I stood frozen with fear for more than an hour, staring into the snake's gleaming eyes, waiting for it to strike. Finally, dawn light flooded the tent and with it the rousing figure of someone from within the tent.
It was the snake-girl, and she looked shocked when she saw me. She immediately rocked back in the hammock and raised the covers, as though to protect herself.
When she saw the snake wrapped around me she breathed easily. "Who are you?" she asked sharply. "What are you doing here?"
I shook my head slowly. I didn't dare speak for fear that the movement of my lungs would cause the snake to strike.
"You'd better answer," she warned, "or I'll tell her to take your eyes out."
"I ...I... I'm S-Samantha," I stuttered. "Mr. T-Tall told me to c-come in. He said I w-was supposed to be your new r-roommate."
"Samantha Shan?" The snake-girl frowned, then pointed knowingly. "You're Mr. Crepsley's girlfriend or something?"
My face burned bright red. The audacity!
"I am NOT his girlfriend. I'm his assistant." I huffed angrily.
The snake girl snickered to herself, "I bet you're really good at assistance aren't ya?" She began to die laughing and nearly fell out of her hammock. I cringed at her innuendo.
"Can you please tell your snake to release me? I'm not particularly fond of being strangled!"
The snake-girl grinned. "Did Crepsley know Mr. Tall was putting you in with me?" I nodded and she cackled. "I've never met a vampire without a shit sense of humor."
She swung down out of the hammock, crossed the tent, took hold of the snake's head, and began unwrapping it. Her long hair was unbound and hung in her face. Her yellow-y locks were gleaming, glossy and pin straight. The kind of hair I used to eny. "You're okay," she assured me. "The snake's been asleep the whole time. You could have tugged her off and she wouldn't have stirred. She's a deep sleeper."
Now I felt like a fool. I blushed again, "So she sleep crawls….That's...Strangely endearing?"
Evra's face lit up, "You really think so? She must like you to cuddle up with a stranger…"
Evra tucked her pet away in a corner and stroked her head lovingly. Leaving her snake, she threw back the tent flap and stepped out. I followed quickly, despite being dead tired. My abdomen still ached painfully but I didn't wanting to be left alone with the reptile.
I studied her closely outside. She was exactly as I remembered: a few years younger than me and very thin, with narrow eyes, and strangely webbed fingers and toes; her body was covered in green, gold, yellow, and blue scales. She was wearing a pair of shorts, a sports bra, and nothing else.
"By the way," she smiled, "My name's Evra Von." She held out a hand and we shook. Her palm felt slippery, but dry. A few of the scales came off and stuck to my hand when I pulled it away. They were like scraps of colored dead skin.
"Evra Von what?" I asked, discreetly wiping my hand on my dirty jean shorts.
"Just plain Von," She said. "Kind of like how Beyonce is just Beyonce."
I couldn't stop the giggle that came out of my mouth. Evra seemed pleased with herself.
"I'm so glad there's another girl my age here," She sighed happily. "Mr. Tall never would have picked up on that one in a million years."
A strange gurgle sound filled our ears. She grimaced and rubbed her stomach. "You hungry too?"
"Starving!"I said, and went with Evra to get something to eat. The camp was packed with people. Everyone walked about tending to their chores or catching up on gossip. There were dozens more people than I had initially thought.
"Who are all these people?" I asked.
"The backbone of the Cirque Du Freak," Evra replied. "They do the driving, set up the tents, do the laundry and the cooking, fix our costumes, clean up after shows. It's a big operation."
"Are they... normal?" I asked tentatively.
"Most of them," she said. "Some are related to the performers. Some are friends of Mr. Tall. Some just wandered in, liked what they saw, and stayed."
"People can do that?" I asked. " That's pretty amazing!"
"If Mr. Tall likes the look of them," Evra said. "There are always openings at the Cirque Du Freak." Evra stopped at a large campfire, and I stopped beside her. Hans Hands (a man who could walk on his hands and run faster on them than the world's fastest sprinter) was resting on a log, while Truska (the bearded lady, who grew her beard whenever she wanted) cooked sausages on a wooden stick. Several humans were sitting or lying around.
