The sound of broken glass crunching below shoes filled the air around as a figure walked briskly across the room towards the bar.
The figure hastily poured himself a glass of whiskey, most of the contents sloshing about its sides and around on the table below. Downing the drink in one swift motion, before pouring himself another and gulping it down in a swig, again. He felt the liquid burn it's way down his throat, waiting for the spirit to ease his pain.
He turned around slowly and stared into the mirror on the wall adjacent to him. A pale and haggard face stared back at him. The eyes tormented. But all he could see was defeat. Once again Darien Shields had unknowingly beaten him.
Oh and how he hated loss. He could not bear it and specially at the hands of that wretched man. He always had it all. Seemed so perfect, so content. Walking around the world as if it belonged to him. Winning over everyone and anyone with his smooth charm. Everything he laid his pathetic eyes on he got. Even Serena.
He had known Darien Shields for a longtime now, of course it was a different story that Shields didn't know him. He never liked him much since the first time he had been introduced to him. Envied him for the ease he carried himself with. With how naturally people liked him. It had almost killed him to realize he had lost his chance with Serena. But what had driven him to the borders of insanity was that he had lost Serena to Darien Ass Sheilds!
He had come so close, so very close to killing Darien Shields. He had left no stone unturned and hired the best man in the business to finish the job and he had almost done it too, but Serena had put herself in the line of fire to save him.
He couldn't blame her though. She was a pure and innocent soul. She would do anything to protect the ones she loved. She was a beautiful person inside and out. He would have to be more careful next time. He had to get through to Shields in a way that Serena wouldn't be hurt in.
Oh he would kill Shields alright. But before that, he would shatter the man so absolutely, that Shields wouldn't even bother fighting back.
He had watched Serena all his life, hadn't he? Always from a distance though, watched as she turned from an awkward teenager into a beautiful woman. She carried herself around timidly amongst crowds, completely oblivious to the beauty she was. Shy and naive. She didn't even know when men looked her up appreciatively.
But he had always watched from afar. Inconspicuously. He would watch her fidget and stand smile oddly next to her parents as they spoke to a circle of friends. When she would try to seem interested in the conversation her sister's friends were having. When she moved around appreciating the decor of a house or when she sat for hours in the school library, reading.
So many times he had wanted to approach her, but never had. He wanted to deem himself fit for a woman like her. Prove to her his worth. Befriend her at first, get close to her, show her how much he cared for her, how right he was for her and then finally profess his love for her. In the end he always thought she would be his.
But even before he could start his plan, Mr Shields had found his way into her life and stolen everything in one fine swoop that he longed for most all his life.
But how could he give up. He would show Serena he was better than Shields in every way and if he couldn't raise himself above Shields, then he would drop Shields below him. And when he was done, Serena would never want to even speak of Darien Shields again.
...xxxxx...
A week had passed since Serena had been discharged and back at the Shields mansion. But one could have said that perhaps a part of her had been lost altogether. One could say she had become a mere shadow of her former self. Ever since the news of her miscarriage, it seemed, her element had been lost. She roamed about the house as if in a stupor and stayed mostly to herself. Shutting herself up in a shell and distancing herself from all around her. It was perhaps only Darien who could pull her out of her thoughts and get a reaction out of her once in a while.
Darien on the other hand was in hopping panic. The vibrant and passionate woman he knew had vanished in the wink of an eye. One moment he was sitting next to her in the hospital room, holding her hand and listening to the doctor and in the next he felt Serena gently pulling her hand from his and closing herself down from him. Initially Darien put it down to the shock of learning that they, infact, had conceived a child by receiving the news that it was now dead.
But now Darien was completely losing his mind. Serena had been home a week and instead of getting better she had kept getting worse. It seemed like she was steadily enveloping herself into a hard shell. She had shut herself down to talking in general and gave only monosyllabic answers. She moved around the house like a floating ghost and had unintentionally scared the living day lights out off him twice at night.
Her face had paled freakishly and her eyes had lost their lustre. She stayed locked up in their room most of the day and only came out after long hours of persistent cajoling by him.
