Serena turned in time to see a man bolt from the closest foliage to tackle Darien. He moved faster than should have been possible. Then something slammed into her, also knocking her to the ground. She felt the pavement rip at her arm and cheek, and knew that she would start bleeding. She tried to push herself up, but the person that had seized her grabbed her hair and slammed her face into the ground, several times. The person on her back, suddenly stood, and pulled her up by the hair roughly, causing her to cry out in pain.
He turned her to face him. He looked human, but the tell-tale feeling, that Serena had felt with the Ambassador of Romania, said he wasn't. He was tall, possibly even taller than Darien, with dark brown hair that hung limply around his face and over his shoulders. His eyes looked to be a pale brown, almost honey yellow, but human eyes couldn't be yellow. His skin bore signs that it had once had a great tan, but it was, at the moment, a sickly yellowish color, as if the skin hadn't seen sunlight in several years. His face was gaunt, making it look sharp and narrow.
Serena tried to pull away, attempting to stop the strange feeling that crept along her skin, raising the hair on her arms and neck. The man didn't seem to like the idea and pulled her forcefully against him. He stared right into her eyes, as if searching for something. But he apparently didn't find what he was looking for, and looking slightly surprised, pushed her slightly away.
Serena glanced wildly around for Darien, who stood, gazing blankly toward her, another man beside him. "Darien!" She cried, wrestling with the man holding her, to go to him. But the man holding her jerked her roughly and she stumbled, skinning her knee. Darien didn't even blink.
The man next to Darien started walking toward the far gates, away from the limo, and Darien followed silently behind. The man holding Serena tugged on her hair and followed.
"Darien?" He walked calmly, as if he didn't have a care in the world. She knew that he wasn't acting right; she knew that he would have come un-glued if he had seen her being held like she was, or maybe he didn't care anymore.
Serena tried to stop the tears that threatened to spill out over her cheeks. What is going on? She thought, almost hysterical. She pulled back on her hair, wondering if she dared let him rip it out, but the pain the flooded her scalp said she couldn't. She wondered for a moment whether she should have turned into Sailor Moon but realized that she left her Moon Wand at the palace. The brown haired man jerked on her hair again and she sprawled on the pavement, tearing her already bleeding arm. The man didn't stop walking as he pulled her hair, and for a few seconds she was dragged along the pavement before she could stumble to her feet.
No one seemed to want to talk as they walked up to a dark van just outside the gates of the park. Darien climbed in calmly, but Serena tried to fight. It took both men to put her in the van. She thought it was strange that no one heard her screams. Even though it was dark, there were people walking in the park and on the sidewalk. They passed without even a glance in her direction.
Once in the car, the two men tied her hands behind her back and shoved her painfully into the seat next to Darien, who looked as if he were only going for an afternoon drive. "Darien?" She asked plaintively. She turned to face the other two men who climbed into the car with her, the dark haired man had gotten into the drivers seat, the neon blond sat on a seat facing Serena.
He grinned at her, almost as if daring her to do anything. So she did. She aimed her foot to his groin and kicked with all she had. He roared in pain, doubling over in his seat. The van swerved sharply, throwing Serena into the sliding door, Darien landed on top of her.
He moved calmly back to his seat without helping Serena to her feet. The blond grabbed her hair and jerked her back to the seat.
"Don't mess around, Laryn." The dark haired man stated calmly.
"The bitch kicked me, Damin." Laryn stated coldly, glaring at Serena.
Damin glanced in the rearview mirror at Serena, "Don't fuck around, girlie. You wont like pissing us off."
"Fuck off!" Serena snapped. Laryn slapped her before she could move. She kicked him again, leaning her back into the seat to get a better angle, and snapping his knee. She heard the sickly crack as his kneecap decided to bend the wrong way. Laryn howled in pain again, collapsing onto the seat. Damin swerved the van hard again. Serena flew into the door, and screamed. Darien landed next to her, looking like nothing had happened at all. Again, he moved back to his seat without a word or a helping hand. Laryn jerked her back to her seat, trying to keep out of reach.
"I hope it hurts." Serena growled. Laryn hit her with a balled fist, and she slumped into the seat slightly dazed.
A few minutes later, Serena was pulled from the van by Damin, the side of her face stinging where Laryn had slapped and hit her, unfortunately that side of the face already had some nice scrapes on it. It hurt worse than it would have if they had hit her on the other side of her face.
Serena glanced around trying to get a bearing on where she was. A neon sign hung above the front of the building, flashing defiantly in the dark: 'Limbo Dance Hall.' She waited as Darien climbed out beside her and the two men forced them into the back door.
She and Darien were lead down a maze of corridors and into a room at the very end of a dark hallway. The two men shoved Darien and Serena into the room and slammed the door. Serena stared at the door apprehensively before glancing around the room.
