Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Ouija ❯ A Glimpse ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Title: Ouija
Author: La Lune
E-mail: la_lune86@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Alternate Reality, and a little on the creepy side

::Standard Disclaimers Apply::

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'The basis of optimism is sheer terror.'
-Oscar Wilde

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Chapter 2: A Glimpse


Serena was surprised when she noticed Darien had kept his at
times overly large mouth in check upon entering her home, which was
in her opinion perfect in every way shape or form, but knowing Darien
he would find something. The blissful silence lasted for a good minute
or two, that is until she entered her 'study' and he saw her dog lounging
on an ivory chaise by the stained glass window facing the plush green
lawn and rose garden that were situated behind the large town home.
The heavy chocolate colored drapes were open letting the light stream
in leaving colored patterns on its back. She narrowed her eyes angrily
when she heard his laughter erupt once more.

"What may I ask is that 'thing'!?" He pointed towards the lump
of black fur that was, or more correctly had been sleeping.

"It's a dog." She answered dumbly, attempting to make him
feel like the utter disgrace of molecules and waste of perfectly good
oxygen he was. Even though she had to admit it sounded pretty pitiful,
she had found it quite satisfying every time she was able to make
Darien feel like a moron. She wondered briefly if she had some
inferiority complex, probably something she developed from her
childhood, she'd look into it later.

"Yeah I noticed that, I was just surprised that you have a dog,
not to mention such a...furry one."

"It's an afghan hound Darien, all afghan's are 'furry'."

"What's its name? Please don't say something girly like
Precious or Duchess."

"No, actually his name is Oedipus, I call him Eddie for short
though. My mom wanted to name him Princess though, I believe. She
was literally on the brink of tears when I told her her 'Princess' was
actually a 'Prince'." Serena laughed lightly, she could still see the
dejected look on her mother's face at the news.

"Knowing your mother, I wouldn't doubt that." Darien himself
chuckled, oh yeah, that sounded like Serena's mother all right. "I
haven't seen her in a while, is she all right? Is she sick?"

"Oh no of course not. She got a face lift a few weeks ago, and
then one of those laser peel things. Believe me for a while there, it
wasn't a pretty sight. She's been in 'hibernation', if you will, she always
stays out of public view for a time while her face heals and the swelling
goes down after one of her cosmetic surgeries. She'll make her 'grand
reentry' soon though, don't worry." She explained sarcastically, it was
really the only way she could bear talking of her mother.

Serena found the most appropriate term for her mother was
'blissfully ignorant', for as far as she knew, her mother never fully
mastered the art of thinking. Claire Sexton, despite her lack of brain
power had, thanks to her husband's extensive bank account, discovered
the fountain of youth - facial surgery. And boy did she enjoy it, minus
the pain and swelling. Sure, maybe a nip there and a tuck here didn't
hurt, but with her mother it became fanatical. Serena was surprised that
her skin of her face hadn't ripped in two from all tugging it had gone
through. But then again, that was her mother, the connoisseur of style.

Serena preferred to wear earth tones, even though her mother
had told her bright colors were currently 'in'. Despite Serena's effort to
go against her mother's tastes she had noticed blouses appearing in her
closet with the tags describing the colors like 'magenta' and 'aqua', via
none other than her air-headed mother. At least her mother
acknowledged her existence, unlike her father.

"So how's your dad excepting his retirement?"

"He doesn't really like to talk to me, unless you count when he
yells, but he's more than likely taking it like an ass."

"I thought I was the ass." Darien slowly began to grin, she was
right, he couldn't think of one time when he saw them talking together
that her father hadn't started ripping into her.

"No, you're the jackass, my dad's just a plain ass." Serena
grinned as well, impressed with Darien's astuteness.

"If he doesn't want you to take his place, why doesn't he let
one of your brothers instead?"

"Aaron started his own company online, and it's doing quite
well, he doesn't have time for dad's job as well." Serena's eldest brother
Aaron was probably her favorite member of the family, he was six years
older than her, and probably the most sane member of her family. She
purposely forgot to mention her other older brother Nicholas, he was
the middle child and Serena was quite sure that he had inherited her
mother's mentality, that wasn't a compliment.

