Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ My Other Half ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

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My Other Half

Chapter 2

By Jacque Nicole

Serena wandered around the dimly lit room in confusion. 'Where am I?'she thought to herself. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she knew she had seen this place before, but she could not remember exactly when.

She rounded the corner, catchinga glimpse of red hair.'Rose?'shewondered to herself,but,somehow, she knew it wasn't her best friend's mother.

As she approached the woman, she noticed that she was leaning over two cribs, a man with jet-black hair right beside her. She could hear them making 'goo goo' noises directed toward the blue and pink bassinets. From her position at the doorway, she could see the woman shaking a rattle. 'They must have beautiful children,' Serena thought to herself. She was itching to go over to look at the babies but she didn't want to risk being seen.

The sound of a door creaking open interrupted her thoughts. She felta cold chill shiver down her spine. Something wasn't right.

It all happened so fast; it was like a blur. Serena saw a figure garbed in a black hooded cloak, a wandclutched in itsboney hand. She immediately worried for the family's welfare. Somehow, she knew the man was not welcome in the household. Several other black-robed figures followed the man who seemed to be in charge.

Immediately, the room went into an uproar.

The red headed woman deftly took out her own wandand shouted aspell. A flash of light sped toward a man,but he managed to slide out of the way, causing the man standing behind him to be hit by the attack. She stood by the two cribs, trying desperately to protect her children.

Meanwhile, the man with the black hair—who Serena guessed was the children's father—was taking down as many men as he could as swiftly as possible. Suddenly, an eerie green light shot from the leader'swand.He had shouted the most unforgivable of the three unforgivable curses, Avada Kedavra.

The light hit the father soundlessly. Serena looked on in fear, feeling thatshe knew the ebony haired man. His eyes went blank as he fell to the ground. A crash from the other side of the room caused the girlto tear her eyes away from the sorrowful scene.

The mother was trying to keep the horrible men away, but her efforts were made in vain. Serena watched closely as a black-robed figure swept behind the woman discreetly. She saw him scoop up one of the children—the girl, Serena noticed—and leavethe scene completely.

Then she heard it again— Avada Kedavra—in the same, cold voice as before. Just like her husband, the woman dropped to the floor, undeniably dead.

The leader—`Killer!' Serena thought ferociously—approached the blue crib with the same stoic expression upon his face. 'He wouldn't dare…'the girl thought to herself in dread as she watched him raise his wandand say the same, chilling words:Avada Kedavra.The green light shot from the wandand headed towards the baby boy. Serena felt her heart shatter as it got closer and closer to the child when suddenly…

Serena woke up in a cold sweat, tangled in her pink bed sheets. "That's the forth time I've had that dream," she said breathlessly. It was odd. She felt so connected to the family in her dream, especially the boy. Why was that?

She rolled over in her bed, a sliver of the sun's evening light catching her directly in her tired eyes. Sighing, she walked over to her little window and pulled back her curtains just in time to see a bat fly past, no doubt in search for food.

Normally, Serena would still be asleep at this time because her father, being a vampire, was nocturnal. It became easier for the whole family to sleep during the day and to be awake at night, but her dream made falling back to sleep anytime soon nearly impossible. She decided, instead, to take a walk to clear her clouded mind.

Serena grabbed her pink robe and headed into the hallway, fully intending to go outside for an evening stroll, until she passed a door merely two away from hers. She stopped in front of it and lightly knocked, silently hoping that the room's resident was awake. A disheveled looking boy with black hair and ocean blue eyes greeted her.

"Huh?" he mumbled, tiredly leaning his body on the doorframe.

Serena blushed deeply. Did he know that he was only wearing his boxers? "Oh, I'm sorry Darien,” she whispered, slightly averting her eyes. “Did I wake you up?"

His bleary eyes sprung open at the sound of her voice. "Oh no,” he assured her. “I was already awake. I'm just really tired."

"Then I'll come back later," she replied, turning to leave him to his rest. He grabbed her arm as quickly as lightening.

"No, that won't be necessary," he said as he pulled her into his room.

His walls were bare. The only window in the room was covered with thick dark curtains that didn't allow any sunlight to seep through. His bed was already made and his floor was clean. His room was the exact opposite of hers.

Serena watched her best friend as he sauntered over to his shelves and took a small bottle off of one. He quickly downed its contents and sat next to her on his bed.

She squirmed nervously and began to twiddle her fingers together. Did he seriously not notice that he was only wearing his boxers? "Do you ever get tired of taking your medicine?" she asked him, attempting to keep her preteen mind off of her best friend's state of undress.

