"Andrew, where exactly are we going?" Darien asked as his best friend pulled him quickly down the street.

"I already told you, Darien. We're going to the Time Lounge. It's that new club that just opened up down the way. All I've heard is good things and I just discovered that the famed Autumn will be singing tonight," Andrew rushed out. "We have to go!"

"Wait. I already promised Serena that I would take her there on our next date. I can't go right now, Andrew. She'll be enraged."

Darien pulled his arm from his best friend and stopped in the middle of the moving crowd. Andrew ran a few more steps before realizing that he had lost his grip. Turning around, he glared at his friend and threw his hands in the air.

"Don't you think I know that?? The girls are meeting us there!"

"Oh, well, that changes things," Darien said and picked up a faster pace.

Within minutes, Darien and Andrew arrived at the club. Stopping for a quick second, they smoothed their hair and adjusted their clothes so that they would look calm and collected.

"What time did you tell them to meet us?" Darien asked.

Andrew smiled wickedly. "I told them the show was at five. It's actually at six. Since it is 5:30, they should be here any time now."

Ten minutes later, after the men had bought the tickets to get in, five girls came racing around the corner of the block. Four of the girls came to a halt in front of the guys. The last girl ran right into Darien and then flew backwards with her arms flailing. Knowing what to expect, Darien had braced himself and reached out when his girlfriend went flying. "Dear God, Serena, can't you learn how to properly stop?" he teased.

A small sniffle escaped from underneath the huge crown of messy blonde hair. "Will you never stop picking on me?" the girl wailed "I thought I meant something to you!"

"God, Serena, stop disgracing yourself," Rei replied sharply. As the wailing increased, the group all started fidgeting in embarrassment. Darien bent down and swept the hair away from his girlfriends face to pull her chin up.

"Sere, you know you mean the world to me. If you had looked up, you would have seen me smiling at you. I love every part of you, including your clumsiness," he whispered softly.

That was all it took to quite her. Then, in a sudden and very normal way, Serena threw herself into Darien's arms. He stood up, taking her with him.

"Well, are we all ready to go and see this new singing sensation?" Andrew asked.



"Yes!!" the five excited girls yelled.

Amy paused and lifted a finger to get attention. "Wasn't this show supposed to start at five?" she asked.

"Of course not, I was just using Serena time" Andrew responded.

Everyone laughed, except for Serena, as they all assembled and quickly shuffled into the club to their seats.

The lights lifted on a low-lit stage. In the center was the shadow of a young and beautiful woman. She had floor length, dark red hair with orange highlights. As the lights shot on, her dark brown eyes slowly looked up. It was then that the heavens opened up in her wonderful, engaging, siren song. Not even the mice in the alleyway moved as her voice began in a soft and flowing stream.

I just want to find the answer

To all of my questions

Why could you not love me?

My soul hurts and cries out for you

But, who are you?

Why am I searching?

At the first words to the song, Darien stopped breathing. Her voice, there was something about it. He could almost know every word before she sang it. There was this deep pain in his chest as he listened intently.

I feel your heart beating close to mine

You must be so nearby

Can you understand the meaning underneath my words?

Do you feel that pull too?

Yes, Darien thought, I feel that pull and it hurts. Serena just frowned as she felt Darien grip her hand tightly and looked over to see him under the singer, Autumn's, spell. Yet, even as she felt a jealous rage rising up, she also felt herself relaxing to the hypnotic sound of the girl's voice.

We must have been entwined at the beginning

We must have shared a great love

Yet, I find myself questioning how it ended.



Where did it go?

Serena looked over at Darien and found him close to tears. Something just wasn't right. Her man never cried over music, right?

I miss you

Where are you?

I need you now and always have

As I was dying,

Where were you?

Out there living a happy life?

Rei felt a strong flow of energy going throughout the club hall. She closed her eyes and let it drift over her in waves, trying to figure out what it could mean. Nothing about the energy felt bad, but she also knew that it was important to figure out where it came from and why. Opening her eyes, she looked straight across the table to find Serena frowning at a shocked and slightly confused looking Darien.

Give me answers

Give me peace

I just want to get some sleep

All these night have been too long

Waiting and wondering

Amy knew that the way that everything had seemed to stop wasn't normal, but she couldn't pull her mind away from the words being sung. They were so poetic and seemed to pour out a tragic story straight from the inner feelings in the beautiful singer. She shifted forward and found herself leaning into the sound of the song.

Lita and Mina were too distracted to do anything but gape.

Everyone in the entire area was doing the same.

We must have been entwined at the beginning

We must have shared a great love

Yet, I find myself questioning how it ended.



Where did it go?

I feel you here, now.

Darien took a deep breath and tried to still his rapidly beating heart. He looked over at Serena and felt a twinge of guilt as he saw the confused emotions on her face. Lifting her hand up off of the table, he kissed it and looked deeply into her eyes.

"I'm confused, Darien," she whispered softly, with a slight tremble to her words." Why did you react like that? Are you attracted to her? You don't even know her, do you?"

"Serena, I can't explain why her song moved me so much. It has nothing to do with the woman, but everything to do with her amazing voice and poetic words. The music got to me, that's all," he replied softly. When she didn't move away, he leaned in and kissed her gently. "I love you, Sere."

Knowing that everything would be okay, she smiled. "I love you too."

The rest of the group was lost in their own thoughts as the last hint of sound drifted away.

After a few moments, Rei looked at Amy and nodded her head at the questions that she could feel were going to be asked. The two girls looked at the famed singer and then back at each other. They both knew that something was off.

"Autumn" moved off of the stage and staggered back to her dressing room. As soon as she stepped inside, she ripped off her long wig and tore out her colored contacts. Stepping up to the mirror she looked deeply at her reflection. Her natural hair color was a dark, midnight black with red glints and her eyes were the color of a bright spring grass. With a sigh, she fell to her knees and let a couple of tears slip down her cheeks. "Kisha," she berated herself," why are you being so weak."

With a deep, shuddering breath she wiped her face and straightened her shoulders. He was out there this time, she thought, I just need to figure out who he was and why he means so much to me.