Blood Circus

Chapter 5- Damian

Damian had fallen asleep on the top bench of the stands inside the Clown Show tent. His peaceful slumber was disrupted by someone shouting his name. He groaned and tried to ignore the voice. He fell off the bench when it shouted again in his ear. He stood up to see Talia looking at him. She seemed panicked. He yawned and stretched out his arms. She took the opportunity to grab his wrist and drag him down the stands. He hated that she had vampire strength.  

" Talia, do you mind telling me were we're going?" 

" The Hunters are heading to Grisby's tent." 

" And I should care, why?" 

" Because it's the ones Daddy's after." That shut him up. He followed her towards the red brick building where Grisby and Morgana made their home. Talia and Damian slipped around to the back entrance to the wrestling ring. The green door was rusty, but opened silently. It took them through to a short corridor before they reached the dull metal door leading to the ring. He heard someone talking inside. 

" You killed her!" 

He opened the door to see the large back of Grisby standing in front of two people. The Hunters, he assumed. He looked and saw the woman standing holding up her handgun. She looked ever so slightly scared. Grisby let out a cry of rage and dived towards them. Damian grabbed a shotgun from the floor next to the ring. Aiming at Grisby's bare back, he fired the gun.

Grisby stopped just before Sylvia. He dropped to his knees as he collapsed to dust. She looked at the ash, then to Liam. Liam wasn't looking at her or what remained of Grisby. He was focused on something across the room. She followed his gaze to see two people standing there. She instantly recognised the girl with long red hair and a bloody white dress as Talia, but she did not know the man standing next to her. He was holding Liam's shotgun as he walked around the ring to her and Liam. Talia literally flew over the ring and reached them first. 

" Talia?" 

" Hi." Talia smiled a set of perfectly white fangs. Sylvia checked her gun. Both she and the man with Talia held a gun when Grisby was shot, but she wanted to know who killed him. She clicked out the handgun bullet clip and counted. There should be two fired, leaving four. But she counted five in the clip. She heard a click next to her and looked to see the stranger checking the shotgun. They put their guns back together. He held out the shotgun to her, his face void of any emotion. 

" I shot him." Sylvia took the gun and threw it to Liam, who was standing still looking very confused. He caught the gun easily, never losing his glare at the stranger.  

" And you are?"  

" Damian." 

" He's my half-brother." Talia jumped in. Sylvia looked between the two. They looked completely different. One big difference was that Damian's eyes were a bright blue, not the dull vampire red like Talia's. He seemed to sense her doubt. 

" I am a vampire. My father...our father...was a vampire, but my mother was human. That's why my eyes are blue." 

" Alright then, if you're vampires, can you tell us what's going on here?" Sylvia asked plainly. Damian sighed. He looked at both of them and started walking away. 

" Fine. But not here." Sylvia took the hint. There was five vampires that saw them go in, more could show up any minute. She started to follow him, but Liam pulled her away, excusing them to the vampires as he went. He turned their backs to them and whispered harshly to her. 

" What are you doing?" 

" My job." 

" Our job is to kill vampires, not make friends with them!" 

" Hey, as long as they're not trying to kill me, I don't care. I want to know what's happening here." 

" All vampires will eventually try and kill you, you know that better than anyone. It's a fact." 

" Yeah, well here's another one. Vampires have excellent hearing." He stopped for a moment to think about what she'd said, then realisation crossed his face. She smiled as they followed Damian and a giggling Talia out the back exit.  

Liam stayed quiet while Damian led them towards another black and red circus tent, this one was smaller than the main one they saw when they first came to the circus. Damian pulled open the curtain and led them inside. A large circle of ground sat untouched in the middle surrounded by a red and black barrier. Two stands of benches stood either side of the circle. Sylvia took a seat on the bench next to Liam and Talia stayed at the entrance. Damian sat perched on the barrier. Liam scratched his head nervously. 

" Listen, about what I said to Sylvia before...well...sorry?" A small burst of laughter slipped out from Talia.  

" Don't worry about it! Even if you did offend him," she pointed to Damian, " He wouldn't bite you! He's not allowed! Whoops!" She gasped at the end and covered her hands over her mouth. She spun away from them and returned to guarding the tent. Sylvia looked at Damian. He was giving Talia a death stare.  

" Why don't you just tell us what's going on here." She prayed her tactics to change the subject worked. Liam began to protest about how he wanted to know what Talia meant, but Sylvia elbowed him hard in his side. He yelped in pain, but dropped the topic. Damian looked directly in her eyes. His blue eyes burned into her. 

" Thanks." 

She never saw his lips move. But she heard his voice in her head. She shivered slightly at this, and he saw it. Although he looked taken off guard too, he continued on. 

" Right. Well, I guess the first thing I should tell you is that... Our father isn't just a vampire...he's the head vampire."