Chapter 3

I walked back to the old theater the Cirque was currently camped in and headed toward Mr. Tall's van. I needed to speak with him about staying here for a little while. I was in front of his van when the door swung open. Mr. Tall stood looking down at me.

"Good morning, Larten." he said. His black eyes stared at me with the infinite wisdom I had come to expect from him.

"To you as well, Hibernius. I would wish to speak with you, if it is convenient." I asked. Hibernius nodded and allowed me inside.

Mr. Tall's van was enormous. It wasn't tall enough for Hibernius—I hardly think anything is—but it was still big. He had Cirque du Freak posters adorning the walls. Some were from 100 years ago! Even I wasn't with the Cirque back then! Mind you I was still learning with Seba Nile, so I had a reason.

"Hibernius, I would like to stay here for awhile longer."

"I know, Larten. But we—the Cirque—cannot. We have been here long enough. You will have to be on your own for a little while."

"That is fine. I can find you again, if I need to."

"Very well. Would you like us to keep your coffin with us?" Mr. Tall asked. Whenever I decided to part with the Cirque they would take care of my coffin for me. It was very nice of them to do so, and I greatly appreciated it.

"If you would, I would be most grateful. Thank you." I answered.

"All right. Well, we should be getting off now. We had better get a head start. I plan to get pretty far away from here."

I thanked him once more and headed to my coffin to put together my possessions. There weren't many so it took relatively little time. I just needed the pots Evanna gave me and my clothes. I helped the Cirque get their things together, then watched as they left. I had a feeling it would not be long before I was with them again.

The sun was rising rapidly and as I no longer had my coffin to go to, I found the softest place in the old theater and lied down for the day.

When I awoke the sun was setting. It was around 8 o'clock in the evening and I was particularly ravenous. Not for blood, but for normal food. I set about cooking. The fire needed to be out in the open so I headed outside. After I had finished my meal—a kind of stew—I put away my pots and snuffed out the fire.

I was originally going to go straight to the boy's house, but I knew it would be too early for that. Everyone would still be awake at that point, so I will have to wait until nine or ten. I passed the hours by playing cards with myself.

My inner vampire knew it was ten. Do not ask me how, but I knew. I shuffled the cards together and put them away. I flitted to the boy's house and climbed the wall to Darren's window. I listened for his slow breathing for a moment, then opened the window and stepped in. The silly boy was still holding a cross tightly in his hand! How useless!

First, I checked on Madam Octa. She was in the closet and fast asleep. Or that is what it looked like, anyway. You could never really tell with Madam Octa. She could just be hungry for all I know. It is odd, because I have been with Madam Octa many years and yet I was still learning things about her!

Shutting the closet door, I walked over to the boy's bed. His black hair was shining in the light of the full moon. I was tempted to crush the cross in his hand to little bits, but then I thought that that would alert him to someone having been in his room. Instead I looked around, hoping to find clues about what kind of child he was. I spotted a pair of well-worn soccer cleats and a poster of a famous soccer player. Hmm, kid must like soccer.

I saw his book bag lying in a corner and strode over to it. I pulled out his binder and a very heavy book. It was such a shame that I couldn't read, otherwise I'd curse whatever subject the heavy book was for. Who would want to haul this brick-like thing around? Especially if they were human?

Luckily, I new just the basics of reading. I could read my name and write it, so reading Darren's full name shouldn't be too hard. I glanced at one of the papers in his binder and spotted some words at the top of the page. It read: DARREN SHAN. Now I know his last name.

I put his things back in his bag then wandered back to over to his bed. On his bedside table was a lamp, a glass of water, a soccer trophy, and the tin whistle I used to control Madam Octa during my performances. At least he hadn't lost it already!

Darren had a desk on the opposite side of his bedroom. I was standing in front of it in a second. It had a few pictures of his parents and little sister sitting on the shelves. There were also pictures of him as a young boy, and him and his friend Steve. Darren was smiling in every single one of them.

I stayed in his room all night, just studying him and his room. I found that Darren has a thing for soccer. He had several trophies in his closet, and he also had his first pair of cleats. Now that is dedicated!

When the boy's alarm clock read 5:00 I headed back to the theater. I did not want to run the risk of him waking up and finding me there. The theater was cold when I got back, but thanks to my vampireness I kept warm enough. I then wrapped up for another day sleeping.

This one is just slightly longer than the last one...by about 200 words. XD

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