ReVengeful Heart

Chapter Two

Enjoy

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Serena tried to think of several ways to confront or get information out of this Julio person, but all she came up with was a whole lot of unhelpful nothing. Just going up to him would draw too much attention to her, and she wasn't completely sure whether Mina had actually been with this guy to begin with.

So Serena decided to just observe as best as she could, for the time being.

She decided where to best position herself as she came upon the Lycan cage the bartender had pointed out. Observing first would serve her best she decided. She had always been a tad rash, but after nearly a lifetime of training you learned when to wait things out.

There was a fully circular sofa of sorts going all the way around the cage where several people were all huddled together around the same, greasy looking person in the middle. He was hook nosed, and had he not been yet another underground grunge reveler, he may have been attractive.

There were a couple of attendees hovering off to the side, but other than that there was no one else in the area. This was very beneficial for Serena. It was also disheartening, she could be spotted, and the fact that this man's presence denoted that he was surrounded only my hand picked guests meant that he had some sort of power leverage.

She looked more closely at the group for a minute before deciding that the greasy haired ring leader had to be 'Julio.'

'But where to sit?' Serena asked herself, there were no other places she could position herself in the immediate area that would allow her to overhear the group, other than the circular sofa.

'Here goes nothing,' Serena took a deep breath, calming herself, before beginning to wobble herself over to the other side of the cage from where Julio was sitting. Luckily there was enough over bearing scent that Serena doubted her façade would be tested too much, as long as she got in and out quick.

She plopped herself down on the sofa and then threw her head back, as if she were entirely exhausted.

After all, none of Julio's crew or Julio himself would suspect the average burnt out junkie; this place was full of them.

She was correct, one of the men looked over at her studying her briefly before labeling her as unthreatening. He didn't spare her a second glance after that, looking back towards the group.

Then all Serena had to do was open her ears and try to listen in on there discussion, and try to interpret the information she learned from the conversation.

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"It's simply bad for business," said a white haired man, leaning back and folding his hands behind his head.

"No," said the greasy haired man named Julio, he was sitting calmly with a look of superiority on his partially veiled face. This was a man who was used to being in power. "If the product is overall better it matters not what the price is."

"Well how many are you shipping out?" asked a brown haired man who was leaning on the outside of the couch, his back to it, so it seemed as if he were speaking outwards instead of to the man on the couch.

"Seventeen," replied Julio, smirking slightly. He moved one of the clearly simpering women onto his lap, running a lazy hand down her sad.

"Seventeen?" repeated an orange haired women sharply, her eyes narrowed like hawks looking at the man seated besides her. She was different from the other women, and dressed more conservatively. She was a business partner and not an after business delicacy.

"Yes," replied Julio, not the least bit concerned at the question.

"I thought you had eighteen?" she pushed; she was watching him, as if she was trying to push him over the edge and divulge a secret.

"Yes I did have eighteen," he replied, raising his glass to his lips and taking a sip, while casually closing his eyes.

The women waited for him to explain more, but when he lowered his glass and still didn't open his eyes or speak it became apparent that he was not going to say anything in excess.

"Well what happened to it?" demanded the women her voice turning hard and nasty.

"Calm yourself Zoicite," Julio said, opening his eyes and meeting hers.

Well Zoicite may have been the one voicing it, it was also apparent that the other members of the group wanted that information as well. As the brunette had turned around so that he was finally facing the group, and the white haired one was also no longer leaning back.

"I have given her to Wing," he said as if that had settled it.

However it had quite the opposite effect, as it only helped to urge another barrage of questions.

"To Wing?" one asked.

"Why?" another asked.

"Calm yourselves," said Julio. "I gave her to Wing because he had requested her."

"Why would he request it?" asked the flaxen haired one again.

"Because, Malachite, have you thought that perhaps he wanted to punish her? After all a little spy like that would more than likely interest Darien, don't you think?" Julio raised an eyebrow at the now identified Malachite.

