Disclaimer: I don't own GW, SM or the Night World. They all belong to their respective owners.
A/n: Thank you to all who took the time to read this story and special thanks to the reviewers.
Furie: Thank You for reviewing.
Anonymous: Glad you like it.
Lilaclight: Thank you for reading both of the stories and I hope you'll like this as much as you like the other one.
Lhiannan-Sidhe: Thanks. Hope that you enjoy the new chapter.
Fairy Asphodel: TY for the review.
Cristina: Thanks. Have you read the entire NW series? I only read about 3 of them and I'd love to get my hands on the other books. And as for the last one do you know the title? As for the characters, I was only going o use the setting of the night world but since you suggested it, I think I'm going to include Ash, Thierry and others as well.
Goddess Of The NightChapter 3 Ashes Of Memories
Serena arrived back into her room and found her new roommate asleep on the couch with the TV on. Serena smiled a bit, shut off the TV and went to fetch a blanket for Mina. She must be freezing.
She went to the closet and quietly got the blanket and some pillows. Her thoughts went back earlier that night. "Rule the night again?" Serena asked thoughtfully to herself. "How could Darien suggest such a thing? He knew what happened to me, he should understand…then again maybe not." Serena closed her eyes painfully.
500 years ago FLASHBACK
Serena's eyes glowed red with pleasure as she feasted at the young woman. She was limp in her arms and was close to dying. But Serena didn't give her that pleasure. She threw her to the alley floor barely alive to linger painfully before death took her.
"Enjoy your little snack Serenity?" Darien asked arms folded behind her. He was watching her with interest. Serena spat blood on the floor.
"She was not pure." Serena scowled.
"You can't always have the best you know." Darien mocked.
Serena narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that? Are you looking for a fight? I am willing to oblige." Serena challenged her eyes changing color.
"Nothing, nothing…" Darien sighed. "Such temper!" He made a "tsk" sound.
Behind them a newcomer appeared.
"Ash!" Serena exclaimed running to meet her other cousin.
Darien feigned a hurt expression. "And she was not even happy to see me." He mumbled.
Ash and Serena turned towards him. Ash grinned devilishly while Serena answered coolly. "Who'd be happy to see you?"
Ash Redfern was high on Serena's affections, younger than her by a several hundred years she was the one who taught him mostly how to hunt and a few dirty tricks. Very loyal to the family, Ash was too considered ruthless, cruel and heartless. He was gorgeous, lanky and elegant. The colors of his eyes were ever changing and at the moment it glowed silver at the dark alleyway.
"There's a party on the next block, Care to check it out?" Ash asked the two of them. Serena gave a slight nod while Darien shrugged.
Along the way they were stopped by a couple of vampire hunters.
"Monsters! You killed my family! Die you vile creatures!" The poor man lunged at them with a stake and a lit torch. Serena sidestepped and avoided his attacks. Giving a yawn, she punched him in the gut making him fall to the ground. The man's companion was watching.
"Aren't you going to help your little friend?" Darien asked the other man hidden in a cloak. The man gave no reply and they all watch at the entertainment that Serena was giving them.
The man after receiving several powerful blows from Serena was kneeling, wheezing on the ground.
"Aww…poor man. Had enough?" Serena asked sweetly. She kneeled at him and touched his face. Her long fingernails making him bleed.
"I'm in such a nice mood today. I'll give you a chance to run." Serena cooed.
"NEVER!" The man yelled. He thrust a cross in front of her face.
"Eek! Help! Help! Save me!" Serena jumped back.
The man thinking he found her weakness triumphantly moved closer until he backed Serena into a wall.
He was about to stake her, with the stake in his right hand, the cross on the other with Serena cowering. Then suddenly, Serena grinned. "I'm a good actress aren't I?" She asked her fangs lengthening.
The man backed down fear etched in his features.
"I'm too powerful to be afraid of anything." Serena advanced on him.
The man gave a futile attempt to shield himself with his bare hands before Serena snapped his neck.
The one with the hood came forward. He dropped the cloak, revealing a woman.
"I may not be such an easy opponent." The woman warned.
Serena gave her a challenging look. The woman stepped closer. "I'll kill you all!" The woman vowed with determination.
As the fight lengthened, Serena marveled at the woman's stamina and fierce willpower. Of course she could've easily blown the woman into dust with her gift of fire. But this was getting interesting. Never had a mere mortal like this challenged her. Perhaps this girl had some supernatural blood in her.
They were fighting using a sword. The woman was very aggressive while Serena merely defended, studying the girl's technique with interest, but at one point she miscalculated, Her sword flying away from her leaving her defenseless. The woman looked at her victoriously, "Now you die." The woman spat venomously positioning the sword to thrust in her. "Know the name of your defeater, I am Lita from the North Kingdom." She cried out. Before she could thrust the sword however, she burst into flames.
Serena stood up and dusted herself. She looked furiously at Darien.
"What did I do?" Darien asked clueless. "I didn't do it!" he said defensively. Serena advanced on him.
"I did it." Ash admitted behind her.
"Why?" Serena asked angry turning to look at him.
