Alala, thanks for all the reviews!

Lemme remind everyone once more: I don't own Darren Shan and all the original characters!

and umm...this chapter is quite pointless, actually....and really cliche-y....I just kept it because, well, I felt like writing something realllllll cheesy *shot*


Sam died unfairly, true, but now we have to find a way of letting his parents know he's dead. We can't just leave him buried, but we can't just turn up with his body without some kind of explanations, can we?

Midnight is the best time to think, and a long, cool walk in the forest was the ideal spot. The crisp fresh air tasted sweet in my nose, the cool wind swept through my hair, and the darkness makes me feel safe when I'm hidden in the shadows of those tall, looming trees. I quickly walked into the mist of trees; my footsteps crunching lightly on the leaves. Above my head, the moon shone brightly like a silver pearl in the sky. A gigantic, round, silver pearl with lots of craters. Strangely, my mind drifted to love. What is it like to be in love? Sure, I've had a lot of crushes, but as in real love. Lexi said that you feel light and bubbly, as if nothing could ever make you sad again. That sounds very…unreal. It is not logical that someone could feel like they're flying and bubbly on the ground; Besides, Lexi's wisdom isn't and shouldn't really be use to be taken seriously. Lexi's question floated into my mind again: who would you rather marry, Steve or the snake boy?

That time, I did not know what to choose. Now, I would probably choose Steve over Evra. No, I'm not saying that Evra is not a good friend, but I just can't imagine him wearing a formal black suit waiting at the end of the aisle. If Lexi was here, she'd probably make me choose over Jans too, but that is such a no. There is no way I'm marrying someone with purple hair and earrings! Sure, he can dye it back and take off the earrings or something, but Jans is just a friend, a very good friend.

What would Lexi be doing now? Will she be calling Amber and Fiona over for a sleepover as usual, or would she finally be studying for a test? Would my family still be mourning, or did they have another child, a child that replaced me completely? Oh, how I wish to go back to them, to tell them that I'm still here and I'm only…gone for a while, but that I still do exist. I still remember all those celebrations and holidays and all those awesome parties…especially the ones we had on holidays. It must be summer now, I have lost track of date ages ago. I don't even know how long we've been here! What I do know is that it's not winter yet, so I must have not been here for a year yet. It was just a few months after the Christmas breaks that I became a half vampire, so yeah. It must be somewhere in summer, because it feels…like it is summer. We must have passed Lexi's birthday…I wonder if she still had a party even though I'm not there.

One side of me wanted her to have that party, she doesn't deserve to mourn for me so long, besides, and I'm not even dead. The other side of me wanted her to not host that party. How could she host that party when me, her best friend, is dead? No, not dead, but she'll never see me again! Crunch, crunch, crunch…what was that? I froze on the spot, I think there's something behind me…I turned around, but there's nothing there. Oh no, is it really my senses dulling? "Darren, if it's you, I know you're there," I called, and kept on walking. Silly me, it's probably Darren going for a walk too, or he's trying to scare me as usual. I walked faster, if he thinks that he can catch me, and then I'll make him work hard for his glory! CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH…the footsteps got louder and louder, but no one was there. Was it possible that…that thing that killed that girl is coming after me? No way, demons don't exist, I'm just…superstitious, and that's all. CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH…ok, I'm not just a bit superstitious, I'm very superstitious!

"Darren, stop that, you're getting on my nerves," I snapped, and started running. CRUNCH, CRUNCH, SNAP! I froze, what was that snapping sound?

"STOP IT, DARREN!" I screamed, but my voice echoed in the forest with no reply. Why are my senses not coming back? Oh man…when was the last time I had human blood…I guess it was from that fat man, and I only had a bit. I must be running low on human blood so I'm just a half vampire without vampire powers, meaning I'm just a bit better than a human now! Where on earth can I find a human to drink from which is such a problem! I can't just climb into someone's house and drink from them! SNAP! There's that noise again! But…it doesn't seem to be from anywhere around me…then, I felt goose bumps. Oh no! I had forgotten to check the dangerous place, and made the mistake all those stupid heroes made in murder films: above my head. There must be someone above my head, but I didn't dare look up. No, I must. What if it's just some stupid squirrel making me all freaked out? I glanced slowly at the branches on top of my head, where a lone figure squatted on it.

"Jans, it's you," I said, sighing with relief. "You got me freaked out there, don't you dare do that again!" So it was just Jans, freaking me out. But why isn't he saying anything?

