Disclaimer: Did I mention that I do not own Cirque Du Freak? No? Well I do not own Cirque Du Freak.

--

I stood at the end of the sidewalk. About thirty feet away, was our target. I couldn't believe what I was about to do. I felt like I was setting this poor man up for an ambush. Because, that's exactly what I'm doing.

From where I am I can see him clearly now. I know for a fact that I can see him, better than he can see me. Heightened senses, are a bonus with becoming a half-vampire.

He's not very young, maybe twenty-five or thirty years old. He must be in the scouts, because he's wearing shorts. That plus I can see his uniform shirt. He looks too happy. I find it very annoying, that he's so happy, whistling some tune that I've never heard before.

He stops whistling as he approaches me. "Can I help you? Are you lost?" He asks me.

I shake my head, but otherwise say nothing. I can hear Mr. Crepsley nearby. He's not being very quiet. The scoutmaster doesn't seem to hear him though, or he probably just thinks it's some animal. I don't think he'd be far off if he were thinking that.

"Don't worry, I'm a scoutmaster," he says.

Gee thanks I had no idea, what with the getup you're wearing I though you were Captain Kirk I thought to myself.

"Come on let's-" He doesn't get to finish whatever he was going to say. From somewhere behind him Mr. Crepsley leaps at him. I turn my head away, squeezing my eyes shut. When I open them, the man is lying on the ground, Mr. Crepsley crouched over him.

"I-is he...dead?" I ask nervously, taking a step closer to the body.

"Do not make me repeat myself, Lily," Mr. Crepsley sighed. "It is a special gas I breathed into him to make him sleep. You cannot do it though. You are not a full vampire."

He used his sharp nails to make a cut in one of the mans legs, before leaning over to drink the flowing blood. I watched him for a few minutes, slightly disgusted. Mr. Crepsley then leaned back.

"Here," he said. "Drink."

"No, I don't want to." I said, backing away from the blood.

"Do not be stupid, it is time you drank!" He said angrily."You have drank animal blood."

"But that's different!" I argued. "This is a human. I just can't."

"You must understand that we are not harming or killing humans." he said. "We are only taking a small amount. Even as a half-vampire, you cannot live on animal blood alone. If you do not start drinking human blood, you will grow weak and eventually die."

"I know!" I sighed exasperated. "You've explained it to me. But I just can't...I can't drink human blood. I wont!"

He sighed and rubbed some of his spit on the wound. "Very well. I will let you abstain this time."

There is no 'This time'. I'll NEVER drink human blood! I thought angrily as I stared at the blood that had pooled on the sidewalk.

"It is an issue that you must face some day. You must accept the fact that you are no longer human." He sighed.

I might be half vampire, but the other half of me is still human. We started walking down the road.

"We are close to townp. Better find new clothes." Mr. Crepsley said. "This circus outfit is too noticeable. What sort of clothes is the style of these times?"

"No what you're wearing's fine." I laughed. He looked down at his clothes for a minute, then back at me. "No, I was jsut kidding!" I said quickly. I turned and ran ahead of him before he could reply.

"Wait, Lily!" He called from behind me.

--

It's been about two months since I "died". We've traveled further than I ever imagined that I would. I'm having trouble keeping up with my changing body. My nails are the worst. They've become sharper than any blade. I have to be careful when I put on or take off my clothes, or when I stick my hands in my pockets. Otherwise they would tear through the fabric as easy as wet toilet paper.

One night Mr. Crepsley found me staring at my reflection in the mirror. I was looking at my teeth. He asked me what I was doing and then preceeded to laugh and make fun of me when I told him I was trying to see if I had fangs.

Turns out, most myths about vampries are false. Garlic, crosses and holy water don't bother us. We're not immortal. A stake through the heart would kill us, but last time I checked, it would kill any human too. Our reflection shows up in mirrors, and we cast shadows. But we can't be photographed or videotaped. Something about our atoms moving too much. Sunlight wouldn't kill a vampire immediatly, but four or five hours would.

