Don't like don't read. This is a FANFIC created by me - a fan of the FILM. Yes, I know you hardcore Darren Shan readers out there might not approve that this fanfic is on the film and to an extent I agree with you. I really want to read the books but I haven't had time.

So, like the FILM, this fic condenses all the action into a couple of chapters. This fic is NOTHING LIKE THE BOOK so please don't complain. I've basically written what I thought (hoped) would happen after the closing title of the FILM.

FILM. ;)

DC

PS. The Vampaneze names mentioned here are made up. No other Vampaneze names were mentioned in the film so I had to make some up. All other characters ('cept Rose) belong to Darren Shan etc etc...

"Steve?" She repeated, this time a bit louder and with a panicked edge to her voice. She knew now this Vampaneze wasn't Steve but she hoped her friend was near enough to hear her cry. The shadow advanced, blurring slightly around the edges suggesting it was getting ready to fly at her. Rose felt her nails lengthen. The Vampaneze's nails, like vampires, could lengthen and sharpen themselves to make handy weapons. She flexed her fingers in the dark, ready to strike. Her hands rose to hip height as the creature advanced. Only an amateur would raise their fists and aim for the face. A real killer knew that aiming for the throat was futile. You needed to go for the heart. Her hands twitched as she focused on the dark shape's abdomen. Everyone knew the way to a man's heart was through his stomach.

"Grargghhh," growled the creature as it moved across the floor. Rose didn't understand it but then, spontaneous violence rarely made any sense. The Vampaneze's movements confused her. The Vampaneze were effective killers and this is because they adopted a strategy which worked well. Kill hard and kill fast. This individual was moving very slowly, as if to inspire terror which was not a known Vampaneze method.

"Well? Come on then!" cried Rose. She hoped the Vampaneze was only trying to frighten her. Suddenly the thing leapt. There was a crack as Rose's head hit the stone floor and she felt her skull fracture. She felt the heavy pressure of the Vampaneze on top of her, clawing at her face and neck. Ah, she thought, an amateur. The thought gave her a burst of strength and she managed to push the creature off her before falling back again. It felt as though a magnet was pulling her head back to the floor and darkness crept around the sides of her vision in an attempt to pull her into unconsciousness. Rose felt a sudden sharp pain erupt through her side and, when her hand flew to her waist, she felt something warm and wet flowing through her shirt. The smell of blood seemed to excite the Vampaneze and it attacked again with as much fervor.

"Rose!" The last thing Rose heard as she drifted into unconsciousness was two shouts. One of anger and another of fear and suddenly the weight was lifted.

"Foolish! Foolish!" Raised voices stirred Rose from her slumber.

"Keep your voice down, you imbecile. You'll wake her." Rose tried to lift her head off the pillow, eyes still closed, but it felt as though she was stuck in a sticky tar-like substance. She lay back groggily and raised a fragile hand to her forehead. There was a bandage wrapped around it.

"And he caught him?"

"Yes. As well as several others. All innocent of course, they were just passing by and he flew at them in a rage."

"Well, we are all innocent Lucard."

"Of course, of course."

Rose kept very still, not that she had much of a choice, and strained her ears to identify the speakers. They were definitely Vampaneze, two Vampaneze by the sound of it. Standing a little way away from her, their whispers only just reached her bandaged ears.

"Does Mr Tiny know of this...unfortunate incident?"

"Undoubtedly. He always seems to know."

"And has he...has he done anything about it?" There was a pause.

"No."

"And does that condone - ?"

"Mr Tiny has been very clear that he is but a spectator. Nothing he does or says is to be taken as approval or disapproval of anything the Vampaneze choose to say or do," said the second man hurriedly.

"I see," answered the first carefully.

"And yet he found us the Vampaneze lord..." mused Lucard. At this, the man's companion clicked his teeth in annoyance.

"Yeah some lord," he muttered, "barely seventeen and not even a full Vampaneze! How does he expect him to rule?"

