Blue Kitsune: Hey people happy Easter everyone, I thought this might make a great Easter present for everyone and hoping to hear some new comments on this chapter. Please show your support and enjoy this as I dedicate to everyone who reads this.

I like to give thanks to xXSkye-Blue-SeaXx for their help. Thankfully I hope everyone enjoy this new and final chapter of the story and have done my best not to copy too much of the story from the original b and hope everyone will like it and tell me your honest opinion. Please read and review and I'll try to get the next one up and running!

Disclaimer: I do not own Darren Shan's Cirque Du Freak and think Larten Crepsley is a smexy vampire

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Chapter Fourteen

I don't know how long it took for the paramedics to finally show up but when they did (and after the coroner finished his examination) they then went and told my folks that I was dead, stating what happened, the time of my death, etc.

The rest was pointless blah since it seemed so obvious from my condition. It wasn't like I could say, 'No I just like lying here on the ground with my head on backwards and staring at my own ass! Of course I'm dead! Do you really think I'd survive with a broken neck?!'

It was a rhetorical question but someone didn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure it out.

Yet while the doctor was busy consulting with my family, two paramedics came and put my body inside one of those large body bags that look almost like those hefty bags. I knew where I was going to end up at.

I didn't get to see much of the morgue but knew we were there as I was shoved inside a small square cubical and locked in for the night.

I didn't have to feel the cold to know where I was. I thought this must be what it's like to put our frozen foods in the freezer. Yes all my other senses were sharpened, even as my mind was dulled.

I knew this could be a while before Mr. Crepsley could come and get me. Then we can leave before anyone noticed, which meant I was going to be like this for some time.

I didn't know how long I was in there for, a few hours, maybe a day even since I had no sense of time but I was hoping they would come get me soon because I didn't want to stay in here much longer. That and I didn't know how much time was left before the potion would wear off.

I couldn't be so sure since I think my body was frozen so cold that I was like a human Popsicle!

It didn't really matter because my body was finally pulled out and placed on a slab. The sheets were removed and I knew I was naked underneath. I felt uncomfortable of someone checking me out while I was like this.

But then I figured that when you're it didn't matter if they stared at your butt naked corpse or not, so long as they did what they were paid for and get their job done.

But that was the least of worries and I hoped they weren't planning on having me embalmed or sew my lips or eyelids shut or anything otherwise that usually goes with the funeral procedures.

That had been my most concerns before as Mr. Crepsley had told me right before we put this whole 'death of mine' plan into action.

I still don't know how he did it but he must have done something to the undertaker to have none of those things happen. I guess that's why he had to leave so quickly while my parents called the ambulance to check and see that I was dead, broken neck, the cause and nothing else.

Nothing unusual so no autopsy was necessary, thank you very much!

The undertaker then went to work on getting me ready for my wake. He had me dressed in a white gown that made me really uncomfortable and the makeup was a bit itchy. I wanted to wipe it off even while I was lay down inside my coffin.

The next few hours were the worst of my life.

The funeral home was like a Victorian mansion, and the room I was in was huge and filled with flowers and people. I was in a white casket with gold fittings, and guessing from far away I looked as if I were sleeping.

How did I know this, it's hard to say but strangely it was like I was having an out of body experience for myself and was aware of what was going on and could see it clearly in my mind.

People were pouring in as they came to where I was, lying in a casket and coming to pay their respect.

"She was so full of life," Mr. Dalton said.

"I can't believe she's gone," a guy from the soccer team said.

"I'll never forget her," one of my friends said, crying.

I saw my family standing in the front and listening to the people who came to tell them how sorry their loss was. Dad wore a dark suit and stood with mom and Annie both wearing black dresses.

Mom had red and swollen eyes showing she had been crying a lot after what happened last night.

I didn't like to look at her. The feeling of guilt swelled inside at the thought that I had made her cry. I looked instead at the visitors who kept coming in and filling the viewing room and the dozens of wooden pews. I'd never realized how many people loved me.

It was like a receiving line for a wedding. My mother kept saying, "Thank you for coming," and hugging people. The people went over and touched the casket gently and cried.

And in the process of greeting so many mourners, something strange happened. I just got drawn in. The reality of my death was so real that all the vampire stuff began to seem like a dream. Bit by bit, I started to believe the story I was acting out.

After all, everybody else was so sure. I fell out of my window by accident and now she was dead. Vampires were just a superstition.

