Birth of a Killer by Darren Shan Read Free Book Online Page A

we did not feel pain, we would kill more freely, and what would the world be like then?”
    “I’m evil,” Larten moaned. “I’m going to hell when I die, or somewhere worse.”
    “A place worse than hell?” Seba smiled grimly. “That would be a bad place indeed! But I do not think your soul is damned.”
    “I stabbed Traz to death,” Larten said, wiping tears from his cheeks.
    “In the heat of the moment,” Seba reminded him. “After he had slain your innocent friend. That is not the act of a vicious beast.”
    “You don’t think it was wrong?” Larten whispered.
    “Of course it was wrong,” Seba said. “You took a life that was not yours to take, and that should haunt you far into the future. But virtually all people do wrong at some point. The truly evil are those who willingly follow the path of violence when they find themselves on it. You have a choice now. You can embrace the darkness within you and become a monster. Or you can reject it and try to lead a good life from this night on.”
    “What if I can’t?” Larten croaked. “What if I enjoyed killing him?”
    “Did you?” Seba asked.
    Larten shook his head crookedly, then sighed and nodded. “I felt powerful. He was bigger than me, and he’d hurt me–all of us–so much. Part of me wanted to kill him. After I’d stabbed him, I leaned forward to poke out his eyes. I wanted to torture him, even though he was dead.”
    “But you restrained yourself?” Seba pressed.
    “Aye. But it was hard.”
    Seba pursed his lips, impressed by the boy’s honesty. “Vampires have a way of testing people,” he said. “We do it before we blood humans. Great power must only be given to those responsible enough todeal with it. If we blooded the weak or craven, they would wreak havoc on mankind.
    “We can taste evil in a person’s blood,” Seba went on. “It has a sweet tang. It should be vile and bitter, but evil often comes wrapped in sweetness. The test is not foolproof. We sometimes make mistakes. But in most cases it is accurate. I can test you if you wish.”
    Larten wasn’t sure he wanted to be tested. If the result went against him…
    “I will do you no harm,” Seba promised. “If your blood is not to my liking, I will go my own way tomorrow and leave you be. Vampires do not judge humans or meddle in their affairs.”
    Larten gulped, then nodded hesitantly. He was afraid of what the vampire might reveal, but he’d rather know the truth about himself than live with uncertainty.
    “This will hurt slightly,” Seba said, taking the boy’s arm. Using one of his sharp nails, he made a small cut just above Larten’s elbow. As Larten winced, Seba put his mouth over the cut and sucked. For a worried second Larten thought he’d been tricked, that the vampire planned to drain him dry. But then Seba released him and swirled the blood around his mouth.
    “Well?” Larten asked as Seba swallowed and narrowed his eyes.
    “An interesting vintage,” Seba joked, but Larten knew nothing about wine, so he only stared at the vampire blankly. Seba licked his lips. “You have mixed blood.”
    Larten grew cold. “Does that mean I’m evil?”
    “No,” Seba said. “There is an underlying sweetness, but it is not overwhelming. I would say you are strong-willed, easily enraged, perhaps bent towards violence more than most, prepared to do bad things if provoked. Of course, we already knew that, given how you acted today. But I do not think the evil strain is dominant. You will need to tread cautiously through life and guard your emotions carefully if you wish to master them. But in my opinion, you
can
choose good.”
    Larten was relieved but troubled. After today’s violent explosion, he wasn’t sure he could make those good choices. He recalled the way he had licked his lips, the disappointment that the dark part of him had felt when he stopped short of stabbing out Traz’s eyes.
    “I will leave you now,” Seba said, rising.
    “Where are you