Title: Beautifully Terrifying
Disclaimer: I don't own anything about Sailor Moon
Authors Notes: Alright, here's the next chapter. Thanks for all the reviews! I'm trying to update as quickly as possible, but I've been sick for like a week now, and it's lingering for something reason. I just can't seem to shake it, and it's affecting my creative abilities. I don't want to send out mediocre work when I knew if I wait a couple of days, I can do a lot better.
Let me know what you think!
She woke up shivering.
Serenity looked around her, making out the forms of the sleeping people all around. Soft snores drifted through the cold quite air, and almost no light made it impossible to see. She could hardly make out anything at all.
A soft shuffle caught her attention, and she turned to look up the long staircase.
Nothing moved.
Serenity felt her pulse quicken, and she tried desperately to control her breathing.
Andrew was sleeping next to her, his arm draped securely around her. She gently pushed it off, trying not to wake him as she shifted silently out of his embrace. She missed the warmth immediately and wrapped her arms around herself, hugging her nightgown close to her. Her robe, which she had used as a blanket, drifted to the floor.
Her bare feet padded lightly on the cold marble of the stairs.
She only went a few steps up, peering into the darkness. Kunzite had warned them not to go anywhere but the main floor. She looked back at Luna and Artemis, sleeping close to one another at the bottom of the stairs.
She looked back at the shadows.
She could feel someone there; someone in the darkness.
They beckoned to her.
Serenity took a deep breath and took another step up, feeling the shadows caress her skin. Her breath was shaky and her hands trembled against her arms.
When she reached the top of the stairs she stopped.
The air was cold and thin, like she had climbed a mountain and was now standing at the peak. Her heart thundered in her chest as the quite hall in front of her loomed like a black hole. She walked slowly, moving her feet softly along the floor, feeling out each step before taking it in order to avoid stepping into anything and making a sound.
The sounds of the village in the large lobby faded away, along with any warmth that had been left. The further she went, walking slowly down the hallway, the more she wanted to turn around. But she was curious, and her mind needed to find out what was pulling her into the darkness.
The hallway went completely black, so that she had to hold her arms out and feel where she was going. Her hands touched a solid wall in front of her, with carvings snaking towards the left. She followed them, feeling her way down another hallway.
Serenity pressed herself against the wall when she saw the light. It was nothing more than a soft glow, seeping out from under a door further down the hall. It was so dim, she hard hardly noticed it at first.
She listened, hearing nothing. Nothing moved.
Softly, she moved towards the door, able to see its outline illuminated gently against the inky black shadows.
She pressed her ear to the door, listening for any sign of life.
There was nothing.
She pushed the door, opening it no more than an inch before peering into the room.
There was nothing within her view that alerted her to a person's presence.
She opened the door more and moved so that her whole head was in the room. She looked around, noting the dying fire that was the reason for the light. The embers glowed in the pit. The light was hardly enough to allow her to see what else was in the room. All she could really make out was a few armchairs, a small table, and a bookcase. There was the outline of a painting on the wall, but she couldn't see the details.
She moved into the room, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
The warmth of the dying fire beckoned to her, so she moved towards it. She held her hands out to it, feeling them warm up, desperately sucking in the heat. She wanted to crawl into the fire, scorching her whole body back to its normal temperature. She couldn't help but relax at her thoughts. What would Luna say if she returned naked and burnt? She smiled gently; feeling as if a part of her she had been missing lately was sneaking back in.
"Serenity."
Serenity froze, every muscle in her body becoming rock as his voice, smooth and low, whispered past her.
"That's what they call you," he said moving towards her.
She felt his presence as if he had materialized out of nowhere. He stood so close to her, she could almost feel his chest on her back. His words whispered into her ear, and his breath gently brushed the hair from her shoulder.
She gasped and spun around when he touched her shoulder with his cool hand.
His cold blue eyes gazed at her, trapping her.
She stepped back, away from him, but he followed her. Her back hit the cold wall, and he stood so close to her she could still feel his breath.
