Chapter 10

I was quite surprised with Darrens attitude now he finally took the role as my assistant, I told him we had to fake his death but asked it he could have the weekend to say goodbye to his hometown and family first. I agreed.

I had had no home when I was blooded, my family had been dead and all I knew was Cirque Du Freak. Though I knew that if I had had my father and brothers around at the time and knew I would never see them again--I would want to say goodbye and spend as much of my time with them as I could.

So I spent the weekend preparing myself--I knew I would have to explain about vampirism from the very beginning with Darren since he knew nothing about us anyway bar the horror films he watched which I knew would just extremely confuse him.

I wished Seba was nearby, then I could ask him about being a teacher--after all, that was what I was about to become. I would be the role of a mentor, a guide and a devotee to protect another all in one! Now I know what I was up against I knew how badly Seba must have had it with me!

I could just imagine what Seba would tell me:

"It will not be easy Larten…"

"I know that already…"

"If you earn his trust then perhaps it will be easier for you to teach him."

"But he hates me…"

"Maybe he will now--but students never appreciate their mentors until long after they realize what it is like in your place…like you have!"

"You can say that again…"

I sighed and then realized I had to be at Darren's in a few minutes and so I flitted to his house and as planned I climbed into his window and sat in his wardrobe waiting for the signal that would let me come out.

I thought coffins were dark! I could see my hand across my face but nothing more. I was sitting on shoes, which stank, and the itchy jumpers were becoming extremely annoying. I wasn't really sure how long he would be. Thoughts of him coming with the police and telling them I was breaking and entering as humans call it flooded to my mind but as I worried I heard the signal--three knocks on the door.

I stepped out and brushed off the jumpers access wool with had irritated me. Looking up at Darren I snorted, "I feel sorry for Madam Octa, having spend so much time in--"

"Shut up!" he snapped at me. He was on edge, and it was understandable why.

"No need to be rude!" I muttered softly "I was merely passing a comment!"

"Well don't!" he said sharply, "You might not think of much of this place but I do! This is my home, my room, my wardrobe ever since I can remember and I never going to see it again after tonight…this is my last little while here. So don't badmouth it! Alright!"

"I am sorry." I told him after considering his words. He then went to his bed and tossed me a bag with heavy items in. I however caught it as though it was a feather.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Some personal stuff" he said "My diary--A picture of my family--A couple of other bits and pieces…but nothing that will be missed. Will you mind it for me?"

I agreed.

"But only If you promise not to look through it?" he told me and I frowned.

"Vampires have no secrets from each other--" I began but then I saw his face and I sighed, "I will not open it" I promised.

He took a breath and asked for the potion--the dark and foul smelling liquid would be the key to this plan succeeding. It would slow the boy's heart enough to make it look and fell like he was consumed by death when he saw really just awake with his eyes open or closed if that was the case…in a sense…

I moved behind him and put my hands on his neck. I was worried about doing this wrong but I was not going to tell the boy that was I! "You're sure this will work?" he asked nervously.

"Trust me" I told him, but I was assuring not only Darren but also myself.

"I always thought a broken neck meant people couldn't walk or move!" He said and I considered the logic explanation.

"The bones of the neck do not matter. Paralysis only happens if the spinal cord--a long muscle running down the middle of the neck--breaks. I will be careful not to damage it…" I told him.

"Won't the doctors think it's odd?" He asked, by now I still wasn't used to the many questions but I was answering in a placid tone.

"They will not check--The potion will slow your heart down so much they will be sure you are dead…they will see the broken neck and put two and two together. If you were older, they might go ahead with an autopsy. But no doctor likes cutting a child open." I told him but I knew I was twisting the truth. I was uncertain about what I had told him--they could still perform an autopsy and what if they don't bury the boy--but cremate him instead!

I cleared my throat, if that is the case I will find someone from the morgue his build and height to replace him before the event--but when I thought of the autopsy would be near impossible…and a problem. I am just going to have to pray to the gods that that was not the case!

I turned to Darren, "Now, are you totally clear on what is going to happen and how you must act?" I asked him.

