First Bites

by Darren Shan

  “What are you talking about?” Larten asked.

  The vampaneze tutted. “Your master has been lax. He should have told you that if a vampire drains a person dry, the vampire absorbs that person’s memories, keeping part of their soul alive. We vampaneze kill every time we feed, but those we target live on inside us for decades or centuries to come.”

  “You think that makes it acceptable?” Larten snarled.

  “Yes,” the vampaneze said. “Vampires did too, before they grew soft.”

  Wester groaned and twitched. The vampaneze squinted at the unconscious boy. “He is one of the Flacks. I thought I’d killed them all. Generous of him to come to me like this. It would have been embarrassing if I’d left with the job half-done, hmmm?”

  As the killer stepped towards Wester, Larten slid between them. “Leave him alone.”

  “You’re his friend?” the vampaneze asked.

  “No,” Larten said. “I only met him for the first time today.”

  “Then this is not your business,” the killer snapped. “You’re new to this, wet behind the ears, so I’m willing to overlook your interference. Vampires don’t meddle with our affairs, and we don’t mess with theirs. I have the right to kill you for attacking me, but I’m prepared to let you leave. You can chalk it up to experience, hmmm? But the human dies. His father killed a friend of mine.”

  “Wester had nothing to do with that,” Larten said, holding his ground.

  The vampaneze shrugged. “In our world, the sins of the father are the sins of the sons. And the wife and daughters too. Last chance. Get out of my way.”

  “No,” Larten said firmly. “If you want to kill Wester, you’ll have to kill me first.”

  The purple-skinned man laughed. “So be it.”

  The vampaneze was even faster this time. Larten managed to strike, but his arm was slapped aside and a hard palm banged into his chest. He flew across the room and slammed into a wall. Stars flashed before his eyes, but he blinked them away and tried to haul himself to his feet. The vampaneze, having followed, stopped him with a soft shove to his head.

  As Larten collapsed, defeated, the vampaneze squatted beside him. “Abandon the boy,” he whispered. “If you renounce him, I’ll spare you, yes, I will. Why waste your life on a worthless human that you barely know?”

  “I gave him… my word… that I would… help,” Larten gasped.

  “But you cannot save him,” the vampaneze reasoned.

  “Then I’ll… die with him. I gave… my word.”

  The vampaneze’s blazing red eyes were terrifying, but Larten never lowered his gaze or flinched. Seba had taught him to face up to the things he was afraid of.

  The vampaneze laid a jagged fingernail to the flesh of Larten’s throat. Larten wanted to close his eyes and pray, but didn’t. Instead he stared at his murderer, determined to die looking squarely at his executioner rather than cowering away from him.

  The nail dug into Larten’s flesh and he tensed, sure that this was the end. But then the vampaneze withdrew his finger. Wiping blood on his trouser leg, he stood and smiled tightly at the confused boy.

  “You will make a true vampire,” he said with grudging respect. “You’d fare better as a vampaneze–our way would suit a fiery pup like you, yes, it would–but you’ve chosen your master, and I won’t ask you to break your pledge to him. But if you ever tire of the confines of the clan, seek me out.”

  The vampaneze cracked his knuckles, then spat at the unconscious Wester, the same way that Larten had spat at the feet of the priest. “I shouldn’t have to leave, but if I don’t, he’ll come after me again and you’ll have to help him–since you’ve given your word–and I wouldn’t be able to pardon you a second time. Anyway, it’s been a while since I ran beneath a full sun. The sunburn will be good for me. We should all suffer every once in a while, hmmm?”

  The purple-skinned creature walked to the steps, where he paused and looked back at the startled Larten Crepsley. “I won’t ask for your master’s name, just as I have not requested yours. But I am not afraid to give you mine. When he asks, tell your master that Murlough held your life in his hands and chose to be merciful. Let him and his clan brood on that the next time they’re belittling the good name of the vampaneze in the wretched Halls of Vampire Mountain.”