"You're not supposed to be here."
His voice was deep and penetrating, and it sent fear running through her.
"I'm sorry," she breathed shakily, "I was…..I thought I heard……."
"You were give very simple instructions," he growled at her, "stay in the lobby. I let you in, gave you shelter, and you failed to follow a simple rule."
Serenity felt the air completely leave her. Fear pulsed through her as she realized that she might have just killed them all. She grabbed the soft silk of his shirt, her yes wide and pleading. "Please," she begged, "please don't punish them. I was the only one that acted wrongly. Let them stay."
Neither of them moved. Serenity had felt him tense when she had grabbed him and she felt fear rip through her. What if she had offended him even more? She could hardly breath as she watched him.
For the first time, she saw his expression change. Instead of a cold emotionless stare, he looked at her as if confused.
"You're afraid for them?"
"Please don't hurt them," she all but whimpered.
He leaned forward, putting his hands against the wall on either side of her, trapping her between him and the wall. His eyes bore into hers, digging through her soul, looking for answers. Her hands opened against his chest, trapped between her and him.
His intense gaze told her that he was angry. She held he breath, listening to the sound of her heart thud frantically inside her as the seconds before she knew he would attack her dragged on.
"Why do they call you Serenity?"
For a moment, she simply didn't understand his words.
"Must I always repeat myself with you," he said with a low growl.
"Because……it's…..it's my name."
"But why?"
She gulped, not really understanding his question. "It was my mothers name. She died….giving birth to me. I…….I look like her."
He moved closer still, until Serenity could feel his cheek rub lightly against hers, breathing her in. His hand came up to caress her jaw, pulling her head down to expose her neck to him. She tensed when she felt his breath on her neck, feeling her heart beat loudly in her chest and her panic rise within her.
"Are you afraid?"
His voice was so low, so cold against her.
"Yes," she whispered.
"Have I not done what you asked of me?"
Serenity felt her breath become shallow and ragged and she could hardly think with his strong presence suffocating her.
"Yes…..you…you did."
"What more do you want?"
"I……."
His body pressed against hers lightly. His strong chest and stomach ever so slightly caressed her, sending shocks of electricity through her so that she couldn't focus on anything other then the sensation of him. She couldn't fight. Her body had gone so numb she couldn't push him away, not even if she wanted to.
"You have no idea how dangerous I am," he whispered. "Right now you are standing on the edge of chaos, nothing more than a glimmering light in the vastness of the world of shadows. And you dare to disobey me."
"I'm sorry, I didn't……"
She gasped when his lips touched her neck, cool against her flushed skin. Fear swelled up inside of her as she realized what he could do to her here, where nobody else could find her. She had been stupid to follow his pull, to walk willingly into his grasp.
"Please," she whimpered weakly. "Please….stop."
And then he was gone.
Serenity nearly fell to the floor with his all but sudden disappearance. The cold wrapped around her so quickly she was startled, and her legs nearly gave out beneath her. She pressed herself against the wall, peering into the darkness of the room.
And then she ran.
Serenity ran blindly through the hallways, tripping over objects she couldn't see, desperate to return to the safe arms of her family. She could only hear the pounding of her own pulse in her ears as she nearly collided with a wall.
She turned right, sprinting as fast as she could until she reached the top of the stairs.
She stopped, breathing hard as she looked at the others still sleeping peacefully below her. She looked back into the darkness, feeling him there, watching her. The feeling of him there almost made her leap down the stairs.
Her feet slid quickly across the cold marble, trying to be silent, until she was once again with Andrew and Luna. She pulled her robe around herself and hugged her knees to her chest, willing this dream to end. She shook, with fear and cold, clenching her eyes tightly shut until the cold began to slowly abate.
Andrew pulled her to him in his sleep, wrapping her again in his protective embrace.
She could still smell whoever he had been, as if he had left his presence on her, marking her.
"Serenity, what happened to your neck?"
Serenity looked up at Luna in confusion, stopping what she was doing to raise her hand to her neck, covering the spot he had kissed the night before. He fingers tingled.
