The Vampire's Assistant and Other Tales from the Cirque Du Freak by Darren Shan

Author:Darren Shan [SHAN, DARREN]
Format: epub
Tags: JUV001000
ISBN: 9780316096584
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Mr. tall, mr. crepsley, and Mr. Tiny were in the van when we entered. Evra was shaking like a leaf, but I wasn’t really nervous. But when I saw the worried looks on Mr. Tall’s and Mr. Crepsley’s faces and realized how uneasy they were, it put me on edge a little.

“Come in, boys,” Mr. Tiny welcomed us, as though it was his van and not Mr. Tall’s. “Sit down, make yourselves at home.”

“I’ll stand if that’s okay,” Evra said, trying not to let us hear the chatter of his teeth.

“I’ll stand, too,” I said, following Evra’s lead.

“As you wish,” Mr. Tiny said. He was the only one sitting.

“I’ve been hearing a lot about you, young Darren Shan,” Mr. Tiny said. He was rolling something between his hands: a heart-shaped watch. I could hear it ticking whenever there was a pause in his speech.

“You’re quite the boy, by all accounts,” Mr. Tiny went on. “A most remarkable young man. Sacrificed everything to save a friend. There aren’t many who would do as much. People are so self-centered these days. It’s good to see the world can still produce heroes.”

“I’m no hero,” I said, blushing at the compliment. “Of course you are,” he insisted. “What is a hero but a person who lays everything on the line for the good of somebody else?”

I smiled proudly. I couldn’t understand why Evra was so afraid of this nice, strange man. There was nothing terrible about Mr. Tiny. I kind of liked him.

“Larten tells me you’re reluctant to drink human blood,” Mr. Tiny continued. “I don’t blame you. Nasty, repulsive stuff. Can’t stand it. Apart from young children, of course. Their blood is scrump-dillyicious.”

I frowned. “You can’t drink blood from them,” I said. “They’re too small. If you took blood from a young child, you’d kill it.”

His eyes widened and so did his smile. “So?” he asked softly.

A chill ran down my spine. If he had been joking, it would have been in really poor taste, but I could have overlooked it (hadn’t I just been laughing about poor Bradley Stretch?). But I could tell from his expression that he was totally serious.

All of a sudden I knew why this man was so feared. He was evil. Not just bad or nasty, but pure demonic evil. This was a man I could imagine killing thousands of people just to hear them scream.

“You know,” Mr. Tiny said, “your face seems familiar. Have we met before, Darren Shan?”

I shook my head.

“Are you certain?” he asked. “You look very familiar.”

“I . . . would have ...remembered,” I stuttered. “You can’t always trust memory.” Mr. Tiny smiled. “It can be a deceptive monster. Still, no matter. Maybe I’m confusing you with someone else.”

By the way his lips twisted into a grin (how did I ever think that was a nice smile?), I could see he didn’t think that. But I was sure he was wrong. There’s no way I would have forgotten meeting a creature like him.

“Down to business,” Mr.

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