There are so many things to remember. Like what animals I can and can't drink from. A careless half-vampire wouldn't last long.

To be honest, I still hate Mr. Crepsley. I can laugh or joke with him, but I still plan to keep my promise about killing him. I could do it if I wanted to. All I would have to do is leave the curtains open while he's sleeping. But I need him. I won't last long without his help.

I decided to go into town one afternoon. I was bored, and Mr. Crepsley wasn't going to be up for a while. I left a note telling him that I would be back later, incase he woke up before I returned.

The town was nice. Just your average everyday town. One of the benefits of being a half-vampire is that I can go out in the sunlight for as long as I want. I was really enjoying the fresh air. I went into a few electronics stores just to see what was new. Just some games I had never heard of, or had seen but never bothered to play.

As I was walking down a street, I passed a park where some kids were playing soccer. The ball was kicked over the fence and rolled across the street until I stopped it on the other side.

"Hey kid!" Someone yelled. I groaned. I hated being called 'kid'. "Kick us the ball!"

I rolled the ball on top of my foot, kicked it straight up into the air, and then sidekicked it on it's decent. It sailed across the street and over the fence.

As I turned to walk away the same person called to me again. "Hey! wait up!" he ran across the street and stopped in front of me.

"Want to play with us?" he asked. "We're short one player. You can be on my team!" he said with a smile, that I suppose was meant to be dazzling.

"Sure!" I grinned. I hadn't played since before I'd 'died'.

It was pretty easy to play against these kids. I had to tone it down in order to not look suspicious, and pretend to be breathing hard.

"Wow, you're really good!" The kid who had invited me said and he ran up beside me. "But you dress weird!" He laughed.

I looked at the clothes I was wearing. They were some of the clothes I had packed from my old life. Jeans and a t-shirt. Simple enough, but they were worn out from the two months on the road.

"Well we lost our luggage." I lied. "These are all I have."

"It's cool." he said. "I'm Matt by the way!" He said and extended his hand.

I took his hand in a firm handshake, careful not to crush his hand, or cut it with my nails. "I'm Lily!"

This was great. I didn't see why Mr. Crepsley said I couldn't have friends anymore. Vampires can have friends.

As we continued to play, one of the other girls was really starting to play dirty. She kept hitting me with her bony elbows. At one point she hit me in the side and winded me for a minute. The smirk on her face told me that she had done it on purpose.

"What's her deal?!" I asked Matt angrily.

"That's Caroline. She's a cheap player." He said.

"Yeah but she's totally hot!" Another guy laughed beside Matt.

"She needs to take a Midol." I huffed. Matt laughed at this, and I smiled back at him.

As the game continued, so did the beatings. At one point, I was going for the ball when Caroline brought her knee up, right into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. When I finally recovered, a few minutes later, I was pissed.

She was kicking the ball down the field, not watching where she was going, but instead, winking at Matt in a way she must have thought was seductivly.

I tore down the field after her, catching up to her in seconds, and swung my leg hard, trying to kick the ball away from her. Instead of the familiar 'pang' of the soccer ball, I heard a muffled crunch, followed by a shrill cry of pain.

Everyone ran and crowded around Caroline. I couldn't see her anymore but I could tell something was seriously wrong. I could smell blood. And with my vampire strength, I knew I had just done something terrible.

"Oh my G-"

"Is that BONE?!"

"Somebody call an ambulance!!"

I took a few steps closer. One of her legs was completely snapped off at the thigh, hanging by a few strips of flesh and muscle. The other, though still somewhat intact, had bone poking through the skin. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Stay back!" Matt cried. I could see the mix of fear and anger in his eyes. Mirrored looks from everyone else, told me that they were all thinking the same thing.

"Monster!" someone hissed from the group.

I backed away from them. They all glared at me. I turned and ran from the field. Ran from the blood, and hate and anger that I had caused. I didn't stop running until I had shut the door to our hotel room firmly behind me. I then collapsed against the door. To scared to really cry.

