Over the next year, I worked relentlessly under Mr. Crepsley's tuliege. He taught me to hunt and sneak around without getting caught. As well as resuming my fighting training. It had been nearly two years since I'd left home one dark night. The Cirque we traveled with changed venues, new acts came and went as the seasons changed.
The only contact I'd had with my family was through a smuggled, secret smartphone that I connected to our camps wifi so I anonymously stalk my former friends and family. Yeah, I'm a total creep. I embrace it.
I quickly glanced over my shoulder before changing lanes. Evra sat in the seat next to me relentless flipping through songs on her phone to fit our mini trip. I never really questioned how Mr. Tall was able to secure a fake social security number for me, or the alias Samantha Horsten. But I knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. It was because of his connects I was able to get this license in the first place, despite how Crepsley despaired about how un-vampiric it was.
Currently we were returning from a trip into town to gather some supplies for camp. The last tendrils of a warm fall breeze whipped through our windows as familiar music flowed through our speakers.
"I love this song," Evra laughed.
"I hate this song." I groaned as she began to sing along.
"Tell me, am I going crazy? Tell, have I lost my mind?" She sang soulfully, causing me friend to laugh. "Am I just afraid of loving, or am I not the loving kind?"
"No! I'm not gonna do it I'm not gonna-" I gave a heavy sigh and joined in on the song.
"Kissing in the moonlight. Movies on a late. Getting Old. I've been there done that, supposed to be hot but it's just cold."
"Gimme that cant sleep love. I want that cant sleep love."
The two of us couldn't control our laughter as we drove back to camp.
Currently we resided behind an Old Mill in a town so small you've probably never heard of it.
Grabbing the plastic bags from the back seat of the van, we began to walk up the hill in the waning sunlight.
"You know, you have a really nice voice." Evra teased. I flushed bright red and kicked a stray rock ahead of me.
"Very funny…." I grumbled.
The snake girl giggled, "I'm serious, you have a real talent."
I opened my mouth to respond but was cut off by a horde of squealing coming from up the road. I rolled my eyes ad fought the urge gag. "Oh, boy," I sighed. "Here we go again."
One of our more popular acts, a young man named Cormac Limbs, was terrorizing a group of tittering girls by wiggling his reforming fingers in their faces.
I laughed as they freaked and fled the scene. Often times people were scared enough venturing out to this shoddy area. The cirque could have performed at high scale venues but it was better to remain on the down low for ahem legal reasoning.
Me and Evra were taking care of some laundry as well as collecting food for the Little People to eat. One of the Little gremlins, affectionately dubbed 'Lefty' often tagged along with us and was actually pretty helpful, considering I hated picking up dead carcasses.
Down the road was the town's landfill. The garbage dump we hunted in was filled with all kinds of rats and mice, but we still hadn't collected enough for the day.
A stray cat hissed at me, then seconds later had its neck snapped by Lefty. I used to love cats before I became a vampire, but cats hated me now. They're blood was even poisonous to my kind. As I rummaged through the debris I noticed something shining in the light.
"Isn't it like, totally sacrilegious to throw a cross away?" Evra commented, grimacing as she shoved a dead dog into a garbage bag.
I squinted my eyes hard at the object, trying to move it with sheer willpower. It didn't budge an inch. Infuriated I shoved the cross into my pocket. Mr. Crepsley made it look so easy! Objects flew into his had left and right but I couldn't get the damned thing to tremble!
Speaking of that grumpy old bat: things with my mentor remained the same. Every once in awhile I'd get an onset of confusing emotions that would often leave me a stuttering, blushing mess. Yet he remained the picture of professionalism. Every since that little slip up over a year ago he did his best to keep me at arm's length. On some level I think he heeded my request to be more friendly, but for a grumpy old bat like him I guess the occasional pat on the head sufficed.
I never regretted kissing him that fateful night. Nor do I remember the pain I felt immediately afterwards.
