"What's the plan?" Alice asked, firmly holding Serenity still as I swerved to avoid whatever those things were.
"I don't know; I don't know what those are! I've never seen anything like them before. We need Carlisle!" I yelled, concentrating on the road.
I knew Serenity had a habit of falling and hitting her head. Still, I didn't know how much damage she could truly handle.
"What do those things want?! Why here of all places?" Rosalie asked, annoyed.
"I don't know; the only thing on those things' minds is food! Apparently, they're hungry. Ha! Emmet hold on back there!" I answered before yelling to Emmet, speeding up to take a sharp turn, followed by a narrow ledge and finally another turn.
"I think we've lost them for a few minutes…" "Uhh… That's different." I started before Alice spoke, interrupting me. I was used to that.
"Well—she's definitely not human." Jasper stated, sounding shocked—which for him was different; not much shocked him.
"What's going on?" Rosalie asked, looking at me, narrowing her eyes.
"If I knew, I'd tell you. Alice?" I retorted before asking.
"A star or something is starting to appear on her forehead." Alice answered.
"And it's glowing." Jasper added.
"NO! No! No! No!" A male voice exclaimed, panicked.
"Where did that come from?" Rosalie asked, looking around.
"What's going on in there? They're getting closer! What's the plan?!" Emmet called.
After a few seconds, Haru popped out of Serenity's front pocket.
"No. No. No. No. This is bad…" Haru moaned, panicked.
"That thing can talk?" Rosalie asked, staring at the cat.
"You're that voice I heard in math and the nurse's office." I stated, shocked, watching the cat.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah… Not now." Haru spoke, walking up to Serenity's forehead—and sat over it.
"Bossy little shit. Now, do tell us what's going on." Rosalie mumbled before demanding.
"We have to cover the star and keep it from fully glowing. And Ms. Prima donna—do not bark orders at me. Aside from shitting in your shoes and wherever else, you have no clue what I'm capable of. I already know you want answers—especially Edward. I've been keeping tabs on you since we met you. Well, actually since you showed up where we're currently staying. Like Edward, I can read minds. You want answers, yes?" Haru informed, trying to stay on Serenity's forehead; he then snapped at Rosalie.
"Are you ok?" Alice asked, watching Haru struggling to stay on Serenity.
"Hey, what's the plan? Those things keep running passed us like they don't' know we're here. What's the cat doing?" Emmet asked before noticing Haru.
"I have an invisible barrier up—but it's not going to last much longer. Do you want answers or not?" Haru snapped.
"Cool. Talking cat." Emmet marveled at Haru, causing Haru to roll his eyes.
"Yes, we want answers. What do you want?" I finally asked.
"Here. Will this work?" Alice asked, removing her scarf.
"Yeah. Keep it firmly over the star; keep any light from showing. From here, how long will it take you to get to your place?" Haru told Alice before asking.
"From here. Ten minutes roughly with the jeep." I answered.
"You have five minutes before the barrier breaks. Once the barrier breaks, Serenity is going to arch her body up because it's one of her barriers; they're not easy on her body and are most of the time painful. I only put up in critical situations because of what it does to her. Maybe if she'd practice them more, she'd be fine. But no… Find Carlisle. He's connected to Serenity in ways. I will explain later." Haru explained.
While he was explaining we I started up the jeep and got going again.
"Mmmm… My head…" Serenity moaned, waking up.
"Hi!" Alice happily greeted.
"What the?!" Serenity asked, freaked out, sitting up.
"Well, the star's gone." Jasper spoke.
"Serenity, you need to stay calm; it's all going to be ok." Haru calmly spoke.
"Hold on; sharp corner!" I instructed just before turning a corner.
"Don't make me do it. Serenity calm down, or so help me, I will do it. You are perfectly safe. Now, just hold still; the barrier's about to shatter. Hey; it was either that or having the wolves find us." Haru threatened, instructed, and then informed Serenity, who must've calmed down.
"Huh!" I heard Serenity's sharp gasp followed by a few painful whimpers.
"Serenity breathe!" Haru yelled.
"She's really left me with no choice then…" I heard Haru mumbled before nothing until I heard Serenity start breathing again.
Another turn and…
"Damnit!" I cursed when we ran into a wall of werewolves.
"Now what?!" Rosalie snapped.
"Don't get your knickers in a bunch. How many are there? Five with a sixth watching. The sixth is the leader; these are just puppets. Quite literally." Serenity spoke.
Well, I suppose I shouldn't say Serenity; it was her voice, but it was Haru's words.
"Puppets?" Rosalie, Emmet, and Jasper asked, confused.