"Why?"
"It just looks a little red, that's all."
Serenity rubbed it gently. "I guess I just rubbed it a little hard. I have a bit of a crick."
Luna nodded. "It's hard, I know, but we'll all have to simply deal with it until we've figured out what to do. Artemis said that he's going to send teams out, to look around and try and find our way back to the village. If those guards ever came back, we could ask which village is closer, but they seem to have vanished."
"How long will we stay here?" Serenity asked in a small voice.
"It's uncertain. But if we're still welcome, we'll probably stay a few weeks. It will take awhile to sort things out, plus it isn't safe in the forest to simply wonder around anymore. With those monsters out there, those beasts of the night, we'll have to be more careful. So many have died already."
Serenity couldn't help but look up towards the stairs, shivering at the memory of the night before.
"You shouldn't be afraid," Luna said smiling lightly, "Andrew is certainly watching out for you."
She looked back at Luna, confused. "What?"
Luna smiled, a light, knowing smile. "I'm just saying, I think it's becoming obvious what's important to him."
"Luna, he's one of my best friends."
Luna just shrugged. "Perhaps a good friendship is where it starts."
Serenity looked towards Andrew, standing with Artemis and a few other men, talking quietly with one another. His blond hair was shaggy and un-kept, and his green eyes were tired. He had been her friend, her best friend, since almost the very begging of her time in the village. He had made her feel at home. She knew people talked, or at least they had assumed before all of this, that their relationship would progress. But she couldn't see it. She loved him, that wasn't even in question. But she wasn't sure in what way she loved him.
The man from the night before flashed across her vision, and Serenity exhaled suddenly at those stormy blue eyes.
Luna looked at her in confusion, so Serenity quickly smiled.
"You're very quick to give out love advice," Serenity said turning the comment back on Luna. "I seem to remember talking about the growing relationship between you and Artemis not long ago."
As expected, Luna blushed, but she smoothed the front of her robe and lifted her chin ever so slightly to hide her reaction. "He is a very nice man."
Serenity rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless."
Artemis strode towards them, his beautiful white hair still perfect, as if none of this had ever happened. It drifted around him, serene and light. Serenity smiled at him.
"Are you two alright?" He asked in his smooth, deep voice. It was like chocolate, rich and dark. Serenity almost couldn't stop herself from giggling when Luna blushed a little more.
"We're holding it together," Luna said softly.
Serenity watched them look at each other, Artemis with his smooth steady gaze, and Luna with her delicate bashfulness and she couldn't help but wish, despite where they were right now, that they might find happiness.
"I am glad to hear it," Artemis said. "We've decided to set up a sort of camp outside, but still within the walls. We will send out a few teams to search for a way back, or other survivors. The only way to return home is to fight them, and we do not have the resources to do so at the moment."
"Do you think we can fight them?" Luna asked with wide eyes.
One thing Serenity had never in her life see Artemis do, was hesitate. So when he took a breath to speak, and then said nothing, she felt fear wash over her.
"You…….you don't think we're going to get out of this, do you?" She asked in a small voice.
Artemis moved his gaze to her, soft and mysterious, and she could see the answer hidden within them. He hoped, but he didn't believe.
"We cannot expect to live on the kindness of the strangers of this great house for very long, and there seems little chance of us finding another safe place to be. We will fight, and we must hope that we are victorious. That is our plan."
Luna took Serenity's hand tightly in hers, and Serenity could feel how she shook. Those that were around them, listening quietly, had the same startled wide-eyed fear in their eyes as they did, and the general feeling of the room got colder.
"What do you want us to do?" Luna asked.
"We will set up out camp outside, as I said, and we will try to gather enough supplies for at least a couple of days. Once one of our men come back with news, we'll see what to do from there. I need you two, as two women who have seen and can handle the harshness of life, to help guide those not strong enough to fight. It will be tense, and it may in fact turn out bad, but we need to try and keep as steady as possible."
