I don't want to skip any part of this trip, so expect a long chapter! Remember, this is 30 days.

Chapter 19 - Hearts That Bleed

"I'm not eating this!"

Ron rolled his eyes and grabbed the sandwich, stuffing it in his mouth, small patch of mould and all.

Draco gaped. "That was my sandwich! I demand a new one!" He crossed his arms and glared at a discoloured rock in the wall of the cave.

This was the way it had been since the beginning of the trip and it had only gotten worse as the food got older and the going had gotten harder. Darren had somehow found caves without any Vampire props and had them stay in them. And though they had many questions on his sanity when he insisted that he needed to take off his shoes and socks, they let it slide. They had picked the worst time to set out, being the winter months on treacherous mountain ranges. Magic saved them many times.

Darren was finding it especially hard. No human blood meant his strength was slowly depleting, and by now it was far worse than the humans. And it was getting harder to control his bloodlust.

Darren shook his head as his eyes were drawn to the pale neck that was exposed. Ginny looked over to him at the shake. "Aren't you going to eat anything Darren?"

"No." he answered shortly.

"But you didn't last time either. You must be hungry." she insisted. Tearing her sandwich in half she passed it to him. "Here, have half."

Darren put up his hands and leaned back. "It's alright. I'm not hungry." Slightly true, he had had a squirrel about five days ago. His stomach rolled as the Swiss and ham sandwich smell wafted towards him.

"I insist. You're unhealthy as it is! All skinny like that." She pointed to his thin wrists and hands that showed every bone.

The others started joining in and Darren gave a large gulp.

"Eat it or we'll have to stick it down your throat ourselves." Ron threatened.

Darren froze. That would involve their hands... wrists, being near his mouth. He thought of the blood pumping through those wrists and snatched the sandwich half out of Ginny's hand and stuffed it in his mouth. He chewed, grimacing from the bad taste and swallowed in one gulp. They were about to congratulate him when he dashed out of the cave, retching sounds following. They winced.

When Darren came back in Ginny apologised and he waved it off. "I haven't been able to stomach anything for awhile."

"Is that why all you ate was steak back at the school?" Ron asked.

Darren nodded. "Stomach condition."

"What's it called?" Hermione asked, secretly trying to piece together the puzzle that was Darren Shan.

Darren floundered. "Uhhh... well... I can't remember what it was called, but I just can't eat too much." He turned and walked out of the cave again. "I'll be back. We need more firewood."

He took a deep breath of the mountain air to clear his head. Focusing rather than thinking, always the better option, he scented for a rabbit a mile away. Tensing his muscles as he slowly crept upon his prey, his mind wandered to the different problems whirling around his head. He put it down to two things: Steve and the humans. Steve was a long term problem so the humans where first to be dealt with. Problems with the humans involved a) getting them to the mountain b) getting them to live through the mountain experience and c) telling them about vampires.

'Or not, which is a preferred but unlikely possibility.'

The thought made him falter in his leap and the rabbit hopped away, making Darren land on his face. He shook the snow away and pounded his fists into the snow in frustration. "AUUGH!! Dammit Dammit Dammit!!" he roared, letting all his pent up frustration from the past half a year.

The others in the cave heard the angered yell and leapt to their feet.

"What was that?" Hermione asked.

"Let's try to find Darren." Harry said, "He might need our help."

"I'll hold down the cave." Draco drawled, sitting back down.

They ignored him and started into the forest.

Harry took out his wand. "Point me, Darren"

The wand pointed in a direction and they followed. They walked for what seemed like forever, until they finally came to the same clearing Darren was still in. He was crouched in the middle of the clearing, inching his way towards a rabbit. He seemed very into what he was doing so they kept quiet. He was about to spring when Ginny ran into them, having gotten caught on a branch awhile back. They gave a yell and fell forward in a heap, startling Darren onto falling on his face for the fourth unsuccessful time. He lowered his head into the snow as they struggled through the knot of limbs, apologising and groaning in pain. They approached him.

"Are you alright Darren?" Hermione asked as she kneeled beside him.

He didn't answer so she shook his shoulder. He groaned and buried his head in further; maybe if he stopped breathing then he wouldn't have to deal with these problems... maybe. He reminded himself that he was the only one able to kill Steve and pounded his hands into the snow again, spouting muffled curses into the snow.