"Jans, are you alright? I didn't mean to make you bad, I just…" The moon shifted its position, and I saw that the mysterious stalker was someone with pale blond hair that needed washing, and a hard face with lots of scars. Incidentally, he looked vaguely familiar, or the fact that he looked like someone I knew… "You're not Jans!"

"Took you long enough," the figure sneered in a low voice. The voice was wrong too, Jans' voice isn't deep and rough! The mysterious stalker tensed, and then suddenly dropped down on me! If I had my vampire powers, I could have easily dodged him, but since I'm low on blood, I couldn't move fast enough…the last thing I saw was the stalker's blond hair in my face, the stench of beer, and two bright blue eyes that reminded me of…Sam Gret. SLAM, SLAM, SLAM…what on earth is that noise? Oh god, Darren is making such a racket, I can't sleep! SLAM, SLAM, SLAM…god, Darren, I'm so killing you! Oh well, I must tell him that I found Sam's family…how did I find him, again? Oh yeah, somewhere in the forest, where he knocked me out. What happened after that…how come I can't remember? Unless…I'm still in the forest, and this is where I can't remember? I opened my eyes and blinked a few times. There was the Gret person, nailing me something to the tree I was leaning on. Hey, that's hurting the trees, I wonder what the environment warriors would say…I'll just have to make a run for It then, I tried walking a step gently…no use. How come my legs won't move? I stifled a groan; they must have fallen asleep! Maybe I could do a cartwheel first? I raised my hands and tried to flip quickly so I won't bump into some other tree. Why won't they move? I could feel everything; I could feel each finger, my wrist, my jacket, and the nails in them…why did I ever put nails on my jacket?

"Good, you're awake," Gret stranger said, "Don't you try to move, because I've nailed you on to this oak!" I silently groaned, I've made another mistake. He wasn't pinning some award on to the tree, he was pinning me!

"What do you want with me?" I asked, trying to be bold. I'm a half vampire; a puny little human like him shouldn't scare me!

"You don't ask questions," he said, shaking a finger in front of me, "Now, where is my brother?"

"I don't even know who you are," I said, rolling my eyes. "And if you'll excuse me, my friends are waiting for me."

"You DO know who he is," Gret stranger said, pinning his face close to me so that we were nose to nose. "Sam went to find your stupid little friend Darren, and he never came back, so where is he?"

"Why don't you ask Darren, I have no idea," I said dryly, "And how about letting me go, you're going to pay, literally, for the holes you made in my jacket!"

"I said that you don't ask questions here, or you'll get punishment," he said sternly. God, this Gret has watched too many action movies!

"Fine, I have no idea where he is. He's Darren's friend, I don't exactly know him," I said, "Now let me go!"

"No, you're lying," he sneered, "he used to talk about you at dinner, my dear Evan, about how you fancied that Jans Vladimir over him."

"Because Jans was a lot more polite than him," I snapped, "and, if you're going to question someone, why don't you question Darren? He was with Sam the last time I saw him."

"No, I saw you walking out by yourself," he snapped, "now tell me where Sam is!"

"No, because I have no idea where he is. Why don't you look around? Maybe he's back home already without you," Afraid as I am, I can't help thinking that this person was the dumbest person next to Darren that I had ever met. Besides, I can't just say Sam is dead and be done with it; drunk people don't take in things like that.

"Then I'll have to punish you," he said slyly, "now you'll have to be my bride!" I almost choked on laughter that Gret boy actually thinks that I'll go so easily? No way!

"Yeah right, only when hell freezes over!" I snorted, which was the wrong thing to do because it made him even madder.

"You'll have to, you don't have any family left and my family supports whatever I do so you'll have to." Oh no, Sam actually told them these things? That is kind of true, but I'm mot going to give in so easily!

"It doesn't work that way," I told him.

"Yes it does," he said, "from now on you'll be called the bride of Daniel Gret!" Eew, which parent actually named their child Daniel? Sure, Harry Potter star is called Daniel Radcliff, but no normal parent would name their children Daniel for any reason!

"Forget it, you're not good looking, besides, I don't like people named Daniel," I sneered, "I'll only marry you when hell freezes over!"

"Fine, then die!" Daniel screeched, and waved a butcher's knife in front of me. I gulped a bit; so he did bring a weapon and thought of a plan B: kill the hostage. And I'm still weaponless, so I have zero chance of surviving this alone.