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Serena nearly jumped in alarm but reminded herself that she was not supposed to be found. She was supposed to be involved in a very deep, nearly passed out, trance.

And they were talking about…

'The spy,' she thought to herself. 'Could he have been talking about Mina?'

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"Yes," said Malachite. "But still it's rather unusual, don't you think so? Wing's never been one to punish and play."

"I'm not one to call the shots. How am I, of all people, supposed to know how Wing operates?" replied Julio. He seemed irritated that his superiority was brought into question.

"Ah," said the women. "But that trouble make that you're talking about was that pretty little thing, must have been, she seemed different from the rest, blond hair, red bow, cute innocent eyes, right?"

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Serena gulped in mild fear, a small amount of paranoia seeping through her veins. 'They actually were talking about Mina.'

Serena had to get out of there, not that she actually knew what happened to Mina it was ten times worse.

She had been discovered, then captured, then procured for an illegal human trading shipment, then given to this horrible Wing person, who would more than likely try to hurt her. She had been taken.

She had to get back to the rest, had to tell them what had happened so that they could finally go and rescue Mina, get her away from these evil people. She had never felt so disgusted with these Unnaturals than she did in that moment.

Serena warily got up and tried hurriedly to make her way through the dance floor, she didn't want to risk luck or time running into the sleazy bartender again. She made sure to wobble away from the couch, trying to keep herself off the radar.

She had just begun to sprint up the winding staircase when she nearly tripped as she felt a disturbance in her psyche.

'Serena,' a voice called in her head, it was Raye. She should have expected this as she had been in for a few hours now.

'Raye!' Serena said back, breaking over the top of the staircase and beginning to trot down the hallway that led to the exit, her freedom and salvation. She didn't really care that the occasional eye was watching her now; all she had to do was get out.

'What?' sent back Raye 'What's wrong Serena?' she seemed to sense the urgency in Serena's voice as hers had now taken on a worried tone.

'I've got it! I know who has Mina! Raye call back the others, we've got to get back to Home!'

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The next day the group was occupying a debriefing room on the third floor of what appeared, from the outside at least, to be an average paper mill company. However in truth it was the headquarters of Silver Alliance, a secret band of craft warriors and scholars that kept the peace and rules between the human and proclaimed Unnatural species.

"Firstly, congratulations on the successful completion of your mission," began a lady who was known as Pluto, though her real name was Trista and Setsuna on occasion, the green haired, red eyed beauty before them was the commanding officer of the warrior faction of Silver Alliance. This meant that they were her boss and she ordered them around.

"And next," she continued. "This information you have provided about Wing is rather disturbing."

"Why's that, general?" asked Ami using Trista's militaristic title.

"Wing is the codename for the strongest Vampire we have on file. He is a ruthless that none of our operatives ever came back after meeting. He's nearly a legend, a shadow you see before you die," she looked them straight in the eye and sat down on the corner of the table.

"Then if Mina was given to him… she-she… wouldn't she…?" Lita began, however she didn't seem able to say what was on her mind.

"No!" said Serena, snapping her head up, and looking at Pluto. She had never even considered that Mina could be-that she could be-be…

That Mina could be dead.

"Serena," Pluto began, looking at her with sympathetic eyes "We must look at the facts as they are. Wing is a dangerous person and judging from his persona…"

"Precisely," said Ami, cutting Pluto off. "Wing is Wing, and as you said General, I believe your words were 'A shadow you see before you die.' He is not the type of person to take someone to toy with them; he is a shadow as you say someone that will kill someone outright. General, because of this I believe that Mina is alive still."

"You really think so?" asked Serena excitedly. She felt the nearly shed tears fade back. Ami was always cool, and always calculative, she wouldn't have offered an unfound theory.

"Yes," replied Ami, a small smile alighting to her face. Both Serena and Lita gave off the feeling of relief, content to hope.

