Serena's running down the street, calling out "Kitten! Kitten! Where are you!"
She stops at a bus stop & takes a break. "Wow," she turned around. "I hope I can find my way home."
When she's got her wind back, Serena takes off again. "Kitten!"
Darien's walking down the street, reading a book. He hears Serena's cries & looks up in time to literally run into her!
The two kids fly backwards, landing on their butts.
"Ow…" Serena mumbles, rubbing her butt.
"You OK?" Darien asks, lending a hand.
Serena looks up at him, smiling. "Yeah." She takes his hand & he pulls her up to her feet. "Sorry I ran into you."
"No prob. Why were you running anyway?"
They go to sit down in the park & Serena tells him her story. Darien sits, listening. When she finishes, he stands up. "We should go check the animal shelter first."
Serena looks up at him & nods. "OK." She gets up as well & the two of them walk to the animal shelter.
Meanwhile, Mr. & Mrs. Tsukino are out front, yelling for Serena. "Serena! Where are you, sweetheart?" Mrs. Tsukino yells. When there's no answer, she sinks to her knees, crying. "Where did she go?"
Mr. Tsukino comforted his wife. "We'll find her soon. I promise you."
Mrs. Tsukino wipes her eyes, weakly smiling. "OK." With help from her husband, she gets up. "But I'm calling the police." She walks inside.
Mr. Tsukino watches her go inside, then turns & begins calling again.
Darien & Serena walk into the animal shelter. The woman there sees them & walks over to them. "How can I help you?"
"I lost my kitten. Is she here?" Serena asks, eyes wide.
"Well, let's go check." She walks back to her computer. "Now what did she look like?"
"She's black, about this big & she is really cute."
The woman bits her lip, typing something. "Does she have a name tag or something?"
Serena shook her head. "No. I found her at lunch time."
The woman grabs some keys. "Well, let's go in the back & see if we can find her."
Serena & Darien follow her in the back. The minute the woman opens the door, Serena runs in, calling out "Kitten! Kitten, are you here!" She runs past all the cages, looking. When she can't her, Serena begins to cry. "What if I never find her?"
Darien walked over & comforted her. "Don't worry. We'll find her. I promise."
Serena looked at him & wiped her tears. "OK."
The two kids walked back to the woman. "I'm sorry that you didn't find your kitten."
Serena smiled at her. "It's OK." She bows. "Arigato."
The woman smiles & leads them out. They walk out of the animal shelter, Serena feeling sadder than ever.
Darien tried to make her feel better. "Hey, I bet she's probably back at your house!"
Serena looks up, hopeful. "You think so?"
Darien nods, praying he was right. "I'm sure."
Serena smiles & grabs his hand. "Let's go then!"
Darien lets himself be dragged by the hopeful girl.
The two run off toward Serena's house. 5 minute later, Serena's house comes into view.
"I see my house!" Serena exclaims, but then stops.
Darien slams into her. "What's wrong?"
Serena points a shaking finger at her front lawn. Darien looks & gasps. Mr. & Mrs. Tsukino are passed out on the lawn, along with the other adults in the neighborhood.
"What happened?" Darien asked, in shock.
Serena lets go of his hand & begins running to her parents. "Serena, wait!" Darien runs after her.
Serena drops to her knees by her mom. "Mommy, wake up!" She shakes her.
Darien reaches her as she begins to cry. He bends down & brings her into a hug. "Shh, it's fine."
Serena cried into her chest. "No, it's not. They're dead!"
"No they're not. They're just sleeping." Darien tries to comfort her, but Serena keeps crying, gripping onto his shirt.
They stay like that for a few moments, then Serena slowly begins to slow down. She lets go of his shirt & leans back.
"Better?" Darien asks, smiling.
Serena took in shallow breaths & wiped her tears away. "A little." She attempts to smile.
"Good." Darien gets up, but then feels something thrown into the back of his neck! "Ow!" He exclaims.
"What happened?" Serena asked, staring at him.
Darien took the dart out of his neck. "This was thrown at me…" He drones off & passes out on the ground, just like everyone else!
"Darien!" Serena screams, shaking him. "Wake up! You can't leave me! Please!" She begins to cry again, but the boy ain't waking up.
Serena buries her face into his chest & cries. "No, this can't be happening."
"That's exactly what's happening, little brat!" an evil voice cackles.
Serena looks up at an ugly looking monster! She lets out a squeak & stares with wide eyes.
The monster laughs again. "Too scared to speak, I see. Well, I'll take care of that." It begins to move closer to the scared girl.
Serena scoots backwards, scared. But she's frozen & can't do anything…
What's gonna happen? And yes, the kitten is Luna, just to clear that up. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.