"That's not fair, you have a weapon and I don't," I said flatly. IF he's as dumb as I think he is, he would give me something.

"Do you actually think that dumb?" he asked. Ok, so he's not that dumb. He drew the knife softly across my throat.

"Scared?" he snickered.

"Yeah, because you might kill an atom," I snorted. His face got red, and he swung the knife high.

"You're dying no matter what," He snapped, and lunged forwards, trying to slice my head off. But, a figure darted between and succeeded in grabbing the knife from him!

"Jans, that mad man is trying to kill me," I yelled, for as soon as I glimpsed the purple under the hood, I knew that it was Jans Vladimir, my friend that saved me. Of course, I wouldn't have died because the way he's holding that knife, I would probably get a deep cut that isn't really serious, but I will probably die from lost of blood if I don't make it back to the camp in time.

"I never knew that the Grets were murderous!" Jans yelled, as he tried to pry the knife from Daniel.

"He's drunk," I yelled to him, "so he's kind of, well, I don't know."

"He's always drunk!" Jans yelled back "he always stays in some pub until two in the morning!" Ok, so this Daniel was always drunk, this explains why he looks so effing ugly.

"I know that you're fishy, Jans Vladimir!" Daniel shrieked, trying to pull the knife back. "You're always so nosey, stop prying into other people's business! She's my bride!"

"Evan, is he actually telling the truth??" Jans asked.

"DO you even think I'd marry him?" I screamed back. I'm getting so tired of this marriage business; I'm not even old enough to think about marriages! "Can someone free me from those nails?"

"NOT RIGHT NOW!" Jans screamed as he tried, and missed, to kick Daniel in the shins.
"Ok…" I muttered, and tried to peel the nails from my jacket. Ow, he almost stuck them into my flesh! It's a good thing that I'm still kind of stronger than most humans, so I succeeded in pulling one nail off my right hand. The bad thing is that there are still four more to go for that hand until it's completely freed. As I pulled them off one by one, Jans was locked in combat with Daniel, both using nothing but there fists, the knife stuck on a tree, forgotten.

"Come on, Ow!" I yelped. Daniel, that careless oaf, had stuck a nail through my palm! Even though I was just lightly, it was enough to feel the pain. So, now I have to try to pull it out. I grasp hold of it and tried to pull it. "OUCH!" I screamed, the nail only shifted a bit, but it hurt like hell! No, I must get this over with; it's just like pulling out a splinter, right? An extra large, silver, solid splinter. I pulled it again; this time it came out a bit. By that time, my hand had almost lost the sense to feel, and my arms ached. One more tug now, before I'm free! I held it tight with my right hand, and bit down hard on my lip. Yes, it's free! But now, nut only my hand was trickling from the wound, my lip was also bleeding from over biting it.

"Jans…ah!" I yelped, because they were coming my way, and so I ducked out of the way. Jans forced Daniel on to the tree, but Daniel fought back, and by the luck of the god of the oafs, his shoe connected with Jans' face and Jans fell on to the earthen ground. Daniel used that chance to pull the knife down and aimed to stab him, but, using my right hand, I reached it before him and threw it next to Jans, who was slowly standing up. Jans snatched it on to the ground, and when Daniel came running at him, accidentally dropped it again. I saw that the blade was now a very jagged blade, cut in half from the impact. It represented a stake more than a dagger now.

"NO, YOU'RE NOT HURTING HIM!" I screamed, and snatched some twigs from the tree. I have no idea how to use them, but I copied this movie I once saw and poked his eyes with them.

"MY EYES!" Daniel screamed his eyes nothing but a bloody mess. It looked so disgusting I had to turn away so that I wouldn't puke.

"Just leave him," I told Jans, but he shook his head.

"He'll have evidence," he said, then swiftly grabbed the knife and impaled Daniel with it. It was nothing graceful and smooth about his death, blood spurted out, covering the trees nearby, and Daniel writhed around as he screamed in agony.

"It seems cleaner in the movies," Jans observed, and I nodded.

"EVAN, WHAT HAPPENED?" Darren's voice yelled from the woods.

"We're here!" Jans called, and Mr. Crepsley and Darren came out from some trees.

"We could not find you, and Darren decided…" Mr. Crepsley started, but stopped. I turned, and I felt everything turn to ice. Darren, with his chin dripping with blood, had made a wound on Daniel's body and was drinking from him! Darren had given us away!

"Jans, I can…" I tried to explain to him, but he only stared at me.

