Thanks for the reviews and suggestions. They are much appreciated!! This
is the hopefully better chapter 2. Sorry it's taken me so long. Chapter 3
is on its way! Thanks to my friend Kirsten who came up with the idea of
putting the Internet into the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Darren Shan saga.
"I know you're gonna find this difficult to take in Annie, but what I'm telling you is the truth. Darren isn't really dead. He faked his own death so that he could live a new life as a vampire's assistant."
The shock of what I'd just heard overwhelmed me. My brain rattled with unanswered questions. All of which made my stomach churn. I couldn't believe him. My brother, Darren, would never fake his own death to join some evil vampire, but Steve insisted he was telling the truth and that Darren was now travelling with the vampire, drinking blood from innocent humans. Darren had always been so kind-hearted and gentle, and it made no sense what so ever that Darren was an evil creature of the night. I didn't want to let go of all the good memories I had of us together; after all, they were what got me through the recent rough times.
I had to admit that Darren had been acting slightly strange in those last weeks he was with us. Steve told me it was because the vampire blood was consuming him, eating up every last drop of the goodness Darren held within, but vampires didn't really exist did they? It was just a made- up story and even if it wasn't how could my own brother turn into a monster that fed on human blood.
I didn't know what the real truth was, but I had to find out or it would drive me insane. Steve hadn't really told me much, but I knew that he believed Darren was pure evil. Hatred and anger flooded his eyes as he spoke about Darren and the supposed vampire "Vur Horston" or "Mr Crepsley". He blamed them for everything that had gone wrong in the last year and it was clear that nothing would persuade him otherwise.
My head swirled with questions and images. Images of Darren sucking blood from an innocent person. I felt completely mixed up. My father didn't notice the change in my mood; he didn't really pay me any attention nowadays. Everyday was the same. He would come in from work and then sit in front of the telly all evening, swigging from a half-empty vodka bottle. I tried to talk to him but he would just curse at me to leave him alone. He was becoming an alcoholic and I was terrified he might go the same way as my mum.
I couldn't stand it any longer; I had to find out if Darren really was alive. I decided the first place to look would be the freak circus that the vampire belonged to. Trouble was I had no idea where they were. That evening I decided to find out more about freak circuses. The Internet was my first thought. It might have some information about the freak circus Darren belonged to. I typed in "Cirque du Freak" (Steve had mentioned the name to me earlier) on a search engine. Strangely, it came up with lots of pages. None of which seemed to be the right place, but I looked anyway. The first one I clicked was named "Circo de Bestia". I wasn't sure what it meant, but thought it would be a good place to start.
The page came up, bright letters came flashing up bearing the name and attractions. My eyes skimmed down the information, searching for any signs that this circus was joined with the Cirque du Freak. I didn't think there could be that many freak circuses in the world, meaning the ones that did exist would almost definitely know each other. I thought my best chance would be to email the owner of the Circo de bestia and hope that he may have heard of the monstrous place Darren had joined.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Darren Shan saga.
"I know you're gonna find this difficult to take in Annie, but what I'm telling you is the truth. Darren isn't really dead. He faked his own death so that he could live a new life as a vampire's assistant."
The shock of what I'd just heard overwhelmed me. My brain rattled with unanswered questions. All of which made my stomach churn. I couldn't believe him. My brother, Darren, would never fake his own death to join some evil vampire, but Steve insisted he was telling the truth and that Darren was now travelling with the vampire, drinking blood from innocent humans. Darren had always been so kind-hearted and gentle, and it made no sense what so ever that Darren was an evil creature of the night. I didn't want to let go of all the good memories I had of us together; after all, they were what got me through the recent rough times.
I had to admit that Darren had been acting slightly strange in those last weeks he was with us. Steve told me it was because the vampire blood was consuming him, eating up every last drop of the goodness Darren held within, but vampires didn't really exist did they? It was just a made- up story and even if it wasn't how could my own brother turn into a monster that fed on human blood.
I didn't know what the real truth was, but I had to find out or it would drive me insane. Steve hadn't really told me much, but I knew that he believed Darren was pure evil. Hatred and anger flooded his eyes as he spoke about Darren and the supposed vampire "Vur Horston" or "Mr Crepsley". He blamed them for everything that had gone wrong in the last year and it was clear that nothing would persuade him otherwise.
My head swirled with questions and images. Images of Darren sucking blood from an innocent person. I felt completely mixed up. My father didn't notice the change in my mood; he didn't really pay me any attention nowadays. Everyday was the same. He would come in from work and then sit in front of the telly all evening, swigging from a half-empty vodka bottle. I tried to talk to him but he would just curse at me to leave him alone. He was becoming an alcoholic and I was terrified he might go the same way as my mum.
I couldn't stand it any longer; I had to find out if Darren really was alive. I decided the first place to look would be the freak circus that the vampire belonged to. Trouble was I had no idea where they were. That evening I decided to find out more about freak circuses. The Internet was my first thought. It might have some information about the freak circus Darren belonged to. I typed in "Cirque du Freak" (Steve had mentioned the name to me earlier) on a search engine. Strangely, it came up with lots of pages. None of which seemed to be the right place, but I looked anyway. The first one I clicked was named "Circo de Bestia". I wasn't sure what it meant, but thought it would be a good place to start.
The page came up, bright letters came flashing up bearing the name and attractions. My eyes skimmed down the information, searching for any signs that this circus was joined with the Cirque du Freak. I didn't think there could be that many freak circuses in the world, meaning the ones that did exist would almost definitely know each other. I thought my best chance would be to email the owner of the Circo de bestia and hope that he may have heard of the monstrous place Darren had joined.
