"No no no. Composition is not just poetry! It's rhythm and meaning, emotion and feeling put into words and music. All you've done here is put words in a string and tried to make them sound pretty." Their composition teacher was insightful, intelligent, inspired, and incredibly harsh when others music didn't measure up to his standards. Yet another dejected group moved back from the small set up in the middle of the room shuffling their papers between them and shooting meaningful looks at one of their members.
Serena moved her arm to cover the sheet music set on the table before her. Similar copies were in front of her family members each written for the instruments they had chosen and learned to play, but this particular song was special in a personal way to Serena. After over six months of lessons and training the day of the competition was drawing ever closer and finally they had decided that this was the piece they were going to play for it. She'd written it one night when she'd been woken by her troubled dreams. That in turn was exactly what they had named it.
"Okay. Ms. Celeste and the Donnelley's would you please come up here and take your places?" Dr. Francis Bronco stood at a small podium with the doors to his back and the rest of the classroom, including the set, before him. His command was met with snickers from the rest of the class who all knew that their group had yet to come up with anything he'd even considered decent. This was their last chance at redemption and as they took their places and the lights in the room dimmed they all hoped or prayed silently that this would win him over.
Serena herself keyed up the keyboard making sure she had the right synth and tone before nodding to the others that she was ready. Each placed their hands over their instruments but no one else began as Serena slowly and precisely keyed out the melody. Amanda, who sat at the drums, began singing weaving her voice around Serena's melody and Serena, who they'd decided wasn't going to sing but hum, hummed along and the world outside their small stage disappeared.
"How is it I see you night after night,
"Yet your face and your name never come to light,
"Tossing and turning night after night
"I just want to see you to know you're all right."
The first four lines were soft and slow like any soft love song and at their conclusion Serena lowered the volume as she finished the melody and everything was brought down to a close. Simultaneously they all rose their eyes fixing a silent gaze at nothing particular but the effect was that they were looking at each and every one of the students as they stood there in almost complete silence. Everyone missed the flick of Serena's hand as she turned the keyboard and amplifiers to near maximum. The only warning was a single guitar chord before they blast out in to a full out song everyone singing or humming.
"Troubled dreams are all I have of you,
"The dreams of a soul lost girl lead me on
"Troubled dreams are all I need to follow
"Dreams that lead me home, oh please take me home
"These dreams bring me to the brink of knowledge but
"Toss me in the depths of despair
"Troubled dreams lead me in the night but
"The road seems to have no end
"These dreams must go somewhere must bring me home."
And here the music faded for a moment then they turned up the volume for the next verse.
"These dreams have a path for me, a meaning to be set clear
"Oh how I need to find you now, need to find and bring you near
"Please lead me on, on a road to find you
"In the dark and stormy nights your heart is so clear.
This time the music faded and did not come back up. Each instrument dropped off, each vocal disappeared until there was just Serena and her keyboard. By this point she was so far into the music she didn't even realize that she was singing alone. They had decided that the low gravely burr of her voice was the perfect ending for such a short song because it portrayed a better sense of finality. Knowing that her voice was nothing to Amanda's she'd finally given in.
"How is it I see you night after night,
"Yet your face and your name never come to light,
"Tossing and turning night after night
"I just want to see you to know you're all right."
"These dreams that you send me throughout the troubled night
"Are they a warning or a promise oh dark knight.
"Raven's wing and cold crystal blue light
"These trouble dreams give me hope for the fight.
She hummed the melody as it wound down to a pregnant silence. The lights on the stage came up but no one said a thing making the group restless as they each set down their instruments and turned off the electronic equipment getting the stage ready for whoever was next. When done they stood looking at the teacher who was standing at his podium the oddest look on his face as he stared directly at Serena.
She felt the scrutiny and wondered if she had something on her face or her hair, which now hung over her ears and sort of fanned out around her head, was standing strait on end. Maybe she'd gotten food on her best baby blue sweater or some dirt on the fuzzy tight pants she'd worn to match. Each she checked quickly but no nothing was out of place. The teacher opened his mouth a couple times and Serena wondered if finally he was going to say something. Probably yell at them for something.
"Copper Moons and the Silver Star." The teacher finally managed to get out and he pointed to each of them in turn. None of red heads got it. Serena looked at them each in turn and realized that the three red heads could be taken as copper haired, and she herself had almost silver hair. She got his meaning but tried not to make a face.