"Good morning, Miss Von," Hans Hands said.
"How are you, Hans?" Evra replied lazily.
"Who's your pretty friend?" Hans asked, eyeing me openly.
"This is Samantha Shan," Evra said.
"The Fresh Blood?" Hans asked, eyebrows raising.
"None other." Evra grinned.
"What do you mean, 'fresh blood'?" I challenged.
"You're famous in these parts," Hans said. "Why? Because I'm a" — I lowered my voice — "half-vampire?"
Hans laughed pleasantly. "Half-vampires are nothing new. If I had a silver dollar for every half-vampire I'd seen, I'd have . . ." He scrunched up his face and thought. "Twenty-nine silver dollars. But female half-vampires are a different story. I never saw or heard of a girl your age living it up among the ranks of the walking dead. Tell me: Have the Vampire Generals been around to inspect you yet?"
"The who?" I exclaimed. All these terms, all this groups. It was enough to make me dizzy trying to catch up.
"I dont think shes talking about the band," Evra mused to herself.
"Hans!" a lady washing clothes barked. He stopped and looked around guiltily. "Do you think Larten would enjoy hearing you spreading tales to the young mistress?" she snapped. Hans made a face.
"Sorry," he said. "It's the morning air. I'm not used to it. It makes me say things I shouldn't."
I wanted him to explain about the Vampire Generals, Mr. Crepsley be damned, but I guess it would have been impolite to ask. Truska checked the sausages, pulled a couple off the stick, and handed them out. She smiled when she came to me, and said something in a strange, foreign language.
Evra laughed. "She says, if you'd like, she has some stuff in her tent that might fit you better than your dirty clothes."
I found myself blushing again, and realized that I probably looked like a hot mess after traveling so long without a proper mirror.
Truska spoke again, "Also she wants to know if you like sausages or if you're a vegetarian."
"That's a good one!" Hans chuckled. "A vampire vegetarian!"
"You understand her?" I was in awe.
"Yes," she said proudly. "I'm still learning — it's the hardest language I've ever tried to learn — but I'm the only one in the camp who knows what she's saying. I'm excellent at languages," she bragged. "Amongst other things."
"What language is it?" I asked, once again ignoring her innuendos.
"I don't know," she whined, frowning. "She won't tell me." That sounded weird, but I didn't want to say anything to be rude. Instead, I took one of the sausages and smiled a thank you. I bit into it and had to drop it immediately; it burned my tongue! Evra laughed and handed me a glass of water.
Soon after breakfast Truska led us back to her tent and pulled some things from her closet and ordered me into the bath tub. I nearly cried as I thanked her. I finally began to feel normal again after months of cold river water.
After drying off with a clean towel I began to peruse my outfit choices. After a few moments of deliberating I settled on a pretty, deep purple, bell sleeve velvet dress that laced up the front, a pair of black fleece tights, a pair of thick boot socks and some sturdy black boots.
Truska was even nice enough to fix my horrendously untamed eyebrows, and loan me some cosmetics. My hair had grown even longer than before and I decided to leave it. She gave me a dark green coat for the colder weather and sent me on my way.
"Wow Shan! Who knew beneath that ratty sweatshirt and gross shorts, a beautiful woman lay hiding." Evra snorted a laugh and clapped me on the shoulder.
"Hey!" I laughed, mock offended. "Before all this happened I never left the house looking like a schmuck."
We sat with Hans and Truska and the others for a while, chatting and eating and soaking up the morning sun. The grass was wet with dew, but none of us minded. Evra introduced me to everyone in the group. There were too many names for me to remember at once, so I just smiled and shook hands. Mr. Tall soon appeared. One minute he wasn't there, the next he was standing behind Evra, warming his hands over the fire.
"You're up early, Miss Shan," Mr. Tall remarked. "I'm glad to see Miss Truska was able to find you some suitable clothing. That color suits you."
