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ONE DUSK I aith a feeling of absolute cohad stopped I lay still a few minutes, afraid it would return if I ot tosensation Grinning, I headed for a small pond we’d camped by, to wet my throat

I lowered my face into the cool, clear water of the pond and drank deeply As I was rising, I noticed an unfa-haired, bearded man It was directly in front of ht behindswiftly, ht from Vampire Mountain I had it halfway out of its scabbard before stopping, confused

There was no one there

I looked around for the shabby, bearded man, but he was nowhere to be seen There were no nearby trees or rocks he could have ducked behind, and not even a vah to disappear so swiftly

I turned back towards the pond and looked into the water again There he was! As clear and hairy as before, scowling up at e Was the beardedforward, I locked gazes with the hairy man - he looked like a caveman - for the third time and smiled He smiled back "Hello," I said His lips moved when ain his lipsannoyed - was heme? - when realization struck - it was me!

I could see my eyes and the shape of ular scar just above ht eye, which had become as much a part of me as my nose or ears It was my face, no doubt about that - but where had all the hair come from?

I felt around ht hand over my head - which should have been s, thick locks of hair My thuht in several of the strands, and I winced as I tugged it free, pulling some hair out with it

What in Khledon Lurt’s na off e balls of hair had also formed under my armpits and over uts!" I roared, then ran to wakeca The vaure, whipped out a knife and roared at ri for breath, I saw they didn’t recognizemy hands to show they were empty, I croaked, "Don’t attack! It’s me!"

Mr Crepsley’s eyes widened "Darren!"

"It can’t be," Harkat growled "This is an impostor"

"No!" I moaned "I woke up, went to the pond to drink, and found found" I shook my hairy arms at them

Mr Crepsley stepped forward, sheathed his knife, and studied e!" he muttered

"The what?" I shouted

"Sit down, Darren," Mr Crepsley said seriously "We have a lot of talking to do Harkat - go fill our canteens and fix a new fire"

When Mr Crepsley had gathered his thoughts, he explained to Harkat and"You know that half-vampires become full-vampires when more vampire blood is pumped into them What we have never discussed - since I did not anticipate it so soon - is the other way in which one’s blood can turn

"Basically, if one re period of tie is forty years - one’s vampire cells eventually attack the hu in full-vae"

"You mean I’ve becohtened by the notion Intrigued because it would th, the ability to flit and cohtened because it would also ht and the world of humanity

"Not yet," Mr Crepsley said "The hair is sie We shall shave it off presently, and though it will grow back, it will stop after athat tirow, and experience headaches and sharp bursts of energy - but these too will cease At the end of the changes, your vampiric blood may have replaced your human blood entirely, but it probably will not, and you will return to normal - for a few months or a couple of years But sometime within the next few years, your blood will turn coes of half-va back"

We spent e Mr Crepsley said it was rare for a half-vae after less than twenty years, but it was probably linked to when I’d become a Vampire Prince -the ceremony, and thatme in the tunnels of Vampire Mountain, and told Mr Crepsley about it "He e," I said "Why didn’t he warn me?"