Serenity felt the chill close in on her, and her fear nearly swallowed her heart whole. But she tried to hold Luna's hand and gather her strength, and then nod as confidently as possible
"We'll do what we can," Luna said.
Serenity watched as Artemis nodded, gave them a soft almost knowing look, and then walk back towards where Andrew and the others were standing. Andrew caught her eye and smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back.
The next two days were spent setting up a sort of single compound within the walls of the manors property. They used whatever they had, which wasn't much. There were families, farmers and a few men of talent, but the more Serenity looked around, the more she feared for those going out to fight. The only one with any actual fighting experience was Artemis, and nobody knew what he was experienced from.
The four men never returned. In fact, nobody ever returned. For a few days, they worked and moved around the yard, but nobody was ever there to help or stop them. Food appeared in the morning, enough just to curb their hunger, and that was it. They would gather it together, and disperse it evenly among the people left.
They left the manor almost completely, only going back in if they needed to. Most of the people had to admit that they were alright with leaving, and Serenity was one of them.
"What are you looking at?"
Serenity looked at Andrew who had walked up to where she was staring at one of the higher windows on the great house. She smiled, hiding the fact that she thought she had seen him again. That same glimmer of light as before, she ignored.
"Just the house," she lied guiltily. "Once you get past the situation and the fact that it's downright creepy, it's actually quite beautiful."
Andrew looked up at it, not seeing sign of a person. "I suppose."
"Why do you think it's all the way out here?" She asked.
"Perhaps the guy you saw built it in order to hide from something."
"You think he's the master?"
Andrew shrugged. "I don't know. We haven't even seen those guards again. Perhaps they're ghosts, and they've disappeared from this earth. Let's just hope they keep to themselves and let us stay as long as we need to."
Serenity nodded.
"Serenity, I have to….." he hesitated, looking at the ground at their feet for a moment before looking back at her with a nervous smile. "Artemis has asked me to lead the first scouting group, and I…."
"What?!" She interrupted him loudly. "Why? Why you?"
Andrew quickly took her hand, trying to calm her with his unwavering gaze. "Serenity, I am happy to do something to help us. We want to find other survivors and bring them here, and get ready to fight."
"But they said that once you leave, you can't come back. What if they won't let you in?"
Andrew shook his head. "I think they meant all of us. Once we leave as a group, we can't come back. But they can't expect us all to stay here and do nothing. We're hardly welcome now, we can't expect them to let us stay here for long."
"But…..I….." the thought of him leaving disturbed her, and her heart fluttered around in her chest nervously. She was afraid for him. If he didn't ever come back, she……she couldn't even think about it.
"Don't worry," he said leaning forward to kiss her forehead gently. I promised to protect you, and I will until this is all over. I'll be back in a couple of days, and we'll know what to do after that."
"Andrew, I just……I have this strange feeling, like we're not safe here."
"We're perfectly safe here," he assured her. "We're well protected inside the gates, and those beasts don't seem to have followed us. Stop worrying about it, and focus on trying to keep everyone calm."
She nodded. This situation couldn't get any worse. She wanted to stop him, to not let him go, but she could see in his eyes that he was determined. She felt as if she were loosing another friend.
"Just…….be careful," she finally said, trying not to cry.
"I will," he assured her.
"When do you leave?"
"In the morning, first thing. We're out of the manor now, and we have a good place to sleep here so it's safe to start moving. Artemis will be here, preparing for the next team to go out."
She nodded, but she didn't like it.
"Come on," he said pulling her away from the house. "Let's see if there's anything left to eat."
In the morning, Serenity stood with the people left of their village and said goodbye to the three men chosen to leave them and search for their home as well as any survivors. She stood back, watching Andrew look for her, and then get on her horse. She felt bad, but she couldn't bare to say goodbye to him. If she said goodbye, he might not come back. Tears drifted down from her eyes as she watched him go, riding proudly on Onyx, her beautiful horse.
She could only hope that she would see him again.
End of Chapter Three!
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