Alright, so I was looking through the stories and realized sadly that there weren't many romantic stories involving Crepsley, Tall, or Gavner that wasn't the same fucking thing over and over again – you know, the whole 'my OC replaces Darren' type thing. After a while, one just gets sick of reading that stuff.

So I thought, well I'm sure others feel the same way…so why not try something different?

Idea: A young orphan, Savannah, is forced into the theatre the Cirque is secretly using by several of her peers. The thirteen year old is shoved into Crepsley's room and hides when she hears two voices; a man in a red cape and a man with dark hair. Once Crepsley, the red caped one, goes to sleep in his coffin and Gavner, the dark haired one, departs, Savannah believes it is safe to run away. While cursing her hateful peers and their trickery, she accidently is spotted by Gavner.

Caught by the two vampires and believed to be a vampaneze (her looks are different and considered as such), she finds herself the new ward of the Cirque when their secret slips them.

As she grows up with the hand full of freaks – partly a 'servant' to Crepsley since she is under his care – she learns from Crepsley the ways of the vampire. As a human, she is surprised when he offers her a choice: become a vampire or remain herself. Of course, this is complicated when A. Mr. Tall offers her a position of being the next leader in the Cirque to help him out and B. when she finds a handsome man to fall in love with that travels just like the Cirque does.

Can Savannah choose between staying with the Cirque, becoming and belonging to Crepsley as a vampire, or being with this handsome young man as his fair wife?

Okay, so the very first chapter I posted, I was merely to get the idea out there and get some responses. I received a few, which I am glad about. So I decided to re-write the first chapter…well, not 're-write' entirely but at least make it longer and better!

It was far past midnight when Savannah found herself being dragged out of her bed. It wasn't warm; in fact it was almost as cold as the night air. Still, it was semi-soft and had lured her into a deep slumber.

That was why it took her so long to realize she had been dragged out of the shared bedroom, the hall, and out of the orphanage by the sheets of her bed. When she looked up and spotted the navy sky, she began to panic. The thirteen year old sat up only to succeed in being shoved forward away from her sheets.

When the girl stumbled onto the ground, failing to keep her balance, her crimson hair covered her vision briefly. Turning around, she scrambled and stood as quick as she could. Her gaze flickered from the two boys a bit older than her and the two girls about her age. They stared back into her slightly reddened eyes with cruel amusement, the very pair of eyes that had been the reason for such unreasonable hatred.

"Where are we?" She asked with a tone far calmer than she felt.

The four advanced on her slowly which made her feet go backwards, the tips of her long fingernails touching a doorway as she walked into a building. Savannah dare not look behind her for fear that she would be injured by the other orphans. Instead, she kept her gaze on them.

"In a building, idiot." One of the girls pointed out, making the other three snicker.

"Or more specifically," the oldest boy spoke, "in a building that has a lot of freaks hidden away in it. We found you a home!" They all laughed this time. "There's a huge band of freaks here, even a snake boy so you could call him brother!"

"You should thank us!" The youngest girl pointed out, their advance never faulting.

The idea of someone being in this place that she didn't know made Savannah's heart clench. She felt another anxiety attack coming on, especially since she felt a heavy gaze on her – was it possible one of these 'freaks' were watching her? The other four didn't reveal they felt the gaze so perhaps they weren't being studied…or maybe she was imagining it.

"I don't want to be here." Savannah stated coolly, telling the truth. The further she was nudged into the building, the stronger the feeling of being watched came. "I want to leave. Now!" Without waiting for their reply – for surely it would be just cruelty – she tried to run past them.

Instantly they grabbed her and a small fight ensued. Swiftly as it started, it ended for the two males were stronger than her. Grabbing and carrying her, the second boy informed her as they traveled through the building, "They say there's a skeleton that lives running around here. He's so skinny that he looks like one."

"And there's a really tall man that eats children!" The other female snickered as the oldest boy covered Savannah's mouth, muffling any cries.

"And…" the oldest smirked, "…there is a man in a red cape that has a huge, ugly, scary spider – I think she resembles your mother actually. She eats goats and children too!" At hearing Savannah's muffled screech and putting up with her vicious struggle, the four laughed quietly. "And you get to meet him!"

Suddenly they opened a door, chilled air hitting her. They tossed her into it and closed the door, their laughter muffled but still loud enough to damage her mentally. Savannah stood and swept her gaze over the place. It had a coffin in the back, cups of red liquid, and a cage with an exotically bright spider in it, among other things. Her own red eyes widened as she turned, pounding her fists on the door. "Guys, guys open up! This isn't funny! Guys open up!" She started to claw at the door this time, her abnormally strong nails doing some damage to the blockage without breaking.

