Chapter Twelve

Moonlit DCB

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

Darien didn't feel better at the palace either. He had left the door to his study open for when Molly returned, but she hadn't yet and it was creeping closer to dawn. He had gotten Mina and Amy to stay with Serena and sent them up to her room. On the two occasions that he walked to relax himself, he passed her room and heard nothing, so he hoped that the girls had gotten Serena to sleep.

Glancing at his watch, he stood up. If Molly was going to show up, she probably would have by then. The sky outside was light enough to be day, but the sun hadn't risen yet. Darien decided that he had had enough of waiting for Molly to show up and started toward his bedroom, when the door opened, and Molly bolted inside. She glanced around quickly then headed down the hall below the stairs toward the kitchens.

"Hold it." Darien stated loudly. Molly froze and turned slowly toward him. "You have an hour before dawn, and I believe that that is plenty of time to explain what happened." Darien walked down the steps slowly, keeping one eye fixed on her.

"I'm sorry." She said, blushing slightly.

"How could Josh have had anything to do with you luring Serena to Nikolai?" Darien asked, his tone neutral.

She paled. "He didn't have anything to do with it." She whispered. "Nikolai is my Sire." She said as if it explained everything. Darien frowned.

"Let's go into the study to have some privacy." Darien said, opening the door, and waving a hand inside.

"Let's not." Serena called from the top of the stairs. Amy, Mina, Lita, and Raye stood on either side of her. All of them were looking at Molly as if she had always been part of the Negaverse. Darien sighed, wondering if they were going to treat Molly as an enemy.

Molly paled even more as she stared at the girls. "I'm sorry, Serena. Nikolai told me to."

"And if Nikolai told you to jump off a bridge?" Serena asked sarcastically.

"I would. I can't fight him, he orders me to do something, and I have to do it. It's what a sire is." Molly answered, moving her gaze to the floor. Serena looked surprised as she walked down the stairs, the other girls flanking her.

"What do you mean, Moll?" Serena asked, stopping beside Darien and watching the red-haired girl.

"A sire has complete control of his 'children'. They have to answer him or he could…" She took a deep breath. "He could kill them. He can take the life that he gave us back. All sire's can do that. They have the ability to call us back to the grave. Some masters can make their 'children' rot. But that isn't that common, and actually, I'm lucky that Nikolai doesn't have that power."

"He told you to spy on me, and tell him when I came into the bar. And you did." Serena commented, as if she wanted it confirmed. Molly nodded.

"We can't have a spy living in the palace with us." Raye stated, she glanced at Darien and he remembered the talk he had had with her before he and Serena had their fight. He nodded slightly.

"Raye's right, Serena." He said, as Molly's face fell.

"I know." Serena said, her voice soft. "Why, Molly?" She asked louder.

"I'm sorry, Serena." Molly said.

Serena trembled slightly. "I want you to leave, tomorrow night."

Molly nodded, turned and walked down the hall to the kitchens. Serena raced back up the stairs and into the darkness of the hall leading to her rooms and Darien had the feeling she was crying.

Serena stayed in her room until well after dark, playing with Cammie, and hoping if she stalled long enough she wouldn't have to see Molly leaving. She wished that Lily hadn't been killed. She really needed a friend. She hadn't felt as good, as when she had been laughing with Molly, since she returned to New Tokyo. And she knew she had needed the laughter. She hadn't allowed herself to really feel anything since Lily had died. But with Molly's betrayal, came the resolve to find out who had killed Lily and the anger to back it up.

She heard footsteps in the hall outside her room, as well as the soft tones of people talking, and couldn't help but wonder if everyone was talking about her naivety. She knew she trusted too easily, and often paid for it in the matter of emotional pain, but she didn't know if she could turn that part of herself off, just because she wanted to.

Lately, it seemed that everyone she wanted to get close to, had very dark secrets or were killed. And she was beginning to blame herself more and more because of it. None of this wouldn't have happened if she hadn't left New Tokyo in the first place. She would never have met Lily, so would have never asked her to visit, and Lily would have still been alive. If she hadn't left, Molly wouldn't have been attacked because of some guy that Serena had never met, and she would still be alive. If she had just swallowed her obligations instead of running away from them, she would be with Darien.

