Chapter Nine: The Dark Knights

Serena: Oh, God…you're bringing Batman into this?

Starlily11: No…that's too weird, even for me…just pay attention. You'll see what I mean.

As Darien and his crew huddled back down in their dark, luxurious abode, preparing their next move, four other vampires were tucked away in a cozy, medium-sized yet somewhat expensive house. The one called Amara watched the moon in the sky, lost in thought. She disliked this town…it reeked with the stench of the wolves…dogs. She disliked the fact that they'd been here for weeks and still had not found Darien and killed him. The woman gritted her teeth as she thought about how close those mutts had come to killing her and Michelle. A hand rested softly on her shoulder. Amara turned.

Michelle had joined her at her side. Amara softened. "You should be in bed," she said quietly.

"I got lonely." Michelle smiled at the taller woman sweetly.

Amara chuckled. "All right…I'll be there in a minute."

"What are you thinking about so intently?"

"Darien…we need to stop him, Michelle. What he's planning…it's wrong. He's gotten away with his crap for too long…he needs to pay."

"Amara, think! He has over four hundred years on you…that's centuries more experience. Not even Trista has that much experience."

"We can't just let him walk."

"I know…but you'll get yourself killed if you aren't careful."

"It's a little late for me to worry about that…we're all already dead."

"You know what I mean."

"I do…all right, you win. Let's get to bed." Amara gently steered Michelle to the bedroom, and lay down beside the teal-haired beauty, still thinking. She had to stop Darien from carrying out his plan…she couldn't let him destroy that poor girl…she couldn't let Hotaru's vision come true.

Yes…Hotaru, young though she was, had aged beyond her years because she was plagued by visions of the future. Most of them were dark. About two months ago, the small girl had insisted that they needed to go to Williamsburg, Virginia, and find and protect a petite blonde. This girl, whoever she was, could very well be the key to Darien's undoing. And they needed to guard her from him. Hotaru insisted upon that, and they had all agreed that it was best to listen to her. None of them really liked the loss of life Darien caused wherever he went.

Amara tried to calm her mind, but the images of Darien haunted her. She hated him more than anything…he would pay for what he'd done. No, she would not allow him to escape her again. She would kill him or die trying. Unless the werewolves got to her first…or if they got Darien first. Personally, she wondered if there was a way she could discreetly sic the wolves on that evil bastard. Hopefully, the pack and Darien along with his crew would finish each other off. Then, she could take Michelle and the others and get out of this town.

"Amara?"Michelle asked sleepily.

"Hmm?"

"Are we truly going to start going to school again tomorrow? After two hundred years?"

"Yeah. We have to…we need to make sure Darien doesn't succeed. If we thwart him, his will might break, and we can finally take him out." Amara was willing to do anything to get rid of Darien…even sit in a classroom all day while some stuffy old windbag lectured her about stuff she'd lived through, and things she already knew from centuries of her afterlife.

"I hope they have a good arts program…"

Amara grinned. Michelle would be most worried about that. Personally, she was more interested in whether or not they had a street-racing club. They probably didn't. "I'm sure they do," she said finally. "And if they don't, I'm sure you'll fix that right away."

"That's my plan…"

"Good night, Michelle."

"Good night, Amara."

Ω†Ω†Ω†Ω†Ω†Ω†Ω

Amara walked through the hallways of the school the following day with growing impatience. She was a vampire, for crying out loud! She could find her way out of the wilderness but not around a school building…that was ridiculous. She looked at Michelle, who was smiling faintly. Apparently, she found this amusing. The sandy blonde once again wondered why Trista wasn't here…then she remembered. Trista was more mature in her looks than the two of them. There was no way she'd pass for a high school student. She and Michelle just barely squeaked by. Sighing, the sandy blonde turned a corner, and walked smack into a petite blonde girl with an extremely unusual hairstyle. With a start, she realized that this was the girl Hotaru had seen in her vision.

The blonde in question let out a yelp and almost fell, but Amara, with her vampire reflexes, caught her and steadied her.

"I am so sorry!" the girl gasped. "I'm such a klutz!"

"No, it was my fault," Amara said with a smile. The girl's sincerity was unusual in this day and age…it was refreshing, and not at all unpleasant. "I wasn't looking."

"I walked right into you!"

"No, I walked into you. It's not a problem. Say, would you mind pointing me in the direction of a Mr. Hills' room? My cousin and I are new here, and we're a little lost."

"No problem. I was just on my way there. I'm Serena, by the way. And you are…?"

"I'm Amara, and this is Michelle."

"It's nice to meet you guys. Follow me…we can get there on time if we hurry." The petite girl turned, beckoned, and they set off.

They arrived as the bell rang, and Amara nearly cursed as she saw Darien sitting in the front row. Apparently, he felt the same way, because his eyes narrowed. He didn't have time to even open his mouth, though, because Mr. Hills walked in.

Mr. Hills was a balding man in his late forties, known for wearing tweed and being the most boring teacher in the school. He was a bachelor, and often got off topic by moaning about his lack of a love life, which, if possible, bored his students even more than his lectures. "Good morning, class," he greeted them. He didn't notice the new students; he never noticed anything.

"Good morning, Mr. Hills," the class said in unison.

That done, Mr. Hills, a Pre-Calculus teacher, began a long, painfully dull lecture that had half the class asleep within five minutes. The other half was either forcing themselves to pay attention, or staring blankly out the window, completely oblivious. Amara yawned, and watched Darien warily. His eyes were fixed on Serena, who was staring out the window. The girl looked, saw Darien staring, and quickly looked away, obviously uncomfortable.

Eventually, the bell rang. Amara and Michelle were in Serena's next class as well. Unfortunately, so was Darien. There was no seating chart, so once she knew where Serena was sitting; Amara placed herself in a position where she blocked Darien's view of Serena. Michelle contrived to join her. Darien's eyes blazed with fury, but he didn't act. It would have been foolhardy. Amara hid a grim smile. It was kind of fun to irritate him. Serena noticed what was going on, and she smiled at Amara gratefully. The sandy blonde returned it.

Eventually, the day was over, and Amara and Michelle quietly made their exit, avoiding Darien. Serena headed home, thinking. She'd noticed the looks passing between the three, and wondered what was going on between them.

Amara and Michelle rejoined Trista and Hotaru at home.

"Did you find her?" Hotaru asked.

"Yes, we did," Michelle replied. "Unfortunately, so has Darien. Amara irritated him today."

"Hey, I was just protecting Serena from being stared at. I don't know how the poor girl stands it…I'd be scared stiff if Darien were staring at me like that!"

"It was a little bit on the creepy side," Michelle chimed in. "He just stared at her all day…"

"That's definitely a turn-off…if he's going to keep that up, he'll have a hard time getting her to give him the time of day…which is what we want. The less he's around her, the better off she'll be, and it might make it easier for us to kill him."