Blood Circus

Chapter 18- High Hopes

They were back on course for the tall ferris wheel in the distance of the park. While they were walking, Damian gave her a quick summary of his mind reading power.

" Basically, because of my mixed genes, I can read anyone's mind. But until now, no one has been able to read mine. It's a little unnerving to know you can." She understood what he meant. It felt weird that he could read her mind. Now she was slightly paranoid about what he would hear.

" Yeah. Hey I have an idea. How about we don't read each others minds without telling them first. That way we can keep it fair."

" Sure. Deal." They shook hands on it.

The walk to the wheel was shorter than she had expected. Without her jacket anymore, she suddenly realised there was a strange coolness hanging around the air. She regretted deciding against wearing her long sleeved top this morning. Then again, she hadn't expected her jacket to be stolen by vampires.

The ferris wheel was huge, at least 30 meters tall. Twelve cars were placed around the metal frame. The whole thing looked horribly unstable. There was no chance she was going on it. Everything around them turned eerily silent.

There was no sign of Liam.

Her patience was running low by this point and she was in no way willing to wait any longer than necessary.

" Hey, cowards! We're here. Where's Liam?" A bubble of laughter sounded. It seemed to come from everywhere due to the disorientating echo the circus gave. They looked for it's source, but couldn't pinpoint a specific location. The laughter gave way to a deep male voice.

" He's at the main circus tent. And at my last count, you only have three out of four numbers. The last one is here...somewhere." She looked at Damian. His eyes focused on something. She followed his gaze. A loudspeaker was attached high up on a pole in front of the wheel. Another one sat at the entrance to a merry-go-round opposite it. That explained how the voice had no specific location. But there was something else. He looked...angry.

" Last chance, son. Leave the Hunter to her fate and rejoin us, or die with her. What do you say?"

" Screw you, old man!"

" So stubborn. So be it. Goodbye son. Say hello to your mother in Hell for me." The voice cut off. She saw Damian clenching his fists. The voice was his father, Lord Graham's voice. She placed a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to her. She nodded reassuringly.

" Let's find that number so we can save Liam." He smiled back.

" Where do we start?"

The tug in her mind activated. It pulled her forward towards the wheel. She took a few steps closer. Damian asked what she was doing, but she ignored him. The tugging suddenly moved upwards. She looked up, studying the wheel's frame for anything.

There, stuck in between two metal bars in the middle of the wheel, was an envelope. She pointed it out to him.

" How do we get it?" She couldn't climb that high. Sylvia Archer was smart, fearless and cunning, but not strong. He moved beside her.

" I'll fly up and get it."

He pulled off his grey hoodie. He was dressed completely in black, almost able to blend in with the dark shadow of the wheel that stretched over them. He handed her the hoodie. She took it from him. She looked at him confused. He laughed at her.

" It's too heavy. I can't transform in it." She shrugged. The hoodie felt warm in her arms, a welcome feeling considering she was so cold. It was dry too, while her own top was still damp from the lake. This was strange, but she ignored it for now. She stepped back as Damian disappeared into a cloud of black fog that shrunk to the shape of a bat, just as Jerry had back in the Animal Show tent. The bat flew up towards the envelope. She watched from below, and couldn't help feeling a little helpless. Especially since she no longer held her guns. Even the knife she had brought on her belt, and her pocket knife were gone. At least she still had one hidden in her right boot...

She didn't realise someone had come up behind her until it was too late.

A shot sounded. The bat screeched as something hit it. It then faded back into a black cloud and Damian was returned to his human form. He grabbed onto the rusty bars of the wheel to stop himself from falling. Sylvia started to call his name, but a hand clasped over her mouth stopping her. She reacted quickly. She held on to the hand's little finger and pulled it back hard, not caring if she broke it or not. A loud yelp came from behind her and the hand pulled away. She spun around and delivered a kick to the figure behind her's stomach, sending them flying backwards through the air. Then she looked to see who he was.

No, not he. They. Four of them. One lay on the ground moaning in pain from her attack, three stood behind him in shock. They all wore black trench coats. They only way to really define them was their hair colours. The guy on the ground, who was still moaning, was blond. Of the three standing, the one on the right was a brown haired woman, the one on the left, a man with black hair.

And in the middle of them, was a man with purple hair and piercings.

He looked up from his injured colleague and smiled at her. The other two helped the blond guy up.

" Sylvia! My, haven't you grown? It seems like yesterday you were just a little girl lost in the forest..."

" Jet! When I get down there, you're a dead man!" She looked up to Damian. He was climbing down from the wheel, and was almost at the bottom. But there were no more bars for him to use, and the drop was too high. She saw a ladder lying on the ground under him. Ignoring Jet for now, she ran over and picked it up. She held in place against the wheel and waited as he climbed down. He jumped of the ladder and she let it fall to the ground with a clang. He thanked her and looked at Jet again. He started saying something, but she noticed a tear on the arm of his shirt. Some sort of needle was piercing his skin. It didn't look good. He was busy threatening Jet, so she gently held the needle.

"...I always knew you were bad news, Jet. But now I see just how twisted you are."

" Oh, cry me a river, pretty boy."

" You sick son of a..."

She pulled it out quickly, cutting him short. He cried out and turned to her. She held the needle up for him to see. He rubbed his arm.

" What the hell is that?"

" VPNN. A Vampire Power Neutralizing Needle. It's used by Hunters when they are at a great disadvantage. What I want to know is how he got hold of one." At this, Jet laughed.

" Much like you, Sylvia, I have my ways of gaining Hunter gear." She saw Damian look at her confused out the corner of her eye. Not wanting to hang on the subject, she stepped away from him, and closer to Jet. His three friends were all standing next to him now. She wanted to kill him. It had been her goal ever since he killed Anna. But she couldn't. All she had was one knife. Without the proper equipment, she couldn't kill him. So she stopped short.

" Why are you here, anyway?"

" Lord Graham sent us to find you. More specifically, to capture you."

" Tough chance."

" Come quietly, and we can take you straight to Liam."

" Or we could kill you right now!" Damian shouted. She looked at him, annoyed. Ammatures always had to be too cocky, didn't they? He shrugged, completely unaware of their current situation. Jet stepped forward with his arms held out wide, smiling at them.

" Really? Well then...go ahead and try!"

A.N.

So this is chapter 18/25. I've decided to cut down to one chapter a week for a couple reasons, mainly, school. Hope you're enjoying the story though! :)

*TopazDragon