"Think what you will," said Pluto, she looked slightly affronted at being openly contradicted. "But your mission is over, the information has been gathered. I'll have Uranus and Neptune begin to form a plan on this, from here on out they will be the responsible ones for looking in on this."

"You can't expect us to just sit back and do nothing, can you? We have to save Mina!" demanded Lita.

"This was our mission! I will be the one to rescue my cousin!" Serena protested. She threw her hand forward, her temper rising.

"We are quite capable of doing it ourselves."

"Why leave it to them?"

"We would be more suited!"

"Silence!" shouted Pluto "You will obey my orders. I am the superior officer here and I give the orders. And if anyone disobeys my orders there will be consequences!"

She glared and looked each one of them in the eye, silently daring them to defy her. "You are dismissed!"

They shuffled out of the room, each of them in a different state of anger or frustration. Except for Ami of course, Ami was still relatively calm, and her eyes still flashed as though she were thinking and strategizing.

"Serena?" Pluto called.

Serena looked back; Pluto was leaning against the table, a file of information in her hand.

And she was looking Serena dead in the eye.

"Remember what I said, Serena, anyone who disobeys my orders will suffer the consequences."

"Yes, ma'am," Serena said coldly, and then she turned and left the room, not looking back.

She walked down the hallway, her coat flaring out behind her. She already had a plan, because she'd be damned if anybody told her when and where to rescue her family.

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Pluto sighed and turned around, gazing across the room and out the window. This was a larger mess than she had originally planned on.

Two life signatures appeared behind her just a slit second before the warriors themselves.

"She's going to go AWOL you do know that Trista, don't you?" half demanded one of the two, a sandy haired one with a hard look on her face.

"Yes Uranus, I've seen it," said Pluto, she turned and looked at them. "What do you see Neptune?"

"Wavy surface, rogue waves are appearing, unforgivable factors," said Neptune, Pluto was nodding along with her "But there's also a calm surface."

Pluto sighed dejectedly "So the future remains open to their choices."

"What're our orders?" asked Uranus, crossing a glance briefly with Neptune.

"You'll look into the other information they gave me," Trista said glancing into the file in her hand. "Find out who this Julio person is and how he's able to host slave trade in this day and age."

"A slave trade?" Uranus questioned sharply. Her gloves made a gripping noise as her hands balled into fists.

"I thought we put a stop to that a long time ago?" added Neptune. Her eyes became sad but her tone remained strong, they'd shut down the trade a hundred times if they had to.

"Precisely," said Pluto "That's why you're looking in on it."

"And the girl?" questioned Neptune quietly, a sad gleam in her eye.

"You'll look into the Julio job first," replied Pluto not meeting their eyes.

"Yes ma'am!" they both saluted, seemingly to have gotten the answer to the question they sought.

"Dismissed!" murmured Pluto, turning back to look at the sanctity of the window.

And Uranus and Neptune disappeared from the room as the sun set outside, turning the sky a blood red.

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Serena had not rested for three nights, she had been hunting. Though she was not hunting beings this time around, she was hunting for information, a whisper, a clue, any clue, of the Vampire Wing.

She'd discovered tales of him, heard more of his merciless kills and his destructive ways. This only made her more determined as she continued to fear for Mina. She'd be damned if when she found Mina it was in the form of a bloodless husk.

Though she hadn't found out any informative information on where she might discover a hideout of his, she had learned some interesting tidbits of information. She had visited several haunts of his only to discover that they weren't his haunts anymore or seemingly was any other place she looked.

Some people would say they hadn't heard or seen him in months, others said days. Many didn't meet her eyes, and a fair few had attempted to leave bruises on her skin. Almost all that he associated with had a function to him, a dealer, a spy, a link of some kind.

Why would a vampire of his stature want to slink out of society the way he was appearing to do?