"Darren, get up, we need to get back to the cave before sunset." Ginny insisted.

He lifted his head up and gave her a hard look with his blank, bloodshot eyes and frowned. "No." he croaked. "No, I need to stay here. I need... need..." he trailed off and put his head back into the snow, clenching his fists in desperate frustration. What did he need? What was his purpose in life? He was beginning to think that he really didn't matter. Harkat and Vancha could kill Steve. Why did it have to be him?

"Why did it have to be me?" he asked the snow miserably, but the rest of them heard and Harry stiffened.

Ginny glanced at Harry's tense posture and walked over to him, holding his hand in support. He smiled at her and squeezed back, thankful.

"What do you have to do Darren?" Hermione asked quietly, knowing a Harry-like statement when she heard one.

Darren opened his mouth to confess it all, bare his soul for those four to see and be disgusted by, but settled for the easier course, "Stay here." He muttered into the snow.

They all sighed at the answer and opted instead on casting warming charms on themselves to keep him company, remembering that he did not want these things put on him because of his wacky tradition.

As the sun began to set, Darren lifted his head from his arms and stared at the fiery horizon. He had to go on, if not for himself, then for the humans he was entrusted with.

He rose to his feet, dusting his sweater and trousers of snow. His bare feet making almost no sound, he started back towards the cave. There was no way he could go hunting now, the humans would surely follow.

"We'll be leaving at sunrise." Darren stated then went to his corner to sleep for the night. Not that he would truly sleep for fear of devouring his friends in the middle of the night while he was unconscious.

Not about to argue, the rest of them went to their respective sleeping bags.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Harry hovered a few feet above the trees on a Firebolt, following Darren as he made his way through the trees. At the beginning of the trek Darren had been moving like an unstoppable tank, now pushing small branches out of his way seemed to give him trouble. What was worse, Harry had caught Darren looking at the rest of the group with a strange glint in his eyes, almost as if he was... hungry. Past discussions had convinced Harry that Darren was not human, but was he also a threat? Where was he taking them, so far into these creepy mountains? He said it was his home, but something in his tone made Harry not believe him.

Below, Darren stumbled and fell to his hands and knees. The rest of the group descended and stood silently around Darren. Hermione knelt beside Darren and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Darren panted. He wouldn't be able to go much further, that much he knew. And there was still a weeks' worth of travelling to do. His forced fasting and his responsibilities to this group where starting to conflict. Without the human blood, he can't guide them to the mountain. Without them in the mountain, he couldn't go on to kill Steve. And Steve was the reason he was refusing human blood. Even having them surround him like with was like slow torture.

Feeling the monster in him rear, Darren struggled to get his feet under him and get away from the humans. Failing, he fell to the ground again and held his breath, so he wouldn't smell their blood and be tempted.

"Darren?" Hermione asked again.

"Find shelter." Darren commanded. "I'll come and find you later. I just need to rest for awhile..."

"But-"

"Go!" Darren said loudly, anger sparking in his hollow eyes.

Hermione scrambled to her feet and backed away into Ron's awaiting arms. The humans climbed back onto their brooms and took off. Harry gave one last look at the boy on the ground and with a sigh, followed his friends.

Lying there for a while, Darren closed his eyes and took a breath. The deadline was coming up soon. Soon, they would have to know...

He pushed up with his weak arms and slid his feet under him. As he lifted his hands to get up he fell back on his behind with a grunt. After many failed attempts Darren, balanced on his haunches, steeled himself for one last try. Pushing from the ground he found himself stumbling forward through the underbrush. Afraid that if he stopped he would fall again, Darren pushed on at a blind speed towards the scent of his humans that was still so sensitive to him he could find it a continent away. As he stumbled through the brush he came upon the corpse of a rabbit, having been discarded instead of eaten. He fell close to it and fed, his first meal since that incident in the clearing.

Afterwards, he stood on steady legs. He was no longer as weak as a newborn doe but still not up to par with the humans. He scented them again and continued on.

'They didn't go far.' Darren observed as he approached the area that they were in.

A piercing scream echoed through the mountains from the cave where Darren's friends where.

