( Thanks to a spell check by a kind reviewer, I realized I spelled Mina's
name wrong- Mina, not Mena. Just to let you know! Also, the front of the
set is two levels high. The bottom is the floor. The stairs going up lead
to a landing, where a daybed is, then another set of stairs lead up to the
hall, or the second level, with two walls on either end hiding the stairs
to exit.)
Serena opened her eyes slowly, and suddenly felt a heavy pressure inside her head. She was staring up at the light, that much she knew. Where was she? What happened? Where was Darien?
" Serena, are you okay?" a voice asked. Squinting, Serena could make out Jenni's face. Behind her was the entire cast and crew, along with Mr. Inick. Jenni helped Serena sit up, and handed her a glass of water. Serena drank it slowly, aware that maybe she should be feeling pain in her neck, but not feeling any. She looked around, and realized she was sitting on the set, on the daybed on the second floor.
" I'm fine." Serena assured them all, then looked to Jenni. " What happened?"
Jenni sat down on the steps by the daybed. " Well, they decided to start the scene without Darien on headsets. We were halfway through when Trent came over and told me the actors were having to manually open the doors themselves. I asked him why you weren't opening the doors for them, and he said you weren't there. So I went over to look for you, and Rei told me you had gone to find Darien. She told me you went back behind the set, so I went back there. And halfway through, I tripped on something, looked down, and saw you laying there. You were unconscious. So that's my story. I don't know why you were like that. What's your version?"
Serena put a hand to her head. She remembered what happened. Darien bit her neck and now it was numb. But why? " Well, I went back to find Darien, and....." she looked up then, and saw Darien sitting behind the light switch table. He looked perfectly normal. She jumped up and grabbed Jenni's hand.
" What's wrong?" Jenni asked, alarmed. Serena jumped down behind the set, pulling Jenni with her. She looked around to make sure nobody was back there, then told Jenni her story.
" I went back to find Darien, and I did! Except, he was lying on the ground. I went over to see if he was all right, but he looked at me, he looked really scary. His face was all white and his eye were black and he had fangs! Then he...bit me on the neck and..." Serena slowed down, hearing how ridiculous her story actually sounded. Jenni, normally very serious about everything, smiled, and even started to laugh.
" I can see where this is going." She stated, waggling her finger up and down. " Too much Dracula, right? I mean, we're here almost the whole week, it's too much theater for all of us. But you know, Serena, it's just a story. The author based most of the gruesome stuff on, well, gruesome stuff, but not the way it happened in Dracula. It's really just make- be....." Furious, Serena cut her off.
" No! It's true! Darien's a vampire, I saw it! He had fangs and everything!" she spoke in a loud whisper. Jenni was doing all she could to stay on her feet and laugh at the same time.
" Sure, Serena. I can see it now." she moved her arms in front of her, pretending to visualize titles. " 'Count Darien.' It'll be a huge hit. A normal teenage boy is actually a blood thirsty vampire, preying on the poor lives in the stage crew!" Jenni lost control and sat down hard, her sides shaking. Serena gave a frustrated groan, and stomped away. She sat down at the double doors, and Mr. Inick approached her.
" Serena, um...I don't know what happened, but if you want to go home, you can. I'll have Joe take your place, he's willing to learn." He told her slowly. Grateful, Serena smiled weakly at him.
" Thank you, Mr. Inick. I'll go call my mom." She got up and went out the back door, escaping into the cool, biting, end-of-fall air. The trees surrounded this particular door, shadowing Serena in the already dark night, and she trotted across the pavement courtyard to the school entrance. Inside, half the school was dark. A few clubs were pulling their meetings to a close, night classes were halfway through, the janitors were finishing up. Yet down by the visitor entrance, there was a loud commotion as crowds came in to see Dracula.
Serena walked to the pay phone and called her house.
" Hello?" Mrs. Tsukino answered the phone.
