Kuro-chan: Hello my wonderfully beautiful readers that I love oh so very much!!!!! ^^

Darren: Where were you, you slacker?!

Steve: Yeah! It's been like months since you last updated!

Kuro-chan: Yes I know but I will make it up to you guys with this looooong and exciting chapter

Steve: It better be worth it

Kuro-chan: Disclaimer please!

Darren: Kuro-chan doesn't own the Darren Shan Saga or Monster (by Lady Gaga)

Rate&Review pleaseeee!!!!!!

Chapter 12

JENN~

The world spun around me as I gradually opened my eyes. Ugh. Why does my head hurt? I sat up on the cot, swaying a little until I rediscovered my center of gravity. I was in the tent I shared with Evra and Darren. Strange. I thought I was in the theater. I shook the thought out of my head, thinking that it was all a dream. My legs carried me outside. The sun shone very brightly in the sky. There were many people hustling about the Cirque, not bothering to notice my presence. My feet continued to guide me to the wolf-man's cage.

He sat on the floor of his confinement, tearing at some bloody pieces of meat. The wolf-man's head turned up as soon as he noticed my presence. His eyes gleamed with happiness and he made a barking sound, kind of like a dog.

Giggles bubbled up from my throat and I stroked his enormous head with my dainty petite fingers. "I'm happy to see you, too." I sat in the cage for a while, singing a variety of songs I learned when I was little. I felt truly happy just sitting in the wolf-man's cage, away from the confusion of the world.

I left the cage as soon as the wolf-man fell asleep and made my way back to the tent. As I opened the flap, I witnessed a sight I'd never thought I'd see.

In the middle of the tent was Kat, looking like she was practically choking the life out of Darren. Evra stood in the back, trying his best to stay out of the fight.

"Uhhh…," I stared completely shocked. They all turned their heads towards me. Kat released Darren's neck and ran towards me, pulling me into a tight hug. A sigh of relief escaped Darren's lips.

"We thought you ran away," Kat explained, worry filling her voice.

"And we're glad you didn't," Darren said, rubbing his neck.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why would I run away?"

Evra answered, "You don't remember what happened yesterday, do you?"

I thought back for a moment. I remembered how I tried to run away after I faked being persuaded into singing until Mr. Crepsley caught me.

"You're just as stubborn as Darren," I recalled him remarking.

I was about to speak when-

"Hey guys!" Marisa happily ran in carrying a piece of paper in her hands.

"Risa?" I turned my head towards the opening of the tent.

She looked at me in surprise. "Oh! You're finally awake! That means I don't have to explain twice."

Evra stepped out of his hiding spot. "Explain what?"

She immediately smiled and flashed the flyer in our direction for us to see. It was black with red roses in each corner. On the center of the sheet in white lettering read "Once Upon a Nightmare."

"A prom?" Darren asked.

"Not just any prom," she leaned her head closer towards us, her smile growing wider, "a gothic Victorian themed prom. And it's tomorrow!"

My eyes brightened. "I've never been to a prom. What's it like?"

"It's kind of like a ball," Marisa explained. "All the girls wear dresses and we dance with a guy," she blushed, "or with friends."

"Sounds fun!" I turned towards Kat who was also intrigued by the news. "Can we go?"

She only shrugged her shoulders and said, "If you're going then I'm coming with you."

"Yay!" I ran over to hug my sister. "Thanks so much, sis!"

"So," Evra began, "What should we wear?"

Marisa stood there and thought for awhile. "I'm not sure about guys, but during the Victorian era, girls wore poofy dresses."

Darren turned to Evra. "Maybe we can ask Mr. Crepsley."

"Yea," Evra agreed. "He is an old man." They both laughed at the comment. Suddenly I felt myself being pulled out of the tent. Huh? Marisa was dragging my arm.

"Risa, what are you doing?" I glanced up at the brown haired. She turned her head slightly but continued walking.

"If you want to get a dress then we have to go now," we were already out of the tent.

