The last day on our walk to Vampire Mountain was tense, very tense. Kurda wouldn't look me in the eye and none of us dared talk about the previous evening. We walked along, making idle small talk, the atmosphere was buzzing with uncertainty. Eventually I decided I couldn't take it anymore.
"Kurda, if you want me to go I'll turn around right now," I sighed.
"I don't know if I do or I don't," Kurda mumbled.
"Well if you do just say and I'll leave you."
"Ok," Kurda said quietly.
"Ok you want me to go?" I asked, my heart Pounding.
"Yes,"
"Kurda!" Cyrus cried, "What's got into you? What could Ember possibly do to harm us?"
"Yeah, she's like a flea, annoying but harmless," Sparcalo said. Was that a compliment?
"She's part of the group," Oric added.
"But it's Kurda's choice and we should respect it, it concerns him most," I interrupted.
"But you'll never get back alive on your own," Cyrus said.
"Probably not," I replied, shrugging, and then turned on my heel and walked away.
I'd stopped caring. I'd lost everything. I had nothing left. I just didn't think life was worth living anymore.
" Stop Ember," Kurda called. I spun round to face him. "Ignore me, I'm being stupid," he said, smiling.
"If you see me coming at you with a knife I give you permission to slap me," I said, grinning.
"Yeah, Ok," Kurda replied.
"Unless it's on a special occasion," I added.
"I don't know why I listened to Desmond Tiny anyway, what does he know, eh?" Kurda smiled.
"Well just to be on the safe side, give me your knife," I said, having a sudden thought. Kurda frowned, confused, but handed me the knife in his belt. I took it from him and made a small cut in my finger.
"I swear on my blood that I will never try to hurt you," I promised.
"Ember, I'd trust you with my life, you don't need to swear on…" Kurda started to say but I stuck my finger in his mouth. He spat and spluttered, trying to get it out. I pulled away from him and wiped my hand on my trousers.
"There," I said, grinning.
"You're crazy!" Kurda laughed and then put an arm around my shoulder, "That's good enough for me."
Cyrus, Sparcalo, and Oric all cheered and we started to walk again.
After a three-hour walk through a maze of tunnels we stopped outside a large cave.
"This is it," Kurda announced.
"This is what?" Oric asked.
"Where the Vampaneze are hiding," Kurda replied and I suddenly felt sick. I held Dog close to me and he licked my face reassuringly. I was about to get my first look at the Vampaneze and I was dreading it. Cyrus must have noticed how uncomfortable I was.
"Stop worrying, it'll be fine," he assured me, putting an arm around my shoulder and trying to comfort me. Kurda stepped into the cave and the rest of us waited outside like he'd told us to do. For a few minutes nothing happened and we were all tensely silent, then Kurda came out.
"I've had a word Ember," he said, "We'll be down to see you in a few hours after we've signed in."
"You're leaving me here?" I asked.
"We've got to go and get settled," Kurda told me.
"No!" I cried," …no! I… no!" I couldn't find words for it, I looked pleadingly at Cyrus.
"I thought you could look after yourself, don't be a baby," he said, grinning. I really didn't want to look like a coward to so I gathered my courage and took a few steps forward into the cave. I froze, at least twenty purple-skinned, red-eyed, animal like men were there, smoking, playing cards and scrapping with each other. I gulped, turned back to the vampires, and hissed " I can't do this," but then I realised that I was talking to thin air, they'd already left me. I sank to the ground and sat there silently for almost half an hour, stroking Dog absentmindedly. Without warning someone grabbed me by my sweater. I dropped Dog in shock and he stood there, barking and growling furiously. Whoever had grabbed me swung me round and slammed me against the wall. Suddenly there was a purple face very close up to mine.
"One, I want to know who you are," the Vampaneze hissed, his breath was disgusting, "Two, I want to know what you're doing here, and three, human, I want to know what your blood tastes like."
"My name's Ember," I gasped in fear, "I'm here with Cyrus Dubois and Kurda Smahlt, please don't kill me!"
"Why shouldn't I?" the Vampaneze asked, he put his hand on my face and quiet, terrified sobs shook my body.
"Because Kurda promised me you wouldn't" I whispered.
"Kurda shouldn't make promises he can't keep," the Vampaneze growled and ran his long, sharp nails down my face, leaving three deep cuts on my cheek. I closed my eyes and suddenly my fear was replaced by burning anger.
"You bully!" I growled through gritted teeth. And then, without warning, I gathered my courage, pretended the vampaneze was just Sparcalo on a bad day, and pushed my knee upwards as hard as I could. The vampaneze groaned and let go of me, I turned and thrust the palm of my hand up into his face, there was a pleasant crunch as it came into contact with his nose. The vampaneze swore and I ran past him into the cave, then, too late, I realised what I'd done. There was nowhere else to run and suddenly there were about fifteen vampaneze on top of me, pulling at me and crushing me. I could hear Dog barking in the background but all I could see was a heap of bodies trying to get at me.