"He doesn't need to rule Zander, just to win. Mr Tiny assures us that the boy is prepared. We have witnessed his violence first hand, have we not? And I am told that the vampire lord is an archenemy of the boy which will only increase his rage. With that combination we cannot fail."

"And after he has won? What then? We'll have a lord! The Vampaneze were not meant to be led, we lead!" the man hissed.

"Let others deal with that," said Lucard flippantly, "and perhaps they'll be more...careful next time." At this Rose heard the tread of footsteps and suddenly a dark shadow was cast over her eyes as the Vampaneze bent low to inspect the extent of her injuries. Remaining calm, Rose kept her face impassive and her breathing regular to give the appearance of sleep.

"Mathias managed to do a lot of damage." Cold, stale breath infiltrated Rose's nostrils as the Vampaneze examined her forehead.

"Yes, but she is still alive," said a voice further away. Rose listened for a hint of regret in his voice but there was none. However there was no hint of relief either. His tone of voice had been carefully constructed to give nothing away.

Suddenly there was a rush of air and Rose's eyelids fluttered in surprise. Fortunately neither of the Vampaneze noticed. They had spun around, fixing looks of innocent surprise to their features.

"Get away from her, don't touch her," came a recognizable voice. Rose groaned and tried to sit up. There was another rush of air and then the boy was by her side, lying a cold hand across her forehead.

"Shh, lie down, lie down," he whispered but Rose was too nervous to sit back. She brushed his hand away and with a huge amount of effort, sat up.

"What happened?" she said hoarsely. Her head was on fire and stars obscured her vision. Steve studied her expression thoughtfully. At last he seemed to decide to answer.

"You were attacked," he said.

"By a rouge Vampaneze," added one of the two men quickly. Rose frowned but stopped immediately because it hurt.

"Shut up," Steve snapped. He stood up quickly and Rose was surprised to see the other two step backwards, "Get out!" Rose watched as the two bristled but did not move.

"I said out!" shouted Steve throwing a pointed finger towards the door. Grudgingly, the taller of the two nodded and walked out. The smaller preceded him hurriedly. Rose blinked.

"Who attacked me?" she asked, "Why?" Steve growled.

"A Vampaneze. A stupid Vampaneze. I think some of the rebels put him up to it. The smarter ones just gave out the instructions, strictly anonymous obviously and they made sure that no one could trace them. It just looks like he was working alone; a rogue."

"But you think he wasn't," said Rose. Her head hurt and she wanted to make sure she was taking this new information in properly.

"I know he wasn't," Steve corrected, "he'd be too stupid to reach that conclusion himself. You know the type, all brawn no brain...muscles for hire."

"And you can't figure out who hired him? Ouch!" Rose rubbed her head.

"No...but I killed the suspects," said Steve but Rose hadn't heard him. The sound of blood pounding in her ears dulled any ambient noise.

"What did he do to me?" she moaned. In front of her, her vision of Steve swam in and out of focus.

"You banged your head. The rest of your injuries were mainly flesh wounds. He did manage to get a knife in your side though but I got it out before it did any real damage." Rose closed her eyes and shook her head very slowly.

"Steve why? Why me? What did I do?" Rose couldn't think of anything she'd done that would have offended the race. She'd barely left her room since she'd arrived. Steve meanwhile seemed to be wrestling with his conscience. Rose threw him a withering look.

"What did you do?" she said. Steve frowned.

"Nothing,"

"Steve?"

"Nothing! I didn't do anything! I think it's the prophecy." He clenched his teeth as Rose gave him another skeptical look.

"Is this about your destiny or something?" she said. Steve took offense at her tone.

"You don't need to say it like that. Look, I didn't want to tell you but the prophecy...it doesn't...well, it kind of - "

"What Steve?" cried Rose.