She felt tears sting her eyes at the thought. She wanted to be with Darien more than anything, and it was reflecting in the way she felt for Nikolai. She knew that she was becoming attracted to Nikolai, and she didn't want it to happen. The only reasoning she could put behind it was that Nikolai looked like Darien, if Nikolai hadn't, she would have killed him by now. At least, she thought she would have.

Then there was the contract for Serena's life. She trusted a girl, whom she had never met, none-the-less seen, to protect her. And she didn't even know why someone would want her dead. She had never been so sought after as she had been since she returned. Even the press and commercials that were trying to locate her hadn't been so violent or demanding. She hadn't even understood why Korin had wanted to make her his slave. But trying to kill her? Why? She shook her head. Then Molly's voice rang in her head.

"Serena you are extremely spontaneous. You have no set pattern. If you stayed here, you will start making a pattern. I think you should just do what you want. As it is, you have already started a pattern since I came here. I'm pretty sure that the bad guys will pick up on that." Molly had said.

Serena frowned. Molly had been right. Serena had always been in her own world, doing as she liked, even when the peace talks had started. Serena glanced at the newspaper lying on the floor, just inside her door. She grabbed it and opened it up to see what was happening. After scanning several pages she found a page dedicated to an advertisement for a new Dance Hall, Bar, and Café which had been rolled into one business. It was called the Moonlit DCB. The address was for the same area as the Limbo, but in a higher-class part of the area.

She stared at the advertisement for a moment, wondering if Nikolai owned it, or one of his lackeys did, then seeing a hot fudge sundae as part of the advertisement, decided that it wasn't Nikolai's. He didn't serve food at Limbo. And a hot fudge sundae actually sounded good for her depression. She stood up and began riffling through her clothes to find something to wear that would look flexible in case it was a classy bar, or if it ended up being like the orgy house, Limbo.

Finally she settled on a long black dress. The skirt had a slit in one side that reached about mid-thigh on her, which she liked. It dragged the floor when Serena put it on, so she searched through her shoes to find a pair of spike heals, which she had never felt comfortable in, but would lift her up enough that the skirt wouldn't drag. Then searching through her jackets, she found a royal blue dress jacket that would match the dress perfectly. The jacket had black silk embroidery done on it that looked like a mix of celtic and oriental design. It was light and airy and billowed as she moved. It's hem dropped just past her waist.

She glanced in the mirror to see how it looked, and frowned. She quickly pulled her hair from the pigtails and piled it on top of her head using various pins and clips so that it looked indistinctly windswept yet endearing. Rifling through the vanity drawers, she found a pair of fake crystal earrings and a matching necklace and donned them.

Then for the finishing touch, she put on the barest hint of makeup, which made her eyes stand out dramatically. Staring at the result in the mirror, she couldn't help but wonder if maybe she was too dressed up for a place like that, but then she shook her head. It didn't matter, she was going to have some fun, even if it killed her.

After writing a note that just said she was going out for a while, she would be back shortly, she had managed to sneak out of the palace and nab Darien's car. She was dressed flashily enough that she needed a flashy car. Besides, Darien couldn't get all jealous if he decided to come look for her and she was dancing with another guy.

She had decided to go ahead and go out to get her mind off of everything around her, she had played nice for too long and she missed the life that she had had in the United States. If the Moonlit DCB wasn't fast enough, she would scan around for somewhere else to have some fun at. Even if it meant going to Limbo.

As she pulled into the brand new parking lot next to the Moonlit DCB she couldn't help but stare. The building was gothic, about two stories high, and made to look like it had been there for years. Ivy grew over the walls and curtained the windows. For a moment, Serena had thought it was a house, but when she saw the neon sign flashing above the entrance she realized it had been made to look like an old Victorian home on purpose. A small line had formed around the entrance and Serena got behind it, wondering how long it would take to get inside, and if it would be worth it.

