Hunting the Moon
By: Sandreline
Hello everyone! Thank you all so very much for the wonderful reviews! I am so glad that you love this story as much as its prequel.
For those of you that were guessing who was going to be making an appearance, a couple of you got it right! However, I am not telling you who – you'll just have to read and find out! ^_~
So thank you again, and enjoy!
Chapter 5: The Past Haunts
Mina was bored, and that was never a good thing. They had been on the road for three hours and were officially driving through desert and dirt, and more desert and a few cactus. "So," She began. "Where are we going?"
"Just enjoying the black top," Dean answered as Guns N' Roses played softly in the car.
"You're serious?" The blonde asked with a raised eyebrow as she turned to look at Serenity. Both women were sitting in the backseat of the Impala, a cat on each of their laps.
"They have a habit of showing up where they are needed." Serenity shrugged.
"Well that's boring!" Mina pouted. "When you were telling me about all these wicked cool stories about what you did, you failed to mention the super long road trips."
"Well," Sam began as he looked over his shoulder at his new girlfriend, "We could always brain storm and see if there is anywhere interesting."
Dean began drumming him fingers on the steering wheel while bobbing his head to the music. "Like what?"
"Well," Sam began. "We can always head over to Pennsylvania again." He suggested. "We didn't get a chance to head to Philadelphia last time, and its home to Eastern State Penitentiary."
"The place where Al Capone stayed for eight months? That's supposed to be super haunted." Dean commented as his eyes got wide with excitement. "I'm so down for that!"
"We could also check out the Lizzie Borden house in Massachusetts." Sam began.
"Who is Lizzie Borden?" Artemus asked as his ears twitched up.
"She was a woman from New England who was tried for killing her father and step-mother in 1892." Sam began to explain. "She was acquitted, but no one else was arrested or tried.
"The murders were crazy," Dean continued. "Her father was found slumped on the couch in the downstairs sitting room, and was made to look like he was just sleeping with his head turned away. Her stepmother was found in the guest bedroom upstairs, and was proven dead several hours before Lizzie's father. Both of them were killed by crushing blows to their skulls from a hatchet, and her father's eyeball was cleanly split in two."
"Whoa," Mina said with wide eyes. "Talk about psycho…"
"You know, we are near the Arizona border." Sam continued on. "We could always visit Tombstone." He suggested.
"Head on into the Old West and Earp territory…" Dean thought over for a moment. "I think I've had enough of the cowboy life, especially after out last visit to the past."
"You should consider yourself lucky that Setsuna didn't lecture you for a week about that," Mina turned to her best friend.
Serenity gave an innocent smile in return. "She called me on the communicator…"
Mina laughed.
"Any other ideas?" Luna asked.
"I would be down for Massachusetts." Sam brought up. "New England is beautiful in the summer, and the Victorian architecture makes it feel like you are visiting in the late 1800's."
"Let's not forget the real seafood." Artemus smiled as he hoped over the seat of the front to sit between the two Winchester men.
"Lizzie Borden, here we come." Dean said as he floored the gas pedal.
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"This place is fabulous!" Mina cheered as her hair whipped behind her. All the windows of the car were down as the cool ocean summer wind raced by. It had taken them five days to reach the Atlantic coast, and the two females were each eagerly checking it out. This was the farthest from Japan that they had ever been, and it was so different from the West coast where they had both spent most of their time.
"I've missed the smell of the ocean…" Serenity said. "It's so green here!"
"And the perfect temperature to go to the beach and tan without worry of getting burned!" Mina added.
"Girls, we are not here to visit," Luna began. "We have to track down Lilith, and that means investigating places of high paranormal activity and crime."
"Luna, you have a horrid habit of making me feel like I'm fourteen again," Serenity half glared at the black feline. The cat flicked her tail in reply.
"First things first, let's eat." Dean started. "We can gather information about recent events in the area after we have some food in our bellies."
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"Ok, I will say this: that place puts any pizza place in Hollywood to shame!" Mina smiled while rubbing her belly.