"I couldn't sleep," I told him and grinned at his compliment. "I was too —" I looked over at Evra and smiled "— wound-up."
"I hope it will not affect your ability to work," Mr. Tall said.
"I'll be fine," I said. "I'm ready to work."
"You're sure?" I nodded.
"That's what I like to hear." He pulled out a large notebook and flipped through the pages. "Let's see what we can find for you to do today," he said. "Tell me: Are you a good cook?"
"I can cook stew. Mr. Crepsley taught me. Also my mom taught me a few recipes when I was younger."
"Have you ever cooked for thirty or forty humans?"
"Not….really." I smiled sheepishly.
"Too bad. Maybe you'll learn." He flipped through another couple of pages. "Can you sew?"
"I can patch things up but I'm no seamstress."
"Okay," he said, "until we find a more permanent position for you, stick with Evra and help her with the laundry. Does that sound fair?"
"I'd like that alot!" I said.
"You don't mind, Evra?" he asked the snake-girl.
"Not at all," Evra replied. "I could use all the help I can get with the way these people dirty their linen!"
"Very well. It's settled. Evra will be in charge of you until further notice. Do what she says. When your colleague-in-blood arises" — he meant Mr. Crepsley — "you're free to spend the night with him if he so desires. We'll see how you do, then make a decision on how best to utilize your talents."
"Thank you," I said.
"My pleasure," he replied. I expected him to suddenly vanish then, but instead he turned and walked away slowly, whistling.
A hot breath whooshed in my ear. "Oooo does Crepsley often desire you at night?"
"Evra!" I exclaimed and turned bright red.
She held up her scaly hands in defense, "I'm just kidding. You know, the more embarrassed you look the worse it seems!"
"Well, Sam," Evra said, sticking a scaly arm around my shoulders, "looks like you and I are partners now. How do you feel about that?"
"I feel good."
"Cool!" She slapped my shoulder and gulped down the last of her breakfast. "Then let's get going."
"What do we do first?" I asked.
"What we'll be doing first every morning." Evra said. "Milking the poison from the fangs of my snake."
"Oh," I said. "Is it dangerous?"
"Only if she bites before we finish," Evra said, then laughed at my expression and pushed me ahead of her to the tent.
Evra did the milking herself (thank goodness!) then we brought the snake outside and laid her on a grassy knoll.
We grabbed buckets of water and scrubbed her down with really soft sponges. After that, we had to collect all the dirty clothes from the Cirque members. Including the linen from the Wolfman cage.
"Why is he so vicious?" I asked, snapping on a pair of gloves as I threw away the stained sheets and placed new ones across some of the bars.
"Because he's a real wolf-man," Evra said. "He's not just somebody very hairy. He's half human, half wolf."
"It's mean to keep him chained up." I said as we continued to push onward.
"If we didn't, he'd run free and kill people. The mix of human and wolf blood has driven him mad. He wouldn't just kill when he was hungry; if he was free, he'd murder all the time."
"Isn't there a cure?" I asked, feeling sorry for him.
"There isn't a cure because it isn't a disease," Evra explained. "This isn't something he caught, it's how he was born. This is what he is."
"How did it happen?" I asked.
Evra looked at me seriously. "Do you really want to know?"
I stared at the hairy monster in the cage, ripping up the meat as if it were cotton candy, then gulped and said, "No, I suppose I don't."
Next we grabbed Rhamus Twobellies, a huge man who could eat anything, soiled bedding. I wanted to stay and watch him eat, but Evra hurried me out. Rhamus didn't like people watching him eat when he wasn't performing.
We moved onward and collected all other linens until out bin was full and then we made our way to the river. Evra and I spent hours scrubbing, most times washing things twice, and hanging things up to dry on heavy wires. We had a lot of time to ourselves, and during our quieter moments we told each other about our lives — where we'd come from and how we'd grown up.
I told her everything, about my family and my friends. I admitted that I missed them terribly an she suggested that I ask Mr. Crepsley if I could send them a letter. I perked up at the idea, even knowing that I wouldn't be able to give out where I was staying to get a return letter, because at least now I could have some contact with them.