I looked to where I was and I saw I was lying there on the white velvet lining, eyes shut. I looked very pale and strangely beautiful-but was I really dead?

Maybe I really was and was now a ghost watching my own funeral but then I remember that I was only trying to deny the inedible that I wasn't a vampire and was no ghost either.

I kept seeing the familiar face of people walking over to my casket and breaking down when they see me lying there. Two of my friends collapsed in near-hysterical sobs. My English Teacher doubled over and had to be led away from the casket.

It was a terrible time. I just felt couldn't help but feel awful for what was happening and what I was putting everyone through. Yet when I look to where my family was, I felt something strange; like there was something wrong here and I couldn't shake it off.

But the spooky feeling was drowned almost immediately in the sheer grief of the funeral. In hearing things like "Darlene will live on forever in our hearts and memories." It made my heart break.

A silver hearse led the way to the cemetery and everyone stood in silence as the minister said some last words over my casket. By the time Annie had to put a rose on the casket, she was shaking.

I wish time would move faster. It was really getting stuffy and really wanted to stretch my limbs that were slowly getting the feeling back again.

Everyone, family and friends were crying their eyes out and I couldn't really do anything to comfort them.

Not when you're six feet underground and stuck in a coffin like I am at the moment. If anyone ever told me this was how I was going to end up, I probably laugh and think 'nice try but gotta do better than that!'

Yeah…wish it were as simple as that.

But it's hard to be laughing especially when I'm stuck inside such a confiding thing while trying not to use up all the air in here.

It's only a matter of time before I can get out and didn't want to die from suffocation.

It's depressing and I can still hear the people from above mourning and could hear choking sobs coming from my sister, poor Annie. She was crying, bawling her eyes out and mom and dad standing on both sides and probably thinking why God had to take me away from their lives.

I can also picture mom crying too. Not floods of tears, not sobbing. Just dabbing her eyes on a Kleenex but I couldn't really stand knowing she was also tearing up because of me.

I could feel my mother's pain. Literally. It came in palpable waves that seemed to echo through my bloodstream, making me dizzy. Dad had place a hand on Mom's shoulder and Dad telling Annie that I went to a better place.

I was glad Dad was there for them, Dad's specialty was coping with things; he was the best man who could cope with things that I had ever known and I know Mom and Annie needed him there to give comfort to the two.

I wish I could do something to comfort them but I afraid that there's a wall of six feet of dirt blocking us and I can't just jump out and tell them, 'Mom, Dad look I'm not dead!' I probably cause a pandemonium and I don't want to give my folks a heart attack or worse, traumatize them.

So I sigh to myself, counting off the minutes until this whole thing over and can get on with it.

But finally I began to hear people leaving, the engine of cars backing out and leaving the cemetery.

Ok good they're going, guess the ceremony is over and thinking maybe in two hours or less Mr. Crepsley will show and then can be on our way.

The last to leave is my family. I heard Dad spoke quietly about how these things could happen suddenly, and how at least I had been spared any pain and trying to offer comfort to Mom and Annie.

I hope they pull through and when I thought everyone was gone but then I sense someone still there. Even though I'm not sure how I did but I had a feeling I knew who it is.

Steve.

Gravel crunched under his feet as I heard him stand before me probably look at my tombstone now, reading my name and date etched in the granite stone.

"Darlene…how could you, how could you do this to me! You said you be there, you said that you'd stay by my side no matter what, wasn't that what we promise each other. I was going to see you, right after I was release and tell you how I felt but now it's too late."

I could hear his voice was strained and sound like he was trying hard not to cry but was breaking down easily because of me.

There weren't any tears, just the terrible grating sound of guilt.

Now I really feel terrible, just on the day he gets out and the first thing is to attend my funeral. What a horrible friend I am.

But then I heard Steve said, "No it wasn't your fault it was because of him! It's that damn monster's fault! He's the one who took you away. I know it was him who did this."

I could feel the anger rising off of him and heard him whisper through his tears, "I swear I'll get him back for you, him and the rest of his kind if it's the last thing I do, this I swear."

Then he finally started walking away and now I was truly alone, lying in a grave with long dead people around me.

I didn't want to panic; there was no need to. I wished I could think that this was all a bad dream, a really bad nightmare that I would soon wake up from and then be back in my room, where I was safe and no monsters, not even vampires, could get me.