"What about Nick? Surely he didn't start his own business as
well, he never seemed like the type to me."

"Actually...no...," Serena had no idea where to begin with
Nick, it was classically bizarre. "He's currently in Tibet cleansing his
soul in order to become a monk."

"You're kidding." Darien's mouth was slightly ajar, and his
eyes slightly wider than normal, Serena wished she had a camera. The
picture would have been perfect for blackmail.

"Nope, it's true. Dad looked like he was going to cry when
Nick broke the news and left, after that he was going to give the rest of
the company to you until my mom reminded him that the weird girl that
'talked' to dead people was his daughter. Now this little trip down
short-term memory lane is fun and all but I must exhort, lets get this
show on the road."

Serena walked by Darien and up to her desk, briefly pausing
on her way to pat Eddie's black head. She pulled out a drawer and
momentarily shuffled through a few things before she came across a
piece of blank paper that was big enough to use, she placed it on top of
the desk and picked up a black Sharpie. Quickly, she began to scribble
down the words 'Good Bye' and the alphabet along with the numbers
zero through nine in the general location they would be on the Parker
Brothers version of the game. Once finished she held it up for Darien
to see, "There you go, have fun."

"Don't you have the 'real' game, or at least something...old?"

Serena arched a brow amusedly, "What do you want me to do,
dye it with tea, and burn some holes in it? Will that make this more
'convincing' for you?"

When she received no answer, except for a glare from Darien
she continued with the task at hand, she needed a pointer. She was
quite pleased with herself when she found a small teacup that would
work quite efficiently, she was not pleased however, when she noticed
Darien's look of distaste. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes as a matter of fact there is. I would have expected this
experience to be a little more 'authentic' then you're making it out to
be."

"Authentic? All right then Darien, would you consider using a
mass-produced game board made by the same people who make Life,
Sorry, and Monopoly authentic? You have the guidance of a real-life
psychic at your disposal and you want this to be more authentic?" She
motioned towards her gathered materials exasperatedly, "I don't think
you can get much more authentic than a home-made Ouija board!"

"Okay then, don't pop a capillary!" Darien made a face, one in
which Serena was unsure of what she was supposed to think of it. "Are
you done yet?"

"Almost." Serena placed her materials on the plush oriental
rug that covered part of the hard wood floor and then suddenly left the
room. When she returned moments later carrying a few candles,
matches, and lugging a contraption of some sort, which Darien
recognized as a laminator - the one that had been missing from the
office.

He watched as she put the contents of her arms on the floor
with the rest of her things and cautiously sat down in front of the
accumulation. He looked down at her as she wordlessly placed the
candles to one side of the 'board', or as Darien saw it, the piece of paper
with the alphabet on it. Suddenly he found his intent gaze being
returned by Serena's piercing aqua eyes. She sighed in pure agitation,
"Are you waiting for an invitation?" she swept a hand out motioning to
the space across from her on the other side of the board. Darien hastily
complied and sat down where indicated.

"Here," Serena quickly thrust a pack of matches at Darien who
startled, stared at them dumbly for a moment before taking them from
her. "Light the candles."

"I don't want to seem difficult, even though I most likely
already have, but...why can't you light them yourself?" Darien was able
to detect a slight hesitation from Serena before she decided to speak, for
her it was probably a first.

"I just don't want to get burned," She planned on leaving it at
that until she was met with an upraised brow from Darien, "Fine!," she
exclaimed exasperatedly, "If you must know, when I was in sixth grade
science class we were performing an 'experiment'. I struck a match to
light the Bunsun burner and burned myself, it wouldn't have been a big
deal except that that was the first match I had ever lit in my life, and
since then I've made sure it was the only one." Serena's voice sounded
defeated in a way, Darien knew one of her weaknesses, she found
herself unable to look him in the eye.

"You're afraid to light a match!?" Darien had to admit he was
surprised, a match was a match, nothing he considered to be a big deal.
But then again, here he was sitting on the floor with a 'psychic' who was
afraid to light a match about to do something teenage girls did at
slumber parties.

"Look buddy, if you want your definition of authenticity, than
this is it. I'm not about to subject myself to unnecessary trauma over
some candles. If you want them, light them yourself." Serena watched
wearily as Darien, who still found Serena's fear of matches quite funny,
lit the three unscented white candles she had brought in with her.

