"Ladies and Gentleman..."

Beneath my mask my face expressed my severe shock at seeing the recently deceased Mr Tall welcoming the audience to a Cirque du Freak performance, but he was currently very much alive. Two brightly dressed women came bustling past me rolling the wolf mans giant cage.

I looked upwards and around trying to pin point my location. There was a set stage here, not a make shift one, it had big flowing thick curtains and light hung dazzling overhead. My stomach sunk suddenly and I felt a lump rising in my throat as it slowly dawned on me where I could possibly be.

Another little person tapped my shoulder and pulled me around handing me a tray of figurines and candy. I tried to protest automatically by speaking but I couldn't. Mr Tiny had obviously not wanted me to speak to anyone speacial and reveal anything important. Living even for th shortest amount of time was clearly going to be a difficult task. The next act moved forward into the stage wings, alexander ribs. Another casualty yet to come from the war of the scars. Then I noticed a familiar figure with brilliant orange hair and a crooked scar across one side of his face holding out his hand which contained the smallest most troublesome creature in the world. The creature that started all my troubles.

There stood Madam Octa in Mr Crepsly's hand. Tears welled to my eyes and a half smile appeared on my face. I instantly wanted to speak to him as he passed to take his place in the wings ready to perfrom. I was still only half certain of the time I had been sent back to. But if my thoughts are correct I can't speak to him, I would mean nothing to him because he hasn't met me yet. To him, darren Shan doesn't exist. At least not in the same way as I did to him bfore he died. I couldn't chance releasing the dark creatures that Evanna spoke of. Using all my will power I resited the urge to hug him and call his name, I simply stood and watched him as he walked onto the stage, away from me for the last time.

The other Little Person who stood by my side nodded at me to pull my hood up and conceal my grey skinned face. Minutes later I was pushed out into the audience at the interval and I wasn't suprised to see two certain people in the audience.

My suspicions were confirnmed as I worked out my young face and that of my newly discovered half brother Steve Leopard. So many people surrounding me were dead in the world that I knew, and yet here they were living and breathing. I felt like I was more in the world of the dead here than in the miserable Lake of souls. My fellow Little Person took the audience on the left so i had to serve people on the right, where steve and I were sitting.
Steve pulled his familiar prank and tried to make me talk, obviously I couldn't so I simply shook my head at him when he asked.

I stood bewildered watching the second act of the show from the spot in the wings. Rhamus Twobellies started, followed by Jekkus Flang, Truska and Hans Hands. As usual the show was ended with a finale from Evra, my genius old friend whom I left behind in what I liked to think of as my world. The world I left when I died.

I knew from my past that steve would clash with Mr Crepsly after the show and that I as a child would witness it from the balcony. I slipped away as quickly as I could manage in my new body and hid in the shadow at the highest point of the seating in the theatre. From here I would be able to see Steve, Mr Crepsly and myself when we all appeared.

While I was waiting, my thoughts drifted back to Evanna and the several parcels she had hidden in my robes without Mr Tiny's knowledge. I rummaged around on the inside and found some weakened stitching. It took me a while, but I ripped throught the material on both sides of my robes and reached into the lining. The objects were all square and rough. As I held them up to the light I realised they were my journals.

I flicked through each one briefly, remembering all of the trials that I had been through. It began with stealing Madam Octa, becoming Mr crepsly's assistant, faking my death. That lead to learning the Vampire ways, tracking my first Vampaneze and going to Vampire mountain for training and to prove myself in the trails of death. Defeating Kurda Smalt and then embarking on the hunt for the vampaneze Lord and dealing with the many events of the War of the Scars.

As I thought about my past I became lost in thought of what my future held. I knew from the many hints of needing no tongue to speak or teeth to eat that whatever future I had was short but for the first time my future was my own to decide.

Evanna had explained to me that if someone meddled with time, and a significant person was killed from history, then history would find a way to replace him and the outcome of their actions would meet the same end. I now had a choice to make that would effect everything. Either use myself to change my cousre tonight, and essentially undo every horror that I had endured but leave the world to the same cruel fate of Des Tiny. Or I could chose to use my journels and my past to destroy the plans of Des Tiny forvever. Leaving the world free to decide its own fate, and let Evanna's children unite the Vampires and Vampaneeze for the greater good.

My trail of though was suddenly disturbed as I became aware of a stinging hot pain in my side, and my robe began to glow. I ruffled my robes to try and find what was causing the pain. With a light thud, Mr Tiny's heart shaped watch fell to the floor ticking furiously and glowing brightly. I felt my face turn into a puzzled look as I realised the watch must have gotten stuck in my robes as I fell through the portal. I must have forgotten it completley when I saw my old friends. I bent over slowly and picked it up with caution.

It burned into my grey skin, I gasped sharply with the pain that felt like someone had sandwiched my hand between two red hot irons. I twisted my wrist quickly to try and drop the watch but it remained firmly where it was. I began to panic and I was suprised to find my eyes were wide closed and they felt like they were trying to pop out of my skull with stress and pain pulsing through my body.

I frantically shook my hand but the watch wouldn't fall off. My next stratagy was to try and wrench it off with my other hand, but unsuprisingly it failed. I fell to my knees as the pain intensified. Fire spread through my hand and moved to consume my hand, my arm, my chest and finally it reached my face. The area immediatley around me glowed a warm, bloody red in the light from the watch and from my now glowing grey body.

I recognised the times when Mr Tiny had glowed and used the watch himself. Besides the pain the only thing I could think was of confusion. questions flashed through my mind. How was it happeneing? What was happening? Why did the watch respond to me like it did to Mr Tiny? I clenched my free fist and my turned white from shaking, and tension.

Just when I thought I could bear it no more a cold breeze rushed over me from the front of the balcony. I forced my eyes open to try and see where it came from. I was mystified to discover an identical grey portal to the one I fell through, it opened instantly and the colourless clouds swirled inside its arch.

The pain began to cease, and I was able to concentrate on the portal instead of the pain, I unclenched my fist and opened my eyes fully but I couldn't bring myself to stand yet. My relief from the pain was cut short when none other than a threatening, vengeful Mr Tiny stepped through the portal with pure evil in his smile which overflowed into his eyes.