But no this was real. Everything around me was real and if I was smart I'd try not to let my mind get over imaginative and just wait until Mr. Crepsley showed up. That became a mantra, as there was nothing else I could do but wait and breathe ever so slowly.

Normally I'm not claustrophobic but I was starting to get a little uneasy about being buried six feet underground. I should have known the potion wouldn't have lasted as I was starting to feel my senses returning and was coming to and was now awake instead of sleeping like I had been a while ago.

One can really make one go mad in here. I'm starting to wish that they'd buried me with something, anything, and I tried not to think too much of my uncomfortable disposition.

Maybe I should sleep. That was the only thing I could do right now.

I tried to but I was having trouble shutting my eyes. Even in the pitch-black darkness it was hard to tell whether I was awake or asleep but in the end felt my mind drifting and was able to let my conscious slip into the oblivion, trying not to think of how much oxygen was left in here or if I might not come out of this alive or not.

I was at the beach with my family and Steve was with us as I invited him to tag along. We were walking by the ocean, just the two of us, while dad was busy preparing the barbeque and mom and Annie were collecting seashells.

It was warm and sunny and I could smell salt and my feet were wet and sandy. It was certainly perfect beach weather and I was glad that we were all here to enjoy it.

I was wearing the new bathing suit I brought along, the kind that changes color when it gets wet. I had hoped Steve would notice but he didn't say anything about it.

In fact Steve had been pretty quiet and was wondering what was wrong with him. He didn't seem like himself today.

Maybe he's sick or something? But he doesn't look like it. I look him up and down and notice something was very wrong here. Why in the world would be wearing boots to the beach?! They were a pair of green Wellington boots and he was also wearing some shabby yellow trunks. But then when I look up and was about to ask and saw he was wearing a mask.

That was strange. He was going to get a very weird tan with most of his face covered up.

"Shouldn't you take that off?" I said, thinking he might need help

Hopefully I'd get to the bottom of Steve's unusual fashion statement he was making for himself.

"I wear it for my health," Steve said-only it wasn't his voice. What the-

What's going on? What's wrong with Steve's voice? Who's this person here?

Something was very wrong here I thought as I reached out and pulled the mask away.

It wasn't Steve. It was a short stocky man wearing thick glasses and had a pudgy face with short white hair. Why hadn't I noticed this earlier? His eyes were small and beady behind those wide spectacles of his.

"Who are you?" I demanded. I was afraid and I wondered who he was and what was going on.

"Now that would be telling my dear." He smiled mockingly at me. Then he went to pull something out from his pocket and saw that he was holding something in his hand.

It look like a heart-shaped watch or at least it was shaped like one, but it looked real and was beating inside the meaty palm of his hand. I watched as he looked at the time and then turn to me and could feel a cold chill go down my spine as I saw those beady eyes staring, feeling like he was gazing right at my very soul.

"Just remember," he said, still smiling whimsically. "Bad things do happen."

"What?"

"Yes. Very bad things will happen," he said and turned and walked away. I watched him go and noticed he didn't leave any footprints in the sand.

I was alone and the ocean was roaring. Clouds were gathering overhead. The next thing I know I was running, running to head back to where mom, dad and Annie were. I saw the beach was getting dark and saw the tide surging but I could focus on only finding my family and get the hell out of here.

"Mom! Dad! Annie!" Where was everybody?! I was calling out for them, hoping they'd hear me but there was no sign of them anywhere and once I reach the spot where we had originally been but there was nothing.

Everyone was gone and I was left alone.

I wanted to wake up now, I wanted to run away but where could I go? Everything had disappeared and was left here all alone and scared.

Finally I just collapsed by the water, my knees giving out altogether. I felt anguish surged through me and hear a scream that echo loudly all around me. I soon realized it was me who was screaming.

I try to sit up only to whack myself on the head and had a splitting headache. I didn't realize I fell asleep until I opened my eyes feeling confused and weak. Wh-what happened? My head was hurting.

It seemed longer than I originally thought by the time I heard the first telltale of a shovel hitting the earth and bringing up the soil and then again and again.

I was grateful to hear the sound of the dirt being slung to the side and again and it took no less than five minutes before I heard the lid being open and saw Mr. Crepsley looking in on me.

"And here lay Sleeping Beauty already awake just to see me." If my fingers weren't so stiff I probably wipe that smirk off his face. He then bent down ready to lift me out of here.

"Come on," Mr. Crepsley said, helping me out of the open half of the casket. It wasn't hard; with Mr. Crepsley holding me up by the arms, I stood on the closed half of the casket, and was slowly pulled up.