"Let me go!" I screamed.
"Stop!" someone bellowed. The vampaneze let go of me and I lay on the ground, crying. Dog came up and licked my face, trying to comfort me.
"What gives!" someone yelled.
"Kurda's asked us to keep her safe," the vampaneze that had stopped the others shouted.
"And you listen to everything Kurda says?" someone else snorted, "Come on Glalda, please!"
"No!" the vampaneze snapped. The others started to walk away and return to what they had been doing, grumbling as they went. Someone grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me to my feet but I pulled my hand away and snarled something I'd better not repeat. I looked up into a young, pale, purple-tinted face, the eyes weren't yet red but were black with a ring of red around the outside.
"Sorry," the new vampaneze said quietly, " I just wondered if you were ok."
"Err… yeah… I'm fine… thanks," I said, uncertainly, standing up and feeling foolish. I wiped the blood from my cheek and the vampaneze looked at it and winced.
"Sorry about them," he mumbled.
"Hmm, being slammed against a wall, threatened, cut, petrified, almost drained of my life's blood and then almost torn to pieces," I said, counting on my fingers, "Somehow I don't think sorry quite covers it." Then I smiled to show I was ok.
"My name's Jasper, I like your dog," the vampaneze said, grinning.
"My name's Ember, thanks," I replied and scooped Dog up into my arms. Jasper reached forward and started stroking him and Dog closed his eyes as if enjoying it.
"He doesn't like vampires and vampaneze, he usually bites them, you must have a way with animals," I said.
"I was training to be a vet up until a few months ago," Jasper replied, "What's his name?"
" He doesn't have one," I answered. Jasper tutted and took Dog from me gently and held him up, staring at him.
"How about Cosmo?"
"What?"
"The dog's name," Jasper laughed.
"Oh, I was just going to call him Dog, but Cosmo's nice, it's one of my favourite names," I said quickly.
"You're beautiful," Jasper said quietly.
"Pardon?" I asked, shocked.
"Err… it's beautiful… the name Cosmo… really nice… I've gotta go," Jasper burbled, handed the dog back to me and then hurried away, blushing. I just stood there for a few minutes, completely forgetting where I was, just watching as Jasper sat down with a small group of vampaneze who were just sitting around talking. He was so… sweet, he only looked about seventeen and he was… nice. Suddenly he was extinguished from my thoughts as someone grabbed me by my hair. I spun round and found myself face to face with a deep purple-faced, raging red-eyed, bloody-nosed animal! I screamed and the realised who it was.
"Oh, it's you again," I growled, my confidence having risen dramatically.
"You brat! You broke my nose!" the Vampaneze spat.
"Yeah, about that, It's too bad you don't have another one really, I'd pay you back but I really need mine," I said, smiling innocently.
"I'm going to kill you and.."
"You can't touch me," I interrupted, "Didn't you hear that Glalda person?"
"Just watch it," the Vampaneze warned.
"Will do," I assured him.
I had absolutely nothing in common with any of the Vampaneze but by the time Kurda, Cyrus, Sparcalo and Oric arrived in the cave four or five hours after they had left me there, I had made quite a few friends. We all sat around a small fire, just talking. Kurda stood up, smiling and put a finger to his lips for silence.
"Yes we all know you wear gloss on your lips Kurda, there's no need to point it out," a Vampaneze called Harlan shouted. There were cheers and roars of laughter and Kurda had to clap his hands to try and get everyone to settle down.
"Thanks Harlan, very helpful," he said sarcastically, "and it's not lip-gloss it's chap-stick." There were a few sniggers. "I come bearing gifts," Kurda said and everyone shut up. There were a few minutes of silence.
"Come on Kurda! Spill the beans!" Glalda said.
"Ok ok, anyone for sausages?" Kurda said and there roars and cheers from the vampaneze.
"Thank God!" I cried, I'd been living off of deer meat for the last few months. A few minutes later we were all tucking into the most delicious sausages I'd ever eaten.
"Come on Jasper, dig in," I said, feeling happier then I had in ages as I gave the vampaneze sitting next to me a dig in the ribs.
"I don't like sausages," he muttered.
"What's not to like?" I asked.
"I'm a vegetarian," he mumbled.
"Ha ha very funny!" I said sarcastically. " Come on!"
"He's not joking," the Vampaneze on the other side of me said. His name was Onyx and he was the one who had blooded Jasper.
"Oh…" I said quietly, "Sorry… but how can you be a vegetarian Vampaneze?"
