Chapter Sixteen

Secrets

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

AN: I have been trying to figure out a way to work this in, but only hinted at it so far in this book, before Serena left New Tokyo, something happened and she cannot transform any more. I haven't decided what happened, but I think I am going to give the task to my readers. If anyone has an idea that could cause Serena's loss of powers and still keeps with the books put it in your review. Basically, if you come up with one that I feel is a really good idea, I will post it at the end of the the book with my other final choices, where other readers can vote on which one to use. Please feel free to participate, even if you think the idea is dumb. The Idea will show up in Book 4 (Dangerous Distractions). As always R&R, and flamers will be ignored.

Renee paced back and forth in front of Serena. "I want Raye."

"We know!" Serena snapped, rubbing her temples. A headache was building behind her eyes, in her temples, and at the base of her skull due to stress. "You've said that around twenty times now."

"Give her a break, Serena. She's just worried." Mina said from across the room. She was staring at one of Serena's mangas but it looked like she wasn't actually reading it. Serena glanced around at the others. Amy sat in front of the computer, not doing anything but staring at the computer monitor. Darien and Lita sat next to the couch, where Cat was laying, still unconscious. Serena found herself staring at the lifeless girl.

Cat was young, probably even younger than Serena, but pretty. She had an innocence about her that made people want to protect her. Serena guessed that that was why Darien and Lita were taking such good care of her. But it was strange. The girl seemed to know what she was doing when fighting bad guys. Werewolves and vampires didn't seem to bother her at all. On the dark blue couch she looked frail and small. But she had to have been Serena's height. She and Serena had the same facial structure; it was like looking at a long lost sister. She was thin and petite. Serena was amazed that such a small person could hold such a strange energy.

Then there was the energy itself. Serena rolled the vague feeling, which she kept sensing from Cat, around in her head. It felt impossibly old, even ancient. Older than the oldest vampire Serena had ever met, which had been Korin. But at the same time, the innocence that seemed to surround her like an aura was ever present in the energy. There was immense darkness in the power, yet warmth crawled along it. It was almost like the energy symbolized happiness and sadness at the same time. It was confusing.

Serena felt herself pull on a wave of the energy and spin it into herself, meshing it with her own energy. Thoughts of pushing the energy into something flooded Serena's mind. She wanted to push it into something, anything. But she was missing something. Something vital to do with the energy that was now filling her. Blood. She needed blood. It was like a key to the lock that stopped her energy from going into something.

Suddenly, Cat sat up and stared at Serena. Darien and Lita had jumped about a foot away from the couch and Serena sat up straight, surprised. The confusing mass of thoughts flowed away as something slammed over the girl's energy and Serena felt like she had been pulled off of her chair. She braced herself against the chair and stared back at the girl.

Cat stood, looking around at the group gathered in the sitting room. "Where is the dark haired girl?" She paused. "Raye."

"We don't know."

Cat turned her attention back to Serena. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Serena asked, remembering the pack asking her the same thing, when she rejected Chad's energy. She felt confused. Cat stared at her, her eyes half closing in concentration.

"You honestly don't know?" Cat asked, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Serena was aware that the rest of the group was now watching the two of them. She felt like she was on a stage playing a part that she had no clue how to play. She silently shook her head to Cat's question, and Cat's smile bloomed, her face brightening.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked starting to get frustrated.

"You will learn soon, I am sure." Cat said cryptically. She ignored any other questions, but sat watching them all interestedly.

After almost an hour of waiting, Cat finally offered to search for Raye, feeling that 'something was wrong.' Darien offered her his car and she took it gratefully. Serena had looked ill since Cat had awoken and Darien was starting to get worried. She had seemed completely withdrawn. Curiosity got the better of him the moment that Cat left.

"What does she mean 'how did you do that?' You didn't do anything." Darien asked, watching Serena's reaction. She looked up at him as if just aware that he was in the room.

"I don't know." She shrugged.

Renee suddenly stated, "I'm hungry." Darien purposely ignored her and was glad to see that the other girls did the same.

"She knows something about you Serena." Darien sighed. A slight frown marred her pale face as Serena shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Serena, you're hiding something." Amy said quietly, her dark blue eyes narrowing as she looked at Serena. Serena glanced at her, her frown deepening.

"I can kinda read her aura, I guess." Serena said reluctantly. She looked down at the rug and began to study it with interest. Darien knew that that was a sign that she didn't want to talk any more, but he was getting tired of all the secrets. Every since she had come home, it had been one secret after another with her. Then he found out that Andrew was keeping secrets from him, when he was supposed to be his best friend. He shook his head.

"Don't play, Serena. What do you mean read her aura?" Darien asked impatiently.