"Do you know what a Shikigami is?" Haru calmly asked.
"Yes." We answered.
"They're like that. However, these are not ghosts: they're energy. That Hunter kid from school; these are his puppets. He's not human—not full human anyway; he's half wolf demon who has been alive for several millennia, feeding off the lives of very spiritual young girls—usually priestesses, mediums, etc. He heard there was a girl here with strong spiritual powers that could keep him alive and young for five years. He found and convinced her to go out with him—and he got her. Why he stayed here, he doesn't know—but he's glad he did. Serenity doesn't have spiritual powers other than seeing and communicating the dead. However, she is something else that could keep him alive and young for decades. But I'll get to that later, so I only have to explain it once. But he really wants Serenity now because he's not used to being turned down and told no." Haru explained.
"What does this Hunter guy do?" Rosalie asked, watching Serenity/Haru.
"He woos the girls, takes them to dinner, maybe a movie, walk under the moon or whatever; I hear that's typical of dates. The not-so-typical is at the end he takes them wherever, and one way or another, has sex with the girl. Once sex is over, he kills her and sucks her soul out of her." Haru answered.
"What the hell does that mean? "One way or another?" How many? How many girls?" Rosalie demanded, already knowing the first answer.
"You know the answer: if the girls aren't willing to have sex, he rapes them. I don't know much about demons like him. But for some reason, in order for him to steal the souls of the girls, he needs to engage in sex—whether the girl wants it or not. Just from being in his mind, I know he prefers to find girls he knows will refuse to have sex because girls who struggle, have stronger souls with fight in them. The souls taste better as well. But every now and then, consensual is ok. As for how many girls—I'm not sure. He's been alive since the—I wanna say 1500s. So—I'd say he started sucking the souls of girls when he was seventeen or eighteen. If I had to guess, there's probably thousands upon thousands of young girls ages fifteen through twenty." Haru answered, thinking a little.
Rosalie sat there, fuming.
"And now he's after Serenity?" Rosalie asked, not bothering to look at Serenity/Haru.
"Seems that way. Yes, we know what you are; we know you're vampires. I could smell it on you that first day at school. It took Serenity a little bit, but she figured it out." Haru answered.
"How long have you and Serenity been around?" Jasper asked, watching Serenity/Haru.
"Not now. Ok, I got it. Hunter does not know you're vampires though; he still hasn't figured Serenity out either. And I make no plans on giving him time to figure it out. Sorry." Haru replied before apologizing as he climbed out the open window, twisting around; she/he flipped over onto the top of the jeep. And within seconds, she/he was standing in front of the jeep.
"Damn! You should've seen her jump; she did one of those flips in the air!" Emmet announced, amazed.
I never really got into the whole anime thing, but I have seen a few. But, the way she landed reminded me of that female character with long blonde hair. Sailor Moon, I think, was her name.
Gahh!
"Edward, are you alright?" Alice asked, concerned when I smashed my head into the steering wheel.
"NO! NO! NO!" "Yes, I'm fine, Alice." I screamed at myself but lied out loud.
I had seen a few episodes of that Sailor Moon a few years back—and I now, I can't stop picturing Serenity dressed as one of those girls.
How depraved am I?
"Shit, she's fast." Emmet stated, shocked as we all got out of the jeep.
"There you are. We've been looking for you all over. What's going on? We felt something off. What are those?" Carlisle asked, appearing with Esme.
"Apparently, they're puppets—or something like Shikigami created by Hunter from school. Hunter from school is half human and half wolf demon." I answered, trying to keep up with Serenity.
"And he's been around since the 1500s—raping and sucking the souls of young spiritual girls." Rosalie growled.
"Where did you get this information?" Carlisle asked, stunned.
"Serenity." Emmet answered.
"Haru. Haru is a talking cat who possessed Serenity after she had a panic attack or something. He explained this to us and then went to attack those puppets. He said he'll explain more later—so he only has to explain once." Alice explained—after correcting Emmet.
"He got it so we could all get excused from school early after Serenity passed out in biology—blood testing day. He said get her to our family doctor. So clearly, he wants you and Esme there as well." I added, still watching; it was like Haru was toying with these things. After two minutes or so, all the wolves were gone and replaced with several five pieces of white paper with weird writing.
"She also had this weird star in the center of her forehead; it started glowing, but the cat, Haru, said to keep it covered. He was very adamant about it not glowing." Jasper informed Carlisle.
"Ok… Where are you? I know you're here somewhere." I heard Haru thinking while looking around.
"Hey, maybe that Sailor Moon show is based on true beings!" Maybe Serenity is Sailor Star or something like that. You know—there was a princess named Serenity in it; she was the princess of the moon." Emmet just blurted out.
