(A/N)
And it's up! Next chapter has arrived and hopefully you all like it. R&R!
There was a panic rising in my chest, my breath was getting short and I could see my vision blurring; I was having an anxiety attack. What did he mean he agreed? Does that mean we're no longer together? Did we just break up? I don't do break ups, I can't handle them, that's why I never get into a relationship in the first place. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, but it wasn't working as well as I would have liked.
To say I was confused would be an understatement and for about five minutes of silence, I felt every emotion under the sun and more. So many thoughts were racing through my mind and I couldn't decipher one from the next. Evra was yet to say anything more and I could tell that he hated himself for doing what he did and I felt terrible for letting him. I was hopeless, useless and completely dumbstruck.
I looked at Evra, my best friend in the whole world, and I wanted to apologise for everything I've ever done that might have upset him; no matter how small. I was such a fool, why did I even think that my relationship with Larten Crepsley could even be more than what it was to begin with; a mentor and his assistant. Why did he have to like me in return?
Larten and I had only been together for a short time, but we have known each other for a few years and a bond had grown. Even if we hadn't been together, I would have felt terrible if he was upset over something.
There was a long pause that dragged on; it was only when we heard a rustling of the tent door opening did either of us look up. It was Mr Tall, the owner of the Cirque Du Freak; he had to lean over so that he didn't hit his head on the roof. He towered over us with an emotionless face.
"Good evening Darrien, Evra, I couldn't help but notice your lack of help tonight with setting up camp. Would you care to explain?" My guess was the Mr Tall already knew, he knew a lot of things, but he didn't like just bringing them up in conversation.
I told him abut what had happened in the van and Evra filled in the gaps about what was said when he left and by the end of it I was in tears again with the snake-boy trying to comfort me. It came to no surprise that Mr Tall hadn't interrupted us with unnecessary questions or comments during our explanation.
"I see," Mr Tall rubbed his chin, "The best course of action would be to talk to Larten and work it out for yourselves, no more further help from friends."
He cast a look at Evra who shrunk a bit and almost tried to hide behind me, Mr Tall could be very intimidating when he wanted to be.
"But I don't even know where he went, Evra said he flitted away." I sniffled.
"Larten has always been one for dramatics, you will find him on the roof of an abandoned cottage two hundred kilometres south-east." Mr Tall pointed in the direction I needed to go and I wasted no time.
Leaving the tent I ran as fast as I could to the cottage, heart thumping in my ribcage, pumping all my blood to my head and making me dizzy. Before I even reached it I could see Mr Crepsley sitting on the roof like Mr Tall had said he would be. I stood on the ground trying to work out the best way to get onto the roof without looking like a complete idiot.
It took me a while to get on the roof and I was glad that Larten didn't just leave in the meantime; instead he sat there with tears streaming down his cheeks, staring off into the distance. It was almost like he didn't know I was there, but that was a stupid thing to think, Crepsley knows everything. The moon was almost full and it reflected off of the water droplets on his face, his personal walls had crumbled and his heart was on display. Very dramatic indeed.
I stood on the slanted roof trying not to fall off, but despite the overwhelming sadness of the whole ordeal, I couldn't imagine Mr Crepsley looking so beautiful. I just wished I knew what to say instead of standing there like a stunned mullet.
"Am I to assume that Evra told you what was said?" Crepsley's voice cracked as he spoke.
"You could assume that," I walked over and sat down next to Larten, "Why did you let me leave? I mean… I don't know." I couldn't think of anything smart to say.
It seemed that in situations like this one, my IQ dropped to zero and I became a bumbling mess, so it was better if I just let him talk.
"To be honest, I did not want you to leave, but I thought it was one of those times where you needed to be alone." I could barely hear the vampire over my own sobs. "I hate myself for letting you walk away from me, I could not move, it was like my mouth had been glued shut and my feet were planted to the floor."
We were both crying, but neither of us could face the other, not even if we wanted to. I could hear noises from the Cirque and the sounds of the wildlife around us. Taking a look around, I noticed that we were in a country environment with tall mountains in the distance and large green fields; it was just what me and Evra had been talking about.
"I didn't want to leave," I croaked out, "I wanted you to pull me back into you're arms and kiss me and tell me that you love me and that everything would be okay. I wanted you to sweep me off my feet and take me to our house in a small village with our two beautiful children."
"But Darrien, we do not have a house in a small village nor do we have children; vampires can not have children, you know that." Larten looked up confused.
"I know, but it doesn't stop me wanting it." I smiled weakly and looked sideways at Mr Crepsley, "I always wanted a perfect life, one with a loving husband, a beautiful family, the house of my dreams and not a care in the world. I wanted every movies stars perfect life. But that's not reality, in my reality I'm technically dead, I live with a freak show and my boyfriend is a two hundred and something year old vampire. Does that sound perfect to you?"
I didn't mean to snap at Crepsley and most of all I didn't mean to be so overly rude, but I was so upset with him for letting me leave and I was upset with myself for leaving. I brought my knees up to my chest, wrapped my arms around them and hung my head to hide my tears. There was a pain in my stomach that racked my whole body; suddenly I felt an arm wrap around me and pull me closer.