  With a sneer, Murlough bounded up the steps and smashed aside the planks at the top. He raced out of the wreck and across the fields, already wincing from the burning heat of the sun, looking for somewhere new to hole up and hide until night fell and the world was his again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When Wester regained his senses, he was lying in the open, upstairs. He sat up, groaned, and looked around with confusion. Larten was nearby. He’d thought about leaving but he wanted to monitor the boy’s recovery. Now he held a pouch of leaves filled with water to Wester’s lips.

  “What happened?” Wester asked once he’d drunk.

  “The monster knocked us out,” Larten lied. “He was gone when I recovered. I dragged you up here and went to wash my wounds and fetch water for you.”

  “He didn’t kill us?” Wester frowned.

  “Doesn’t look like it,” Larten laughed.

  “Why not?”

  Larten shrugged. “Who can know the mind of a monster?”

  Wester staggered to his feet, groaning at the pain in his broken arm, and returned to the cellar entrance. Larten tried to call him back, but Wester growled, “I have to be sure.”

  Larten lay in the sun while Wester explored the empty cellar. When the boy reappeared, he looked drained of energy and life. He slumped next to Larten, his eyes full of tears.

  “I failed,” Wester whimpered.

  “At least you tried,” Larten consoled him. “We knew the odds were against us. We were lucky to survive.”

  “I wish he’d killed me,” Wester cried. “How can I go back? They’ll think I didn’t face him, that I was afraid.”

  “Your wounds…” Larten muttered.

  “Anyone can fake injuries,” Wester snorted. He got up and looked around for footprints.

  “What will you do?” Larten asked.

  “Find the monster,” Wester said. “I tracked him down once. I can do it again.”

  Larten didn’t comment on how crazy that plan was–the vampaneze would already be many miles from here–but he said nothing. Wester would come to realize the futility of his quest in his own time.

  “You won’t be able to face him until your arm heals,” Larten said, trying an indirect approach. “You’ll need to rest, gather your strength, get a new hammer and more stakes.”

  Wester nodded thoughtfully. He tried moving his fingers and winced. “Do you know how to make a splint?” he asked.

  “No,” Larten said, “but I know a man who does. You should return to your home and bury your family. But if you truly don’t want to,” he said quickly before Wester could argue, “you can come with me and seek refuge at the Cirque Du Freak.”

  “What’s that?” Wester asked.

  “It’s many things to many people,” Larten said softly, taking Wester’s good arm and leading him away. “For you, temporarily, it can be a sanctuary.” But he knew, even as he said it, that what he was really offering Wester was a new home.

  Wester’s broken arm healed, and so did the hurt inside him. The first few nights were horrible, a time of sobbing and hateful curses. Larten wouldn’t have been able to console Wester by himself, but there were many at the Cirque Du Freak who knew what it was like to lose loved ones, to find yourself an outcast from the world. They did what they could to comfort the miserable orphan.

  Wester was full of talk about how he was going to find and kill the monster. He made all kinds of outlandish plans. Larten listened quietly and never exposed the flaws in Wester’s wild schemes, and as his fury dwindled, Wester came to see them himself and stopped muttering darkly. He hadn’t forgotten his vow to slaughter the beast, and Larten doubted this was the end of the matter, but
for the time being he was content to let it rest.

  Even before he regained the use of his arm, Wester started helping Larten with his chores. He was intrigued by the magical circus. He worked hard and adapted swiftly to the way of life. Larten wondered sometimes if any stray in their position would fit in with the circus folk, or if he and Wester were different. He had a feeling the Cirque wasn’t for everyone, only for those of a certain bent. Although they looked normal, he came to believe that he and Wester were in their own way every bit as freakish as the stars of the show.

  The pair spoke often of their lives, especially at night when Verus and Merletta were asleep. In whispers, Larten told Wester about Vur Horston and Traz, how he had become a murderer on the factory floor. He thought Wester might think less of him then, but his new friend said nothing as Larten laid bare his soul, only listened silently and patted Larten’s hand when he was finished.