"We have to bottle the blood up for him and pretend it's wine or juice, either that or we force feed it to him, it's ridiculous," Onyx grumbled.
"Yeah, it is a little ridiculous," I admitted. Jasper gave me a filthy look and stood up.
"This wasn't my choice," he snapped and then walked away looking hurt. I watched him as he went and sat in the far corner with his face against the wall, hugging his knees.
"Oops," I said, feeling ashamed of myself.
"Don't worry, he's far too sensitive," Onyx said, "He was a mistake," I felt terrible. I sat and watched the fire, the flames seemed to be so alive and they distracted me from my thoughts. I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned round to see Cyrus standing there, smiling at me.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"Yeah I'm fine, I think I upset Jasper," I sighed.
"I know you upset Jasper," Cyrus said, "You need to think sometimes before opening that big mouth of yours, Jasper's had a hard time of it."
"I know, I want to make it up to him, I just don't know how," I said, feeling my cheeks go red.
"Well, these should at least start you off," Cyrus said and handed me a plastic bag. I looked inside, it was full of chocolates, the one's that I had bought Cyrus after he took me in.
"You had those all along and you never even offered me one!" I screeched, outraged.
"I was saving them for a special occasion," Cyrus replied and ruffled my hair.
"Get lost!" I growled and snapped at his hands.
"Down doggie," Cyrus commanded, "By the way where is that flea bitten mutt?"
"Cosmo? I don't know, I haven't seen him," I replied.
"Cosmo? Since when was it called Cosmo?" Cyrus asked, frowning.
"Since Jasper said I should give him a name," I replied and looked over at Jasper to find that Cosmo was lying beside him, rubbing his head against his knees.
"Traitor," I muttered.
"Ooh, do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Cyrus asked, innocently.
"Not at all," I replied quickly.
"And pigs fly!" Cyrus said grinning and then started to walk away.
"They do if you lob them hard enough!" I replied and threw a sausage at the back of Cyrus' head. He spun round and made a rude hand gesture at me, and then went to sit next to Oric who was beating five desperate Vampaneze at a game of poker.
Kurda came up to me a few minutes later.
"You ok?" he asked, echoing Cyrus' question to me.
"Yeah I'm ok," I said, smiling weakly.
"I brought you something, you don't have to drink it if you don't want to," Kurda said and handed me a small mug. It was half full with a red liquid that I could not mistake for cranberry juice a second time. I looked at the blood in the mug for a moment and then made up my mind, put it to my lips, and downed the mug in one gulp. This sounds disgusting but to be quite honest it didn't taste all that bad. I looked up at Kurda who was smiling at me.
"You're a braver person than me, it was five months after I was blooded that I managed to drink it properly for the first time," he said.
"I'll be drinking it regularly someday, I'd better get some practise in now," I replied.
"Snap," Kurda said, tapping the three cuts on my cheek that the Vampaneze had made earlier. He then pointed to the identical scars on his cheek and we both laughed.
"They didn't hurt," I said, shrugging.
"Mine killed," Kurda admitted.
"They may have hurt a little, just like paper cuts," I laughed.
"Ouch, don't even get me started on paper cuts," Kurda said, wincing as though the very thought was too horrible for him.
I reluctantly stood up and went to where Jasper was sitting, staring blankly at the wall.
"I'm sorry ok?" I said quietly. Jasper ignored me, just kept staring at the wall, but if he thought he could get rid of me that easily he was mistaken. I sat down beside him and stared at him the same way he was staring at the wall, I reached down and stroked Cosmo absentmindedly and we stayed like that, silently staring for almost an hour. It was Onyx who eventually broke the silent staring. He came up and put his hands on his hips, glaring at Jasper.
"Stop sulking Squirt, we get it, you don't want to be here, now stop acting like a prat!" he snapped irritably at Jasper.
"Jasper looked at him, hatred in his eyes and said a single, four letter word adding a 'you' afterwards.
"Fine then, be like that, don't bother with him Ember," Onyx said and walked away. I ignored Onyx and kept staring at Jasper who seemed to be shocked with what he'd said.
"There's only one cure for the blues," I said quietly and dropped the bag of chocolates into Jasper's lap. Jasper didn't say anything for a moment, just looked at the bag, then he smiled up at me.
"You angel," he said. I shuffled closer to him, picking Cosmo up and holding him against my chest.
"I'm sorry Jasper, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," I sighed.
"I know, I'm sorry for reacting like that," Jasper replied. He took a chocolate out of the bag and popped it into his mouth, grimacing at the taste and then resting his head against the wall.
"I've got something you might be interested in," he said, his eyes suddenly lighting up.
