Cirque Du Freak

"You shouldn't have come," Evra muttered. "It was stupid." He paused. "But thanks anyway," he added. "Would you have left me?" I asked. "Yes," he said, but I knew he was lying.

"You don't care, do you?" I whined. "Evra's down here somewhere, being tormented or cooked, and all you're worried about are your tired old legs."

"They are old," Mr. Crepsley growled, "and they are tired, and so, I am sure, are yours. Sit down and stop acting like a child.”

"Also," he added, "the vampaneze have their noble points. They are loyal and brave. And they never break their word - when a vampaneze makes a promise, he sticks by it. If a vampaneze lies and his kinsmen find out, they will execute him, no questions asked. They have their faults, and I have no personal liking for them, but evil?" He sighed. "That is hard to say."

"Well?" Debbie said, as I stood up. "Don't I get a good-night kiss?" I thought I was going to collapse. "I... um... I mean... that is..." I became a stuttering wreck. "Don't you want to kiss me?" Debbie asked.

I thought about Mr. Crepsley and what he might like. I wasn't going to buy him anything - he'd only turn up his nose at presents - but it was interesting to consider what I could buy him. What was there that a vampire could possibly be interested in? I started to smile. "I know," I said. "I'll get him a sun lamp."

"Calm down," Evra said eventually. "You look great. I'm half tempted to go out with you myself." "Shut up, stupid," I shot back, but couldn't help grinning

"I'm not just a pretty face," I said jokingly. "Not even a pretty face!" She laughed.

"Darren and Debbie." She smiled. "That sounds good, like Bonnie and Clyde." "Do you always talk to strangers like this?" I asked.

"I never realized TV could be so addictive," he said one night, after we'd watched five shows in a row. "My mom and dad never let me watch too much," I told him, "but I knew guys in school who watched five or six hours of it every night of the week!" "I wouldn't take it that far," Evra mused, "but it's fun in small doses. Maybe I'll buy a portable TV when we get back to the Cirque Du Freak."

- Darren Shan, Tunnels of Blood

Evra is so responsible 🥺

"Evra would be good company for you. And he is wiser: he could keep you out of mischief when I am not around." "I don't need a baby-sitter!" I huffed. "No," Mr. Crepsley agreed, "but a guardian would not go amiss. You have a habit of getting into trouble when left to your own devices. Remember when you stole Madam Octa? And the mess we had with that human boy, Sam whatever his name was?" "That wasn't my fault!" I yelled. "Indeed not," Mr. Crepsley said. "But it happened when you were by yourself." I made a face but didn't say anything. "Will I ask him or not?" Mr. Crepsley pressed the issue. " I'll ask him," I said. "You'd probably bully him into going."

"How long will we be away?" I asked unhappily. "Days. Weeks. Months. I cannot say for sure." "What if I refuse to come?" He studied me ominously. "An assistant who does not obey orders has no purpose," he said quietly. "If I cannot rely on your cooperation, I will have to take steps to remove you from my employ." "You mean you'd fire me?" I smiled bitterly.

- Darren Shan, Tunnels of Blood

"A hundred years old!" I whistled softly. "That's nothing for a vampire," Gavner said. "I was barely nineteen when first blooded and only twenty-two when I became a full vampire. I could live to be a good five hundred years old, the gods of the vampires permitting." "Five hundred!" I couldn't imagine being so old. 

-Darren Shan, Tunnels of Blood

He (Gavner) nudged me in the ribs. "Does he still complain like a grumpy old woman when he wakes up?" he asked.

"Yes," I giggled.

"I could never get a positive word out of him until midnight. I had to share a coffin with him once for four whole months." He shivered at the memory. "Longest four months of my life."

"You shared a coffin?" I asked in awe.

"Had to," he said. "We were being hunted. We had to stick together. I wouldn't do it again, though. I'd rather face the sun and burn."

"Pleased to meet you," the vampire said, shaking my hand. "You didn't hear me coming, did you?"

"No," I answered honestly.

"There!" he boomed proudly. "See?"

"Congratulations," Mr. Crepsley said dryly. "If you are ever called upon to sneak into a nursery, you should have no problems."