Disclaimer: I do not own Cirque Du Freak
--
Sam was sitting on a log where I left him. Eating his pickled onions. He smiled when he saw me walking towards him.
"Did you ask him!?" He said excitedly as he jumped up. "What did he say?"
"Well..." I said. He looked so happy right now, and I knew that I was about to spoil his good mood. "Let's take a walk."
"So what did Mr. Crepsley say?" Sam asked. I didn't answer, only kept walking. Eventually we came across a road.
"Look, Sam..." I said.
"Don't." He said quietly. He wouldn't face me, but I could tell he was trying not to cry. "Don't say it. It means I'll have to say bye for good. Won't it?"
"Go home Sam." I said sadly. "You aren't allowed to join the Cirque Du Freak."
"What's the problem?!" Sam asked as he turned around.
"The problem...is...me." I said thinking quickly. "At night I become like the wolfman. I have to be locked in a cage. I go grazy and kill people otherwise."
"You're lying!" He insisted. "After the show..."
"You didn't see me remember? I was already in my cage." I said.
"I can handle it!" I said. "I know you would never attack me!"
"Sometimes, I go crazy during the day." I added. "Mr. Crepsley and Evra are safe from me. They're very strong."
I walked over to a tree. "I could hurt you even on accident." I said as I ran my nails over the bark, leaving gashes, an inch deep, in to wood. I picked up a rock the size of my head and crushed it with one hand, sending shards and rubble falling.
"Please go, Sam! If you stay there will be an accident!" I said hanging my head.
"N-no! I won't-"
"GO!" I growled, making my voice much deeper than any human can go. Then in a normal voice I added. "I don't want to hurt my own friend. Don't you see?"
He turned and ran across the street into the sunlight. I backed into the shadows until I could no longer see him. Suddenly I was caught in another dizzy spell from the lack of blood. I slumped to the ground to wait for it to pass. Sighing miserably as the world swirled, and meshed around me. There was only about an hour or so of daylight left.
Someone stepped on a twig nearby. I could tell that they were wearing boots, and that they were taller and larger than I was. I stood up as my head started to clear. Out from the vegitation walked R.V.
"Oh," I breathed with relief. "Hi, R.V."
"Been looking for ya man!" He said. "Wanted to thank you for those tickets."
"Oh," I said. I turned and looked at the way I had just come. "Don't worry about it. As long as you enjoyed it."
"Oh yeah, great show man." He said. I heard something whooshing in the air behind me, and turned just in time to dodge a limb that was aimed at my head. It smashed into the tree where I had been standing, but then came flying at me again, knocking me a good ten feet.
I rolled to my feet and crouched, ready to spring into attack. I didn't even know how to fight. There was a red mark on my bicep where I had been hit. "What's your problem?!" I growled angrily.
"That's what I should be asking you!!" He spat. "How could you treat the wolfman the way you did? Chained up like a savage beast!"
"If we didn't keep him in that cage, he's be killing people everywhere!" I explained.
"If that's natures way then too bad!" He said.
"You can't seriously... think that way..." I stuttered.
"You people are the animals here!" He snarled as he grabbed me by the neck. Instinctivey I grabbed his arm. Appearantly I grabbed too hard, as my fingernails burst through his skin, spraying blood.
R.V. released me and howled with pain, holding his bloody arm. "Stong as hell!" He hissed. "Little bitch!"
"Look I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to hurt you!" I held up my hands.
"Stay away you freak!" He took a few steps back. "You monster!!"
I stared at the blood that was soaking my fingers. "What yould you know?!" I snarled and my eyes snapped up. "How could a human understand what we feel?"
I flung my hand at him flinging his own blood on to his face. "The wolfman would be killed if he was anywhere except the Cirque Du Freak!!"
"Shut up!" He said ignoring me and grabbing the limb again. "Your precious circus is done for! I'll ram it into the ground!!"