+-+-+-+-+

"Ouch! Stop poking me!"

"Well, if you would hold still for a sec-"

"Ow!"

Kat sighed as she stitched a few extra pieces of fabric to my dress. While we were shopping, Marisa suggested that we modify the dressed we bought. Kat said that she could fix them up and thus here we were in Madame Truska's tent. Kat worked on my dress while Madame Truska worked on Marisa's.

I looked at my dress in the mirror. Originally it was a white lace-up dress with long sleeves, but now it became a strapless dress with black lace trim. The sleeves were cut into a pair of flared arm warmers. Overall, it was a beautiful dress. I twirled around in it after Kat finished working on my dress.

"Wow," a voice said behind me. I spun around and found Darren and Evra walking into the tent.

"Nice dress," Evra commented.

"Thanks," I replied. I looked over at Darren to see if he had a comment. He just stood there gaping. I giggled. "You guys don't look too bad yourself."

Evra laughed while Darren blushed.

"Where's Risa?" I asked.

"That's what we were wondering. We thought she was with you."

Darren spoke. "Maybe she already left."

"Then," I decided, "I guess we should go, too."

+-+-+-+-+

"Do you see Risa here?" I asked as I searched through the crowd. We reached the school by flitting. Darren had to carry Evra, which looked awkward, while Kat and I ran on our own. I was thankful to be wearing flats instead of heels, otherwise I'd end up tripping and tearing my dress.

"I can't see her," Kat shouted over the loud music. There were a bunch of people here. They all wore fancy corset dresses and suits. Suddenly the music stopped and the lights dimmed.

"What's going on?" Evra whispered to us.

"Look!" Darren pointed to the raised platform that carried the speakers and stereo system. We all set our eyes on the stage and gasped. There was Marisa on stage in a long red gown. It had an old-fashion look with a tight chest and a poofy skirt that fell lazily around her ankles.

"She looks hot," I heard Evra mumbling, which made me almost laugh. Suddenly a song started to play. It was pretty and had good tempo to dance with. I was about to do so, until Marisa began singing.

I froze in my spot and stared off. I listened carefully to the words.

"Look at him, look at me. That boy is bad and honestly, he's a wolf in disguise, but I can't stop staring in those evil eyes."

Something about that sounds really familiar to me. A memory suddenly flashed in my head. A tall figure stood in front of me. I couldn't make out his face, but I could tell he was in a good mood. A soft laugh came from his lips. The sound resonated within my mind. I saw his reach out and pat what felt like my head. The shape of his lips shifted and I saw that he was mouthing words. But before I could make out the words, the memory faded.

"Jenn! Jenn!" a voice shouted. I blinked several times and found myself back at the dance.

"Jenn! Are you okay? What happened?" It was Darren. He stood in front of me waving a hand in front of my face.

"N-nothing. I just zoned out," I half-lied. The truth was something had been bothering me. Something about that song.

Marisa continued to sing. "I asked my girlfriend if she'd seen you 'round before. She mumbled something while we got down on the floor, baby. We might've fucked not really sure, don't quite recall. But something tells me that I've seen him, yeah."

My eyes caught a figure with short dirty blond hair. He made his way through the crowd and towards the stage. His movements looked familiar.

"That boy is a monster. That boy is a monster. That boy is a monster," Marisa caught our glance and smiled. I lifted my hand and waved back. "He ate my heart…"

Soon afterwards the song ended and Marisa curtsied. The audience applauded and cheered. She made her way down the steps and was about to walk towards us until the blond boy caught her hand. She blushed when she caught a glimpse of his face. The boy must have asked her a question because she excitedly nodded her head and was being pulled away onto the dance floor.

The music changed into something more of a waltz. The people in the crowd began pairing off into couples. I felt a small tap on my shoulder and spun around. Darren stood there holding out a hand towards me.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked.

I blushed, then took his hand. "Of course." He placed a hand on my waist and began to lead.

