A/N: I'm not new to fanfiction, but I just recently got an actual account and this is my first fic, so cut me some slack! (This takes place during the second book). I'm going to take advantage of creative author's license and tweak this, so Darren is currently looking about sixteen or seventeen, and his friend's ages are up to about there also.
"Darren! DAAARRREEENN! Get your lazy bum out here right now!"
A young half-vampire called Darren Shan suddenly awoke to the sounds of his best friend, Evra Von yelling at him. He wasn't especially distinguished, but his fingernails were particularly dark and sharp, and his skin was deathly pale. He was wearing a black child's tuxedo, dusty and ragged from wear. He also bore ten small scars, one on each fingertip, a constant reminder of his inhumanity.
"Bloody hell, I was asleep!" He called back. He groggily rolled out of the hammock that was in a small tent he shared with Evra. Evra and Darren lived with a traveling circus called 'The Cirque Du Freak'. It was an illegal freak show in which there were real freaks, such as Rhamus Two bellies, Gertha Teeth, Sive and Seersa the Twisting Twins, Hans Hans, The Wolfman, Truska the Bearded Lady, Cormac Limbs, Hibernus Tall, and Of course, Darren's friend, Larten Crepsley and his performing spider, Madam Octa. Mr. Crepsley (as Darren referred to him) had blooded Darren, in an agreement to save his best friend, Steve Leonard (Leopard). Even though Darren had recently 'been accepted into the fold', he refuses to drink blood (much to the dismay of Mr. Crepsley, he knows Darren will die if he goes too long without drinking human blood.).
"You'd better have a good reason to wake a sleeping vampire." He continued while opening the tent flap, "We can be very dangerous you know. You –" And then he stopped dead at the sight in front of him.
Alongside Evra, there was Darren's other friend, Sam Grest. Sam was the child of ignorant parents who could care less what he did, just as long as he didn't get himself killed. Sam had just recently become a friend of Darren's, and was FASCINATED with Evra, who was part snake, and whose entire body was covered in slippery(but not slimy) green scales, topped off with a full head of long, neon green hair.
But there was a third. On the other side of Sam, Darren could see a girl he had never seen before. She had jet black, waist-length shiny hair, and piercing grey eyes. She had the same pale lips as Sam (so he figured they were siblings), which were currently twisted into a sneer.
Darren looked down at his half-naked body. It was mid summer, so both Evra and Darren slept almost naked, with just black boxer-shorts that were available to those who resided at the Cirque as pajamas. He impulsively crossed his arms over his chest in a feeble attempt to cover himself.
"Oh, hello Darren, how kind of you to join us." Evra smirked. Darren's shock and embarrassment was obviously quite plain. "But the thing is, you can't drink my blood, I'm part snake. AND, you wouldn't anyway. You think it's nasty."
This was true. Darren had still refused to drink human blood. He had drunk blood from a variety of animals, but he wouldn't drink blood from a human. After all, the memories of being a human, normal schoolboy were still fresh in his mind, and he still hadn't given up hope of the human half of his blood taking over the half of vampirism, leaving him human(which eventually, it would do the exact opposite).
"Hey Darren," Sam piped up. "This is my sister, Whisper. I told her about the Cirque, and she seemed interested, so I brought her along." Sam was about a year younger than Evra and Darren, but Whisper looked to be about the same age.
"Hello…..Darren. I am Whisper." She stuck out her hand, but cautiously, as if she was expecting Darren to grab her and chop her (rather lovely) head off. Darren took her hand, and he felt her wince as soon as his hand touched hers. She looked up, straight into his eyes and he felt…. Melted, like she had analyzed him in one glance. Extremely unnerved, he quickly dropped his hand. If she was going to stick around, He needed to find out (somehow) what it was about her that made him feel so weird.
A/N: okay I think that's long enough, I'll update in a day or two, if I get any reviews encouraging me to continue. If not, I'll update in a day or two anyway.