Author's Note: I have no excuse for my extended absence or the (lack of) quality of this chapter. Steve's will be next and up soon; while I have totally died on Mikey and Darren, I'm filled with ideas for Steve. So it won't be a long wait.

Review Response Time!

-The Vampaneze Alchemist: I'm updating, I'm updating! Four months after your review… But it has arrived!

-Nikochan23: YAAAAAY! But your ultimatum sucks. I think you'll like the next few chapters though… I'm debating skipping a few chapters that have Darren in them to focus more on Steve until we get to the part you're so anxiously awaiting. Thoughts?

And now… on with the show!

Michaela and Evra were halfway back down the hill when Michaela froze, turning towards the green-skinned boy next to her. "Who do you think that was?" she asked softly, her voice wavering. Her eyes flew from the ground to her face before adding, "I mean… how did he know where we were? And even if he just happened to be there, what kind of freak just hangs out in the woods?"

"Maybe he was a vampire," Evra suggested softly. He noticed the way her body was trembling and once again draped his arm over her shoulder. He paused to consider his words, and a troubled frown came over his face. "Or maybe he was—"

Michaela's attention switched from Evra's proposal over to the figure approaching them. For a moment she feared it was Gannen, coming to finish them off like she suspected he'd done to R.V., but then he stepped into a patch of moonlight and his red cape was revealed. "Larten!" she cried, cutting off Evra's thought process. She ran up to the red-haired vampire and wrapped her arms around his middle, burying her face in his chest and holding on tight.

Mr. Crepsley's eyes flew over to Evra, who was jogging over at a steady pace opposed to Michaela's previous sprint. When the questioning look in Crepsley's eyes bid him to explain, the words flew out of Evra's mouth with a calmness that surprised him more than anyone. "We came out here to find Darren. We followed a trail of blood into the woods and found R.V., with his hands bit clean off. He kept screaming, and we tried to talk to him, but…" Evra cleared his throat and got right to the point, deciding against elaborating the details that weren't going to haunt him. "A guy, I think he said his name was Gannen, was in the woods. He took R.V., and..."

Michaela jumped in where Evra trailed off to exclaim, "Larten, he was so scary! And all that blood… I've never seen so much of it in my life." She shuddered at the memory, knowing that it was one of many that would remain imprinted on her mind.

Crepsley pulled away from Michaela and held her at arm's length, studying her face in order to properly gauge how much fear she was experiencing. When he saw that she was only shaken, he looked up at Evra and stated, "Take Michaela back to her tent, yes? You can drop by to visit Darren but if he is sleeping then you must let him be. Once Michaela is situated, Evra, you can come and tell Mr. Tall and myself what you saw. Understood?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Crepsley," Evra agreed, walking past the old vampire and knowing Michaela would follow him. Once the girl was at his side, he grinned and boasted, "I told you that you shouldn't have worried!"

"No, you didn't!" she exclaimed indignantly. "You were shaking in your scales, don't even try to deny it." She watched him struggle to come up with a valid response, and let out a laugh when she saw a look of defeat cross his face.

"I was just… trying to make you feel better," he grumbled weakly, knowing that his excuse would not be sufficient enough to prove to her his manliness.

Michaela forced herself to contain her laughter this time around and instead patted his shoulder in a mock-comforting fashion. They had just come up to Darren's tent, and the duo silenced their banter as they entered.

Darren was lying on his hammock, resting on his side with his knees slightly bent. His eyes were closed and his lips parted, announcing to the world that he snored when he slept. Evra's hand began to guide Michaela out of the tent, but she shook her head. "I'm going to stay here for a bit," she whispered softly. Her eyes followed Evra out before landing back on her friend's sleeping form, smiling at the innocence. Judging by his face right now, you'd have never guessed what he'd just gone through.

A few minutes passed before she felt herself grow weary, just as she assumed Evra was doing. She leaned back and sat against the wall to get comfortable, but soon felt goosebumps running over her body. Without a second thought, she got up and walked over to Darren, climbing into his hammock and lying down beside him. His body shifted to allow more room for hers, and she moved closer into him in order to warm herself up.

What felt like mere seconds after she'd closed her eyes, she felt Darren begin to stir. She turned over so that she was on her back and looked at him. He was laying on his side, propping his head up with his hand. He was looking down at her and frowning, but managed a small smile when her gaze met his. "When did you get here?"

"I came in to check on you, and I got cold," she admitted. She brushed a lock of hair out of his face and inquired, "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," he lied, but when he saw the knowing look in her eyes, he let out a defeated sigh. All pretense left him, and his face fell flat. "The Wolfman…" A single tear fell from his eye, but he quickly swatted it away.

"Let it out." The corner of her lips twitched upwards in a manner that was supposed to be reassuring, and she brushed the next tear off of his cheek before it fell. "It's okay to not be okay."

"But… but I'm alive," he protested weakly, his brave façade depleting more and more as he spoke. "And Sam… he isn't. All because of me. And do you know… do you know what I did?" When the only response he got was a stare, he continued, "I drank from him. I drank from him and I killed him, and he's gone 'cause I was too selfish to be lonely."

"Darren, you weren't being selfish. He would've died even if you didn't drink a single drop of his blood. I remember…" She shut her eyes, stirring up a memory from the short time she'd spent with Murlough. "Murlough said that when the vampaneze kill, they keep people's spirits alive." Her eyes flashed open as she went on, "That's all you did. So you saved him, in a way." He remained silent, lost in his own pained thoughts, so she went on voicing her own. "To be honest, I'm just happy you're still here. You were so weak from not drinking, and then when I heard that the Wolfman was out, and I couldn't find you, and I saw all the blood, I thought—"

"I'm sorry," Darren apologized immediately. His gaze softened, and he repositioned himself so that they were in an embrace. "I'm so, so sorry."

She nodded into his shoulder, not saying anything. She had nothing to say. All she could think about was his arms, the new strength that flowed through them that made this hug so much different than the ones he'd given her in the months past. Their embrace lasted until they heard a cough from the entryway, at which point they separated and looked towards the figure standing there.

They had to squint through the darkness in order to make out the identity of their visitor. It turned out to be Mr. Crepsley, perplexed as ever and not in the mood to deal with the two teenagers. "I have allowed you to rest long enough. It is time to move the Cirque."

A/N: So, I apologize sincerely, because the end of this is so not up to par. I just got completely dead on ideas for this chapter and wanted to wrap it up so that I could finally get an update in. I also skimped on proofreading... Whoopsy!

I promise the next chapter will be better. I've already started it so it should be up within the week...