Hearing the scream, Darren's eyes widened and he ran to the cave to find them huddled in a corner between a coffin and a shelf full of human blood with a dark figure looming over them in a cloak. Was it a vampire, Vampaneze or human? The outstretched hands arched in a deadly position meant it wasn't human. But that only made it that much harder to kill.

Without thinking, Darren threw himself into the cave and clouted the thing over the head with his clasped fists. It barely moved from the blow but dodged around Darren and sliced his back open with its claws. Hermione screamed as the thing grabbed Darren around the neck and slammed him to the wall, making the shelf shake and the jars jingle.

"Prince?" said the thing, loosening its grip.

Darren looked into the hood of the cloak and just about kicked the man in spite. It was one of the newly turned vampires that had gone on a messenger mission before Darren left for Hogwarts.

"Get out of here Hekta!" Darren whispered angrily. What was he doing here? That mission should have only taken a few days.

The vampire, obligated to follow the orders of his prince, released Darren and fled the cave with a backwards glance to where Darren had stumbled to his feet.

Relieved that the confrontation was avoided, Darren turned to reassure the humans when a binding spell hit him in the chest and knocked him back against the wall he had just escaped (1). The ropes pressed tightly against his wounds on his back and Darren winced. At the other end of the spell was a frosty Draco.

"What are you doing Malfoy!?" exclaimed Hermione, running to aid Darren when Ron wrapped his arms around her to hold her back. She looked behind her in confusion. "Ron?"

"Ferret face has a point." Ron said severely.

"What point?" Hermione shouted "He just saved us!"

"Or did he send it?" Draco said coolly.

Hermione opened her mouth to protest but found that she too had nearly no trust in Darren, this cave and that person suddenly leaving them doing nothing to ease her fears. She turned to the boy. "Darren?"

"I didn't send him!" Darren said desperately. He searched their eyes but found all but Hermione's held doubt.

"What about this cave?" Ginny asked. "Coffins? Blood? What's going on here?"

Darren scrambled for something to say, to explain the strange things making them distrust him. 'And they had just begun to start trusting me again...' Darren thought sadly. 'Wait, I don't need them. Their only a mission! I don't need... them...' Darren felt his deadened heart throb and shook his head to rid the all too familiar feeling of despair.

"I told you he was dangerous." Ron said acidly, mistaking the shake as one of loss of words.

"Just because he's different doesn't mean he's dangerous, Ron." Harry snapped, remembering the Dursleys.

Darren's head snapped up. 'Different? Do they know...?'

"That's right." Ron sneered. "We know you're not human."

"We know you're a vampire." Ginny said solemnly. "The blood, coffins, the lack of appetite, it all makes sense now. But thing is," she walked over and looked him dead in the eyes. "are we your friends, or your meal?"

There was silence and Darren struggled with his inner emotions. Where they his friends? Did he want to let them that close? Or should he drive them off now where he wouldn't get hurt?

'But then they would probably get lost or worse, found by a Vampaneze.'

"I don't want to eat you. If I did you would be dead by now." Darren said confidently.

"I see that look you give us." Ron spat, "We're just some slab of steak to you! You'd eat us the moment we turned our backs!"

Darren shook his head. "No, never. You have to understand-" he beseeched desperately, feeling the dull throb in his heart turn to a searing pain.

Ginny strode over and ripped the sleeve of her sweater up to her elbow and offered her wrist to Darren's nose. "Prove it."

Darren's eyes opened impossibly wide as the scent of blood filled his head, fogging it over and making thought fade. His breath quickened and he leaned forward, his tongue darting out to drag over the pulse point. He opened his mouth to bite down when Harry bolted forward and ripped Ginny away. He held her in his arms and shook his head in disbelief at Darren.

Ron snorted. "I knew it."

"You mean I knew it." Draco said pompously.

Darren blinked rapidly to clear his vision and found everyone standing on the other side of the cave from him. His memory caught up with him and he pleaded "No! That was a mistake!"

"The mistake was in us for trusting you." Ron said, turning to gather his things. "I say we leave him here for that Vampire buddy of his to find again and head off to the nearest town we can find."

"You can't!" Darren shouted. 'If they got killed or captured and Paris found out, I'll never be trusted to go kill Steve! If they got captured... I'd never be able to forgive myself!'

