Mr Crepsley circled his desk for the fourth time in as many minutes and groaned. Gavner had just left, leaving behind him only bad news and an empty glass. The stained wine glass on the table had but one drop of blood left and its invasive presence reminded Mr Crepsley that his blood vials were too, disappearing thanks to the Cirque's most recent visitor. Rose was also the reason Gavner had stopped by unexpectedly. As Mr Crepsley had guessed, he was furious with the decision to keep the Vampaneze within the Cirque and even more enraged to discover that Mr Tall had offered the girl a permanent home amongst them. Mr Crepsley's head still rang with the old Vampire's angry cries of protests and he wiped the sweat from his brow as he struggled to make sense of his own opinions regarding the new visitor. Yes, it was true he had taken an instant dislike to the young half Vampaneze but he had tried not to let his biased view of the Vampaneze kind distort his decisions. When the Cirque's ringmaster had initially told him about his new offer to Rose he had surprised the man by agreeing with the idea. As Rose settled in the Cirque, he began to see how ridiculous he had been in thinking she was some sort of spy. The girl was far too emotional to be an efficient undercover scout; she let her mood determine her actions, often running off in tears or using sarcasm as a defence.
Above him, the canvas roof began to swell under the persistent pressure of the heavy rain. There had been a welcomed break in the weather earlier only to have the temporary intermission broken by a clap of thunder signalling the next few hours of heavy downpour. The setting sun beyond the hill was hidden through a sheet of dark rain which meant that most of Mr Crepsley's tent was immersed in darkness. The man sat in silence, letting his desk take his weight as he mulled over the possibilities of an oncoming war which Gavner never ceased in assuring him was imminent. The war would mean certain disaster for the current peace between the two races, a peace which was constantly threatened and now even more so by the presence of Rose.
Mr Tall had invited him into his tent as soon as Rose had accepted his gracious offer and Mr Crepsley had smiled through gritted teeth, agreeing to supply her with the blood she so desperately craved in exchange for extra help with chores. As soon as she had left he had made sure Mr Tall knew he was not happy with the arrangements. The old man had simply nodded, his eyes closed. This had infuriated him even more. No one was listening to him. He was sure that if only Mr Tall knew what Mr Tiny was capable of he would pay more attention to his warnings. Mr Crepsley knew it was not beneath Mr Tiny to use a seemingly innocent girl to spy on the Vampires through the Cirque. In fact it was possible the girl herself did not even know she was a spy. Mr Crepsley had vociferated his secret fears that the Cirque was under surveillance and the peace that existed between the Vampires and the Vampaneze was as tense as ever. Mr Tall had only fallen back on his old catch phrase, commenting on the fact that the Cirque was neutral. Mr Crepsley had had to close his eyes to prevent himself from rolling disrespectfully.
"The Cirque is neutral, Mr Tall," he had said, "But I'm afraid the Vampaneze tend to root for their own kind and so if the time came for the Cirque's inhabitants to choose sides, I am fairly certain I know who Rose would pick."
"We will cross that bridge when we come to it," Mr Tall had replied. In his own tent, Mr Crepsley reflected on the man's words. Perhaps it was better to leave the current situation as it was. Exacerbating the problem by creating hostility between the girl and him would not help matters. He had tried smiling at Rose earlier when he had seen her making her way back to her tent for a rest. His friendly grin had been met with a cold, hard stare which she delivered with an accusing expression. The insufferable girl! Needless to say, his smile had faded quickly but he had fought not to replace it with an equally withering gaze, instead he had simply nodded curtly before stalking off in another direction. The best thing to do was to get involved as little as possible. If Mr Tall wanted him to supply her with blood, fine, but nothing else.
The blood vials currently occupied a small shelf in a tall glass cabinet. He was running low and would need to pay a visit to the nearest morgue to acquire some more as soon as possible. Rose was draining his supplies faster than he had anticipated. Never before had he known a Vampire or even a Vampaneze to be so bloodthirsty. She was almost greedy but the way her skin turned the colour of a ripe plum and her red eyes darkened told him that she was not simply gluttonous; she was powerless to her cravings. Mr Crepsley leaned forward in his chair and realised the rain had stopped. The absence of the constant patter of raindrops above him left a vacuum of sound and the silence outside seemed to fill his entire head. It was not an ordinary silence, it was a dead silence. Mr Crepsley rose carefully from his chair, cautious not to disturb the peace. Outside it was dark; the night lit by a few lamps doted around the site. In the orange glow, Mr Crepsley saw the camp was empty as its residence had undoubtedly gone indoors to escape the downpour and possibly to bed. The air was still and he had just stood there long enough to rule out any suspicions he had nursed when a tiny figure ran across the space outside with incredible speed. Mr Crepsley's head spun to focus on the little creature and he saw it was Harkat Mulds fleeing through the grass with his small robe hitched over his scabby knees to avoid it getting wet in any of the puddles. The monster disappeared long before Mr Crepsley had a chance to see the look of anxiousness he had etched across his grotesque features and fled into the shadows.
"Strange," muttered the Vampire as he closed his eyes and massaged the lids. It was getting late and he was growing tired. Taking a deep shuddering breath he opened his eyes again in time to see several figures running through the space in front of him, following the same path as Harkat had taken. Mr Crepsley squinted into the distance. He could just make out the faces of Corma Limbs and Gertha Teeth leading the small group with a few men following close behind. Mr Crepsley suddenly became aware what was happening.
"Attack!" He cried as he shrugged on his long coat and fled out the door, "We're under attack!" Several other voices shouted out from around the campsite as they discovered their intruders. Mr Crepsley made a snap decision to give chase. He caught Gertha and Corma's pursuers easily and knocked them out from behind before heading off to find Darren. The boy was almost certainly in trouble.
As screams and cries broke out around him, Mr Crepsley noticed the costume hut was currently hosting a fight. Through the windows he could see Evra and Rebecca trapped by several Vampaneze; hardly a fair fight. Sneaking around the caravan, Mr Crepsley could hear Darren's grunts of effort as he fought of the intruders. From the sound of things, he was doing better than he thought he would but he needed his help.
He broke in through the back door and grabbed the man nearest him. Without even thinking, he smashed his head against the surface beside him which happened to be a mirror. The object shattered and fell to pieces as the Vampaneze fell to his knees, unconscious. In the dim light, Darren looked up at him with both surprise and relief.
"Duck!" He ordered as he grabbed the unconscious man and threw him over his head where he landed on his accomplices. The men yelled out in frustration and one, struggling to wriggle out from underneath his companion, aimed a punch in Mr Crepsley's direction. The old Vampire deflected his aim and kicked him hard in the chest, sending him the length of the cabin.
"Move," he directed, clutching Darren's collar and lifting him to his feet. Together the two flit out of the building to safety, leaving Rebecca and Evra to defend themselves against the strong and now very angry Vampaneze. After they had fled, Evra glanced over at Rebecca in sheer disbelief and rising panic.
"Did they just-?"
"I think so," replied Rebecca as she backed away from the approaching Vampaneze.
"Are they coming back?" Whispered Evra hoarsely, not taking his eyes of the furious advancing men. He took the girl's silence and the Vampaneze's harsh laughter as a no and so braced himself against any impact. The noise outside grew louder as fights and fires erupted around them. Evra risked a last glance out the window and saw black smoke filling the sky before the Vampaneze reached him.