"He has seen too much," Mr. Crepsley said.

"No, he doesn't believe that vampires are killers, he believes that we're good! Jans, you do believe that we're innocent, right? You killed Daniel, not me!" I pleaded, but Jans didn't say a word.

"I always knew that you were fishy, Evan," Jans said finally, "it's just shocking to find that…Darren was a vampire."

"Well…you still believe that we're innocent, right?" I asked cautiously.

"He will have to go, he cannot stay," Mr. Crepsley said softly.

"Great, now Jans can be a vampire like Darren, right?" I asked, excited. If Jans becomes a vampire, then I won't be friendless with only Darren! "Jans, you'll love being a vampire. There are all those benefits and things…"

"You sound like you're a vampire yourself," Jans laughed nervously. "But I know you're not. You're not a vampire, are you?"

"I…" I started to say, but then Mr. Crepsley walked fast to behind him, and twisted his neck, once to the left and then abruptly to the right.

"NO!" I screamed, "he's not…he understood, Jans!"

"He is too dangerous to keep alive, he might betray us," Mr. Crepsley said darkly.

"He'll never betray me!" I cried, but Darren shook his head.

"My friend betrayed me too, when he learned that I was a half vampire even though he wanted to be one of them before," Darren said quietly.

"No, you're all wrong!" I shrieked, "He won't turn against me, he was my friend! He would give his life for me!" No, I won't believe that Jans was dead, it's not possible! I ran over to him, ignoring the throbbing pin in my hand, and checked for a pulse, anything for a sign of life, but nothing was there. Jans was gone.

"It could not be avoided," Mr. Crepsley said, "he would find out soon enough, and he will have to die."

"You mean Sam will have to die too?" I whispered ferociously, "if my parents found out about us, you'll kill them too?"

"Yes, if it is necessary," Mr. Crepsley said flatly, "now we should go back.

"That's not fair," I hissed. So if the whole city found out, we'll just kill them like vermin because we're not human?

"Life's not fair," Mr. Crepsley said without a backwards glance. Darren tried putting his arm around me, but I shrugged him off and pulled the knife out from Daniel's chest, and made a small cross that looked like an 'X' on my right palm.

"On this blood…I swear that I'll never ever marry anyone for Jans Vladimir's sake!" There, now I'd never be 'dirty' even if I'm a vampire, a demon of the night. Now, whether how many thousands of millions of people I kill for my never quenching thirst for blood, I would, at least a little part of me would remain humane and pure, like Jans had imagined me being. Jans thought and believed that I was a human, an innocent human, and a little part of me will always be what he thought I was.

"Evan, please, come," Darren begged, but I ignored him. I took the knife, stabbed Jans in the heart (and getting drenched in blood again), then returning the knife to Daniel's chest with a rough thrust.

"What'd you do that for?" Darren asked.

"It's making Jans look innocent," I explained, secretly proud that I came up with such a great plan, "Now Jans looks like Daniel stabbed him, then he fell off the tree from lots of blood, and then Daniel omitted suicide with the same weapon."

"Smart," Darren said, then grasped me by the shoulders and began pushing me towards the camp. It was so smart, my idea, it must be one of the greatest cheats I've ever performed! I must call Lexi later, and tell her of it. My, she must be mad, it's even greater than her feat when she copied every answer for the next math quiz out of the teacher's handbook! Of course, my forging of Senor Gutierrez's signature was great, but this is better!

"Darren, did you know, that was so my greatest feat ever," I said cheerfully. Why on earth my voice so high is pitched, that's so not cool! "It's so smart, I'm so proud of myself!"

"Evan, are you ok?" Darren asked, giving me a weird look. Is he blind, of course I'm ok! I just did my greatest feat and he's asking if I'm all right?

"Of course I'm ok! I'm so going to phone Lexi when we get back, it's even better than her feat when she copied the math teacher's entire handbook and told us all the answers, even though I got them all right already! Man, I'm losing my memories; I really must buy some extra strong Tylenol when I get back! This is even better than copying Senor Gutierrez's signatures, right? Oh, I'm going to celebrate!" I exclaimed, my hands trembling. Why are they shivering and cold? Oh, I'm so excited I'm nervous, so that's the reason! "I'm so excited, I'm actually nervous, oh, this is so worth celebrating! Do you have any food with you? For some reason I feel hungry, I feel like I didn't eat dinner at all! Why don't you invite Sam over he's such a nice friend, and maybe Evra and Steve, or Alan and Tommy, they're such nice little friends. It'll be a party, and I can ask my mom to rent some movies. Did you watch Titanic yet? I heard that it's a great movie." Darren then shook my hard and made me stand still. "Is there a problem?" I said. Gee, I need to stop sounding so high pitched and cheerful, I'm sounding wrong!