" Hi Mom, it's me. Um, the play was canceled for tonight, can you pick me up?" she didn't want her mother to know the real reason she was coming home.
" All right. By the visitor entrance?" Mrs. Tsukino asked wearily, wondering where to pick Serena up. Serena figured there'd be too many people, and told her mother to get her in front of the school. Mrs. Tsukino agreed, and they hung up.
Feeling suddenly free and just a little tired, Serena stepped outside. The front of the school was a huge entrance of four double doors and huge white pillars. Below the cement steps leading to the doors was a long cement courtyard, leading down to the sidewalk. Across the street were houses, a tiny sleeping neighborhood. Serena leaned against a pillar and closed her eyes, thinking about what had happened.
" Hey." Serena spun around, and came face to face with, none other then, Darien. He looked healthy and just as he had every other time Serena had seen him. But this time, Serena felt a warning sting on her neck, and she instinctively backed away.
" What do you want?" she asked coldly, resisting the urge to put her hand to her neck. Darien shrugged.
" I just wanted to apologize. I didn't want to drink your blood, but I was panicking. And when I'm coming undone like that, I don't always think straight." He looked almost pained, and Serena softened up.
" Coming undone?" she asked curiously. Darien nodded.
" Yeah. When I have substantial blood, I look perfectly normal. Like this. But when I'm low on blood, my vampire traits start to become obvious. When I have no blood left, I'm completely in my vampire form, and I can be pretty dangerous." He explained.
Serena thought it was a nice warning for him to tell her that. " How do you get enough blood?" she asked, very interested now. Darien half grinned.
" Usually, I drink animal blood. I try not to attack the same animal more than twice, or I get hooked on their blood and want to keep taking it until they die of blood loss. I'm supposed to drink human blood, but I think it's a little less cannibalistic if I drink animal blood instead. But if I go too long without human blood, I start to come undone anyway, since animal blood doesn't cover me as long." He leaned against the opposite pillar and smiled. " Any more questions?"
Serena blushed, then nodded. " Have you always been a vampire?" Darien shook his head.
" No. I used to be normal. When I was ten, I went camping with some other kids, and we explored a bat cave. I don't know why, but one bat decided to bite me. The other kids said it was a vampire bat, but I didn't believe them." He approached Serena, tugged at his shirt collar, and showed her two scarlet marks on his shoulder. " That's where it bit me. After that, my blood just dried up inside me, not that I realized it at the time. So I became blood thirsty and that's how I started my career as a vampire."
A car horn honked below them, and Serena began to walk away. " That's my mom. I gotta' go. Nice talking to you, Darien." She called as she climbed in the car. He waved to her and walked inside.
The next day, Serena went over to Lita's house to do a cooking project for school.
" Hey Serena! How'd the play go?" Lita asked upon Serena' arrival.
Serena grinned proudly." I didn't stay for it. Mr. Inick told me I could go home."
Lita laughed. " Are you that troublesome? And I thought the three of us were....Serena!" Lita stared at Serena in horror. Serena stared back, surprised.
" What?" she asked. Lita pointed to Serena's neck.
" You have a spider bite!" she cried. Serena, not being a fan of spiders, jumped up and being going, " Ohh, ohhh, ohhh! How disgusting!" she slapped at her neck and felt two bumps. And then she remembered.
" Oh, Lita. This isn't a spider bite." She immediately calmed down. Lita stopped jumping.
" It's not?" she asked, unsure. Serena nodded.
" Yeah. It's a vampire bite. I got last night, that's why I could go home." She explained. Lita twisted her face into a confused expression. A vampire bite? Had the play gotten to Serena that much? The tall brunette took Serena's hand to lead her into the kitchen. " Serena, I think I'll make some tea. We'll sit down and talk about vampires before we start cooking, okay?"
Serena yanked her hand free. " No, it's true! Darien's a vampire, and last night he was coming undone, and I found him first, so he drank my blood!"