Serena had run a plain sheet of paper through the laminator
and placed it under the lit candles, in order to catch the melted wax.
Darien knew if any harm were to come to her nice hardwood floor
heads would roll, or more accurately his head would roll.

"Did you steal that from the office? Molly's been looking for
that thing for ages." Molly had been a friend of Serena's back in junior
high and now apparently she usually worked as Darien's secretary, but
as of lately mostly worked for Serena's father.

It was funny though, Serena remembered being a bridesmaid at
her wedding, right after they finished high school. The dress she had
been forced to wear was mint green, and was probably the ugliest thing
she had ever seen, fashion wise at least. After the wedding Serena had
proceeded with her own dress-burning ceremony, her brother Aaron had
been present and still would send a bouquet every year that day in
honor of the now dearly departed dress.

After the wedding though they grew rather apart, Molly
matured and grew up, and Serena...well Serena stayed pretty much the
same. Serena saw Molly every once in a while, she had to admit she
hadn't recognized her at first, she had gained some weight and pretty
much looked tired and slightly haggard, she looked older than Serena
despite the fact they were born only a few months apart. She assumed
that's what happens when you have five kids, a husband, and worked for
Darien. Serena figured by the time she got her father's spot and didn't
have to be Darien's 'secretary' she would look like she was forty.

"No actually I didn't," Serena didn't really know why she
would want to steal the laminator... what would she do with it, make
place mats? "My father has dubbed me his unofficial laminator, I find
it easier to do here, I didn't know there was such a demand to laminate
stuff."

Darien watched as Serena then laminated the Ouija board
itself, "And you're doing that because...?"

"Because this way there won't be any or not as much friction
when the 'pointer' - in this instance a teacup moves across the surface, if
it moves at all. Just so you know, I make no promises." She then held
up the newly covered piece of paper, "Is it to your liking?"

Darien noticed that along with the complete alphabet and the
numbers zero through nine she had also somewhere along the line
added the words 'Yes', 'No', 'Maybe', an ampersand, and a few
punctuation marks. She had been quite thorough. He nodded his
approval.

"Okey dokey, lets get down to buisness," She stood up
abruptly and walked towards the door and shut it, and then drew the
curtains together in order to make the room as dark as she was able to.
Before Darien was able to say anything she held up a hand for silence
and said simply, "You said you wanted this to be 'authentic'." She
walked back and once more carefully sat down across from Darien, "All
right Mr. Authenticity, lets get this show on the road. Any questions?"

"Yeah, is there a 'right' way to do all this? You seem to be
making it up as you go along." Darien had a feeling Serena didn't know
a thing about what she was doing, of course neither did Darien.

"Not necessarily, a key phrase associated with the Ouija board
is 'trial and error'. They suggest that the participants sit in two chairs
facing each other with their knees touching and with the board resting
on their knees. I don't exactly know who 'they' are so who cares what
they say." Serena had a feeling 'they' didn't really know what they were
talking about, and if 'they' did Serena hoped her way would dissuade
any 'connections' from taking place. Both participants gently touched
the teacup with a few fingers, Serena closed her eyes momentarily and
drew in a deep breath, when she opened them once more the room felt
darker than it had previously, when she spoke her voice sounded small
and foreign. "Is there anyone there?"

Darien watched in amazement as the teacup moved over the
word 'Yes'. It actually moved! Serena watched as well, she was sure it
was not from any unconscious movements from her or Darien, she felt
something, but she had the uncanny feeling that that something was not
good.

Serena paused briefly and stared at the cup thoughtfully before
asking another question, "What's your name?" Serena's eyes slowly
trailed behind the cup as it moved across the letters, pausing briefly
here and there, eventually it spelled the name 'Elise Crowley'. That was
Darien's mother's name. She saw the look on Darien's face and thought
it best to keep him quiet while she confirmed her suspicions.