"It took so long. We'll be late." Ash shrugged. The girl Lita was laying burnt out on the floor.
"Foolish mortals." Darien muttered. Serena and Ash both heartily agreed.
END OF FLASHBACK
"Ash…" Serena thought with a sad smile. "Perhaps I can't fault you and Darien for we were once the same, but I have changed and I made a promise. And Serena Redfern always keeps her promises." Serena vowed.
Serena heard a sound at the living room and went to find her new roommate sprawled on the floor but sill asleep. Serena chuckled. Carrying Mina effortlessly, she placed her on the guest room beside her own room.
The next day, Mina groggily went into the kitchen.
"Mornin!" She mumbled. "I didn't hear you come in last night."
Serena smirked. "The girl can't even wake up after a fall off the couch."
Mina was busy eating the food Serena graciously prepared for her. Serena studied her as she eat. Glancing up nervously, "Um…aren't you going to eat anything?" Mina asked slowly. Serena waved a dismissive hand. "I already ate a toast and drank a coffee."
"You mean all of this food is for me alone?" Mina asked with a squeak, eyeing the loads of food on the table. Then she narrowed her eyes. "You're aren't trying to get me fat and juicy so that you can eat me would you?" Mina asked suspiciously.
Serena's eyes widened startled. Then she burst out laughing. Mina followed and soon they were laughing uncontrollably.
After awhile, "C'mon let's get to class. I don't want to be late for my first day." Mina said worried.
Serena stared at her in amazement. "Perhaps when you're reborn you changed a bit too." Serena thought, as this new Mina was more responsible than her happy-go-lucky cousin that she had remembered.
They were passing the hallway and on their way to their first class when Mina gave a squeal of delight. She feigned a swoon and Serena laughed at her antics. "What's the matter now?" Serena asked sternly but her eyes were humorous. It has been ages since she felt such a heartfelt laugh.
Mina pointed. "Isn't he just dreamy?" She said with a dazed expression.
Serena looked to where she was pointing. The hallways were crowded with lots of students as they waited for the bell to ring. Serena found him just outside the door talking to his friends. Serena had to admit he was quite pleasing to look at and quite familiar. His friends were not bad looking too.
"Do you think we're in the same class?" Mina whispered fiercely beside her.
Serena nodded mutely. The bell then rang and all of them bustled inside.
"Good morning class. Today we have several new students. Could you please come in front to introduce yourselves?" Their teacher asked.
Mina gave a gulp and stood up. She went in front of the class and flashed everyone a beaming smile. "Hello! My name's Mina Aino." She gave a little wave confident as ever. Half of the class that was all male started cheering on her and applauding loudly. Mina gave a wink and sat down on her seat.
"Maybe not completely change." Serena mumbled. Her attention was diverted away from her new friend to the 3 hot looking guys in front. Beside her, Mina's eyes widened and she was nearly drooling.
"Hi I'm Quatre Winner."
"Wufei Chang."
"Duo Maxwell." Duo gave a charming smile and the rest of the female population excluding Serena sighed.
Serena watched them closely as they gave further introductions. Her eyes narrowed as he felt their strong aura, she tried reading their minds but found it blocked. Something about these men unnerved her.
Quatre felt a presence watching them intently. He surveyed the room and found his eyes settle upon a beautiful woman at the back of the class. There was something unsettling about the woman. Quatre mentally scolded himself for being overly distrustful about everything. "Must be from hanging around Heero too much." Quatre thought in regards for his cynical friend. He dismissed the thought about the woman and went to sit to his new seat.
The class droned on and on and everyone was relieved when the lunch bell rang.
"Oh won't you agree that his gorgeous?" Mina gushed as she and Serena walked out towards the cafeteria.
"Huhummm…" Serena said uncommittedly. They got inside the busy cafeteria and Mina groaned at the length of the line.
"You think that they're serving gourmet food at the length of this line." Mina grumbled as she without choice was forced to get in line or have to suffer hunger pains till afternoon.
Serena sat at one of the empty tables not bothering to get in line since she doesn't need to eat anyway. She surveyed the rest of the room, checking out the people and was interested at the information that she had gathered. On her left were people from the Night world, beautiful, popular and deadly. On her right were groups of Night People that supposedly belong to Circle Daybreak. She caught both of the groups shooting glances at her and Serena sent a little message to their strongest telepaths.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME AND DON'T EVER DO ANYTHING TO INVOKE MY WRATH. I'M STRONGER THAN ANY OF YOU SO DON'T TRY ME."
Their gazes immediately turned away that Serena was satisfied of her little deed. Her gaze went over to the new guy. She found them at the last of the line. The boy with the braid seemed to be complaining about something while the Chinese man seemed to have threatened him and the blonde man was trying to pacify the two. Once again, Serena tried to read their minds but to no avail.
"What is it with these new guys?" Serena thought frustrated staring intently at them and working her powers to the fullest for even a glimpse of their thoughts. When the blonde haired man turned his eyes finding hers.
"An empath." The thought registered to Serena's head. She fixed her gaze elsewhere and was soon saved the trouble as Mina approached the table panting.
