We'd been with the cirque two days and nights. I spent my days helping Evra and my nights with Mr. Crepsley, learning about vampires. I was going to bed earlier than I had been, though I rarely hit the sack before one or two in the morning.

Evra and I were tight friends. He was older than me, but he was shy - probably because of his abusive childhood - so we made a good team.

As the third day rolled by, I was gazing around the small groups of vans and cars and tents, feeling like I'd been part of the scene for years.

I was starting to suffer from the effects of going for too long without drinking human blood. I wasn't as strong as I had been, and couldn't move as quickly as I could before. My eyesight had dulled, and so had my hearing and sense of smell. I was a lot stronger and quicker than I'd been as a human, but I could feel my powers slipping a little more every day.

I didn't care. I'd rather lose some strength than drink from a human.

I was relaxing with Evra on the edge of the campsite that afternoon when we spotted a figure in the bushes.

"Who's that?"I asked.

"A kid from a nearby village,"Evra said. "I've seen him hanging around before."

I watched the boy in the bushes. He was trying hard not to be seen, but to someone with my powers - fading though they were - he was as obvious as an elephant. I was curious to know what he was doing, so I turned to Evra and said, "Let's have fun."

"What do you mean?"he asked.

"Lean in and I'll tell you."

I whispered my plan in his ear. He grinned and nodded, then stood and pretended to yawn.

"I'm leaving, Darren,"he said. "See you later."

"See you, Evra,"I replied loudly. I waited until he was gone, then stood and walked back to the camp myself.

When I was out of sight of the boy in the bushes, I went back, using the vans and tents to hide my movements. I walked about a hundred yards to the left, then crept forward until I could see the boy and sneaked toward him.

I stopped ten yards away. I was a little behind him, so he couldn't see me. His eyes were still glued to the camp. I looked over his head and saw Evra, who was even closer than I was. He made an ?okay? sign with his thumb and index finger.

I crouched down low and moaned.

"Ohhhh,"I groaned. "Wwwooohhhh."

The boy stiffened and looked over his shoulder nervously. He couldn't see me.

"Who's there?"he asked.

"Wraaarghhhh,"Evra grunted on the other side of him.

The boy's head spun around in the other direction.

"Who's there?"he shouted.

"Ohh-ohh-ohh,"I snorted, like a gorilla.

"I'm not afraid,"the boy said, edging backward. "You're just somebody playing a mean trick."

"Eee-ee-ee-ee-ee,"Evra screeched.

I shook a branch, Evra rattled a bush, then I tossed a stone into the area just ahead of the boy. His head was spinning around like a puppet's, darting all over the place. He didn't know whether it would be safer to run or stay.

"Look, I don't know who you are,"he began, "but I'm -"

Evra snuck up behind him and now, as the boy spoke, stuck out his extra-long tongue and ran it over the boy's neck, making a hissing snake noise.

That was enough for the boy. He screamed and ran for his life.

Evra and me ran after him, laughing our heads off, making all these noises. The boy fled through thorn bushes as though they weren't there, screaming for help.

We got tired after a few minutes and would have let him get away, but then he tripped and went sprawling into a patch of really high grass.

We stood, trying to spot him in the grass, but there was no sign of him.

"Where is he?"I asked.

"I can't see him,"Evra said.

"Do you think he's all right?"

"I don't know."Evra looked worried. "He might have fallen down a big hole or something."

"Kid?"I shouted. "Are you okay?"No answer. "You don't need to be afraid. We won't hurt you. We were only kidding. We didn't -"

There was a rustling noise behind us, then I felt a hand on my back, shoving me forward into the grass. Evra fell with me. When we sat up, spluttering with shock, we heard somebody laughing behind us.

We turned around slowly, and there was the kid, doubled over with laughter.

"I got you! I got you!"he sang. "I saw you coming from the beginning. I was only pretending to be frightened. I ambushed you. Ha-ha!"

He was making fun of us, and, though we felt pretty stupid, when we stood and looked at each other we burst out laughing. He'd led us into a patch of grass filled with sticky green seeds and we were covered in them from head to foot.

"You look like a walking plant,"I joked.

"You look like the Jolly Green Giant,"Evra replied.

"Both of you look stupid,"the boy said. We stared at him, and his smile faded a little. "Well, you do ,"he grumbled.

"I suppose you think this is funny,"I snarled. He nodded silently. "Well, I've got news for you,"I said, stepping closer, putting on the meanest face I could. I paused menacingly, then burst into a smile. "It is!"

He laughed happily, relieved that we could see the funny side of things, then stuck out his hands, one to each of us. "Hey,"he said as we shook. "My name's Sam Grest. Nice to meetcha."

"Hey, Sam,"I said, and as I shook his hand I thought to myself, "Looks like this is friend number two. Cool."

And Sam did become my friend. But by the time the Cirque Du Freak moved on, I was wishing with all my heart that I'd never even heard his name.