A.N. So did anyone miss me? Yes I know that it hasn't been that long but oh well, also this is now the start of book three aren't you all just happy that I made it this far! :D So I have to tell you I got mauled by my puppy which is no longer a puppy so now I have three long scars running across the front of my neck. It doesn't hurt that much anymore and it will heal but I am 80% sure that I will have scars for a while. Now enough idle chit chat onto the story.

Disclaimer: Not going to put it down right now.

Chapter 23

Gavner and I left the mountain quickly and the excitement I felt made me completely forget the deal I made with the confused boy Steve, I grabbed the few belonging that Gavner was kind enough to pack for me and found the small cell phone that Steve had given me and saw that just I thought there was no signal.

I placed it back into the bag and followed Gavner out of the mountain saying good bye to the few friends that I had made and promising Arra a rematch the next time I came to the mountain.

With that the two of us began our slow trek to the place that I would meet the target given to me by the revenge driven boy. Every once in a while I would pull out the cell phone checking for service although I knew that wouldn't happen until we got closer to anything close to resembling a town.

By the end of a week the two of us had finally reached what seemed to resemble a town and with what little money Gavner had we rented a cheap motel room and finally slept on what could be considered a soft bed in a rundown town that Gavner and I had found.

That morning as Gavner finally fell asleep I walked into the small room that had the small TV and couch and sat down on the couch pulling out the cell phone and finding to my surprise a single bar of Service. Quickly I got up not wanting to risk waking the already snoring Gavner even though I already knew that he was a heavy sleeper I didn't want to take any chances with this certain conversation.

I walked outside and found that it was lightly snowing and then remembered that it was almost December, I crept to the far side of the small parking lot and hid out underneath a maple tree found near the road.

I pulled out the cell phone from my pocket and flipped it open quickly finding Steve's number; I pressed the call button and waited as it rang. I was about to give up hope on him being awake when through the receiver came a woman's voice.

"Yes may I help you?" She asked sounding still half asleep. I cleared my throat and then asked as confidently as I could. "Yes, um this is Dorene, I'm one of Steve's friends, and I was wondering if he was in today." I waited as the woman on the other line thought for a second and then I could just barely hear her yelling form the other end yelling through the house for Steve.

It didn't take long because I could hear a boy, Steve hopefully, yelling at his mother by my guess about waking him up so early. "Who is this?" Asked the voice that could only be Steve's

I let out a sign than answered in a whisper seeing that a few people were waking up. "Steve it's me Dorene the girl who you sent to find Darren." At this The voice on the other end brightened up and then began talking excitedly on the other end, I cut in quickly telling him that I had not yet found the Cirque or Darren but that I had a slight idea of where I could find them and that I would hopefully call again soon with more information.

After I said this Steve hung up and I was left alone under a large tree wondering why he had hung up the way that he did. I didn't really want to think about it though because at this point I was getting really tired and knew that Gavner and I would be starting our trip again and that we would be leaving once the sun set.

That night I went to sleep and had dreams filled with Freaks and me being in a cage and things that one would think you would find in a freak show. The next night I was being shaken awake by Gavner who was talking about leaving and that the cirque wasn't that far away and things that he had to tell his friend Larten. Groggily I got up and dressed as Gavner ate breakfast which was supposed to be my job to make but he usually made it himself since I never woke up before him and he liked to have it right after he woke up.

After I was ready I found myself being dragged out of the small building and on the vampires back as he began running soon hitting flitting speed. About half way Gavner stopped and he took a sip of the stored blood that he took for Vampire Mountain. I was looking around when a strange man came walking towards us. I stood up getting ready to fight when the man walked over to Gavner and began whispering in his ear.

I sat back down realizing that this man meant us no harm and took a small sip from one of the four bottles that Gavner kept handy. Soon after the man left Gavner got back up and said that we had to hurry to the cirque, I asked why but he simply shook his head saying that I would know soon enough, and with that the two of us once again made our way to the Cirque du Freak.

Once we were within yards of the camp Gavner stopped and set me down on the ground stating that he was going to try and scare his friend Larten and that I was to follow quietly as he made his way forward. As we started walking his hard breathing soon became a dead giveaway and as I wanted to tell him this I told myself that he wanted me to follow behind him quietly so that is what I did.

As we got closer I could see three figures standing around a small stump, well two were the third one was sitting a small distance away. The two standing by the stump were talking about something but I could not hear what they were talking about. One was older and had a small crop of bright unnatural orange hair and his clothes were of a red color scheme that resembled Seba the Quarter Master at Vampire Mountain clothes.

