I don't own the saga of Darren Shan, nor do I own Darren Shan himself.
As to Arra not being able to write, lets just say she can for the sake of this story. On with book number two!
It was a dry, warm night. Stanley Collins, a scout leader, was walking home after a meeting. A shadow appeared in the middle of the road. Stanley stood still as a statue, his heart frozen in his chest. Threatening to shatter with every painful thump.
The shadow drew closer, the ice around his heart thawing as it got smaller, and smaller, the closer it got. When it stepped into the path of a streetlight, it was illuminated.
Stanley felt foolish when he realized it was just a little girl. She was crying, and she walked with a limp. He ran over to her.
"Hey sweetheart, what's wrong?"
"Wh-who are you?"
"My name is Stanley. I'm a scout leader."
"Can you help me find my daddy?"
"Of course."
Suddenly there was a loud Snap! And Stanley the scout leader had just enough time to look up and see a billow of red surround him and he slid to the ground. Unseeing, and unknowing, as three creatures of the night moved in for the feed.
"Imagine a man his age wearing a scouts uniform." Mr. Crepsley snorted.
"Were you in scouts?" Darren asked.
"They did not exist in my day." Mr. Crepsley looked the man over, searching for a vein in his leg.
He made a small cut in the man's leg and drank. Darren and Elena stood off to the side. It had been two months since their 'deaths' and they had still refused to drink human blood much to Mr. Crepsley's displeasure.
Mr. Crepsley lifted his head and licked his lips. "Your turn." He said.
Darren took two steps forward, and then two steps back. "I can't." He said.
"Do not be stupid." Mr. Crepsley growled. "You have shied away twice already, it is time you drank."
"I can't!" Darren cried.
"You have drunk animal blood have you not?"
"That's different." Elena interjected. "This is a human."
"But we are not human." Mr. Crepsley said. "Humans are the animals now."
"I won't." Darren said stubbornly.
"Elena?"
She shook her head vehemently.
"If you do not start drinking human blood soon you will grow weak, and if you continue to resist, you will die."
"I know." Elena said miserably. "I just can't."
He sighed. "Fine, let's find you a rabbit or a fox to feed from."
He leaned over the man and dribbled spit over the cut. It began to heal. Vampire spit had healing properties. Darren thought it was gross but cool at the same time.
That was how vampires protect themselves. They knocked their victim out with this special type of gas they breathed out, and then took a little blood. They healed the cut over so that all that was left was a relatively small scar.
"So you don't mind us not drinking from him?" Darren asked suspiciously. Normally when they went hunting their father put up more of a fight about them not drinking human blood.
"You will drink eventually," Mr. Crepsley said. "When you get hungry enough."
Elena glared at him. "No." She said. "O won't drink from a human. Never, never, never, never."
Darren woke in the afternoon. Elena and Mr. Crepsley were still asleep. The kids had persuaded him to get a hotel room; he disagreed with it, but after much persistence. (And Elena's puppy dog eyes.) He caved.
Darren watched television until night fell. Just before, Elena woke up and she, Steve and Darren fixed a supper, or breakfast rather, for the four of them.
When it was done Mr. Crepsley rubbed his stomach. "I should have taken more of the scout man's blood. I will feed again tonight. Perhaps this time you two will join me."
"Maybe." Darren said offhandedly. Although all of them knew that it wasn't true.
Blood.
Most of Mr. Crepsley's time was spent teaching his children about blood. Without blood, a vampire would grow weak and die. Normally, vampires age a tenth of a year. Not drinking blood, they would age twenty or thirty years in one.
Vampires had to feed on humans once a month. As half-vampires, Elena and Darren didn't need to drink as much as their father did. But they would still die if they didn't drink any at all.
Days and Nights passed. Darren wasn't getting on very well with Mr. Crepsley, in fact Steve had a better relationship with the vampire than he did. He had taken him away from everything he loved besides his best friends and Darren couldn't help but resent him for that.
Sometimes he fantasized driving a stake through Mr. Crepsley's heart in the middle of the day while he was sleeping. Darren knew that they could not survive without Mr. Crepsley. He also knew that Elena would hate him for taking away her chance at having a real family. He also reminded himself that Mr. Crepsley was his father. And as much as he hated him, there was a part of Darren that wanted to please his father. To show him what he had missed out on for twelve years. To prove that he was a good son. It was these things that kept Darren from killing Mr. Crepsley or even planning to kill him.
Darren and Elena were left in charge of Madam Octa. Mr. Crepsley told them that since they stole her, it was their responsibility to look after her. They fed her, exercised her, and even played with her a little, though Steve always made sure to stay as far away from them as possible whenever she was out of her cage. He wasn't quite over the last incident he had had with the spider.
Darren needed a break from Mr. Crepsley's company. Elena and Steve were out looking for something to eat so Darren left a note on the T.V in case they came back or Crepsley woke before he was back.