Serena looked up at him, her eyes widening. "I mean just that. I can read her aura. At least, that's what I think it is."

"What does it feel like?" Amy asked, looking interested. Serena glanced at her then her gaze went back to Darien's.

"It's her energy. I can read her energy." Darien thought he saw Serena shudder, but she straightened her back. "It's old. It's like a vampire's energy, but its warm instead of cold. I guess it would be more like a werewolf's energy, but it's so ancient. It couldn't be either of their energies. I don't really know what she is. I just know she isn't human."

"I'm hungry." Renee said, tapping her foot impatiently as she glanced around at everyone in the room. But everyone, to Darien's satisfaction, was ignoring her.

"Vampires have an aura?" Mina asked, putting her manga down so she could look at Serena without it hampering the view. Serena nodded.

"Didn't you guys feel it when the werewolves changed out there." She waved a hand vaguely. Darien frowned. He had thought he had felt a gust of warm air, but nothing else. Even though warm air in November was pretty much non-existent, he hadn't really thought that it was in any way dangerous. No one said anything as Serena looked around at them. She sighed. "I guess you have to be sensitive to it." She stated. "I went to the Moonlit DCB earlier, that's where they found me, and Rick was there, he transformed on the stage in front of everyone. Then Cat's energy kinda dampened his, but it was so weird. The only other person to feel it beside myself, at least I believe he was the only person, was a man sitting behind me. After the show was over, he grabbed his date and ran out of the place as if the building was on fire."

"What do all of their energies feel like?" Lita asked.

Serena shrugged. "I guess vampires' energy feels like a cold breeze and ants crawling across you skin. A werewolf's is warm, almost feeling like fur brushing your skin. Cat's… well, hers is stranger than either of theirs. It's ancient, like I said before, yet innocent. Dark yet warm. It's weird." She shook her head. "The funny thing. The thing that woke Cat up, actually, is that I think that I pulled her energy into my own. It's hard to explain." She shook her head and looked at the rug again. Darien couldn't help feeling shocked. He hadn't felt what she was describing. He didn't really understand how she could feel those things but he could not. She took a deep breath then continued, "when Cat was still asleep, she was leaking energy bad. I kinda grabbed it, and pulled it into me. It meshed with my own energy, almost like adding oil or gas to a fire. I kept getting a feeling that I wanted to put it into something, but I needed something else to do so. And I realized it was blood." She stopped, her hand flew to her mouth and she looked around. "Sorry." She whispered through her hand. She looked frightened. Darien who had already been surprised had become completely dumbfounded.

Something seemed to click in Darien's mind; it took him two tries to voice it. "When Nikolai captured us the first time, two months ago, and I was unconscious… Did you do something then? I mean beyond physical?"

She turned fearful eyes on him and nodded slightly. "I don't know what it was or is. Their energy was so stifling; I just sucked it from the room and threw it back into them. I hadn't meant to. I've never done anything like it before." She looked on the verge of tears. Darien wanted to hold her, to comfort her, but he couldn't think of how, when she was always trying to avoid him.

Serena turned away from them, curling herself into a ball on her chair and laid her forehead on her knees.

"I'm hungry." Renee almost shouted, stamping a foot. That got everyone's attention. Everyone turned toward her, but didn't do anything except stare at her. Her face began to turn pink. Finally, she looked at the floor, mumbling, "I guess I can do it," before she ran from the room.

"I'll go with her." Lita sighed, getting to her feet then following Renee from the room.

Serena shook her head. "That little weasel. She wont let anyone do anything unless we split attention from her to the problem."

"Serena, I wanted to talk to you about Renee." Darien stated, staring at the open door. "Can you girls leave for a moment? I want to talk to Serena alone." He told Mina and Amy bluntly. Both looked slightly surprised as they stood and left the room.

Serena scooted until she was barely perched on her chair, preparing to run if she had to. Darien turned to her and frowned. His eyes narrowed dangerously and his skin went slightly red. "Don't act like I'm going to jump at you or attack you. I really just wanted to talk." He growled. Serena sighed, leaning back, every muscle in her body tense. She had purposely made it so that they would not be in the same room since the morning of their last fight. Seeing her sit back seemed to calm Darien down, somewhat. He leaned back in his own chair. "I think Renee is in danger."

Serena sat up. "What? How?"

"The contract for your life, the fact that Chad abducted you, and the fact that you have a vampire that would do almost anything to have you." Darien stated tiredly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if any one of them goes after Renee to get to you?"

"They could do the same to all of you."

"But we can handle ourselves."

"So can Renee."

"No, Serena. She can't. She's a child. They could end up hurting her worse than any of us." Darien growled, he rubbed a hand over his face, looking tired. "I think we need to send her back to the future."

"Why?"

"She'll be safe there."