"You...fucking..." I growled. He swung his fist at me and I ducked in front of him. "HYPOCRITE!!" I picked him up. All 400 pounds of him, and tossed him into a tree, which snapped in half around the trunk, and both R.V. and the tree went crashing a few more feet.
"Wha-What are you?!" He stuttered, shaking with fear. "You are a monster!!"
I glared fiercely at him. "Yeah but I'm just a kid. You should see what the grown-ups can do!"
He jumped up and ran. "Monster!" He wailed. "Police! Police!"
Throwing him like that had taken alot out of me. I stumbled a few yards before I took off running toward the cirque. I had to tell Mr. Tall.
--
Mr. Crepsley's POV:
When Lily returned, she seemed worse than when she had left. She told me that she had run into R.V. and that had led to a problem. I agreed when she told me that we needed to tell Mr. Tall.
I walked with her and we found him in the arena. I stood quietly while Lily told Mr. Tall all about her encounter with R.V.
"It's good that you told me." He told her. "I think it would be best if we left after tonights preformance. We've been in this town long enough I think."
"Yes sir." She said quietly.
"Don't be troubled." He said. "This isn't the first time we've clashed with the authorities. Now, Lily, will you inform the other members of the plan?"
"Yes." She said.
Once we were back outside, the sun had already disappeared behind the mountains, leaving everything in a dim light.
"After you have told everyone the plan," I said as we walked. "I would like you to come find me."
"To get ready to preform?" She asked.
"No." I sighed. "I think it would be wise to teach you a thing or two about hand to hand combat."
"Uh...o-okay." She said, and hurried off.
Lily's POV:
After I had gone around camp and told everyone that we would be leaving after tonight, I went back to Mr. Crepsley's tent. By then it was almost dark. The moon was full, but not very high.
"Alright, I'm back." I said as I entered the tent. He was sitting in a chair in the corner, as though he had been waiting for me.
"Follow me." He said, and walked out of the tent.
I followed him out of camp and far into the woods. I figured it was because we didn't need anyone poking around while two vampires spar.
Finally after I could barely hear the commotion at camp, we came to a clearing. "When was the last time, you were ever in a fight?" He asked.
"Well..." I thought. "I've been beaten up before. I'm more of a defense kind of person."
He furrowed his eyebrows at his. "Besides," I said quickly. "Stephanie was the one who did the fighting, if it ever came to it."
"Well Stephanie is not here to fight for you!" He snapped suddenly, catching me off gaurd.
"And what if I was not there to help you either?" He asked.
"Why wouldn't.." He disappeared before I could finish my question. "Mr. Crepsley?" I called.
I looked around but didn't see anything. I couldn't hear anything either. He must have flitted.
I started walking back toward the camp. I really didn't know what else to do. Suddenly something slammed into me, pinning me against a tree. I looked at whoever it was, only to see that it was Mr. Crepsley, with one of his hands wrapped tight around my throat. Crap.
"Hey!" I struggled to breathe. "Let go!"
"If you want me to let go," He sighed. "You will have to make me. What are you going to do?"
He tighened his grip on my windpipe, cutting off my air. My vision started to blur and sounds became fuzzy and meshed. I pulled at Mr. Crepsley's fingers but they were tight and I couldn't move them. More in a panic than anything else, I used my feet to kick him away.
"Good!" He said. I fell to the ground. My whole body slacked into a crumpled mess of limbs.
"How's beating the crap out of me going to help me fight better?!" I growled.
"You can breath now. Right?" He said before disappearing again.
I'm really starting to hate that man again. I rolled to my feet and stood up, trying to brace myself for wherever his next attact would be. I heard footsteps behind me, and swung my arm above my head.
He caught my arm, so I swung my other fist. He cought that one too. When I tried to pull my hands away he wouldn't let go, so I grabbed his wrists and leaned back, using my feet to kick him over my head like I'd seen on T.V. To my surprise it actually worked, and I rolled over on top of him straddling his chest.