Their taunts, their name callings, their laughter echoed, mocked her as she began to sob. She was beginning to feel trapped and it was a feeling of suffocation. Looking over her shoulder once as her nails dug deeper into the wooden door, she wondered if there was anything or anyone in the coffin. "Please, open up!" She half sobbed, half screamed.

Exactly who lived in this room? It looked terrifying…but who out of the scary cirque they described slept in this room? What if someone was hidden away in here, waiting to eat her?

Suddenly there was silence. Then there were low, rough murmurs in the back, faint. "Let's get out of here!" One of the boys hissed before the sounds of their muffled footsteps disappeared.

"…Guys?" She whispered, all her movement stopped. "Guys? Open up!" Her hiss trembled as badly as her body, snot and tears running down her face. The two voices became louder, hinting that they were going into the room. Turning around, panic lacing in her bloodstream, she spotted a closet and all but dived into it.

Inside was several shirts and pants, all looking very fine and expensive. If she got anything on it, if she left a trail of snot and tears on them, if she ruined any and all…oh she shuddered. For sure she would get in trouble then.

After a moment or so, two males walked in. One was all red; red cape, red pants, red shirt, red hair, and a large scar on the side of his face. He stuck out in the dreary, darkly colored room despite all his red being a dark color, almost a maroon. The other was dressed in a nice purple suit that had few rips in it, his dark hair looking astonishing against his pale skin. From what Savannah could see from the closet, her tears momentarily on hold, the second man had one long pinky nail. Strange…

"I'm telling you, their numbers are growing!" The dark haired one snapped as he drank one of the glasses of crimson liquid. The glass goblet looked so sophisticated, so fine in his grip. It was almost as if he were a rich man at a party. Never had Savannah seem such finery.

The other man sighed. "Even if you are right, Gavner, I am not going to get involved. I would advise you to do the same." He sounded a bit tired, maybe irritated.

"I don't know how I'll ever convince you." The one called Gavner sighed. "Maybe if Seba joined…I'm joking!" There was a pause where the red caped man drank his own crimson liquid. "Larten, we need you. The Generals are scrambling like fools!"

Larten, the red one, spoke firmly, "I have told you before Gavner, I left that life behind long ago. No."

There was a sharp exhale of air, annoyance. "You're impossible!" Gavner rubbed his temples as he paced. "There has to be a way to…"

"No, Gavner. Now, dawn is nearly here. Unless you want to be caught in the sun again, I suggest you leave." Larten bid brief farewell to his friend. When the door shut, he gave a heavy sigh. To Savannah, it sounded like it was full of guilt.

"I suppose you think I should go, do you?" When the lonely Larten suddenly asked, the orphan felt her heart jump to her throat – did he know she was there? Savannah nearly collapsed from relief when he continued, apparently speaking to the scary spider in the cage, "If I do, I might have to leave you with the Cirque…or leave you in the Mountain while I travel."

The one-sided conversation between both strange creatures lasted only a few minutes. It probably would have lasted long had he not been getting ready for bed – yet Savannah saw no bed around.

That was why she was stunned, perhaps even horrified, to see him slip into the coffin. Just as it shut, a new silence landed on the place. It was scary…her heart remained on that fast pace, risking discovery. Could he hear it during the silence, through the coffin?

After a moment of counting, the answer became clear: she was unknown.

The girl started to cry silently from semi-relief, her shoulders trembling just enough to make the clothes on the hangers tremble. Slipping through the closet doors, she tip toed towards the door. Dare she believe she was free?

Which way was the right way? Oh how she cursed those four other orphans. They brought her into this trouble. However, it would be just as fair to say that it was also her red eyes that brought her into this trouble as well.

Pushing aside all thoughts of similar traits, she tried to create a cognitive map. Had she been down that hallway? Yes, she just came from it…perhaps a left. No, definitely a right. Or was it a right, then a right? Or…she cursed quietly, her tears flowing down faster.

It wasn't the self-pitying tears many would see, but the frustrated kind. The thirteen year old was becoming more panicked by each wrong turn, her sobbing choked off by a gasp for air every now and then.

There was a familiar corner – it was one she had clawed at when she was dragged in here. Her tears froze and her sobs died down instantly. Foolishly she wore a small grin, hope filling her body. Her pace sped up into a run until she turned the corner. She was going to be free; she was going to remain alive!

And that was where her mistake was made at.

When she turned, her body collided with one that wore a torn up violet suit. The girl of small statue fell backwards; her already-dirty nightie becoming shredded from the rough and uneven floorboards. Looking up, she gaped for a moment. Shock slowly replaced his expression, then suspicion. He cried out upon spotting her eyes, "Vampaneze!" Instantly her wrist was captured by his cold hand.

