It was a weird place for the circus to be. There was no hall or big tent for the freaks to perform in. I figured this must be a pit stop between two towns.

Mr. Crepsley weaved between the vans and cars with confidence. He knew exactly where he was going. I followed, less sure of myself, remembering the night I crept past the freaks and stole Madam Octa.

Mr. Crepsley stopped at a long silver van and knocked on the door. It opened almost immediately and the towering figure of Mr. Tall appeared. His eyes looked darker than ever in the dim light. If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn he had no eyeballs, only two black, empty spaces.

"Oh, it's you," he said, voice low, lips hardly moving. "I thought I felt you searching for me." He craned over Mr. Crepsley and looked down to where I was shaking. "I see you've brought the boy."

"May we come in?" Mr. Crepsley asked.

"Of course. "What is it one is supposed to say to you vampires?" He smiled. "Enter of your own free will?"

"Something like that," Mr. Crepsley replied, and from the smile on his face, I knew it was an old joke between them.

We went in the van and sat down. It was pretty bare inside, just a few shelves with posters and pamphlets for the Cirque, the tall red hat and gloves I'd seen Mr. Tall wear before, a couple of knickknacks, and a hideaway bed.

"I didn't expect you back so soon, Larten," Mr. Tall said. Even when he was sitting down he looked enormous.

"A swift return had not been on the agenda, Hibernius."

Hibernius ? That was a weird name. Still, it fit him somehow. Hibernius Tall. It had a strange ring to it.

"Did you run into trouble?" Mr. Tall asked.

"No," Mr. Crepsley said. "Darren was not happy. I decided he would be better off here, among those of his own kind."