DISCLAIMER: Sadly I do not own Cirque du Freak or any of the cirque characters though I would love to have my very own Larten Crepsley. I do however own Roxxi, James, Leila and Danny.

SUMMARY: Roxxi Clarke is special; she has a gift and that gift may be the one thing to keep Crepsley alive. When Mr Crepsley realises that Roxxi is special, he tells her that her power must be used to fulfil her destiny but can Roxxi really make the ultimate sacrifice to save the orange haired man she has been dreaming about since she was a little girl?

A/N: This is not based after any specific book but does contain references from the books.

Thanks for the reviews so far, they mean a lot.

TITLE: A Change in Destiny

Chapter 2 – Dreams in Orange

"No…Cre…Creps…" Bolting upright in bed, an eighteen year old Roxxi Clarke wiped the sweat from her forehead and sighed to herself. Falling back against the pillows, she tried to get her breathing to return back to normal. The dreams had stopped when she had reached the age of ten years old and the Cirque had faded into the background but lately they had been returning as nightmares. Every night for the past three weeks, she had been going to bed and waking up in the early hours, nightmares of blood, death and destruction filling her mind.

"This is stupid…it's worse than stupid…it's absurd. I haven't had these dreams in so long, why are they coming back now?" Speaking softly to the ceiling, she groaned and sat up again. Brushing a few stray dark red-black hairs from her face, she rubbed her eyes. Swinging her legs out of bed, she got to her feet and pulled on a dressing gown before slipping on a pair of flip-flops and heading for the kitchen of the flat which she was sharing with three of her friends. Roxxi was a Law student at university and had chosen to live away from home, saying that the space from her parents would make her independent and do both her and her family the world of good.

She was sharing the flat with three of her now-best friends. When the four of them had met, they had been complete strangers but over the months they had been at university, they had gotten closer and now were almost inseparable.

James Carter was a year older than Roxxi. He had started university the year before, studying Chemistry but after deciding that he didn't like the subject, he had started afresh and decided to study Law. He was taller than Roxxi with black hair and dark, emerald eyes.

Leila Seymour was the same age as Roxxi. She was a bright girl who was studying Biology at the university. She had dark purple hair and crystal blue eyes which a hazel eyed Roxxi was jealous of. She was Roxxi's closest friend and the two told each other everything.

Daniel Johnson was the oldest flatmate and he was twenty years old. He had taken a gap year in between college and studying Forensic Science. He was a couple of inches taller than James and had sandy coloured, spiky hair and dark brown eyes. He was James's best friend and had been like a brother to Roxxi since they had both started university.

Turning on the cold tap, she waited for the water to turn icy cold and poured a glass before taking a sip. Taking her glass out onto the small balcony, she looked out at the stars and sighed again. "Who are you Crepsley?" Her whisper was lost to the sky and after she had drained the glass, she turned and headed back inside, missing the flash of orange which hovered below her veranda.

The next morning she staggered into the kitchen, her hair wildly sticking up in all directions. "Morning." Her sleepy voice drifted out onto the balcony as she stood in the doorway.

"Hey, aren't you a sight for sore eyes this morning." Leila offered her a teasing smile and she chuckled softly. "You okay? You look absolutely knackered." She raised an eyebrow in question and Roxxi smiled softly.

"I just didn't get much sleep last night." Leila slowly nodded and watched as Roxxi sat down in the chair opposite her. "I'm fine, don't worry about me." Leila smiled back this time and nodded.

Half an hour later, they were joined on the balcony by their other two flatmates who also questioned Roxxi as to whether she was okay but in true 'Roxxi style', she told them not to worry and that she would be fine after a good nights sleep.

The next night however, proved to be the same as the night before and at two o'clock in the morning, she was once again sitting up in bed trying to get her breath back. "Why me? Who is he and why does he come into my dreams every night?" Although her whisper wasn't aimed at anyone in particular, she was shocked when she received a reply.

"Who?" Looking up, she came face to face with a pair of warm, green eyes and smiled a shaky smile as light from the moon bounced off the familiar lip ring.

"James? What are you doing here?" Shuffling over, she made room for him to sit down.

Sitting beside her, he sighed. "I was still awake and I heard you shouting. I assume this is why you haven't been sleeping?" She silently nodded and he reached over in the dark and grabbed one of her hands. "Tell me about them."

"I…I…" Taking a deep breath, she sighed and squeezed his fingers. "When I was little, I used to have dreams of a place called the Cirque." James remained silent but raised an eyebrow. "It's a freak show but the freaks want to be there. They're treated well and everyone pitches in to help. There was a long war and then everything settled down and a truce was called but I haven't had the dreams since I was ten years old and now they're back." She fell silent and shook her head.

"I don't get it though, if everything was peaceful and the freaks loved being there then why are you having nightmares?" James's voice was filled with confusion.

