"Help me!"

Without waiting for an answer she dropped the phone and curled up into a ball on her side, the hard, unyielding floor doing nothing to comfort her as the tears continued streaming down her face.

Some time later Serena woke to the feel of someone scooping her up into their arms, but she quickly surrendered to the darkness that was creeping up the sides of her consciousness.

Her scream resounded around the room long before she shot up from her laid down position, breathing heavy, body drenched in sweat, hair wrapped around her, suffocating her as the smoky dregs of her nightmare pushed at her conscious, eager to present itself one more time. She stayed unmoving for several minutes, trying to think of anything other than the nightmare she'd just experienced. Looking around she found herself in an unfamiliar room, her eyes taking in everything and nothing at once, all information stored into the back of her mind for later references.

The slight stirring of air behind her back had Serena moving sideways and back, her hand coming up to grip the arm now hovering where her shoulder once was. Serena traced the length of the arm back to its owner, her eyes lighting upon familiar forest green ones. Startled, she dropped his arm, scrambling to her feet to put some distance between the two of them.

"Come now Serena, is that anyway to treat your… rescuer?" Before she could respond Michel seemed to literally disappear into thin air, one moment he was there, the next poof, he was gone. Frowning she began looking around the room, a startled gasp escaping from her lips and resounding through the room as arms curved round her waist, igniting a spark low within her body. Shuddering as he placed a cool kiss on the base of her neck, she disentangled herself from his arms, protectively wrapping her own arms around her body, rubbing them as if suffering from a sudden chill.

Laughing at her actions, Michel dropped onto the couch she had recently vacated, his body relaxed as he sunk further into the couch's plush cushions. A purr of contentment seemed to rumble up through him and Serena found herself oddly soothed by it. With a start, she realised that her body had been swaying towards his seated one, her mind only now catching up with the treacherous actions of her body. Halting a few feet before the couch, she warily watched as he patted the seat next to him, a devilish smile on his face promising her that she wouldn't truly regret the choice.

"With all the deliberating going on in that pretty little head of yours I fear I will have little time to…… educate you on the ways of our people."

"Our people?" "Sí, our people. I do believe that Calita told you about us?" Quirking an eyebrow he watched as Serena shook her head in the negative.

"So she didn't mention anything about vampires before you bolted out of the room like a frightened gazelle?"

Serena snorted at his words, "Frightened gazelle? How poetically inadequate. I was simply leaving a very, very bad situation."

Michel closed his eyes as he felt Serena's body pressed up to his, a lone finger trailing along the top of his thigh, closing in on a rapidly growing erection. He tensed in anticipation, only to be left hanging as Serena flung herself away from his body. He opened his eyes, watching the play of emotions spill across her face: anxiety, panic, desire, but most prominently fear. Sighing to himself, he once again relaxed his body.

"It is impossible to fight it mi amor."

"Like hell it is!" Slightly pleased by her passionate nature, Michel smiled to himself before he continued on, "We are predators, and like all good predators we use all means possible to win the hunt; enhanced senses, the power to create illusions, both unreal and real, the ability to control minds, the power of seduction, everything. There are worlds out there that you have never thought of and now you are a part of mi amor. Take it, embrace it, use it."

His words seemed to flow over Serena's skin like molten lava, her eyes closed as images of said hunt flashed through her mind. She could feel it, the rush of the chase, the victory at the end of the hunt, the knowledge that no one could beat her.

"Teach me."

Michel's smile was purely predatory as he shifted to behind Serena's compliant body.

"It'd be my pleasure."

A week later

This seemed to be becoming a familiar pattern: Serena disappearing for numerous days, leaving Darien and Andrew to frantically worry about her where abouts. Sighing, Darien drained the dregs of coffee still lingering in his cup, before placing it onto the counter, said his goodbyes to Andrew and left, entering the icy pelts of rain falling down. The sky had already turned black, streaks of lightening hacking through the darkness at random intervals. Cursing under his breath, he ducked down under the flimsy protection of his green jacket, asking himself why on the one day he decided to walk and not take his bike it had to rain.

Thunder boomed somewhere in the distance, startling him from his thoughts whilst at the same time reminding him of his need to get home as quickly as possible. Jogging down the city streets, his vision compromised by his jacket and the dark, he knew it was only time before he collided with something or someone. And sure enough, as soon as the thought entered his mind he collided with something soft, shivering and oh-so-familiar.

Heaving a sigh of relief that she was ok, Darien wrapped his arms around Serena's slim waist, pulling her into the safety of his body, in order to prevent her from falling. The two stood, his arms around her whilst hers were folded up against his chest, the rain lashing against their skin like miniature needles. It wasn't till Darien felt Serena's shivers increase did he remember that they needed to get out of the rain.

"Come on Sere, I'll take you home."

Before she could reply, Serena found herself being pulled through the streets, her feet slapping against the wet pavements as Darien navigated their way to her house. Lightening sliced across the sky, a peal of thunder joining it in joyous harmony and despite all the changes she had gone through recently, she couldn't help the helpless whimper that escaped from between her lips as she huddled closer into Darien's back. Hearing and feeling her reaction to the thunder and lightening, Darien manoeuvred her body until she was tucked securely under one of his arms.

The journey to her flat passed by quickly and Darien soon found himself shivering in her living room, hair and clothes plastered to his skin, waiting for Serena to come back with some towels she'd promised. His wait wasn't long as she appeared almost as quickly as she'd disappeared, her eyes taking in his shivering form before she grabbed his hand and dragged him into her bathroom, she turned on the shower. "You should take a shower. Just leave your things outside the door and I'll pick them up and put them in the dryer."