"Yes" he said

"There must be no mistakes…" I warned. "If you make just one slip our plans will fall apart."

"I AM NO FOOL! I KNOW WHAT TO DO!" He snapped.

"Then do it!" I snorted in return.

So he did.

He threw the liquid down the back of his throat and I watched, my neck tense with agitated nerves as over barely moments his heart slowed to an almost stop. When he tried to move he could not and I took a deep breath. "I am going to snap the neck now!" I told him and did so…there was a terrible cracking noise as I did so and then noticing his skin was going white I tossed him out of the window. Watching him fall I prayed for his survival…I was beginning to like the boy's attitude…

It was ten minutes before the boy's family realized something was wrong, I watched in the shadows of the street opposite as a neighbor told them their son was on the garden grass. It was heart breaking to watch--

"DARREN!"

"Let go of him Angie!"

"What's wrong with him Dermot?"

"I don't know---he must have fallen--"

"HE'S NOT MOVING! HE'S NOT MOVING!"

I watched the father ask the neighbor to take his wife inside--I saw him bend down and check Darrens pulse and then I saw something which made me heart cease to beat--he started crying…

I stayed until daybreak to watch what happened to Darren though I didn't want to mishandle the genius plan but I needed to make sure they didn't perform an autopsy…It was so agonizing to see how much Darren would be missed. It was pain I knew well…atleast they had each other--I had had no one when it had happened to me…

However, ofcourse I had to leave and relived that he was not having an autopsy and he would be buried tomorrow evening I could relax a little more…but when I got back to my coffin I couldn't sleep. I was worried not just for the family or for the future ahead of myself but also the boys'…

"BY THE BLOOD OF KLEDHON LURT!" I said suddenly--a thought finally sinking in…a thought that made me eyes widen…

The generals….

I knew then I was in trouble, Darren would be different to all other half vampires because he was a half vampire child…sooner or later a general will come across our path…what will he say when he finds out? Death would be likely. However, not for Darren, Darren had done nothing wrong but just obeyed my commands--! I, on the other hand would be the one who would get staked to death…!

But that though a problem was the least of my worries, I lay in the coffin still thinking it over. The time went slow…too slow…When it came to the time of day of the funeral I was getting anxious.

"Vampire gods--keep the boy safe…" I thought to myself, time went even slower and then at long last I climbed out of my coffin and flitted to the cemetery.

When I found the cemetery It did not take long to find Darren's grave…There were atleast a hundred stones but you can always tell which ones are new. Darren's grave was covered in flowers and the ground was still soft where it had been freshly laid and dug.

I could not read the gravestone, as I was illiterate but the shapes were very familiar, when I meet Gavner again ((If I do)) I would like him to translate what it said so I memorized the strange shapes on the stone:

IN MEMORY OF DARREN SHAN

1974 -1985

A BOY WHO'S DESTINY WAS CUT SHORT

I then placed the flowers gently out of the way of the coffin and then I began to dig at flit speed. It was tiring but the thought of the boy below me--trapped in the dirt trying to breathe and I kept on the task. Soon I reached the dark coffin and I rapped my knuckles against it to warn Darren I was there.

I then set to unscrewing the lid and when I opened it I saw Darren look up at me as though I was his savior. He took in the night air and then started coughing. I quickly checked him over.

"Are you alright?" I asked him.

"I feel dead tired." He told me. I chuckled and smiled. "Stand up so I can examine you" I told him and I watched him wince as I pulled him out of the grave and I jumped back in to started placing the earth back into grave.

"Do you want me to help?" he asked and I sighed softly.

"No, You would just slow me down. Go for a stroll and walk some of the stiffness out of your bones. I will call you when I am ready to move on" I told him.

"Did you bring my bag?" he asked and I nodded. I hadn't invaded his privacy--what was the point! But I suppose there was nothing much in there I did not already know…

I began digging as I heard Darren go off in the distance, when the crunching sound of his feet in the leaves stopped…and I worried, I looked up over the hole and saw no sign of him.

"Darren?" I asked but got no answer--"DARREN WHERE ARE YOU?"

