Chapter 2

A sudden burst of thunder drew Endymion out from his thoughts of the past. Glancing out the window, he noticed how they were well out of the city now and well on their way back home.

Hating the quietness, and not wanting to delve back into his memories, Endymion broke the silence by asking, "Malachite, when is Mina due again? Is it 2 weeks now?"

From the mirror up front, Endymion could see Malachite smile at the thought of his precious wife. "Just about Endymion. The doctor said she would come on the 6th, but Mina keeps saying it'll be any day now. She doesn't quite trust the doctors of this time you know."

"Haha, 'she' you say? I have it on good authority from Mina, that it's going to be a 'he' this time," Endymion chuckled.

"What can I say? I love my girls. We can have a boy our third time around." Malachite laughed.

Glancing back at Endymion, Malachite saw Serenity shift a little before peacefully sleeping on.

"Endymion, how do you think the others will take this..." Malachite asked in a somber tone.

Endymion's faced hardened at the reminder of what was to come. "As I took it," he responded curtly.

Malachite hesitated, "Endy...what do you plan on doing to Serenity?"

"..."

Malachite closed his eyes briefly in grief. Malachite had always had a soft spot for Serenity. When he met her, he saw a sweet, kind, bubbly girl that happened to look and remind him of his own sweet Mina. A girl that seemed best suited for his friend. 'Who would have thought it could have all been a façade,' he silently mulled over.

"Malachite, don't." Endymion ordered. "You know what she did. What she did to you. What she did to me. What she did to everyone! We all suffered together for her betrayal. It was her fault...that...that...,"he left hanging, not able to say the words.

"I know," Malachite sighed, "I only wish... Why Endymion? Why did she turn her back on us? Why did she deceive us so tragically?"

Endymion could not answer. Those were the very same questions he had pondered over endlessly throughout the long years. With no answers, he only let his heart harden more and more at the thought of her. 'Soon he would find out these answers, and soon there would be hell to pay' Endymion vowed darkly.

With that thought, Malachite made a wide turn and stopped the car. In front of them, looming over the car like an ominous premonition was a big, and ancient, mansion. The architecture dated back years, but the building was as strong as ever. As if it knew it needed to stand till now, till the day its master brought vengeance back into the household.

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Endymion tightened his grip on Serenity as he got out of the car. Her face had settled itself against the curve of Endymion's neck. With every breath he took, he breathed in her sweet scent. He visibly shuttered, before regaining his carefully controlled, passive, posture.

Malachite opened the grand doors leading into the house, and the three of them entered warily.

Upon entering their home, and breathing in the familiar comforting scents, both Endymion and Malachite relaxed a bit. Glancing at the closed doors of the drawing room, they could hear people chatting animatedly. Heading towards that direction, Malachite and Endymion braced themselves as they walked in.

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While Endymion and Malachite had been away, the household had closed themselves into the drawing room, to discuss the odd secretive tension going on between the two men. The family of friends had never kept secrets from each other before. This was what made them strong. As they had learned tragically in the past, secrets were dangerous...

"But I just don't understand," muttered Rei, "why would both Endy and Malachite go into the city to pick up a shipment? One or the other usually goes, not both!"

Jaedite replied in a soothing voice, "Don't worry Rei. We all know Endy and Malachite can both take care of themselves. If they are keeping things from us, it's probably for the best of our interests."

"For the best of our interests?" Rei yelled at her husband, who visibly cringed. "Something's going on! I can feel it! ... Mina?" she implored Malachite's wife.

Mina, with her hand rubbing her rounded tummy, as if the baby needed his own soothing, replied gently, "Rei, Mal hasn't told me a thing. It's true he has been acting oddly lately, but whenever I ask him about it, he says its nothing. That he's just worried about the baby and when she...I mean he, will be arriving." Mina, taking a sip of milk from her glass cup, chuckled slightly at the memory of their latest argument over the gender of their next child.

Lita reassured, "That's right Rei. You've seen how Malachite is with Mina."

Rei, having slightly calmed down, responded, "I guess you're right. It's probably nothing, right? I mean, Endy does have his days where he acts out of the norm..."

Mina smiled at Rei's indecision. "Right Rei. See, there's nothing to wor..." Not capable of finishing her sentence, Mina looked as if death were upon her. Slowly, her fingers lessened their grip on the glass, and it went crashing onto the ground, breaking.

Her face was deathly pale, Rei noticed alarmed. "Mina, what's wrong? Is it the baby?"

Mina did not reply. In fact, she wasn't even looking at them, but at something behind their backs. Rei and the others slowly followed her wild gaze, towards the door and stopped.

There, just having entered the room, were Malachite and Endymion. And in Endymion's arms, was Serenity.

Gasps of shock, outrage and pain were heard all around.

Mina, coming to, breathed out, "Sere...Serenity... Malachite? What's going on... What...how..." Suddenly, giving a little gasp, Mina fell towards the floor in a full faint. Malachite seeing Mina sway, reached her in time, preventing her from crashing onto the hard floor. "Mina! Mina! Wake up! Are you okay?"

Ami, seeing Mina fall, was startled out of her thoughts of the past. Putting a hand on Malachite's shoulder, she trembled out, "M--malachite, it's all...all right. It must have been the sh...shock! Lay her out on the sofa."

Rei looked at Serenity with a pained look. Jaedite, seeing his wife in her state of mind, slowly held her from behind. When his hands touched her waist, she flinched out of her stare. "No..." she whispered. "No...no...NOO!" she screamed uncontrollably. Turning herself into Jaedite's embrace, she started sobbing against him.

Endymion looked at his group of friends and family, in pain.

