Darren Shan
Sons Of Destiny
Cirque Du Freak 12
For:
Bas, Biddy and Liam – my three pillars
OBE's
(Order of the Bloody Entrails) to:
"Lucky" Aleta Moriarty
A and Bo – Bangkok 's best banshees
Emily "Lilliputian" Chuang
Jennifer "Stacey" Abbots
Saga Editors:
Domenica De Rosa, Gillie Russell, Zoe Clarke and Julia Bruce – you done good, girls!!!
Bloody Brilliant Buccaneers:
The Christopher Little Cutthroats
And an extra special thank you to all of my Shansters,
especially those who have kept me company on Shanville.
Even in death may you all be triumphant!
PROLOGUE
If my life was a fairy tale and I was writing a book about it, I'd start with, "Once upon a time there were two boys called Darren and Steve…" But my life's a horror story, so if I were to write about it, I'd have to begin with something like this instead:
Evil has a name – Steve Leopard.
He was born Steve Leonard, but to his friends (yes – he had friends once!) he was always Steve Leopard. He was never happy at home, didn't have a dad, didn't like his mum. He dreamt of power and glory. He yearned for strength and respect, and time in which to enjoy it. He wanted to be a vampire.
His chance came when he spotted a creature of the night, Larten Crepsley, performing in the wondrous magical show, the Cirque Du Freak. He asked Mr Crepsley to blood him. The vampire refused – he said Steve had bad blood. Steve hated him for that and vowed to track him down and kill him when he grew up.
Some years later, as Steve was preparing for his life as a vampire hunter, he learnt about the purple-skinned, red-eyed vampaneze.