I laughed. "I didn't know you could ballroom dance."

"You'd be amazed at what you can learn from traveling the world," He replied, also laughing.

When the song was over I left to get a drink. I grew thirsty as the night continued, but for a different reason. I knew I couldn't drink anyone's blood here, so I settled for the lemonade on the table. I grabbed a plastic cup and poured the liquid. I took a sip then decided to search the crowd for my friends. I saw Marisa and Evra dancing together and Darren dancing with my sister. I smiled at the sight of seeing them happy. Suddenly I felt another tap on my shoulder. I turned around to find the blond boy that Marisa danced with earlier holding out a hand towards me, similar to what Darren did.

"Would you care for a dance?" His tone was polite, but his voice sounded much too familiar. I glanced up at his face. He had green eyes with a small red tint in them. He stared at me with a gentle smile, expecting me to answer. I didn't. Instead, I stared back at him, trying to find a clue to why he looked so familiar.

He might've mistaken my expression as a look of confusion because he suddenly took my hand and pressed his lips to it. I blushed and felt my ears almost fly up, but I quickly pressed them down before they appeared.

"I asked you if you would like to dance with me," he said, peering up from my hand.

"Umm," I didn't finish answering because he pulled me towards himself and started to dance. Why am I dancing with a stranger? Well, he wasn't entirely a stranger. At least it didn't feel like it. I tried to peer around him to try but, unfortunately I was too short. His movements were very fluent and graceful. He lifted the arm that carried my hand and gently twirled me around. I didn't look up at his face, I didn't want to. Something about him felt almost eerie.

"Always the nervous type, aren't ya?" he chuckled.

"I'm not nervous," I said glaring up at him. I was beginning to lose my patience with this boy. What makes him think that he can talk so casually to me? "You just seem…suspicious."

He cocked an eyebrow at me and smirked. "And what about me seems suspicious?"

"You're being too nice. You suddenly want to dance with me. And you talk to me as if you've known me for years," I pointed out bluntly.

He laughed. "Why is it that you always remind me of someone?"

Suddenly the faded memory reappeared, only the dark figure was replaced by the blond boy. He had a gentle smile on his face and his green glimmered slightly. His hand lightly stroked my hair as his lips formed the same words I heard earlier.

Why is it that you always remind me of someone?

"Y-you…y-you're…," I stuttered, my eyes growing wide in horror as I slowly began to recall the terrifying thoughts that began to fill my head. I knew it! He's…he's…

"Jenn?" I looked around and found Marisa and Darren standing right next to me and the blond boy.

Marisa looked at the both of us. "You're dancing with him, too?"

I didn't answer because I was watching Darren. His eyes grew wide and I could hear his breathing deepen. His expression twisted into one of rage as he glared at the boy in front of me. I could hear Darren hoarsely mutter in a barely audible tone.

"Steve."

Kuro-chan: YAY! A cliffie! It took us a long time to decide on what song to choose for the prom scene. And by us, I mean me and my friend Marisa.

Steve: So...did you guys plan on having me appear on this specific scene?

Kuro-chan: As a matter of fact, yes! We had this idea when I started to write the 3rd chapter (i think it was...). We wanted you to appear somewhere and ... POOF! Here you are! Crashing a prom! ^^ The song just happened to be a coincedence for MY part of this idea.

Darren: So what happens next?

Kuro-chan: You will find out soon! Btw, to all my readers, recently I've been recieving a lot comments saying that they want to be in the story. Sadly, I can't put everyone in (due to my imagination overload) but I really wish I could because you're all so very nice! Unfortunately, I'll have to stop the offer for being in my story. I'm sooooo very sorry!

Also! If you liked the song Cantarella (the song i used in the previous chapter) I suggest you guys look up the song Imitation Black! It's pretty and hardcore! The ultimate combo! Hahaha!
Btw, the blond girl in the video is really supposed to be a boy. XD (haha! poor len being a shouta!) His dress is awesome though. I really want it! XP