Chapter Twenty-One

Lily

Darien had been in a coma almost a week. Serena had been beside his bed for three days, afraid to sleep in case that was the moment that he would wake up, or worse. She stared at the small bed next to his. Renee had been beaten and mentally abused, but Serena was starting to suspect that much much worse had been done to her. She looked better, but she had taken to staring at the ceiling, not talking much. No one could really get close to her. She panicked every time a man came near her, and wouldn't allow anyone to touch her without going into a towering fit.

The doctors didn't know if she would turn or not, given that most of her injuries were sustained while the werewolves were in human form. Serena didn't know what to do or say that would help Renee. Even Hotaru and Molly tried to sooth the small girl, but nothing seemed to help. Serena didn't want to give up, but she was hoping that maybe her future self could help Renee, somehow. She knew that as soon as Renee was able, Renee had to go back to the future until everything cooled down, maybe even longer, since the world was turning extremely ugly for Serena.

Serena's eyelids grew heavier, and she fought closing them. The door to Darien and Renee's room slowly opened. Everyone had taken to opening the door slowly for Renee, who startled easily, but she still jumped and stared at the door as if it were her worst enemy.

Raye, Lita, Mina, Amy, Molly, Hotaru, and Andrew filed slowly into the room.

"Serena, we need to talk." Lita stated, she sat down on the edge of Darien's bed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hi, Renee." Hotaru said softly, taking the chair beside Renee's bed and placing a hand on the blankets. She did that, hoping that Renee would take her hand soon. But so far, Renee hadn't even tried.

"Serena, you need to sleep." Mina sighed, leaning on the opposite side of Darien's bed from where Serena sat.

"You haven't fully recuperated from your own injuries to sit and watch Renee and Darien until they are both fully well." Amy said, taking another chair that had been leaning against the wall next to the door.

"So quit being so selfish, you aren't helping them by staying awake beside their beds the whole time." Raye growled, sitting on the foot of Renee's bed.

Serena blinked and looked at Andrew, waiting for him to say something. She wasn't sure what she thought of him since she had watched him rip off Chad's head. He shrugged. "I don't have to say anything, they're right."

"We'll watch them for a few hours, try to get some sleep." Raye stated, glancing at Darien's pale face. Her gaze darkened slightly.

"Yeah." The others agreed.

"I don't think I should," Serena said, stretching and fighting back a yawn, which won out. Lita straightened, grabbing Serena's arm and pulling her off the chair.

"Mmmm." She mumbled, pulling Serena from the room. "I'll take you home, I don't think you can drive."

"But I-."

"Don't."

"Sssereeeeena…heeeeelp… meeee." A voice called from the darkness.

Serena stared down at the headstone, her heart hammering in her throat.

"It's incomplete." A new voice spoke from the darkness. She looked around, but didn't see anything. Something was moving toward her. A scraping, scrambling sound, in the tall grass around her.

She looked up at the night sky, which had always been pitch black before, but a large full moon sat peering over the edge of the trees. Serena realized with a slight drop in her heart that she could see the whole graveyard this time.

It was big. The gravestone that she had been staring at, wasn't the only headstone that had had its inscription wiped away, several of the grave markers were also erased by the weather. A spectacular headstone was standing almost directly to her left. On it stood an Angel, it's wings spread wide, hands held out, palm upwards. The face of the statuette was serene, almost blissful. It seemed to glow in the moonlight, amplifying the light around Serena.

"Ssssereeeena… heeelp…meeee." More sounds of scurrying followed the words.

Serena realized that the sounds were getting really close this time. She didn't want to see what was calling to her. She backed up, bumping into another grave. She turned, startled, to see what she had hit when the smell hit her.

It was putrid. Like rotted meat. The smell seemed to intensify the moment she noticed it. She didn't want to turn around, but she had to know.

She turned, but there was nothing there. Just the smell. Her dream began to fog up and she felt like she was being pulled by her arm.

Serena screamed, sitting up, her bedding tumbled off of her. For a moment, Serena just sat looking at her bedroom door, confused. Then slowly she remembered that Lita had dragged Serena out of the hospital to her car, drove her to the palace, and then dragged her into her room. Serena complained the whole way, but not too much. She knew that she needed some rest or she wouldn't be able to help Darien or Renee when they woke up.

Something pulled on her hand, and then something cold and dry latched onto her palm, suckling. Serena jumped, trying to jerk her hand free, unable to see in the darkness. She screamed, then remembered that everyone was at the hospital with Darien. She had to deal with whatever this was, by herself. At first she thought it might be a Bounty hunter, but realized that if it had been, she would have been dead already. Why would a bounty hunter try to suck my palm? She thought. She tried to calm her nerves as she reached over to her nightstand, where a lamp sat. Flicking it on, she gasped.

Lily was kneeling beside Serena's bed, sucking at Serena's palm.

AN: Sorry about Renee, all you Renee fans. But I felt that I needed to get Serena more motivated. You will understand later on… don't hate me for doing that to Renee. :(

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 is that if you do have something to say against my writing, you word it politely.