"W-What?" She whispered, confusion momentarily taking over. When that moment passed, she realized the man was calling out for Larten. Her heart froze as she began to struggle, unable to even imagine being before the two at the same time. "Let go! Get off!" She cried out with a voice far stronger than she felt.

"What do we have here, Gavner?" Larten questioned as he leaned forward.

"Look at her! She's one of them! She's a vampaneze!" Gavner's hate-filled hiss made Savannah cringe. How many times had she heard that same tone used when people reacted to her appearance at first? It was only bound to get worse as she grew up – if she lived through this, that is.

Suddenly she felt a hand, still cool but not quite as rough, grab her chin. Forced to look up, she gulped to see Larten up close. Without any clothes or closet doors in her way, she could see a scar on his side and a crop of red hair on his head. Her tears flowed freely as he studied her closely. Finally, ever so slowly, his facial expression turned sour. "She does have the traits of a vampaneze…but for them to turn one so young? It does not make sense."

"It makes perfect sense, Larten, as I have been telling you all night! They're fighting dirty…and we need to fight back." Gavner insisted.

"I'm not a vampa-whatever!" Savannah finally cried out. "Let me go, please!" In her pointless struggle, she succeeded in getting free from Larten's grip but, sadly, but the other's.

Gavner's eyes searched her and widened slightly when they landed on something. His free hand shot out and grabbed both of hers, his grip intense enough to start cutting off blood flow. "See?! She has nails like them as well…all she is missing is the purple skin."

"Ow, you're hurting me!" She cried out, her vision clouded from a new wave of tears. "Ouch, let go! O-ow!" The more she tried to pull away, the more it hurt. Larten said nothing, did nothing; he just studied her.

Finally he grabbed a fistful of her red hair, pulling her just enough to lock eyes with him. Now she really couldn't move without feeling agony. "Mr. Tall will know why she has come here." In all of this time, that was the last thing either had thought to ask.

Like magic, Mr. Tall appeared before them. He was the tall man covered in red, the one that ate children if the four other orphans had been correct in their teasing. Savannah felt her heart drop and felt the icy hands of death take hold of her. "Yes, Larten?" He asked in a voice deep enough to cause chills.

Larten finally freed Savannah's hair and turned towards his friend. "This girl was found running around…can you see what her purpose is?"

Yet the words fell on deaf ears for Savannah was now consumed by panic. Even though the pain was unbearable from Gavner's grip, the orphan started to scream and fight against him, kicking wildly and trying to bite. The desire to survive was strong for her kicks made Gavner finally release her – or was it the attempted biting that made him so fearful?

Before she could run off, the third man knelt before her and placed his hand under her chin, calming her with just a simple touch. Her body froze, her heart slowly ceasing such pounding, her eyes now open and wide. Her tears, however, continued to fall but silently this time.

"…She was dragged in here unwillingly by four of her acquaintances." The man told the other two. "She's human…an orphan, actually. Thirteen."

Savannah was too numb with a confusing mixture of calmness and fear to respond. She just stood there. Dare she wonder what they were going to do next?

"She's not vampaneze?" Gavner asked a bit sheepishly.

"No. She is human. And this human now knows about us." Larten sighed sharply, clearly not happy with how they (mostly Gavner) had jumped to conclusions. Running a hand through his crop of hair, he studied the girl.

Mr. Tall let go of her, watching as she plopped onto the ground, her legs giving up in their task to hold her up. In her mind, thoughts raced; was she still at Death's door? Or would she be free to leave? Did she want to leave? Either way she had a bad situation. Then again, judging by Larten's tone, she suspected she had accidently been told some deep, dark secret that might cost her life to keep silent. She wanted to plead to be free, but she stopped.

"Keep her here." Tall suggested suddenly, causing both males to look surprised. "Savannah," the fact that he knew her name sent a tremble down her body, "would you like to join the Cirque?"

"W-What would I have to do?" She asked, her throat raw from crying so much in such a short amount of time.

"You would have to travel with us, far away from the orphanage. You would have to help set up and take down things for the show…befriend people here, be protected, have a 'roof' over your head, food in your stomach, clothes on your back." Mr. Tall listed all she wanted to hear and more. It was almost like he read her mind!

Trying to stand by herself, wondering if she was even able to, the girl asked shakily, "A-And I won't be killed…right? Or..eaten?"

This made all three look surprised. "Of course not!" Larten exclaimed, obviously still wondering if she was somehow half-vampaneze.

"…Then…then yes, I would like to join." Savannah nodded.

Next chapter: Savannah tries to adapt and process what had happened and its aftermath. She sees a show from the back, noticing the four other orphans: justice time!!! Oblivious to the fact that Larten and Gavner are vampires, though they think she knows, she searches around Larten's room and gets caught.