Disclaimer: Don't own Sailormoon... obviously.
"Ann?" Serena asked, staring at the promiscuous scene before her. She was snapped out of her trance by her ex-best friend throwing some pants at her lover, Serena's soon-to-be ex-boyfriend. She ran.
Ann pulled on a robe, running after her friend. "Serena, wait!"
But Serena didn't want to wait. Embarrassed, she wanted to leave immediately. Maybe anyone else in her right mind would freak out, or throw a couple of things, or cuss them out. That wasn't Serena. While inside she raged—her boyfriend was just fucking her best friend—she wanted nothing more than to escape from this scene. What kind of a world was this?
Serena hustled her ass out of the college and ran to her car. Her hands shaking and tears streaming down her face, she struggled to find her damned key.
"Serena, just wait! Listen!" Ann stumbled on a rock, cursing, but putting aside the pain as she ran after her friend, who was sliding into her seat. Serena flipped her off, turned the ignition on and took off.
God, how could they do this? Serena thought they were all friends. How could her boyfriend sleep with her best friend? It didn't make sense, so that was why she left silently. She needed to clear her head. Maybe just a few drinks would help. She needed to think.
Yes, think Serena. Thinking is good.
Didn't she learn from Labyrinth, an eighties movie that had enamored her when she was younger, that not everything is as it seems? Overwhelmed by the pain of her friends' indiscretions, she struggled to understand it all. What if…well, what if it wasn't as it seemed?
Yeah, right, what happened then? Her inner voice taunted cruelly.
A number of things could've happened… like… well…
Like what? She slipped, fell, and landed on his dick?
Serena pulled over to the side of the road and turned up the radio. Music filled the silence, and she couldn't help the self-mocking chuckle that rasped from her throat. Apparently her life did have background music. She leaned over and twisted the volume to blast Pain by Three Days Grace, their lyrics true enough words from her very own stereo.
She cried all through the song, which was a shame because it was quite a good song. When her weep-a-thon was over—mostly—she calmly opened the door of her car, slid out on shaky legs, slammed it shut, and let out another mighty, heart-wrenching sob.
Raking a hand through her tousled hair, she sobbed again. She told herself that this was necessary to heal. To heal you need first to accept and get past.
So she was doing just that, accepting, and eventually she would get past.
Serena was silently glad she was in the middle of nowhere; no one would see her pale splotchy face dotted with patches of fleshy pink.
Accept.
They had sex in the room she shared with Ann. Her boyfriend and her best friend were having sex in the worst possible spot. Unless, of course they'd wanted her to see them going at it, but they wouldn't do that would they? They might be soulless creatures of the dark abyss, but they were all once close, right? It was in all honesty quite sickening. She wanted nothing to do with her things anymore; she felt that they had been tainted by the betrayal. Serena couldn't even imagine putting on her favorite shirt that still rested on top of her bed. Her stomach turned. She had been violated by what they did, treating her own personal space with such a lack of respect. Yes, she had definitely been violated.
Oh, but weren't they some fucking backstabbing bitches…
Cool it Serena. Just calm down, she coached herself, leaning against her car.
The fine obsidian sky sparkled with stars that mocked her with their never ending bond with the others around them. They took up a great capacity, stretching out far and wide above her, hovering. Everywhere the same sky watched over her; wherever she went, she couldn't hide from the sky. Why couldn't she be a star instead? Instead of being alone—so very alone—why couldn't she be up there, shining brightly with all the other stars? She just wanted to feel wanted, loved. Why couldn't she be loved? She stayed silent, and so did the stars that shined ever so bright
Finally, the silence became too ominous. The trees loomed over her, reaching to claw at her sore, broken heart. Beady eyes peeled her flesh from her bones, prodding every hurt that had ever pained her, stinging like new and fresh wounds. The feeling stayed with her, she shifted from left foot, to right. The feeling followed her, watched her carefully. Little by little she remembered her anger from earlier that day. It empowered her with its strength, but in the back of her mind it registered the fact that she was still being watched.
Serena gave a cry of anger, hitting the car with rage. How could they do this to her? What did she ever do to them to deserve this?
Crunch. Crunch. Snap!
Fuck! Was someone there? Serena held quiet, having learned from scary movies that calling out stupidly guides the serial killer right to you. The steps grew quiet, and then they stopped completely. Serena gave a sigh of relief, wiping the cold sweat that had broken out across her forehead. Calming her nerves, she gave a little chuckle at her stupidity. It was probably just an animal in the forest beyond.