I found myself laying on my side with my head resting in Larten's lap and him smiling down at me. Behind him I could make out the stars in the cloudy night sky.
"I could not picture a more perfect life if I tried." And there was the smile that made my insides melt.
We sat on the roof of the old abandoned cottage, staring up at the stars; the night sky looked like a sheet of dark blue velvet laced with fairy lights. It was getting colder and I still hadn't gotten a jacket. I saw goosebumps slowly appearing on my skin, although vampires don't feel the cold like humans do, it was still annoying. A shiver travelled down my spine and caused me to jump a little bit.
"Are you cold?" Larten looked down at me with raised eyebrows.
"I'll be fine, just a bit of a chill." I lied.
"Please Darrien; let me do this the right way." Mr Crepsley stood and took off his cloak and held it up for me.
I smiled and stood up, slipping my arms into the appropriate holes; I loved the feel of his cloak, it was like hot chocolate wrapped in silk. It was still warm from Larten's body heat; I felt his arms wrapped around me again and we sat back down and continued our star gazing. I pointed out a shooting star as it went by and Crepsley pointed out some of the constellations.
Hours passed with little words being said, we had a small conversation about a place called Paradise; it was like a human's heaven, but for vampires, I was always sceptical about those things, but it sounded nice. Another small chat about a place called Vampire Mountain, Vampire Princes and Generals; I asked if we could go there one time and Larten went silent, mumbling something about not having a choice about things.
Dawn was fast approaching and I knew that our perfect moment would soon come to an end; the stars were fading and the orange glow of the morning sun was becoming brighter. I looked up at Larten only to find that his eyes were shut and his breathing was slow and steady; he was asleep. Using all strength I lifted Mr Crepsley over my shoulder and carefully manoeuvred my way down from the roof. I knew the vampire hadn't slept right for a couple of nights, even if he wouldn't tell me why.
About half way back to the Cirque Du Freak I realised that I was gaining unwanted daylight; picking up my speed, I still didn't have the heart to wake Crepsley and tell him to flit back to the tent. I staggered under the extra weight, almost loosing my footing, but I kept going. Entering the Cirque, just as I was about to collapse, the weight was suddenly gone; for a moment I feared that I had dropped Mr Crepsley, but I realised that Evra had taken him off of my shoulders. Just to think that I used to tease him about getting up so early; I used to say that the reason he got up so early was because that was the time I got back and he wanted to avoid me, he always laughed and agreed with me.
My entire body ached from the funny angle I had been sitting on while we were on the roof and carrying Larten over two kilometres meters; I was kneeling on the grass, breathing heavily when there was a tap on my shoulder. When I finally summoned the energy to look up, I saw an extraordinarily tall man with small black teeth staring down at me.
"I see you and Larten have worked things out," He gave a half smile; "You will need to endure him if you wish to survive as a vampire."
"Yeah, I know." I sighed; why did everyone see him as my mentor first?
"You are more important to him than he knows; he was drawn to you through destiny and you will both need each other if you are to live through the coming war." With this, Mr Tall left.
The only thing I could think about, the only thing my brain absorbed was that there is a war coming and I might not survive it. For a long time I didn't move, my subconscious noticed that people were slowly waking up and making their way to breakfast, but my conscious mind could only think about my possible death.
Mr Tall had said that if I stayed with Mr Crepsley I would be fine and judging the fact that he never tells anyone about their future, he had probably told me too much. I gradually got to my feet, testing each muscle as I had to use them; there were a few aches and pains, but nothing that a good day's sleep wouldn't fix. Knowing that Evra would be in and out of the tent all day, I wouldn't get that sleep, not properly anyways. I brushed some dirt and grass off of Larten's cloak I was still wearing and cursed myself for getting it dirty.
Instead of heading to my shared accommodation with the snake-boy, I walked in the direction of Mr Crepsley's tent, passing a couple of the freak show's inhabitants on the way. The tent was at the far end of the camp site and just as I was coming up to it, Evra was coming out.
"Hey Darrien," Evra smiled before letting it fade, "Did you sort everything out?"
"Yeah, we're good, but I'm really tired; looks like I'll be doing a couple of nightshifts." That's what we called the days where I stayed up all night and slept all day.
"Well he's asleep and I covered up the hole in the roof of the tent too." I think that was Evra's little way of saying sorry.
"Thanks, goodnight Evra." I gave him a quick hug and stepped into the tent to go to bed.
When I finally got inside Crepsley's tent I found that the lid to the coffin was open with a half awake vampire waiting for me.
"I hoped you would join me tonight." He smiled at me and I smiled back.
Eventually I climbed into the coffin and slumped next to Larten, not another word was spoken despite my thousands of unanswered questions and not a single breath was used to ask about the so called war. We just lay in each others embrace silently hoping that we survived the upcoming events.
(A/N)
I know it's short, but I hope it has satisfied your need for vampire love. The next couple of chapter will slighty rely on you having read the Darren Shan Saga, so that you can understand what I've changed. Don't forget to review so I know what you like!