When Mr. Crepsley finally woke up, I told him that we needed to leave as soon as possible. To my surprise, he didn't ask any quentions, only helped me to pack our things, and we left.

--

Mr. Crepsley POV

We had traveled to a different state before I thought it was safe enough to make camp. We found an abandoned church deep in the woods. Lily did not seem to be in the mood to talk, so I sat quietly watching her as she occupied herself with making breakfast. Or, for her it would be dinner. I did try once or twice to make conversation, but it did not go very far.

After we had finished eating, (it was delicious!) I decided it was time she did some explaining. "I think it is time you did some explaining," I said. "Why did we have to leave so quickly? What happened this afternoon?"

She flinched a bit, but told me the story. "I see." I sighed. "You need to understand, that you cannot coexist as easily with humans anymore. Next time you will have to be more careful."

"There's not going to be a 'next time'." She sighed. "I'm too dangerous. I can't have any friends. Even if I could, they wouldn't be real friends."

"Why is that?" I asked curiously.

"Because real friends don't keep secrets from each other!" She cried. "I can't just make friends with someone and then say, oh hey, did I mention, I'm a half-vampire? No? Well now you know!"

"But that is a problem that every vampire shares!" I argued back. "Is it truly that improtant to you to have friends?"

"You're right." She said sarcastically, catching me off gaurd. "I wouldn't expect you to understand the value of friendship. My friends, were the most important thing in my life besides my family. My friends were my family."

She was on the verge of tears by now. I could hear it in her voice. I really did feel sorry for her. In my heart, I felt that she was right. "I am sorry, Lily." I said finally. "I should not have blooded you. I was not trying to hurt you when I made you a vampire. I..."

"Well, it's my fault to begin with." She said.

"We are very different from humans." I told her. "No matter how hard you try to be normal, you are not."

"I was never normal to begin with." She laughed, saying the word 'normal' with distaste. "I wasn't really good at being human either. I'm not much better as a vampire it seems."

It will get better. I thought to myself. "Wait a minute...if you are not 'normal', then..."

"Then, what?" She asked raising an eyebrow at me. I would have laughed at the confused look on her face, but I did not want to hurt her feelings.

"Why did I not think of this before! You do not have to be stuck with me all of the time! I know how you can have friends." I laughed.

"But you said humans..."

"I am not talking about humans Lily, I am talking about people with special abilities, people like us!"

"I uh...I don't follow."

"Lily, what do you think about going back, and becoming a member of the Cirque Du Freak?"

--

Lily POV:

I was very excited with the thought of finally being able to have friends. It was like my birthday! For my real birthday, we didn't do anything to celebrate. I don't think he even remembered. So I celebrated by myself in the hotel we had been at, by watching an old movie. Fun.

Mr. Crepsley carried me while he flitted. Suddenly after a long time, he slowed to a stop and I slid to the ground. He looked a bit winded from running so long.

"Tired old man?" I jeered, receiving a glare that shut me up.

"Flitting takes a lot of energy." He explained.

"Where are we then?" I asked, standing up to look at our surroundings. Through the trees I could see a small town in the distance, with very few lights on. "How far til we get there?"

"The Cirque Du Freak is only about two miles from here." He replied. "We will walk from here."

I would have argued, but he really did look exhausted from our trek. I jumped up and started off ahead of him. "Come on slowpoke! You'll die if we don't get there before sunrise!" I laughed.

"As if I needed you to point that out!!" He growled playfully at me. But instead of catching up to me he closed his eyes and bowed his head, mumbling as though he were praying. "Not even two miles, let us make haste!"

"What were you doing just now?" I asked as I stopped about ten feet away from him.

"I was searching for Mr. Tall's aura. Once I locate that, finding the Cirque Du Freak's location is as easy as finding a needle in a haystack."

"That's supposed to be hard, isn't it?" I sighed raising an eyebrow at him. He thought for a fraction of a second.

