It was a week later that things finally began to get more than exciting. Aadela had continued her brief lessons with Cher, which included both vampirism and normal lore, and had remained as unbending as the bark of a tree, speaking only when necessary. Their meetings were started by a warm greeting from Cher and a brisk and stiff one from Aadela. Cher, being a good teacher (which was something Aadela hadn't expected), used to cover larger spans of knowledge than mentioned in the books, but Aadela's interest was cold.

She had shown to Mr. Tall about what she had suggested she could do by exploiting a bit her new abilities, and he'd seemed satisfied, if not very pleased. Perhaps he doesn't like cheating the people, Aadela pondered, but this is not exactly cheating now, is it? She'd turned like a mutual helper to every single person in the Cirque, and was fast making friends after friends. Evra was her staunch friend up till now.

Then one day, when she was wiping the dishes after breakfast, Mr. Tall warily approached Aadela. Aadela swung around, anxiety thundering all over her.
"Aadela, I think it's time to tell the Cirque the truth about yourself."

Aadela dropped the dishes she was wiping. She very nearly broke them, but caught every single one of them almost completely on her index finger, a mere half an inch from the ground. She placed the dishes aside quickly and gracefully. It seemed like she was doing a curtesy. But Aadela raised herself, taking a voluminous gulp. She wasn't afraid of telling the people about her - ah - "abnormality", but she was afraid of their response. Certainly, they would fear her, be terrifed of her, loathe her, and oh, so much more...

"Aadela," Mr. Tall began, when he saw the frightened look on the girl's face, which made her young face look even younger and vulnerable, "The Cirque has more than enough taste of vampires or even half ones, for that matter. And I've seen how you've made yourself a good friend to each one of them. They won't even pay attention to it, honestly." He said, kindly.

Aadela looked at him, and managed another gulp. She gave a brisk nod, and spoke. "Well, how are you going to tell them? I mean, like a ritual of sorts... or what?"

Mr. Tall managed not to smile. "Just follow me."

"Phew!" Aadela wiped the sweat off her brow as she lifted a beam of iron, on which either side were balanced an enormous, full to the brink water buckets. She had to run around the hill nearby at least four times. And that was not all! She had to recite off her cultural course about Italy, and mention many important facts about pizzas, which infuriated her so much so that she nearly stamped on the slice of pizza which Cher offered to her, obviously to taunt her.

"And why the heck am I being made to do this?" Aadela managed to pant the final, unthinkably blissful time, when she'd returned from her run.

"To build your stamina, of course, miss." Cher replied.

"For world war 3?" Aadela asked, irritated.

"No. For something far much important and predictable." Cher frowned as he replied, and his tone got heavy with anxiety. Aadela didn't decide to ask more. She was still fuming about what happened at Cher's tent a week ago, and was too extrovert and busy these days to solve Cher's riddles.

"Aadela!" came a cry. Evra. Cursing his imperfect timing, Aadela had to cover her ears a bit as Evra's shout came too loud for her liking. "What?" Aadela had to scream back - they were a mile or so away from the Cirque.

"You've to come and help us out!" Evra's shout came a little breathy this time, surely from the strain of having to shout so loud. Aadela glanced sideways at Cher, who merely shrugged and arranged himself from the rock upon which he'd been perching about. "Want a lift?" he asked.

"No. I'll manage." Aadela replied coolly. Even though she was still clearly very exhausted, she thought that the continuous brutal training of hers could now be put to use. Besides, she didn't want to talk to Cher still. Without another glance, Cher flitted back, and Aadela could vaguely make out a fleeting outline against the horizon. Sighing, Aadela got ready for her own run.

Before she knew what was happening, Aadela found herself collapsed in a heap upon the ground, panting heavily, with Evra shaking her gently. "What happened, Aadela?" But Aadela could barely managed to open her eyes, let alone answer back. She was feeling so weak... and as she began to come back into the present, she began to feel so... thirsty. And even though she knew which could be an ideal, er, meal, she couldn't just resist the thought of her increasing hunger. And how long had it been since she had last had her meal? A month, she thought, broodingly... But she sifted away from the thought: it made her all the more hungry.

She tried to move herself away from Evra, to shift him away, but she found she was useless and exhausted. Aadela was so desperate that at last, she looked up into Evra's face, and he jumped back, consumed with shock: Aadela's dark blue were becoming darker and almost mixing into a black colour, and the whites of her eyes were red with strain.

"What?" she snapped. She didn't like the look on Evra's face, but it was a sign that she'd succeeded in warning him. She now took upon a strangely calm tone, to keep the fear intact yet in check. "Leave me, Evra. Go and tell Cher to keep a bottle or so ready. Go." Without even a blink, Evra scurried away. Aadela took in a deep breath, and tried to block her vampire senses. She got up awkwardly and tramped heavily but quickly through the Cirque to the black tent she knew was Cher's.

Cher turned around and handed a vial full of rich, dark blood to Aadela wordlessly, who snatched it from him. Aadela emptied the vial in one single gulp and took another one, which met the same fate as the previous one. Aadela then sipped halfway through a third one that Cher handed out to her and finally satisfied, she gave the vial back to him and wiped her mouth. Cher turned his back to Aadela as she muttered an emotional thanks and began rearranging his bottles.