"There we go." He helped me out of the ground and I stretched. Black dots swarmed through my vision when I sat up. My head wobbled as if my neck were a pipe cleaner but I managed to keep it up right.

Mr. Crepsley scrambled out of the hole. "How do you feel, Darlene?" he said. Not a politeness. A quiet, probing question.

I looked at him, said, "I feel...fine." I couldn't find any other word to describe what I was feeling after being locked inside that coffin so long and yet didn't seem to feel any different than when I went to sleep.

"That is good," Mr. Crepsley said sounding like some therapist talking to a patient and still watching me as if I were a six-hundred-pound schizophrenic gorilla.

He put his hand under my neck and feeling around to make sure that my bones weren't broken anymore and didn't even have a slight bruise left in place. The only one I had was where I bumped myself on my forehead and didn't want to tell him and Mr. Crepsley said nothing about it.

"Talk about a bad case of neck pain huh?" I wanted to say but Mr. Crepsley had already left me to get back to the hole while I was too busy working the numbness out of my body.

I heard Mr. Crepsley grunt as I saw him lift the lid and slid it back in place and then was shoveling dirt on it without looking at where it landed.

I look to him and saw was the dirt sitting on some tarp that I notice not too shortly after being pulled out, wondering why it was there, "Um Mr. Crepsley what with the tarp here?"

"Darlene I do not believe now is the time to go and question your mentor when he is at work at the moment." Mr. Crepsley said as he shoveled in another mound of dirt in. "We do not want it to look as if this place has been disturbed."

A light went on for me. "I see that's why you have this stuff here."

"Yes. A little mess would not be suspicious. But if we leave dirt scattered everywhere, somebody is going to wonder." He grunted as he continued to shovel it in and spreading it over the grave.

That explained so much, I mean hadn't even thought about why there was already grass on the new grave. But of course it was sod. He must have already found the edge of them and saw some rolled up like carpets by the foot of the grave.

I ached all over and my joints creak as I try to rid myself of the kinks since the potion was already wearing off and laying down so stiff hadn't been such fun.

I looked to Mr. Crepsley, still rubbing my aching back, then straight down into the hole, I could see the casket. A huge spray of slightly crushed yellow roses was on top.

"God how can you sleep like that?" I asked while Mr. Crepsley was busy filling up the hole and almost didn't expect to hear him answer my question.

He looks up from his shoveling and shrugged his shoulders just slightly. His hair was falling over his forehead and his face smug with dirt as he made to wipe his bangs out of the way.

"It takes a few years but you will get use to it, believe me I have gone through what you have and at least you did not have to share your coffin with another for a few months hiding for your life and having to deal with someone who snores so loud he keeps you awake for a month or two."

"Really?" I had not expect to hear him say that and when I wanted to find out more about that he went back to what he was doing even though I was curious but could wait for another time to hear the rest of it.

I watched and even with Mr. Crepsley doing it, it took a long time to fill the hole. It was wider than I would have thought necessary.

I asked if he needed any help but he told me that he was fine and I should go and stretch my limbs.

I wasn't so sure and wanted to ask again but if he thought he could handle the physical work then he must be okay with it.

Besides, he was stronger than anyone I had ever seen. He pitched up shovelful after shovelful of dirt without even straining. He made it look like fun.

But underneath I felt that he was worried. He was either concerned or anxious about something, something he was keeping from me.

Whatever it was that was on his mind he'd probably tell me only when he wanted to. I decided I might as well go for a walk, seeing there was nothing else I could do and leaving Mr. Crepsley to resume the dirty work on filling in that grave.

My grave that is. Funny I hadn't really thought about that before. I'd been lying in a grave-I ought to feel repulsed or scared.

I didn't. I had been merely lying in there, feeling my body coming in and out and having fallen asleep and that was what I did.

Except for that dream I had...what was it that made me feel uneasy as I tried to remember but I found I couldn't. Not a damn thing. I know there was something about it though what I can't be sure.

I glanced around and tried to distract myself instead. The cemetery was completely different at night. The darkness seemed very thick.

Strange. It didn't really seem to be either day or night. Maybe there was an eclipse. It was too dim to be daytime, but far too bright for nighttime. I could see the leaves on the maple trees and the gray Spanish moss hanging from the oak trees. Tiny moths were fluttering around the moss, and I could see their pale wings.