"I think it's the difference in the water," Sam commented as he leaned back in his seat. "The water here is fresh and clean, not like back West where they have to soften it with chemicals."
"Dude, you're a freaking walking encyclopedia." Dean grumbled.
"So as much as I enjoy relaxing, I'm kind of interested in this Lizzie Borden case." Serenity began as she sipped from her ice tea.
"It's practically a legend," Dean began. "There is even a playground rhyme about her."
"What whack-job came up with that?" Mina wrinkled her nose. "That's terrible!"
"Funny you should use that phrase," Sam continued. "The rhyme goes like this: Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks. And when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one."
"My daughter is never knowing that rhyme." Serenity shook her head. "That's creepy."
"It gets better." Dean commented. "Her mother was hit eighteen times on the head, thirteen of them crushing her skull. Her father had eleven, and out of those four crushed his."
"Sounds like the motive was mostly for the mother," Mina commented.
"It's said that Lizzie and her stepmother did not get along very well," Sam explained. "It was a hot day in August, and one reason the crime is so famous was because it was done in the middle of the day, in a house that was on a very busy street, and the houses were very close together. The maids were present in the home, yet no one bore witness to the murders by sight or sound."
"Andrew Borden was one of the richest men, a director on the board of several banks, and owned several properties." Dean continued. When his brother shot him a surprised look, he continued on. "What? I know stuff too!" Serenity and Mina laughed while Dean scowled, but he continued. "Andrew Borden, for all his influence, was not liked. It's not unusual; you don't get rich without making a few enemies."
"Both bodies were brutally killed, and there was blood everywhere." Sam continued. "Mr. Borden's blood was soaking the couch, and splattered all over the walls, the floor, and ruined a painting above him. Abby Borden was on the floor of the upstairs guestroom, soaking her clothes and the carpet."
"So why was their daughter the prime suspect?" Mina asked.
"She had the motive." Dean answered. "More often then not, the murderer is known to their victim. She had issues with her stepmother, and Lizzie and her sister were arguing with their father over who inherited which properties."
"To add to that, she had been acting strange upon the discovery of the bodies." Sam cut in.
"Dude, I'm telling the story!" Dean shot his brother a glare.
"While there was no evidence of blood on her," Sam continued, "She at first wouldn't let anyone into the rooms to see the bodies."
"What do you mean?" Serenity asked, slightly leaning forward as her interest perked.
"She was described as acting strangely calm," Dean cut his brother off. "She called the maid down from her room, saying someone had come in and killed her father. But when the maid was about to go it, Lizzie turned her away and told her to go next door to get the doctor, Dr. Bowen."
"Which could have given her time to clean and stash the murder weapon." Sam added.
"When the maid and Dr. Bowen returned, Lizzie said she thought she heard her stepmother return home. They found Abby Borden long dead when they went upstairs." Dean continued. "There are other factors, too."
"Like what?" Mina asked.
"Well, a few days before hand, Lizzie had tried to buy prussic acid from a drug store, but was denied because she didn't have a prescription. She claimed she wanted to kill some bugs. It was the same morning of the murders. But later in her testimony, despite several eyewitnesses, she denied being in the drug store." Sam informed them.
"On top of that, the only time that the maid was in her room taking a nap is the time that Lizzie could not account for." Dean continued. "She had left the house, claiming that she was in the barn, but no one could testify that as so. However, they did find a recently broken hatchet in the barn, covered in ashes. The investigators also found that the barn was very dusty and showed no evidence of anyone being present recently at all."
"Lizzie never acted upset over the ordeal, and many – even her uncle – had called her emotionless. He followed up by saying that she was naturally not emotional, but it's not normal to stumble upon a scene like that and not be at least a little freaked out." Sam remembered some of his own family experience and fought off a shudder.
"To further supernatural problems, they bodies were never buried." Dean added. "On the day of the funeral, the doctor wanted to do another autopsy, so he took the bodies. He removed the heads, took off the flesh, and made plaster molds of the crushed skulls. Andrew Borden's head was never returned to the casket with the rest of his body, and if that doesn't scream 'vengeful spirit', I don't know what does."
