Free A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan

them."
    "A
picture
?" Mr. Crepsley asked suspiciously.
    "A painting," Steve replied. "It was done in 1903, in Paris. You were with a rich woman. The story said the two of you almost married, but she found out you were a vampire and dumped you."
    Mr. Crepsley smiled. "As good a reason as any. Her friends thought she had invented a fantastic story to make herself look better."
    "But it wasn't a story, was it?" Steve asked.
    "No," Mr. Crepsley agreed. "It was not." He sighed and fixed Steve with a fierce gaze. "Though it might have been better for
you
if it had been!" he boomed.
    If I'd been in Steve's place, I would have fled as soon as he said that. But Steve didn't even blink.
    "You won't hurt me," he said.
    "Why not?" Mr. Crepsley asked.
    "Because of my friend," Steve said. "I told him all about you and if anything happens to me, he'll tell the police."
    "They will not believe him," Mr. Crepsley snorted.
    "Probably not," Steve agreed. "But if I turn up dead or missing, they'll have to investigate. You wouldn't like that. Lots of police asking questions, coming here in the
daytime
…"
    Mr. Crepsley shook his head with disgust. "Children!" he snarled. "I hate children. What is it you want? Money? Jewels? The rights to publish my story?"
    "I want to join you," Steve said.
    I almost fell off the balcony when I heard that.
Join him
?
    "What do you mean?" Mr. Crepsley asked, as stunned as I was.
    "I want to become a vampire," Steve said. "I want you to make me a vampire and teach me your ways."
    "You are crazy!" Mr. Crepsley roared.
    "No," Steve said, "I'm not."
    "I cannot turn a child into a vampire," Mr. Crepsley said. "I would be murdered by the Vampire Generals if I did."
    "What are Vampire Generals?" Steve asked.
    "Never you mind," Mr. Crepsley said. "All you need to know is, it cannot be done. We do not blood children. It creates too many problems."
    "So don't change me right away," Steve said. "That's okay. I don't mind waiting. I can be an apprentice. I know vampires often have assistants who are half-human, half-vampire. Let me be one. I'll work hard and prove myself, and when I'm old enough …"
    Mr. Crepsley stared at Steve and thought it over. He snapped his fingers while he was thinking and a chair flew up onto the stage from the front row! He sat down on it and crossed his legs.
    "Why do you want to be a vampire?" he asked. "It is not much fun. We can only come out at night. Humans despise us. We have to sleep in dirty old places like this. We can never marry or have children or settle down. It is a horrible life."
    "I don't care," Steve said stubbornly.
    "Is it because you want to live forever?" Mr. Crepsley asked. "If so, I must tell you we do not. We live far longer than humans, but we die all the same, sooner or later."
    "I don't care," Steve said again. "I want to come with you. I want to learn. I want to become a vampire."
    "What about your friends?" Mr. Crepsley asked. "You would not be able to see them again. You would have to leave school and home and never return. What about your parents? Would you not miss them?"
    Steve shook his head miserably and looked down at the floor. "My dad doesn't live with us," he said softly. "I hardly ever see him. And my mom doesn't love me. She doesn't care what I do. She probably won't even notice I'm gone."
    "That is why you want to run away? Because your mother does not love you?"
    "Partly," Steve said.
    "If you wait a few years, you will be old enough to leave by yourself," Mr. Crepsley said.
    "I don't want to wait," Steve replied.
    "And your friends?" Mr. Crepsley asked again. He looked very kind at the moment, though still a little scary. "Would you miss the boy you came with tonight?"
    "Darren?" Steve asked, then nodded. "Yes, I'll miss my friends, Darren especially. But it doesn't matter. I want to be a vampire more than I care about them. And if you don't accept me, I'll tell the police and become a vampire hunter when I grow up!"
    Mr. Crepsley didn't laugh. Instead