Hello again minna! This is my second fanfic. This one is co-written with my friend Astral. I have to warn you it has a lot of violence in it and foul language. It is a romance, murder mystery and I have been writing it for 2 years now so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it:) Just a few things first, Serena is 18 and Darien is 24. Rini came back to the past, and the scouts have had no negaverse problems in 3 years. The inner scouts are 18 and the outer scouts are 20. Hotaru is 12 and so is Rini. Rated: R, for violence and foul language. Disclaimers: these characters are not mine but belong to our goddess Naoko. Always a price to pay by: BabySerry & Astral chapter one: The nightmare begins She sat alone on a park bench, letting the sweet smell of rain kiss her senses, but this was not the only reason she sat here on this day, she was waiting patiently for her true love. ?He's really late' she thought to herself ?he's never late.' A cold wind rushed by her. Shivering slightly, she placed her sweater over her shoulders. ?I'll wait a little longer,' she thought as she lay on the bench slowly drifting off to sleep. "Bye mom..I'll see you later." She leaned against the door and sighed softly. "Tonight I enjoy myself," she said out loud. Tonight was the night her mother worked late and she had the house all to herself. She glided swiftly into her bedroom, picking up her favorite book and lay on her bed, opening the book slowly. She had just begun to read when there was a knock at the door. "Never any peace," she thought getting up. There was another tap at the door. "I'm coming!" She opened the door slowly and was greeted by a friendly face. "I haven't seen you in ages....come on in, I was just reading...but shouldn't you be with Serena?" she asked. "My dear, naive Molly," said a rough, starchy voice. "You will be the first to feel the sting of succession." Before Molly could say another word, a tight rope was wrapped around her neck sucking the life out of her slowly. Falling to her knees, she lifted her head. "W....hy" was all Molly could choke out as the rope tightened. "No one will stand in my way." Molly fell to the ground with a hard slam, her hands desperately trying to pull the rope away from her neck. Struggling to get up, she was barely able to find the strength to kick her killer in the knee cap. The rope was loosened enough to let the blood escape her already cut neck. The killer quickly regained composure and pulled the rope tighter, causing Molly to gasp in pain. "Well if you want to do this the hard way, we can do it the hard way." A hard, steel-toed boot connected quickly with Molly's rib cage, shattering the last of her will. She looked up pitifully, hot tears running down her cheek. The muscles in her body gave way and her head slammed lifelessly to the floor. "Hahahahahahaha! And now for the finishing touch." Molly's limp, bloody body was dragged into her room, cleaned and dressed in her finest clothing. "I will not let you or anyone else stand in my way." Placing a red rose on her body, Molly's successor walked casually out of the house, closing the door on the way out. "Serena, Serena wake up....USAKO." A tall, young man stood, shaking Serena's shoulders gently. She opened her eyes and sat up slowly. "Da....Darien..." Serena yawned. "Where were you....I don't think you've ever been this late..." "It doesn't matter, Serena my dear," Darien said softly, taking her hands and lifting Serena to her feet. Serena noticed Darien wincing a little as if in pain, looking down at his hands, she gasped in concern. "Darien! What happened to your hands.....they're covered in rope burns." "It's nothing Serena....don't concern yourself." "But Darien.." "I said don't concern yourself!" Darien snapped. Serena backed up a little, frightened at Darien's expression. When he saw the fear on her face, his expression softened and he took her in his loving arms. "I'm sorry love, I've had a bad day," Darien apologized, tilting his head down a little to brush his lips overs hers. "Now, there was a reason I asked you here today." He whispered softly in her ear. She sighed into his arms. "And what was that, beloved?" "Well ever since Rini came back it made me think...we know we'll be together forever," Darien said, getting down on one knee. "I just thought I'd make it official." He smiled and pulled out a small box from his pocket. "Will you marry me?" She stood there with tears in her eyes. ?The moment I've been waiting for,' she thought, throwing her arms around him. "Yes, of course I will!" "Oh Serena," he said, placing the ring on her finger. "Now no one will ever stand in our way again." She smiled happily at him, then looked at the ring. It was a gold ring with a small diamond crescent moon on the top. "Oh Darien, I love you so much," Serena cried. The moonlight shone brightly over them, almost smiling while they shared the most passionate kiss the world would ever know. They reluctantly broke the spell bounding kiss, and Serena looked into his ocean blue eyes. "I've never been so happy as I am at this moment," Serena smiled. "Just looking at you makes me happy love," Darien said lovingly. He gently touch her already flushed cheeks and smiled. "Come on I'll take you home...I wouldn't want your father to kill me before the wedding day." "Alright," Serena replied sadly, getting up. Hand in hand they walked through the streets of Tokyo, smiling and laughing. "So my love, what would you like for your birthday?" Darien asked. "Hmmm....as long as it's from you I don't care." Darien chuckled a little. "Well that's a good enough answer for me then." Darien raised his wrist to look at his watch. "Ummm Serena, I'm in a hurry so I'll see you later....there's something I have to do." Darien said kissing her on the cheek and running off. ?Well that was weird,' Serena thought turning the corner. ?Hmm, I wonder what he's up to." ?Why was I so stupid,' Darien thought walking through the park on his way home. Looking once again at his hands he cursed himself. ?If she finds out about this, my plans will all be ruined.' Darien stopped suddenly and smiled to himself ?Of course..I know what I have to do.' Spinning his heels, Darien headed straight for the drug store. 'Thank gods I remembered, the plan wouldn't work without the matches!" he muttered to himself. Serena sat on her bed staring at the moon. 'I'm so happy I could burst' she thought, 'but why was Darien acting so weird today...I cannot figure out that man'. Serena decided ignore Darien's action for awhile, as she regained her excitement. She had to tell Luna of the engagement! "Luna, where are you?" she looked around. Usually at this time Luna would be in her room, but she was nowhere to be seen. Serena stepped out of her bedroom. "Luna," Serena yelled. "Luna!" She walked back into her bedroom to find Luna sitting on her bed licking her paws. "What is it, Serena?" Luna looked up. Serena was about to ask her where she had been but wanted to get her news out first. "Luna, you'll never guess what happened tonight!" she exclaimed happily. Before Luna had a chance to guess, Serena blurted it out in excitement. "Darien asked me to marry him! We're... we're ENGAGED!!!! I'm so happy, Luna!" Luna looked away, replying "Oh, Serena that's wonderful." She twitched in a strange way, and Serena looked at her in confusion. "What's wrong Luna, aren't you happy for me?" she asked. "Oh, I am Serena, I just have a headache." "Oh come here Luna," Serena motioned for Luna to come sit on her lap. Luna did what she was told and sat on Serena's lap. "Is that better Luna?" Serena asked as she massaged Luna's ears. Luna just purred in affirmation. "Hey Luna," Serena asked. Luna looked up sleepily. "Where's Artemis?" Luna got up quickly and ran for the window. "He's with those dogs again I just know it," Luna screamed, jumping out the window. ?That cat is definatley strange,' Serena thought as she went back to the the window. Meanwhile, a cold, low voice echoed out into the dark night. "My dear Raye Hino, you are also in my way." like it? tell us what you think....So you think you know who the killer is well maybe your wrong...if you think you know e-mail us too:) Love, Peace, and Harmony BabySerry and Astral--====================987654321_0==_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"