"What?" I asked, suspiciously. Jasper didn't reply but pulled a small silver rectangle out of his pocket. There was a small screen on the front and a pair of headphones stuck into the side. I gasped, I hadn't seen anything so brilliant in months.
"An Mp3 player!" I said in awe. Jasper laughed.
"I don't know if you listen to what I listen to but I know I certainly can't live without my music without going mad!" Jasper said. "And don't worry, I've got plenty of batteries."
"Anything is better than nothing," I said, "What do you listen to?"
"From Kinetic To Gold," Jasper said smiling.
"They rock, have you heard Topless Gypsies?"
"They are my Gods!" Jasper replied.
"What about the one, the only, the rodents of the century…"
"Squirrels Revenge!" we both said in unison. Jasper handed me one of the earphones and we sat and listened to the music, it was just what I needed.
"What on Earth are you two doing?" Glalda snapped a few hours later.
"What?" we both yelled.
"What are you doing?" Glalda repeated.
"What?" we asked again and pulled the earphones out so we could hear.
"What are you doing?" Glalda repeated for the third time.
"Oh, we're listening to Squirrels Revenge," Jasper said.
"Excuse me?" Glalda said, shocked.
"Squirrels revenge," I said and Jasper and I both broke out into song, banging our heads up and down and throwing our arms around like we were playing a fast drum beat. Glalda gave us a strange look and walked away quickly. That's when I spotted Harlan and a Vampaneze named Craig with a box of cigarettes and a lighter in the corner.
"I have died and gone to heaven!" I said, standing up. Jasper frowned at me and tried to follow my gaze. I ran up to Harlan and smiled my sweetest smile.
"You haven't got a spare have you?" I asked, nodding my head at the box in his hand.
" Yes, but you're not having one," Harlan laughed.
"Please Harlan, do me a favour!" I begged, my sweet smile vanishing as suddenly as I had managed to conjure it.
"No," Harlan replied.
"But I need one!" I gasped.
"Don't be stupid, you don't need one and anyway it's illegal, you're not old enough," Harlan said matter-of-factly. He was the most irritating person I had ever met. I went on at him for a long time and finally gave up after fifteen minutes of constantly repeating the word 'please' and getting just as constant a 'no'.
Three days later Kurda came down to see me by himself, our relationship had become better, I think we were both determined to show Desmond Tiny exactly what we thought of his stupid prediction.
"How was your day?" I asked.
"Busy," he replied, " Everyone's started to arrive for council and if I got a pound for every vampire who has made some smart comment about me trying to be a prince I'd be a very, very rich man."
"Why? What the hell is wrong with you being a prince? You'll make a good prince," I said. The vote was in three days time and Kurda seriously doubted that enough vampires would vote for him to become prince. His idea's, he told me, were too new, too different, he was too young and had too much of an open mind.
"What do you mean you're too young?" I had asked, "You're one hundred and twenty years old for Christ's sake!"
"One hundred and twenty four and considering that most of the other vampire generals, let alone princes, are at least a hundred years older than me I don't think I have much of a chance. "
Now Kurda had heard exactly what people thought of him and he said he hadn't a hope in hell of being prince.
"That's my plans down the toilet!" he sighed.
"Why?" I asked, confused, he'd tried to explain the plan to me and I sort of understood but it was very complicated and I didn't understand vampire law as it was.
"If I'm not prince I can't get into the Hall of Princes, I can't use the Stone of Blood and this would all have been for nothing," Kurda replied.
"And what happens if it doesn't work?" I asked.
" Well, we'd have to get the vampaneze out of here as fast as possible, if the others ever find out about them it would be horrible," Kurda replied.
"What would happen to you if the vampires found the vampaneze here?" I said.
"I don't like to think about it," Kurda said, looking away from me.
"Would they kill you?" I asked, I could feel how uneasy Kurda suddenly was but I had to press him further if I wanted to know.
"Kill me?" he asked quietly, "They'd butcher me alive, traitors aren't much welcome In the vampire community."
"But you're doing this to save them in the first place aren't you?" I said, frowning.
"Yes, of course I am, but they wouldn't see it like that," Kurda said smiling, and then he ruffled my hair and winked at me. "But lets talk about something more cheerful yeah?"
"Jasper's nice," I commented, it was the first thing that came into my head and I could have kicked myself.
"Oh really? Nice as in nice or nice as in nice nice?" Kurda asked, grinning wickedly and nudging me.
"Just nice," I said quickly.
"So you like him?" Kurda asked.
"Yes," I replied honestly.
"Ooh, wait until I tell the others, you won't live this down," Kurda said, he seemed to be feeding on the gossip.
"You know what I meant Kurda! Please don't tell them!" I begged, blushing furiously.