We both still had ahold of each others arms. I didn't know what to do now. Suddenly he pushed me straight up about fifteen feet in the air. Below me on solid ground, he rolled out of the way as I came crashing down. The force of the landing knocked the wind out of me. I slowly rolled on my back trying to catch my breath. To add to my misery, I started getting dizzy again.
He suddenly was on top of me like I had been on him, only seconds ago, pressing my arms down. "Something tells me..." I slurred slightly, as I finally got my breath. "...that you are enjoying this."
He got up and took a few steps back, laughing. "What would make you say that?"
I rolled over and sat on my legs. "You make it look so easy." I said as I caught my breath.
"Years of practice." He smiled. "Not to mention the scars that come from fighting."
"How'd you get that one anyways?" I asked, pointing to his cheek.
"Uhh... Here! Let me show you something you might be able to learn quickly." He said as he walked over to one of the trees. "Watch closely."
He swung his arm horizontally at the tree. There was a loud crack, and when he moved, there was a huge gash in the trunk.
"I think I already did something like that." I said remembering my encounter with R.V. as I stood and walked over to the tree.
"Let me see." He said.
I swung my arm just like I had seen him do. A numb sort of fire, spred across my fingertips. "OW!" I clutched my hand, my fingers now throbbing.
"Not bad." Mr. Crepsley said inspecting the mark I had left in the bark. The cut wasn't nearly as deep as his, but I thought it looked pretty impressive.
"Let us head back." He said. "I think this is enough practice for one night."
"But we didn't even do anything." I said.
"Yes, but since you are not drinking..." He trailed off, but I knew what he was going to say. "Besides, I still have to go on with Madame Octa."
"Okay." I sighed, and we headed back to camp.
When we got back, I went to help Evra pack our things. We were done in less than twenty minutes.
"What are you looking at?" Evra asked as he stood beside me.
"Just the stars." I said, gazing at the sky. "Where I used to live, when I was human I mean, you couldn't see the stars very well."
"I'll miss this place when we go." He agreed. "You can't see the stars that well in the city."
My head started throbbing again. I squeezed my eyes and pressed my palm to my forehead.
"Still not drinking human blood I take it?" Evra asked as we sat down on some of the crates we had been moving.
"I'll be fine, it'll pass." I said trying to sound reassuring.
"Look, I may not know much about what you're going through," he sighed. "but couldn't you think of blood as medicine or something? Just somehting you have to drink to survive?"
"I'm just afraid that if I drink blood, I'll change somehow. I mean, what if I killed someone?" The pain eased away.
"I don't think you could! You're not evil, Lily!" he argued. "Would you really let yourself die rather than drink?"
I didn't say anything. I had a feeling that he already knew my answer to that.
"I'd miss you... if you died, Lily." he said. He had his back facing me, but I could tell he was crying a little.
"I just... need some more time to think about it." I sighed.
"Well I should be going! Show's about to start." He stood up and headed off. "You sould go lie down. Get some rest, and I'll wake you when the show's over..."
I headed in the opposite direction back to our tent. My head throbbed again. "Really?!" I sighed. Despite what I had just told Evra, I could tell that it was getting worse. The throbbing pain and dizzyness was becoming more frequent. I could tell that I didn't have very long left. Maybe two or three days at most. Normal kids my age didn't have to worry aout this kind of stuff. All their problems consisted of were who they were going to date or what movie they wanted to see. It really wasn't fair.
As I passed by one of the tents, I heard a rattling sound. Like chains maybe. I ignored it at first thinking that someone was just moving some boxes or something. Then I heard it again. Definantly chains. Then a crack. I sprinted in the direction the sounds came from. They led me straight to the wolfman's cage, where I saw-
"R.V.?!!" I cried. "What are you doing!? Stop!" I moved to stop him but he knocked me away with just one arm.
"Stay out of this!" He cried. "I'm freeing this poor abused creature! I'm just following my beliefs! I've already called the police! You people are finished!"
"Stop, get away from there R.V." I said. "He'll kill you!"
