Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, but I did write this story. Therefore, please do not take this and say it's yours. (Not like anyone would.) If you want to post this on a page go for it. Just give me credit and email me and tell me. This takes place after The Sailor Moon R movie. Part 1: A Change in Life Chapter 3: Nightmare Central By Trachtemis Darien walked briskly towards the arcade. Andrew had left a strange message on his answering machine. The 'cold heartless blowhard' (as Serena had once put it) Darien had worked himself into a frenzy over it. With all the panic with Rini and Pluto sending her without a real mission, he was barely sleeping as it is. Now this? The message had been something like this: "Hello. This is Darien....(long pause) I'm not home to answer the phone right now so if you leave a message I'll get back with you." -BEEP- "Darien? This is Andrew. Look I really need you. Something horrid has happened. She...left me. Look please call me back or something..." -BEEP- He had sounded so sad. Darien had thrown on his coat and left his apartment no more than five minutes later. Now as Darien walked into the arcade, he was sure something was horribly wrong. All the game machines were taken up which meant the new Sailor V game. Not many people, like usual, were at the front desk. Only one person sat there, slumped over the desk. It was Andrew. He looked nearly dead. Darien walked over to him and slapped him on the back. "Hey buddy! You okay?" Andrew looked at him sadly. His blue eyes looked out red swollen eye lids His nose was incredibly snuffed up, red, and raw from a runny nose. His body movements were slow and pathetic. "She came home and dumped me!" he sobbed. Darien blinked. "Who? Rita?" At the sound of her name, he began to sob. "Oh man, I'm sorry. Look, let's close up the arcade early and you can come to my house to talk about this," suggested Darien. Andrew nodded but made no move to do anything. Darien sighed. "Five minutes till closing!" Lita stopped in front of the arcade and stared. Closed, she thought, at three in the afternoon. She shrugged and turned towards the street. Like usual, she'd got all dressed up to come visit Andrew and well - flirt. He looked so much like Freddy, just way cuter. 'What can I do with the rest of my day?' she wondered. She was all studied out; Raye was still trying to relight the fire; Serena, strange as it was, claimed to be studding; Amy was taking care of Rini and no doubt cooking an endless supply of pancakes; and Mina... well Mina was doing something. Lita thought for a moment before the idea came. "Shopping!" she cried and rushed towards the mall. The mall was huge and filled with clothing and little trinket stores. Lita walked with her hands behind her head holding her pocket book. If there was anything she loved more than her friends, it was shopping. A man and woman shared and ice cream caught her attention. The man had dark brown, almost black hair. He was strong built and in her early forties. His hazel eyes laughed and twinkled with love for the woman. His left arm was snaked around the woman's stomach. The woman had long brown hair tied up in a ponytail elastic. She was tall and very beautiful. She also had hazel eyes that reflected the same love towards the man. Lita watched them and gasped. She dropped to her knees and her eyes glazed over as she remembered... She had been around five and was staying with her Grammy. Her mother and father had won tickets to a week in the Bahamas. They had already spent the week and were suppose to be coming home that night. Happily, Lita awaited the return of her parents. Her grandmother was also delighted to see her so happy. When her parents didn't come that day, her Grammy advised her to keep the hope. "They might have got another flight at a later time," she had said. So Lita waited. The next day someone did come...but it wasn't her parents. They were two policemen who arrived around two in the afternoon. Her Grammy had gone to talk to them while Lita finished eating her lunch. That's when her grandmother had cried out and began to weep. Poor Lita had came over to her, gave her a hug, and had asked what the matter was. And without a choice, Grammy had. Lita's parent's plane had gone up in flames and crashed into the Indian Ocean. Lita understood immediately. Two days later, the child welfare people had come to take Lita away. Lita stared blankly at her parents as they finished their ice cream, left the bench, and went into a clothing shop. Lita jumped up and ran after them. "Mom! Dad!" she cried out, but they had vanished into the crowd. "Mommy..." Serena threw the math book across the room. "Ooh! It's so complicated!" she cried. The book collided with the wall and fell. "Math isn't easy but why does it have to be so hard," she whined as tears welled in her eyes. She thought about calling Amy, but Amy and Rini were having a day together. She looked at her clock. It was five, almost dinner time. Maybe she'd study some more after dinner. Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed the discarded Sailor V comic. She smiled. "Well I won't read for too long...." Rini chomped on a blueberry pancake. After she swallowed her seventh pancake, she asked, "Can I spend the night, Amy?" Amy looked up from the stove. "If you'd like, but don't you think Serena would enjoy your company?" Rini shook her head, "She said she had to cram for some big math test." Amy nearly dropped the last of Rini's pancakes. "Serena said that." "Uh huh. See her mom told her if she failed this test she'd be grounded for three months and that means she can only go to school," Rini confessed before she bit into another blueberry pancake. "Oh," Amy said simply, "Well if you'd like to stay give her a call. She's auto number five." Rini jumped from her seat and grabbed the phone. She punched in the button auto and five. It rang five times before someone actually answered. "Hello?" "Hi Serena!" "Rini? Is everything all right?" Serena asked worriedly. "Everything is fine, Serena. Don't be so paranoid. Can I stay with Amy for the night?" "Sure. Would you like me to bring a packed bag for you?" "No. You study. You can't save me from your bedroom," Rini giggled. "Ha ha. Bye." Rini stared at the phone for a moment and then hung up. "She said yes!" Rini said happily with a smile. Amy laughed. Rini screamed and hid behind a large boulder. She'd been running for so long and her legs didn't want to carry her another inch. Something horrible was chasing her but it was hidden by the shadows of the forest. Why had she gone to the forest anyway? She pondered this for a moment as she caught her breath. She couldn't remember. Suddenly she felt the creatures presence again. It was fast at smelling her out. As she heard it's footsteps getting closer, she bolted from her hiding place and scrambled off into another direction. She screamed for help. She screamed for her Mommy and Daddy. She screamed for the sailor scouts. She screamed for Tuxedo Mask. Neither came to her rescue. Where were they? Rini stumbled. The monster let out a triumphant scream. Rini tried to get up from the grassy ground but something pounced on her body. The creature had caught her. She felt vicious claws dig into her shoulders and hold her to the ground. She felt his hideously hot breath on her face. She looked around and saw the grass, trees, and plants of the forest turn brown and die. Dead trees fell to the ground around her and animals that once lived in this lovely forest fell dead and rotting. Rini screamed again. The creature shuddered as the moonbeam escaped from the royal crescent moon on her forehead. It removed it's hands from her shoulders and grasped her neck. Rini tried scream as she felt her vocal cords buckle for air and room to vibrate. 'No...' she thought, 'Go away. Sailor Moon!' "Rini!" A sweet voice called out. The voice sounded terrified. Rini wiggled for air. "Help me..." she managed to whisper. Nothing happened except for the creatures grip to get tighter. Rini couldn't breathe. She tried to cough and scream, but the relentless hands never released her throat. "Rini! Wake up!" Suddenly the creature and his forest world faded. Rini opened her eyes. Amy's room swirled into view. Rini found that she was sweating horribly. Her shoulders and neck were throbbing. She looked around and saw Amy. She was in her blue nightgown leaning over Rini. Her face reflected her fear for the small child. "Rini? Are you okay?" Rini gulped and tried no to cry. "Uh huh. Amy...." she stopped as Amy went pale. Amy's eyes were wide with fear. "Amy?" Amy broke out of her fear and looked at Rini's face. "Your pajama's... your bleeding.. How did you manage that?" Rini looked to her shoulders and saw the deep slits in her pajama top. She also saw the red blood flowing down her shoulders. Rini's eyes also widened and she screamed. "The claws! My throat..." Rini lifted her chin up and exposed her throat. Amy gasped and saw large deep purple bruises that covered her neck like dark hands awaiting to squeeze the air from her throat. "My god Rini! What happened?" "Darien! Serena! I want Mommy and daddy," she cried. Darien awoke to the banging on his door. He looked at the clock, wearily. It was only two o'clock in the morning. 'It's got to be Andrew again,' he thought tiredly. He leapt from the bed and walked through the dark apartment to the door. He opened the door and blinked the sleep from his mind. He was shocked to find Amy in a bathrobe holding a sleeping Rini. "Amy?" She nodded and handed Darien Rini. "May I come in?" she asked politely. Darien nodded, now awake, and moved aside. Amy entered his house and looked around while he turned on a light. "Amy, what's wrong?" he asked, laying Rini on the couch. Amy sat beside the child. Darien sat on the other side of Rini. "I was asleep," she started softly, "when I heard Rini start screaming for her Mom and Dad. I came running to my room, but couldn't open the door to it. It was locked from the inside. I had to go back to the living room and go out the window, onto the roof, and through my room. She was choking on something and was starting to turn blue. I called out to her and suddenly she woke up in a sweat. It was horrible the ways she was screaming. "As I said she woke up and I noticed her shirt had five holes in each side of her shoulders." She pointed at the holes in Rini's shirt. "She was bleeding profusely from little wounds." Amy removed Rini's shirt and unbandaged the wounds in her shoulders. Ten wounds stared up at Darien. They were still bleeding but, Amy claimed, not as bad as before. She rebandaged them and continued "She screamed something about claws and then she put her head back and showed me her throat." Amy pushed Rini's head up. Darien looked away from the large bruises. "How can that be?" Darien asked. "I don't know.... but I'm worried Darien. What's going to happen next time?" Amy cried out as tears met her eyes. She brushed them away. "I should leave. My mom is waiting at home." Amy turned and left, running form the apartment and down the stairs. Darien touched Rini's forehead and then looked away. "What's going on?"