Chapter 1
I was waiting in the wings for my turn. Mr. Tall was standing beside me, also waiting. He would help me with my performance, as he always did. He would also announce me before I appeared on the stage. Hans Hands came walking towards me. He could run on his hands faster than anyone could with his or her legs!
"Larten, looks like you're up next." Hans acknowledged me. Then he walked out of my sight before I could answer. Mr. Tall was announcing me to the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, our next act is another unique and perplexing one. It can also be quite dangerous, so I ask that you make no noise and do not clap until you are told it is safe." He waited for everyone to quiet down before continuing. He walked off the stage and then softly shouted, "Mr. Crepsley and Madam Octa!"
I slowly walked onto the stage in my circus uniform and placed Madam Octa's cage on a table that was previously set there. When I finished with that I turned and bowed to the crowd, smiling as I went. Whilst I explained the first part of my act, I noticed two boys sitting two rows back from the front. Odd, I thought, children usually do not come to these shows. We only hand out fliers to adults.
While I was explaining I noticed that the darker haired boy was staring at the lighter haired one. The latter was staring at me like I was a ghost. He had gasped when he saw me.
"It is not true that all tarantulas are poisonous," I continued. The darker haired boy's head swung to look at me. "Most are as harmless as the spiders you find anywhere in the world. And those which are poisonous normally only have enough poison in them to kill very small creatures.
"But some are deadly! Some can kill a man with one bite. They are rare, and only found in extremely remote areas, but they do exist.
"I have one such spider," I concluded. Then I opened the door of Madam Octa's cage and let her out. For a few seconds she did not respond, then she slowly crawled out from her cage.
Madam Octa crouched on her eight legs, waiting for my order. "Madam Octa has been with me for several years. She lives far longer than ordinary spiders. The monk who sold her to me said some of her kind live to be twenty or thirty years old. She is an incredible creature, both poisonous and intelligent."
While I spoke, two Little People led a goat onto the stage and tied it to the table. Madam Octa took notice of it right away and started crawling towards it. She stopped at the edge of the little table and waited. I pulled the small tin flute from my pants pockets and put it to my lips. I played some quick notes and sent a mental message to Madam Octa. Attack the goat. She jolted into action. Her spindly legs pushed her through the air and onto the neck of the goat.
Her initial bite did not kill it, but would paralyze it. I explained this to the onlookers. The dark haired boy was staring at Madam Octa in amazement.
Then Madam Octa started toward the front of the stage. The people in the front were alarmed at being so close to such a poisonous spider and immediately started jumping from their seats.
"Do not move! Remember your earlier warning: a sudden noise could mean death!" I warned them in a commanding tone. They remained tense, but stopped moving. I had Madam Octa get up on her hind legs then turn around and climb up one leg of the table. "You will be safe now. But please, do not make any loud noises, because if you do, she might come after me." I pretended to look frightened. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I put the flute back to my mouth and sent Madam Octa through her paces.
When it was time to spin a web over my mouth, Mr. Tall came in with another flute. He was not as good as I am, but he got the job done. Once I had finished chewing the spider web, and put Madam Octa back in her cage, I bowed deeply to the crowd and departed.
The two boys were both staring at me, though with completely different expressions. The dark haired boy was smiling brighter than the sun, and he was clapping loudly. The lighter haired boy, however, was looking at me with a deep concentration. He, too, was smiling, but more in a smirking way.
I exited the stage and walked passed Mr. Tall. I nodded at him and continued down into the cellar where I put Madam Octa's cage under a piece of silk, then went back upstairs. It was common practice for the freaks to watch each others performances.
Gertha Teeth was next. Her every sentence ended with an exclamation point (!). To my heightened vampire hearing, it was very uncomfortable.
After Gertha were the Twisting Twins, Sive and Seersa. They were wonderful contortionists. They twisted and turned in ways I could never imagine doing. At the end of Sive and Seersa's performance, Mr. Tall bid the audience good night. However, they got a shock when Evra, our snake-boy, came with his snake as the last performance of the night.
When all the people had left the auditorium, I stuck around. I had a feeling I might be seeing one of those two boys again soon. And I did. The light haired boy was back within ten minutes. He looked around for a second, then stood in his place. I dropped from my spot on the ceiling and said, "Are you looking for me?"
The boy jumped a foot in the air. I could see the boy's friend crouching on the balcony, though I knew the light haired boy did not.
"I saw you watching me, you gasped aloud when you first saw me. Why?" I asked.
"B-b-b-because I kn-know who you a-are," the boy stuttered. He sounded to be about middle school age.