"A group name sir? Isn't that kind of odd?" She asked knowing that not in a million years would she have come up with something that sounded so out of place. Yet somehow it did indeed fit them and the differences they had between each other. The teacher was saved from answering from the bell ringing and as though on cue, Serena and the others promptly forgot about the class and their teachers weird suggestion.
Each of them had a race that night and after some rude comments by some of their fellow students/racers they each wanted to go over their cars and make sure nothing went wrong.
Surprised at herself yet again Serena drove home on the almost empty highway some soft music on her stereo and the wind ruffling her hair. The prize had been double tonight, the race much larger and longer than normal, a half mile instead of the normal quarter and almost twice as many racers were allowed to enter. She'd been nervous at first but as always she felt at home in her car, the sound of the motor music to her ears, something she almost wouldn't want to do without. She'd won with ease much to the dislike of many other racers and this time she'd even received a couple very nasty threats.
As the memory crossed her mind Serena double checked her rear view mirror doing a double take when she thought she saw three exact copies of a car driving side by side gaining on her which was odd enough since she was going fifteen over the speed limit. She rechecked her speed then the mirror and they were indeed gaining. They switched lanes so that one of them was still behind her but the other two would go around her left leaving her right open only to the side of the road and a large gully that separated the directions of traffic.
They were going to try and run her off the road. She realized this long before the first car came even with her rear bumper. Going faster on this road was nearly impossible. Not only would it be reckless but her ground effects kit was fiberglass and wouldn't stand up to the wind sheer. She couldn't accelerate and because of the car behind her she couldn't break without causing more damage and possible injury.
When faced with possible damage or death, not to herself, but to others around her Serena didn't even question her actions as she sought the best way to keep from them to getting hurt. If she fought back, tried to move her car forward or to the left it was possible that they would slam on their breaks or go off the other side of the road. It was a three lane highway but there were so few cars on the road that a trip to the other side would be unimpeded. There was only dirt and scrub brush on that side but that didn't necessarily mean someone wouldn't flip over or get thrown from their car.
Frantically she searched her mind for any memory of this stretch of asphalt that might help her but all she could dredge up was the construction that had been covering the road last time she'd driven it. Wait, the construction!
Originally there had been over a hundred feet of asphalt poured off the right side of the road for a detour when a bridge had been repaired over another road. If memory served her right, and it always did, that bottom road was now closed for construction but the bridge was complete and the detour still in place. If she could keep her car on the road until then she doubted the other drivers knew it was there and she might be able to pull off there.
With no other turnoffs for five miles they wouldn't be able to come back for her without turning around and by that time Alex and the others should be on their way home as well. Serena seriously regretted not staying there for the party but she'd been really tired and wanted to go home with her winnings and plan out what she was going to do with the money. Now she'd be lucky if she lived that long.
Up ahead the bridge appeared and as far as the three other cars knew they had Serena right where they wanted her. One red car with red tinted windows as in front of her while there was another on the left side and the third was behind her. They had effectively blocked off her only real means of escape and she realized that they were starting to slow a little. They were planning on stopping on the bridge where she had no means of escaping them. What they planned to do to her then she didn't know but rape and a good beating weren't out of the question. Both of those had been suggestions for possible pay back earlier.
Serena showed no signs of stopping and the rear bumper of the car in front of her was getting closer and closer. Knowing that her car was going to be totaled no matter what she did Serena decided that they could do with a little damage to their cars as well, and maybe it was something to catch them by. She scrabbled with her purse finally finding an old receipt to right on and a pen. Quickly she put down a description of the Honda Civics, their maneuvers and her plan, the one she could see had no license plate but it would quickly be noticed in a garage or auto body shop.
This paper along with her roll of money she placed in the secret compartment in the steering wheel. All of the steering wheels the Donnelley's used had such devices to keep valuables and wallets and they were all fireproof, waterproof, and supposedly bomb proof. They could only be unlocked by an electronic key of which the Donnelley's kept extras at the house so someone would be able to find the note.
Before she was ready they had reached the point where they would either have to slow her down or go past the bridge the outlet for the detour near at hand. It had been blocked off with big orange barrels but that wasn't much trouble to get through. The front of her car finally met with the other sending a jolt through the entire vehicle but she held on fighting the pull of the wheel. Once more the two cars met and Serena had to wrench on the wheel to unlock them and whispering a quick prayer she pulled hard.
