"You wouldn't have liked it, anyway," I said. "It's not as much fun as you think. Imagine what it's like in the middle of winter, when you have to get up at five in the morning and shower in ice-cold water and work outside in blizzards."
"That doesn't bother me," Sam insisted. Then his tears stopped and he got a crafty look in his eyes. "Maybe I'll come along, anyway," he said. "Maybe I'll sneak into one of the vans and stow away with you. Mr. Tall would have to take me then."
"You can't do that!" I snapped. "No way!"
"I will if I want." He grinned. "You can't stop me."
"Yes, I can," I growled.
"How?" He sneered.
I took a deep breath. The time had come to scare Sam Grest away forever. I couldn't tell him the truth about me, but I could invent a story almost as horrifying, one guaranteed to send him running.
"I never told you what happened to my parents, did I, Sam? Or how I came to join the freak show?" I kept my voice low and steady.
"No," Sam said quietly. "I've wondered a lot, but I didn't want to ask."
"I killed them, Sam," I said.
"What?" His face went white.
"I go crazy sometimes. Like the wolf-man. Nobody knows when it's going to happen, or why. I was in a hospital when I was younger, but I seemed to be getting better. My parents brought me home for Christmas. After dinner, while I was in a fight with Dad, I flipped out.
"I tore him to pieces. Mom tried to drag me off, but I killed her too. My little sister ran for help, but I caught her. I ripped her apart the same way I'd ripped my mother and father.
"Then, after I'd killed them …" I locked eyes with Sam. It had to be a good act to make him believe. "Iate them."
He stared at me, stunned.
"That's not true," he whispered. "It can't be."
"I killed and ate them, then ran away," I lied. "I was discovered by Mr. Tall, who agreed to hide me. They have a special cage built to keep me in when I go crazy. The problem is, nobody knows when it's going to happen. That's why most people avoid me. Evra's okay, because he's strong. So are some of the other performers. But ordinary humans … I could rip them apart in a second."
"You're lying," Sam said.
I picked up a large stick lying nearby, turned it around in my hands, then put it in my mouth and bit through it like it was a big carrot.
"I'd chew your bones and spit you out as gristle," I told Sam. I'd cut my lips on the stick and the blood made me look ferocious. "You wouldn't be able to stop me. You'd be sleeping in my tent if you joined the show and would be the one I'd go for first.
"You can't join the Cirque Du Freak," I said. "I wish you could — I'd love to have a friend — but it's not possible. I'd end up killing you if you joined."
Sam tried responding but couldn't get his mouth to work. He believed my big lie. He'd seen enough of the show to know that things like thatcould happen here.
"Go away, Sam," I said sadly. "Go away and don't ever come back. It's safer that way. It's better. For both of us."
"Darren, I … I …" He shook his head uncertainly.
"Go!" I roared, and pounded the ground with my hands. I bared my teeth and growled. I was able to make my voice much deeper than a human's, so it sounded like a wild animal.
Sam screamed, scrambled to his feet, and sprinted for the woods, never once looking back.
I watched him go, heavyhearted, certain my ploy had worked. He'd never be back. I wouldn't see him again. Our paths had separated, and we would never meet again.
If I'd known how wrong I was — if I'd had any idea of the awful night that lay ahead — I'd have run after him and never returned to that disgusting circus of blood, that revolting circus ofdeath .
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Iwas moping around when one of the Little People tapped me on the back. It was the one with the limp.
"What do you want?" I asked.
The tiny man — if it was a man — in the blue-hooded robe rubbed his stomach with his hands. This was the sign that he and his brothers were hungry.
"You just had breakfast," I said.
He rubbed his stomach again.
"It's too early for lunch."
He rubbed his stomach again.
I knew that this would go on for hours if I let it. He would patiently follow me around, rubbing his stomach, until I agreed to go hunt for food for him.
"All right," I snapped. "I'll see what I can find. But I'm on my own today, so if I don't come back with a full bag, tough."
He rubbed his stomach again.
I spit on the ground and took off.
I shouldn't have gone hunting. I was really weak. I could still run faster than a human, and I was stronger than most kids my age, but I wasn't superfit or extrastrong anymore. Mr. Crepsley had said I'd be dead within a week if I didn't drink human blood, and I knew he'd spoken the truth. I could feel myself wasting away. A few more days and I wouldn't be able to pull myself out of bed.