Cirque Du Freak: Larten Crepsley's Daughter

My mother died when I was sixteen. That was when I was sent to live with my father. At first I had no problem with working with freaks. They were far better than those humans I was forced to go to school with. The thing is, I fell in love with the show business. But it was when the Cirque Du Freak stopped at a random small town that eventually would have meaning to me. It was when my life changed forever and my strained relationship with my father became estranged.

You should probably know that I never asked for a vampire for a father. When he changed me, I was ready for it. I was ready to look like I was sixteen for many years. However, it was only a few months after he blooded me that made me hate him. Everyone in the vampire, vampaneze, and freak world knows of Darren Shan. I know him as the other kid Larten Crepsley blooded.

We were in the random small town when I last called Larten my father and meant it. We had a show in that town for one night only. It wasn't anything unusual or anything. The only thing unusual was the two boys that looked about my age. I was stricken with them when I first saw them. After a bit, Mr. Tall caught me.

"Jordan, staring off into space again, are we?" he asked with that smile on his face telling me I was caught only by him.

"No, there are boys here my age." I turned to him and smiled. His face was telling me everything. "Does he want me to get Octa?"

Mr. Tall gave me a slight nod before I disappeared into the darkness to retrieve that damn spider. I was beginning to think Dad loved it more than me. But that can't happen, right?

"Hey, Octa," I said as I pulled her cover off her cage. "It's show time, are you ready?"

She jumped in excitment. I smiled. I grabbed her cage and hurried to my father. I dropped her off just in time to make sure the Little People weren't biting off anyone's limbs. Everyone was behaving for some miracle of a night. I stopped when I caught another glance toward the boys. One was Darren Shan (I just didn't know it yet) and the other was his best friend, Steve Leonard (or Leopard as some called him like Darren).

"Jordan! How many times must I tell you to focus?" Dad asked when he caught me staring at the boys from behind the heavy velevet curtain.

I turned and bowed my head. I knew I was in trouble this time. It was far from the first time he caught me staring at the people who showed up to the shows. I was intrigued by their reasons for coming; more like what I thought their reasons were for coming.

"Now, get up to the lights and make sure none of those confounded Little People aren't up there. One of them almost ate part of the lightman."

I nodded and hurried up there. After I was done, I headed back stage to wish Evra good luck. He was the only one about my age and he was my best friend even if he is part snake.

"Hey, Evra," I said as I snuck up behind him.

Evra turned  around, he was starting to shed again. "Hey, Jordan, wishing me luck?"

"Yeah, then I have to attend to some things at the caravans." I jerked a thumb toward the general direction the caravans were.

After a quick hug, I hurried to the caravans and grabbed my favorite necklace. When I came back, the show had started and a few of the freaks had gone already. Nothing much came from the two boys. They were as interested as anyone else. Like many cities before this one, the police came to shut us down because we were "exploiting" the freaks. Hey, it was their choice in the first place.

Chaos ensued when the police came. People ran everywhere. The freaks were cleaning up while the people attending the show ran like hell. I didn't blame him, those cops would have arrested them on the spot if they stayed longer. The funny thing was, I didn't see either of the two boys run out. Then again, I wasn't looking for them either.

A  couple weeks passed before I'd see my father nor Octa after that night. I wasn't worried about him, and thought Octa was with him. After all, he was a vampire, once a vampire general on the way to become a prince. When he finally returned, there was something different about him. Like he did something he was really regreting. Little did I know, he had blooded Darren so Darren could save his best friend's life.

"You're back," I said as I greeted him in his tent. I was dusting his coffin and cleaning up like I always did.

"Yes, and I had a chat with Gavner," he said. I knew Gavner. He was a great man and vampire. He'd tell me things Dad wouldn't dream of telling me.

"Yeah?"

"Yes, and I have decided to let him take you." He sat in his favorite chair he had in his tent.

"What?"

"Jordan, you are going to be Gavner's assistant now. When he comes to retrieve you, you will go with him, understood?" He stroked the scar on his face. I knew he had been thinking about this more than a day.

I stood there forzen in shock and mixed emotions. One of which was anger. Why was I going with Gavner all of a sudden. He was the one that blooded me and told me the list of things he wanted his assistant to do. What the hell?

"You have done nothing, I just cannot allow you to continue traveling with me," he said with the same calm tone. All the while, I was getting more and more enraged. The rest of the emotions were fading.

I understood everything and glared at Larten as I vanished out of the tent. I packed my things and said farewell to Evra and the rest of the freaks. I was going to miss them. Night had been up since I started packing. I didn't bother going near Larten's tent. There was nothing to say to him. I didn't want to know how he got Octa back from the theif. I didn't want to know what he had been doing during the time he was gone. As far as I was concerned, my father was dead to me and I blamed the bastard that shared my last name for blooding me.

Then Gavner came.