"Miss Shan, please." He shoved me away roughly. The push didn't hurt, not really. Not as much as the horrified look on his face.
"I...I'm sorry." I quickly left the van before the tears could fall.
How long can I play this game with myself?
You care for him.
You…
You love him.
That night, back in camp, I tried moving the cross with my mind again. I'd finished the day's laundry, and the show wouldn't be starting for another couple of hours, so I had lots of time to kill.
"I command you to move," I said, clicking my fingers. "I order you to move." Click. "Move." Click. "Move!" I shouted this last word louder than I meant to and stomped my foot in anger.
"What are you doing?" a familiar voice asked behind me. Looking up, I saw Mr. Crepsley emerging out of the shadows.
"Nothing," I mumbled and tried to hide the cross.
"What is that?" he asked. His eyes missed nothing.
"Just a cross I found while Evra and me were hunting," I said, holding it out.
The vampire sauntered forward, "What were you doing with it?" Mr. Crepsley asked suspiciously.
"Trying to make it move!" I said, deciding it was time to ask the vampire about his magic secrets. "How do you do it?"
A smile spread across his face, causing the long scar that ran down the left side to crinkle. "So that is what has been bothering you." He chuckled. He stretched out a hand and clicked his fingers, causing me to blink. Next thing I knew, the cross was in his hand.
"Amongst other things…." I mumbled, even if he heard me he was wise enough not to comment on it.. "Can only full vampires do that?"
"I will demonstrate again. Watch closely this time." Replacing the cross on the table, he stood back and clicked his fingers. Once again it disappeared and turned up in his hand. "Did you see?"
"See what?" I cried with confusion and threw my hands in the air.
"One final time," he said. "Try not to blink." I focused on the small silver piece. I heard his fingers clicking and — keeping my eyes wide open — thought I saw the slightest blur darting between me and the cross. When I turned to look at him, he was tossing the cross from hand to hand and smiling. "Figured me out yet?" he asked. I frowned.
"I thought I saw . . . it looked like . . ." My face lit up. "You didn't move the cross!" I yelled excitedly. "You moved!"
"Alas, she can be taught." He tossed the trinket back to me. "I practiced illusions quite a bit in my youth."
"If it's just an illusion," I narrowed my eyes skeptically, then pointed an accusing finger at him "Then how do you open the locks."
"Simply put, I charge the air with static energy from flitting. If I harness that energy then I can force open any lock." Mr. Crepsley gave me a smug look. I rolled my eyes and playfully hit him on the shoulder.
"Care to teach me sometime?" I pleaded, giving him my best puppy dog eyes.
"Perhaps, I would." He smiled, locking eyes with me.
"If it's just static, then why do you still snap your fingers?"
"Old habits die hard, I suppose."I grinned and blushed.
"Yes but old vampires die easy!"
Out of the blue a hand had grabbed me and pressed a blade to my neck. A heavily breathing man had pulled me up against him. I did the only thing a girl could do. I drove my fist between his legs, dropped to the ground, and rolled away. My assailant let out a yell of pain and doubled over instantly. Mr. Crepsley let out a bark of laughter as I quickly hid behind him.
"Gavner, Gavner, Gavner." Mr. Crepsley sighed. "I always could hear you coming from half a mile away."
"Not true!" the voice said resentfully. I clutched onto my mentor's jacket tighter.
"Why not?" Mr. Crepsley said. "Nobody in the world breathes as heavily as you. I could pick you out blindfolded in a crowd of thousands."
"One night, Larten," the stranger muttered. "One night I'll surprise you. We'll see how smart you are then."
"Upon that night I shall retire in disgrace." Mr. Crepsley chuckled. He cocked an eyebrow at me, amused to see I was still stiff and half afraid, even though I'd figured out our lives weren't in danger. "Shame on you, Gavner Purl," Mr. Crepsley said. "You have frightened the girl."