"What? It could be possible." Emmet argued our blank stares at him.
"Ah. Ah. Ah." Our attention went back to Serenity/Haru when we heard her make a painful noise.
Her body arched backward a little before she fell forward onto her knees, panting.
"Fucking son of a bitch!" We heard Haru yelling from inside the jeep.
And then it happened:
Serenity slowly and shakily stood up, only to completely collapse to the ground, holding her hands over her ears as hard as she could.
"Mmm… Mmm… Mmm… Ahhh! Ahhh!" Serenity just started screaming like she was being attacked.
"See what happens when you don't just do as I ask? You should've just said yes and go on a date with me. I wouldn't have had to do so much research on you. I didn't have to kill and eat your cat. You just had to be stubborn. Instead, I had to go out and figure out about the Umbra brothers." Hunter appeared next to Serenity with some kind of whistle.
"Why isn't he noticing us?" Esme asked, confused.
"He's too focused on Serenity." I stated, watching, thinking of a plan—trying to think of a plan.
"There's a small barrier; Serenity put it up so he wouldn't be able to see, hear, or sense your presence. You have to wait for it to break before you can get to him." Haru informed.
"How long is that going to take?" I impatiently asked, watching as Hunter tormented Serenity; she looked so defeated.
"She's weak. She barely had any energy to put this up shortly after the first one broke, so I'd say five minutes." Haru replied.
Damnit!
"Oh, don't worry; they won't be coming to look for you. I told them you were on one of Hawaii's islands; I told them I'd deliver you in Colorado. I didn't actually meet them in person; we chatted on video chat. Again, don't worry; you're not going to make it past. So, I know you're not a demon. Being a demon myself, I'd be able to sense it on you. I also know you're not human, but I do not know what you are. They didn't really tell me much about you other than you're a very naughty girl. It's a shame; I was really looking forward to taking your virginity. Oh, well; we're still going to have some fun. I had to travel all the way to Utah to get something else from them; they had some weird bird deliver this whistle. I already figured out you don't like loud noises like alarms, bells, sirens, anything along those lines; they agitate you. Uh-Uh-Uh. Where do you think you're going? The fun is just beginning. You're not going to behave? Ok… You asked for this." "Ahhhh!" Hunter toyed with her before blowing on that whistle, causing Serenity to scream and in pain as he sat on her hips.
"Whistles, huh? Who would've thought? But what is it about this whistle that affects you so much? And why is such a pretty, innocent little thing hanging out with a group of demons? Why are you always wearing such baggy sweaters? What are you hiding? Do you want me to call them? Then hold still!" Hunter asked before ordering, pulling her sweater off.
She's definitely got an alabaster skin tone.
"That poor girl. Isn't there anything we can do?" Esme asked, upset, helplessly watching as Hunter started feeling Serenity up.
"Give it another minute or two; the barrier's about to break." Haru told us.
I could see Serenity's chest rapidly rising and falling, but she did not attempt to scream or cry; she was just laying, stiff as a board. He was sitting on her pelvis, so there's no point in her trying to kick him.
"Who are the Umbra brothers?" I asked, remembering the name that drained all the color of Serenity's face.
"They're three demons who possess the ability to look human—but they come straight from Hell itself. No, they're not related to the devil or Satan—or whatever you want to call him. They're just spawns of something else that threatens Satan and God. If they get Serenity and do what they need to do, they win—and will try to overthrow Satan and God. However, they don't realize how disastrous that would be. You need both good and evil or light and dark to keep the natural balance of things. That's why certain mythological creatures exist. Why certain people are good, and some are not. You cannot have one without the other. All immortal beings live by that rule. Non-immortal beings live and die by that rule. Or that's how it's supposed to be. There are some out there who do not wish to live by those rules—such as the Umbra brothers." Haru explained.
"Look at me! You're not even going to try to fight me off? You don't want me, right? I'm going to force you to have sex. You're not going to scream or cry?" Hunter asked, becoming agitated.
"Why should I? I know that's what you want? I know you've killed the rest of my family—and Kari. If you're going to rape and kill me, just get it done and over with. It's not something that I haven't gone through before. I learned from the last time: I will not give you the satisfaction you want." Serenity told Hunter, trying to be brave.
"She's been raped before—by those brothers?" Esme asked, watching as glitter started falling?
"Repeatedly—for several days. Taking turns." Haru dully answered.
"Oh, and the glitter is the barrier breaking down.
"You will scream. I will see to it—even if I have to blow this damn thing the entire time. You will scream! Excited, are we?" Hunter screamed at Serenity before asking as she arched her body because the barrier finally broke.