Surprisingly, it didn't take long at all. The moment she stepped inside, she thought she had walked right into someone's fantasy, or someone's nightmare. The place was two stories, with staircases on either side of the dance floor leading upstairs. The center of the room had mirrored tiles where Serena assumed people were supposed to dance. Toward the edges of the first floor, were small circular tables that rimmed the dance floor.

The second floor had the same tables but there was nowhere to dance. Most of the middle of the second floor was a hole, with railings surrounding it for protection purposes. All the tables against the railings had a perfect view of the mirrored floor below. The tables that were farther back didn't have as good a view but monitors hung above the tables that had views of the floor below. Apparently, whoever had created this elaborate dance hall, had thought of everything. They had put cameras under the second floor, all angled toward the mirrored tiles in the center of the first floor, and connected to the monitors so that people wouldn't have to leave their tables to see what was happening below them.

If Serena was to meet the owner of the Moonlight DCB she wanted to congratulate them on their creativity. The place was amazing. Mirrors lined the walls making it appear as though the place was bigger than it was. Silky strips of fabric hung from the ceiling to sweep towards the floor below and a giant chandelier hung a little way above the second floor over the hole to the first floor.

Serena felt as though the place was made from someone's dreams. It was absolutely gorgeous and glowing. A young man approached her, smiling, and she recognized Rick from the New Tokyo pack.

"You like it?" He asked, running a hand through his light brown hair. He looked slightly embarrassed and Serena could see why. All he wore was a pair of billowing golden pants. They looked the same shade as real gold but looked like the type of pants you would see on a movie about a genie or imagine from the book Arabian Nights. A golden circlet wrapped around his left upper arm, glinting in the light from the chandelier. Serena grinned.

"It's gorgeous." She told him. "You work here?"

He nodded, still looking self-conscious. "Yeah, its better than working at Limbo."

"What do you do?" Serena found herself asking, interestedly.

"You'll see." His grin widening and his mortification fading.

Serena suddenly had a thought and her smile faded, "this is Nikolai's isn't it?" Rick nodded. Serena sighed. "What is he doing, trying to buy all the dance halls to corner the market?" Rick shrugged. Serena felt herself pale as another thought forced its way into her mind. "He doesn't know I'm here does he?"

"No. Well, I don't think so. I just saw you coming up here and wanted to see what you thought of the place."

Serena felt a slight lift in her spirits as she looked around again. "It's amazing. I have never seen anything like it."

Rick smiled and nodded. "Well, I better go, its almost time for the show." He paused. "Oh yeah, if anyone was to see you, they were to tell you that you have a reserved seat up here." He pointed to a table across the hole from where they stood. "That's it. Hope you have fun. I'll come up to visit after I'm done."

Serena smiled and nodded, starting to get curious about the 'show'. He strode away, a swagger in his step and vanished down the stairs. Serena hadn't realized it, but the building was humming with excitement and voices. People had filled every table, except the one that Rick had pointed to. Serena made her way to it, as carefully as she could, so that she would bump into anyone. There really wasn't enough space to walk around on the second floor, but finally she made it to the table. A small vase sat in the center of it, holding a white rose, a note was attached to the vase and a large card sat next to it. The card simply read "RESERVED." Serena took the card and closed it then pulled the note gently from the vase.

I hope you enjoy the show.

N.

Serena sighed and realized that Nikolai knew she was there. He must have put the vase on the table and attached the note, when he saw her talking to Rick. She shook her head and put the vase on an empty chair then pushed the chair into the table, effectively hiding the rose.

The moment she sat down the lights all over the building shut down. She heard gasps from the people around her and the muttering became louder. Then a spotlight flicked on, highlighting the center of the mirrored tiles. Nikolai stood calmly in the center of the spotlight, smiling jovially as he looked around at the crowd. For a second, his eyes met Serena's and his smile broadened. Yep, he knows I'm here, Serena thought.