"Like the food?" Serena teased as Mina gobbled it down. Mina didn't answer and went on eating. Serena was reading a magazine when Mina suddenly squeezed her arm.
"OMG! He's staring over here!" Mina squealed. "I think I'm going to faint!" Mina whispered dramatically.
Serena rolled her eyes and wondered what Mina meant. Her eyes focused to the man she was staring at earlier. He was now the one staring intently at her. Serena shuffled her gaze away and trying to ignore the sense of "de ja vu" that these men invoke in her.
Duo was chatting loudly when he realized that no one was listening to him. Pouting, he followed Wufei and Quatre's trail of sight. While Wufei was staring warily at the people on the room, Quatre's attention was focused on a woman, 2 beautiful women in fact.
"They sure are hot!" Duo whistled. Quatre blushed and broke eye contact. "That girl, she was staring at us earlier." Quatre explained.
"Is she an enemy?" Wufei asked with a frown. Quatre shook his head unsure. "Anything else?" Duo prodded.
This time Wufei answered. "This room is full on Night People, several vampires, some shape shifters and a couple of witches, both on opposite sides. I sense some kind of neutrality on the right and a lot if evil vibes on the left." He said thoughtfully.
"We need to be careful around this school. I heard a rumor that a strong vampire resides here." Quatre said quietly. They stopped talking as they were nearing the cashier to pay for their meals. They sat on their tables when the loud speakers blared on…
"Due to the recent reported killings, there will be a curfew placed by the school administration to be followed by every student in this school. Take note, this is all for your safety any who is caught violating this law will be punished."
Several students groaned, while Serena's eyes darkened.
"Oh, this is so lame! I feel like a prisoner." Mina complained beside her.
Serena was silent and thinking. "What could have happened that made the school act so quickly? Now I will have to hunt more carefully."
That night the boys went hunting again. They were tailing a female vampire that had Duo as a decoy. The female vampire was whispering seductive things o his ear as she led Duo to a deserted spot. Duo was grasping the stake in his pocket when 2 other female vampires slipped outside the shadows. Duo's gave was shifting nervously at where the others could be.
Duo was praying silently when the vampire's beautiful face shifted, now she looked so eerily scary that Duo gulped. The other vampires were behind him, hissing and growling in anticipation.
The vampire crept even closer when a lit crossbow fired making the woman burst into flames. The two other vampires hissed trying to find their attacker, dismissing Duo. That's when he pulled out his stake and staked the taller of the female vampires. The other vampire looked surprise and very angry when Quatre and Wufei made themselves known.
"What is the meaning of this?" The vampire cried out. "You think you can stop us? Foolish Mortals!" The female vamp cried out. "Though I may die this night, legions after legions will come, and our mistress will reign supreme!" She spat before Wufei cut off her head in disgust. The three of them looked at each other and started to walk away when 8 other vamps cornered them.
"We saw what you did, and now you will pay with your life." The male vampire growled.
They got into quick combat and started fighting for their life. Quatre had already disposed of two, Wufei three and Duo one while currently fighting two other. They felt like they were losing. They were tired, their human bodies pushed to the limit and there were still 2 other vampires that were waiting for them to make a wrong move. The three of them were panting, holding on to their knees while the 2 vampires advanced on them. Duo was bleeding, Wufei had a broken rib and Quatre was bruised.
"Well, well, looks like everything's over already before we had our fun." The vampire mocked. Wufei was trying to stand and regain his strength while Duo was sprawled on the ground. Just as they thought that they were going to be goners the two other vampires burst into flames. Quatre gave a silent thanks to God and wobbled standing up. They both turned and helped Duo.
The 3 of them were walking back to their dorms when Quatre felt a presence behind them praying that it wasn't another vampire, He spun around and found himself watching the silhouette of a woman approach them, her face hidden by the darkness.
"Who is there? May I know you're name?" Quatre called out.
The woman came closer and they found themselves staring at purple eyes shifting to black and several other colors that they blink in surprise.
"Have we had the pleasure of meeting you?" Quatre asked politely. It was the woman in the cafeteria!
The woman chuckled. "I don't think that we have been formally introduced yet." She spoke her voice musical. "My name is Serena Redfern."
"Redfern!" Quatre thought with a sense of alarm, "May we know what you are doing out here this late at night? Tis a dangerous time right now." Quatre asked evenly.
"I think I should ask you the same thing." Serena asked her eyes reflecting amusement, eyeing Duo bleeding, being held up by the two of them.
"It's none of your business onna." Wufei said angry.
"Very well, you are quite right. It is such a dangerous night and it was foolish of me to go wandering. Maybe I should say the same for you. You wouldn't be quite as lucky the next time, though you might be strong never underestimate your opponent." Serena warned before she walked faster ahead and disappeared.
Quatre and Wufei were left staring at her disappearing figure before they quickened their pace.
A/n: to those who don't know what Circle Daybreak is, it is a group of vampires that are human friendly. Since most of the vampires have human soul mates.
Sneak Preview to the next chapter: Vampire's Kiss
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