And I could hear things. Once I whipped my head around as a dog barked right beside me. Then I realized that it was far away, outside the cemetery. It only sounded close.

All my senses were keen. Delicious smells wafted by me, the smells of small burrowing animals and fluttering dainty birds. On the wind came a tantalizing hint of rabbit. Tree branches and bushes moved gently in the breeze.

I was really alive. I felt vibrant and healthy. Not just better but better than she could remember feeling in my life. I was strangely aware of my own body and my muscles and joints all seemed to be working in a way that was sweet and almost magical.

Something jarred violently in me. I wanted to give a yell of victory and pound the grass. But instead I started to run around, dancing and twirling, doing some crazy jig ballet in the bone yard.

Hey, look what I can do!

It felt weird even though I've been 'dead' for less than twenty-four hours and yet it feels like I've been reborn somehow.

Everything around me felt so different, felt so alive! I don't know whether to consider this a good or bad thing yet and a part of me wondered if this will all fade, like everything else does.

I began to walk, not too far from where Mr. Crepsley was but just enough to go and explore my surroundings.

I felt wonderful-in almost every way. I felt secret and strong. I felt poetic and full of possibility. I felt as if I'd sloughed off my old body like a snake shedding its skin, to reveal a fresh new body underneath.

I'll bet I can run fast, too, I thought. My legs felt tingly. I wanted to go running out into the lovely, gloriously scented night, to be one with it. I was part of it now.

I wonder if I might be able to flit as Mr. Crepsley called it but I don't think I have enough strength just to do it yet since my body was still adjusting.

I looked to see the surrounding graves, reading the names and dates etches in them, my body was still a little off. I stared at a tombstone and tried to control my breathing.

In, out. Slow and deep. It's okay, there's air. It may not feel like it, but there's air.

What's happening to me? Something must have gone terribly wrong. I felt as if I were underwater, trying desperately to claw my way to oxygen-only there was no oxygen.

The air whipping my cheeks was cool and good, but it didn't help my breathing. My chest was swelling, burning and no matter how I tried, I couldn't seem to get a proper breath in to my dry lungs.

I'm hyperventilating, I thought. My heart was racing, my lips and tongue felt parchment-dry. And still I had the feeling of being air-starved.

What do I do, what do I do? I can't die! I don't want to! I was trying not to panic though could tell I was already there. I wanted to run back to where Mr. Crepsley was and hoping he could help me but he seem so far away and don't think I make it to him before I give in.

What should I do, I had no idea and then I saw the way.

Or smelled it, actually and suddenly I caught a whiff of life. It seem to be close and I was feeling drawn to it as I move slowly to where it was, looking around the cemetery trying to find that delicious scent was coming from.

I don't know if it was instinct or some otherwise that told me to as I went behind a large stone angel and looking around and finally see a man with a flashlight in hand and was using it to look around the cemetery.

Must be the caretaker, I stay quiet and still not sure whether I should run or not. But the only problem was that I was getting hungry. It was taking all my willpower not to pounce on the guy who was checking around the area.

I've been hungry for some time now, and now was starting to feel breathless. I could hear the blood pumping through those blue veins, taking in how they throb and pulse with life.

It was calling out to me; I could feel my body ache, the pain becoming worse as I continue to let my chance to feed slip away.

So jump him, part of my mind whispered. I frowned and tried to wiggle away from the thought. I know I shouldn't but he was also human and I could sense the rich stuff, lush with life, which was coursing through his veins. The electrifying fluid I needed to survive.

Think of it as Gatorade. You need the electrolytes and I'm sure he's got plenty to spare, just a few sips wouldn't hurt.

Yeah he looks like he got enough on him. Just the thought of it made my mouth water and was so thirsty. Life. What I needed.

I ached to end that and tonight I shall.

I didn't think, I simply acted. Instinct took over and I made to move out of my hiding place and to another, my eyes still on my prey.

The man hearing the noise, whirled around, "W-who's there?!"

He was probably thinking I was some kind of ghost and I would too if I saw myself which was exactly how I looked as I stood there in the darkness in my best white dress, supple as a lily, with my hair falling around my face. I just stared at him with hugely dilated pupils.

"Why hello there…nice nights for a walk don't you think?" I said trying my hardest not to lung at him, otherwise it would give away and may even scare him off.

The man seemed relief though was probably wondering what a girl like me was in a place like this.

"Who are you and what are you doing here Miss?" I was still watching him in that dreamy but intense way.

