Chapter Two: An Unsatisfied Hunger

*She bolted straight up and looked around. Once again she was in a coffin, but this time, she was not alone. Laying beside her was Count Darien, the blood sucking bastard of the undead who had done this to her. Looking around the room for an escape route, she spied a lone, open window. Carefully sneaking out of the coffin, she smoothed her dress, and trying not to awaken Darien in the process, she peered out the window.

It was high, almost four stories up from the ground, but she knew it was the only way to get out. Standing a top her windowsill, she took a deep breath and jumped. A quick rush of air and she landed gently on the ground, hardly making any noise. 'Mother was right. I do have incredible abilities now that I'm a vampire. I am hungry though.' She thought to herself. 'Wait, can I even eat anything? I could never drink the blood of another creature. Could I?'

She wallowed in guilt at even thinking of the hideous deed, then sighed. It was the only way for her to live. And what about a coffin? If she needed to be inside of it when the sun came up, she would need to return to Count Darien's home. Her situation was getting worse and worse as she thought about it.

*

Where could she have possibly gone? And how had she had the strength to do it? When his Mistress first consecrated him, he could not stand by the time he had woken up, much less escape from her. Not that he would have wanted to. He shuddered in remembrance of Keiko, his first Mistress.

She had been absolutely perfect in everyway: dark, sexy, evil, and she had loved him to a fault. He too, had loved her. It was too bad that one of her minions had had the nerve to kill her while she slept. It was also too bad that he had figured out who it had been, because, of course, he had righted the killing of his Mistress by killing her killer. That had left him in charge.

But this new girl he had found, this 'Serenity', she was something else. He lusted after her like nothing before. Not even Keiko had made his blood boil as this tiny little girl did. Well, however she did it, she was gone now, and that meant he would have to go find her. Besides. He needed to teach her how to behave. He was her new Master, after all.

*

Serenity sighed. This was the fifth house she had come upon, and still she could not bring herself to feed on the innocent people inside the houses. She looked at the sky and knew daylight was drawing nearer. She was so hungry, and her energy draining so quickly both because of her ordeal last night and the fact that she had not yet fed her huger.

She ran her finger over her upper teeth for the third time in ten minutes. She still couldn't believe she had fangs. Sharp ones too. So sharp that the first time she had tested them with her fingers, she had cut herself. But no blood had welled and dripped as it usually might. Instead, she could only feel the pain.

She sighed again. This was now the sixth house and still, she had too guilty of a conscience to eat. Suddenly, she heard the noise of flapping wings. Thinking it was a bird; she thought no more of it. Until she felt heavy, muscular arms encircle her waist and pull her in closer to a solid, large body.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk my Serenity. How dare you think you could ever possibly leave me?"

"Count Darien!" She turned around surprised. But she quickly collected herself. She wasn't going to let him see it. "I won our duel. I was promised my freedom. Of course I should think I can leave you." She sneered back at him, appalled he would have even forgotten he had made a promise and given his word.

"Yes, you did win your freedom. But, my sweet night flower, did you honestly think you could survive without me? I doubt you know anything about a vampire or how to use their power. I doubt you even have enough power to feed tonight without me help. Face it, my little imp, you are stuck with me until you have at least learned the ropes of being a vampire." He smirked at what he thought was her plain stupidity. 'How dare she think she can survive without my help?' He thought. 'I'll most definitely show her.'

"Well, Count Darien… I think I would be just fine on my own. I don't need you to explain to me how to be a vampire. I am one now, so I should know how it all works." She prayed this ploy would work. And besides, it wasn't all lies. Pluto had taught her a little about being a vampire in her dreams. Now all she had to do was use the knowledge she had been given and she would be just fine.

"Is that so? Do you know you need to feed? Can you even find it in your heart to want to drink the blood of innocent men, women, and children? Please enlighten me, Serenity." He said, with some mocking tones in his voice.

"I can if need be!" she cried at him.

"Then prove it. Show me how strong you really are." He challenged her.

"I just might!" She would show him, that two-timing lying, cheating, and stealing weasel. She swiveled around to face the tiny shack she had only just passed the front walkway to and strolled up to the door. Gently tapping on it, she saw a light glow burst through the dimness and soon the door was opened wide. Before her stood an older man, forty or so.

Without hesitation, she grabbed for his nightshirt, pushed him back against the wall, and exposed his vulnerable throat to her hungry eyes. Without thinking about the consequences of her actions, she titled her head and viciously bit down upon the man's veins. Because she was knew to the experience, she dribbled a bit of the sticky red liquid down her chin and let it drip down her throat. As if she didn't notice it, she continued to drink the man's blood until finally she had drawn the life force entirely from his body. When she was finished, she used the man's shirt to wipe away the excess blood that had dripped; then she turned to face Count Darien.

"So I don't know how to feed? So I have too kind of a heart? Was it kind of me to murder this man? Hmm? Was it nice of me to then rub it in his dead face by using his shirt to wipe his blood from my lips? Do I shudder in revulsion at how wonderful the warm dark liquid tasted as it rushed down my throat and through into my veins? Do I? I would love to know Count Darien!" Her dead eyes blazed with anger and hatred.

Darien had stood the whole time watching this display of temper quietly. So maybe this Serenity wasn't as peaceful as her name made her out to be. Well, that mattered little. He would still be her Master and she his slave girl, there was nothing that would stop him from achieving that goal. Maybe a few setbacks would slow him down, but he would still reach it one way or another. This was probably the first of the setbacks. That was all.

"Impressive. But did you know that…"

"That I need to be in that death trap of a coffin before the sun rises? Yes, I knew that too. Don't take me so lightly Count Darien. Tomorrow night I leave you for good. After all, you should be a gentleman and keep your word." She smirked at him, then turned on her heel and stalked off, back towards his 'home'. *

~~~NOTE: For all those readers out thee who didn't read the first version of this story, I wanted to clarify something: this IS a Serena/Hiiro romance. That is how I originally wrote it, and that is how I intend to keep it. I've gotten reviews begging me to make it anything BUT Hiiro/Serena, but I can't bring myself to do that. In fact, I've been sorely disappointed that the number of Serena/Hiiro fics has dropped lately. Please don't stop reading because you don't like the couple- I do make it very sweet! But please understand what I'm saying: It's Serena/Hiiro and it's staying that way! Much love, Vixen~~~