Disclaimer: "Sailor Moon" is property of Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, and Kodansha USA. I do not own any characters, save for the OC characters. Hopefully you'll find this story enjoyable, and have a good day.
Chapter 6
Ami is seen sitting a desk inside a local library. She proceeds to turn the page of a book, the contents of which is mainly about numerous vampire lore. She proceeds to sigh.
"All these books are just telling me the same thing, I already know enough about vampire strengths and weaknesses, all I want is something remotely cure related." Ami thinks to herself. She sighs again and closes the book, and places it near a stack of books also pertaining to vampires. "Do we really got to seek and destroy every vampire we encounter, hoping we'll get lucky each and every time?"
Ami proceeds to slump her head down, as if exhausted by the whole ordeal. One of the librarians proceeds to pass by and sees her. "Miss, are you alright?"
"Huh, oh yeah. I'm fine." Ami responds.
"That is a lot of books on vampires." The librarian says, blurting out the obvious. "Is this about the victims that were found today?"
"You could say that." Said Ami. "One of my friends was bitten herself."
"Huh, and the police call it mere superstition. Obviously they haven't seen some of the other crazy things that go on here." Said the librarian.
"You could say that again. If you don't mind, ma'am, I'd like to check these books out." Said Ami.
"Of course, follow me to the front desk." Said the librarian. She starts walking away, Ami following her. She proceeds to scan the books and proceeds to take out some slips of paper.
"Please return these by the due date." Said the librarian nicely.
"Alright. Thank you." Said Ami. She turns around and proceeds to walk out of the library. She proceeds to take out what appears to be a communicator. "This is Ami, reporting in.
"Ami, did you find anything?" Asked Rei, responding to the call.
"Nothing we don't already know, I'm hoping however that I just overlooked something. I'm sorry I couldn't report anything more productive. How did you and Makoto's search go?" She proceeds to ask.
"About the same, we've searched every possible angle. We know that these freaks are coming from somewhere, but every guess we've had is just a dead end. I suppose you could say we've had the same amount of luck." Said Rei.
"Well, I guess that means another night of vampire hunting. How's Minako doing?" Asked Ami.
"We checked on her earlier, she's...well, let's just say she's seen better days." Said Rei.
"Why, what happened?" Asked Ami, worriedly.
"She wouldn't speak to us, her hair was a mess...She was constantly mumbling to herself. We tried to help her but she just insisted she be left alone." Said Rei.
"This whole thing really hit her hard. The sooner we find a solution, the better." Said Ami with conviction.
"Right, meet us at Usagi's place. Come sundown we're all heading out." Said Rei.
"Copy that, over and out." Said Ami. She proceeds to walk away from the library.
Hours pass by, and soon the sun goes down once more. The same librarian is seen walking around the library, making sure everything is in proper order. She begins to walk down an aisle, until the sound of someone, or rather, something breathing fills the halls of the library. The librarian stops in her tracks and turns around.
"Whose there?" She proceeds to ask. She recieves no response. "Must...must have been my imagination."
She proceeds to continue walk down the aisles, and sees to it that everything is in proper order.
"Alright, now that that's done." She thinks to herself, as she begins to walk towards a wall with a light switch. She proceeds to switch it off, turning off the remaining lights in the facility, leaving everything in complete darkness. She proceeds to start heading down the staircase, and is about to walk out the door, until she hears the sound of deep breathing once more, this time appearing right on top of her. She looks up and screams. A loud, inhuman shriek is heard as something proceeds to trample her.
Meanwhile, back at the mansion, now having reappeared in the night, Higgs and Valkner are seen sitting down, playing what appears to be a game of chess.
"Do you honestly think that freak show of yours is gonna have any better luck destroying whoever did Trussardi in? Let alone track them?" Asked Valkner. He proceeds to move a knight.
"The whole purpose of that particular creation to search and destroy. Of course, it wouldn't surprise me if it got distracted a few times while searching for them." Said Higgs, who proceeds to move a bishop, destroying a pawn. "Of course, my precious Tsuiseki always gets the job done."
"And you call my men reckless?" Asked Valkner. "You're little pet is going around leaving bodies." He proceeds to move his Queen forward.