There was a light fixture above where Darien and she stood, and another at the other end of the room, lighting up a couch along one wall and a black desk at the far end of the room. Serena turned back toward the door, trying to figure out how to untie her hands and try to open it. It hadn't sounded like they had locked it.
"Serena? What happened? How did we get here?" A voice asked directly behind her. Serena jumped, startled, and turned toward Darien. His face hardened when he saw the scrapes on her own. He looked like he was alive again. "What the hell happened to you?" He asked moving toward her.
"What do you mean?" Serena asked, frowning.
"All I remember was being thrown to the ground, then seeing you go flying. Something pulled me to my feet and…" He paused, looking abashed. "All the sudden we were here. What's going on?"
"Well, I was bashed into the pavement a few times for good measure. Then they pulled us into a van, which you got into willingly, I might add. Where I was beat up after attacking one of our attackers. Then we walked down a labyrinth of hallways and now we are here. But I have no clue why, the guys who grabbed us wouldn't say anything." She paused, looking at Darien with a slight frown. She turned around letting him see the ropes on her wrists. "Can you untie me?"
Quickly, he started tugging on the ropes that held her wrists together. After a few seconds, they were off and she tried to open the door. "It's locked from the outside, I think. I didn't hear the door lock when they threw us in here, and I can't tell if there is a keyhole or not, it's too dim in here." She turned around and looked around the room for any windows, maybe a ventilation shaft, anything that they could use to get out of the room. There wasn't anything. Other than the light fixtures the room was blank, no cracks in the walls or the ceiling, no windows, or any other doors. "You would think that they would at least have a fire escape." She muttered.
"Why?" Darien asked her, also looking around, but more thoroughly as he walked along the walls and tried to push against them.
"Well, they brought us into the back a place called Limbo Dance Hall." She looked at him.
He paused in his progress and frowned. "It just opened a couple months ago. Some of the delegates came to it when it first opened, but I never had time to check it out. Do you think that it's a Negaverse base?"
"C'mon, Darien, do the Negaverse work like this? Capturing us and leading us straight to their base?"
"Well, Ann and Alan did, so did Prince Diamond." Darien stated thoughtfully, going back to searching the walls.
"Ok, fine, so I'm forgetful." She stated. She moved toward the desk wondering if maybe there was a weapon of some sort or anything that they could use to get out of the room, but before she reached the desk, the door to the room opened, catching Serena and Darien off guard.
Before they could bum rush the person who opened it, four people filed into the room. The strange energy that Serena picked up off of the guy in the park, and the Ambassador, filled the room like a loud buzz, almost stealing the air from the room. She felt her shoulders tense up reflexively.
There were two women and two men. No, there were three men and one woman. Serena felt her face grow hot as she realized that one of the women was actually man. The woman walked like she owned everything around her. She had blond hair that flowed down her back, ending at about mid-thigh. Serena guessed that she stood around five-foot eight. She had the same ice blue eyes as Laryn, which Serena still thought would have looked more suitable on a wolf. Her skin was milky white, almost transparent, nearly glowing. She looked at Serena as she passed like she thought that Serena was food. The look unnerved Serena, and she turned to study the three men.
The first two looked like thugs. Serena recognized Damin from the park. The other thug stood taller than the other by around five inches, which should have made him around six-feet-five-inches He defiantly looked like a body builder, muscles strained everywhere on him. His skin was a pale black like it hadn't seen the sun in many years. His head was shaved bald, reflecting the dim lights of the room.
The third man to file into the room caught her attention, more than anything else. Mainly because at first Serena thought he was a girl. No man could have been that beautiful. He like the woman who had entered first had really long hair, but his was black. He had almost violet eyes, more red than blue. His skin was also milky, translucent white. He was only about two inches taller than her. She felt drawn to him, and looking in his eyes she thought she would drown. He looked almost identical to Darien, except for his eyes and the length of his hair. She shifted her attention to Darien, who glanced at her, also looking surprised.
Damin moved to sit casually on the edge of the desk, while the other bodybuilder went to stretch lazily on the couch, the woman and Darien's twin moved behind the desk. The woman stood beside the chair, still staring at Serna like she was food. Darien's twin sat down in the chair and gazed thoughtfully at Serena and Darien. Serena tried to open the door again.
"It won't do you any good, Princess." A cold voice issued from behind the desk. Serena turned around to face Darien's twin. She stared at the four people in the room, feeling calmer than she thought she should have been. None of them had moved, but none of them looked completely at ease either. They all acted as if they were waiting for the room to explode or something. The tension in the room seemed heavy, and Serena couldn't help the small grin that split her face.
