A/N: I’ve recently got hung up on Dan Brown books so please don’t mind the things that are connected to Da Vinci code or anything else. Hahaha.:) But please bear in mind that I bear no hatred for the Church. I am completely neutral about Dan Brown’s speculations.:)

Chapter 6

Serena looked at Mai with an intensity so strong that she could’ve bore holes at the sleeping girl.

Mai had slept for two days straight. Not a very assuring thing and Serena was worried.

She hoped she hadn’t killed the girl with what she had done.

Serena had survived the incident with an old-fashioned and may I say, extremely rusty letter opener half-way into her stomach, the exact place where she had stabbed it to prevent her beloved monster of a grandmother from possessing her even further and finally succeed at killing Mai Taniyama and Gabriel Wellington.

Serena frowned.

She didn’t like the way Gabriel had pretended to be Naru.

She had sent the boy back to Wellington House after telling him that he won’t get out alive if he ever repeats that stunt again.

Alive…

A very strange word it is. For the past few days, she had never felt even a hint of that word.

It was a strange feeling to be possessed. Almost as if you were watching a movie and you were one of the characters however you cannot even move a single inch of your body.

Serena stood up quickly, nearly letting the chair tumble to the ground.

She took one last look at the unconscious brunette before stalking out of the room into the cold recesses of Rosewood Manor, a place that wasn’t as pleasant as it looked to be.

I will protect her… my dearest Sarah.

--

Naru stared into the luxuriant room of Serena Rosewood. After the incident involving the painting, she had allowed them free entrance into her once extremely private quarters.

He was now scanning the bookshelves for more interesting books. It wasn’t strange for a family that was so noble and old to be housing books about the paranormal but the enormity of the collection had even caused surprise to the usual stoic man’s face.

“See anything that catches your interest?”

A familiar tone. Naru turned to see Serena Rosewood herself at the doorway to her room. He had not sensed her coming, proving how experienced she was at controlling her psychic energy.

“It surprises me that you even have books of witches during the medieval age.” He commented stoically.

Serena laughed but it was not that kind of laugh that showed amusement… more or less it showed, sudden hostility.

“Of course. That’s where my family originates. From the five million women burned at the stake all over the world, my family is of the select few that had escaped that… inconsiderate and ungrateful gesture of weaklings.”

She was obviously not a devout Catholic.

The Church had issued that order centuries ago, burning every woman they fear might possess extraordinary powers at the stake.

Naru wanted to laugh inwardly, as if the psychics didn’t already know of their plans. In every psychic family there had to be at least one seer. And while the real psychics themselves had avoided the injustice, priestesses of Pagans and other feministic religions suffered the initial heat.

Ironic indeed.

Deciding it wouldn’t bode well for either of them to dwell on the topic at hand, Serena let out a weary sigh and sat down at a near chair, “You know, Mai’s a very appealing girl.” She muttered under her breath.

Naru glance at her briefly before returning to his activities.

“Have you ever read a mystery book? Mr. Shibuya or should I say Mr. Oliver Davis?”

If Naru was shocked, he did a good job of hiding it. He carefully placed the compilation of ancient texts back up the top shelf before turning to Serena Rosewood and assessing her features.

She now wore a smug expression as she rested her chin on her right hand.

“I was surprised such a powerful psychic such as yourself would make an appearance here. I’m sorry I couldn’t greet you properly. I was… hung up on something at that time.” She said offering a friendly smile.

As Naru stared at the smiling Rosewood, he wondered if they could call this mystery solved as of yet.

After scanning shelf after shelf, Naru had found a small book. From the looks of the intricate design, it was most likely purchased from somewhere along Europe some decades ago.

As he read the contents, his eyes widened considerably, a very rare thing to happen.

It seemed impossible. A strange coincidence that was far too eerie to be true but as he stared at Sarah Wellington’s journal it seemed that everything that had transpired the past few days were completely false.

Sarah, as it turns out, was a direct descendant of a powerful Count who was murdered by Miranda Rosewood’s father. Dying before he could bear a male heir, his family has lost their standing in the nobility therefore erasing the name Wellington from the lists of influential families.

Sarah knew Randall was getting married to Miranda.

But as it turns out, Sarah was the one deep in unrequited love. Not Miranda Rosewood.

He had reread the sentence for around five times already and he still couldn’t believe it. Naru was a particularly calm person and almost nothing can shock him but what he was reading now, surely was a first.