He was tall and strong for a human. He was wearing dark slacks and a bomber jacket. His face was stubbly and his skin wasn't exactly clean, but that wasn't important. I wasn't interested in the container, only in the lovely sticky red stuff inside.

"Oh I was just taking a lovely midnight stroll by myself and was feeling a bit lonely at the moment." I said, in the same pleasant, musical voice I'd used before.

I was still watching him the same way a cat watches an interesting insect never taking my eyes off him, not even when I saw him shift uncomfortably as he must have realized that not only do I look pale and beautiful but was dazed and starving.

He look like he wanted to leave, well sorry can't let that happen.

No you don't you stay right here and be a good little boy. Just stay where you are.

He said nothing; too busy staring at me, his eyes now blank and standing so still.

"Why don't you come over here?" I said and made a gesture for him to come to me and watching him walk stiffly to where I was and then said, "Put your arms around me, I'm so cold." He did with loose and trembling arms. This was so easy

"Do you know what you're making me feel?" I asked him huskily and waiting for him to answer as my nostrils quivered and my lips parted.

I was...could I be smelling him? Not loud, wet sniffs, but the delicate little sniffs of a cat. I was nosing around his shoulder.

"N-no. What?" I blew on the side of his neck and lick up sensing him shiver, "I feel kinda…hungry."

"Um Miss? Miss please let go, pleases let—" An involuntary outburst as delicate hands clenched like steel around his biceps. I smiled at him and then made my attempt as I darted like a striking cobra for his throat.

He couldn't fight me. But my first strike missed. My teeth barely grazed his throat just an inch away from biting him and letting myself get distracted which gave my prey the chance to slip out of my grasp and saw the man started running away, trying to make his escape.

Well I won't let that happen.

I grabbed for the man the way a drowning swimmer grabs at a rescuer. Instinctively.

The next thing I knew we were both tumbling on the ground, our bodies rolling in the dirt and feelings twigs and stone dig in our skins but I barely paid any heed.

I was starving I wanted, no needed to feed. I could see pale blue veins under the skin. The man wasn't fighting at all now. He seemed to be unconscious. Now's my chance away the last of my hesitation. I open my mouth ready to take a bite and—

"Darlene!" I felt Mr. Crepsley looped an arm around my waist, lifting me off him. I gave a disappointed wail.

I immediately struggled, trying to break free but he was just too strong and couldn't fight him not when my body was barely able to.

"Darlene! Get a hold of yourself this instant! Stop this immediately!" But I was not listening to a word he said. I made to turn and was ready to claw at him, slash his face but found myself staring into the eyes of a jaguar.

A very scary jaguar that went by the name of Mr. Crepsley.

He wasn't just fiery orange hair and enigmatic green eyes and a lithe-muscled body. He was the smell of winter rain and the sound of his predator's heartbeat and the silvery aura of power I could feel around him and was looking at me with the intention to strike back if necessary.

I felt as if I'd never really seen him before-because now I was seeing him with new senses. I couldn't move and while in my frozen state I was slowly coming to myself, getting a bit of control under and my hunger subsiding me when I looked at him. Everything came back to me and realized what I had almost done.

Dear god, I was gonna to…I immediately backed away looking down to my hands, almost imagining them to be red but thankfully no blood was on them. But this did not comfort me at all.

I was so close, so close to…I could not stop thinking what I had nearly try to do if Mr. Crepsley hadn't come to stop me.

I'm not human anymore…oh, God, maybe I should just die, I thought wishing that the potion hadn't put me to sleep but instead just killed me like it should've done in the first place.

"Do not be such an idiot," a voice said, and hard fingers closed on my shoulder briefly.

Through a blur, I saw Mr. Crepsley look to me solemnly, showing he did not blame me for what I almost done, "It is all right, you are not the first nor the last who felt compelled to feed after awaking from your sleep. Even half vampires have to feed."

He then went towards the man and putting his fingers near the man's throat, checking to find his pulse.

I watched from where I was and was already thinking the worst when I saw how still the man was, was he dead? Please don't tell me I just killed someone?!

Mr. Crepsley breathed a sigh of relief, "Well he's still alive, and you pretty much did a number on him knocking him out like that. Though I had not expected you to catch on so quickly, so soon."

"I what did I-how the heck did I?"

"Now is not the time to ask such questions, I will explain later." Mr. Crepsley said and cutting me off shortly. He turned his back on me and examined the man. I could feel him extend his mind.