"Why shouldn't I?" Kurda asked slyly.
"Because… because I'll tell them about your pink pants!" I said, I'd planned to save that one for an emergency but this was pretty bad.
"How do you know… that's a lie," Kurda insisted.
"Not according to Harlan it isn't," I said, smiling smugly.
"I'll kill him! Kurda muttered and then looked at me pleadingly, "You won't tell them will you, I was only joking."
"So was I," I laughed and the he laughed and we hugged each other tightly.
I stayed in the tunnels, getting to know all the Vampaneze and making friends with all of them, even Gilligan, the Vampaneze whose nose I had broken on my first day there. Kurda, amazingly, got 54 of the votes and was already getting nervous about his investiture, the ceremony that was held to make him a prince, which was in a few weeks time.
"Just don't talk about it," he had said, we were celebrating his success, and he was complaining he felt nauseous.
"Come on Kurda, stage one of the plan is completed, there's only a hundred things that can go wrong now instead of a hundred and one," Oric said smiling. Kurda turned green and we all cheered and chanted 'chuck, chuck, chuck!' When I had first met Oric he was shy and kept himself to himself, now he had settled in and was more comfortable he was showing his true colours. I now realised that he was fun loving, kind, a great listener, and a good solver of problems. He was always cheerful, always tried to look on the bright side and a smile was never far from his lips. The only problem was that he was a wind up merchant, he knew just about every trick in the book, he seemed to have invented most of them! Sparcalo, I'd learned, was one of the best fighters of all time, in my eyes anyway. He'd taught Oric how to use knives properly, for throwing, stabbing, slicing, I never knew that there were so many different ways to kill someone with just a blade. Jasper and I had already run down seven batteries on his MP3 player but he had plenty more and I had managed to steal several cigarettes from Harlan who hadn't noticed a thing so I was content.
"Are there really a hundred things that could go wrong?" I asked, feeling light headed after drinking a few mugs of foul tasting ale that the vampires had managed to sneak down to us.
"Of course not, the plan is practically fool proof!" Sparcalo insisted.
"There's not really much chance of failure," Cyrus added. I relaxed after that, I'd been a little worried since my talk with Kurda but I knew that he was just worried, I know I would have been if I'd had to do what he was about to do. And of course, just as things started to go right for me for once, just as it seemed impossible for anything to cast a black cloud over my life, that's when Darren Shan appeared and everything went unbelievably wrong.
I want to stop there, I don't want to remember the rest. I'd do anything to get my friends back, I'd sell my soul to the devil just to spend one more day with them. I was sure that food had lost its taste now, that sleep made me even more tired. Every time I closed my eyes I saw that horrific scene flashing through my mind, but it wasn't the moment it had ended, it was the moment that the troubles had began. Kurda had come into the tunnels, absolutely fuming. Sparcalo, Oric and Cyrus followed silently behind, unusually tense. Kurda stood against one of the walls and bashed his fist against it hard.
"What's going on?" I asked, instantly alert to the fact that something was up.
"Darren's failed his trials," Kurda growled.
"Darren Shan? What do you mean he's failed?" I asked, I'd obviously never met Darren before but the way Kurda raved about him I knew he must have been a nice guy. I almost considered him a kind of distant, almost imaginary friend, it was strange, I longed to meet him though I knew it was an impossibility.
"He failed the trials," Kurda repeated.
"How could he fail? I thought you said you were looking after him!" I cried.
"I tried to, one of his friends ran into the stadium to stop a wild boar from killing him!" Kurda sighed.
"He's not dead?" I gasped, relieved, "That's a good thing isn't it?"
"No, you don't understand!" Kurda spat, clenching and unclenching his fists. I'd never seen him like this before, he never behaved like this, he was always so laid back.
"If you fail the trials you aren't permitted to live, you're put to death," Cyrus said quietly.
"It wasn't even his fault!" Kurda screamed, pounding the wall again. Several of the Vampaneze were staring at us curiously but they knew that it wasn't their place to interfere when we were talking. Jasper came over to see if we were ok but I told him gently that it didn't concern him and he walked away, slightly peeved.
"They're going to kill him?" I gasped.
"Yes, they're going to kill him," Kurda growled and then spat on the floor.
"You can't let them surely," I said.
"We can't really do anything about it Trouble," Cyrus said. I frowned and thought it over for a few minutes.
"Of course you can do something about it," I insisted, "Just get him away from here!"
"That's not possible, we'd be spotted," Sparcalo said.
"Not if you take some of the tunnels down here, surely you know some secret passages Kurda?" I said.
"It would bring him too close to here, what if he saw the vampaneze?" Sparcalo said.
" Oh and you'd all rather let him die unjustly, alone and terrified because you don't have the guts to take a few risks!" I snapped.