"Rose…" Emmet started, but it was too late; Rosalie charged Hunter first. He didn't see what hit him.
I vaguely heard Carlisle tell Emmet, Jasper, and Alice to help Rosalie while I ran over to Serenity.
I don't know what I was thinking.
Oh, wait. Yes, I do; I wasn't thinking at all.
"Hey. No, it's ok; I'm not going to hurt you." I told her as gently as I could when she jumped and tried backing away.
"Edward?" She asked, dazed.
"Yeah, it's me." I replied.
"When did you get here?" She asked, blinking a few times; her glasses were a bit cracked—and I noticed her eyes were two different colors:
Her left eye, with no crack in it, was blue.
Her right eye, with the crack, was purple—amethyst.
"I've been he—turn your head a little. Carlisle! Can you come here?!" I called for Carlisle.
Serenity was bleeding—I think. If she was bleeding, her blood is a light red, almost dark pink with a glitter-like substance.
"Yeah, what is it?" Carlisle asked, walking over with Esme.
"I think she's bleeding—but I can't be sure." I told him, pointing to the spot on the side of her head.
"Yes, she's bleeding. Again, I'll explain it later." Haru stated, watching the blood flow down the side of her face.
"Oh. Mr. and Mrs. Edward's dad and mom. Haru? Where's Kari? Have you found her yet?" Serenity asked, kind of looking like she was going to fall over.
"She's going to pa—" Haru started saying something when Serenity passed out.
I'm guessing that was what Haru was going to say.
"Didn't she say that Hunter killed Kari?" I asked as Esme removed her jacket and got it on Serenity for some decency.
"She means her soul. Kari and I aren't technically cats; we're guardian spirits. We're meant to watch over Serenity and keep her safe. For the most part we've done our job. We had to attend some lecture thing on the day she was being raped. Well—the first day. As demons, they kept their and her scents hidden. The two that were sent in our place were reprimanded big time. Serenity, as I said before, is incredibly special. And despite being raped repeatedly for days, Serenity is still a virgin. No, I don't mean they performed it anally. Though they probably did that as well. But anyway: what I mean is, Serenity's hymen will grow back if she is raped. It's a spell. Until she loses her virginity on her own terms, her hymen will remain. Once that happens, her hymen will forever be gone." Haru explained, watching me.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, watching Haru. He didn't respond; he just sat there, staring at me.
"What about Kari's soul?" Esme asked, changing the subject.
"Believe it or not: these aren't the first cat's bodies we've invaded. As guardian spirits to somebody special like Serenity, we take over the bodies of animals who are dying—more specifically, we take over the body as soon as the soul of the animal leaves it's body. So far, we've only ever been cats. Serenity was attacked by a large dog when we first arrived here when she was four; she is now terrified of dogs. That Hunter changed into his demon form and killed Kari while we were on our nightly walk in the woods two weeks ago. Serenity couldn't handle and had a breakdown and wouldn't leave the soundproof secret compartment under the stairs. Yes, we knew you were in the house; we can hear outside of the stars but can't hear inside. Serenity can't die. Her soul can be ripped from her body, but she cannot die. If she loses her soul, she walks around like a zombie until her soul is returned to her. Yes—it's happened before. Not a fun experience. So, because she can't die, we'll forever be her guardians—until she ends up with a permanent protector—or what humans call a lover." Haru continued to explain.
"Again, why are you staring at me?" I asked, annoyed, feeling my right eye start to twitch.
"I think he's saying that she and you are meant to be; she's your mate—and your hers." Carlisle spoke up.
"What are you crazy?! She's a delicate something not human, and I'm a vampire. Do you see the issue here?" I snapped.
"Nope. You're both immortal—so, you can't kill her, and she can't kill you. You can stand to be around her without wanting to kill and eat her. Unless you're tossing her around, you're not going to hurt her. She's not as delicate as you think. Clumsy and accident prone, yes, but not super delicate. That's why I don't think Kari's spirit isn't around anymore." Haru answered and explained.
"What about you? When do you leave? And what's with the whistle and noises like that?" I asked, giving up; I just saw one of Alice's visions—and she's over the moon ecstatic.
"You're stuck with me until this body's time runs out. The whistle and the noises are a curse." Haru answered.
"Edward, I'm going to take her home and take care of her head injury. Bring the jeep and any of her things that are savable back when the others return." Carlisle informed me, lifting Serenity into his arms, and Haru jumped onto Serenity and hid under the jacket.
"Ok." I replied, knowing he was right; this head injury could be a hell of a lot more severe than any other time she's whacked, hit, or bumped her head on something—or just plain fallen over…