--

Mai, after waking up sore from before, she recounted the events of the past day. It was as if everything was just a dream.

Usually she would mess up, endangering the lives of everyone in the process. It was a strange feeling to have been the on to save them all that day.

And she was sure, she saw something strange in Serena’s eyes before she had gone unconscious, an intriguing fact indeed.

The young Rosewood seemed grateful but she still seemed to be on the deranged side. Of course, she had wondered if all of the Rosewood family members were insane and seeing the events that have occurred up ‘til now, she could safely conclude that they are deranged.

Mai stared at the intricately designed ceiling. It was painted with an enticing display of clouds. It had bestowed upon her a strange feeling. As if she was floating. Deciding that she didn’t want to stare at some expensively painted roof she decided to look at the other aspects of her current dwellings.

It was a new room and even if it was their old one, she wouldn’t have noticed anything either for she had been unconscious for most of their stay at Rosewood Manor. Not that, it was a bad thing, after all it had help them move on with their investigations.

Mai’s eyes rested on the gold-framed painting of Randall Rosewood. It seemed to be staring intently. As if waiting for something to happen. It was unnerving.

Everything about the room seemed expensive. From the plush satin-covered bed to the lavish fur rug and the large stone fireplace everything screamed royalty.

The oak door creaked, implying that someone was coming to visit her. Using the small amount of strength that she had regained while admiring the interior of the room, she sat up and watched the visitor.

It was Serena.

“Hello, Mai.” She said in a gentle manner which only made Mai even more aware of her high breeding.

No matter which way she looked at it, Serena was the epitome of nobility.

Back always straight, wavy waist-length brown hair, Mai wondered why Randall fell in love with someone like Sarah when Miranda was this elegantly beautiful.

“Are you okay now?”

“Yes, I’m feeling a lot better. Thanks.” Mai said before letting out a nice smile.

“I’m sorry for hurting you though. I didn’t mean too. It was Miranda.” Serena said, her green eyes wide with guilt.

Right. Randall probably didn’t fall in love with her because she’s a homicidal maniac.

“It’s fine. You didn’t know what you were doing. I’ve experienced getting possessed before as well and it wasn’t a happy experience.” Serena seemed satisfied with that answer and gave Mai a sorry smile before letting out a sigh, “Please be careful okay? I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Serena stood up and left the room before Mai could even utter a word in reply.

And just like that… she felt her world spinning back to black.

--

Mai woke up in the same abyss of black as before.

“What? I though these would stop once the case was solved.” Mai thought as the black swirled into the poor interior of the Wellington home.

She could hear crying. It meant that Sarah was still alive during this vision or if someone had found her body and cried when she found the brunette slain mercilessly. But these thoughts were given their answer when Mai went inside the familiar drawing room.

She could see Sarah crying her eyes out, no babies by her side and she didn’t look to be pregnant.

On the canvass of her new painting, was the handsome face of Randall Rosewood. Mai recognized it to be the painting hanging on the wall of her bedroom. This must’ve been the time when Sarah found out about Randall’s and Miranda’s marriage. A strange thing though, because Sarah seemed rather calm if you excluded the vision of her death.

“It’s useless Sarah. Randall’s getting married to the woman of his dreams. You should just be happy for him.” She heard Sarah say.

It unnerved Mai to hear the woman refer to herself in third person but she was too overtaken by confusion to even think about it. Wasn’t Randall in love with her already?

“But why… why did he have to fall in love with that… that tramp! I was here. I loved more than the world itself!” She continued to cry miserably, her teardrops cascading down her face and falling into the paint on her mixing plate.

A few minutes of silence continued as Sarah completed her painting. Mai waited patiently for her to reveal even more of the story.

“I loved you. I loved you ‘til my heart broke into two…” Her voice was growing sinister, “But… you ignored. You threw me away, as I was nothing.”

Her strokes growing more violently.

“I know she’s rich… beautiful… everything that I’m not…” Splatters of brownish-red paint stained the walls, “But I was willing to give you the world!” She shouted before throwing the brush at the wall, making even more of a mess.

She stood there slumped and panting, “But don’t worry, dearest Randall.” An vile smile on her lips, “You’re going to be mine… no matter what I have to do to get you.”

And swirls of black clouded her vision while hearing the manic laughter of Sarah Wellington.

A/N: That's all for this chapter:) I'm sorry I took so long to update. School is being a bitch and giving me homework everyday.:( Bleeeh.

Anyways, please tell me what you think.:)

Jeje-chan:)