That day the camp erupted into chaos. Everyone immediately ran to complete their tasks. I watched them raise the circus tent: red and white and grandiose. The sides were decorated with pictures of the performers and shining string lights.

Evra was busy preparing her snake for her act, and I had been grabbed earlier to be fitted for a costume.

"Looks like you're going to be part of the dance chorus," Evra snickered. "This is too funny!"

"It's not-

I cried out as Truska accidently stuck me with a pin. Causing Evra to burst into a fresh fit of laughter.

Sam showed up early in the afternoon. I would have kept him around to help with the work, but Evra said he'd be in the way so we told him he had to take off. He was upset and slouched off, kicking an empty soda can along in front of him. I felt sorry for him. Frowning I stared after his slowly retreating form when, suddenly, I realized how I could make it up to him.

"Sam! Wait a minute!" I shouted. "I'll be back in a second," I told Truska. I grabbed a robe to throw over my half finished dress then rushed off to Mr. Tall's van. I knocked once on the door and it opened instantly. Mr. Tall was standing inside, and before I could say a word, he held out two tickets for entry to the Cirque Du Freak. I stared at the tickets, then at Mr. Tall.

"How did you...?" I looked at him in wonder.

"I have my ways," he replied with a smile.

I shifted uncomfortably in the doorway, "I don't have any money to pay you," I warned him.

"I'll take it out of your wages," he said.

I narrowed my eyes, "But you don't pay me anything." I said accusingly. His smile widened.

"Clever old me." He handed over the tickets and closed the door in my face before I could thank him. I hurried back to Sam and gave him the tickets.

"What are these?" he held the green paper close to his eyes.

"Tickets for tonight's show. One for you and one for R.V." I ruffled his hair, "I know you've been hanging out with him a lot." I winked.

"Oh, wow!" Sam quickly stuck the tickets in his pocket, as if he was afraid they might blow away or vanish.

"Thanks, Sammi!"

"No problem," I said. "The only thing is it's a late show. We're starting at eleven, and it won't be over till nearly one in the morning. Will you be able to come?"

"Sure," Sam said. "I'll sneak out. Mom and Dad go to bed at nine every night. They're early birds."

"If you get caught," I warned him, "don't tell them where you're going."

"My lips are sealed," he promised, then set off to find R.V.

"You'd better finish your homework before you even think of setting foot here tonight. " I called after him, Sam gave me a cheesy grin and waved me off. I gave a heavy sigh and headed back to Truska. Except for a quick dinner, there was no other break between then and the start of the show.

While Evra left to feed her snake, I set up candles inside the circus tent. There were also five huge chandeliers to be hung, four above the crowd and one over the stage, but the Little People took care of those. Mags — a pretty woman who sold souvenirs and candy during intermission — asked me to help her get the displays ready, so I spent an hour stacking candy spiderwebs and edible "glass" statues and pieces of the wolf-man's hair. There was a new novelty I hadn't seen before: a small model of Cormac Limbs. When you cut a part of it off, a new piece grew in its place. I asked Mags how it worked but she didn't know.

"It's one of Mr. Tall's inventions," she said. "He makes a lot of this stuff himself." I chopped the head off the model and tried peering down the neck to see what was inside, but a new head grew before I could.

"The models don't last forever," Mags said. "They rot after a few months."

"Do you tell people that when they're buying them?" I stacked a few boxes of merch into a side utility room, just on the off chance we ran out during the show it was easy to get more.

"Of course," she said. "Mr. Tall insists we let the customers know exactly what they're buying. He doesn't approve of conning people."

Truska grabbed me again to put the final touches on my outfit and then sent me out with the other girls. All of us were dressed the same except with a slight color variation. My outfit was a bright white with dark green accents. The bodice was a corset and the skirt was all tulle with a longer, thicker bustle in the back. The sleeves were off the shoulder and puffy. All the girls were given hair feathers, and small white masks with delicate painted lips and little heart beauty marks.

I was dressing in my tent when I heard someone clear their throat to get entry.

"Come in!" I said, cheerfully, faceting the buckle on my heels.

Mr. Crepsley entered in his stage costume. Madam Octa's cage was in his hands.

"I wanted to check on you before going on. I have asked Mr. tall to allow you to help me in my act tonight."

My eyes narrowed with suspicion, I quickly blotted my lipstick on a tissue before answering, "You mean I'm part of the act?"

"A small part," he said. "You can bring the cage on and play the flute when it is Madam Octa's time to spin a web over my mouth."

"Mr. Tall normally does that, doesn't he?" I gave a small,.non humorous laugh, "Did the two of you have a lovers quarrel?"

"Honestly," Mr. Crepsley snorted, a strange and funny sound considering he's usually composed, "We are short on performers tonight, so he is going to be performing himself. Besides, you are better suited to assisting than him."

"How so?" I frowned. I gave myself a little spin in my mirror to check for any missing pieces.