  Larten was less revealing about his more recent movements. He let Wester think he’d been with the Cirque Du Freak for years. He didn’t want to tell him about Seba and the world of vampires. If he did, Wester might make the link to the monster that had killed his family and maybe hate Larten as he hated the creature whose name he’d never learned.

  If Seba had returned in the middle of the night, when Wester was asleep, Larten would have left without waking the boy. He would have asked Seba if they could slip away quietly, and Seba, being old and wise, would surely have respected his assistant’s wishes. That would have spared Larten the task of telling Wester the truth.

  But Seba Nile returned without warning one evening, shortly before the start of a show. He tapped Larten’s shoulder, and when his assistant turned, the elderly vampire winked and said, “I hope you have not forgotten me already.”

  Larten cried out with joy–he’d missed Seba more than he realized–and threw himself into the vampire’s arms, hugging him hard. Seba was surprised but did not push the teenager away. Vampires were not as emotional as humans, but they were not entirely unfeeling. A rare display of affection was allowed.

  “I will have your story soon,” Seba said when Larten released him. “I imagine you have much to tell me.”

  “And I’m sure you have even more to tell me,” Larten grinned. They shared a laugh—both knew that Seba would tell his assistant next to nothing about his long trek and what he’d experienced at the Vampire Council.

  “We will catch up with each other shortly,” Seba said. “First I must find Hibernius and thank him for taking care of you.” Seba caught sight of a boy hovering nearby, staring at them. He immediately sensed a connection between this stranger and Larten, but he didn’t pursue it. Larten could tell him in his own good time, if he wished.

  When Seba left, Wester nudged closer and asked, “Who was that?”

  Larten sighed. “My master.” He set his tray aside and faced Wester. “We won’t be working tonight. There’s a lot I have to tell you. About me… my master… and vampires.”

  Larten told Wester everything, how he’d first met Seba, his years serving as his assistant, what he knew about the clan, finishing with the truth about Murlough. Wester listened quietly, his face impossible to read. He was silent for a long time when Larten stopped. When he finally spoke, it was to ask, “Vampires drink blood but they don’t kill?”

  “Aye.”

  “But you’ve only met a couple. How can you be sure?”

  “Seba told me. I trust him. And Murlough confirmed it too.”

  “But he said that vampires used to kill.”

  Larten shrugged. “I don’t know much about the clan’s history. Maybe they were monsters like Murlough in the past. But they’re not anymore. From what Murlough said, there’s no love lost between the two clans. He thinks vampires are weak for not killing when they feed.”

  “Have you drunk blood yet?” Wester asked.

  “No. I’m still human. Seba won’t blood me until we’re both sure that it’s right for me.”

  “If I thought that you were lying… or that Seba had lied to you… that vampires were in any way connected with what happened to my family…” There were angry tears in Wester’s eyes.

  “I swear on my life that vampires had nothing to do with that,” Larten said, not breaking eye contact with the trembling Wester. “If you doubt me, I’ll bare my chest and you can kill me now, drive a stake through my heart, just as you meant to drive one through Murlough’s.”

  “Very well,” Wester said gruffly. “Wait here while I go find one.”

  Larten’s mouth fell open, and he gaped at the stern-faced Wester. Then he saw his friend’s upper lip twitch, and he punched him hard and cursed.

  “You thought I was serious!” Wester hooted.

  “Shut up,” Larten growled.

  “Are you always this easy to fool?”

  “If you keep it up, I’ll go find a stake of my own,” Larten warned him.

  Wester chuckled again, then sighed. “Will you leave the Cirque Du Freak now?”

  “I suppose,” Larten murmured. “I love the circus life, but I want to be a vampire more than anything. I can’t say why. I just do.”

  “I think that I want it too,” Wester said softly, stunning his friend.

  Larten frowned. “You can’t mean that. You didn’t even know about vampires until I told you.”

  “You didn’t know about them either before you met Seba,” Wester countered.

  “But our life is hard… there’s so much to learn… you have no idea what you’d be letting yourself in for.”