"Are the cases always so creepy and gruesome?" Mina asked.
"For the most part." Serenity answered.
"The day after the funeral, a neighbor found Lizzie burning a dress in the oven. She claimed that it had paint on it, but due to the fact that it could have been the dress with blood stains on it, she was charged with the murders." Sam finished the story.
"There are dozens of theories on the matter, some saying they can prove she did it while the rest say she couldn't have." Dean continued.
"Either way, it's a historical case that will be interesting to look at." Sam cut in.
"It's one of the golden apples." Dean agreed.
"So where is this house?" Serenity asked. "Are we able to go inside, or should we wait until night time and sneak in?"
"The place is open for tours." Sam asked. "But doing both would be a good idea."
"Sam and I can go check it out now and schedule a tour for all of us." Mina suggested. "You two can start forming a plan on what to do come nightfall."
"Sounds like a plan." Serenity agreed as Sam and Mina stood up to leave.
"We'll call you when we have the time." Sam added as Mina slid her hand into his.
"Have fun." Dean waved as he stood. "I'll be right back." He told Serenity as she was left at the table alone. She smiled and nodded, choosing to pick up the four-page desert and specials menu.
Her blue eyes scanned the page of Italian delicacies, tempted to see if Dean wanted to try any of them. She leaned back in her chair, crossing her long legs as her mind wandered over the past week. She was still very worried that something would happen to Dean and Sam, and she still felt a little guilty about Mina leaving her dream and coming along with them. However, she was happy that they were all together, and she thought that Mina and Sam made a charming couple.
"Usako?"
Her eyes widened as they remained on the page, but her heart rate sped up. It took her a second to slowly lift her eyes up from the menu to look at the black-haired man standing beside her, his own blue eyes unreadable. "You never change," Mamoru commented, giving a soft and somewhat uncertain smile as he motioned to the menu in her hands.
The Lunarian tensed and sat up in her chair, her legs uncrossing as she placed the menu on the table. "Mamoru…" She began. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." He stated calmly as he moved to sit down. The waitress had already cleaned off their table, so it looked like Serenity had only just arrived as opposed to preparing to leave. "Harvard is here in Boston."
"I didn't know I was in Boston, it's been a long car ride…" Serenity spoke.
"Oh?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow. "From where? You're not here alone, are you?"
"No," Serenity began. "I'm just coming back from Hollywood."
"Oh, you're with Mina." He nodded. "That must be nice. How is she?"
"Great." Serenity answered, wondering what his motivation is. Their breakup was fresh in her mind as he sat before her.
"Mamo-chan, what are you saying?" Serenity asked softly as tears began to blur her vision.
"I just don't think I can do this," Mamoru began. He turned guilt-filled eyes to her, which only made the hurt inside of her chest that much worse. "I love you, I do. But the fight with Galaxia only proved that I have regrets." He took a deep breath. "I already called Harvard, and they said they still want to have me. I'm leaving tomorrow to go to medical school in the States."
"But… Mamo-chan, you've already been gone a year." Serenity tried to protest. "I only just got you back…"
"That's why I am doing this, Usagi." He said, forgoing her nickname. She began to tremble. "I don't want you to suffer again. I don't want you to wait, so I think we should break up. That way you are free to date someone else while I am away and you won't be lonely."
"How can you say that?" She cried. "I've had offers! Seiya told me he loves me, but I only love you! What about our future, what about Chibi-Usa?"
"That's only one possible future," He tried to say. "Usagi, I hate seeing you like this, and the last thing I want to do it hurt you..."
"So don't!" Usagi cried. "Stay here, with me!"
Mamoru looked at her sadly. "It's not for forever, Usagi. When I return in a few years, we can start again."
"I saw her new movie with Nicolas Cage." Mamoru continued. "She really does have a talent."
"I'll be sure to tell her." Serenity commented calmly, all the while her heart was beating frantically.
"I also saw that you two were fighting crime in Hollywood," He continued. "You never told me you became Sailor Cosmos…"
"There wasn't a need." She answered.
