Mr. Crepsley waiting. Laughter in the great beyond, I'm going, I'm going... I'm gone.

Chapter 1

As my spirit begins to be lifted away from my ugly, stitched together body, I look around. Everything looks the same as it did a second ago, but I don't feel the same. The feeling is almost indescribable, and all I can say is that I feel like I'm asleep, but I am completely aware of everything around me. Am I dying? I look down at the body below me. It's me, but it's lifeless. I must be dying. As I continue to look down, I realize I am floating up.

Everything below me looks like ants. I look at the back of my hands, and notice, my spirit looks like... me, Darren Shan, the vampire. Not Darren Shan, the little person. I smile at the thought that I'm not ugly anymore. Well, I wasn't the handsomest person in the world before becoming a little person, but being myself again is better than being a stitched together thing like Harkat.

A cloud! A really big, white, puffy cumulus cloud too. I love those clouds! I reach out and touch the cloud, or at least try to. It's wet, and my hand passes right through it. My entire body passes through the cloud and I get completely drenched, but that's okay. I don't think it will affect me at all, since I'm dead. Or, I think I'm dead. I don't feel dead. But I could be. I can't say for sure that I am, but it would make sense that way, since I just... You know... turned into me and floated away.

I can't see my lifeless body down below anymore. I'm gonna miss it (not). I can't see the stadium, nor can I see any people. But there is one thing below me that sticks out like a sore thumb. My house. My house I lived in when I was twelve, before the freak show ruined my life.

I rise up about another twenty five feet and I can't see my house anymore, but I can see the entire town, then, the whole country, then the whole continent, then... the whole world. I'm in space! "Whoa," I say under my breath. Finally, I can talk again!

Out of nowhere, a big, lit up object comes shooting toward me. I yell a swear under my breath and dodge the giant object. I think it was a star. I take a look at it as it drifts away and realize it is indeed a star. As I look forward, what looks like a billion more stars come flying toward me. I think I am going to be hit, but instead, the stars shoot off in a different direction, as if I have a force field surrounding me. This is so cool, I think to myself. Does this happen to everyone when they die?

I put the question aside when I suddenly stop floating upward and instead stay still where I am. I move my arms up and down, to see if it will make me move, but it won't.

Curious, I try to touch a star. I have always wanted to. When I reach my arm out and try to touch it, I am shrouded by what looks like ribbons of various colors, but they are lights. The colors are red, blue and green and they are so bright it hurts my eyes. After all, I'm actually still going through the Purge, so all of my senses are still going crazy.

There is a loud buzzing sound in my ears and it is unbearable. I put my hands over my ears and close my eyes tight to block out the light. I open one eye just a tiny bit to see what's going on, and I see that the colored light surrounds me completely now. They are spinning around extremely fast, are ten times brighter then before, and are giving off heat. The heat is at an extremely scolding temperature, and I cannot bear any pain any longer. I was trying not to scream before, but now I can't help it. I let out the loudest cry I have ever cried, and that, as unfortunate as it is, does nothing to reduce the pain, but it's not like I thought it would anyway.

Then, the lights are gone. The pain of the heat stops. The buzzing stops, and I relax, but I still don't open my eyes. Where am I?

"Welcome to Paradise, Master Shan," a soft, familiar voice greets me. "I've been waiting for you." Reluctantly, I open my eyes. There, right in front of me the tall, scarred, orange-haired – and dead– Larten Crepsley comes into focus. This means I am surely dead as well.

My confused grimace turns to a bright smile when I see his face. We stare at each other for a moment, then I run forward into his arms and hug him. Then to my surprise, he hugs back. I look up at his face and see tears well in his eyes – it's a rare sight to see him show any emotions. I'm surprised he even let me hug him! Usually he would push me away, or not hug back. Then again, we are alone. I think he was just humiliated to be seen hugging someone. He may have changed, though. Death changes people more than you can imagine.

I'm unable to stop crying, and I haven't spoken yet because... well, I can't. I'm shocked to be seeing Mr. Crepsley again, and I don't know what to say.

"Hi," I say to my mentor quietly after a long pause as I continue to hug him. When I spoke it was hard, my voice is full of tears. Mr. Crepsley smiles even brighter now, and one single tear trickles down his face, but he stops crying after that. I pull away from the hug and wipe tears from my face.

We reminisce about the past for a long time, smiling brightly the whole time through. We don't talk about the recent past though. Not yet anyway.

Mr. Crepsley doesn't look like you would think a dead man would look like. He has a big vibrant smile on his face. He looks happy, despite the tears. He also looks younger! He still has the same features, but they are a bit different. It's hard to describe. And his voice is soft and warm, not like it usually was; cold and stern.