R.V. turned his head and laughed. "Is that what you think?!" He reached through the bars. "I cut these chains and...and..."
He turned back toward the cage and pulled his arms back to reveal bloddy stumps. His hands had been ripped clean off.
Inside the cage, the wolfman chomped on his severed arms, grinning wildly.
"My hands!" R.V. cried as he ran off. I watched him run, waving his bloody stumps. Behind me I heard the cage rattle, and when I turned I saw that it was open, and the wolfman was glaring at me!
He lunged at me and I covered my face with my arms, waiting for the ripping pain. But it never came. I looked only to see the wolfman was gone. Behind me I heard him running into the woods.
He's chasing someone! I thought. It couldn't be R.V. He ran in a different direction. Then who?
I stumbled in the direction the wolfman had gone, and came across a bag. When I picked it up, a jar fell out. It was pickled onions.
I looked at the name one the bag, though I already knew what it would say.
This is property of Sam Grest
--
Sam was in trouble. How could you be so stupid Sam!? I thought angrily as I sprinted.
I had to follow the wolfman's stench, which wasn't that hard to do. Even for a human, you could smell him from quite a distance.
The scent led me to an abandoned train station. As I got closer to the building, I was able to find Sam's scent. I followed it to a train cart. Good. This might be able to hold off the wolfman. Not for very long though.
I stepped inside the cart, but I couldn't see Sam anywhere. I didn't want to make too much noise in case the wolfman was nearby. I made my way to the back, checking every seat. Something flew at my head to my right. I reached up and grabbed it. It was a metal rod.
"Sam!" I cried, relieved as I looked at the person holding the weapon.
"Lily!" He instantly dropped the rod and grabbed me in a bear hug. "Thank god you're safe!" I hugged him back.
"I'm sorry...I just had to sneak in..." He cried. Outside I heard a howl. The wolfman must have found our scent.
I grabbed Sam's hand with one hand, and the metal rod with the other. "We'll talk later. Rigth now we have to get somewhere safer. This cart won't hold for very long." I led him to the entrance of the cart.
--
Mr. Crepsley's POV:
I could not find Lily anywhere. I went to find Evra. He was getting ready for his act.
"Evra."
"What's up?" He asked as he stretched his arms above his head.
"Have you seen Lily?"
"She isn't sleeping in the tent?" He asked confused.
"No..." I sighed.
"I told her to go lie down just a few minutes ago."
This could be bad. Though she could have just gone off somewhere.
"Hey!" Someone cried as they ran in. "The wolfman's gone! Someone let him out of his cage!!"
In an instant, I flitted to the wolfman's cage. Sure enough, he was gone. The chains had been purposely cut. There was blood all over the inside of the cage, as well as a trail leading away from camp. By now everyone had caught up with me.
I almost headed in the direction the blood went, thinking the worst had happened to Lily, but I realized that this blood was not Lily's. I sighed with relief. But this meant that someone else had been here.
Following the wolfman's stench, I soon found a bag. There was a name on the inside.
"What's it say?" Evra asked as he walked up next to me. I only handed him the bag and flitted in the direction the wolfman had gone.
--
Lily's POV:
I couldn't hear the wolfman anywhere nearby.
"Look over there." Sam whispered, pointing to a rundown warehouse. "If we hole ourselved up in that warehouse, we might be able to defent ourselves."
"Okay, we'll hide in there and wait for help from the cirque." I whispered back. "Go!"
We jumped from the cart and started toward the warehouse. Suddenly Sam fell. I turned back to see the wolfman, half hidden under the cart where we had been hiding. He had his huge paws wrapped around Sam's ankles, grinning.
"Let him go!" I yelled and hit him across the face with the rod. He instantly released Sam and I pulled him away from the wolfman.
I glanced behind me at the warehouse. There was no way we could both make it at that distance. "Run Sam!" I said pushing him.
"What? No Lily, come on!" He said grabbing my arm.
"Don't worry! He won't get past me!" I turned to him and flashed him a small smile. "I'm a vampire."