Serena knew that the man behind the desk was the one to talk to, but it seemed like a bad mob movie. The two thugs were obviously guarding the man in the chair, almost like they would for a mob boss. But Serena couldn't figure out the purpose for the woman. Serena caught herself staring at that woman thoughtfully and cleared her throat.
"What do you want?" Serena asked sweetly. "You could have left a calling card."
"No point. If I had left one, you would have ignored it or thought it was a joke." He replied staring at her with his violet eyes, she looked at the floor, her smile vanishing. When she looked up she noticed that he was studying her, a pained look flashed across his face. "I am sorry about the way my people extended my invitation, no one was to get hurt, but apparently one of my, uh, prieten1?" He paused, thinking, "My friend decided that it was needed." Serena glanced at the Damin with a frown, and turned her attention back to the man behind the desk.
"What do you want?" She asked again.
"What, no pleasantries? I thought you were a Princess." The man said, almost disappointed.
"That subject is under debate." She stated. She heard Darien shift.
"I am Nikolai, and you, of course, are Princess Serena, and Prince Darien, of New Tokyo. That is Syrese," the man behind the desk said, a hint of amusement in his tone as he motioned to the woman beside him, "Damin," the man on the desk, "You met him already. And that is Jesse." He pointed at the man on the couch.
"What do you want?" Serena asked a third time, disregarding his comment.
"You attacked and killed one of my people." He replied as if it was obvious. She shook her head. "Which hasn't happened in a Century."
"I have killed no one." She told him, starting to feel angry.
"Ah, but you have. The Ambassador of Romania was one of my people."
"What do you mean by your people?" Darien asked, suddenly, from behind Serena. She had almost forgotten he was there. He had pulled himself up, moving to stand beside Serena, and looked at Nikolai with a slight frown. "You mean Romanian?"
Nikolai shook his head, keeping his eyes on Serena. "No. We are called the Strigoi." Serena frowned, not familiar with the term.
"Are you part of the Negaverse?" She asked, finally going for the direct approach.
Nikolai frowned and shook his head, again. "I know nothing of this Negaverse, you speak of." The way he said it, caused Serena to believe him.
"What is a Strigoi?" Darien asked.
Again Nikolai answered, looking only at Serena. "We are vampires." He finally glanced at Darien. Serena looked back at Darien, who looked pale, and frowned.
"Vampires don't exist." She stated bluntly, turning her attention to Nikolai. Surprise appeared briefly on his face, but it was gone as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving her wondering if she had seen it at all.
"You do not feel it?" He asked, his voice betrayed no emotion. He seemed to try to get a better look at her. "You don't feel what is in this room right now?"
She shook her head, "All I feel is that you guys are all tense, like you are about to have a fight, or are worried about something." She looked around at the others for a second. "There is no way any of you could be vampires, they don't exist." She repeated her eyes fell on the woman behind Nikolai. She was grinning almost as if she were given a treat. She was not looking at Serena, but at Darien.
Serena turned around quickly, but she shouldn't have worried, other than being pale, Darien was still standing where he had been. Serena turned back to the woman and glared at her.
"We exist." Nikolai stated. He stood and walked around his desk. "You feel us. You feel our energy." He stopped just short of her, and Serena took a step back. He grinned, and close up, Serena was able to see the tips of fangs against his bottom lip. Instinctively she kept her eyes away from his, not really knowing why. She took another step back, suddenly very afraid. She believed him. She didn't want to believe that there were such creatures as vampires walking around anywhere in the world.
Nikolai moved quicker than she could have imagined, suddenly standing directly in front of her. He grabbed her arm and she felt an intense cold sweep over her arm. Her knees buckled, but suddenly, Darien shoved Nikolai away from her. As Nikolai stumbled into the couch, the bodyguards grabbed at Darien and were trying to wrestle him away from Serena. Jesse and Damin finally slammed Darien to the ground and pinned him.
"I thought you had him under control!" Nikolai snapped at Syrese. Serena started to go to Darien, to help, but Nikolai grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him.
"He's strong willed. I didn't think to put him fully under, I thought it would be interesting to let him see what was going on around him, but he has a close bond with her-" Syrese started excitedly.
"I don't have time for your excuses. Put him under!" Nikolai demanded angrily. Syrese blinked and moved to stand in front of Darien.
Serena broke free of Nikolai's hold and launched herself at the woman, knocking her to the ground. "Don't even think about-." Syrese struck at her, it looked like it had been a slap but it caused Serena to fly about three feet away from her and land in a crumpled heap on the floor, the air knocked from her lungs.
Instantly, Nikolai was next to Syrese, and she slammed into the edge of the desk. She slid to the floor, staring at Nikolai as if she had never thought him capable of hitting her. She clutched her cheek and slowly climbed to her feet.