"As much as I'd hate to," I begin after a brief pause, "I have to tell you what's happened in the recent past." Mr. Crepsley looks at me, baffled by the fact I don't want to tell him about life when we were apart. If only he knew how horrible it was for me to find out Desmond Tiny was my father.

I sigh then tell him about Desmond Tiny being my father and Steve Leonard being my brother. I'd stopped calling him Steve Leopard because I hate him – he doesn't deserve a nickname now – and his name rarely comes up anyway.

I tell Mr. Crepsley about who killed me, who resurrected me, how I was turned into a little person by Tiny, then how I died again after saving young me from living the same horrible life that I have lived by scaring young Darren away and stopping him from hearing what Steve said about wanting to become vampire, and also preventing young me from stealing Mr. Crepsley's spider.

I expect that Mr. Crepsley would be enraged, and start yelling or something to that effect, but he is as calm as he was before.

"You are okay with this?" I accuse him, amazed at his solemness.

"No! By the black blood of Harnon Oan, NO! I was that man's marionette along with the rest of the living beings on earth practically my entire life!" He frowns, then smiles again. "You should not worry about being Desmond's son. He did not feel like a father to you, I presume, so it should not be a matter you are concerned about. And anyway, you were bound to turn out how you were raised, and your parents – or who you saw as your parents – raised you," he explains, "and I believe they did an exceptional job with that, Darren." I smile.

"You may not see it the same way I do, but you helped raise me too," I add. "When I was still young, you taught me right from wrong, how to fight, and everything else I know. You are like a father to me."

"And you are like a son to me," Mr. Crepsley replies with a smile.

"So you're like my second daddy! Or actually... the third!" I say to tease him. I laugh as his face flushes. It's hilarious how he gets so red when he is teased. It's always hilarious.

"Darren, I should have suspected you would upset me not even five minutes after we get reunited again after years of being apart," Mr. Crepsley says and sighs, a bit disappointed.

"Sorry," I apologize sincerely, "I was only joking."

Mr. Crepsley frowns. I look over at him questioningly. "Why are you dead?" he asks me. He realizes it is a weird question and grimaces. I must admit, it is an extremely weird question to ask. Mr. Crepsley fixes the awkward pause with, "Everyone has to die sometime, and your time came, but why?"

"What's wrong with being dead?" I retort.

Mr. Crepsley sighs again. "Nothing is wrong with anyone else being dead, but you being dead is not right! Or at least the reason for you being dead is wrong. I thought Steve was a friend," Mr. Crepsley replies. His voice is very loud and annoyed. "I am very confused."

I think now it is time to spill the unfortunate, ugly truth. I don't want to hurt Mr. Crepsley by telling him he died for nothing and the Vampaneze Lord he killed was a fraud, but I can't bring myself to lie to him either. I could tell him that we won the war and that the Vampaneze Lord was killed by him and all the vampires lived happily ever after.

"Mr. Crepsley?"

"Yes?"

I have to tell him, or someone has to. He won't just figure it out on his own. It's too unbelievable. He's not going to want to know once he does. He died believing he saved us all, died as a hero and decided the destiny of the War of Scars.

"Darren?" Mr. Crepsley gets my attention. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and spoke.

"The 'Vampaneze Lord' – the guy you killed in the Cavern of Retribution – was..." I swallowed hard, "He was a fake, Mr. Crepsley."

"What?" he said, not in anger, but in confusion.

"You killed the wrong guy. Steve told me who it really was after you died. He came over to mock me, then he told me the truth," I pause.

"Who was it? It was not Gannen, I hope, for Vancha's sake," Mr. Crepsley says quietly, still not mad, but I know he soon would be. Mr. Crepsley looks me in the eye.

"It was Steve," I almost choke on the words, "He was the Vampaneze Lord," I say quickly and quietly, preparing for a movie-like clap of thunder to make the situation seem that much more dramatic. But, it doesn't come.

Mr. Crepsley's look of confusion, disbelief and fury is unforgettable. I can feel his hatred for Steve as if it is my own. He knew Steve was evil from the very second he tested his blood and refused to make him a vampire. Mr. Crepsley was right. Steve was evil. But no one knew he had this much evil blood flowing through his veins.

"Th-that thing!" Mr. Crepsley yells, at a loss for better words. "So he was the one, huh? I would have gladly ripped his head off if I'd known he was the Vampaneze Lord!" I have never seen him this mad since I accidentally let Murlough escape. "But he is in the Lake of souls now. Ha! I hope he drowns!" Mr. Crepsley yells furiously.

