Mr Crepsley shrugged. “Listen, Darren, there is no way you can stop this happening again, not if you mix with humans. No matter how hard you try to be normal, you are not. There will always be accidents waiting to happen.”
“What you’re saying is, I can’t have friends any more, right?” I nodded sadly. “I’d figured that out by myself. That’s why I was so sad. I’d been getting used to the idea of never being able to go back home to see my old friends, but it was only yesterday that I realized I’d never be able to make new ones either. I’m stuck with you. I can’t have any other friends, can I?”
He rubbed his scar and pursed his lips. “That is not true,” he said. “You can have friends. You just have to be careful. You—”
“That’s not good enough!” I cried. “You said it yourself; there will always be an accident waiting to happen. Even shaking hands is dangerous. I could cut their wrists open with my nails!”
I shook my head slowly. “No,” I said firmly. “I won’t put people’s lives in danger. I’m too dangerous to have friends any more. Besides, it’s not like I can make a true friend.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“True friends don’t keep secrets from one another. I could never tell a human that I was a vampire. I’d always have to lie and pretend to be someone I’m not. I’d always be afraid he’d find out what I was and hate me.”
“It is a problem every vampire shares,” Mr Crepsley said.
“But every vampire isn’t a child!” I shouted. “What age were you when you were changed? Were you a man?” He nodded. “Friends aren’t that important to adults. My dad told me that grown-ups get used to not having loads of friends. They’ve work and hobbies and other stuff to keep them busy. But my friends were the most important thing in my life, apart from my family. Well, you took my family away when you pumped your stinking blood into me. Now you’ve ruined the chances of my ever having a proper friend again.
“Thanks a lot,” I said angrily. “Thanks for making a monster out of me and wrecking my life.”
I was close to tears, but didn’t want to cry, not in front of him. So I stabbed at the last piece of meat on my plate with my fork and rammed it into my mouth, where I chewed upon it fiercely.
Mr Crepsley was quiet after my outburst. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or sorry. For a while, I thought I’d said too much. What if he turned around and said, “If that is the way you feel, I will leave you”? What would I do then?
I was thinking of apologizing when he spoke in a soft voice and surprised me.
“I am sorry,” he said. “I should not have blooded you. It was a poor call. You were too young. It has been so long since I was a boy, I had forgotten what it was like. I never thought of your friends and how much you would miss them. It was wrong of me to blood you. Terribly wrong. I …”
He trailed off into silence. He looked so miserable, I almost felt sorry for him. Then I remembered what he’d done to me and I hated him again. Then I saw wet drops at the corners of his eyes, which might have been tears, and felt sorry for him once more.
I was very confused.
“Well, there’s no use moaning about it,” I finally said. “We can’t go back. What’s done is done, right?”
“Yes,” he sighed. “If I could, I would take back my terrible gift. But that is not possible. Vampirism is for ever. Once somebody has been changed, there is no changing back.
“Still,” he said, mulling it over, “it is not as bad as you think. Perhaps …” His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
“Perhaps what?” I asked.
“We can find friends for you,” he said. “You do not have to be stuck with me all the time.”
“I don’t understand.” I frowned. “Didn’t we just agree it wasn’t safe for me to be around humans?”
“I am not talking about humans,” he said, starting to smile. “I am talking about people with special powers. People like us. People you can tell your secrets to …”
He leant across and took my hands in his.
“Darren,” he said, “what do you think about going back and becoming a member of the Cirque Du Freak?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE MORE we discussed the idea, the more I liked it. Mr Crepsley said the Cirque performers would know what I was and would accept me as one of their own. The line-up of the show often changed, and there was nearly always someone who would be around my own age. I’d be able to hang out with them.
“What if I don’t like it there?” I asked.
“Then we leave,” he said. “I enjoyed travelling with the Cirque, but I am not crazy about it. If you like it, we stay. If you do not, we hit the road again.”
“They won’t mind me tagging along?” I asked.
“You will have to pull your weight,” he replied. “Mr Tall insists on everybody doing something. You will have to help set up chairs and lights, sell souvenirs, clean up afterwards, or do the cooking. You will be kept busy, but they will not over-work you. We will have plenty of time for our lessons.”
We decided to give it a go. At least it would mean a proper bed every night. My back was stiff from sleeping on floors.
Mr Crepsley had to find out where the show was before we could set off. I asked him how he was going to do that. He told me he was able to home in on Mr Tall’s thoughts.
“You mean he’s telepathic?” I asked, remembering what Steve had called people who could talk to each other using only their brains.
“Sort of,” Mr Crepsley said. “We cannot speak to each other with our thoughts but I can pick up his … aura, you could call it. Once I locate that, tracking him down will be no problem.”
“Could I locate his aura?” I wanted to know.
“No,” Mr Crepsley said. “Most vampires – along with a few gifted humans – can, but half-vampires cannot.”
He sat down in the middle of the church and closed his eyes. He was quiet for about a minute. Then his eyelids opened and he stood.
“Got him,” he said.
“So soon?” I asked. “I thought it would take longer.”
“I have searched for his aura many times,” Mr Crepsley explained. “I know what to look for. Finding him is as easy as finding a needle in a haystack.”
“That’s supposed to be hard, isn’t it?”
“Not for a vampire,” he grunted.
While we were packing to leave, I found myself gazing around the church. Something had been bothering me, but I wasn’t sure whether I should mention it to Mr Crepsley or not.
“Go on,” he said, startling me. “Ask whatever it is that is on your mind.”
“How did you know I wanted to ask something?” I gawped.
He laughed. “It does not take a vampire to know when a child is curious. You have been bursting with a question for ages. What is it?”
I took a deep breath. “Do you believe in God?” I asked.
Mr Crepsley looked at me oddly, then nodded slowly. “I believe in the gods of the vampires.”
I