"It sort of mentions... it says that an outsider, a Vampaneze, could destroy it. It tells us that a girl has the power to ruin the Vampaneze's plans." His eyes averted out of embarrassment and a small amount of fear, Steve didn't notice Rose square her shoulders. If he had, he might have gotten out of the way.

"It says...well! They think I'm that girl? Hah! I couldn't care less about the Vampaneze or their silly little prophecy!"

"Well, they care! They won't let anything - anyone - ruin their plans. They want a leader!" At this, Rose suddenly remembered the two Vampaneze's earlier conversation.

"Not everything is about you," Rose said furiously.

"Possibly," Steve said, "but you do have to admit that most things seem to be lately."

"Well, they don't want a leader," she said uncertainly. Steve scoffed at her.

"Of course they want a leader. Mr Tiny chose me! The prophecy chose me!"

"His prophecy?" asked Rose while her stomach knotted itself.

"Yeah," said Steve defensively. He crossed his arms, "look, Rose, I know you don't believe - "

"And Darren? Is he in the prophecy?" Caught unawares, the boy didn't answer straight away. His dark eyes retreated under his brow as his forehead crinkled.

"Darren? Why would that...that vampire be included? He's not a Vampaneze!" His ears reddened with anger.

"I mean what does the prophecy say about the vampire lord?" persisted Rose. She had a horrible feeling about Mr Tiny's so called prophecy.

"You think he's the vampire lord? Hah! Darren? Those vampires wouldn't stand a chance!" Rose thought quickly. Adrenaline was pumping around her body as though trying to hurry it up so her brain could work faster.

"I think - no, listen Steve. You asked me to come with you to tell you the truth once remember? Because I cared about you and the Vampaneze didn't? Well, I think you were chosen because you had the least to loose. You had no family, no friends and no-one to miss you, right?"

Steve didn't look happy with the description but gave a sharp nod anyway although somewhat reluctantly.

"And you'd also just fallen out with Darren, your best friend. Quite convenient for Mr Tiny as it was over the vampires."

"Wait, you think Mr Tiny is behind this? No way! What would he have to gain?" Rose faltered.

"I don't really know...but just think about it." Steve uncrossed his arms which Rose took as a positive sign.

"Only...only the plan went wrong didn't it. And the prophecy needed to be adjusted slightly," Rose bit her lip, "there was suddenly this girl on the scene and she did care what happened to the Lords. Both of them. So Mr Tiny had to get - yes, Mr Tiny - " added Rose when the boy showed every sign of interrupting, " he had to get rid of anything which threatened to form a bridge between the two races. You said so yourself - a rumor went round that a girl had the power to destroy the Vampaneze's plans!"

"No," said Steve firmly, "the Vampaneze wouldn't let anyone get in the way of their plans."

"Right. So they sent in Mathias 'the hired hulk' didn't they? But I bet they didn't try too hard to kill me because they knew you'd go mental! It was just a warning."

Rose took a gulp of air as she finished. Steve, however, remained silent. His features flashed through a series of expressions: doubt, confusion, anger, disbelief. Finally it settled on blank.

"I don't know..." he admitted, "there must be an explanation. There must! Mr Tiny promised... small sacrifices...for the greater good..." His voice trailed off and only a few phrases fought their way to the surface. The rest were lost under waves of confusion in an uncertain sea.

"Hah!" Rose scoffed, "I know about people who talk about suffering for the common good. It's never them! He's been hiding in the background, shouting directions, giving orders but never really up front. Am I right?"

"No, no...you can't be," said Steve. He stood up quickly and half-ran towards the door.

"Where are you going?" called Rose as his back disappeared around the corner. She sighed at his lack of reply and hoped he wasn't going to cause any trouble but she valued her life too much to follow him. Besides, he probably needed to be alone for a bit, to think things through. It must be hard learning you'd thrown away your life for false promises of power and immortality. Rose bit her lip again as she remembered the last look on his face before his features had switched to a protective blank. It had been a mixture of pain and desperation.