Chapter Two

Motive

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies. (In other words I have no rights to SM or the SS in any way, shape, or form.) However this story line is mine.

Warning: Profane language, violence, sexual content and blood, gore, vampires, werewolves and all the good stuff. M-rated.

Double Warning: Bad writing involved
The Police chief had made a big understatement of how gruesome Lily's body would be. Her face was as badly torn as the rest of her. It took Serena going through the few belongings that Lily had carried on her to be sure that it was Lily. Serena couldn't help glancing back at Lily's body, it was so disgusting that it made a person want to look even if they really didn't want to.

Out of the few things that Lily had had was a locket. It contained a picture of her and Serena at a club for Lily's twenty-first birthday. Serena had given her the locket because of the fact that it was solid silver and because a tigers head had been engraved on it. On the back was Lily's name and the words "Friends Forever." Finally, Serena confirmed the suspicion that it was indeed Lily's body.

"Did she have any enemies?" The Police Officer asked holding a pad and pen in his hands. He was a teddy-bear looking guy, with salt and pepper looking hair, glasses, and a small well-groomed mustache. Serena glanced at his nametag, which read: 'Bentley'.

"No. Could a human do that to her?" Serena replied, staring at the cuts. To her, they looked like claw marks. The Police Chief frowned.

"Why was she coming here?"

"She came to visit me."

"Why?"

"Why does anyone visit a friend?" Serena asked, starting to feel frustrated. She wanted to be anywhere but in the morgue with her dead friend's body lying next to her. But the Chief had insisted on questioning her on the spot. His reasoning being that she didn't want bad press. She agreed, but didn't like it. She didn't like him the moment she met him, but since he was a cop she knew she couldn't just walk away.

He stared at her, his eyes ice cold. "Princess, please don't play games."

"Don't call me 'Princess.'" She said, rubbing her temples. "If you think I did it, arrest me, but she died on a plane, and I was at the airport itself waiting for the plane to arrive. How could I have been on the plane as well?"

"I'm the one asking questions." He growled.

"Ask away." She said, finally sitting down on the coroner's circular stool. She looked at him, and let her exhaustion show on her face, hoping that maybe, if he thought she was tired he would let her out of the questions sooner. They both knew he couldn't arrest her, though he looked like he was itching to do just that. She bet he would get a big bonus if he nailed the Princess of New Tokyo with murder. But she also knew he couldn't arrest her without evidence, and there were too many witnesses to say she had been in the lobby for at least an hour before the plane had landed.

"How do you know her?"

"We met in the United States when I first disappeared two years ago. We ended up going to college together and sharing a dorm room."

"How come she didn't turn you in when the world was looking for you?"

"She didn't know I was the Princess. I told her that a lot of people were named Serena Tsukino in Japan." Serena shrugged, "she believed me."

"She never had any doubts as to your honesty?"

"I bet she did, but she trusted me, so she never really questioned what I told her, I guess. I wouldn't really know, to be honest, you would have to ask her."

"Don't get smart with me, Princess." Serena started to get the feeling he was only calling her 'Princess' to irritate her. She sighed. "No one knew you had gone to the United States, except her." He stated. "That could be motivation to kill her."

"Look Officer Bentley. Do you really see me doing something like that to my best friend? Why should I care who knew where I was? I am still here, I haven't left for two months."

"You could have planned on returning to the United States, but couldn't do it when she would have told everyone where you had gone."

"That is just a hypothesis, Officer Bentley."

"My gut is telling me you had something to do with Miss Smith's death."

"If you could arrest people solely on gut instinct the penitentiaries would be full of prisoners now."

"Are you admitting to it then?"

"No. I couldn't have killed Lily. I wasn't on the plane. There are too many witnesses to confirm that."

"Fine. You are free to go, but know that I will be keeping an eye on you."

Serena didn't bother to argue. She stood up, politely shook his hand then left the room. As soon as she was out of the room, she rubbed the palm of her hand on her slacks. His handshake had been sweaty and loose, not the type of handshake you would expect from a police officer. But that hadn't been what had caused Serena to run her hands on her pants, it had been the warm tingling energy she had felt when she had touched him. It had been almost the opposite of the feeling she picked up off of vampires. Hot to the cold.

She hurried down the hall and up the stairs to the main floor, wondering why they had always put morgues underground. Just outside the main entrance stood Darien, looking as tired as she felt.

She grabbed his arm, ignoring the sensation of his skin against the palm of her hand, and pulled him down the steps to the street. He allowed her to do so without a word. But when they were climbing into the car, he turned to her. "What happened?"

"The cop is an idiot." She sneered, fastening her seatbelt.

He frowned, "they aren't that bad."

"He's treating me like I'm a suspect, Darien."

Darien stared at her for a moment. "You?"

"Yeah, me. The only other body in there was Lily's. I'm sure he would have treated her like a suspect if she had survived." Serena said sarcastically. "He thinks I have something to do with it, since she knew where I was hidden for the two years."

Darien nodded. "Motivation."

"Don't tell me you think I did it." Serena turned to stare at him, speculating if he did think she did it.

"No, Serena." Darien glanced at her as he pulled away from the curb and into traffic. "I don't think you did it. You're not the type."

Serena continued to stare at him doubtfully. He was still one of the most handsome men she had ever met, with shiny coal black hair, piercing dark blue eyes, pale skin and a generous mouth. He had grown several inches in the time that Serena had been gone, making him stand at about six feet three inches. He was muscular, but not so much that he spent ninety-nine percent of his time at the gym, worrying about his waistline. His broad shoulders had at one point in time given Serena something to cry on, or comforted her when she had been frightened.

As she studied his profile, something clicked in her mind and she found herself replacing Darien's dark blue eyes with a pair of red-violet ones. In her mind, his hair had lengthened until it ended at his waist. She stared at him, feeling her mouth fall open.

"Darien?" He turned to look at her, looking slightly curious at the tone in her voice.

"I think I may know who killed Lily, or at least they might know who killed Lily." She said, berating herself for not thinking of him before.

"Who?"

"Nikolai."

AN: Feel free to read and review. Leave comments, questions, thoughts, ideas, etc if you wish. Also leave your emails so that if you do have a question, I can respond to it. I will not respond to flamers. All I ask, if you do have something to say against my writing, is that you word it politely.