"I am telling him to forget," he said. "All he needs is some rest, and he might as well do that right here. He will believe he has tripped and knocked himself, by morning he will have a terrible headache."

"What if somebody sees us? Don't they have a guard or something?"

"They have a night watchman. He is sound asleep. I took care of it before I came to picked you up though had not expect there be another.... but never mind that it will all be fine, trust me on this."

"How-" I stopped and shook my head. "Okay. Not tonight. We'll talk about it later."

As I watched with fascination and awe and dread, he bent down and breathed in front of the man's face, just like he done with the nurse in the hospital. I saw a light wisp of fog coming out and then heard the man groan before he continued to slumber in la-la land.

"There now, all done." He lift up the man's arm and pushing the sleeve up before he made a small nick like he done to Steve back in the hospital.

I wonder what he was doing but when I saw blood seeming out and again feeling a bit thirsty like last time. But then I stop when I heard him tell me what to do.

"Here drink," I looked to him, wondering if he was serious. He seriously expected me to go and drink from the man I just attacked?!

I shook my head and putting my hands up, "No thanks I'm good."

Mr. Crepsley looked at me knowing I was lying since he could see the hunger written on my face so well, "You need blood, you must drink seeing how—"

Suddenly he stopped and Mr. Crepsley threw a wild glance around. He had the look of an animal on alert, sensing the surroundings.

He kept still for a moment before he went and covered the man's wound and then look to me and said, "Come on, Darlene. Get up. We have to go." He was speaking in a gentle, insistent voice, as if he were talking to someone coming out of anesthesia.

I looked at him confused, why what was the hurried but then he grabbing me by the arm and said, "We need to leave now!"

Before I could ask, I found myself being heaved over his shoulder, being carried like a sack of potatoes and then was moving by so fast.

I thought I was going to puke the way we were going. After a while though, he slowed down.

"Well we are safe now at least." He put me down and probably noticed my complexion and then step to the side as I made to lurch out what little was in my stomach, heaving up until I came out with dry pants.

"You should have held your breath."

"Yeah, well you could have given me a warning!" I retorted even though I still felt like I had been through some crazy roller-coaster and still trying to regain my balance.

He did not seem fazed by this though his hair and cape were ruffled and saw his sandals caked in soil but did not seem to mind after having to flit this far out of god knows where.

I was leaning up against the tree and finally started feeling better while Mr. Crepsley watched me to the side seeing I was regaining my composure and wasn't nauseous.

He then tossed me my bag and caught it in the air, "You best go and change. It will be hard for you to go walking around in such an attire without bring attention to yourself."

Well you're one to talk! I thought seeing he was still in those circus clothes while I looked around not seeing anything and realized what he was saying.

I know it wouldn't do me any good to go traveling in my funeral garbs, it would raise suspicion but there was no way I'm doing it out in the open while he was here.

I try to find a place where I might be able to get outta these clothes and didn't want Mr. Crepsley watch me as I changed.

My best choice was to go behind the trees and before I went I looked to Mr. Crepsley and gave him a warning glare if he dare tried to follow me.

"You better not peek or I'll give you a nice shiner!" And I meant it.

Mr. Crepsley knew that after what I did before. He wouldn't try to do something like that to incur my wrath.

I picked up the duffel bag and head for the woods, going behind trees and making sure he cannot see me but at least know I was there.

I pulled the white dress over my head and changed into a short sleeve black t-shirt and a pair of denim jeans, ripped at the knees. I stuffed the dress inside the duffel bag and then put on my sneakers. I felt glad I wasn't in that ridiculous outfit anymore and wearing normal clothes once more.

I made my way back and saw Mr. Crepsley waiting for me.

"There now, that did not take you long did it?" He said it in a humorless tone and not quite managing to sound offhand.

I ignored him while I look around the clearing, having no idea where we were or which way we were going before turning to him to ask what the plan was.

"So where exactly are we heading?"

He shrugged, "I do not have a destination in mind but there is much I must teach you now that you are my assistant."

I guess that was fair. At least now I can go explore different places though this was not exactly how I pretty much pictured doing it.

I looked back. We were probably so far from my old home, the town I grew up in.

Now all I had was the memories and probably that would only be the one thing I'll be allowed to carry on my journey. Something stirred in me. I'd always wanted to see the world. Faraway places. Exotic lands.