"I have always known he was evil, but this! Why did I not see this coming? How could I have been so blind! I could have just went after Steve in the cavern, but no, I had to go after the fake Lord instead! Stupid, stupid, STUPID!" he rambles on. He shakes his head sadly and paces miserably. I feel sorry for him.

"No, Mr. Crepsley, nothing is your fault. You did what we all thought was right," I reassure him. "If anything, it's my fault. Think about how many opportunities I had to kill him. If I just killed him then, I would have saved so many lives and–" Mr. Crepsley stops me with the wave of a hand.

"Darren, if I know you correctly – and I am sure that I do – you would have gotten rid of him right then and there if you knew what was to come," Mr. Crepsley smiles. I smile back. I use this time to tell him about all the little things that happened while we were apart. I take my time. After all, we are in Paradise.

I tell him even the tiniest little details, from what color the sky was when I saw Tommy again, to the pain of becoming a little person. He listens carefully, but when I come to the part about Vancha, Evana and Gannen's kid, all Mr. Crepsley does is laugh. I can see why, but I am not going to get into that. It's too much of an odd subject.

I start to tell him more about how I sacrificed myself for everyone. When I finish, he has tears in his eyes once again and he stares into my eyes. "You truly are a real hero, Darren Shan," he says, "A hero who has changed a lot since the last time I've seen him!"

"Not really. Why do you think so?" I say humbly. "Well, maybe my hair changed a bit but–," I hold up a few strands of my long, raven-black hair.

"No, not just that," Mr. Crepsley cut me off, "Just take a look at yourself! You've grown just as tall as me!" Mr. Crepsley sighs contently, happy at the fact I didn't turn out to be the useless blob everyone probably thought I would be.

"I never thought I would see the day, but Darren, you have muscles!" he jokes and taps my arm. Ha ha. Funny. But I smile anyway. "I can see how much you have matured, Darren." I can feel how proud he is of me just by looking into his eyes. "You have become a great vampire, Darren."

"Hey, that's what Vancha said, too!" I say remembering the dirty, green-haired Vampire Prince.

"How has he been?" Mr. Crepsley asks. "Apart from having a child with Evana," he almost laughs.

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen his since I died... The third time. I wish I could see him again," I frown. Mr. Crepsley frowns too then puts a hand on my shoulder to comfort me.

"But all your old friends, Gavner, Arra, Kurda and Paris are here." He slaps his own face with the palm of his hand. "Oh, of course! I forgot to show you around! How can I call myself a good mentor?"

I thought this was all that Paradise was; this weird, blank, white, endless space full of nothing. There are no walls, a ceiling and no doors. Mr. Crepsley says this is usually the first thing anyone sees when they come to Paradise – unless the gods want to see them – and they usually go mad because they can't figure out how to get to the actual Paradise. They are supposed to open some sort of portal I guess, or at least that's what Mr. Crepsley says. Luckily, I had the welcoming committee.

I do what Mr. Crepsley says and I think of a portal. I close my eyes and think of the same type of portal Mr. Tiny uses to get from dimension to dimension. When I open my eyes there is a bright blue glowing door ahead of me. It isn't at all the same as what Mr. Tiny uses, but it is still a portal. My first thought: This is cool. My second thought: What's behind that door? My third thought: Why is is glowing?

I give Mr. Crepsley an unsure glance, and he opens the door and walks in. I follow him reluctantly and uneasily. I am not afraid of the door. What's a door going to do? Give me a splinter? Close itself on me? Yeah, Darren. Just keep telling yourself that you aren't afraid.

On the other side of the door there is... Paradise. Simply that. Just as I imagined it would be. A great garden with elegant animals and plants. In the center sits a massive pond. Huts line the garden and it's beautiful green grass in straight, even rows. And there, right in the middle of the vast forest, stand mountains. One of which is a replica of Vampire Mountain. I smile as I realize this.

Being here better not be too much like being on Earth. I had finally come to rest in peace, and I mean peace! I don't want to have to deal with evil Vampaneze, or psychopathic people who control fate! I am just going to relax and tease Crepsley occasionally, just like old times, then just laugh when we realize how stupid we are being, then we will move on.

Everyone is peaceful here. No one with a worry on their minds. They don't have a reason to. No pain, no fear. Only happiness and trust. For now.

I will be updating soon, probably withing the next forty-eight hours. I already have the next few chapters written down. Please review! I'd appreciate it. I have given this story a bit of a comical twist to it, because it gets a bit dramatic... not really sad though... It's hard to describe... Anyway, constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcome. Stay awesome!