I told her about Alan, Tommy, and Jen and the adventures wed used to have at school and she drank it up. Evra never got the chance to experience that herself, but when I told her about Steve-all about Steve she frowned.
"He sounds like such a creep. Your mom was right about him."
Evra had been born to ordinary parents. They were horrified when they saw her. They abandoned her at an orphanage, where she stayed until an evil circus owner bought her at the age of four.
"Those were bad days," she said quietly. "He used to beat me and treat me like a real snake. He kept me locked up in a glass case and let people pay to look at me and laugh. Sometimes they would do worse..." She was with the circus for seven long, miserable years, touring small towns, being made to feel ugly and freakish and useless. Finally, Mr. Tall came to the rescue.
"He showed up one night," Evra said. "He appeared suddenly out of the darkness and stood by my cage for a long time, watching me. He didn't say a word. Neither did I. The circus owner came. He didn't know who Mr. Tall was, but thought he might be a rich man, interested in buying me. He gave him his price and stood back, waiting for an answer. Mr. Tall didn't say anything for a few minutes. Then his left hand grabbed the circus owner by the neck. Like a superman choke hold! He squeezed once and that was the end of him. He fell to the floor, dead as a door nail. Mr. Tall opened the door to my cage and said, 'Let's go, Evra.' I think Mr. Tall's able to read minds, which is how he knew my name." Evra was quiet after that. She had a faraway look in her eyes.
"Do you want to see something amazing?" she finally said, snapping out of her thoughtful mood.
"Sure," I smiled.
She turned to face me, then stuck out her tongue and pushed it up over her lip and right up her nose!
"Ewww! Gross!" I laughed. She pulled the tongue back and grinned.
"I've got the longest tongue in the world," she said. "If my nose were big enough, I could poke my tongue all the way to the top, down my throat, and back out my mouth again."
"You couldn't!" I laughed.
"Probably not." She giggled. "But it's still pretty impressive. And the boys love it!" She gave me a saucy wink.
"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen." I laughed.
"I bet you wish you could do it," Evra said.
"Don't you get snot all over your tongue?"
"I don't have any snot," Evra said.
"No snot?!"
"It's true," she said. "My nose is different from yours. There's no snot or dirt or hairs. My nostrils are the cleanest part of my whole body."
"What does it taste like?" I teased as I began folding some shirts.
"Lick my snake's belly and you'll find out!" he replied. "It's the same taste as that."
I laughed and said I wasn't that interested. "Save that for the boys!"
The sun had risen and set over the horizon by the time we had stopped goofing around and gotten our work done. We once again found our way back to Truska's tent where I fixed my smudged eyeliner and eye helped Evra put mascara on her blonde eyelashes.
"I have to admit, I'm jelaous." Evra whined. "I love my snake-y skin but it's so hard to do makeup on these eyes!"
"I think you're gorgeous!" I applied slight blush on her cold cheeks.
"Of course you do. But have you looked in a mirror. No wonder Crepsley wanted to take you…" She paused. "As an assistant."
"Haha, very funny." I replied sharply and stuck my tongue out at her. Evra grabbed a dark green sweater and we headed out to the fire for dinner.
We were giggling by the fire as we flipped through some pages of our favorite trashy teen magazine, Teen Digest, when I felt a presence behind me.
"There you are. I was beginning to think you ran off." Mr. Crepsley took his seat next to me. "I see you are taking in some fine literature." He mused.
I noticed he had also stumbled his way into a shower and some fresh clothes. As well as a much needed shave. He seemed to look younger by the fire's glow. His brilliant orange hair seemed more copper on his head, his scar was less scary and more of a characterization.
I felt a tightness in my chest when I saw him take in my new look. If he liked my outfit he seemed reserved to tell me so, and instead offered a polite smile. Evra looked positively ready to combust.
"Good evening," I cleared my throat awkwardly. Things had not been this strange with him on the road. Perhaps because the focus had been more on fighting and not gazing at eachother in the ambience.
