Seeking Salvation

Chapter 3

I do not own Sailor Moon.

Serenity had a sad, distant look upon her face, as she took in the small pile of shrivelled up corpses hidden in the trees behind the club. A grim reminder to a sad past she could never change. Tormented by memories of four courageous young women who had sacrificed themselves for her.

She crouched before the five young men dressed only in their underwear. That lay twisted and curled up beneath an elm tree like dried twigs. Their eyes staring dull and unseeing up towards the warming dawn sky. It was a gruesome, tragic sight that she had experienced often over the years. She was still not desensitized to the tragedy of innocences losing their lives. It filled her with icy chills and the urge to break down and cry.

"Beryls, back..." Haruka growled. "This is her typical calling card."

"Dammit!" Serenity cursed, brushing her pale silver hair back on either side of her face in frustration. A burning anxiety creeping into her veins knowing that that sadistic bitch was back to torment her. The loathing of her as insidious as it was viral, sweeping through her like a sickness. Until her stomach roiled and she found herself shaking with the pent up rage. Envisioning the vengeance she would inflict upon that soulless monster. As quickly as her anger heated her blood. She was swamped by the guilt at what Beryl had done to her helpless employee's. How cruel and maliciously she had taken their lives. How their last moments had been filled with terror, pain and suffering.

She had hired military trained guards to protect her employee's and her fans but even they had been no match for Beryl. She had some how snuck onto the grounds and dispatched this group of humans with out being noticed? Throwing in her face how useless the precautions and protections she put into place had been. That no one close to her was safe. In her quest to lead a normal human life, she had gambled with her employee's and her fan's lives and lost.

Their deaths were on her head. She would have to deliver the news to their family's. Compensate them for their loss and help them move forward after the grieving process. She took full responsibility for their murder and would see that their families were taken care of properly.

Then she would have to deal with the backlash from the press and poor publicity, and a criminal investigation...

Damn you Beryl!

Soon that cold wash of stress, had etched itself upon her brow in thin wrinkles. Threatening to overwhelm her as all those worries began to compound one on top of another. Crushing her under their weight, until her eyes burned and her chest ached terribly. She could not allow herself to break down, it was neither the time or the place for weakness. She willed it all back, the hate, the guilt and the anguish, pushing it all down deep to deal with later. Along with all the sadness and mind numbing regret due to Darien's appearance and her eventual dismissal of him from her life.

Serenity slowly nodded, resolute with the consequences and her upcoming responsibilites for the next few weeks. She tenderly brushed her hands over each man's eyes closing them forever. Willing herself to keep going forward. To find the strength to overcome yet another loss in her young life. This was going to destroy her club, that was Beryl's intent no doubt. She enjoyed slowly stripping her of all that she loved.

"Now I know why Darien was in a waiter's uniform. " Serenity stated sombrely, realizing he had stolen that uniform from one of these poor men. In an attempt to get closer to her no doubt. Wondering who had taken the other four men's uniforms she slowly rose up to her feet. This was her club, so now this was her mess to clean up.

"I am assuming those five were working this evening." Serenity walked away through the garden's. Her mind working out all the scenarios as to how Beryl had infiltrated her club. "She must of struck when the guards were busy evacuating the club. It would be easy enough for her to move undetected during the chaos."