The winds that gust around Vampire Mountain would cut even a tough-skinned young man like you to the bone.' 'So, you're off to Vampire Mountain,' he said, picking up my knapsack and peering inside without asking. Tiny extended his hand to the snake-man, he stood, quivering, shaking his head furiously. He stuck out a hand and, scared as I was, I automatically shook it. I knew one once who walked himself to death in sunlight, merely because someone had sneered at him for only being able to come out at night.' 'Vampires are peculiar creatures,' he said, stepping forward, as though he'd been part of the conversation all along. My heart palpitated when I saw him standing a few feet away, eyes twinkling, hands wrapped behind his back, eavesdropping on Evra and me. Tiny since a little after joining the Cirque Du Freak, but I heard a lot of stories about him - how he ate children for breakfast and burned down towns to warm his feet. 'But vampires are great climbers,' I reminded him. Evra told me to take a rope - he said it might come in handy, especially when it came to climbing.

I didn't have much to take: spare clothes, a thick pair of boots, special cooking utensils that folded up neatly so they were easier to carry, my diary - that went everywhere with me - and other stuff. 'I'd probably fall asleep and hibernate till spring!'Įven though Evra wouldn't be coming, he helped me pack. Besides, snakes don't like the cold, do they?' It wouldn't be fair to drag him away from the Cirque Du Freak.

I would have loved to jump at his offer, but Evra had his own life to lead. 'From what I know, that journey's no joke,' he warned in the deep voice that had hit him a few years ago. There were benefits to being a half-vampire - I was stronger and faster than any human, and would live longer - but I would have given them all up if it meant looking my real age and being able to lead an ordinary life.Įven though Evra and me weren't as close as we'd once been, he was still my friend, and was worried about me heading off for Vampire Mountain. In reality I was only a couple of years younger than Evra, but I looked like a kid, and it was hard for him to treat me like an equal. We were still good friends and shared a tent, but he was a young man now, more interested in people - especially women! - his own age. Evra and me used to be best buddies, but not anymore. Crepsley blooded me, I only looked about a year older. So, although eight years had gone by since Mr. As a half-vampire, I aged at one-fifth the normal rate. Evra had grown these last six years, gotten taller and broader and older-looking. Or wait, he used to be a snake-boy - now he was a snake-man. 'I doubt if sun-shy vampires would make their base in the Caribbean!' He laughed sarcastically.Įvra Von was a snake-boy, with scales instead of skin.

Darren shan vampire mountain