Three years later…
We came back to the Cirque about two years ago, the first year didn't go well. Darren had been refusing to drink human blood. Admirable? Yes. Stupid? Hell yeah. I felt bad for him though. He had made a friend, a small boy named Sam Grest. We were camped out around some people called Eco Warriors and one of them decided to be the hero and try to release a truly savage animal. The Wolf Man. I knew it'd happen. I stood by the cage that night and told him not to do it. I gave him fair warning, telling him everything that would happen that night because of him.
He didn't believe me.
He let him out.
I was right.
The Wolf Man bit his arms off at the elbow and ran…and attacked poor Sam Grest. He didn't live. Darren barely did. Mr. Crepsley came in time to save Darren, but only Darren. Darren wept over Sam. Mr. Crepsley had told Darren what he must do. Darren bled Sam dry, keeping a part of him alive within him. He gave Sam's body to his parents. Things have changed since. Darren and I had grown closer.
Then Gavner Purl came. He spoke to Mr. Crepsley. A dangerous creature was lurking in his hometown, bleeding people dry. That was earlier today.
I was messing around with Darren and Evra in their tent before bed when a sullen Larten came in. I looked at him. I was instantly worried. "When are we leaving?" I asked, standing up. "Now." He said quietly. I nodded. He looked at Darren. "I've spoken to Mr. Tall, you may bring Evra." He said. He looked at me and jerked his head, summoning me to follow. I nodded and got up.
I followed him out of the tent and into our trailer. Using my mirror water, I formed a bubble and sat on it. "What's up?" I asked him. He looked at me. "A crazy Vampaneze is bleeding people dry in my hometown." He said, packing his things. My eyes widened. Vampaneze. They were eyed, red nailed, purple skinned creatures, cousins to the Vampires. The difference? They sucked every last ounce of blood from their victims. They mark them with three small scratches on their cheek and tracked them. They don't feed in a person's home though.
I ground my teeth and threw everything in a bag. He sighed. "Vanessa, maybe you should not go…" he said, trailing off. I turned and glared. "Why not?" I demanded. He frowned and scratched his scar. "It would be unwise if the Vampire Princess were to be involved with the killing of a Vampaneze." He said. I glared. "I am above jurisdiction. I can do it if I want to." I said. He smiled weakly. "Ok, my child." He said, turning back to his bag. I smiled and packed my bag.
I flitted to Darren and Evra's tent and told them to follow. We walked to the entrance of camp where Mr. Crepsley was waiting. He sighed. "We will flit to the train station and ride from there." I laughed. "But you hate public transportation." I said. He nodded. "I do, but I will not make you carry Evra on your back the whole trip." He pointed out. I smiled. "Thanks." I said. I looked at Evra. "Climb up." I said, tossing him my bag. He nodded and jumped on me. I looked at my mentor. "Ready?" he asked me. I nodded and we flitted to the station. We stopped a little ways off to let Darren and Evra off our backs and walked the rest of the way. We got there just as our train pulled in. We sat in a six seater compartment so two strangers got to sit with us. They were two guys. Since Evra, Darren, and Larten were sitting on one side, they sat next to me. The one directly next to me smiled.
"Hi." He said. I looked at him and smiled. "Hi." I said. He stretched. "So, you guys on vacation or anything?" he asked me. I nodded. "We're visiting family." Evra said. The guy smiled. "That's cool." He said. I nodded and started to look out the window. "What about you guys?" Darren asked. The second guy laughed. "We'd tell you, but you'd think us insane." He said. Darren, Evra and I looked at each other and cracked up laughing. Mr. Crepsley chuckled to himself. "I can assure you we would not think so." He said. The first guy smiled. "Well, we're vampire hunters." He said.
Silence. The second guy sighed. "See? Told you." He said. I shook my head. "We don't think that's insane. We're hunters too." I said. Mr. Crepsley raised an eyebrow. "Not vampires though." I added. They nodded. "What do you guys hunt?" they asked. "Treasure." Darren said. They guys laughed a little. "Like the guys in that movie?" he asked. "The one with Nicolas Cage?" Darren said. They nodded. he grinned. "Dead on." He said. They grinned.
The first one stared at me long and hard, and then I realized there was something familiar about him. "I'm sorry, but do I know you?" he asked me. I furrowed my eyebrows. "I don't know…what's your name?" I asked. He extended a hand. "Louis." He said. I shook his hand. "Vanessa." I said. Then he turned my hand over and looked at my finger tips.
Dead silence.
He looked at me for a long time, turned, and didn't say anything for a long while. He finally spoke though towards the end. "Are all you guys vampires?" he asked quietly. he friend's eyes widened as he realized the potential danger. I shook my head. "No." I answered. "Who are?" he asked. I pointed at my mentor and Darren. "Darren's only a half vampire though." He nodded then looked at me. "I won't kill you." He said. I smiled weakly. "Thanks." I said, knowing he probably couldn't if he tried. "Why not?" Darren asked. Lois stared at me. "Because you tried to save my brother." He said. I gasped.
"You're Sam's brother?" Darren exclaimed. He nodded. "Sam had called me and told me about that freak show and about a few kids." He looked at Evra. "One was an extraordinary snake boy." He looked at me. "One was beautiful and fluid and goddess like, no way she was human." I flushed and he looked at Darren. "The other was a strong, superhuman boy who had become his best friend." He said.
Silence.
The train stooped then. Louis and his friend stood and left in silence. I looked at Mr. Crepsley. He sighed. "Come, we must get on our next train." He said. I nodded and we all got up, grabbed our things, and left.