Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Heart of the Beast ❯ The Arrival ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The Heart of the Beast


Chapter 1: The Arrival


Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor moon or the book, "The Heart of the Beast" by Carla Cassidy. I just used the plot for inspiration.


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"This is as far as I go, ma'am." The taxi driver said politely to the young blonde woman in the back of his cab. Her name was Serena Tsukino, and pretty easy on the eyes. He got out of the car and headed for the trunk. Serena stared at the big iron gates that stood in the path of the road. They looked intimidating and foreboding, looming over her.

"You can't take me a little further?" She asked as she, too, got out of the car and walked to the back to get her luggage. She stared up at the man with her big blue eyes, batting her dark lashes in an attempt to woo the grungy looking cabbie.


"Sorry Ma'am." The driver replied, shaking his head as he put her things on the ground before her, not even sparing her a glance. Clearly, he wasn't moved. Serena looked down at her sandaled feet and sighed. Suddenly she got an idea.


Wiping her hands on her jeans, she pulled her wallet out of her purse and turned back to the driver. "I'll pay you more money?" She asked trying to persuade him with a ten-dollar bill. She knew taxi drivers didn't make a whole lot of money to begin with. Grinning up at him, she shook it in front of her slightly.


"Ma'am, a million dollars couldn't get me to pass them gates." He said holding his hand out impatiently for his money. Serena frowned down at his dirty hand and wondered what his problem was.


Slapping the money into his hand, Serena asked, "How long do I have to walk?" and looked at the length of the road ahead of her. Already she felt tired and hot, and walking this road, in the hot sun didn't sound like very much fun. She hated exercise anyways.


"About two miles, maybe three." He said, shrugging and stuffing the money in his pocket, "You'll see the place. It's real big and at the end of the road, surrounded by trees. Just go straight down that road, there." He said, tipping his hat to her and mumbling a good bye.


Serena thanked him and sighed as she made her way to the rusty gates. They looked like they haven't been touched in years, so she bunched up the sleeves of her pink three-quarter sleeved shirt and got ready to use her muscles. Surprisingly they didn't take much effort to get them open, like she had thought. She nearly fell down, surprised at the ease they swung open with. Not even a scary, horror movie creek. She walked through the gates, deftly closing them behind her. Turning to make sure she had all her luggage, she felt a humid breeze brush against her flushed cheeks and move her bangs against her forehead.


Serena had been walking for about an hour and a half. The road was worn and the forests on each side of the road were full of life. The birds sung, happily, to her as she walked by. The leaves rustled as the autumn wind played with them. Autumn had just arrived and she couldn't be happier that the summer heat was finally leaving them. There were still traces of summer during the day, but in the mornings and at night, the heat was gone. She watched as the cool breeze played gently with her long-blonde hair.

It had been two months since her mother had died. Serena thought it would have been nice if she had passed during autumn, since she had loved it so much. Serena loved it too. They used to go to the parks and take picnics. But that was before her mother got ill. Serena had to hold off on teaching her fifth-grade class so she could take care of her mother. Every moment in that house was torture to Serena. She didn't like to see her mother in pain. She didn't want her to suffer, either. Finally, she was put out of her misery, and had died in her sleep. Her last words, Serena will never forget: "He loved us, you know." Of course she was talking about her father. Serena had mourned over her for weeks. She had to move on, but going back to work was the hardest. It was difficult trying to pretend everything was alright when you felt like you had lost our entire world. The thing that comforted her the most was knowing that her mother wasn't in pain anymore.

She had tried to contact her Father, but every letter she sent, was sent right back almost immediately. On the fourth time she had given up, thinking he had moved or something. But a week ago she had received a letter from him. She was surprised when she got it.


It read:
Dear Serena,
I'm so sorry I haven't been able to contact you lately. It's been a little hectic down here at the lab. I'm very sorry to hear that your mother isn't with us anymore. If you'd like, you could come down here and visit us for a while. I'd love your company.


Love,
Daddy

Even if it was a tad short, it still made her heart swell with love. She had written back saying she'd love to and she'd be there on Thursday. Well, today was Thursday. And after asking a friend to watch her cat, Luna, she began packing and put in her vacation time at work. She was so excited to see her dad again, she hadn't seen him since he had left Georgia to move to Arkansas when Serena was about five years old. Her mother had always explained that Arkansas was the only state that would allow her father to work the way he needed to, as a Scientist. She said that the fresh air helped him think better, or something along those lines.


Serena stopped abruptly. There wasn't a sound. Not even the wind dared to break the silence. All of a sudden a flock of birds flew out of one area of the woods. Something was scaring them... Serena really didn't want to know what it was, either. Just in case it was something scary. But what could be scary about a woods in Arkansas? But she felt it. Someone or something was watching her. Her clear blue eyes scanned the forest to her right, then the one to her left. She felt the goose bumps raise on her skin, but she wasn't cold. Something wasn't right. She started to walk again, but faster. Trying to get away from the thing that was watching her every move.