"Well, three's a crowd." Evra patted me on the shoulder and stood up to turn in her plate. I whipped my head at her retreating form. She smirked over her shoulder at my pleading look.
"You look very nice." Was he for real trying to complement me? My heart took off in my chest again, and suddenly my shoes became the most interesting thing in the world, because all I could was stare at them.
"Oh thanks, your cape looks...extra red tonight."
Really? EXTRA RED?
I felt him stifle a laugh, "Yes I suppose some new laundry girl really knows her stuff."
I let out a small laugh and blushed slightly.
"Come, we must venture into town to feed."
That stopped me in my tracks. Animal blood? Disgusting, but so was eating meat in general. But slicing opening a living person and sucking on their flesh? Not today.
"I think... I'll pass…" Crepsley seemed confused for a moment then realization dawned on him.
"Do not delude yourself. You need fresh blood to survive. So far, you have managed fine. But sooner or later animal blood will not suffice. And given…" He seemed uncomfortable. "Your condition, I do not think it's a good idea to tempt fate."
"I said no." I replied with more force than I intended. He seemed to take a hint.
He got up suddenly, a disgruntled look on his face. "Do not say I did not warn you."
I was hurt by his harsh tone but there was no helping it. The thought of praying on some unsuspecting person creeped me out to the max!
"I'm sorry." I admitted, hanging my head in my hands. Crepsley placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed.
"You will change your mind. There is no denying what you are. And there is no way to go back."
He left without a another word, my shoulder still felt warm from his hand. Gently, I placed my finger tips where his had been, as if reaching for him.
We'd been with the cirque two days and nights. I spent my days helping Evra and my nights with Mr. Crepsley, learning about vampires.
I was going to bed around the same time I used to in my old life, I rarely hit the sack before one or two in the morning. Evra and I were tight friends. She was older than me, and used humor to hide her social discomfort — probably because of her abusive childhood — so we made a good pair.
My conversations with Crepsley were strained. Sometimes we exchanged pleasantries that brought fresh blushes to my face and he would seem rather pleased with himself. And other times we would be arguing over my poor feeding habits.
Tonight it was the latter.
"You must feed from a human. You are becoming a shell of what you could be. All for the sake of your pride." Crepsley looked ready to burst with anger.
Pause. He had a point. Was my pride really worth my health? I missed my parents and my old life terribly and it seemed like maybe if I could hold off for as long as I could, I could stay as human as possible.
We would usually end with a spar. Most times I lost, but I was still able to get a few good hits in.
"Come on old man!" I teased boldly as I dodged around a tree. "Bet you can't catch me!"
Big mistake. Crepsley lunged forward and I tripped as I tried to get out of the way. I landed on my back and suddenly he was on top of me, pinning me to the spot.
My breath hitched in my throat as he brought his face close to mine. My heart took off a mile a minute as a devilish grin spread across his face.
"Now, whom were you calling an old man?" He brought his hands toward me sides menacingly.
"Don't do it!" I fixed him with the darkest look I could but I guess I didn't look scary enough. His fingers danced across my skin and I began screaming with laughter.
"Say it!" he commanded.
"No!"
He attacked me more aggressively, I couldn't take it anymore.
"Fine! I give, I give!" I could control my wild laughter. Releasing me the vampire seemed delighted by my forfeit.
"Jerk." I mumbled.
As the third day rolled by, I was gazing around the small groups of vans and cars and tents, feeling like I'd been part of the cirque for years.
I was starting to suffer from the effects of going for too long without drinking human blood. I wasn't as strong as I had been, and couldn't move as quickly as I could before. My eyesight had dulled, and so had my hearing and sense of smell. I was a lot stronger and quicker than I'd been as a human, but I could feel my powers slipping a little more every day.
I felt peeved that all that work I had been doing was going to waste but I'd rather lose some strength than drink from a human. I was sunbathing with Evra on the edge of the campsite that afternoon when we spotted a figure in the bushes.
"Who's that?" I asked.
"A peeping tom from a nearby village," Evra fixed her sunglasses. "I've seen him hanging around before."