And this would have been perfect-if only it hadn't to turn out like this.

There was a feeling of emptiness in my chest and wonder how long before I ever got to see this place again.

"Is it always this painful to leave everything behind?" I did not think he would answer but Mr. Crepsley walked over to where I was standing. Gently, without looking at me, he put a hand on my shoulder and took a long breath.

"You may not believe me…but I do feel sorry for you. Life is always lonely especially for our kind who must continue to walk the lonely path into where the world continues to move on while we seem lost in the shadows…"

I glanced at him sideways in surprise and for the first time saw his eyes hold such sadness and probably thinking how he must've endured the same thing as I did.

I could feel a tremor of sadness that came from him. It was the same anxious sadness I'd sensed in him earlier. He didn't like being a predator and now he'd made me one, too.

Our plan had succeeded brilliantly and I would never be the old Darlene Shan again. I was different now and yet I didn't find it so bad and was willing to give it a try though wish there had been another way but what' done is done.

Maybe that was what happened when you faced the very worst thing in the world. I'd lost my family and my old life and maybe even my childhood, but I'd found myself. And that would have to do.

"There wasn't any other choice," I said stoutly, and said it aloud. "We did what we had to do. Now we have to make the best of it." The words were brusque, but I felt a tiny surge of comfort. Maybe Mr. Crepsley was right.

Life was good, in whatever form and I had chosen this for myself. It meant a lot to me seeing I was alive. I found that we were simply looking at each other without any insulating humor between us. Just gazing into each others eyes.

Even in the semidarkness I felt mesmerized by his eyes. They were like windows to some other place, someplace distant and far off and wonder what there was to this vampire than I thought and maybe perhaps would find out more.

Then I nodded slowly. "Thanks." Mr. Crepsley looked up and then grab his cloak and put it on.

"We need to get going. Dawn will be in a few hours and we need to make some distance for ourselves."

"I know," I said softly. I had accepted that. There was no going back for me; the old life was over. Nothing to do but build a new one.

I went to grab my bag but then I felt it taken out of my hand and saw it lift onto Mr. Crepsley's shoulder.

"Here let me carry this for you."

"You're sure?" I looked up surprised and thinking he might not be so bad after all. I couldn't summon up any righteous disapproval right then and though maybe I can get along with him.

I then heard my stomach growl and almost blushed thinking what an embarrassing moment since it sound so loud and feeling the hungry return, "Oh man I haven't eaten anything since, well since my death actually?" I said in a sheepish tone and turning to him and asking, "You think we can find some chow?"

I saw Mr. Crepsley nodded, "So am I but you are going to have to wait just a little while to feed."

I frown wondering how long it would take for us to get a town and hoping wasn't too far away. "Well ok as long as we find some place that sells burgers or something. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse or so."

He chuckles slightly, amused by what I said, "Is that so, well there is a place I do believed I saw not far from here and we could go grab a bite from there."

"Really?" I then I saw him hold out his hand and I placed mine in his. It felt so cold to the touch but I didn't mind, I strangely found it comforting grabbing onto it and felt something strange, an odd connection between us.

I could feel some slivers of emotions, images inside my head that were unknown to me. It must be coming off him I figured and although I could hear his thoughts, it wasn't exactly like the total immersion when we'd exchanged blood.

I wonder if this was a side effect to what I became or maybe it was just that every cell that made up Darlene Shan, every molecule, had changed. Whatever I'll probably ask about it later when we had the chance.

I realize I wasn't human anymore. I was something other. Mr. Crepsley said it himself; we were of a different kind and now belonged to the Night.

I know this will probably come back to haunt me but he made me feel a little better having him here with me even after all that has happen.

He grinned at me and just at that particular moment, I couldn't help grinning back. It was a milestone for the both of us and I never would've guessed this was how my life would be or what was waiting for us in the future and unsure what it might be.

There was something worse about not knowing what would be out there, whether I could really pull through and yet here I was willing to take a chance.

But I don't think I should be so concerned. We had time on our hands to think of what awaited us and I just rather enjoyed the moment than be full of concern or worries of what lied ahead and what challenges awaited us.

Still, I had changed, and only time would tell how much.

We began walking together, side by side into the night, Mr. Crepsley as my vampire mentor and me, a vampire's assistant.

And thus ends the first part of my story.

Blue Kitsune: Well I hope everyone enjoy that and stay tune for when I post the next story Darlene Shan: The Vampire's Assistant! Please read and review!