Shan, Darren - Cirque Du Freak 04 - Vampire Mountain

"Absolutely," Gavner agreed with a grin. "Vampires don't believe in crazy things like ghosts, do we, Larten?"

Before Mr. Crepsley could reply, Harkat corrected himself. "What I should … have said … is, I …was a ghost. All … Little People … were ghosts. Until … they agreed to terms … with Mr. Tiny."

"I don't understand," Gavner said. "Agreed to what terms? How?"

"Mr. Tiny can … talk with … dead," Harkat explained. "I did not … leave Earth … when I died. Soul … could not. I was … stuck. Mr. Tiny found … me. Said he'd give … me a … body, so I … could live again. In return … I'd serve him, as a … Little Person."

According to Harkat, each of the Little People had struck a deal with Mr. Tiny, and each deal was different. They didn't have to serve him forever. Sooner or later, they would be freed, some to live on in the gray, short bodies, some to be reborn, others to move on to heaven or paradise or wherever it is that dead souls go.

"Mr. Tiny has that much power?" Mr. Crepsley asked.

Harkat nodded.

"What deal didyou strike with him?" I asked curiously.

"I do not … know," he said. "I cannot … remember."

There were lots of things he couldn't remember. He didn't know who he'd been when he was alive, when or where he'd lived, or how long he'd been dead. He didn't even know if he'd been a man or a woman! The Little People were genderless, which meant they were neither male nor female.

"So how do we refer to you?" Gavner asked. "He? She? It?"

"Hewill … do fine," Harkat said.

Their blue robes and hoods were for show. Their masks, on the other hand, were necessary, and they carried several spares, some sewn under their skin for extra safekeeping! Air was lethal to them — if they breathed normal air for ten or twelve hours, they'd die. There were chemicals in their masks that purified the air.

"How can you die of you're already dead?" I asked, confused.

"My body can … die, like anyone … else's. If it does … my soul goes … back to the way … it was."

"Could you agree to another contract with Mr. Tiny?" Mr. Crepsley asked.

Harkat shook his head. "Not sure. But don't … think so. One shot at … extra life is … all I think … we get."

The Little People could read each other's minds. That's why they never spoke. He wasn't sure if the others were able to speak or not. When asked why he'd never spoken before, he flashed a crooked grin and said he'd never had cause to.

"But there must be a reason," Mr. Crepsley pressed. "In all the hundreds of years that we have known them, no Little Person has ever spoken, even when dying or in great pain. Why haveyou broken that long silence? Andwhy? "

Harkat hesitated. "I have a … message," he finally said. "Mr. Tiny … gave me it … to give to … Vampire Princes. So I'd … have had to speak … soon anyway."

"Amessage? " Mr. Crepsley leaned forward intently, but pulled back into the shadows of the shelter when the sun hit him. "What sort of message?"

"It is for … Princes," Harkat said. "I do not … think I should … tell you."

"Go on, Harkat," I urged him. "We won't tell them you told us. You can trust us."

"You will … not tell?" he asked Mr. Crepsley and Gavner.

"My lips are sealed," Gavner promised.

Mr. Crepsley was slower to make his pledge, but finally nodded.

Harkat took a deep, shuddering breath. "Mr. Tiny told … me to tell … Princes that the … night of the … Vampaneze Lord … is at hand. That is … all."

"The night of the Vampaneze Lord is at hand?" I repeated. "What kind of a message is that?"

"I do not … know what … it means," Harkat said. "I'm just … the messenger."

"Gavner, do you —" I started to ask, but stopped when I saw the expressions of the vampires. Although Harkat's message didn't mean anything to me, it obviously meant a whole lot to them. Their faces were even paler than usual, and they were trembling with fear. In fact, they couldn't have looked more terrified if they'd been staked to the ground out in the open and left for the sun to rise!

CHAPTER TEN

MR. CREPSLEY AND GAVNERwouldn't explain the meaning of Harkat's message right away — they were too stunned to speak — and the story only trickled out over the next three or four nights, most of it coming from Gavner Purl.

It had to do with something Mr. Tiny told the vampires hundreds of years ago, when the vampaneze broke away. Once the fighting had died down, he visited the Princes at Vampire Mountain and told them that the vampaneze were not "hierarchically structured" (Mr. Crepsley's phrase), which meant there were no Vampaneze Generals or Princes. Nobody gave orders or bossed the others around.

"That was one of the reasons they broke away," Gavner said. "They didn't like the way things worked with vampires. They thought it was unfair that ordinary vampires had to answer to the Generals, and the Generals to the Princes."

Lowering his voice so that Mr. Crepsley couldn't hear, he said, "To be honest, I agree with some of that. Thereis room for change. The vampire system has worked for hundreds of years, but that doesn't mean it's perfect."