Disclaimer: I own nothing Sailor Moon.

November Rain

Chapter one:

I was only a high school student, undergoing my last year of it, when my world came crashing down around me. My future had always been so set - my days so predictable - and nothing had ever intervened with that life of mine. Until November 20, 2009. It was only a week from Thanksgiving. I never even suspected anything about my parents. Sure, they were rich and absent for the majority of my life, but that's just how rich parents are. Above all, they were normal people, like any other, and it never went beyond that. Except, it did.

I hadn't known about it and they never bothered to share their lives with me. Yet I would have never found the time to ask, if they would have answered. They were distant and we didn't communicate. The only one of us that bothered to try to contact them was my sister, Mina. She was a year younger than me and held a child-like hope that our older brother, Sammy, and I had lost years ago. If we ever even had any. Despite having children, our parents placed us in one of the most dangerous situations a person could get into. They didn't warn us, didn't protect us, didn't even try... because all along they were the bad people and - maybe, just maybe - they thought if the police would come we'd get a safer life. A place where my siblings and I could grow up right.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged them tight. I couldn't believe how miserable my life had become. It was like everything I ever knew was switched around. My parents went from being typical rich people to abnormal drug dealers. Now I was stuck with somebody trying to kill me, a sister in a mental asylum, and a bodyguard who could barely stand to be around me. My mind drifted back to the day it all started. The last day I had genuinely smiled. All my happiness was robbed from me. And the good memories - the one's from before - seemed so completely untouchable that I couldn't even access them. It all started with my parent's return.

"You're going to be the death of me." Mina growled as she bent over, placing her hands right above her knees as she tried to catch her breath. I crossed my arms under my ample chest, cocking my hip to the side, and rolled my eyes at her. "I wasn't built for running. I was built for watching. That's why I date athletes."

"You really do concern me." I sighed.

"It's freezing out here. Can we please go home?"

"Okay." I agreed. Then I felt something cold and wet drip onto me. I placed my palm out to the sky and squinted upwards. In mere seconds, a downpour of freezing cold rain hit. It was nothing but a curtain of water that you could barely see through. My feet took off and I called back my little sister. "Try to keep up."

-0-0-0-

When we finally hit the 'Y' at the long dirt road back at my house, I stopped. It was like my instincts were taking over and I couldn't control what was happening. I stood deadly still and looked around me. I was searching for a sign. I knew something was wrong but I needed confirmation. The only thing I could find were fresh muddy tire tracks that went to and from where our house was located. With the intensity of the rain, they were barely noticeable. The only way I knew was from the deeper puddles.

"There's some tracks." I mumbled.

"Mom and dad are home!" Mina yelped in joy and took off towards the house. Despite her earlier complaints, she managed to find energy from somewhere and was now utilizing it. Luckily I was quick and bolted after her. I grabbed her arm and skidded to a slippery halt while the momentum whipped her body around and caused her to almost fall. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Something doesn't feel right Mina." I replied. We almost had to scream at each other over the sound of the pounding rain. I hated the November rain - hated it with a passion. It was cold and merciless. It would stab at your skin like needles - piercing into sensitive flesh - leaving a numb sting. She was about to argue with me so I grabbed her shoulders and forced her to stay in place. "Go back up the lane and head over to Rae's."

Rae was her annoying best friend. She was the kind of girl who imagined herself to be too good for anybody. It was a surprise her and Mina even got along. Mina was the type of girl who knew she was pretty but didn't care because she was just a nice person underneath it all. Rae was the drinker, the partier, and the promiscuous one. Mina got drug along for the ride. And typically, I wouldn't want Mina to be anywhere near her. Any maybe that's why she listened. Because she knew how much I hated Rae, but I still wanted her to go there instead.

"Okay, but this is stupid. I'm sure it's nothing." She mumbled before turned around and heading back up the lane. I watched her until she was halfway down the road before I hesitantly made my way down the dirt path to our home. I was shaking, from cold and fear. My gut feeling was telling me to follow my younger sibling to her friend's house - at least I would be with her and we'd both be safe. Or maybe the feeling deep within me was just the hatred towards the burning cold rain.

When our house finally came into view I stopped and examined it. It was the same varied gray stone structure and the same charcoal roof and shutters. It was the same perfect landscape despite the rain (which was finally thinning out). There was no sign of a break-in from the front, but the garage wrapped around back and that's where a person would have hidden their vehicle (even though our house was already fairly well hidden). A small amount of relief rushed over me, however. It was my own attempt to calm my nerves and pause the lump in the back of my dry throat from growing.

I exhaled and made my way to the front door. I opened the glass door, then our actual door, and looked around. The place appeared perfectly clean. There was absolutely no sign of anything. Yet I was afraid to call out anything. I was afraid nobody would answer me or, worse yet, somebody else would. Another chill ran down my spine as I slowly and numbly walked up the maple steps. The rain outside began to pick up and thunder down. I was on a mission now and no matter how badly I wanted to spin around, I couldn't.