"She's right for once, if it was anybody else I wouldn't give a damn but this is Darren, come on Kurda," Oric said.
"It hasn't got anything to do with us, it's Larten Crepsley who's his sire, Larten Crepsley is responsible for him," Kurda said but I could see in his eyes that he was slowly losing the battle.
"But you're his friend Kurda, and say it was Ember in that position would you really be able to think straight and put your pride behind you," Oric reasoned, "You can't stand there and tell me that Larten wants Darren to die."
"Ok!" Kurda yelled, "Ok." He sighed.
"You three check the situation with the princes, see what the verdict is and keep them away from Darren's room for a as long as possible while I try and get him down here. I'm not even sure he'll come with me, he has many of Larten's characteristics including his ever stubborn pride!"
"What do I do?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" Kurda said.
"I want to help," I replied.
"Is it 'let's all say stupid things' day today or something?" Kurda asked, "You just stay here and do what you usually do, just keep quiet and trust your heels if anything happens."
"Yes, sir," I said sarcastically, bowing, but then I straightened up, "Good luck," I said and Kurda, Cyrus, Oric and Sparcalo left.
That was the biggest mistake of my life, it tortured me twenty-four seven. I f only I hadn't convinced Kurda to get Darren out of the mountain everything would have been fine. A few hours after Kurda had left I was sitting playing snap with Jasper.
"Snap!" I yelled, "Come on Jasper, you're usually great at this, what's wrong with you?"
"I've got a bad feeling," Jasper said and then blushed, realising how stupid it sounded.
"You sure it's not just wind?" I asked and we both laughed. Suddenly Jasper sat bolt upright and his head snapped to the entrance of the cave.
"What's wrong now?" I sighed impatiently.
"I thought I saw something," he said quietly, squinting his eyes as he stared at the entrance.
"What's wrong?" Onyx asked, coming up behind us.
"Jasper reckons he saw something," I said, rolling my eyes.
"He hasn't had much sleep, he's been too busy listening to that noise you call music with you," Onyx said, smiling in an I-told-you-so way at Jasper who stuck his tongue out at him.
"It rocks," I insisted, "Don't disrespect the music!"
"Ok, whatever, do you want to come for a walk?" Onyx asked.
"No thanks," Jasper and I said in unison.
"Fine," Onyx sighed.
Ten minutes later there was a big problem just outside the cave, someone was yelling, raising an alarm to the rest of us, we'd been found! Jasper and I looked at each other, yanked the headphones out of our ears, and stood up.
"You keep out of sight, if there are vampires out there the last thing I want is for them to find you!" Jasper said to me hurriedly.
"Are you out of your mind? I'm not leaving you on your own! Imagine the trouble you could get yourself into!" I exclaimed.
"Not now Ember, come on, stick to the shadows," Jasper pleaded.
"Ok, but if you get yourself killed I'll be so angry, I'll never speak to you again!" I warned and then dashed off to the back of the cave to watch what was happening. I couldn't see who the attack was coming from but there were a lot of Vampaneze pushing to get a go at whoever it was. Jasper hung back slightly, glancing over at me occasionally. The fighting was over quickly and the crowd of Vampaneze parted. I could see Kurda standing at the entrance to the cave, his hair dishevelled, and his face paler than usual, there was the body of an unfamiliar vampire on the ground next to him.
"I thought for a minute you were coming to his aid," Glalda said, gesturing to the body on the ground.
"No," Kurda sighed, he sounded so sad, "I'd have knocked him out and bundled him away if possible, but others could have tracked down his mental signals. There's a boy up ahead, a half-vampire, he's injured so he won't be hard to catch, I want him taken alive, they won't be able to track him."
I gulped, that same boy was standing behind Kurda, his mouth open in shock. He looked about thirteen years old, bald, with dark eyes that were too old for the rest of him, and I knew that this must be Darren Shan.
"Do you mean the boy behind you?" Glalda said quietly.
"Darren!" Kurda gasped, "How long have you been there, how much have you…"
Kurda was interrupted as Darren rushed past him to kneel beside the groaning body on the ground. He started to talk quietly to the vampire, whispering comforts, knowing he had little time left. I watched Kurda twitch nervously, he was about to either burst into tears or curl up and try to die, and when Kurda was like that only Sparcalo could snap him out of it. Where was Sparcalo? Or even Cyrus or Oric? Darren Shan clutched at the body of the dead vampire and cried like a baby, the sound was horrible, like a dog in pain and I don't think anybody in that cave didn't feel some of the boys misery.
"You killed him," Darren finally hissed at Kurda. Kurda was very pale, his body was trembling and I wanted to rush to him and hug him so badly, he needed some comforting.