Orange barrels went over and under her car the tires spitting them out behind and her windshield web-lined with cracks. Serena couldn't see much and she started breaking. A jolt ripped through her Supra making her entire body ache with whiplash while she looked out the rear unbroken mirror.
The Civic behind her had instead of going strait, followed her and the driver seemed intent on pushing her forward to where she couldn't see. Serena tried using her breaks to slow down but the car kept pushing and although they were decreasing speed it wasn't nearly fast enough. Her car started turning to the side pushed into it when they tried to turn her. At still almost sixty miles an hour she was going to roll if they pushed the car just right and that was exactly where she was going.
Making a quick decision she pulled hard on her steering wheel opposite direction of the turn and lifted sharply on the emergency break sending herself into a spin away from the civic. She heard it slam on it's breaks but she was to concerned with the dizzying spin and with her limited vision she never saw the four foot cement wall that plowed into the front of her car. She did feel it though along with the shattering crunch of the Civic hitting her. Her body was just one large pain she couldn't move her legs since they were crushed by the dash that was squashed down.
Her arms were limp like she couldn't force the energy into them and her head throbbed. Something sharp and hot sliced her head and her vision was soon clouded with a hot liquid. She heard footsteps crunch on the glass on the ground and she turned to look but couldn't make out a face.
"Well, darlin just look where you got yerself." Whoever it was had a southern drawl and they set their hands on the open window besides Serena. She tried to spit at him but it ended up dribbling down her chin. They laughed a cold heartless laugh at the sight of her so helpless and that's exactly what she was. "You deserved it you Bich and I hope you now realize what you've done." Serena had no clue what he was talking about nor did she really care. All she was worried about was weather or not he was going to drag her from the car and do something worse.
Just then one of his buddies showed up and yelled for him to leave, which thankfully he did whistling the song she'd sung in class that day. Somehow Serena doubted that they would want to be anywhere nearby when the authorities or help showed up and she felt them pulling their car away from hers. She waited what she thought was forever slipping in an out of consciousness before another car pulled up. It wasn't her family but a stranger that came upon the scene of a little car it's model and driver almost indiscernible because of the damage. Serena passed out again before any emergency teams showed up.
Usagi woke up in the hospital a couple times but each time there were tubes in her throat so she couldn't say anything or ask any questions. The people all around her were strange and alien, the people spoke in a language she wasn't familiar with and everything was so out of place. Each time she woke though she was to tired to fight or she hurt to much. What had happened to her, how had she ended up in the place? The last thing she remembered was the plane accident and using her powers to keep it from crashing. What had happened after that? Where was she? Quietly a cool and soothing voice comforted her.
It's not time to wake up Usagi, I promised everything would be right, and it will be. Go back to sleep, rest, get better. She wanted to sleep but she also wanted to know what was going on. She was so curious but so so tired. Sleep Usagi, trust me. Everything will be explained in time but that time is not now. And so with Serenity's voice in her mind Usagi willingly went back to the depths where she dreamt wonderful dreams and lived someone else's life.
"Serena!" Amanda squealed when finally her sister opened her eyes with a look of comprehension instead of confusion or utter delirium. Serena's eyes wandered over the room until the sounds she heard finally formed themselves into comprehensible words and she knew she was being spoken to.
"Amanda?" She asked. Her throat was raw and the muscles felt unused. Slowly and painfully she raised her hand to her neck to massage it. She couldn't have missed the I.V. running to her from the rack on the wall. She hurt so much that she could have willingly slept and never woke up. But that wasn't her nature so after closing her eyes briefly she opened them back up and looked at her sister. She looked worried but happy.
"Finally, your awake. It's been almost a week." Amanda told her moving her chair on the right side of Serena's bed closer so the girl didn't have to try to talk so loud. She also helped Serena get a drink from a cup of water with a straw. It helped a little bit.
"What happened?" Serena asked taking in her leg in a cast and propped up by a sling hanging from the roof. Her ribs were wrapped tightly till it was hard to breath, not that it didn't hurt anyway, and her left arm was also wrapped from the shoulder down but not cast. There was an air cast supporting her wrist which she couldn't move and it hurt to even try such a move. Her head was a dull throb and a small bit of gauze was hanging over the edge of her eyesight.