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Serena sighed in relief as she stared up at the tall mansion that towered in front of her. She had been expecting a house, maybe a really big house but this was definitely considered a mansion. It was made of some kind of brownish-grey stone or brick and had three stories. There was some sort of tower that cuddled the left side of the building, with windows curving along it's shape. Every window on the mansion had drapes, all closed to the sunlight. When the cabbie had said the house was surrounded by trees, he wasn't kidding. The path she had been following eventually stopped and became a grey stone gravel that lead up to the front steps. A cozy, un-shaded patio wrapped around the front part of the house and a little off to the sides. There were no plants, other than the overwhelming amount of trees, and there were no patio chairs.

She walked up to the mahogany door and knocked five times. Half a minute later she heard footsteps clattering in the mansion. Then the door flung open to reveal an elderly woman, maybe in her late forties and early fifties. She had red/brown hair speckled with gray. Brown bored eyes stared down a stiff nose into Serena's bright blue eyes and speckled hands clasped each other in front of a stiff gray dress.


"Are you Miss. Tsukino?" The woman asked, coldly. Serena nodded, "Then, come this way." She ordered leading her into the mansion. To her direct left, when she entered the mansion, was the library. The tall, wooden doors were open and she could see that the room was as tall as the building, complete with a ladder than ran along the walls. There was a fireplace under a mantle with a painting of a lake scene hanging above it. Then further up, to her left, was a huge stair case that led to, what she guessed, were the bedrooms. Then in front of her was a sitting area, hosting another fire place, cream colored lounge chairs and a couch of the same color. Further ahead was the dinning room with a kitchen to the right of it. Everything well spaced apart, with plenty of room for several people to move around without feeling claustrophobic. All the walls were covered in a medium-dark wood, as were the floors. There were various floral printed rugs placed on the floors. There was one in the library, where the chairs and couches were, and in the sitting area, under the chairs and couch again, then one more at the base of the stairs.


The woman led her to the library. "I'm Mrs. Medlock, the house keeper." She said as she let Serena in, "I will go get your father." She said as she motioned for her to sit on one of the chairs cross from the fireplace. She sat and watched Mrs. Medlock disappear down a door in the corner of the room that led to stairs. 'Probably the lab.' She thought as she looked into the fireplace.


A few minutes later Mrs. Medlock came back up and announced that he will be up shortly. And with that, Serena was left alone. She looked around the room. It was tall with shelves and shelves of books. All kinds too. Poetry, mystery, romance, anything you could possibly want. She liked romance the best. She guessed she just hoped something like she would read would happen to her. When she first entered the room she noticed the two chairs in front of the fireplace. What a perfect place to read! To the direct left is the small bar, filled with all kinds of liquors. The chairs were a dark leather. There was a couch to the right, when she entered, made of the same leather as the chairs. The ceiling was high and there was a latter attached to the wall, near the books so people could reach them. The room was a sort of tear drop shape, with only one corner. The other walls were curved, so this must have been the tower-like room she saw on the outside of the house. Serena absently noted the door that cut into the curved wall, near the end of the book self. Everything was sophistically decorated, very nice.


A man with white hair, a matching mustache and blue eyes entered the room. He was a short man, probably a little shorter than Serena and had a round face. He wore a beige sweater-vest, khaki pants and black shoes. He had kind wrinkles where he smiled.


"Daddy!" Serena said as she ran toward her father, giving him a giant hug. He smelt of cigars and a chemical smell that she assumed was from the lab.


He chuckled a fatherly chuckle and patted her back, saying, "It's wonderful to see you too, dear. You've grown since the last time I've seen you." She smiled kindly and looked into his blue eyes. Pulling away from him, somehow he looked different from what Serena remembered. He had a square chin. Hers was pointed. He had Dark blue eyes and he was short. She shook her head, putting those thoughts in the back of her mind. She was with her father now and she was happy to finally have a member of her family back in her life.


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*A/N:
Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone that reviewed and added this story to your favorites last night, thank you all so much I really appreciate it! Secondly, I’d like to say that this is a revised version of the original chapter. I’ve made a few adjustments, added a few more details, so I hope you can get a better idea of what the house is supposed to look like. I know I said it was more like a mansion than a house, but it feels weird calling it a mansion, so if I call it a house then I’m talking about the same place lol. I’d also like to add that I wont be adding any scenes about Serena turning into Sailor Moon to save the day (although I’d love to!) just because I don’t think it fits well with the storyline. Also that it might take away from the main theme of the story, which isn’t what I want to do. Anyways, let me know if you liked this chapter better than the original, and if you don’t then I’ll repost the original chapter. =}