"Evan looks at me. Stop acting this way, Jans Vladimir is dead. Dead, like Sam Gret is. You can't go and phone Lexi or ask your mom to have a party, you're a half vampire now, remember? Evan, forgetting everything is not going to help you, shielding yourself from the truth won't help you either," Darren said sternly. I tried hard not to listen, but his words leaked into my ears like water.

"Oh look, an owl!" I exclaimed pointing at a barn owl sitting on a branch, staring at me, "it's so cute! Do you like owls? They're awfully…"

"Evan, are you listening? Evan, Look-in-to-my-eyes-now." Darren said softly. No, I don't want to. I tried hard not to, really, but I couldn't help sliding my gaze in to his eyes, and locked my black ones on to his brown ones. "Jans is dead, Evan, you can't change destiny, he's gone. Faking and shielding won't bring him back to life, as neither would it bring back Sam." No, I can't believe that! If I don't believe that he's dead, then a little part of him would still be alive, but if I do….then he would be gone forever. No, he's not dead; I won't let him be dead!

"He's not dead," I told him, shaking my head hard, "He's waiting for us at the camp, with brownies he got from the city! Isn't that great?"

"He is dead, Evan," Darren said again, "he won't be waiting anywhere other than heaven now."

"Then let's go find him, isn't Heaven suppose to be a great place?" I ask, trembling slightly. No, Jans is not in heaven, he's waiting for me! He can't just die; he'd kill himself before betraying me!

"Evan, he's dead, face it." Darren said. No, I can't let go of hope, he's still alive! "You were the one who stabbed a hole in him to create a murder scene." No, no, that can't be true! But I looked down at my blood soaked clothes, and my pale fingers splattered with blood, I could tell that he is telling the truth. No more Jans, no more talks about the dead girl, no more chats of Vangaroos. Jans is dead, like Sam is.

"Jans is dead!" I cried, and shuddered all over. A few stray tears rolled down the corners of my eyes, making clean trails in all the blood. "Jans is dead, he'll never come back again. He's dead."

"Yes, it's the truth, you need to accept it!" Darren said firmly.

"Jans is dead!" I screamed, and fell over. I don't want to cry, crying is for the weak, but I couldn't help myself as I hugged my knees and sobbed as if the world was ending. The world was ending, kind of, for me at least. I'm all alone on earth again, with no friends other than Evra. And he might betray me if someone threatens with his snake! Doesn't that dunderhead Crepsley understand how hard it is to make a friend that is just like you, and doesn't make you feel awkward with? Doesn't he understand how hard it is to come by with a friend that won't betray you even if you're a demon?

"Jans…is…is…dead…" I cried to no one, throwing a stick at the owl, which hooted indignantly and flew away. "Now…I'm…I'm…all alone on…earth!" No one knows how it feels like to lose everything you owned all at once, and then when you finally got some of it back, lost it by the same person who took it before.

"I know it's hard, but you got to put yourself together, Evan, half vampires watch people born and die a lot, and you can't cry over each of them," Darren said, pulling my arm and making me walk.

"I hate…being…a half vampire!" I yelled into the trees, "There's nothing but work, and all you get in return is pain misery and agony in your hearts!"

"Come," Darren said, and pulled me back into the tent.

"Where were you, Mr. Tall made us look for you?" Cormac asked cheerfully as we walked into the circle of tents. I looked up into his smiling face which reminded me of how Jans' eyes used to sparkle when he thought of an interesting idea, causing me to apart sobbing softly again. Oh, for goodness sake, how am I supposed to gain their respect again by crying myself apart? I'm acting like a loser, a weakling! Cormac seemed shocked, and then everyone stood aside for us to pass until we got back to our camp. I felt someone give me a scaly hug.

"Mr. Crepsley told me what happened," Evra said, "I'm so sorry about him. He was a good friend." That did it; Jans didn't give up his life for me to live in misery, mourning for him every day and night as if I was a ghoul. He would have wanted me to stay as normal as possible, other than the fact that I was a half vampire. I took my bag and wiped my eyes on the sleeve of a sweater, then smiled up at them.

"How about a game of truth or dare before bed?"