It was at that time, at the sounds of Malachite shouting, Rei yelling and crying, that Serena was jerked from her peaceful unconscious state. Confused and disoriented, she looked around, at the scene before her.

"What? Where am I?" a disoriented Serena asked. Realizing she wasn't on the ground, but in the arms of someone, she tilted her head and saw the man who had earlier kissed...er assaulted her. Giving an outraged shriek, she sputtered, "You! How dare you! Who are you! Let go of me!" Endymion promptly settled her onto the floor.

At Serenity's indignation at being held so closely and intimately by Endymion, who she obviously lacked recognition of, everyone's eyes were drawn to the sight of the two before them. Mina had to come to, and was staring closely at Serenity with blinking eyes. Rei too, had calmed down at the "who are you" question Serenity had yelled, and gave her brother a puzzled tearful questioning glance.

Mina, from her weak position on the sofa, whispered, "Serenity?"

'Who were all these people? Why do they all seem to know me? And that girl with the jet-black hair, she's glaring daggers at me! They all having accusing looks...what did I do?' a bewildered Serena thought.

"Serenity? Serenity? Why does everyone keep calling me that! My name's Serena, Serena Serena!" Serena screamed exasperated, while backing up towards a wall, arms hugging herself protectively.

"Endy, what's going on? Is she Serenity...? Why did you bring her here!" Rei yelled, while burrowing herself deeper into Jaedite's embrace.

Endymion sighed, looking at everyone. "Yes she is Serenity. Why I've brought her here is my business, and mine alone." He gave everyone a hard look that commanded everyone not to argue back. "Everyone stay here. I'll get her settled upstairs, and then I'll answer some of your questions..."

Serena stared at Endymion from her position against the wall. "Endy? Is that you're name? I'm not going anywhere with you, let alone upstairs! I want to go home!" Serena darted towards the door.

Endymion turned to look at her, his face hardening, and reached out to grab her arm as she tried to pass him by. Yanking her towards him, hard enough that she gave a little gasp of pain, he growled out, "It's Endymion, not Endy. And you're coming with me." Pulling her along, unmercifully, he left the drawing room and its occupants. "Let go of me! I don't want to go with you!" Serena yelled as she tried unsuccessfully to tug out of his hard grip. His hands tightened in response on her arms, surely leaving harsh bruises. Even though she appeared to be angry, yelling like a shrew at this handsome man that was her kidnapper, it was all an act. She was scared half to death, of what he wanted from her.

Endymion did not respond, as if not hearing her at all. Choosing to ignore her, he continued pulling her up the stairs. Making a left, and then a right, Endymion and Serena stopped at a door. Pulling a key from his pocket, Endymion opened the door and pushed Serena inside.

Closing the door behind him, he surveyed the room with Serena. It was beautiful. Obviously a lady's room, it was decorated in colors of light blue and white. Almost everything had lace on it. Curtains with lace, bed sheets rimmed with lace, the canopy had lace. It was everything Serena had dreamed of when she was cold and lonely at the orphanage. It was as if this scene was taken straight out of her very dreams! She gasped at the beauty.

Looking at Endymion, Serena knew he hated the room. He examined it with a look of disdain, hating the memories of it. It was something connected to this room. Who used to live here...?

Endymion's curt voice, made her give a little jump, startling her out of her thoughts. "This will be your room for the duration of the time that you are living here. I trust you like it?"

"It...it's very nice... But why am I here? I want to go home. I don't want to stay here! Please, please let me go?" she begged, crying softly.

The tears made his face go even harder, it was that physically possible. "You will stay here and you will not try to escape, is that understood." He demanded.

"Why me? What have I ever done to you" she pleaded. "Please tell me! What did I ever do to deserve this! Who are you to me!" she trailed off crying.

Endymion sighed. If he ever wanted his plot of revenge to go through, he needed to help first, by giving her some details. With icy cold blue eyes glaring down at her, he brusquely explained, "About a thousand years ago, you, Serenity," he paused, raising his hand to stop her from interrupting, "Yes you, Serenity, stormed your way into our lives, with you sweet innocence and kind spirit," he said with sarcasm. "We took you in. We watched over you, took care of you. We loved you," at the "love" comment, Endymion visible flinched.

He continued curtly. "But we were wrong! Deadly wrong. You weaseled your way into our lives, our hearts, playing an act of innocence. Playing us for fools! You're nothing but a greedy, selfless, bitch," he spat out, angered by the memories. "We took you in, and how did you repay us? You betrayed us! You took away so much from us! All those lives, all that pain. You betrayed us!" he repeated.

Serena stared at him through wide, tear rimmed eyes. "A thousand years? But...how? That's not possible! No one lives for a thousand years! And even if it was, I'm not Serenity! I could never do things like that! I wouldn't harm a...a fly! I'm not like that! You don't know me!" she cried out.

"Yes, it is possible. And yes, you did all that. And now, you'll pay, you'll pay for the rest of your life."

Serena cringed at his unbending tone. "What...what are you going to do to me?" she whispered, frightened.

Endymion smirked from the open doorway. "Why, haven't you figured it out Serenity? You will become my mistress. You will be at my beck and call. At day, at night, you will be my personal servant. Everything I demand, you do. Everything I order, you listen. When I tell you to do something, you'll do it. From this day forth, you are mine. Do I make myself clear?" he leered.

Endymion turned his back at her, and started to leave the room, when he heard her cry out, "But why? Why is this happening to me? What have I done to deserve this. I've never...never done anything to hurt anyone before. I've never hurt anyone!"

Without turning to look at her, he responded in a deadly tone, "maybe not in this lifetime." With that said, he walked out, closed the door, and locked it.

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