"I had to," he croaked, "There was no time to let him die a noble death… you might have got away if I'd left him for the vampaneze."
"You knew they were here all along," Darren said.
"Well done Sherlock," I muttered under my breath. That's when Darren Shan spat the word that almost made me leap at him and wrench his guts out of his stomach.
"You're a traitor!" Darren said harshly. How dare he!
"This looks terrible but it's not what you think, I'm trying to save our race not condemn it!" Kurda said desperately. "There are things you don't know about, things no vampire knows about. Gavner's death is regrettable, but when I explain prop…"
"To hell with your explanations!" Darren Shan screamed. "You're a traitor and a murderer, scum of the highest order!"
I leapt forward, ready to knock the little brat's teeth down his throat but I was pulled back by a pair of hands, Jasper was standing beside me. I tried to yell the worst word I could think of at Shan but Jasper put his hand over my mouth and didn't remove it, not even when I spat at it and tried to bite it. I watched as Shan picked up one of the dead vampire's knives and waved it at Kurda like a lunatic. Jasper let go of me and followed the other Vampaneze as they all held up weapons and stepped towards Darren.
"No!" Kurda shouted, stopping them, " I want him taken alive!"
"He has a knife," Glalda said, he seemed amused by the whole thing. "Do you want us to let him chop our fingers off while we try and prise it away from him?"
"Don't worry Glalda, I'm in control of the situation," Kurda said, breathing deeply. I laughed at that, in control my arse!
"Stop it!" Darren Shan yelled, "Don't come any closer!"
"I'm unarmed," Kurda said, I could sense a little hurt in his voice and I wanted to stand by him and let him know that I was there.
"I don't care, I'll kill you anyway, you deserve it!" Darren Shan snarled.
"You just try it mate, I'll cut you into little pieces and feed you to my dog!" I growled.
"I don't think that you would kill an unarmed man, no matter what he'd done. If I'm wrong, I'll pay for my error of judgement in the severest way possible, but I don't think I am," Kurda said gently, appearing calm and under control but I knew different. Darren Shan drew back the knife in his hand and I tensed, ready to leap, I wanted to be the first one to get to him so I could listen to his heart stop. But Darren Shan hesitated and then lowered the knife, he couldn't do it, he was too chicken.
"I hate you!" he cried and then threw the knife, Kurda ducked instinctively but Darren hadn't meant to hit him. I watched as the boy turned and ran. Most of the Vampaneze followed after him, this was turning out to be a disaster!
Kurda stood by the entrance to the cave, staring at the ground. I came up behind him and reached up to put an arm around his shoulder but he shrugged me off.
"Darren's right, I am a traitor, a murderer, I don't deserve to live," Kurda muttered.
"Kurda, you're a fantastic person with a kind heart and a gentle nature, you're trying to do what's right, you shouldn't hate yourself for that," I replied.
"But I killed Gavner," Kurda said, turning away but gesturing to the dead Vampire on the ground.
"One stupid vampire Kurda, you're trying to save hundreds," I reasoned.
"He was my friend, so was Darren," Kurda said, "I have to explain things to him, set it right."
"What happened?" I asked quietly.
"Gavner caught us, after some persuading he agreed to help me get Darren out but he wanted to use these tunnels and they found the Vampaneze here, I had to try and make it look like I knew nothing about it," Kurda said, he brushed a tear off of his cheek, "I kept telling him to go, I told him again and again but he wouldn't go! I had to kill him, it was the only way!" Kurda sobbed. I patted his back uncomfortably, not sure what to do or say.
"Where's Sparcalo, Cyrus and Oric?" I asked gently.
"They were trying to create a diversion, they don't know what's happened," Kurda replied. Jasper, who had stayed behind in the cave, came up behind us.
"Where's Onyx, I didn't see him with the others earlier," he said, he sounded worried.
"He was out for a walk wasn't he?" I said.
Kurda gulped. "I'm sorry Jasper, he's… he's just outside the cave, a few metres up the tunnel."
"What?" I asked but Jasper had already started running out of the cave entrance. I followed him quietly, fearing the worst. Sure enough, Jasper stopped still as he came to the blood-drenched body of a fallen vampaneze. Jasper sunk silently to his knees, his mouth open in shock.
"Onyx?" he whispered. The vampaneze's throat had been cut and his stomach sliced open. Jasper and I both turned and vomited repeatedly. When Jasper had recovered slightly his retches were replaced by sobs, they shook his whole body. He laid his head on Onyx' body, his hair instantly becoming soaked with blood and his face smeared with the stuff but he didn't care, he just cried.
"I thought you didn't like him," I said, stupidly, I needed something to say to fill the awkward moment.