Snap! Crunch! Crunch!
Twigs, leaves and branches were trampled on. Serena started. Someone was definitely in the forest; those were no sounds of some gentle fawn following its mama. Serena got into her car. Getting as far away as possible in this kind of situation was best, and so she drove away from the curved road, the trees passing by faster and faster.
Thank you to the idiots in scary movies.
Serena drove for half an hour before she came to her destination, an old beautiful church. It seemed to be glowing with the light of a thousand suns in her eye. This church is where she was first found as a baby, swaddled in a white blanket. This little church, just as important as any other, in the capital of Wisconsin, was where she felt most at home.
Serena parked her car across the street and stepped out. Dressed in a plain pair of white Nike's, jeans speckled the same color of her little brother's room old room, and a black t-shirt, she wasn't dressed up by any means, but one doesn't have to be dressed up to go home.
The last time she had been there was when her adoptive parents died in a car crash and her little brother Sammy had to go live with his Aunt Mae, when she was banned from seeing him ever again. She and Aunt Mae didn't get along.
Now she was back.
She was back because her boyfriend of three years, Alan, decided he could drop her like a sack of potatoes and hop in the sack with her best friend, Ann. Why they did this? Well maybe they were really just attracted to each other and couldn't help it, or maybe they were in love. Whatever it was, she would have preferred a forewarning.
Serena walked up the winding sidewalk and pulled a key from her key chain. They had given her a key to the church on her fifteenth birthday. She had been ecstatic, and then, the very next day, her adoptive parents died in a car crash.
Happy fifteenth Birthday, Serena.
The old gothic structure of the church provided a sense of security and support that no other had been able to provide no matter how hard he tried.
Serena took the slightly rusted key and shoved it roughly into the keyhole, reaching to grab hold of the brass handle. The cold air stirred her long blond hair, whipping it into her eyes. A shiver stole down her spine. The feeling of someone or something watching her made the wind seem all the colder.
Her sky blue eyes whipped around, looking the source of her discomfort. She relaxed a bit. She was alone, although the statue Gargoyles seemed to look a little fiercer, a tiny bit more realistic even, than they usually did.
Serena pulled open the door, took a deep breath into her lungs, into every inch of her body. The feeling of coming home, that nostalgic smell that seeped through her body, welcomed her whole heartedly. Serena stepped through and was thoroughly sent back, sprawling into the grass. She got back up and put her hand through the door. Instantly, her whole body felt a wave of shock like electricity before being pushed back down the three steps. Serena growled, dusted her hands off repeatedly, and jumped at the door. The force field holding her back sent her bouncing down the stairs. She hit head against the cold pavement. Ricocheting off the cement, she rolled into the grass.
"Shit!"
She got up, rubbed her head, extremely sore from her harsh landing, and sent out a callous laugh. "Oh this is rich! Not only is my life crumbling to nothing, eroding away ever so slowly, but also I can't even get into the church?"
The blond stood, hands on hips and glared at the only thing in her way, the doors.
"What the hell is going on?" She asked after several failed attempts and many lumps and bruises later. It felt as if whenever she tried to walk into the church, she ran into ten thick layers of plastic wrap that sent her stumbling back. She wasn't surprised when she received no response.
The Gargoyles watched silently, their stony eyes glittering in the moonlight.
"What's going on?" Serena slowly slid to the ground on her knees, her long blond hair brushed across her heels. Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes, threatening to spill onto her cheeks and slide down to the ground beneath her.
"It's about time. We've been waiting for you to stop and wonder."
Serena didn't look up, she was frozen in place. "No fucking way."
"Serenity…"
This time she did look up, confusion spreading across her angelic face as she was addressed by the wrong name. "Who are you talking to? I'm Serena… Serena Millas."
She watched in surprised awe as the two Gargoyles came to life, spreading their wings and stepping off their pedestals.
"Oh My Lord…" Gasping she too stood up, and felt a lot safer doing so.
The Gargoyles walked to stand in front of her. One had the head of a lion and the body of a leopard, while the other was a dragon type of creature.
"Speaking of the Lord…," the dragon Gargoyle said with a lilting female voice.
"Shh, Ceili. Do not speak to the girl of such things yet." The lion-headed one interrupted wisely.