"I'm fine!" I heard him answer, and I sighed with relief.

"Where are you?" I asked about to climb out of the hole, he was close but I wanted to know he was somewhere I could see him.

"Over here!" he replied. "My legs were weak so I laid down for a minute."

"Are you all right?" I asked.

"I'm fine!" he said again, "I'll rest a bit more then try them again. Give me a shout when you're ready" he said and since he did not tell me he was in any danger I continued digging but my mind kept telling me something was wrong.

When I heard a shout as I finished digging, I could not make out the words or see where it came from but seconds later Darren came toward him and he looked as pale as a sheet. I had never seen a stranger looking kid as he wore the clothes he wore during his burial--It looked like he was going to a wedding.

"Are you sure you are alright?" I asked, "You seem very uptight," I said and he frowned.

"So would you if you spent all day in a coffin!"

I laughed out then "Master Shan! I have spent more time in coffins than many of the truly dead!" I looked back down at the grave and disposed of the shovel. "Is the stiffness wearing off?" I asked.

"It's better than it was!" he said rubbing his arms and wrists. "I wouldn't like to fake my death too often though--" he added.

"No" I agreed, "Well, hopefully it will not be necessary again. It is a dangerous stunt. Many things can go wrong."

He stared at me strangely and I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. "You told me I was safe as houses!" he said and though I had lied enough, I did not want to lie to him again.

"I lied--" I told him. "The potion can sometimes drives it's patients too far towards death and they never recover--And I could not be sure they would not perform an autopsy on you. In addition--" Then I noticed the look he gave me and sighed "Do you want to hear all this?"

"NO!" he said sickly and then he took a dive at me. But I ducked out of the way laughing, the boy was so stubborn…he would have to learn to deal with me before he met any other vampires…if he did then he would get along well with them. "YOU TOLD ME I WAS SAFE!" he cried, "YOU LIED!"

"I had to!" I told him truthfully; "there was no other way"

"What If I had died?" he asked and thought up a lie.

"I would be down one assistant. No great loss, I am sure I could have found another!" though I said nthe words I did not think I could, no boy I had ever met in two hundred years could do what the eleven year old had done and I was proud of him in that sense.

"YOU--YOU---OH" He kicked the ground and I knew he would have called me some horrible things and was unsure why he did not. Nevertheless, it was almost midnight. We had to head off….

"Are you ready to go?" I asked him.

"Give me a minute…" he said and then climbed onto a tombstone to get a better look of his hometown. I sighed, the town I once knew had been destroyed.

"You will grow used to leaving after a time" I told him as I stood barely two inches behind but I knew still I twisted the truth again, it would take years to do so…It did with me anyway…maybe for the boy it will be easier. Then I saw his face again and shook my head. He would be worse than I ever was…"Vampires are always saying goodbye. We never stop anywhere very long. We are forever picking up our roots and moving on to pastures news. It is our way…"

He looked at me and then back at the small town with a sigh "Is the first time the hardest?" he asked me.

"Yes--but it never gets easy…" I told him.

"How long before I get used to it?"

"Maybe a few decades…" I said honestly, "Maybe longer."

He sighed again, "Can we never have homes or wives or families?"

"No" I sighed also, "Never"

"Does it get lonely?" he asked and this time the question stuck him and sank in quickly. I had been alone for a long time…but I had never considered myself "lonely". Not until tonight…

"Terribly so…" I admitted softly.

The boy nodded sadly and took my words in. Then he stepped down and took up his bag ready to go.

"You may ride on my back if you wish?" I told him but he disagreed. "Maybe later--but I want to get the stiffness out of my legs first." He told me.

He rubbed his belly and listened to it growl, "I haven't eaten since Sunday!" he moaned, "I'm hungry!"

"Me too…" I replied, I hadn't had human blood for a long time now…"lets go eat…" I told him. He seemed uneasy and he took a deep breath and I took a hand for support, which he squeezed in reply. We turned and faced away from the graves. Then side by side, the vampire and his assistant, we began walking…

…into the night.