"He was my friend, he looked after me and I was so ungrateful, he never even knew I really appreciated him!" Jasper cried. We stayed there for a long time, Jasper just crying, just staring into Onyx' dead eyes, as if trying to find something there. Cosmo came up to Jasper and me and then climbed up into his lap and curled up there like a cat, gazing sadly at Jasper who didn't even notice him there.
Kurda was screaming, just screaming. He had been yelling and shouting and swearing for a long time and now he was screaming. Darren had died, he'd thrown himself into a river and been swept away by the fast flowing currant.
"He wouldn't even touch me, he could have saved himself if he'd taken my hand but he wouldn't touch me!" Kurda said. We were in one of the caves adjoining the main one, I'd got everyone else to leave so I could try and do something about Kurda who was hysterical. I'd almost had enough of him now, yes, he was upset, but he was starting to act pathetic.
"Kurda, if he would rather have drowned himself than listened to your side of the story there was nothing you could do about it, he was a nasty piece if work anyway, even I could see that!" I said, impatiently.
"Shut up!" Kurda yelled at me, "You never knew him, he was kind and he was decent and I killed him!"
I turned round and slapped Kurda as hard as I could around the face, he fell silent and stared at me in shock.
"You shut up Kurda! I've had to put up with you talking about this guy for a long time and I've dealt with it but as far as I've heard he's never done anything for you. You try and save his life and he repays you by calling you scum!" I shouted at him, "I've been a good friend to you, I've had to put up with you and your mood swings, your sob stories and I bet you'd rather it was me dead, I bet you'd wish it was me that drowned because then you could have your precious Darren, but I don't really give a damn!"
Kurda didn't say anything, for a while he was silent.
"I didn't say that," he murmured eventually.
"I'll leave you to grieve you sad, pathetic little wreck" I snarled and turned to walk away.
"I'm sorry," Kurda whispered, "For everything." And then he pulled me towards him and hugged me tightly, crying into my shoulder.
Kurda's investiture was in a week's time, which was when the plan would kick into action, until then we waited. Kurda was supposed to make sure that he had everything sorted but he was too wrapped up in the search for Darren Shan, or at least his body.
"I need to make sure that he really is dead, if he somehow made it and goes to the princes… like I said before I'd be a dead man, Cyrus as well," Kurda said. Oric and Sparcalo had been going with Kurda every day to try and find some sign of Darren Shan. They followed the course of the river down but they found nothing. I spent this time with Cyrus and Jasper who hadn't spoken much since Onyx had died.
"He was proud of you, he told me," Cyrus said to Jasper one day.
"Yeah?" Jasper asked.
"Yeah, really, he said that your heart was true and you did what you thought was right even if it was by following more modern ways, but that's why we're all here." Cyrus said gently.
"That's why he died," Jasper added.
"Cyrus, this might not be the best time…" I began feebly.
"What is it?" Cyrus asked, he could sense something was wrong.
"I've been thinking, a lot, and I think I know what I want to do with my life," I said uncertainly.
"Which is?" Cyrus pressed.
"I want to be a vampire and help you and Kurda and the others, if you'll let me," I replied. Cyrus' face split into a large grin.
"That's great Ember, that's really great," he said.
"I'm ready now," I added.
"You want me to blood you right here and now?" Cyrus asked.
"Yes, sticking with you might not be the easiest or most convenient life but it's exciting, it's adventurous and you're my friends, you're the only people in my life and I don't know what I'd do without you," I sighed.
"You're very good at making these long, mushy speeches aren't you?" Cyrus said, raising an eyebrow at me. I flashed him a grin and he flashed one back and then rolled up his sleeves.
"You're absolutely sure? There's no going back." Cyrus warned.
"I know, I'm ready now," I assured him but my stomach was churning uncomfortably. I held my palms out reluctantly to Cyrus and he looked at them for a moment.
"I'm not sure I'm going to be able to," Cyrus said uneasily.
"Why?" I asked, I was nervous enough as it was.
"I don't want to hurt you," Cyrus said weakly.
"For God's sake Cyrus, I'll hurt you if you don't get on with it!" I snapped.
"That'll do it," Cyrus laughed and in one quick movement he placed his fingernails on my fingers and cut them. I swore loudly and went to pull away but Cyrus grabbed my wrists. He then cut his own fingers and pressed his palms hard against mine. I stood still, my vision blurring, feeling dizzy and unstable. I knew that if I was bleeding for much longer then I would pass out and I'd already swallowed some vomit that had come up into my mouth. For what seemed like an eternity we stood there, palms pressed together, my whole body was pulsing like your heart pulses when you hold your breath underwater for a long time. Finally Cyrus pulled away and I collapsed backwards and blacked out.