"It's not like when I was younger. Things aren't wonderful anymore and there's a strange man who comes into my dreams every night begging for help. I've never seen him before in my life but somehow…it's like he's real and he needs me to help him." Her voice was filled with fear and James released her hand and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Who is he?" She shrugged and he tried again. "Okay, what does he look like?"

"He has orange hair and a long scar which runs down one side of his face. His name is Mr Crepsley…that much I do know. He always dresses in red and he's surrounded by fire and screams and…and blood." Her voice was quiet but James had heard everything that she said. "It's like somehow, since I was little I've been destined to help him but I don't even know who he is."

"Then how can you help a man you don't even know?"

"I don't…I don't know but if I'm not meant to help him then why is he always there every time I close my eyes?" It was James's turn to shrug and she once again sighed. "Maybe I'm going mad…maybe he isn't real and I've just imagined him up."

"You know, they do say that it take someone mad to stick at studying law." They both chuckled and she smiled slightly. "Look, you'd better try and get some more sleep. We have an early start tomorrow and you're no good to anyone if you're half asleep."

Nodding, she said, "Yeah…I guess you're right. Thanks James."

"Don't worry about it, you'd do the same for me right?" She nodded and James pulled away before placing a quick kiss to the top of her head. "G'night."

"Yeah, night James." He left the room and she flopped back against her pillow, thoughts of the orange haired man still running through her head.

The next couple of weeks passed in the same way, one of Roxxi's flatmates would make the trip to her room to wake her up from the nightmares and she would tell them about her dreams which were getting more and more detailed every night. Tonight however, was different and it wasn't one of her flatmates waking her up. Snapping out of her dreams and bolting upright in bed once again, Roxxi took a deep breath and climbed out of bed before walking over to her bedroom window and looking out at the sky. The moon was especially odd tonight; a red fingernail shape which hung in the centre of the sky surrounded by millions of twinkling stars. "Now that is odd." Peering a little closer, she rubber her eyes to make sure she hadn't imagined it.

"You are not insane; the moon does look different tonight." Whirling around, she suppressed a scream at the sight before her. Sitting on the edge of her bed was a cloaked figure with orange hair.

"Wh…wh…who are you?" Pressing herself closer to the wall, her voice dropped to a terrified whisper.

"I think you know who I am and I think you know why I am here." The voice was neither menacing nor comforting…simply emotionless.

"Larten?" The word escaped her mouth before she could stop it and his mouth turned upwards into a somewhat sarcastic smile.

"I prefer Mr Crepsley." She said nothing and waited for him to speak up. There was a tense silence which lasted a good five minutes before he spoke again. "Do you know why I am here?" She shook her head and he sighed. "It is not nice to lie, Miss Clarke."

"I…I'm not lying…I…" Trailing off, she tried to stop herself from trembling.

"You have been having the dreams again, yes? Nodding again, she noted that the figured had tensed slightly. "This time they are more detailed, more clear, are they not?" Again she wordlessly nodded. "I am going to die." It was more a statement than a question and Roxxi bowed her head to look at the floor. "You have been dreaming of me since you were a little girl and I think that maybe you are destined to help me."

"I don't even know you." Finally finding her voice, she spoke up and watched as Crepsley rose and stepped closer to her.

"That is not strictly true, you have known me since you were seven years old Roxxi and now it is time…I need your help." His voice was a little softer than it had been before, his words laced with fear. "It is not my time to go yet, I need you to help me stay alive."

"I…I can't. I'm not special I…"

She was interrupted as Crepsley spoke up again. "But you are Miss Clarke, you are more special than you realise and I am going to show you how. I need you to come with me."

"I can't…I have a life here, I'm at university; I can't just leave everything and everyone behind." She should have been terrified, she should have screamed for help but for some reason completely unknown to her, she felt no need to. She didn't feel threatened and something deep inside of her was stopping her from calling out.

"The Cirque is real and it is in trouble. Can you not see that you are the only one who can stop them?" She shook her head slowly and he sighed. "The Vampaneze are coming, a new war is about to begin."

She thought back to her nightmares and sighed. "You have an assistant now, a boy named Darren and some day he will be your saviour…not me." Crepsley shook his head and she rolled her eyes. "I'm not coming with you, I can't save you." He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. "No, I'm not going with you now would you please just leave?" The look in her eyes said it all and after a moment's hesitation, Crepsley nodded.

"Very well, you do not see it now but when you do realise…I will be back and you will agree to come with me." His voice wasn't threatening; he was just making a point but Roxxi shook her head. "I will see you sooner than you think Miss Clarke." With that, Crepsley turned and Roxxi blinked but when she opened her eyes, he had gone.

"I can't help him…I can't save something that isn't real." Whispering to the sky, she turned and climbed back into bed. Closing her eyes, she couldn't get Crepsley's words out of her head. What if the cirque was real…what if she had just condemned them all to death?

A/N: Well, that's the second chapter up. Pretty please review and tell me what you guys thought of it. The next chapter will be up ASAP.

XxxoxxX