I watched the boy in the bushes. He was trying hard not to be seen, but to someone with my powers, fading though they were, he was as obvious as my Aunt Jackie's Christmas nose job.
I was curious to know what he was doing, so I turned to Evra and said, "Let's have fun."
"What do you mean?" she eagerly asked.
"Come here." I whispered my plan in her ear. She grinned and nodded, then stood and pretended to yawn.
"I'm leaving, Samantha," she said. "See you later."
"See you, Evra," I replied loudly. I waited until she was gone, then stood and walked back to the camp myself.
When I was out of sight of the boy in the bushes, I went back, using the vans and tents to hide my movements. I walked pretty far to the left, then crept forward until I could see the boy and sneaked toward him. I stopped ten yards away. I was a little behind him, so he couldn't see me. His eyes were still glued to the camp. I looked over his head and saw Evra, who was even closer than I was. She made an "okay" sign with her thumb and index finger. I crouched down low and moaned.
"Ohhhh," I groaned. "Wwwooohhhh." The boy stiffened and looked over his shoulder nervously. He couldn't see me.
"Who's there?" he asked.
"Wraaarghhhh," Evra grunted on the other side of him. The boy's head spun around in the other direction.
"Who's there?" he shouted.
"Ohh-ohh-ohh," I snorted.
"I'm not afraid," the boy said, edging backward. "You're just somebody playing a mean trick."
"Eee-ee-ee-ee-ee," Evra screeched. I shook a branch, Evra rattled a bush, then I tossed a stone into the area just ahead of the boy. His head was spinning around like a puppet's, darting all over the place. He didn't know whether it would be safer to run or stay.
"Look, I don't know who you are," he began, "but I'm —"
Evra snuck up behind him and now, as the boy spoke, stuck out her extra-long tongue and ran it over the boy's neck, making a hissing snake noise. That was enough for the boy. He screamed and ran for his life. Evra and me ran after him, laughing our heads off, making all these noises. The boy fled through thorn bushes as though they weren't there, screaming for help. We got tired after a few minutes and would have let him get away, but then he tripped and went sprawling into a patch of really high grass. We stood, trying to spot him in the grass, but there was no sign of him.
"Where is he?" I asked.
"I can't see him," Evra said.
"Oh no, do you think he's all right?"
"I don't know." Evra looked worried.
"He might have fallen down a big hole or something."
"Kid?" I shouted. "Are you okay?" No answer. "You don't need to be afraid. We won't hurt you. We didn't —" There was a rustling noise behind us, then I felt a hand on my back, shoving me forward into the grass. Evra fell with me. When we sat up, spluttering with shock, we heard somebody laughing behind us. We turned around slowly, and there was the kid, doubled over with laughter.
"I got you!" he sang. "I saw you coming from the beginning. I was only pretending to be frightened. I ambushed you. Ha-ha!" He was making fun of us, and when we stood and looked at each other we burst out laughing. He'd led us into a patch of grass filled with sticky green seeds and we were covered in them from head to foot.
"You look like a cactus," I joked.
"You look like a lint ridden Jolly rancher." Evra replied.
"Both of you look silly," the boy said. We stared at him, and his smile faded a little. "Well, you do," he grumbled.
"I suppose you think this is funny, do you know how hard it is to find a dress that won't rip with these nails!" I snarled. He nodded silently. "Well, I've got news for you," I said, stepping closer, putting on the meanest face I could. I paused menacingly, then burst into a smile. "It is!" He laughed happily, relieved that we could see his humor, then stuck out his hands, one to each of us.
"Hey," he said as we shook off the seeds. "My name's Sam Grest. Nice to meetcha."
"Hey, my name is Sam too!," I said, patting him on the head.
We were all grinning like children on christmas.
"It's nice to meet you!"
Finally, I got around to editing this!
I have all of book two written but not edited so please be patient with updates :)
Make sure to review! And add this story to your follows so you never miss an update:)
All support is welcome and appreciated, especially after a long hiatus.
Ciao!
PMD