A/N: Sorry the new chapter took so long, but I was having problems with my stories page, so I couldn't update. But HEEERRRREE it is!

Darren wasn't listening. He was running his eyes frantically over the audience, looking for his friend and his…guest. He found him, and saw who he had brought with him.

It was Whisper.

And the look on her face was sickening him.

Darren could here the pretty little melody that played out of the flute that was in his own mouth, and he was standing on the stage, in front of a huge audience, but his eyes never left the face of the black-haired girl in the fifth row from the front of the audience. He had been watching her since the moment he had spotted her. Most people who came to see the Cirque Du Freak were a bit unnerved by the spider act (especially when it came time to kill the goat, or whatever small farm-animal they had handy).

But not Whisper.

The fact that a huge, poisonous spider was spinning a web over a man's face whose life was entirely in my hands didn't even seem to phase her. In fact, she looked down at the stage quite gleefully, as though reveling in the prospect of watching the brave man fall, and not get back up, at the hands of his own pet.

After the show………………………………

Darren was absently walking towards his and Evra's tent. About a quarter of the way there, Sam and Whisper caught up with him, and both were silent. Whisper's face was now quite plain and unsmiling. Darren began to wonder to himself if the look in her face was just a trick of the light, or else nervousness. He was too deep in thought to hear Whisper ask him a question.

"Don't you ever get scared, Darren? You know, when handling a dangerous thing like that , one little…ah…slip could cost a life. So fragile a thing is man…" She said scathingly, "or freak in your case." She added bluntly. It was an obvious joke.

"Huh?" asked Darren. He was lost in his own head, and had come very close to walking right into a telephone pole. "Oh. I don't really get scared per say, but I do get a bit nervous. Even a…freak like me gets a little buzz when performing in front of an audience that size." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get too ahead of yourself." Whisper said. She looked around. "Well, I've got to go." She said hurriedly.

"But…" Darren began, but she hadn't waited for an answer. She had run off quite suddenly.

"Well, I think I had better follow her. My mum's going to have kittens if she finds out I've been out this late... see yah." Sam said, turning to walk away. Darren didn't respond. He was off to la-la land again, contemplating Whisper.

Oh, shit, he thought when he finally realized that he had passed up another opportunity to ask Sam what was up with Whisper.

………………………………………………………………………

"Darren……" Whisper mumbled incoherently into his chest.

Darren looked at her. She was laying her head on his chest, which he noticed was bare. Her long black hair was spread everywhere. He kept looking down, and found that they were both naked, with a silken crimson sheet draped over the both of them, just set high enough on his body to cover his nakedness, and hers.

"Whisper? What the hell…?" Darren asked, horrified. But she cut him off, pressing one soft finger over is lips, smiling seductively.

She reached, and cupped his face in one hand, and pulled his chin down, moving his lips onto her own. She kissed him deeply, and when she pulled away, he groaned throatily.

"Whisper…"

"DARREN! What are you still doing in bed? Get up! We've got Little People to feed!" Hollered Evra.

Darren groaned. It was morning, and that had all been a dream. He sat up, and rubbed his eyes groggily. He remembered the dream.

That was disgusting, He thought.

……………………………………………………………………

That night was a night off for the performers. Darren, Evra, Whisper, and Sam all sat around a small fire, some ways away from the vans that were the encampment of the Cirque. Darren hadn't said anything to anyone about his dream…nor did he plan to. The last thing he wanted was the mixture of smirks and horrified stares that would surely greet this news.

Darren had failed to consider that it may have just been a dream…typical of teenagers. He was worried that he might like Whisper…though she was creepy. Maybe Mr. Crepsley was right. Maybe…

No, thought Darren. She is creepy, she scares me, and I don't like her, and that's the end of – oh, who am I kidding. I don't know! I don't like her THAT WAY. She's okay I suppose…

"Hey Darren, you with us?" came Sam's amused voice.

"He's long gone…off to la la land or cloud nine or wherever it is he goes at random times. Don't bother, my friend." Said Evra jokingly.

"Hey! I was just thinking…a concept which it seems, is too difficult for your two small minds to comprehend. And anyways, the vast and complex workings of my sophisticated mind are none of your business." Darren said scathingly.

At this, Whisper giggled. Actually giggled.

"As much as it pains me to say this, but Darren –" she nodded towards Darren – "has a valid point." She said.

"Hey, shut up." Sam pouted.

"Hey, now, no need to bicker, kiddies." Evra said jokingly.

"We weren't bickering." Said Darren at once.

"What would you call it?" Evra retorted.

"Playful banter." Darren said distractedly, as an ember from the fire had just popped out of the dying fire and landed on his bare foot. "OUCH!" he exclaimed.

"Are you quite all right Darren?" asked Sam, who had noticed Darren trying to extinguish the ember that had cruelly lodged itself between two of his toes. Whisper had noticed this also, and she looked as if she was trying to refrain from eating a watermelon after being stranded in a desert for a week.

"Oh, yes I'm fine. This ember here is just burning my flesh." Said Darren sarcastically, stamping his foot.

"Let me see it." Whisper said quietly.

"Whisper, no. You know what the doctors.."

"I don't care what the doctors say, he's just been burned. Again, let me see it." Said Whisper dangerously.

Sam still looked worried, but was decidedly defeated and backed off. Whisper slowly made her way over to him, her eyes never leaving his. He could feel her intense gaze burrowing deep into his eyes, his mind, and his soul. He could have sworn that he saw her eyes glow white for a moment, but he blinked and they were as dark as ever. He felt a warmth spread from an area in his chest all the way down to his toes and fingertips. Then, as soon as they came, the sensations stopped.

When she finally reached him, she bent down, finally tearing her gaze from his eyes to look at his foot. She lifted it up.

"There is nothing there," she said softly. Regaining her composure, she added, "You're a big baby, Darren, there isn't even a mark!"

Darren looked up from Whisper's face to Evra's, which bore an expression of raw astonishment. Sam's face however, looked grim and knowing. There WAS something different about Whisper…and Sam…

He knew.

………………………………………………………

A/N: Well there it is, Chapter four. I'm sorry it took so long, but my stories page was being mean. Also, I would like to remind you a that though this takes place in the second book, I am taking creative author's license into consideration, and modifying the time frame a bit. In the actual books, at this point, Darren's body would be twelve or thirteen. In my story, his body is sixteen or seventeen.

.CrimsonMysteryOfARose.