"I am Larten Crepsley," I replied.
"No, I know who you really are."
"Oh? Tell me, little boy, who am I, really?" I sneered at him.
"Your name is Vur Horston. You're a vampire." My. Jaw. Dropped. How in the world did this little kid know my name? I had been under the name Larten Crepsley for several years now. How could this boy possibly know my name?
I smirked at the boy, trying to hide my shock. "So, I have been discovered. I should not be surprised. It had to happen eventually. Tell me, boy, who sent you?"
"Nobody," the boy replied.
"Do not play games with me, tell me who sent you!"
The boy cowered back a little bit. "N-no one! I came by myself. I found a picture of you and some girl in one of my vampire books."
"A picture?" I asked, suspicious.
"A painting," he corrected, "it was in 1903. You and the woman were going to be married, but she found out you were a vampire and dumped you."
"A good a reason as any," I smiled. "Her friends thought she was just trying to make herself look better. They thought it was just a story she made up."
"But it wasn't a story, was it?" the boy asked, scared.
"No, but it might have been better for you if it had been!" I put a ferocious look on my face and growled.
"Y-you won't hurt me." he stuttered.
"Oh? And why not?" I asked.
"B-because. My friend. I told him all about you. He'd report you to the police." I could tell he was lying. The way his dark haired friend had looked when he announced I was a vampire was enough to tell me that. I went along with his words anyway.
"Children! I hate children! Always snooping around in things they should not! What is it you want? Money? Jewels? The rights to publish my story?" This was quite entertaining. Though the boy was getting on my nerves.
"I want to be like you. I want to join you." he stated.
"What do you mean, boy?"
"I want to become a vampire."
His words echoed in my head. What a stupid child. Being a vampire is not all fun and games. It is lonely. It is depressing. No friends, no family. Nothing.
"You are crazy to think you would want such a thing! You cannot have friends, you cannot have a family. Besides, I would be murdered by the Vampire Generals!"
"What are the Vampire Generals?" the boy asked.
"Never you mind. The point is, it simply cannot be done. It causes too many problems."
"So don't change me right away! Make me a half-vampire! I'll be your assistant! Please! I'll do anything!" the child begged. He obviously wanted this badly, even though he most likely did not know much about being a vampire. I thought about this slowly.
"Why? Why do you want to be a vampire? It is lonely. You would have to leave your friends and your parents."
"I don't care! My dad left when I was little, and my mom doesn't care what I do!" he yelled at me.
"What about your friends? Would you not miss them?" I questioned softly.
"My friends? I don't care. I want to be a vampire more than I care about them!" The boy's dark haired friend looked like he really wanted to say something, but he wisely kept his mouth shut and didn't alert the other boy to his presence.
That gave me an idea to get the kid off my back. "What about the boy you came with tonight? Would you miss him?"
"Darren? Yes, I suppose I would miss him, more than any of the others. But I still don't care. Anything to join you, please!" So Darren was the dark haired boy's name. Wonderful. But how cruel would you have to be to leave your friends and say you don't care about them, right in front of one?
"Very well," I agreed. "I will have to test your blood first, come here." His eyes were bright as he walked towards me. The one on the balcony, Darren, was fighting not to say something.
The boy stopped in front of me. "Give me your hand," I said. He did. I pricked him with one of my sharp fingernails and brought his hand to my mouth. I sucked some blood from him and rolled it around in my mouth. It tasted bad. Like evil. This boy would never, ever become a vampire if I could help it! I spat out his blood and wiped it out first with my fingers, then with a napkin from one of my pockets.
"What's wrong?" the boy asked, rubbing his finger.
"Your blood tastes of evil! You will never become a vampire! We are not demonic killers, we respect life. You only want to destroy life and hurt people!"
"That's a lie! You take that back! My blood isn't evil!" the boy ran at me and threw his fist forward, towards my face. I dodged it easily.
"It is no use. Your blood is bad. Go home, get on with your life. Forget this far off fantasy of yours."
The boy was close to tears now. "I'll never forget this! One day, I'll become a vampire hunter! And I'll find you and kill you for denying me!" Then he ran away. I continued spitting out the boy's disgusting blood. I noticed that the other boy, Darren, was still on the balcony. His eyes were wide and shocked.
"Children!" I spat, continuing to wipe blood out of my mouth, I walked away.
Yay! Chapter 1! Go me. Not really. XD Well, hope you liked. ^^
Read and Review! As stated in the summary, flames will be used to roast marshmallows.