Lita scratched her head. " You sound proud of that. Serena, don't say stuff like that, I bet Darien wouldn't like it if he heard from someone else that he was a vampire."
Serena stomped her foot hard, making her blond odangos wobble. " No, it's true! He knows he's one, he told me so!" Lita pushed Serena onto the couch and headed towards the kitchen.
" Serena, you just....stay there. Don't move. You might further add to your serious head injury. I'll make you some hot chocolate, okay? Would you like that? And then we'll start on the cooking project. Just, don't move." Lita continued backing away until she was completely in the next room, and then she busied herself making hot chocolate.
The next night, Serena sat in her room reading comics. She didn't notice her window open, or the fog in the room. She didn't realize anything was wrong until the lights went off.
" Hey, Sammy!" Serena slammed down her comic book, then froze. The room was illuminated by the moon outside, so that an eerie glow fell on everything. Except for a tall shadow at the foot of Serena's bed.
" Blood, I need it now." came the raspy voice. Glowing white fingers lifted away the hood, and Darien's face a revealed. It was worse then the last time Serena had seen it like this. The skin, still bright white, was tight around the facial bones and getting tighter by the minute. Darien was turning into a skeleton of a vampire right in front of her! Noiselessly, he made his way to Serena, and sat down next to her.
Serena, though scared, felt strangely calm at the same time. It was almost like this was no big deal. But why was he back for her blood? Darien the person and Darien the vampire are mentally two different people, Serena reminded herself.
Darien grinned darkly, and turned her face away from him so the bitten side of her neck was exposed. " You'll be like me if this keeps up." He choked out, and his mouth came down over her neck.
Serena had a draining feeling, like suddenly her body was completely dry, but it didn't feel bad. She almost wanted to be completely dry. Darien released her, and Serena watched his face go back to normal.
" That was quick." Serena commented, feeling drowsy. Darien put his normal colored hands to his face, checking to make sure it was better.
" That's all it takes." He replied. Serena smiled at him with sleepy eyes. He smiled back, and suddenly bent down and kissed her. Their lips locked, and suddenly everything was warm, and then Darien was gone.
Serena opened her eyes slowly, and suddenly felt a heavy pressure inside her head. She was staring up at the light, that much she knew. Where was she? What happened? Where was Darien?
" Serena, are you okay?" a voice asked. Squinting, Serena could make out Jenni's face. Behind her was the entire cast and crew, along with Mr. Inick. Jenni helped Serena sit up, and handed her a glass of water. Serena drank it slowly, aware that maybe she should be feeling pain in her neck, but not feeling any. She looked around, and realized she was sitting on the set, on the daybed on the second floor.
" I'm fine." Serena assured them all, then looked to Jenni. " What happened?"
Jenni sat down on the steps by the daybed. " Well, they decided to start the scene without Darien on headsets. We were halfway through when Trent came over and told me the actors were having to manually open the doors themselves. I asked him why you weren't opening the doors for them, and he said you weren't there. So I went over to look for you, and Rei told me you had gone to find Darien. She told me you went back behind the set, so I went back there. And halfway through, I tripped on something, looked down, and saw you laying there. You were unconscious. So that's my story. I don't know why you were like that. What's your version?"
Serena put a hand to her head. She remembered what happened. Darien bit her neck and now it was numb. But why? " Well, I went back to find Darien, and....." she looked up then, and saw Darien sitting behind the light switch table. He looked perfectly normal. She jumped up and grabbed Jenni's hand.
" What's wrong?" Jenni asked, alarmed. Serena jumped down behind the set, pulling Jenni with her. She looked around to make sure nobody was back there, then told Jenni her story.
" I went back to find Darien, and I did! Except, he was lying on the ground. I went over to see if he was all right, but he looked at me, he looked really scary. His face was all white and his eye were black and he had fangs! Then he...bit me on the neck and..." Serena slowed down, hearing how ridiculous her story actually sounded. Jenni, normally very serious about everything, smiled, and even started to laugh.
