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The Vampire's Assistant is the second novel in The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan. It is part of the Vampire Blood trilogy, which comprises the three books Cirque du Freak, The Vampire's Assistant and Tunnels of Blood. The Vampire's Assistant was first published in Great Britain by Collins in 2000, and was later published in the Vampire Blood trilogy in 2003.
[edit] Plot summary
The Vampire's Assistant picks up two months after Cirque Du Freak left off. Darren Shan has recently become a half-vampire and is having trouble coping with his new powers and needs, and even more trouble coping with Mr. Crepsley, the vampire who blooded him (turned him into a half-vampire). Darren refuses to drink human blood, for "fear of giving up his human side", and is becoming weak because of it. After Darren causes an accident with some children playing hockey, Mr. Crepsley decides that they should reunite with the Cirque Du Freak, to help Darren cope with his new powers. Mr. Crepsley can telepathically communicate with spiders, and he and Darren perform an act at the Cirque with the poisonous spider, Madam Octa. At the Cirque, Darren quickly makes friends with the snake boy, Evra Von, as they have to work and do odd tasks around the Cirque, along with finding food for strange hooded beings called Little People. When the Cirque sets up in a very remote part of the countryside, Darren makes friends with a local kid, Sam Grest, and a traveling hippie R.V. (Reggie Veggie), who is an "environmental warrior", a firm believer in protecting the environment. Darren makes the mistake of inviting R.V. to the Cirque to see a show, and R.V. is outraged at the inhumanity showed towards the dangerous wolf-man and decides to take action when he see's Darren kill a sheep while hunting for the Little People. R.V. attempts to set the wolf-man loose. He loses his arms in the process, and runs of into the night, screaming and repeating "where are my hands". The wolf-man, now free, pursues and kills Sam, and almost kills Darren as well. As Sam is dying, Mr. Crepsley tells Darren to drain him of blood, to keep his spirit alive within Darren. After the car leaving their location stops Evra asks Darren if wants any food after saying no he gets a tingle and asks "do we have any pickled onions?" Making a reference to Sam's obsession with with pickled onions.
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