Darien often saw her standing on the balcony adjoining their room, looking with unseeing eyes into the distance. She looked like she was in a sort of trance. Sometimes Darien couldn't help but think of the worst. The day he wouldn't be there to find her. The day she did something stupid and he wouldn't be there to stop her. His dreams sometimes reflected his plagued thoights of watching her step onto that very same balcony and...He had woken up in a cold sweat everytime he saw that dream and immediately looked around the room to find her sleeping soundly next to him. He would soundlessly lie down next to her and pull her into a protective embrace as he slept.
Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Darien realized he had been standing far too long on the door to their room.
Serena on the other hand had yet to notice his presence in the room and if she had then she didn't show otherwise. She sat quietly in a large arm chair, reading.
Darien quietly moved further into the room and shut the door with a soft click. One thing had occurred to him though that he was very grateful for, perhaps a part of Serena hadn't completely detached itself from him, after all she could have been sleeping in her own private suite and yet here she was in the one they shared.
" Rena?" He called out to her tentatively. Receiving silence in return, at first he thought she may have not heard him, but then she slowly lifted her head up to lock eyes with him.
"Sweetheart, we need to talk." Darien expected her to reply at that, but as she went on to stare at Darien so blankly, he continued.
"Baby, I know losing our baby has been very hard on you. Maybe I don't even come close to understanding the pain of your loss, but, my love, I want to try. I really want to try with all my heart. I want to be there for you and hold you and stand by you. I can't watch you fall apart like this. Let me in, Serena. Don't shut me out like this. Don't do this. The baby was mine too. I was in pain too, but I was grateful as well, you got out of that accident, safe and unscathed. I need you here, Rena, think about all the people that need you."
Darien was a little out of breathe as he finished his little speech and almost didn't expect Serena to reply at all. But he slowly noticed her lips lift into a soft, haunting smile.
"I lost our baby and I won't lie when I say it came as a huge shock for me. You know somewhere down the line, Darien, I suspected I was pregnant, but wasn't too sure about it. But that's not what's ripping me apart inside.
Serena sucked in a deep shaky breathe, closing her eyes, to gather herself. To Darien's astonishment, when they opened again they were brimming with unshed tears. But that wasn't all he could see in them, there were a myriad of emotions passing through her orbs, anguish, anger, sorrow, love and surprisingly hatred.
"Then what is?" He almost whispered.
"You, Darien Shields." She pointed accusingly.
Darien eyes widened momentarily in surprise at the cutting tone Serena had directed at him.
"I really don't understand." Darien shook his head slowly, confused. A small frown marred his handsome face.
"I thought I lost you." She whispered so softly, Darien had almost not heard her. The tears that had brimmed her eyes, slowly began to spill and Darien watched helplessly, rooted to the spot, Serena's words slowly sinking into him.
"It hurt so much to lose a baby that you have just learnt existed. But I cannot bear to imagine losing you, Darien. I would rather lose myself to oblivion first. Never in my life had I ever imagined fear to be so real and absolute. And now I am torn, I want to leave because I don't want you to get hurt and I cannot leave of fear that if he comes for you again, I may not be there to save you."
Serena's silent tears had finally developed into broken sobs. Her small body rattled as she let out all the frustration and anguish she had held inside since the day of the accident.
Darien closed the gap between the two of them in one smooth motion and went down on both his knees to kneel in front of his fiancée. He looked on helplessly, not knowing what to say or do. Hesitantly he moved a tentative hand to touch her shaking shoulders. Finding her not retracting herself from him, Darien put a reassuring, but firm hand on her shoulder.
Feeling his warmth penetrate her skin, Serena felt the coldness she had been nursing inside her for so many days leaving her. She looked at him through watery eyes and saw the look of despair and confusion in his eyes. He was bending a little below her eye level to get a good view at her face and Serena felt her heart tug at the unguarded insecurity he held in those beautiful blue eyes.
"It's just that, it was my worst nightmare. I can still see it happening, still feel the white hot and very unadulterated fear run through my veins. It all happens in slow motion. I can feel the accelerator under my feet, I can still feel myself lurch forward on impact, I can feel the suffocating feeling from having the seatbelt dig into my chest as I jerked forward. I can hear the screeching tires, the crunching metal of the cars. The way the smoke was rising and obscuring everything from my view. But you know that's not even what I fear. It's losing you. It petrifies me to no end. It keeps playing in my head all the time, when I can't put myself in the middle and lose you. I'll do it again, Darien, in a heartbeat. You mean the world to me."