" I can see where this is going." She stated, waggling her finger up and down. " Too much Dracula, right? I mean, we're here almost the whole week, it's too much theater for all of us. But you know, Serena, it's just a story. The author based most of the gruesome stuff on, well, gruesome stuff, but not the way it happened in Dracula. It's really just make- be....." Furious, Serena cut her off.
" No! It's true! Darien's a vampire, I saw it! He had fangs and everything!" she spoke in a loud whisper. Jenni was doing all she could to stay on her feet and laugh at the same time.
" Sure, Serena. I can see it now." she moved her arms in front of her, pretending to visualize titles. " 'Count Darien.' It'll be a huge hit. A normal teenage boy is actually a blood thirsty vampire, preying on the poor lives in the stage crew!" Jenni lost control and sat down hard, her sides shaking. Serena gave a frustrated groan, and stomped away. She sat down at the double doors, and Mr. Inick approached her.
" Serena, um...I don't know what happened, but if you want to go home, you can. I'll have Joe take your place, he's willing to learn." He told her slowly. Grateful, Serena smiled weakly at him.
" Thank you, Mr. Inick. I'll go call my mom." She got up and went out the back door, escaping into the cool, biting, end-of-fall air. The trees surrounded this particular door, shadowing Serena in the already dark night, and she trotted across the pavement courtyard to the school entrance. Inside, half the school was dark. A few clubs were pulling their meetings to a close, night classes were halfway through, the janitors were finishing up. Yet down by the visitor entrance, there was a loud commotion as crowds came in to see Dracula.
Serena walked to the pay phone and called her house.
" Hello?" Mrs. Tsukino answered the phone.
" Hi Mom, it's me. Um, the play was canceled for tonight, can you pick me up?" she didn't want her mother to know the real reason she was coming home.
" All right. By the visitor entrance?" Mrs. Tsukino asked wearily, wondering where to pick Serena up. Serena figured there'd be too many people, and told her mother to get her in front of the school. Mrs. Tsukino agreed, and they hung up.
Feeling suddenly free and just a little tired, Serena stepped outside. The front of the school was a huge entrance of four double doors and huge white pillars. Below the cement steps leading to the doors was a long cement courtyard, leading down to the sidewalk. Across the street were houses, a tiny sleeping neighborhood. Serena leaned against a pillar and closed her eyes, thinking about what had happened.
" Hey." Serena spun around, and came face to face with, none other then, Darien. He looked healthy and just as he had every other time Serena had seen him. But this time, Serena felt a warning sting on her neck, and she instinctively backed away.
" What do you want?" she asked coldly, resisting the urge to put her hand to her neck. Darien shrugged.
" I just wanted to apologize. I didn't want to drink your blood, but I was panicking. And when I'm coming undone like that, I don't always think straight." He looked almost pained, and Serena softened up.
" Coming undone?" she asked curiously. Darien nodded.
" Yeah. When I have substantial blood, I look perfectly normal. Like this. But when I'm low on blood, my vampire traits start to become obvious. When I have no blood left, I'm completely in my vampire form, and I can be pretty dangerous." He explained.
Serena thought it was a nice warning for him to tell her that. " How do you get enough blood?" she asked, very interested now. Darien half grinned.
" Usually, I drink animal blood. I try not to attack the same animal more than twice, or I get hooked on their blood and want to keep taking it until they die of blood loss. I'm supposed to drink human blood, but I think it's a little less cannibalistic if I drink animal blood instead. But if I go too long without human blood, I start to come undone anyway, since animal blood doesn't cover me as long." He leaned against the opposite pillar and smiled. " Any more questions?"
Serena blushed, then nodded. " Have you always been a vampire?" Darien shook his head.