She simply locked the information away in her mind and proceeded on with her self-proclaimed mission. There'd be no support for this one, no covert intelligence coming through.

The sixth night, however, she got lucky. An albino vampire (a rare occurrence in their world, they were normally collected for beauty), a young one at that, bragged openly to her that he had had the pleasure to work with Wing on a chore of sorts and had been in his very house, the red eyed vampire had especially seemed proud of this simple fact.

She got the name of the area out of him, and was out of the club before he could start on the gory details of the 'chore.'

'Lightning Ridge,' she thought to herself as she mounted her motorbike 'That's near the coast.'

It took her nearly two hours to reach Lightening Ridge and by that time it was going on four a.m., she wouldn't have that much time to search, it probably wouldn't be enough.

She continued on the rather suburban like roads and remembered something her father had once told her. Four a.m. was a time that stood out for him as a military policeman. They used to run certain missions at four a.m. her father had once told her. Basic life or death free for alls happened at four he said; his stories about it had always given her the creeps. And it gave her the creeps now to be out at this time doing something such as she was doing, even if the surrounding area was nice.

This place was very nice, she noted. This Wing person lived in style, because not only was it suburbia, it was rich suburbia. All the houses had manicured lawns, in ground swimming pools, the things that just screamed money.

But she stopped. In the middle of the four corners intersection up ahead of her there was a body, a human body, crumpled and dejected looking. She hastily shoved her kick stand down and cautiously over to the body, if she was right then she was close.

She bent down next to the corpse, as it was a cloudless night she could see the not yet healed bite marks on the mans neck. This was a fresh kill, and a quick one. The vampire had most likely needed a hasty feeding because of the approach of dawn; she vaguely wondered what had kept the vampire from hunting earlier.

'It was well done,' she though in retrospect. The man had also been stabbed through the gut, and his wallet and its contents were scattered around him, making it look like a mugging. Once the bite marks healed with venom it'd appear little different from any other crime.

'Very well done.'

Now that Serena was close all she had to do was reach out with her senses and try to pinpoint his aura, and location. Is Wing the one that took the man's life?

She gently closed her eyes and let the moonlight wash over her, rejuvenating her. She reached out with her senses looking for the familiar flash of vampire aura, and she wasn't disappointed, she found it.

The feeling of ice crashed down upon her, pushing her west. It was the same every time.

So she followed it, she mounted her bike and left the body behind in the four corners under the watchful eye of the traffic light.

She followed her instincts all the way to the end of the lane. It ended in a cul-de-sac and she stopped in the middle of it. Her instincts were pushing for the dark blue house vertical from her. It didn't stick out like the others, but still didn't draw extra attention to itself.

Serena left her motorcycle in the road and approached the house. She made sure to use all her senses as she approached it, just to make sure she wasn't surprised.

She made towards the only light she could identify, a bright one shining out of a window on the bottom floor. Not wanting to be spotted she stood a few feet from the window, peering in as best she could.

What she saw made her blood boil.

There were three small couches in the room she was peering in (it appeared to be a parlor of sorts) and only two of the couches were currently being occupied.

Mina was one of them.

But she was sitting next to another person.

He had long brown hair, tied in a braid, he was also grinning at Mina. She however looked miserable.

'That brown haired bastard better not have done anything to Mina,' Serena growled to herself.

The only other occupied couch contained a blond haired delicate looking boy and another one, this one being brown haired and with a large swatch of hair descending over his left eye. They were seated closely, their thighs touching.

Serena began to formulate a plan in her head, but before she could a door opened to the room, one directly across from her.

A man stepped out; he had chocolate colored hair and deadly cobalt blue eyes, ones that spoke volumes. They seemed dead, dulled even in the brightest light. They reflected only what they wanted to reflect.

And they and the rigid face that surrounded them were looking directly at her.

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I'd like to thank all the reviewers that reviewed the previous chapter of this story and to all who continued on to read this chapter.

AnimeSiren