"So what? It's not like the rest of these pathetic humans are going to do anything against us. As far as we're concerned, those who are hunting us are the only ones who are gonna be any trouble to our plans. Besides, we could use more troops..." Said Higgs, also moving his Queen forward, destroying Valkner's knight.
"Heh, ain't that the truth" Said Valkner, he proceeds to give a sadistic laugh as he moves his Queen forward some more.
Meanwhile, back at the Tsukino household, Usagi, along with her friends are seen walking out the door.
"Be safe, and don't take too long, OK Usagi?" Called out a feminine voice.
"Don't worry mom, we'll be fine." Said Usagi. "We're just gonna hang at Makoto's for a bit and come back." She proceeds to shut the door.
"OK, the hard parts done and over with." Said Rei.
"That was the hard part?" Asked Usagi.
"Now for the nearly impossible part." Said Makoto simply.
"Ugh, no kidding." Said Usagi with a sigh.
"Well, we got a lot of city to cover, so we better get to it." Said Makoto.
"Yeah, come on, let's go." Said Usagi. With that, all of them proceed to make their way towards the streets.
Meanwhile, back at Minako, we see her slumping on the couch. She lets out an audible sigh.
"Still not happy about your predicament, huh? Maybe if you were more active, you wouldn't be mellowing in your sorrow so much." The voice pipes up again. "You've already had your first taste of blood, it won't be long until you get seconds."
"Bear in mind, I didn't really feed on blood through choice." Said Minako.
"Hmph, still playing the stubborn mule. I saw your eyes go dark when you saw your friend cut herself like that. Let's face it, if it was just you and her...Hm hm, you might have bit a nice big juicy chunk out of her arm." Said the voice.
"That's not true. I'd never do that!" Yelled Minako.
"The old you wouldn't do it! But I'm not necessarily talking to the old you now am I?" Asked the voice.
"I haven't changed...it was one time." Said Minako.
"And how did it feel? How did it feel to have that vital nectar drop on your tongue? Go down your throat? I bet in that exact moment, whether you didn't mean to or not...For that one moment, I bet you felt pure bliss." Said the voice.
Minako is silent.
"I'm right, aren't I?" Asked the voice.
"Shut up." Said Minako again.
"And by that response, I assume that's a yes." Said the voice, who immediately starts to chuckle.
"Shut up...Shut up!" Said Minako.
The voice continues to laugh, the tone becoming more mocking as time goes on.
"Shut up! Shut Up! SHUT UP!" Yelled Minako, trying to get the voice to stop laughing.
"Minako!" Called out Artemis.
"Huh?" Minako proceeds to utter, as the voice in her head disappears. She turns to face Artemis.
"I couldn't help but hear you yelling out here, is everything OK?" Asked Artemis.
"I wish I could say it was. As long as I stay like this, nothing is gonna be OK." Said Minako sorrowfully.
Artemis proceeds to sigh. "Minako..."
"It's growing Artemis...the...temptation. Ever since Rei fed me that blood, I...I've been craving more." Said Minako.
"You're not actually thinking on going through with it, are you?" Asked Artemis in a alarmed tone.
"No, of course not, but the fact that it's there is just...is just..." Minako says while beginning to break down.
"Minako, it's gonna be OK. As we speak, your fellow Senshi are doing everything in their power to find the source of this problem and destroy it." Said Artemis, trying to reassure her.
"I should be out there, helping them." Said Minako. "This is my fight, and yet you have me sitting on the sidelines."
"You know why, don't you?" Asked Artemis.
"...Yeah." Said Minako.
"Have faith in them Minako. You've all been through a lot, and even though things have escalated more than what we're usually used to...I can assure you that like every other time, everything will turn out for the better." Said Artemis.
"Yeah...you're right." Said Minako with a smile. She gets up and walks towards the picture from earlier and picks it up. All 5 friends are seen standing and smiling as before. Minako smiles...for only a few seconds. "What the!?"
"What is it Minako?" Asked Artemis.
What was once a happy smile has now turned into a mixed look of confusion and panic. Minako is clearly not liking what she's seeing in the picture.
"Am...Am I..." Minako says without finishing her sentence.
"Lost?" Asked Rei. "How could we get lost again!?"