He looked a bit shocked but to my surprise he returned the smile. "Lily..."
"Go now!!" I yelled facing the wolfman again. "Run!!!"
I gave my life once to save a friend. I'd gladly make the trade again. Besides, if this is how I'm supposed to die, then I don't mind. But I'm not going to let anything happen to Sam while I'm alive.
The wolfman came at me and I struck him arm across the face again, sending him back a few feet.
"Here's another!" I yelled, striking him again. Then I got dizzy. "No!" I gasped and staggered back. "Not now! Not NOW!!"
The wolfman saw his chance and swung a clawed fist at me, catching my left arm, ripping into my skin. He knocked me into the air with his fist, and I went spinning off into some direction, adding to my dizzyness.
This is good. I thought as I landed in a heap. This is how it should have been. I'm glad I never drank that human blood. I'll save Sam, and die as a human!
I closed my eyes waiting for the pain, but it never came. I looked up to see Sam bashing the wolfman's head with the metal rod.
"Why didn't you run, Sam!!" I yelled, sitting up.
"I can't abandon a friend!" He said. "We have to go together!"
The wolfman turned on him. "Oh no you don't!" I yelled and grabbed one of the chains around his wrist. "Get away Sam!"
The wolfman turned and knocked me square in the jaw. I saw stars for a moment. The last thing I saw was an upside down view of the wolfman lunging at sam, before my view went fuzzy and dark.
--
I slowly started to wake up. I couldn't see anything, but I could hear something.
Munch. Munch. Sluurrrp!
It sounded disgusting whatever it was. My vision started to clear as I rolled on to my back. My arm screamed at me. My whole body begging for rest. Suddenly I remembered what had happened.
I sat up quickly and saw the wolfman about ten feet away from me. I could see Sam's face behind him, covered in blood.
"NOOO!!!" I screamed! I grabbed a rock and threw it at the wolfman. It bounced off his head. He stopped eating and turned to glare at me. Blood was dripping off his muzzle. He bared his stained teeth in a snarl and jumped at me, so I ran at him. Someone appeared between us in a flash and using only one hand, flipped the wolfman on to his back. He didn't get back up.
Mr. Crepsley turned around to face me. "Believe it or not, I came as soon as I could, Lily."
"S-Sam!" I choked, and ran past Mr. Crepsley. Sam looked terrible. And I mean terrible. I could see his insides, there was barely any skin left on his stomach. "Oh my... God." I breathed as tears rolled down my cheeks.
"This can't be happening." I cried.
"I just... wanted to be with you... and Evra." Sam said quietly. "I'm sorry."
I knelt beside his dying body, and he gave me a weak smile. "I guess... I really wasn't.. meant to join..." He started coughing up blood.
"Help him." I begged, turning to face Mr. Crepsley. "You can seal up his wounds! Seal up his wounds!"
"I am afraid it is too late for that, Lily." He said sadly. "Most of his insides have been devoured... no doubt he cannot even feel the pain anymore..."
"No!" I turned back to Sam. "You can't die Sam. You have to grow up! You can still grow up, and be anything you want to be! You have your whole life ahead of you." I sobbed.
"He will be dead in moments." Mr. Crepsley sighed. "It is unavoidable."
I wanted to argue back, but I knew that he was right.
"But there is something we can do for his spirit." He said.
"Huh?" I sniffed.
"You must drink Sam's blood, Lily." He said.
I grit my teeth and glared at him. "I.. I wont do anything of the sort! Hare dare you suggest that?!"
"Do you remember our discussion?" He asked. "About what happens when a vampire drinks all of someone's blood?"
"Sam's dying and all you care about is making me drink blood!" I snarled.
"Think. Remember what I said?"
I thought back to our conversation. Realization struck. "They absorb part of their soul." I said quietly.
--
Mr. Crepsley's POV:
"Losing a loved one is hard. Once they are dead, they are gone forever." I sighed. "But if you absorb part of their essence, you will not lose all of them."