"You look prettier," he smiled. "With your pale face and that outfit you look like something out of a fantastical play." That gave me a little bit of a shock. I blushed and looked in a mirror and realized I did look sort of pretty. I hadn't drank human blood so I was a lot paler than I should have been, and my costume was very figure flattering.

"Well, aren't you charming." I said patronizingly. The room was filled with an awkward silence. The vampire cleared his throat,

"I would like to apologize for my behavior the other night. It was uncalled for." Mr. Crepsley shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"I don't blame you," I sighed. "I suppose I should be over this fear of feeding from people by now."

His eyes narrowed, "I was not referring to that. Simply my actions that followed."

My face burned bright.

"It was highly inappropriate of me to act that way-"

"Hold on a sec! I didn't-"

"You are a child." His tone was firm. "I am your teacher. It will not happen again." He left no room for argument. Mr. Crepsley turned on his heel and stormed off into the night to prepare for his act. He was right of course. He's my mentor. My teacher. My guardian. I should be outraged, disgusted, and angry.

I felt dampness on my cheek and gently brushed my tears away.

So why was I crying?

The show started at exactly eleven. I didn't expect a big crowds considering we were in the middle of nowhere and hadn't had much time to notify people about the show, but the tent was packed.

"Where did they all come from?" I whispered to Evra as we watched Mr. Tall introduce the wolf-man.

"Everywhere," she replied quietly "People always know when one of our shows is happening. Besides, even though he only told us about it today, Mr. Tall probably knew we'd be playing tonight ever since we set up camp."

I watched the show from the wings, enjoying it even more than the first time I'd seen it, because now I knew the people involved and felt like part of the family. Hans Hands went on after the wolf-man, followed by Rhamus Twobellies.

Then all of the dancing girls formed a line on the stage. Mostly we stood around and moved in a very whimsical, avant garde sequence. We were more filler than anything. Behind my mask I began to fret nervously as the ending neared.

As the music grew in intensity I spun forward rapidly until I got to the front of the stage, then I stumbled. I came down hard on my knee and winced; I knew that was going to hurt like a bitch in the morning. I was downright mortified, but one of the other girls came over and immediately helped me up. Both of us tried our best to stay in character.

All the girls lined up once more for bows, the crowd gave us healthy applause. I heard one distinct whistle that I knew was Evra. I was grinning ear to ear.

We had our first break, then

Mr. Tall went onstage and darted around the place, never seeming to move, just vanishing from one spot and appearing somewhere new. Next up was Truska, then it was my turn to go onstage with Mr. Crepsley and Madam Octa. The lights were low, but my vampire vision helped me pick out Sam's and R.V.'s faces in the crowd. They were surprised to see me and clapped louder than anybody else. I couldn't hide my excited smile. I stood over on one side as Mr. Crepsley made a speech about how deadly Madam Octa was, then opened the door to her cage as an assistant led a goat on the stage. There was a loud, angry gasp when Madam Octa killed the goat . . . it came from R.V. I knew then that I shouldn't have let Sam invite him, but it was too late to take back what he had seen. I was pretty nervous when it was my turn to play the flute and control Madam Octa, feeling every set of eyes in the tent focus on me.

I'd performed for a crowd before but for a few seconds I was afraid my lips wouldn't work or I'd forget the tune. But once I started blowing and sending my thoughts to Madam Octa, I did okay. As she weaved her web across Mr. Crepsley's lips, it struck me that I could get rid of him now if I wanted. I could make her bite him. The idea shocked me. I began to worry that his life was in my hands. All it would take was one "slip." An accident. Then he'd be gone from my life forever. I watched the spider move back and forth, up and down, her poisonous fangs glinting under the lights of the chandelier. The heat from the candles was intense. I was sweating a lot.

I thought harshly to myself.

I played perfectly the rest of the show. I didn't know why I felt so concerned about his safety. Maybe because he was my mentor. Or maybe, just maybe, because I was starting to like the vampire. Although I still missed my family like crazy I couldn't say I was unhappy here, with him. I wouldn't have met Evra and Sam if it hadn't been for him. He'd been kind to me, as kind as he could be.

What was this feeling?

At the end of the act we took our bows and exited together.

"You thought about killing me," Mr. Crepsley said softly once we were backstage. He didn't sound angry, or suprised. He just seemed to accept it sadly.

"What do you mean?" I felt my heart breaking at his accusation.

"You know what I mean," he said. There was a pause. "It would not have worked. I milked most of the poison from her fangs before we went on. Killing the goat took the rest out of her."

"It was a test?" I stared at him, and my anger grew again. "You thought I would kill you?" I cried. "It was just a test?"

Crepsley's face was serious. "I had to know," he said. "I had to know if I could rely on you."

"Well, listen to this," I growled, standing on my toes so I could go eyeball to eyeball with him. "You're an idiot! A complete

" I stormed off without another word, too upset to stick around to see Cormac Limbs or the end of the show, feeling betrayed, even though deep down I knew what he said made sense.

Fresh tears sprung in my eyes as I stumbled around behind the tent.

My chest felt like it was going to concave. My blood felt icy in my veins. After all this time, he didn't trust me.