BOOK 2: The Vampire's Assistant

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 by pumping some of his blood into Darren). Darren refuses to drink human blood, for "fear of giving up his human side", and is becoming weak because of it, even though he is drinking animal blood. 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 and Darren to get new friends . 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; 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 travelling hippie R.V. (Reggie Veggie), who is an "environmental warrior", a firm believer in protecting the environment also destors anything that kills nature. Darren makes the mistake of inviting R.V. to the Cirque to see a show; R.V. is outraged at the inhumanity shown towards the dangerous wolf-man and decides to take action when he sees Darren kill a sheep while hunting for Little People. R.V. attempts to set the wolf-man loose. He loses his hands in the process, and runs off into the night, screaming and repeating "My hands!!!!. The wolf-man, now free, pursues and kills Sam, and almost kills Darren as well; however, as Darren is being attacked, Mr Crepsley knocks the Wolfman unconscious. As Sam is dying, Mr. Crepsley tells Darren to drain him of blood, to keep his spirit alive within Darren. After the Cirque leaves, Evra asks Darren if he 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 pickled onions.