I could tell that she needed more persuasion. "He will live on inside of you..."
"You want me to kill Sam?" She asked looking at me. Her eyes told me everything.
"You would not be killing him. You would be keeping a part of him alive." I assured.
"Drink, Lily." Sam said suddenly. "If I can live on... inside of you, I want you... to drink. That way... I can be with you... and Evra, forever."
Lily still seemed unsure about it.
"I don't care... if you're a vampire. I mean... we're friends aren't we?" He breathed.
A most remarkable boy. I thought to myself. It is a shame he must go through all of this.
Lily reached over Sam, and used her nails to make an inscision in Sam's neck. Blood spurted from his jugular, spraying over Lily's shirt. She leaned over him and began to drink his blood.
It truly was a bittersweet moment for me. I was glad that she was finally drinking human blood. I would not have to watch her die now. But at the cost of her friends life. She was crying now, but she did not stop drinking.
"Lily..." Sam said weakly. "When you said... you ate people... was that a lie?"
Lily did not say anything.
"Thank's for lying... to protect me..." Sam said smiling. "I had fun...I'm glad... I met you... Lily."
I listened as his heart slowed to a stop. He was dead. Lily moved away from him, and hugged her knees as she cried.
I pulled her toward me and held her. To my surprise she buried her face in my shirt and continued to cry.
For a long time I sat there holding her. After what felt like a few hours had passed, I realized that she was asleep.
--
Lily's POV:
I fell asleep at some point. I figure that I was out for a while. I know this because I awoke to find someone carrying me. It was still very dark. Probably late night or early morning.
"Go back to sleep." Mr. Crepsley said. "We are almost to your bed."
"What about Sam's body?" I asked quietly.
"It is being taken care of. Here." He said as he sat me down on something. I realized it was my hammock. We were back in my tent.
"Someone will be in here soon to fix your arm, I have to go and speak with someone." He said quietly and threw the covers over me.
After he left I inspected my arm, the best I could in the dim light. The bleeding had stopped, and the skin was scarred where the wolfman had ripped into my arm. Crepsley must have healed it with his saliva. It still hurt tremendously to move it.
--
Later Evra came to wake me up. It was time for us to go. I could tell that he already knew about Sam. Someone had bandaged my arm and put it in a splint while I was sleeping.
"Do you know," I asked as we hopped in the back of one of the caravans. "what they did with Sam's body?"
Evra gave me a sad look. "They buried him, and tipped off the police so they can find him and give him a proper burial."
I nodded and hugged my knees to my chest, staring at the hills as we moved farther and farther away from the campsite.
"That one over there." Evra said pointing to one of the little people. He was the one with the bad leg, that caused him to limp. We had come to call him Lefty. "He helped bury him."
"He's different from the others." I sighed.
"I found this." Evra handed me a bag. It was Sam's. "I thought you might want to have it."
"Thanks." I said, a few tears escaped.
"Look." Evra pointed to the hills where the sun was just peeking above the trees. "It's a new day."
--
After an hour or two I had gone back to sleep, giving my body the rest that it desperately desired. When I woke up later, the sun was high in the sky. We had stopped for a break just outside of a little town.
"I'm going to get something to eat." Evra said as he jumped down to the grass. "You want me to get something for you?"
"No." I said. My throat felt thick from crying. "Wait, hold on." I said as I started to get a sudden craving for something.
"I think, there's something..." I could feel a taste in the back of my mouth. I realized what it was. "Could you see if maybe they have, pickled onions?"
--
A.N. So lucky us, we keep having snow days. My new school is in the same county as my old one, so my best friend and I are off on the same days. Yay and stuff. Anyways writing is going well. BTW thank you everyone for the wonderful reviews! Also if you notice that I have made a mistake *cough* like accidentally saying "Darren" instead of "Lily" *cough* be sure and point that out for me. hrm. School's going great. Saw Percy Jackson. I was all liek "NOOOO~!"
