The Vampire’s Assistant
Darren Shan has been made a half-vampire by Mr Crepsley, but the Cirque Du Freak holds more unpleasant surprises for the vampire’s assistant.Darren joins the vampire, Mr Crepsley, as his assistant and they return to the Cirque Du Freak. There, Darren makes friends with the snake-boy, Evra Von (who knows what Darren is) and a local boy, Sam, and RV, an eco-warrior and animal lover (who do not). Darren begins to enjoy his life among the Cirque performers as the youngest half-vampire in existence, but he defiantly refuses to drink human blood – the whole idea sickens him – and he tries desperately to cling on to the part of him which is human.Darren comes face to face with pure evil in the form of Mr Tiny, the leader of the Little People who join the Cirque Du Freak, and who eat anything – including human flesh. When he discovers animal bones, RV frees the wolf-man from his cage – and no-one could possibly guess how truly terrible the whole effect would be.
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THE VAMPIREâS ASSISTANT
THE SAGA OF DARREN SHAN
BOOK 2
THE VAMPIREâS ASSISTANT
THE SAGA OF DARREN SHAN
BOOK 2
Madam Octaâs on the Web⦠and so is Darren Shan!
For all things freaky, check out the official
Darren Shan website at www.darrenshan.com
For:
Granny and Grandad â tough old fogeys
OBEs (Order of the Bloody Entrails) to:
Caroline âtrackerâ Paul Paul âthe pillagerâ Litherland
Heads off to:
Biddy âJekyllâ and Liam âHydeâ Gillie âgrave robberâ Russell The hideously creepy HarperCollins gang and Emma and Chris (from âGhouls Are Usâ)
Contents
Introduction
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Other Books in the Series The Saga of Darren Shan
Copyright
About the Publisher
INTRODUCTION
MY NAMEâS Darren Shan. Iâm a half-vampire.
I wasnât born that way. I used to be ordinary. I lived at home with my parents and younger sister, Annie. I enjoyed school and had lots of friends.
I liked reading horror stories and watching scary movies. When a freak show came to town, my best mate, Steve Leopard, got tickets and we went. It was great, really spooky and weird. A super night out.
But the weirdest part came after the show. Steve recognized one of the characters from the show ⦠heâd seen a drawing of him in an old book and knew he was â a vampire. He stuck around after the show and asked the vampire to turn him into one, too! Mr Crepsley â the vampire â would have, but he found out Steveâs blood was evil, and that was the end of that.
Or it would have been the end, except I stuck around, too, to see what Steve was up to.
I wanted nothing to do with vampires, but Iâd always loved spiders â I used to keep them as pets â and Mr Crepsley had a poisonous performing spider, Madam Octa, which could do all sorts of great tricks. I stole her and left a note for the vampire, saying Iâd tell people about him if he came after me.
To cut a long story short, Madam Octa bit Steve and he ended up in hospital. He would have died, so I went to Mr Crepsley and asked him to save Steve. He agreed, but in return I had to become a half-vampire and travel with him as his assistant!
I ran away after heâd turned me into a half-vampire (by pumping part of his own horrible blood into me) and saved Steve, but then I realized I was hungry for blood, and was afraid Iâd do something terrible (like bite my sister) if I stayed at home.
So Mr Crepsley helped me fake my death. I was buried alive and then, in the dead of night, with no one around, he dug me up and we set off together. My days as a human were over. My nights as a vampireâs assistant had begun.
CHAPTER ONE
IT WAS a dry, warm night, and Stanley Collins had decided to walk home after the Scoutsâ meeting. It wasnât a long walk â less than two kilometres â and though the night was dark, he knew every step of the way as surely as he knew how to tie a reef knot.
Stanley was a Scout Master. He loved the Scouts. Heâd been one when he was a boy, and kept in contact when he grew up. Heâd turned his three sons into first-rate Scouts and, now that theyâd grown up and left home, he was helping the local kids.
Stanley walked quickly to keep warm. He was only wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and even though it was a nice night, his arms and legs were soon covered in goosebumps. He didnât mind. His wife would have a lovely cup of hot chocolate and currant buns waiting for him when he got home. Heâd enjoy them all the more after a good, brisk walk.
Trees grew along both sides of the road home, making it very dark and dangerous for anyone who wasnât used to it. But Stanley had no fears. On the contrary, he loved the night. He enjoyed listening to the sound of his feet crunching through the long grass and briars.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
He smiled. When his sons were young, heâd pretend there were monsters lying in wait up in the trees as they walked home. Heâd make scary noises and shake the leaves of low-hanging branches when the boys werenât looking. Sometimes theyâd burst into screams and run for home at top speed, and Stanley would follow after them, laughing.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
If he was having trouble getting to sleep at night, he would imagine the sounds of his feet as they made their way home, and that always helped him drift off into a happy dream.
It was the nicest sound in the world, as far as Stanley was concerned, better than all the music of Mozart and Beethoven.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Snap.
Stanley stopped and frowned. That had sounded like a stick breaking, but how could it have been? He would have felt it if heâd stepped on a twig. And there were no cows or sheep in the nearby fields.