Mamoru let out a sigh. "How have you been, Usako?" He tried again.
"Don't call me that." Serenity told him. "You have no right to."
"I didn't want for us to break up forever," Mamoru defended. "I'm in my last month of clinical, you know." He changed the subject, his hands folding together on the table. "I'm planning on returning to Japan at the end of the month…"
"Why are you telling me this?" Serenity whispered.
"I've missed you," He told her, his deep voice softening. "I haven't had a decent night of sleep since the last time I saw you. I miss your voice, your laugh, your light, even your Meatballs." He tried to crack a joke to lighten the mood, but apparently his former girlfriend was not as easy-going as she used to be.
"That was your decision." She told him.
"I still love you," Mamoru began.
"But she doesn't still love you."
Serenity felt the air around her tense as Dean appeared at her side, sending down a glare at the black haired man sitting across from his girlfriend.
"Who are you?" Mamoru asked, suddenly rising from his chair. Serenity quickly did the same thing, moving to stand beside Dean in hopes of preventing a confrontation.
"Dean Winchester, her boyfriend." Dean stated possessively as he wrapped an arm around her waist.
Mamoru looked down at the Moon Princess, instantly hating how she molded to the other man's side. "Oh really?"
"Yup." Dean smirked, completely smug. "For about a year now. Oh, she was shy at first, but turns out that she's a hellion in the bedroom."
Serenity blushed twenty shades of red as Dean had no issues plainly stating such private information to her ex-fiancé. She stomped her foot on his own. While Dean acted as if he didn't feel it, Mamoru noticed and assumed that it was her way of catching him in an embarrassing lie.
"You know, you still haven't told me who you are." Dean commented. "That's pretty rude, ya know." His voice was teasing with a hint of chastising as he looked at the ebony-haired man, knowing full well who he was.
Mamoru stuck out his hand. "Mamoru Chiba, MD." He stated as if he was so much greater than Dean. When Dean took the offered hand, Serenity didn't miss the clenching of their fists as they tried to see who was the stronger.
"Have you heard from Sam and Mina?" Serenity asked in hopes of changing the subject.
"Yeah," Dean answered while releasing his grip, but refusing to stop the eye war with the other male. "They are on their way back to get us."
"Where are you going?" Mamoru asked.
"Just doing a little tour." Dean answered. "Nice meeting you, Dr. Chubby."
"Chiba." Mamoru's eyes narrowed.
"My bad." Dean answered as he turned to leave, pulling Serenity with him.
"Usako," He called out fondly, causing them to halt. "I'd like to catch up. My number is the same, if you want to reach me."
"We'll think about it." Dean answered as they walked out.
Knowing that the Prince of Earth could see them out the windows, Dean led her to the left to walk towards a nearby park. "That is the Prince of Earth? He's a real prick." Dean fumed.
"He does have a jerk gene," Serenity whispered.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Dean asked as he looked down at her, his arm still firmly around her waist.
"He lives near here," She answered. "I was waiting for you, and he just came over…"
They walked in silence for a while longer before Dean's small amount of patience ran out just two blocks down. "He wants you back, doesn't he?"
Serenity only nodded slowly, looking at the ground as they walked.
"Past lives and romantic fairytale be damned, you're mine now." Dean told her firmly.
Serenity looked up at him, giving a small smile as she looked into his green eyes. "You really mean that?"
"I know your blonde, but I didn't think you were dumb." He told her, stopping their walk to turn her to face him. His other arm joined the other around her waist and pulled her to him. "I told you I love you, shouldn't that be enough of a clue?"
The smile she gave him was blinding as she rose to her tippy toes to give him a kiss, which he eagerly returned.
Mamoru, having followed them, slipped into an alley and punched a small hole in the brick wall. Serenity was his Princess, and now that he had become a doctor and sowed his royal oats, he was going to have his true love back and rule Crystal Tokyo.
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So how was that? Ten pages, but a nice set up for the flow of the story. Right? I hope so. Let me know what you think!
Take care everyone! See you soon!
~Sandreline