"Neo-Queen Serenity sent her to us so that she could learn freely, have a normal childhood. And now you want to send her back?" Serena asked, getting angry. "We agreed with Serenity that we would watch and protect her here."

"Exactly my point, Serena." Darien sighed. "If she stays here, she could get seriously hurt."

"If Serenity thought she was in danger, why'd she allow Renee to come back to the present?"

"Dammit! Do we have to fight about everything now!" Darien snapped, launching to his feet.

"Apparently so. I wont send her back to the future, she just started school. It would be wrong to stop her schooling to send her back to the future and have her start school there."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"We can send her to my mom's. I can ask Michelle, Trista, and Amara to watch over her. Keep an eye on her." Serena said. "Then she wont be a distraction to us, but she can still go to school."

"I really don't think that that's a good idea."

"I don't want to send her back to the future."

"Why? Usually, you would do anything to get rid of her. Are you just fighting me to fight me?"

"No, Darien. I am not. But I don't think it would be fair to her to do that, just to protect me." Serena stated. "I would do the same thing for her as I would for any of you."

"Even get yourself and her killed?" Darien asked.

Serena stood and walked to the door to the hall. "I'll call my mom tomorrow." She walked out of the room. Darien was wrong. Why would anyone go after a little girl? Serena thought.

Darien had a feeling that Serena had only fought him about Renee to prove something to him, but he couldn't figure it out. Serena's mom, Ikuko, and her dad, Kenji, arrived that morning to get Renee. Renee was happy to go visiting her grandparents, and had grabbed just about everything Darien had bought her over the last few days, plus some of the things that she had left behind in her other visits.

Darien watched them all pull away in Kenji's car and felt his stomach jump. He knew that this was wrong. But he also knew that when Serena put her mind on something, it was useless to fight her about it.

After Renee had gone, Serena went to her room and stayed there throughout the day. Mina and Amy tried to get her to talk to them, but they got no answer, though they could hear her moving about the room.

He was beginning to think that he didn't know the new Serena as much as he thought he did. She was hiding information that might be important as to why everyone on the planet seemed to be after her. She had closed herself off of everyone around her, except Renee, whom she seemed to treat the same as when she had been there two years earlier. She had turned away from him when he knew she loved him.

He sighed. He had been pacing the study for almost three hours, trying to think of things they could do to protect Renee and Serena, help Raye, and find Lily's killer. He was beginning to wonder if them delving into Lily's death is what started everything else. But Serena was blindly stumbling along the path he was realizing would lead to death, unless someone was able to talk sense into her. Darien knew he couldn't, he knew that Serena wouldn't trust Molly, and she defiantly wouldn't listen to Nikolai. None of the other girls had gotten to her. Darien stopped, mid-step and ran over what he had just thought. Girls? Darien wondered. How come I haven't thought of it before? He turned and began to pace again. Now how do I convince her to talk to Serena about it. She seems willing to help all of them in some way or another.

AN: Thanks to my regulars for keeping me on my toes and keeping me writing (been having issues with writing). To Singed Soul: I just found out what veronica Mars is, never seen it, havent read the books, so no. If anything, its based really close to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Series, though I am not doing any form of crossover or basing any of my characters off of her books. I am using some of her terms, and basic creature understanding, because I love how she looks at each creature. But in answer to your question, No, I am not basing my stories off of Veronica Mars.

To Roison Midnight: (Based on both reviews.) I make up for the shortness in more chapters. You have to remember that in Laurell's books, lycanthropy is a known virus, which is why they try to innoculate people against it. In my stories the virus is supposed to be hidden, in other words us humans live in ignorant bliss of the creatures that crawl all around us, well the mythical/magical creatures. But that is a really good thought. As far as basing Sere on Anita, nope. Serena is a completely different person, a clutzy, semi-dumb person, that has to learn to deal with powers that she knew nothing about, and they seem to literally pounce on her all-of-a-sudden, so shes trying to cope with them, plus with everything else that is going on. Were-as Anita knew about her powers and already was a hunter. Serena doesnt hunt the vampires, she just tries to be as "normal" as possible. Remember the way, in the tv shows, she balked when she found out she was princess of the moon, and when she first transformed into sailor moon. Its basically the same principle. She has power, still has problems with being who she is, and having to deal with other things that she just doesnt want. You're talking Narcissus in Chains, right? about the turning into the werecat thing? Another good idea, I admit, but I'm not really sure about her actually turning into a werecat. For a weekend a month she wouldnt be able to remember anything, and that could last as long as two years. What if something (my mind) decides to happen after she has changed? I will keep that on my list of good ideas, because it does have possibilities, like a deadline to get things done before she transforms. Actually, that is a really good idea. - Going to write some stuff down... giggles.