"Why not?" Hermione asked, disgust showing in her voice.

"You could get lost!"

"We have brooms. We'll find a town before we ever get to this elusive 'mountain' you were taking us to." Ron said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

Darren blurted out the first excuse he could think of as they started out of the cave. "The Vampaneze will get you!"

Ron scoffed. "Good try; it's the Vampires we have to be careful of!"

But Hermione stopped, something wiggling in the back of her memory. She turned around "Vampaneze?"

Darren whipped his head up from where it had fallen on his chest. "What?" he said hopefully.

"You said 'the Vampaneze will get you'. Who are the Vampaneze?"

Darren thought for a moment. They already hated Vampires, so if they knew that the Vampaneze where related...

"I-I-uhhh...they-" Darren tried to force out. What's the use? They hate us already. "They are a cousin to Vampires." He admitted, his eyes falling again to look at the floor.

Hermione turned back to the others. "I read a book on Vampires back at Hogwarts and it mentioned these Vampaneze. He told the truth about that at least."

"So?" Ron said coldly, angry that Darren nearly drained his little sister.

"Maybe... maybe we could listen to his excuse?"

"Hermione!" Ron yelled, "He's a Vampire! An animal that wants to devour you!"

Hermione was livid. "Just because he's not human doesn't mean-"

"You can't go saving everything that you think is mistreated!"

"House Elves are taken advantage of! Maybe you're stuck up pure blood can't see that, but I can!" Hermione yelled, tear now coursing down her face. How could he be so callous?

"My 'stuck up pure blood' is telling me that you've gone nuts, he-" Ron pointed at Darren "is a freak of nature that's gotten us lost and that we need to find the Order so we can fight his kind that's taken over Hogwarts!"

Ron didn't see the fist coming from the side until he was sprawled on the floor with a broken, bleeding nose. He looked up in shock at Harry glaring down at him with such anger in his eyes that they glinted a cold emerald.

"H-harry?" Ron stuttered.

"He may be a freak to you," Harry started evenly, "But he's someone's friend. And that's all that matters."

"But! But he is a freak! All he wanted was to eat us! Not be our friend!"

"How do you know?" Ginny said, holding the crying Hermione in her arms. "We are friends with Dobby."

"That's different!"

"Maybe not." Harry said. "Maybe he really is trying to lead us to a safe place and we're just making it difficult."

Ron was silent for a moment then a grin spread over his face. "I see now," He looked up. "He's controlling you!" He whipped out his wand and yelled "Stupefy!"

Harry dodged the spell and took out his own. "Expelliarmus!"

Hermione looked up "No Ron! Stop!"

"I'm going to save you, Harry. For once, I'll save you! Petrificus Totalus!"

Harry dodged again and sent the curse back at Ron. Ron ducked behind a coffin.

"Expelliarmus!" Ron and Harry said at the exact same time, making both their wands fly out of the cave. Harry turned to follow it but the bulkier Ron let out a roar and tackled Harry from behind. They started throwing punches.

"Stop it Ron!" Hermione yelled again. She turned to a cool Draco who was leaning on a wall. "Stop them!"

Draco shook his head. "Hot headed Gryffindors need to let it out sometimes."

"But Ron's just gone insane!" Ginny said, watching as Harry pushed Ron into a coffin.

Darren moaned in his corner. All this spilt blood was driving him nuts! He flexed his fingers in an attempt to curb the desire to feed. As Ron ran by a splatter of blood landed on his chest and Darren nearly passed out.

"STOP IT!!"

Everyone stopped to look at Darren who was panting and covered in both his own and Ron's blood.

"I swear," he growled. "If you don't stop fighting I WILL eat you!"

Ron's eyes widened and he pointed at Darren "See! See! He-". Harry punched him in the face, knocking him out before he could get another word out.

Draco shook his head. "Idiot."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

– Normally the spell wouldn't have worked on him if he was a full vampire. The spell would still work on him because he's only half but it would be normal ropes so if he had his normal strength he could just break them instead of have them unbreakable like the spell intended. See? A little of both ways.

-blinks blearily- You all better love me. I just spent 6 hours on this in my too hot room. –yawns-