"No, not really,” he replied nonchalantly. “Without it, you'd probably be dead right now," he joked with a smile. Serena didn't think it was very funny.

"You wouldn't!" she squeaked.

"I'd try not to—you know that—but I really don't want to find out if I really would attack you or not."

"Can't you control your vampire urges?"

He paused, unsure of how to answer her question. "Maybe, but I don't ever want to take a chance like that. I've never gone long without my meds," he answered thoughtfully.

Serena nodded in understanding. Darien's father, Damien, was a full fledged vampire. He was made into one sometime during his teens, but Serena didn't know exactly when. Every time she'd ask him any question concerning his age he would always tell her that he had lived longer than she could comprehend. He was probably telling her the truth.

Every night, Damien had to go off to feed. Darien, on the other hand, was spared this desire—along with a few others, such as the sunlight allergy—due to a medication created by his very intelligent mother. Rose had discovered a way to stop the vampiric bloodlust, but when they tested it on Damien, it hadn't worked, but its effects were perfect for Darien, most likely because he was only half vampire. Darien's other half—Rose's side—consisted of an ancestry of pure blood witches and warlocks, which explained Rose's affinity for different potions and medications.

Darien noticed his best friend's attention wandering and decided to change the subject. “So, what brings you over here so early?"

Serena shrugged. "I just wanted to see you," she lied. The last thing she wanted to do was worry Darien.

He chuckled. "Liar, liar, pants on fire,” he teased as he sat next to her on his satiny bed. “It was that dream again, wasn't it?"

She sighed, stretching out on his bed. "How did you know?"

"Sere, you should know by now that you can't hide anything from me. It's written all over your face."

She stuck her tongue out and blew him a raspberry. He just ignored her display. Serena wasn't surprised at his nonchalance, however. Darien was always much more mature than the regular eleven year old would be.

"You should tell Father about this, you know," he told her.

She was appalled. "Are you crazy? He would totally overreact! I don't want him to worry about me more than he already does."

Serena was right. For as long as Darien could remember, his father had been very protective of Serena. When she was an infant, Damien had found her in the forest and brought her home, barely alive. He'd nursed her back to health—with a lot of help from Darien's medically savvy mother, Rose—but ever since then she was never one hundred percent healthy. Damien had always wanted to know if something was bothering Serena, not only because she fell ill easier than the average child, but also because he cared for her very much. Darien felt the same way.

"He only worries about you because he loves you, Sere," Darien reasoned.

Serena pouted. "How many times have I heard that line before?" she said as she headed toward Darien's door.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"Outside," she replied. “I want to go for a walk.”

Darien shook his head. “I don't think so, Sere. It's pretty cold outside, and you just got well from the last time you decided you wanted to take a walk…”

“Oh, come on, Darien!” Serena whined. “How am I supposed to have any fun if you keep me locked up in this stupid house all night, huh?”

“Serena, we wouldn't have to keep you inside if you would just keep your damn coat on when you go outside!” he nearly shouted. Serena wasn't even fazed, having been the victim of Darien's very short temper for her entire life. His short fuse was definitely an asset Darien gained from his father. It was common knowledge that vampires were easily angered, which was probably one of the reasons why the wizarding society never accepted them. The fact that they literally had to suck the life out of others to survive didn't help, though.

“Listen, Mr. Grumpy-Pants. I'm going outside, whether you like it or not. Now, you can either join me on my walk or you can sit in your room all alone and sulk. What do you want to do?”

“You're a brat, you know that?” he said to her, even as he was grabbing his jacket to take outside with him.

After some forceful coercing, Darien finally convinced Serena to put on warmer clothing. When she was finished, the pair quietly made their way through the house, trying not to wake their parents.

“Where were you thinking of walking?” asked Darien as he silently closed the front door behind them.

Serena shrugged. “I didn't get that far in my plans.”

Darien sighed. “You mean to tell me that you were thinking of coming outside in your pajamas and you had no destination in mind?”

She shrugged again. “Yeah. And?” she questioned calmly.

“Serena…” Darien glowered.

“You know what?” said the bouncy blond, hooking arms with her companion. “You take everything too seriously.”

“Serena,” he replied tersely, “I don't think you take anything seriously enough.”

“Blah, blah, blah,” she mocked. “You've made your point. Want to go to the lake?”

Although he was a little reluctant to change the topic so suddenly, Darien gave in. “Fine.”

So the duo began to walk on the well worn path to the lake in silence.

Their cottage was located in the middle of a forest with no sign of other human beings for miles. They depended on their father to provide them with any of the supplies they ever needed, since he was the only one of them capable of reaching civilization in a short amount of time. Because of this, neither Darien nor Serena could remember seeing other human beings outside their family. The only other people Serena could recall were the ones in her reoccurring dream. Perhaps that was what made her feel so close to them every time she had the vision.