Before he could say anything back in response, Serena was already shutting the door. It was only a brief thought, but the fact that she had been as cold as him and now wasn't floated through his mind, but glancing around, he shrugged, before giving in. His clothes came off in a flurry, his body eager to feel the warmth of the shower. Dropping his clothes outside the door like instructed, he gratefully stepped under the spray, the hot water beating rhythmically against his skin. Sorting through the products lined up against the wall, he managed to find a soap that wouldn't make him smell too girly and began cleaning his body. He stayed under the comforting beat of the spray for some time, before turning it off and stepping out into the steamed room.

Quickly covering his body with a towel, he looked around for something to wear, before he remembered that she'd taken his clothes to dry. Rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously, he debated whether or not to leave the warmth of the bathroom and ask her for something to wear. It wasn't too much of a debate as the heavenly aroma of food wafted in under the door and swayed his mind towards leaving the room. He shivered as his the slightly cooler air of the hallway brushed against his still damp body, but continued forward in his journey to find clothes and food, not precisely in that order.

Following the enticing smells drifting under his nose, Darien managed to navigate his way into the kitchen and stood shocked at the sight of Serena dancing slightly as she stirred something on the cooker. It wasn't the fact that she could cook, though that in itself was a surprise and he had the right to withhold judgement on that particular feat until he'd tried it, no it was the sight of her body swaying hypnotically to the music she was humming, the sweet lullaby in itself enough to keep his attention riveted to her. That coupled with the way the light hit her body, the way her hair floated gently round her body as she bobbed her head in time to the music was enough to leave him speechless.

When she dropped the cloth from her shoulder after one spine tingling move, and the sight of her ass in the air had Darien's body tightening uncomfortably did he bother to clear his throat gently in the hopes of announcing his presence while all the while not startling her. Which worked as she turned to face him with a inquisitive eyebrow raised, a small smile playing across her lips as if she was aware if where his thoughts had been seconds ago. He watched as her head tilted to the side and her eyes glazed over as they ran over the smooth expanse of his chest.

Serena seemed to fall into a trance as she watched the small droplets of water slid down his chest to mingle with the white fluffiness of the towel hanging loose on his waist. She felt that more primitive side of her strain to be set loose and she found herself licking her lips as she lifted her eyes back up to meet his. And the lustful look in his eyes sent a hurricane of desire hurtling through Serena's body; heck her body tightened so suddenly and so painfully she was surprised she didn't get whiplash. The hunger burst forward and took control, but unlike before she welcomed it instead of fearing it.

The air around them became static, electricity beginning to flow between them as their eyes remained locked on each other. Darien felt his heart beat accelerate at the explosive potential for what could happen. He was literally becoming breathless and he wasn't even toughing her yet, or more importantly she wasn't even touching him yet. He watched as her eyes became lighter, silver flecks seeming to appear in her irises, her lips taking in shallow breaths and his own eyes inked black, pupils dilating in response to her obvious arousal. They stayed like that for several moments, both eager for the other to make the first move until Darien took the initiative, his internal thoughts of screw it clear in his actions as his hands clamped possessively around her slender waist and pulled her flush into his still damp, but definitely heated body.

Both their eyes closed simultaneously as a low moan flowed out from between Serena's soft lips. Darien quickly seized the chance to deepen the kiss, immediately feeling her body arch slightly into his as she became an eager participant in their kiss. Serena's mind was drowning in sensations, they way he smelt of wood smoke, even though he didn't actually smoke, something spicy and faintly the smell of roses; the feeling of his toned, yet damp, body crushed against the front of hers; the sounds of his ragged breathing as the kiss deepened even more as their tongues duelled for power, neither willing to back down; but more importantly than that, was the sound of his heart beating his blood faster and faster round his body.

Serena tried to pull back from the kiss as the over whelming need to drink from the vein pulsing in his neck consumed her thoughts, but she found herself trapped in his steel embrace, his body unwilling to give up their newfound intimacy. With a strangled cry, she dove back into the kiss with renewed energy, her body pressing urgently against his as her hands mapped out the contours of his back before coming to briefly rest above his towel and then sinking gratefully into the silky strands of his hair, her body automatically going on tip toe to ease the height difference between them.

Darien had panicked when he'd felt her begin pulling away from their kiss and had automatically tightened his grip on her waist, a primal side of his roaring for joy when he'd heard her strangled cry and felt her body giving into his will entirely. He shivered under her questing hands ghosting along his back, before resting finally in his hair after a little detour to the top of the towel on his waist, her body moving to tip toe to accommodate for the height difference between them and Darien helped further by bending down over her lithe form. His hands had become lost in the luscious strands of her silvered hair and he quickly freed them in order to slide them down her back and push her body further into his. With a gasp, they broke away at the same time, both deeply affected by the kiss. Their eyes slowly opened and they gazed into the slightly dazed eyes of the other person.

How… how I'm gonna be able to look Andrew in the eye after I've just kissed someone he considers his little sister.

Darien's thoughts were interrupted as Serena forcefully pulled herself from his arms and rushed over to the cooker, her mouth set in a little pout as she stared at the smoking pot. Darien's eyes focused on her pout and he found himself licking his lips before he shook his head and ran agitated hand through his hair.

Guess we're having take out.