  “Nor did you when you became Seba’s assistant,” Wester said. “I’ll serve an apprenticeship, like you. If I don’t like it, I’ll leave and maybe come back here. But I know, the same way you knew that night in the crypt. I can’t explain it. I just know it’s the path for me. I think you do too. I think that’s why you brought me here when you could have simply left me at Strasling’s. It’s maybe why you helped me in the first place.”

  Larten stared at Wester, troubled. Wester had as much right as he did to choose, but Larten felt protective of his orphaned friend. While he relished the challenges of the vampire life, he wouldn’t wish the hardships on most folk.

  Wester saw the indecision in Larten’s eyes. It annoyed him–what gave Larten the right to choose for him?–but he hid his irritation and said, “I think this is fate. Would you deny me my destiny?”

  Larten chewed his lower lip and shook his head. “It’s not my decision to make. The choice is Seba’s. But I will ask him and put in a good word for you, if that’s what you truly want.”

  It was, and later that night, after Seba had said his farewell to Mr. Tall, Larten put Wester’s proposal to him. The vampire studied Wester as Larten argued his case. The boy’s eyes were steady, and so were his hands. He had a calm, serious air that Seba liked. He saw potential in the boy. But he could see a problem too.

  “There is one thing I demand of my assistants,” Seba said. “Truth. Hold my gaze and tell me honestly—do you want to become a vampire so that you can track down and gain revenge on the vampaneze who killed your family?”

  “That’s part of it,” Wester replied quietly. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t. But it’s not the whole reason. I want to be part of a community again. Part of a family. I could make a life for myself here at the Cirque Du Freak, but it doesn’t feel right. When Larten was telling me of your people, your ways, how you embrace the night and honor it… my soul stirred.”

  “That is a poetic way of putting it,” Seba smiled. “He has a fairer tongue than you, Master Crepsley.” His smile faded, and he refocused on Wester. “What if I told you to put all thoughts of revenge aside, if I said you could never seek vengeance, even if you ran into Murlough by accident one night?”

  “I couldn’t agree to such terms,” Wester said. “He butchered my entire family. I can never forgive or forget that. I will seek revenge, either as a vampire or a human.”

  Seba approved of the boy’s honesty. Wester had been ope
n with him, and his thirst for revenge was justifiable. Even a General, bound by tighter rules than most of the clan, had the right to kill a vampaneze who had slaughtered members of his human family.

  “I have to test your blood,” Seba said. “If it is pure, I will accept you.”

  Wester sat calmly as Seba cut his arm and sucked blood from the wound. Both youths watched silently as the vampire swirled it around his mouth. When he pulled a face and spat out the blood, Larten’s heart sank. Wester’s eagerness to become a vampire had taken him aback, but as he’d thought about it more, he’d warmed to the idea. Now it looked as if his master was going to reject Wester, and that hurt Larten more than he’d imagined it could.

  Seba glowered at Wester for several long, threatening seconds…

  … then winked. “Your blood is fine,” he said. “In fact, it is purer than Larten’s or mine. I accept you without hesitation. You are my assistant now. Pack anything you wish to bring with you from this life. We leave in five minutes.”

  Wester and Larten shared a beaming glance. As they hurried off to fetch their belongings, Larten found himself thinking of Wester as he had once thought of a boy called Vur Horston—not just as a friend but a brother.

  Part Three

  “How many losses must I endure?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Larten sat in the Hall of Khledon Lurt, sipping from a mug of ale, studying the red drapes hanging from the walls and ceiling, the statue of Khledon Lurt at the center of the room, and, of course, the vampires. He had been here almost a week but still felt out of place among the hardened creatures of the night. This was his first time at Council, and it was hard to shake the feeling that he didn’t belong.

  He put his mug down and rubbed the scars on his fingertips, remembering the night when Seba drove his nails into the soft flesh. Larten had welcomed the pain because it meant he was leaving behind the human world, taking a step into the night from which there could be no return. He was proud of his ten scars, still shiny after all this time, but they didn’t mean much here. There was a lot more to becoming a vampire of good standing than being able to show that you had been blooded, and Larten was afraid he might not have what it required.