Nikolai grabbed Darien's chin and lifted him to his feet. Darien froze in mid-struggle, and then relaxed.
"Leave him alone!" Serena snarled shoving Nikolai away from Darien. She looked at Darien over her shoulder and saw the same blank expression that he had had when they had first been attacked. "What did you do to him?" She shot at Nikolai, feeling her anger rise again. Her hands balled into fists at her sides.
"I put him under." When she looked confused, Nikolai added, "I hypnotized him."
"How? I didn't see a pocket watch," Serena stated skeptically.
Nikolai's attention was centered on Serena, who stepped back into Darien when she realized how close she stood to him. "With my eyes, vampires have various powers, some can call animals, pull someone under with their eyes, transform, fly, and many others." He told her, as if giving a well-learned lecture. Nikolai glanced at Darien. "Have a seat." Darien walked calmly over to the sofa and sat down. He stared blankly at the wall, his eyes dead.
"Stop it." Serena told Nikolai. She walked to where Darien sat, and situated herself next to him.
Nikolai looked at her with a frown, "I don't think so. He interrupted our conversation."
"We aren't having a conversation. You have us kidnapped and you really want to call that a discussion?" Serena snapped at Nikolai.
"You are the first to have killed my kind in a century." Nikolai said, striding to where Serena sat. "I need your help."
Serena felt her jaw hit the floor. "What?" She looked up at Nikolai.
Nikolai reached out a hand to touch her, and Serena pulled away. "I want to know how you killed Valladao."
"What does it matter, he's dead. I can't change it, and I'm not sure I want to." Serena stated, not wanting to give Nikolai anything. Nikolai reached a hand out toward Serena, again. "Stay away from me."
Nikolai froze. "I don't want to have to kill you and the Prince, Princess. But you are not giving me any options." His voice held nothing, as he spoke, no emotions at all. He shook his head. "Take them out of my sight."
The two bodyguards moved toward where Serena and Darien sat on the couch. Serena grabbed Darien by the shoulders and shook him. "Dammit Darien!" She snapped, shaking him hard enough that his head rocked back and forth on his neck. "WAKE UP!"
He blinked, looking confused, then his attention centered on the two approaching men. He and Serena stood as the two men leapt toward them. Serena dodged toward the door, and Damin slammed into the couch, where he laid sprawled, confused for a second. Darien swung at Jesse, connecting with Jesse's jaw. Jesse howled in pain and struck at Darien, who flew into the wall and crumpled to the floor.
Serena skittered past Damin who had gotten up from the couch and lunged at her again. Serena managed to evade Syrese's clutching hands, in the same movement. Nikolai appeared next to Serena and grabbed her arm. The cold creepy feeling caused Serena to drop to the ground. She felt him lessen his hold slightly as he let her fall, and struck her foot out to catch his leg behind the kneecap. He dropped with a roar of pain, clutching his leg, letting Serena go.
Silently, Serena thanked Lita for teaching her that little stunt, as she rounded on Damin and Jesse, who were approaching her a little more cautiously. Something slammed into Serena from behind, and she dropped, letting the momentum carry her into a roll. She threw her feet out, pushing all the strength in her legs into the movement. Syrese crashed into a wall across the room. She fell to the ground unconscious.
Damin and Jesse didn't wait for Serena to get her bearings. They both launched toward her. For a moment, there was a confused blur of hands, arms, legs, feet and bodies. Then something happened that left Serena standing alone in the room, everyone else unconscious.
When both Damin and Jesse landed on her, something inside her answered the unnerving energy that crawled along her skin. It spread like fire through her, snapping and crackling where Damin and Jesse touched her. It hurtled into them, carrying them into the air, then swam back into Serena, letting the two thugs fall to the floor, out cold. Then it escaped Serena's body, again, and smashed into Nikolai. Her own scream echoed his, as she felt her energy mingle with his.
He slumped suddenly, his voice dying in his throat. Serena gasped clutching her chest. The energy inside Serena had vanished, leaving her feeling slightly empty. There was no hint of energy in the room at all.
Serena glanced at where Darien lay and saw him push himself into a sitting position. As soon as he saw her, he stood in one fluid motion and walked over to her. His eyes took in the unconscious bodies, but wisely he said nothing, as he picked her up. They managed to get the door opened, and glancing around the hall, found that no one was waiting outside just in case they actually managed to get out. Serena guessed that Nikolai would regret his underestimation of her and Darien, but at the moment she was too tired to worry about it. She laid her head on Darien's chest and directed him back outside to the street.
They flagged down a taxi and after a few minutes of confusion, the taxi driver's disbelief that both Prince and Princess were actually in his cab. They told him their destination and, finally, he pulled into the traffic.
Serena let the darkness take over her, as Darien held her in the back of the taxi.
1: prieten: Romanian for Friend.