Chapter Ten: Go to Hell, Welcome Back to Heaven

*Serena sighed in relief when she saw her two friends. Then she did a double take. Darien would kill them if they provoked him! The other three pilots ran up behind Hiiro and Trowa just in time to watch the fight.

"Hiiro! Trowa! Go away, I can handle this! Go! Run!" She yelled at them. They stood still, their eyes never leaving Darien.

"This? This boy is who you let touch you?" Darien sneered. He smelled the same scent on the boy with the wooden stake as was on his Serenity. "A mere mortal boy?"

"Let me go Darien!" She struggled even harder, knowing she had to help Hiiro and Trowa.

"Let her go." Came Trowa's calm collected voice.

"Why? She's mine. I made her, I keep her." Darien smirked. If these living boys thought they could defeat a vampire, they were welcome to try. And fail.

"Let. Her. Go." Hiiro said, his voice barely holding back his rage. So this was the jerk who had destroyed Serena's hopes and dreams? He was going to regret it. Darien let Serena go and she slid to the floor. She then watched the events unfold.

"You think you can order me what to do? You will learn soon enough that no one messes with Count Darien Shields!" he lunged. Trowa fired his gun, but the bullets didn't even phase Darien. He jumped out of the way and managed to get behind him, where he could help Serena to stand up.

Hiiro watched as Trowa helped Serena, and knew that he would take care of her while he fought Darien. Darien stood and lunged again, this time directly at Hiiro. Hiiro side stepped him and made sure to punch him while he was falling. Darien made a fast recovery and hissed, baring his fangs at Hiiro.

Taking out a silver knife, Darien sliced Hiiro's injured arm from his last fight on Halloween. He grimaced, but said nothing as he continued to fence with Darien, the silver knife against the wooden stake. It seemed as if they were even in all aspects, speed, agility, skill, and drive. Nothing could stop them from achieving their ultimate goal: Serenity.

Serena watched as the two men dueled for her. She thought they were crazy, but was glad Hiiro cared so much. What was she thinking! She would rather be fighting Darien herself than make Hiiro do it for her. But she couldn't interfere with them now. That would be unsportsman like, as well as against the vampire Code of Honor. Even she was not above that code, and if she broke it, she would be dust faster than she could apologize. All she could do was sit and watch and wait for a victor.

Hiiro was getting frustrated. Darien was good, every bit as good as Serena had said he would be, and maybe more so. But he wanted it more. There was no way in hell Hiiro was going to let Darien take Serena from him. They had only just found each other. No. He would win if it was the last thing he did. But his energy was draining slowly, and his already low blood level was beginning to take its toll.

Darien was getting angrier by the second. This foolish living by was showing him up in front of his own mistress. How he hated being shown up! In anything! First he had had the nerve to touch her. And now, to fight him for her? His rage grew and heightened his senses and agility by two fold. He lunged again, determined to win.

Everyone could see when Darien stopped holding back and started putting out more and more of an effort. They watched as he threw his knife at Hiiro and knocked his stake out of his hand. They watched as Darien punched Hiiro across the cheek and knocked him to the ground brutally. Then he grabbed him by his hair and held him up. Bending his limp neck to expose it even more, Darien bit down into Hiiro's soft flesh.

Hiiro felt the agonizing pain surge through his body. This bite was not like Serena's gentle touch. This was a brutal beating that was against his will. He groaned and muttered in pain. In the background he heard Serena yelling at Darien to stop hurting him, but it was to no avail. Darien kept sucking and slurping. Hiiro felt his heart begin to be pulled upwards by the heavy suction Darien was creating. He felt his own warm blood begin to trickle down his neck and then cool and dry. Still, Darien did not stop.

"Stop! Darien! Stop! You're hurting him! You're killing him!" Serena screamed at him. She tried to jump onto Darien, but Trowa grabbed her waist just in time, preventing her from getting herself hurt. She watched helplessly as her love was slowly being killed, his life drained bit-by-bit, drop-by-drop.

Then, when his body went limp, she went hysterical. Her fangs bared, she pulled out of Trowa's hold and jumped for Darien. Darien spun around and caught her just as she was about to land on him. He pushed her off of him and onto the floor. Then he tackled her.

"You are mine Serenity! Mine!" He cried in rage, eyes still red with bloody rage. His chin was covered in red warm sticky blood. Hiiro's blood. Serena struggled. Waving her arms around on the ground frantically, she felt a rough piece of wood. She grabbed it and stopped fighting Darien.

"You're right Darien. I am yours." She pulled him into a tight hug. Then, in his ear, whispered: "In hell." She then stabbed him with the stake through his back, straight through to the heart. She was convinced she had never heard a more wonderful sound. Darien on the ground, moaning and writhing in pain, gurgling and coughing up blood as he slowly became dust on the floor. When he was gone, she raced over to Hiiro's limp body, which Quatre was trying blindly to find a pulse to.

"Please be alright. Please be alright!" Serena begged. Suddenly, a slight cough rang through the silent room. Hiiro's eyes fluttered and then opened. He moaned and coughed again. "He's alive!" Serena cried, tears streaming down her face.

"Darien?" Hiiro asked, still hacking softly.

"Dead. I killed him. Hiiro, you're going to be alright. I promise, everything will be just fine. Just go to sleep." Serena used her hypnotic eyes for the first time ever to put Hiiro into a trance of sleep. After that, she herself, fainted from exhaustion.

*

Serena awoke to find herself in her princess garb. She turned around and saw her mother and Pluto standing behind her.

"Mother? Pluto? Am I dead?" She asked in awe.

"No my dear sweet daughter. You are still alive. In a matter of speaking." Queen Serenity gave a sad smile to her daughter.

"Are you displeased in my actions as a vampire?" Serenity asked them, her head bowed low to her chest, eyes trailing the pattern on the floor.

"No, no my dear. We couldn't be prouder. In fact, you have fixed the error in the time line." Said Queen Serenity, beaming at her daughter.

"How could I have done that?" Serenity asked, quite confused.

"Princess. When you killed Darien, you destroyed the greatest evil on Earth. There are two forces that always fight each other, the good and evil forces. As of late, the evil force was gaining the upper hand because of Darien and his power. Now that he is gone, the forces have balanced out once more, allowing your friends, the Sailor Scouts, to be reborn." Pluto explained with a smile on her face.

"They're going to be reborn?" Serena asked happily.

"Yes, my dear, they're going to be reborn."

"What about me?" Serenity suddenly asked. "What do I do until then?"

"Well, we can take your soul and let you be reborn with your friends, or you can stay a vampire until then." Pluto answered her.

"If I stay a vampire, what happens with…"

"Ask him. He and his friends will understand." Queen Serenity cut her daughter off with a knowing smile.

"Mother? Are you sure?"

"He's prefect for you Serenity. He loves you and you love him. There is nothing more perfect for you than love my darling daughter. Just ask him. You're waking up now. Remember my dear, I love you."

"And I you…" Serena felt herself fade into oblivion again as she had the first time she had seen her mother over two hundred years ago. This time, however, she was not scared to leave her. In fact, she was glad. She had someone waiting for her on the other side this time, someone she didn't want to disappoint. *

~~~A little cheesy, yes? Too bad! Lol. I wrote this a while ago, therefore cheesiness is ok! PLEASE REVIEW, it's coming to an end! Much Love, Vixen~~~