She continued to slowly and thoughtfully ask the 'contact'
questions, all about Darien of course. Unsurprisingly the contact didn't
miss a beat and answered correctly time and time again. Serena in the
meantime remained unimpressed, unlike Darien, who appeared
completely enthralled with every movement the teacup made across the
board. Something was not right, she knew it. Her uneasiness increased
until a feeling of nausea overtook her violently, she found herself
desperately attempting not to retch. The only thing she could do was
swiftly, and almost violently pull her hands away from the teacup. She
hastily stood up and placed it on top of some papers littering the top of
her desk.

"Serena what the hell are you doing? That was my mother!"
Darien stood up as well and followed Serena to were she stood by the
chaise stroking her dog's head.

"No it wasn't. That wasn't your mother Darien." Serena met
Darien's gaze and firmly stood her ground, he might not have been able
to feel what she could, but that didn't mean she could ignore it.

"What do you mean it wasn't my mother, it knew her name and
everything else you asked her for, I think that's evidence enough."
Darien couldn't believe Serena would act so brashly, she seemed almost
angry at the 'spirit' that had contacted them.

"Spirits can lie too Darien. Just because they know things
about you doesn't mean they are who they say they are. Just because
they're dead doesn't mean they can't lie, believe me they do." Serena in
fact was very angry with the spirit, or entity, she wasn't sure which it
was, and frankly didn't care. She was worried about what it's motives
were for contacting them, very worried.

"Serena what are you talking about it knew - !"

"Darien, I don't care if it knows your shoe size...Look, if the
spirit of a dead family member or friend were to come through they
would reach on a level easiest for them, the dream level. Or they would
come through as a visitation apparition, or as a crisis apparition.
Basically they show up once or twice and never ever again. With Ouija
you're conjuring spirits, and non-human spirits with a malicious nature
tend to respond, not human spirits. Human spirits have no need to wait
around for an opportunity to come through on an Ouija board even
though you are trying to connect with them, so they don't. That wasn't
your mother..." Serena felt stupidly like a textbook, or even worse - an
overly religious priest preaching about how everyone had a one way
ticket straight to hell.

"Serena do you have any idea how trivial that dribble you just
recited is to me?" Serena suddenly noticed that he was slowly backing
her into a corner where two bookshelves met, the numerous volumes
beginning to poke her in the back. "You have no idea whatsoever what
it is like to lose not only one, but both of your parents. Not only are
your mother and father still here and supporting you you have big
brother Aaron to help pay the bills as well!" Darien's voice had a
murderous edge to it, in all the time Serena had known him she had
never seen him so angry. But still Serena found herself infuriated as
well at his heartless accusations.

"How dare you!" She pointed a finely manicured nail in
between his eyes for emphasis, "Do you have ANY idea what it's like to
know that your father HATES you and that your mother is too dumb to
care! I should have 'MISTAKE' tattooed on my forehead! Aaron is the
only person in my family that acknowledges my existence and isn't
bothered by it. Nick is too caught up with 'purifying' his goddamned
soul, and most likely wants to stay as far away as possible from us.
You are the lucky one Darien, your parents loved you and still do, mine
never have and never will." Serena voiced the painful truth carefully,
she could feel herself beginning to lose control on the tears that
threatened to spill from her eyes. Never in all her life had she spoken
the sad truth she had none for so long, not even to herself.

"Don't try to pretend you know what my parents were like, you
have no idea..." Darien's voice had become low and threatening, Serena
wouldn't have been surprised if he cause her some sort of bodily harm
before he left and involuntarily flinched at the thought

"You seem to forget Darien, I know exactly what your parents
were like, and if I must, I'll tell you. Don't worry I won't leave anything
out," Serena could feel the books to her back once more and tried to
move away, it didn't work. She continued in a quiet voice, overlaying a
steely mocking tone, "Your father was the strong silent type, he kept his
emotions to himself, didn't he Darien?" Serena didn't wait for an
answer, "You were convinced he didn't like you and went to your
mother with all of your emotional needs, there was only one problem
though, she was sick...very, very sick. The only way you could see her
was before you went to bed, you would sneak into her room,
unbeknownst to your father of course. You would tell her about your
day and she would listen, you loved to listen to her talk though, the
sound of her voice. It was always so warm and caring, no matter how
ill she felt. That's what you miss the most, isn't it? The sound of her
voice, and the way she would say she loved you. Well anyway, one
night your father found out about your nightly visits to your mother and
forbade you to go in one night, she was too sick. It turned out she died
that night, you never got to see her that one last time because of your
father and never forgave him for it.

