if they are particularly powerful, talented, or wealthy."
Darren nodded, trying to store everything in his mind for later use. He closed his eyes momentarily and organized everything into file cabinets in his head. Mr. Crepsley was exasperated slightly, revealed by his words- "Master Shan! By the Vampire Gods, what are you doing?" "Meditating. And please call me Darren." He murmured, still organizing. Darren heard him tense, and imagined him freezing up slightly while his eyes widened. Then he relaxed and nodded as Darren opened his eyes. "Master Sh- Darren. Vampires have mostly elements of Japanese culture in their etiquette rulebook. Calling someone without a title means you are their relative, lover, or very close friend."
Darren blushed and felt his pupils dilate. Okay, no way was he a relative. The second was too good to hope for, so in an effort to not humiliate himself- "I consider you a good friend, so we have no problem." The fine flush stayed on his cheeks. " And why do I keep blushing? I've been doing that all the time for the past week. My face will turn pink permanently if this does not cease and desist!"
Mr. Crepsley raised an eyebrow at that, causing me to blush yet again. He'd picked that saying up from him, but he'd only said it once. Darren guessed that showed how obsessed he was. "The blushing is an indicator, Darren. It means you are probably a submissive. It will remain there until you pick a mate, to let everyone know that you are a submissive, or a shyer dominant."
Darren flushed even brighter than before now, but thankfully, he already knew the meaning of 'submissive'.
He'd read about it in a novel assigned for English class. I thanked the Vampire Gods for small blessings. Crepsley looked me straight in the eyes. "I will not lie to you, it will be painful. Very much so. But at the same time, it feels glorious and very pleasing. Eventually, the pleasure overrides the pain. In the short span of a half-hour, your body will match to that of an 18-year-old.'
Darren nodded, mouth set in a grim line. He was no stranger to pain, but this would be utter hell, of that he was sure. "This process of changing and having Allure is called the Wakening. " 'Wow, Darren thought.' It sounds like a crappy fantasy novel…' Darren shared these thoughts with Crepsley, who laughed. It was deep and rich and filling, just like his singing voice. "Uh, how do you tell if someone is your mate?" That made the warm atmosphere recede slightly to make room for clinicality.
"You feel- In the case of the submissive- safe with them. Like nothing can harm you while they are near. There is an electric attraction bringing the two of you together unconsciously. You don't feel whole without them. Their arms, or any part of them really, feel like home." That was exactly how Darren felt about the redheaded vampire in front of him, although he would never admit it. Then Darren asked him the one question I had been dying to know since the events involving Mme. Octa, Steve, Mr. Crepsley, an antidote to Octa's poison, myself, and half-vampirism.
"Will I be able to turn into a bat?" Darren asked bluntly. "That's bullshit." Darren nearly choked on his own spit. Crepsley, using contractions and cursing? No way. "Well, I suppose perhaps it is not. We are each able to turn into a specific animal that reflects our inner self. It differs with everyone. I believe it was actually an attempt to strengthen our connection with the wolves that went slightly haywire. I doubt you will turn into a bat, in any case." "So, what are you?" Darren asked curiously. "I am a red fox with black paws, a white-tipped tail, and green eyes."
Darren giggled, imagining Mr. Crepsley with fox ears and a tail. He sneered at Darren playfully, and continued "Most people just have their normal eye color as their animal's eye color. More powerful vampires have a different colored tinge to their eyes, usually copper. Mine have a bronze ring around the pupils, which is two steps above a tinge. The one just under rings is flecks. You are also going to be required to wear a shirt with a mildly low neckline. That is to show if you have been marked. Leather pants are also a must. The color and cut of both are up to you, and you may wear anything else that you want along with it, barring a shirt under the shirt."
Darren managed to not squeak, but he couldn't prevent the hot blush that rose up at the idea of such revealing clothing. Crepsley looked at him sympathetically. "I will get a shirt that is longer than most, so it will cover some things that you would probably prefer to keep out of sight until later." Darren didn't trust himself to speak and simply nodded. "A bracelet forms from the magic used in the change. It can never be removed, though it can be made invisible. It shows your position to the rest of the world and yourself."
He showed his to me. Dominant, of course. Anyone who had ever met Crepsley could have told you as much without even looking at the cuff. "This was expected. It wasn't nearly as much of a shock as the singing." The red vampire looked up at me, perplexed. "I hear you at night. Singing. You're very good, I admire you for tha- Oh!" I looked at my watch in shock. The time read 12 o'clock. The Wakening had begun.