"Welcome to Moonlit DCB. The show tonight will make you wonder at the truth of the world around you. We offer you magic and dreams to be fulfilled. But what is real, and what isn't." The spotlight faded over him and two new ones focused on two areas. One focused on the area next to Serena, where a young woman stood balanced precariously on the railing. She was dressed the same way as Rick, except she had a golden bra and a gauzy fabric covering her mouth and nose. She had black eyes and dark burgundy hair that ended just above her waist and Serena found herself staring at the unnamed girl. She felt that the girl was somehow familiar even though she was sure that she had never seen a girl like her. She did a cartwheel on the railing to the approval and applause of the audience, then back-flipped off the railing to the floor below. The other spotlight had landed on Rick, as he strode through the crowd on the first floor. Serena felt the energy rolling off of him even at a distance. He leapt completely over a table, seating about seven people, and landed on the tiled dance floor. Applause broke through the crowd again.

A strange music flowed over the loud speakers then, eerie and wonderful and slowly Rick and the girl began to sway in time with the music, at opposite ends of the floor. As the music became faster, so did their movements, as well as Rick's energy. Serena knew what was going to happen a moment before it did. Rick threw his head in the air and a howl erupted from his throat. The howl shouldn't have come from a human mouth. It was completely animal.

As the crowd watched, Rick began to transform. Serena sat rooted to the spot, amazed and frightened at the same time, watching with baited breath. His skin rippled, almost like water flowing over his skin, but it was actually sprouting reddish fur. It erupted from his skin, flowing over his body in a cascade. His face began to elongate, his nose swelled into the black wet nose of a wolf. A sickening crunching sound was heard over the music as his mouth widened and lengthened into a muzzle, his teeth growing impossibly long. Muscles bulged over his arms and under the pants, but amazingly the pants didn't rip. His fingers extended until they were twice as long as they had been, nails extending about an inch farther, turning into claws. Then it stopped, and where Rick had been, stood a fully formed werewolf in genie pants. Some people in the crowd screamed, and the scraping sound of chairs being pushed back was heard as people stood up from the closer tables.

Serena's attention went to the girl who was still dancing, apparently not aware of the monster on the floor with her. Her hair swayed with her graceful movements, flowing like a black fire behind her. The werewolf was watching her, growling softly, barely heard over the music. Slowly the music faded, and another tune took its place. The sound was fast paced and hard. Serena felt her pulse begin to race as the girl's energy flowed over the room. The energy was like nothing Serena had felt before. It was dark and ancient and yet innocent and warm at the same time. A man at a table next to Serena gasped and stood, his face pale. Serena knew he had felt the girl's strange energy, and stared around to see if anyone else had. Several people were standing, but they were the people from the tables next to the dance floor. There was only one other person standing besides the man behind Serena. And that was Nikolai. He seemed to be watching Serena's reaction.

Serena didn't understand why no one else seemed to feel the raw power that flowed over the room from the werewolf and the dancing girl. A sudden movement on the dance floor pulled Serena's attention back to it. The werewolf had met the woman in the middle of the floor and looking vaguely obscene, they began to dance together. A werewolf shouldn't have been able to dance that fluidly, but Rick was managing to be graceful and yet gentle with the girl who was in his arms. Serena caught her breath as Rick's muzzle bent over the girl's neck when she dipped backwards at the end of the music.

The lights blinked out and more people screamed. Serena found herself standing, trying to see through the darkness. After a few moments, the energy lessened and the lights came back on. Rick the werewolf and the girl were holding hands. They bowed gracefully to the crowd. Just before they walked off the stage, Serena thought she saw the black eyed girl glance up at her. Then the girl and Rick were gone, vanishing into the shadows around the tiled floor.

The spotlights faded again, then other lights lit up the first and second floor and new music drifted through the loudspeaker. But there was no sign of the werewolf or the girl. Slowly, people began to drift to the dance floor and started to dance.

Serena wondered how they could have seen something like that and not run screaming from the place. The people had just seen a mythical creature that no one had seen in several centuries, but they acted as if they hadn't seen anything unusual. The man behind Serena gathered his coat and his date and strode away, ushering the woman quickly down the stairs. Apparently, he had been the only one to have seen, or at least felt, the werewolf.