"Seems all I'm good for." The stranger grunted. "Scaring children and little old ladies. Although," He groaned and pulled himself upright. "None of them know how to bring a man to his knees quite like this one."
"If that was an innuendo, I'll show you the meaning of true pain!" I peeked around Mr. Crepsley's broad shoulder and I came face to face with the man called Gavner Purl. He wasn't very tall, but he was wide, built like a wrestler. His face was a mass of scars and dark patches, and the rims around his eyes were extremely black. His brown hair was cut short, and he was dressed in an ordinary pair of jeans and a baggy white shirt. He had a broad smile and glittering yellow teeth. It was only when I glanced down at his fingertips and spotted ten scars that I realized he was a vampire. That's how most vampires are created, it's our trademark scars.
"Samantha, this is Gavner Purl. An old, clumsy friend of mine." Crepsley introduced us.
"You didn't hear me coming did you?" I shook my head aggressively, still clutching to my mentors cape.
"There! See?"
"Congratulations," came a dry reply. "If we ever need you to sneak up on a group of teenage girls you should have no problems."
Gavner grimaced. "I see time hasn't sweetened you," he noted. "As cutting as ever. How long has it been? Fourteen years? Fifteen?"
"Seventeen next February," Mr. Crepsley answered promptly.
"Seventeen!" Gavner whistled. "Longer than I thought. Seventeen years and as sour as ever." He nudged me in the ribs. "Does he still complain like a grumpy old woman when he wakes up?" he asked.
"Are you insinuating we sleep together?" I exclaimed, causing both the men to turn bright red in the face/
" Ahem-," The other vampire cleared his throat. "What I mean is I could never get a positive word out of him until midnight. I had to share a coffin with him once for four whole months." He shivered at the memory. "Longest four months of my life."
"You shared a coffin?" I teased, still grasping onto the vampire's arm.
"Had to," Gavner said. "We were being hunted. We had to stick together. I wouldn't do it again, though. I'd rather face the sun and burn."
"You were not the only one with cause for complaint." Mr. Crepsley grunted. "Your snoring nearly drove me to face the sun myself." His lips were twitching, and I could tell he was having a hard time not smiling.
"Why were you being hunted?" I fixed the men with a curious look. I knew very little about my mentors past, and relished any little bit I could gather.
"Never mind," Mr. Crepsley snapped before Gavner could answer, then glared at his ex-partner. Gavner made a face.
"It was nearly sixty years ago, Larten," he said. "I didn't realize it was classified information."
"Samantha is not interested in the past," Mr. Crepsley said firmly. (I most certainly was!) "You are on my soil, Gavner Purl. I would ask you to respect my wishes."
"Stuffy old bat," Gavner grumbled, but he gave in with a nod of his head. "So, Samantha," he said, "what do you do at the Cirque Du Freak?"
"Laundry mostly," I sighed. "I also gather food for the Little People and help the performers get ready for —"
"The Little People still travel with the Cirque?" Gavner interrupted.
"More of them than ever," Mr. Crepsley answered. "There are twenty with us at the moment." The vampires shared a knowing glance but said no more about it. I could tell Gavner was troubled by the way his scars knit together into a fierce-looking frown. "How goes it with the Generals?" Mr. Crepsley enquired.
"Usual old routine," Gavner shrugged.
"Gavner is a Vampire General," Mr. Crepsley told me. That sparked my interest. I'd heard of the Vampire Generals, but nobody had told me exactly who or what they were.
"Excuse me," I said, "but what's a Vampire General? What do they do?"
"We keep an eye on scoundrels like this," Gavner laughed, nudging Mr. Crepsley.
"We make sure they're not up to mischief."
"The Vampire Generals monitor the behavior of the vampire clan," Mr. Crepsley added. "They make sure none of us kill innocents or use our powers for evil."
"How do they do that?" I pressed, picking up the spilled clothing off the ground.
"If they discover a vampire who has turned bad," Mr. Crepsley said simply, "they kill him."