" No. I used to be normal. When I was ten, I went camping with some other kids, and we explored a bat cave. I don't know why, but one bat decided to bite me. The other kids said it was a vampire bat, but I didn't believe them." He approached Serena, tugged at his shirt collar, and showed her two scarlet marks on his shoulder. " That's where it bit me. After that, my blood just dried up inside me, not that I realized it at the time. So I became blood thirsty and that's how I started my career as a vampire."
A car horn honked below them, and Serena began to walk away. " That's my mom. I gotta' go. Nice talking to you, Darien." She called as she climbed in the car. He waved to her and walked inside.
The next day, Serena went over to Lita's house to do a cooking project for school.
" Hey Serena! How'd the play go?" Lita asked upon Serena' arrival.
Serena grinned proudly." I didn't stay for it. Mr. Inick told me I could go home."
Lita laughed. " Are you that troublesome? And I thought the three of us were....Serena!" Lita stared at Serena in horror. Serena stared back, surprised.
" What?" she asked. Lita pointed to Serena's neck.
" You have a spider bite!" she cried. Serena, not being a fan of spiders, jumped up and being going, " Ohh, ohhh, ohhh! How disgusting!" she slapped at her neck and felt two bumps. And then she remembered.
" Oh, Lita. This isn't a spider bite." She immediately calmed down. Lita stopped jumping.
" It's not?" she asked, unsure. Serena nodded.
" Yeah. It's a vampire bite. I got last night, that's why I could go home." She explained. Lita twisted her face into a confused expression. A vampire bite? Had the play gotten to Serena that much? The tall brunette took Serena's hand to lead her into the kitchen. " Serena, I think I'll make some tea. We'll sit down and talk about vampires before we start cooking, okay?"
Serena yanked her hand free. " No, it's true! Darien's a vampire, and last night he was coming undone, and I found him first, so he drank my blood!"
Lita scratched her head. " You sound proud of that. Serena, don't say stuff like that, I bet Darien wouldn't like it if he heard from someone else that he was a vampire."
Serena stomped her foot hard, making her blond odangos wobble. " No, it's true! He knows he's one, he told me so!" Lita pushed Serena onto the couch and headed towards the kitchen.
" Serena, you just....stay there. Don't move. You might further add to your serious head injury. I'll make you some hot chocolate, okay? Would you like that? And then we'll start on the cooking project. Just, don't move." Lita continued backing away until she was completely in the next room, and then she busied herself making hot chocolate.
The next night, Serena sat in her room reading comics. She didn't notice her window open, or the fog in the room. She didn't realize anything was wrong until the lights went off.
" Hey, Sammy!" Serena slammed down her comic book, then froze. The room was illuminated by the moon outside, so that an eerie glow fell on everything. Except for a tall shadow at the foot of Serena's bed.
" Blood, I need it now." came the raspy voice. Glowing white fingers lifted away the hood, and Darien's face a revealed. It was worse then the last time Serena had seen it like this. The skin, still bright white, was tight around the facial bones and getting tighter by the minute. Darien was turning into a skeleton of a vampire right in front of her! Noiselessly, he made his way to Serena, and sat down next to her.
Serena, though scared, felt strangely calm at the same time. It was almost like this was no big deal. But why was he back for her blood? Darien the person and Darien the vampire are mentally two different people, Serena reminded herself.
Darien grinned darkly, and turned her face away from him so the bitten side of her neck was exposed. " You'll be like me if this keeps up." He choked out, and his mouth came down over her neck.
Serena had a draining feeling, like suddenly her body was completely dry, but it didn't feel bad. She almost wanted to be completely dry. Darien released her, and Serena watched his face go back to normal.
" That was quick." Serena commented, feeling drowsy. Darien put his normal colored hands to his face, checking to make sure it was better.
" That's all it takes." He replied. Serena smiled at him with sleepy eyes. He smiled back, and suddenly bent down and kissed her. Their lips locked, and suddenly everything was warm, and then Darien was gone.