"You are too stubborn. You should've had enough sense to ride on my back way back." Cher responded to her "thanks", his voice very taut. Aadela blinked, but then looked out of the tent. The first few times the hunts had disgusted her, but then hunger and sense had taken over her. Besides, she'd had her revenge to take, a fact which Cher used frequently to motivate and energize her. But Aadela had thought of herself a much more respected vampire, if she could actually work out a diet plan for herself. Like what if she could manage to feed only once two months, but not at the cost of extreme hunger? She was certainly working hard towards it. Of course, there had been slips when she'd become too hungry, but the current slip was a major one... the thought that Evra would never speak to her again made her eyes a little moist.

She'd become a good hunter and could feed herself despite the absense of the anaesthisia like gas which full vampires possessed. She would either surprise the hell out of her targets, or just slam those chemicals which made people faint in people's faces or just take a syringe and glass when they were in hotels, or cities or something like that. Still, she used to go out with Cher more often.

"Mr. Tall was calling me. Thanks again, Cher." Aadela whispered and walked out, blankly.

She walked to Mr. Tall's caravan and saw him standing by it, looking out as if there was someone coming. Evra wasn't there, Aadela thought with mingled feelings of relief and despair.

"Are you alright now, Ms. Felix?" Mr. Tall asked her upon catching sight of her. Aadela instinctively bent her head down in shame.

"Yes. And I'm sorry."

"No blood lost, no foul done. Though you might want to be more careful around Evra now." Mr. Tall shrugged. "Anyway, we're having some guests come over. Would you mind helping them around the Cirque?"

"No, of course not."

"Then all we do is wait for the time being."

They waited for quite some time. Perhaps 15-20 minutes. And all the while Aadela came up with 100, albeit stupid knacks to be friends with Evra again. Finally, as she let out a sigh of exasperation at her own lame thoughts, Mr. Tall stepped forward and said, "They've come."

Instantly, there appeared a horrendously ugly vampire and his young half-vampire assistant. Aadela almost let out a sharp gasp of surprise when she saw the boy was about her age only - 16. He was a million times better looking than his colleague in blood and Aadela found herself drawn to him. It was as if, Aadela thought, that both of them had something in common besides their age, yet there was a twist. And he was pretty good looking too, Aadela mused. And smart, Aadela thought with her strong intuition. She shifted her gaze to his colleague in blood and stifled a gasp full of shock: there was something about his injury on his face, something about his hair colour and the way they were placed on his head, his face cut... something about him entirely that made Aadela think she'd seen him and sent an icy vibe down her spine.

Pushing the thoughts hastily aside, she turned her attention to the boy and flashed him a small, but friendly and warm smile. The boy smiled back at her and she looked at Mr. Tall shaking his hands with the full vampire. "Larten!" He greeted.

And then Aadela remembered: the vampire whom Saiansh had seen... of course! This was Larten Crepsely and Darren Shan. Her mind recoiled and her face became hard and cold. Her eyes began flickering with an icy rage very frightening.

"Aadela, this is Mr. Larten Crepsely and his assistant Darren Shan." Mr. Tall said as if Aadela already didn't know. Larten Crepsely nodded in greeting and smiled, which made him look like a monstrous spider. Darren Shan extended his hand forward. Aadela couldn't help it: she just glared at him, and the boy, who was responding to Aadela's intial friendliness, withdrew his hand with a shrug, and looked away, a bit embarrassed and highly confused.

Mr. Tall did sense that awkward moment. "Now, Aadela, will you escort these people to their tents?"

Aadela turned at her heels and looked him full in the face. "Why should I?" she hissed venemously. "Why should I, when if I or anyother person hadn't seen them, they wouldn't have the misfortune of being an orphan? I'm not going to escort them anywhere. Besides, they're not lame or challenged; however challenged they might be to curse someone's fate." Aadela turned around pointedly to give the newcomers an ugly smirk.

"You shall do as I say, take them to their tents." Mr. Tall repeated, with a hint of a severity which ought not be displeased.

Aadela turned around again, this time facing all three of them and making sharp eye-contact. "Why should I offer them a service, Mr. Tall, when they offered me a life of a vagabond? No, Mr. Tall, I stand by my words." she whispered now, getting the venom out of her voice and face, only to replace it by grief and coldness. But then, her voice turned ravenous with rage again, as she muttered. "Watch me."

Saying so, Aadela marched down to her tent, hands curled up in fists, and eyes travelling in every direction. The sad and confused girl left the scene, cursing her fate, the newcomers and herself for the injustice she'd dealt. But for now, that defeated girl could only think of Saiansh relating his tale, so cruelly real that she spun around in her tent expecting him behind her back... And of her parents, baricading themselves against something they were both wrong and right about, and Aadela was stupid about... Very wise and very correct was the person who said that half-knowledge should not be revelled in... it would be better to be ignorant than be only in half light about the truth. Or the lie. Or logic. Or, life...

So finally we meet the great Darren Shan... Rather, Aadela meets. Anyway, I don't know if Master Shan is good looking or not, but I want him to be, so excuse me for a pinch of OOCness.

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