Perhaps…

After a few short minutes of walking through the woods, Serena and Darien finally found themselves at their lake. It was their secret spot; their place to go if they just wanted to get away for a little while and be to themselves.

Serena yawned and stretched, making her way over to her favorite log. She plopped down on it and leaned back, resting her head on the hard bark.

“Are you tired?” she heard Darien say. “Because if you are, we can go back home.”

She sat up. “I am not tired, Endymion,” she retorted indignantly, calling her best friend by his birth name. “I just wanted to relax. Is that okay with you?”

“That's just fine with me, Serenity.”

Serena stuck her tongue out at her best friend before lying down on the log again. Since they were so far away from civilization, it was not uncommon for the evening sky to twinkle with some stars before the sun had even fully set. Today was no exception.

“Oh, Dare, look at the stars…” she said.

“I don't want to look at the stars,” he snapped back.

“You don't have to be such a grump about it,” replied the blonde. “Besides—” Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Serena spotted a pair of birds flying through the sky. They were so far away that she could not tell whether they were flying toward or away from the lake.

“Besides what?” Darien urged.

“Hey Dare,” said Serena, eyes transfixed on the two lone birds. “Don't birds usually fly in flocks this time of year?”

“Depends on what type of bird they are. Why do you care?”

“Well, Mr. Smarty-Pants, there happens to be a pair of birds flying over there,” she said, pointing into the distance, “And I just thought it was odd.”

Darien turned to look in the direction his friend was pointing and spotted the mysterious birds. “Hmm…” he mumbled to himself.

"Oh, no you don't. What are you `hmm'-ing about?" she said, turning toward him.

"Well, it's just strange," he muttered.

"What's strange?" Serena asked curiously.

"Those are owls."

Serena stared into the distance. She couldn't tell what kind of birds they were. 'Stupid Darien with his stupid vampire sight,' she thought.

"Isn't it a little too early for owls to be out?"

"Yeah. That's why I'm surprised that they're out at this time of day." He glanced at the horizon again. "Those owls are coming in fast. I wonder why they're in a rush."

Suddenly, the pair heard rustling from within the forest. They looked at each other nervously, and Serena unconsciously made her way closer to Darien.

A figure in a hooded black cloak came into view, it's face half-obsured by shadows. It slowly began to walk toward the frightened preteens. “I've been looking for you…” a deep voice rumbled.

“Damien!” a high pitched voice called from behind Serena and Darien. “Don't scare the children like that. You'll give them heart attacks—poor things.”

“Oh, come on, Rosie,” said the figure, lifting its head up. The shadows disappeared and the loving face of Serena and Darien's father, Damien, appeared. “I think they can take a joke.”

“Mommy! Daddy! Good evening,” exclaimed the blond, running from one parent to the other with hugs.

“Good evening my dear,” greeting Damien as he engulfed the girl in a hug. “And what, may I ask, are you doing outside, Serenity? I do believe I told you specifically that you were not allowed outdoors until I was perfectly sure you were healthy enough.”

Serena shrank away, knowing full well that she'd broken a rule. “Well I… We…” She desperately looked at her best friend for help.

Sensing Serena's desire for assistance, Darien decided to help her out by diverting his father's attention. “Father,” he interrupted, “isn't it a little too early for you to be out?”

“That's my Darien,” boasted Rose, pulling her auburn hair out of her face. “Always so attentive. You know, you've been like that since you were a baby, honey.”

Darien rolled his eyes tiredly. “I know that, Mother. You've told me a couple of hundred times. But Father—”

“Don't worry about it, son,” said Damien, redirecting his attention on his son rather than Serena. She sighed in relief. “Your mother created this cloak for me the other night,” he continued. “It allows zero percent of the sun's harmful rays to get to me. I'm not going to walk outside in the middle of the day in July expecting this thing to help me, but in situations like these, it's quite useful.”

“That's remarkable, Mother!” exclaimed Darien to Rose, but when he looked over toward her, her eyes were transfixed on the sky.

And those peculiar owls.

“Mother,” Darien said slowly, “you know something about those birds, don't you?”

"Maybe," she answered vaguely as the two owls flew directly toward the group. They swooped down, and as Rose extended her thin arms they both landed on one. Rose paused, studying the birds' appearances. After a minute of inspection, she sighed happily and said, to Serena and Darien's utmost confusion, "Hello, dear brother."

…End Chapter One…

Word Count: 2,848

Posted: December 23, 2006

Edited: December 23, 2006