Masquerade

Disclaimer: I do not own the Cirque du Freak series, it belongs to Darren Shan, as does the characters.

My name is Darren Shan.

That's about as far as I got on my paper for school. I mean, seriously, who cares about some old dead guy, who's name I can't pronounce? I sure don't. I know that Steve doesn't. Well, at least he didn't.

The bad part is that all of that happened years ago. Steve is now my arch enemy and I'm not in school. I miss all the times we had together. And, as I sit here in this damp tunnel, ready to face Steve for first time in years, I realize that I may not have thought my life was good back then, but now looking back at it, I realize that it was actually a good life.

The person in my family I miss the most is Annie. No matter how annoying she could be at times, I miss her the most. If she hadn't been my sister, I'd probably have turned out to be a complete jerk. But, she's probably grown up and has her own life, forgetting all about me.

I also miss Mr. Crepsley. No matter how harsh he was to me at times, he was like my father. To me, he was family, rather or not he knew it. I can't tell him though, since Steve killed him. I can't sit around, ignoring the fact that he's dead. I have to act. It's been years, but I will face Steve and I will have my revenge, no matter what Vancha wants.

I miss Debbie too. I haven't seen her or Alice since they headed off to Vampire Mountain. I just hope and pray that they're safe. I hope Harkat's safe too and understands why I had to leave him. He'll be fine, that's just who he is.

I stood and brushed the dirt from my pants. It was time. I had to face Steve. It was now or never. As I walked towards the end of the tunnel, I thought about coming with only a knife and not thinking how many Vampaneze there would be. I was an idiot. All well, it was too late anyways. It was a do or die situation.

I was shocked when I entered the cave. Steve Leonard stood in the center alone. I scanned the bearings and found no one else. I didn't hear anything either. I frowned. Was it a trap?

"I just thought we could talk," Steve said, breaking the silence. I jumped, even with him speaking in a low tone. "It's been years since we just talked."

"I don't have anything to say to you," I growled.

"That's not true. You have plenty to say, Darren, it's just who you are. We both are, only I have less to say."

"You first," I said, slowly edging closer. Steve sighed.

"I'm tired of this game, Darren. I'm not going to kill you, so there's no need to be anxious. I just simply want to talk."

"Are you going to betray me?" I asked coldly. Steve turned and face me.

"I'm not going to kill you."

"Then you talk," I said, trying to relax. Steve opened his eyes and he looked older than he truly was.

"I want to make a peace treaty," he said. I frowned. Was he derious?

"A peace treaty?" I asked.

"Yeah, I mean, I don't see the point of this never ending war. I'm tired of the fighting. Why can't everyone be triumphant? I mean, with you being a Prince and all, I figured you could help."

"Why do you want it to end?"

"Do I have to explain myself again? I told you, I'm tired of this war."

"Only one can be triumphant. I'd rather die trying to win than take your bloody peace treaty," I said coldly. Steve sighed and shrugged.

"I tried did I not?" he asked. I frowned and looked closer at "Steve". I snorted and shook my head.

"Nice try, R.V.," I said, seeing through his disguise. The so called Steve's smile slipped from his face and turned into a sneer. I smirked before sending my knife straight into R.V.'s chest.

I'd known it wasn't Steve since he wouldn't make such a ridiculous offer. The War of Scars was far from over.

I pulled my knife out of the dead R.V. and left to continue my journey.