"Not for a vampire!" He coughed into his fist. "But you cannot do this yet..."

"Because I'm only a half-vampire, I get it I get it!" I sighed again, before jogging away from him again. He laughed mumbling something under his breath about insolent children.

As we neared what looked to be a campsite, we slowed down to a walk. Mr. Crepsley reached up and grabbed some limbs. "Are you ready to proceed, Lily?" He asked.

"What if...I mean, do you really think they'll let me join?" I asked nervously.

"What is wrong? Feeling insecure?" He smirked.

"If I am then it's nothing new to me." I huffed. "I just don't do well around people."

"Are you antisocial?" he questioned.

"I'm not antisocial, I just hate people." I said simply. I don't know if he caught it or not.

"If you like it there, we may stay." he said, hand still holding the branches. "If you do not, then we leave. It is that simple. Now let us proceed." He said and pulled the limbs aside.

We stepped into a clearing, revealing many large circus tents. I kept spinning around as I followed Mr. Crepsley through the tents, to look at everything. We walked up to a trailer and he knocked on the door.

Mr. Tall emerged. "I thought I felt you searching for me...Larten Crepsley." He smiled at us. "I see you've brought the girl."

"May we come in?" Mr. Crepsley asked.

"Of course. What is one supposed to say to you vampires? Enter of your own free will...was it?"

"Something like that." Mr. Crepsley replied, and they both chuckled at this, like it was an inside joke.

I smiled and placed my hands behind my head like I was leaning against an invisible wall. "Hahaha I don't get it!" I sang, still smiling.

--

"I didn't expect you to be back so soon, Larten." Mr. Tall said once we were inside his trailer.

"A swift return was not on the agenda, Hibernius." Mr. Crepsley replied.

'Hibernius?' I thought to myself. 'What an unusual name.'

"Did you run into trouble?" Mr. Tall asked.

"No, it was for Lily's sake..." Mr. Crepsley repled.

Mr. Tall stared at me for a moment, making me feel a bit uncomfortable.

"You have come a long way since I last saw you, Lily Shan." He said after a while.

My thoughts immediatly went to my vampire blood. I cringed at it, suddenly feeling depressed. Mr. Crepsley came up behind me and place his hand on my shoulder.

"Is it okay if we stay?" He asked.

"Of course. Delighted to have you back actually. We're understaffed at the moment. You and Madame Octa will be a great addition to the lineup."

"Thank you." Mr. Crepsley smiled.

"You are less valuable but welcome all the same." Mr. Tall said to me.

"Thanks." I laughed.

"Your coffin has been well taken care of, Larten." Mr. Tall said.

"Wonderful! It will be nice to sleep in it once more!" Mr. Crepsley said excitedly.

"What about the girl? Shall I have one made for her too?" Mr. Tall asked.

"No way!" I said suddendy. "I never want to be in one of those again." I shivered at the thought of being stuck in a coffin again.

"Put Lily in with one of the other performers. Somebody her own age if possible. Evra would be perfect." Mr. Crepsley said and then turned to me. "As long as you do not mind sleeping in the same room as a boy?"

"I suppose it's fine." I said. I remembered the name Evra but I couldn't put a face to it. Whoever he was, if he tried anything on me, I could probably handle him, thanks to my vampire strength. "Who is Evra again?" I asked.

"You will find out." was the only answer I got. Mr. Crepsley left, to do who knows what, and I followed Mr. Tall though the campsite.

"I think Evra is a bit older than you, but you should get along just fine." He said as we neared one of the tents.

"But... who's Evra?" I asked, but when I turned, he was gone.

I turned back toward the entrance to the tent. It was dark inside so I couldn't see anything. I pulled the flap back and walked into the darkness, trying to be carefull not to step on anything that might be on the floor.

A.N. I wonder. Does anyone think that my chapters might be getting too short? Anyways. So I start at a new highschool on monday. Nervous about that. I do not know yet if this will effect my writing schedule in any way. So let us just hope it does not. :)