"Rei please, you're going to start a scene." Said Ami. "Besides, we found our way back home last night, the same will happen again."
"I suppose you're right." Said Rei. "What time is it?"
"It's around 8:30. Sun set like an hour ago." Said Makoto.
"We've only been wandering around for an hour, and we're lost!?" Asked Rei.
"That's gotta be some type of record." Said Usagi.
"You're not helping!" Said Rei.
"Alright, alright, let's settle down. Check our sorroundings." Said Ami. "We'll use this shop as a reference point, let's just keep going, OK?"
"Alright." Said Rei. "Come on."
All of them proceed keep moving. Inside the shop we see a man washing plates. He wipes the sweat off his brow, and places it in a container.
Suddenly, the bell that usually rings when someone enters the building proceeds to encompass the building, the man stopping his duty and going up front.
"Hello?" The man proceeds to ask. He steps out front, and doesn't see anybody. "Huh, that's weird."
The man proceeds to head back into the kitchen, and starts cleaning again. A few minutes pass, and the sound of breathing is heard. The man turns around, and finds no one. The breathing is heard again, a cold breath brushing his neck. The man's eyes widen with fear, as he slowly turns to look.
"SHRIEK"
Back at the four, they proceed to hear a loud scream coming from the opposite direction.
"What was that?" Asked Usagi.
"Someone's in trouble, come on!" Yelled Makoto. The four of them proceed to run back, and make their way to the shop.
"It sounded like it came from in here." Said Rei.
"We all know the drill. Let's transform!" Said Ami.
"Right. Moon Power Make Up!" Yelled Usagi, lifting up her pen. The other 3 Senshi follow suit.
"Mars/Mercury/Jupiter Power Make Up!" Yelled Rei, Ami and Makoto respectively.
All 4 of them proceed to glow with a brilliant light, Rei being shrouded with flame as she transforms, Ami with bubbles and water, and Makoto with bolts of lightning, within moments, all 4 of them don their Senshi identities once more.
The 4 of them proceed to charge into the shop, Sailor Mercury immediately breaking out her scanner.
"Do you see anything, Mercury?" Asked Sailor Moon.
"Scanning perimeters...One life form detected." Said Sailor Mercury. "Approach with caution."
"Right. Everyone get behind me." Said Sailor Moon. She slowly walks towards the back door of the shop, and at the last moment, barges into the room.
"In the name of the Moon, I'll...Huh?" Asked Sailor Moon. "Oh no..."
Laying in the floor is the man, 4 holes seemed to have been poked into his chest, and two bite marks are seen on the right side of his neck, bleeding profusely.
"Sailor Moon, what is it?" Asked Sailor Mars.
"Stand back." Said Sailor Moon. She reaches towards her holder, and proceeds to shine the light onto the man. Almost immediately, the bite marks shrivel up and heal, as well as the 4 holes in the chest. The man proceeds to rise up, gasping for breath.
"Sir, are you alright?" Asked Sailor Moon, the other Senshi coming into join her.
"Look out...Above you!" Said the man.
"What did you say?" Asked Sailor Moon, all of a sudden, a thin, white tongue like appendage wraps itself around her neck, and proceeds to drag her up. "AHH!"
"Sailor Moon!" Yelled the other Senshi.
Sailor Moon is dragged up through a hole in the cieling, and feels herself getting thrown to the ground. She tries to get up, only for her to get the feeling that somethings looming over her. She turns around and gasps in surprise.
A deep breath proceeds to come out the creature's mouth. The creature looks humanoid in appearance, tall, and muscular. In one of his hands, in the place of nails are long, black razor sharp claws covered in blood. In the center of his chest is a black heart, constantly pulsating. The creature opens it's mouth, letting loose the long white tongue. It licks the blood off it's claws while breathing. It's eyes then proceed to glow red and it proceeds to lunge it's face towards Sailor Moon, it's mouth baring fangs.
"SHRIEK"
Comments: Hoo boy, that's one heck of a cliffhanger to leave that chapter on. How is Sailor Moon gonna get out of this confrontation I wonder? Back at Minako, what has her freaking out? Questions that will be answered in time my dear friends. Thank you guys so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave your comments and reviews, as I love to hear feedback from you guys, and as always, I will see you all next chapter!