Carolyn's Comments:

Mood: Bored

Rant: Ah, the villain is finally revealed in this chapter. There's so much symbolism when it comes to the bad guy. I'll explain it more in a later rant. (then there'll be more symbolism goodness!)

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Cirque Du Freak' All the characters from that series are the property of the great Darren Shan. (Samantha is my own original character though)

"EVRA!" Katie sobbed in fury; "I'LL NEVER SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN AS LONG AS I LIVE!" She ran out of the room bawling like a two-year-old.

"Katie! Wait!" Evra cried after her. " I can explain!"

"Yes, I think we'd all love a good explanation, Evra dearest." Samantha growled from behind him. Evra gulped and turned around. Samantha's eye pupils had transformed into flames, and there was a black miasma surrounding her.

"WOW! LOOK AT HER BATTLE AURA SPARK!" Cronos said in awe.

"This couldn't have turned out any better!" Sam said gleefully.

"How can you say that?!" Lauren cried. "Katie's crying!"

"Oh shit! You're right!" Sam bolted from the room to go comfort Katie.

"I'm still waiting for an explanation." Samantha snarled dangerously. She had her arms folded and was glaring angrily at Evra.

"Well Sam," Darren sighed, "It's all kinda complicated..."

"How many times must I ask you to call me by my full name?" Samantha sighed, "I'm Samantha, not Sam or Sammie."

"And how many times must I ask you to stop calling me Shan-Chan?" Darren retorted.

"Touché, Shan-Chan. Now tell me what's going on."

"Well, Katie's a fangirl of Evra's, and her boyfriend, Sam, is kinda sharing her with him. It's been going on for the last week or so."

"EVRA!" Samantha shouted, "This is the worst thing you've ever done!"

"Even worse than when he tried to feel you up when you first met?" Darren asked.

"This is the SECOND worst thing he's done!"

"Even worse than when he tried to kiss you while you were sleeping and you broke his jaw?" Mr. Crepsley asked.

"Okay, this is the THIRD worst thing he's ever done!"

"What about the time he-"

"THIS IS THE THIRD WORST THING HE'S EVER DONE!" Samantha shrieked interrupting her friends.

"Can you believe this?" Alex said to Cronos in shock.

"Yeah, I know!" Cronos said, agreeing with Alex for the first time in his life, "I knew Evra was a louse, but I never thought he'd pull something like THIS! Poor Katie!"

"Who cares about that?!" Alex cried. He pointed at Samantha, "I was talking about how HOT that girl is! She's gotta join the cast!"

"…You disgust me…" Cronos grumbled.

"I can hear you, you know!" Samantha called out.

"Well I have to agree with Cronos on this one." Carolyn sighed, "I can't believe Evra did this!"

"Well it wouldn't have happened if she wasn't an obsessive little fangirl!" Samantha argued.

Carolyn stared at her in shock. "Listen Samantha, I know that you're an original character that I created so I know you better than you know yourself. But despite your hard-ass attitude, you CANNOT accuse my friend of something like this! Evra hit on he-"

Evra clamped a hand on her mouth. "You can't tell her that I started this!" He hissed, "If you do, she WILL kill me!"

Carolyn glared at him. She may have disliked Evra, but she didn't want someone else's blood on her hands.

"Listen Sammie," Evra said sweetly, forgetting her dislike of nicknames, "I'm sorry about all this, but I really like working here on the studio. Darren too, so we don't want to go back to the Slayers Clan with you. Not yet anyway."

"Well then," Samantha said grinning, "Looks like I'm staying too!"

"WHAT!?" Carolyn screamed. "You can't just-"

"I need to keep an eye on Evra, so that girl doesn't pull anything!" Samantha said folding her arms.

"Carolyn, we might not have a choice," Cronos sighed, "According to our rules, we'll hire ANYONE as long as they can contribute something to the show."

"I guess…" Carolyn sighed. "Well, what kind of skills do you have?"

"Let's see…" Samantha said thinking hard. "Well, I'm a professional Vampire Hunter (but I only hunt evil ones), I'm an expert swordfighter, I'm part-witch, I can use spirit energy, I graduated from college at the age of 14, and I'm an excellent cook.

"Damn, that's impressive." Carolyn said in awe, "But I do feel kinda guilty hiring my best friend's love rival to further the plot of my story…but oh well! We might as well! Welcome to the team!" She stuck her hand out and Samantha shook it.

"Great!" She said smiling, "Oh, by the way, I'm a bit of an alcoholic, so can we have a drinking party? It's kinda what I do…"

"I like her!" Cronos said grinning.

"But we're out of booze!" Carolyn said.

Suddenly a random crewmember stuck his head in. "Hey Carolyn? The new shipment of beer is here!"

Carolyn sighed. "Oh great, more alcohol related jokes. Stupid plot-device…"

Later that night, everyone was throwing a keg party in the cafeteria to celebrate Samantha joining the crew. Carolyn and Caitlin had finally talked a depressed Katie into coming. Katie was sitting at the table, sobbing hysterically, chugging beer, and hiccupping. When Evra tried to talk to her, Sam almost killed him.

Samantha seemed to fit right at home. She was singing drunkly. Fortunately, she had a good singing voice, so no one cared.

Carl was there as well, though he looked like he was NOT having a good time. He was standing in the corner, staring at everyone in disgust, and sipping ale.

"Carolyn," Caitlin slurred, "I don't like that Carl guy. Only a real weirdo doesn't get drunk at one of these parties. He's evil."

Carolyn rolled her eyes as Caitlin slumped to the floor. Caitlin thought EVERYTHING was evil. Whenever the friends went out walking, Caitlin would gesture towards the woods and exclaim: "The trees are evil!" And it always turned out that at least one of them actually WAS. But this time, Caitlin was too drunk to trust.

The drinking was so heavy, that even the most hardened drinkers of the group had lost consciousness. Soon, only Cronos, Carolyn, and Carl were still standing. Carolyn wasn't a heavy drinker and Carl had barely finished half his beer. But even poor Cronos was feeling tipsy.

"Cronos, are you losing your drinking skills?" Carolyn asked.

Cronos looked at her like she had just insulted him. "Heck no…" He gasped, "I think someone put sumtin in my booze… Goodnight mommy…" With those words, he passed out.

"He really doesn't know when to quit." Carl sighed. "Does he get drunk often?"

"If only you knew." Carolyn sighed as she lifted Cronos up onto her back, "At least he's not as fat as the LAST time I had to haul his drunk ass outta somewhere."

"Just leave him," Carl instructed, "I need to speak to you for a moment considering the show."

(Carl's true evil nature about to be revealed! RUN CAROLYN!)

"Sure thing." Carolyn said dropping Cronos to the floor. She followed Carl out into the hall.

(What a moron.)

"So what's this about?" Carolyn asked once they were outside the room. "If you need money, take it from my overseas bank account. It has enough money to keep the show running for over 50 years."

"It's about your ideas for the show." Carl stated.

"You don't like them?" Carolyn asked in shock, "But the audience loves it!"

"I know. It's all very funny, very original and creative." Carl stated, "That's why I need you."

"Huh?"

"Or to put it simply, that's why I need your SOUL!" With those words, he spun around and placed his hand on her forehead. Carolyn felt a sting of pain, right before she dropped to the floor unconscious.