"Well we found your note, but the police haven't been able to find the three red cars. If the damage was as bad as you say they probably took the one that was wrecked and tossed it in a junkyard. None of the body shops have reported anything that would be similar and for the price offered even these guys best friends would turn them in." Amanda gave her another sip of water so she could talk.
"I'm not surprised. One of them had a southern accent but I couldn't see him, there was something in my eyes." She tried to raise her hand to her head remembering the sharp and hot pain, but she didn't have enough energy and painfully it fell to the blanket. Amanda looked on sympatheticly.
"Shrapnel, well a piece of metal from their car went through the back window and sliced off a good portion of your scalp." She motioned on her own head outlining a good portion almost half the left side. "The doctor said it would heal and the skin would grow back but until then you have to keep it covered and it may or may not grow hair again. As for the rest of you, the fractured wrist and broken leg are only the beginning."
"Your a very lucky young woman." A doctor stood in the doorway having heard Amanda start in on Serena's injuries. The woman, a Dr. Noraway didn't look much older than Serena herself and was only a bit taller than Amanda was. She had a soft brown hair held back by a barrette and equally soft eyes and she wore her lab coat over a comfortable pair of slacks and sensible shirt. She was someone Serena would expect to see in a mall not a hospital.
"The internal injuries weren't as bad as they could have been and your and astonishingly fast healer which might just be what saved your life. A broken rib had punctured a couple of your organs but when we got it they weren't life threatening anymore. Your head, the arm and your leg will take much more time though and I'm afraid that you'll be in a wheelchair for the better part of three months. Your hip took some serious damage when the passenger seat decided to switch with your own." She looked at Serena's I.V then placed a comforting hand on the girls shoulder.
"On the bright side you will fully recover from an accident which most wouldn't have survived and there was no permanent damage to your skull. After the physical therapy I'd say you'll be back to normal in maybe five to six months. Until then take it easy." She smiled and took Serena's chart.
"No saving the world for me then. What a bummer." Serena joked to which she got laughs. The doctor went over her checking her eyes and ears, even her nose. She also ordered some throat lozenges for Serena who had long since given up trying to talk. Once she was satisfied she told Serena she'd be back later and left. Amanda sat back in her chair.
"Geeze Serena you could have died." She whispered. Serena who thought that maybe the lozenges would have helped by now nodded and replied.
"You think I don't know that? I guess all those stories about kids thinking they're invincible is true. I just wish that they'd caught those creeps that did this. I think it's someone in our choir class though. The one that talked to me was whistling our song." She had run out of water and Amanda left to get her one. She came back with Alex who had some juice cartons and ice. Serena chose an apple juice with plenty of the cold ice and it helped much more than water had.
"Amanda says you think we know him. Alex said after going over the normal concerns for her health and such. Serena nodded and Amanda repeated the part about the whistling. "But no one in that class is southern that I know of, we'll have to ask the administrator for help checking the files." He said grabbing a seat for himself. Amanda agreed with him but Serena didn't know if that would be any help. This all just seemed so orchestrated, planned. Whoever it was wasn't going to be caught so easily.
"Now who let this gorgeous woman left with these two mongrels." Joseph remarked lightening the mood in the room. He had a bouquet of flowers in a cup which at her peal of happiness he handed over to Serena to smell. They were miniature roses a soft pink and white and she loved them.
"Hardly gorgeous." She told him. "More like the troll under the bridge." She said to Mr. Donnelley and glaring at Adam who came in behind him. Adam had held out his arms and started stomping around before bonking Alex with an invisible club. He glared back until Serena had to look away. Her head hurt.
"Well troll or know you still look beautiful to me. So how's the glop in here. I overheard somewhere that the nursing home is jealous of the food that the patients get." He asked Serena but she hadn't eaten yet and told him so. They talked about a couple other things before the nurse came and kicked them out. Adam, the last one out, turned under the doorframe and looked at her. She looked back and would have raised an eyebrow in question but she wasn't sure she had them.
"We're all really glad you pulled through Serena, life wouldn't have been the same without you. See ya troll." He winked before leaving and Serena smiled at the closed door before settling back on her bed and falling asleep.