"Oh." I stared at Gavner Purl. He didn't look like a killer, but then again, there were all those scars. . .
"It's a boring job most of the time," Gavner said. "I'm more like a village policeman than a soldier. I never did like the term 'Vampire Generals.' Far too pompous."
"It is not just evil vampires that Generals clamp down on," Mr. Crepsley said. "It is also their business to crack down on foolish or weak vampires." He sighed. "I have been expecting this visit. Shall we retire to my tent, Gavner, to discuss the matter?"
"You've been expecting me?" Gavner looked startled.
"Word was bound to leak out sooner or later," Mr. Crepsley said. "I have made no attempt to hide the girl or suppress the truth. Note that please: I will use it during my trial, when I am called upon to defend myself."
"Trial? Truth? The girl?" Gavner was bewildered. Glancing down at my hands, he spotted the vampire marks on my fingertips and his jaw dropped. "The girl's a vampire?" he shrieked.
"Of course," Mr. Crepsley frowned. "But surely you knew."
"I knew nothing of the kind!" Gavner protested. He looked into my eyes and concentrated hard. "The blood is weak in her," he mused aloud. "She is only a half-vampire."
"Naturally," Mr. Crepsley said. "It is not our custom to make full vampires of our assistants."
"Nor to make assistants of children!" Gavner Purl snapped, sounding more authoritative than he had before. "What were you thinking?" he asked Mr. Crepsley. "A girl! When did this happen? Why haven't you informed anybody?"
"It has been nearly three years since I blooded her," Mr. Crepsley said. "Why I did it is a long story. As for why I have not yet told anyone, that is simpler to answer: you are the first of our kind we have encountered. I would have taken her to the next Council if I had not run into a General beforehand. Now that will not be necessary."
"It certainly will be!" Gavner snorted.
"Why?" Mr. Crepsley asked. "You can judge my actions and pass verdict."
"Me? Judge you?" Gavner laughed. "No thanks. I'll leave you to the Council. The last thing I need is to get involved in something like this."
"Excuse me," I said again, "but need I remind you that the girl you both are talking about is standing right here! And is not in fact a girl, but a grown woman?" I placed my hands on my hips and gave the men before me a scathing look.
"Here we go again, you are not yet even 21 years old. I will here nothing of 'womanhood' from those lips again! Not to mention...you have a certain condition that is very troubling for a vampire." Mr. Crepsley demanded then turned back to Gavner as I pouted. "Now, tell me. Why have you come if not to judge me?"
Gavner gave me a tight smile, "Can't a friend just drop by to discuss days long passed?"
"Not after 17 years with no word."
"You are reluctant to share with the girl out pasts, I am not opted to speaking freely. But perhaps we should continue this matter in private?"
"Samantha," Mr. Crepsley said immediately, "Gavner and I shall continue our discussion in my quarters, alone. Please find Mr. Tall and tell him I shall be unable to perform tonight."
I wasn't happy — I wanted to hear what Gavner had to say: he was the first vampire I'd met other than Mr. Crepsley — but from his stern expression, I knew his mind was made up. I turned to leave.
"And Sam," Mr. Crepsley called back. "I know you are curious by nature, but I warn you: do not attempt to eavesdrop. I shall take a dim view of it if you do."
I glared at him. "Do you really think that I-"
"Samantha!" he snapped. "No eavesdropping!"
I scoffed, "Fine!" Caught before I even tried. "As if I wanna hear stories from the middle ages, your grumpy old bat!" Crepsley's mouth set in a firm line, he looked ready to lost his temper.
"I'm not that old!" He got all flustered. Bingo. Score one for me!
"Cheer up," Gavner Purl said as I walked away dejectedly. "I'll tell you all about it, as soon as Larsen's back is turned." As Mr. Crepsley spun around, with fire in his eyes, the Vampire General quickly raised his hands and laughed. "Only joking!"
"Bastard" I mumbled hotly under my breath as I walked away. Gavner tried to hide his laughter with a cough.