He came across a group of boys playing hockey. He stopped to watch, and after a while one of the boys came up to him.
"Where are you from?" He asked.
"Out of town." Darren replied. "I'm staying at the hotel with my father and sister."
"He's from out of town!" The boy called to the players.
"Is he from the Addams family?" One of the other boys shouted back and his mates all laughed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Darren said offended.
"Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?" The boy who had spoken to him first said.
"Darren shook his head knowing now what they meant. His clothes were dusty, and he looked like one of the characters from Oliver Twist. "These are the only clothes I have. My bag got lost. I'm getting new ones soon."
"You'd want to." The boy said with a smile. He asked if Darren knew how to play and Darren said he did.
"You can be on my team." Said the boy. "I'm Michael. We're down six-two."
"Darren."
As the game went on, the captain of the other team Danny began to get nasty. He'd poke Darren in the ribs, and shove him around. Though none of it hurt, Darren quickly began to get annoyed. Then Danny hit Darren in a very painful place.
Darren roared in pain, even vampires had their limits. Darren rose after a few seconds. He was steaming mad. He went behind Danny and swiped at his legs with his stick. It would have been a dangerous tackle even for a human. For a half-vampire, it was a hundred times worse.
There was a loud snapping sound and Darren was horrified to see Danny on the ground, with both leg bones poking through his skin.
Darren raced back to the hotel. He could barely see through his tears. He hadn't even apologized. When he reached the hotel, Darren told Mr. Crepsley that they had to leave town straight away. After one glance at Darren's face, he nodded and gathered their belongings.
They found an abandoned church to sleep in. The children woke early the next morning. Elena didn't ask about what happened yesterday. Something that Darren was very thankful for, but Steve took him aside and asked about it. "I'll tell you later," Darren had murmured and strode ahead to walk in front of his friends. They came across a little shop where they managed to find some meat and veggies.
It was late afternoon when they returned to the church. Elena took out some pots as Darren started a fire and Steve began to chop up the meat and vegetables. Mr. Crepsley had these travel pots that folded into small squares and unfolded into regular sized cookware. A woman named Evanna had given them to him.
The children made a stew that Mr. Crepsley had taught them how to make. He believed that everyone should be able to cook something. Mr. Crepsley was pleasantly surprised when he woke to the smell of cooking stew. "I could get used to this." He said though a yawn. Ruffling Darren's hair as he passed.
When supper was finished, Mr. Crepsley wiped his mouth with a silk napkin. "This is very nice." He complimented.
"Thanks." Darren said.
"So, um. Well… That is…" He sighed. "I was never very good at this type of thing. What went wrong yesterday? Why were you so upset?"
Darren recounted the story of what had happened.
His father listened carefully, not interrupting, which Darren was very thankful for. When the story was finished, Mr. Crepsley thought for a minute or two, scratching his scar while he did so.
"It is something you must get used to." He said finally. "You have to accept the fact that you are stronger, faster, and tougher then humans. You have to be very careful if you are going to play with them."
"I didn't mean to hurt him," Darren said. "It was an accident."
Mr. Crepsley's expression softened. "I know you didn't Darren, you just have to learn to be more cautious when interacting with humans."
"So basically you're just saying we can't have friends." Darren stated miserably.
"You can have friends," Mr. Crepsley said. "You just have to be care-"
"We can't have real friends!" Elena interjected.
"Why not?" He asked.
"True friends don't keep secrets from each other!" She shouted. "I could never tell a human I was a vampire. I'd always have to lie and pretend to be something I'm not. I'd always be afraid of them finding out the truth. Steve is going to be the only friend we ever have."
"It is a problem that every vampire faces." Mr. Crepsley said gently.
"But every vampire isn't a child!" Elena said. She turned away from them, close to tears.
Darren worried she had said too much. What if he said, "You're right." And then left them? What would they do then? Darren was about to apologize on Elena's behalf when Mr. Crepsley spoke up.
"I am sorry." He said. "I should never have blooded you. I am so sorry it was a poor call. You are both far too young. I was being selfish, I wanted you both to be close to me so that I could get to know you. It has been so long since I was a boy. I had forgotten it was like. I never thought of your friends and how much you would miss them. I am terribly-" He choked off into silence.
There were wet drops forming in the corner of his eyes. Darren felt sorry for him. Yes, he hated him for doing this to him, but he only wanted his children to be closer to him. The conflicting emotions were confusing Darren.
"Well there's no moaning about it." Darren finally said. "What's done is done right?"
"Yes." He sighed. "If I could I would take it all back. But Vampirism is forever. Once you have changed, there is no going back."
"However…" He mused. "Perhaps there is a way you can have other friends." His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"But didn't we just agree that it's not safe for us to be around humans?" Elena said.
"Not humans." Crepsley said. "People who are different. People like us. People you can tell your secret to."
He smiled and walked over to them and put his arms around his children.
"How would you like to become members of the Cirque Du Freak?"
Review please! I hope you're enjoying the story!