Suddenly, a cold breeze washed over Serena as she watched the man and woman depart. She turned to face Nikolai who was watching her with interest plain on his face. He sat down next to her and looked down at the dance floor.

"How did you like the show?" He asked casually.

Serena frowned. "How can they just get up and dance after they had seen a werewolf?"

"Because they don't know if it was a werewolf." He replied watching the couples dancing.

"What do you mean?"

"I captured their minds as I talked, and put an impression on them, that made them think they were watching special affects. They don't realize that there was a real werewolf on the floor tonight."

"If you capture their minds, doesn't that make them your servants?"

Nikolai laughed, turning to face her again. "No. If I captured a person's mind alone, I can control them whenever I want to, and its permanent, but they wouldn't be my servants. Entire groups like this? That would be a stretch of the imagination. I can't control them, but I could put impressions in their minds." He leaned back in the chair, lifting its front feet off the floor. Serena resisted the impulse to kick the chair and make him fall over. "A servant can't be made just by rolling their mind, as you know." Serena felt her cheeks grow hot at the comment.

"Won't your council feel this is a little too obvious, and consider you a rogue?" She asked.

Nikolai shook his head. "No. We have done the same thing for centuries, clouding minds yet running interesting places such as this to draw customers." He said, watching her expression.

Serena remembered a couple of the questions she had been wondering since Korin had bitten her and thought about asking them. He seemed to be willing to talk for the moment, and Serena preferred to keep him talking. "Um, I know this is a weird question, but can all vampires have servants?"

Nikolai looked surprised for a moment. "No. Only a Master can have a servant." He paused. "Only the more powerful of us can have a servant. A master is stronger than most strigoi. It means that they can lend their powers at first dark to help the other strigoi awaken. A master vampire is the only one able to rule his community. Even if another vampire were to sire, both the sire and the spawn would answer to the Master of the City, or the Master in residence. In this case, I am the Master Vampire of your New Tokyo. I am the one that all vampires in this city answer to, and get help from."

"So you're like the prince of the undead in this city?" Serena asked.

Nikolai stared at her for a moment before he chuckled. "Yes, I guess that is what I would be called."

"Sounds pretty bad, actually." Serena said, frowning. "If you were to take a servant, could you also take another human as a servant?"

"No. Well, yes, in a way. I have heard of something called the ménage-trios.(1) A ménage-trios can only happen when a Master Strigoi takes a lycanthrope and a witch or psychic, as servants. Psychics and witches, though they are technically human, aren't completely human, any more than a lycanthrope is. But that has only happened once in my time, and they are part of the Council. Their combined powers make each other very powerful."

"Could you have a human and any one of those others as servants?" Serena asked, getting interested.

Nikolai shook his head. "I wouldn't know. The ménage-trios that I know of are a strigoi, werewolf, and witch. I'm not certain about a psychic, but it has been documented that it is possible. A ménage-trios was made before I was born, consisting of a psychic, but they died at the hands of the church."

"Before you were born?" Serena asked, slightly confused.

"Even I was human once, Princess." Nikolai stated. Serena frowned.

"Quit calling me, Princess!" She demanded. Nikolai looked amused, then his face went blank, his gaze moving over her shoulder.

"It is time for you to leave, Serena." He whispered. "Go, now." He stood up and quickly walked past her towards a group of people who had just come up the stairs. Serena frowned, but felt that maybe it was better that she listened to his advice. She grabbed her purse and went to the stairs on the opposite side of the second floor, from where she had sat. She trotted down them, then went outside.

She found Darien's car relatively quickly and was on the verge of getting his keys from her purse when something grabbed her from behind and a wet foul smelling cloth was placed over her mouth and nose. She tried to fight but after a few moments she felt her body go limp and her mind grow foggy. Then the world went black.

(1): Ménage-trios is a term I took from Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series because I couldn't come up with another. These stories are taking, in a way, after her vampire series.

AN: Thanks to Rosebudjamie, ffgirlmoonie, kamalchemy, moonqueen, Angel of Serenity88, and WhiteRoseSerenity for your support.

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.