Serena was panicking now. It wasn't every day statues came to life and started talking to you, and definitely not Gargoyles. Serena rubbed her eyes, counted to three and opened them. They were still there, looking at her with their glittering eyes. Serena pinched herself, checking if she were dreaming. Maybe she had bumped her head and had gone unconscious? Nope, that wasn't the case as she felt the prick of pain on her arm.
"This is really happening. You-you guys are really here." The words tumbled from her, shock was riding on waves of disbelief and panic in her mind, so she really had no idea how the words got out. She could barely get herself together, let alone speak! But speak she had.
Ceili rolled her eyes. Whispering under her breath, the wind stopped and the world was silent. Serena felt the change and her panic stopped. In fact she felt rather calm.
"What did you do?" she asked.
"I merely made it easier for you to think. There is no use in denying our existence so you might as well get over it fast."
Serena stood there drenched with disbelief. "Did you drug me?" She asked, outraged.
"Ugh, did you really just ask that? And no, I didn't drug you. I merely made you… focus." Ceili's tail flicked irritably.
The shock and pain from earlier that day and the swirling, building emotions pressing to escape became a tad bit too much. Her arms wrapped around her waist in a failing effort to protect herself from the world and it's suffocating lessons of life. Scenes flashed through her mind. Ann and Alan together, the Gargoyles in front of her. The two scenes swirled together to create something that made sense in her mind.
Serena laughed. "Oh that's a good joke. You guys really are something; I mean you both look so real! Were Ann and Alan apart of this too? What is this, Surprise-the-Orphan Day? Where's the camera? I mean really. The joke's up. You guys can stop hiding now!" Serena called out in a sing-song voice.
The Gargoyles looked at each other. She was going hysterical. Ceili again spoke beneath her breath. What she was really doing was soothing her. Because of Serena's parenting, certain things could calm her down. Silence was one of them. Total silence.
The scenes faded slowly. The flashing colors and pain receded. The Gargoyles became sharper in her mind's eye, more real. She looked around, dazed for a moment. Clearing her mind, she took a few deep breaths. The scenes that had once flooded her head strangely enough had been tamed, allowing her to think more clearly.
Okay, Gargoyles came to life. Your boyfriend cheated on you and your best friend betrayed you.
No, wait don't think about that.
Start over. Magical creatures who were once stone came to life and called you by a name you never heard of. Yes, perfect place to begin.
With her super powers of deduction and reasoning, Serena came to the conclusion that she really had no idea what was going on. Calling on irritation and mild anger Serena stomped her foot into the ground, "Do either one of you want to tell me what is going on here? I just want to go into the nice church behind you, so if you don't mind…"
Ceili stepped forward, wings spreading far apart in warning. "We do mind, in fact," she threatened.
"Calm down. The girl hasn't done anything wrong."
"Yet."
The lion-headed one let out a soft chuckle. "You are right Ceili. But, we can change that, my antagonistic one. Young Serenity hasn't chosen her side yet."
Ceili growled under her breath and nodded, "Fine. Come Serenity, we have to take you somewhere safe."
Serena frowned, stumbled back a few steps. "I am safe; in fact I think I'm going to go back to my car. I'm going to go home. Excuse me Gargoyles."
She turned around and started walking away, leaving the Gargoyles behind her.
"As long as you don't mind company…"
Serena frowned and looked at the space on her right, and then left. The Gargoyles were walking next to her, tails high in the air and wings resting comfortably at their sides. "What are you doing?"
Ceili preened, "Yes, what are we doing Seely?" she said with a reluctantly amused voice.
Seely's tail flicked. "We are saving Serenity from being kidnapped by Demons."
Serena raised an elegantly shaped brow, "Demons?"
"Yes, Demons, It will be explained when you get to a safe house."
"Safe house?" Serena echoed. The Gargoyles shared a secret look; Ceili swept Serena from under her own two feet with her tail, making the woman fall onto the Gargoyle's back.
"Wait! What do you think you're doing? Where are you taking me?"
"Oh shut up and enjoy the ride, will ya?" Ceili growled as she took to the sky.
"But-but my car! I forgot to lock it!"
"Should have thought about that sooner, you know, before we started flying?"
Serena sat up straight but just as quickly regretted her decision as she realized nothing was behind her but the great endless sky and then, the ground.
"Where are we going again?"
"I think we already went over this," Seely commented, going silent again.
Serena lay down on the great dragon like beast, her eyes drifting shut slowly as exhaustion warred out with caution.