"You probably don't care but did you know the dying wait
until they're alone until they leave? Dying is a very private ordeal, one
which should be experienced alone. Think of it this way, she was
waiting for the day when you didn't visit to leave, it would have
happened sooner or later. It was her time.

"Now back to your father, you hated him. About five months
after your mother's death your father suddenly had a heart attack on the
way home from work and was in a terrible car accident. You went to
the hospital with your grandfather, and although he was barely clinging
to life - you still hated him. He asked to see you so you went in his
room, and were amazed. There he was, your tyrant of a father lying on
a bed connected to all kinds of machines, looking as frail and small as
your mother had...right before she died. As you approached you saw
the unnatural pallor to his skin and the dark circles under his eyes, but
you didn't care - you hated him. And for one minute as you stared
down at his corpse-like form oblivious to your presence you didn't care,
you honestly didn't care if he lived or died, in fact you would have
preferred if he had. You touched his hand lightly, it felt like ice and
forced the words 'I love you dad' out of your mouth. And as you turned
and headed for the door you heard the faint words 'I love you too
Darien' in reply, but you kept walking - because you hated him. Shortly
after the door clicked closed behind you you could hear the frantic
beeping of the heart monitor announcing what you had wanted and you
hated yourself - because you really didn't hate him. Too bad you
realized it too -"

"Don't you even Serena!" Darien roared, barely able to keep
his rage in check, as far as he was concerned, Serena had crossed the
line, "Don't you dare try to make me relive those memories, you spoiled
little brat!" His eyes flashed dangerously, Serena felt like the clichéd
deer caught in the headlights, "If you were somebody else..." Serena
suddenly noticed his fist hovering a few mere inches away from her
face shaking violently with repressed anger, she shrank back into the
bookshelf and closed her eyes in anticipation of a strike.

After a few moments she noticed a blow hadn't occurred and
cautiously opened one eye slowly followed by the other. She registered
Darien's back approaching the closed door and opening it, as he walked
through she called to him the last thing she had to say.

"Your mom and dad are proud of you!" She heard her front
door opening and closing before she whispered the ending to herself,
wishing Darien knew, "And they love you..." Darien didn't come back,
but she knew he heard, at least the beginning. She felt both spirits
pulling their energies back before they too were gone.

Serena stood transfixed in the semi-dark room, staring at the
candles that were still lit on the floor. She was shaken from her daze by
the sharp sound of Oedipus barking. "What is it Eddie?" She turned
her head to look at him and remembered the curtains had been closed,
he couldn't see out the window, he appeared to be looking at something
in the opposite direction. She stared at him momentarily perplexed, he
was staring at her. The flames from the candles were reflected in his
dark eyes, giving them an eerie yellow glow.

Serena felt an involuntary chill run through her, she could feel
something, something powerful. Suddenly Serena realized her normally
quiet dog was not exactly looking at her, he looked more like he was
looking through her. A strange sense of fear quickly enveloped her, he
was staring at something behind her, she no longer felt alone. She
inhaled deeply and held the breath momentarily in order to calm her
tingling nerves, when she had regained some of her composure she
made a difficult decision. She needed to turn around, she needed to
see, the sudden wave of paranoia that assaulted her would not leave
unless she did.

Cautiously, as if in slow motion, Serena turned her head to the
side, following Oedipus' burning stare. Briefly, in the corner of her eye
she sensed a figure or shape of some sort, almost as soon as her mind
processed it's existence - it was gone. She turned around completely,
nothing was there. The uneasiness did not leave though, even as much
as hours later, Serena felt accompanied by something at all times. She
forced herself to think of her overactive imagination and dismissed it as
nothing.

Too bad she had no idea how wrong she was.


To be continued...

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Author's Notes: This has taken me a while, sorry! I should have the
next chapter out sooner, it's almost done, I make no promises though.
Thanks for all the nice comments, I appreciate them a lot! Please
review and feel free to e-mail me with any
comments/questions/suggestions you may have!

Until next time...
-La Lune