The other one standing was much younger and was listening intently to the older man. His hair was unkempt and a bark brown almost black his clothes resembled that which someone would wear at a funeral. As we got closer I could see that on the stump was a somewhat large silver cross.

The third person was female and her hair was unkempt as well only much longer and light brown her hair cascaded down her back and lay surrounding her on the ground, her clothes were loose and her shirt was cut at her midsection and had no sleeves, I knew she wasn't vampire so the thought of her sitting out in the brisk autumn air set shivers down my back.

As I inspected her more I saw that running along her whole body were these strange maroon marking that wrapped around her arms, legs and midsection. Her expression was that of someone who was sad and lost and her bright green eyes were downcast and not looking up at the boy who I was sure she wanted to talk to.

Suddenly Gavner held up his hand telling me to stop moving as he continued to walk closer to the two males, I waited and watched as Gavner pulled his knives out and held them up to the two males throats. The girl jumped up and rushed forward in an attempt to save her friends; oddly enough she made no sound other than her feet hitting the ground when I thought that she would've at least yelled out.

The girl stopped when the orange haired man began laughing and told Gavner that he could hear his loud breathing from a mile away. Gavner looked down cast and the girl slowly stopped away from the group of men and once again found her place on the ground.

Gavner called me over once he apologized to the boy for scaring him so much. I introduced myself and then felt shocked when I found out that the boy whose hand I was shaking right now was the Darren Shan that I was sent to find. I made a mental note to myself to call Steve later and tell him that I had found Darren.

The long haired girl once again stood and walked over holding out her hand in greeting, again she said nothing "You know you should introduce yourself before you hold out your hand to shake it with someone else." I stated and I stared at her offered hand.

When Darren and Larten heard this, the two of them looked down at me. "Sorry, this is Mia Shizuka." Darren introduced her; I shook her hand than stared at the silent girl. "Thank you Darren but why didn't she introduce herself?" I asked.

The girl Mia looked down to the ground and again Darren spoke. "She would if she could but you see Mia can't talk." This explanation shocked me and I found myself pitying the girl, when she looked up at me and saw pity in my eye she turned and walked away, toward the camp.

I turned back to the three men and just heard as Larten told Darren that he would have to take over his act for him as he and Gavner spoke in private. Darren walked away and Gavner told me to follow him, so I did.

Darren led me through the camp introducing me to the many inhabitants who then showed me their talents and asked me if I would be able to see the show. I simply replied that it would all have to depend on my mentor.

Darren soon led me to the tent that he shared with his friend Evra who he said was a snake boy and the Mia girl who I had met earlier and another much younger girl named Victoria who used to be called Mia's Shadow, for that nick name Darren Explained that it was when she first joined the cirque.

Inside the tent were dozens of snakes that were probably getting ready to hibernate and the girl Mia who was sitting in the corner with a small red haired girl brushing her hair. The first thought that went through my head when I saw the girl was the cousins of the vampires that gave us the bad rep of sucking our food sources dry when we drank.

The young girl looked up and starred at me with bright blue eyes that resembled a cloudless morning sky. He introduced herself as Victoria and then continued by saying that her friend Mia told her about me. A turned my gaze to the silent girl and then Victoria explained that she used notes to talk. I nodded my head and then shook hands with Darren's other much more peculiar friend Evra.

That night before the show Evra and the woman known as Truska the bearded lady ran off with Darren and then came back with Darren in a completely different outfit. This outfit looked like it was once worn by a pirate although a very small pirate.

I sat on the wing watching the show and was shocked to see that the mute girl Mia walked onto stage and the markings covering her body now concealed her body and she began shifter shape into animals and random people in the audience.

Once the show was over Darren, Evra, Mia, Victoria, and I all made our way back to the shared tent when we ran into Gavner and Larten. Evra, Mia, and Victoria left Darren and I with our mentors to catch up on some sleep. Gavner told me that the two of us would be leaving, Darren walked with us as Gavner led the way to the edge of camp.

At the edge of camp Gavner, and I said our final good-byes and then Gavner told Darren that he and Larten may be leaving soon as well. With that I climbed onto Gavner's back and my mentor began running then the world became a blur as he finally hit flitting speed.

A.N. So yeah Dorene's POV during this chapter Mia's POV will be next chapter. I will try to get the next chapter up soon but again knowing me don't get your hopes up.

Until next time Peace, Love, and Virtual Hugs