Darien wanted to say something, but found himself completely short of words. This woman was full of surprises. He knew she had put herself completely at risk to save his life. It had taken him a longtime to understand that it wasn't size that mattered when it came to protecting your loved ones. It was determination. He had felt guilty too. But he knew he would have done the exact same thing for her.
"I don't know what to tell you."
"The truth, Dare. I want to know the truth about everything. It feels like even after everything, I've underestimated this man. So please tell me everything, I don't want anymore shocks, I want to know what's coming for you and me. You owe me the complete and unabridged truth."
Darien looked into her now dry eyes and sighed loudly. He knew perhaps shielding Serena from all that was happening had been his worst mistake. Keeping her from the truth had left her unprepared and venerable to it. And when the magnanimity of it had finally hit her, it had been more than she could take in.
A long, tired sigh of defeat escaped his lips.
"We didn't find the driver in the truck, Serena..." He started hesitantly.
Serena was now watching Darien with complete, rapt attention. Her eyes now sharp and unwavering from his.
"And?"
"A few eye witnesses saw him escape the scene of the crime before the police came in." Darien paused, wondering how exactly to frame his words.
Serena's brows furrowed lightly at Darien's uncertainty. Moving a small hand up to rest above his large one on her shoulder, she squeezed it lightly.
"They later found him...he was later found dead outside the city." Darien paused momentarily when he heard Serena soft gasp.
"He had been shot in the head. The police later identified him as the driver of the truck through cctv footage and eye witnesses."
"Oh my God! He was murdered. What would one gain from his murder." Serena whispered hoarsely. Her eyes widened in shock.
"It's obvious isn't it? Anonymity. The same man who wanted me dead killed the driver. But that's just part of the story."
Serena looked at Darien in horror. There was more!
"The man found dead was identified as Tony Shaw. A common crook known for several trips to prison for quite a few small robberies, bar brawls, possession and drug dealing, etc.. This perhaps was going to be his first big assignment."
This time Darien didn't expect himself to receive a reply from Serena and rightfully he did not get one either. She sat there staring at him through large, tear filled blue eyes. He gave her, what he hoped was the most reassuring smile he had. Darien knew this was too much news to take in all at once, but he couldnt hide the truth from Serena anymore without losing her.
"So...this stalker...killed the truck driver."
"That's what I think, not really sure what the police think." Darien nodded.
"Darien, we can't just let this go on anymore, we can't let him hurt us anymore, threaten our families and control our lives." Serena started determinedly.
"I know, sweetheart."Darien sighed, running a hand through his black hair.
"We need a plan of action. We need to find this man ourselves. I've had enough, Dare, I've lived through my worst nightmare already. There's little I fear at this very moment."
Darien chuckled at the petite blondes sudden outburst.
"What's so funny!" Serena challenged.
"Nothing at all."Darien immediately sobered at Serena's tone.
"You are right though. But you see, Serena, our enemy is faceless and that's his greatest advantage. We don't know who this man is and his anonymity gives him a leverage on us. We need him to show himself. Do something wreckless and stupid, perhaps even over confident." Darien finished, satisfied with his deduction.
"What are you getting at?" Serena asked, giving Darien a curious look.
"What I am saying is, this man is very close to us and we don't even know how close. Remember the roses in your bedroom, on your birthday?"
Serena nodded dumbly.
"Those were from your very own garden and the mirror in your bedroom was missing, when we went back in the room to retrieve it, it was long gone.".
"But you told me the police took it." Serena accused Darien mildly.
"I lied." He shrugged nonchalantly.
"Sometimes I think you are the stalker." Serena frowned darkly.
"Sweetheart, I don't need to stalk you, you're already mine." Darien chuckled.
Ignoring his comment, Serena asked.
"So how will we get him out of his little rabbit hole?"
"Well by hitting him where it hurts the most of course."
"In his balls?" Was the innocent, wide eyed answer he received.
"Errrr...yeah, sort of more like his metaphorical balls, in simpler words, his ego. We need to piss him off real bad, Rena. Get to him real deep, like he gets to us. Mess with his mind, play the mind games he plays with us."
"Okkkkkkk and how exactly do you think we could achieve this?" Serena's interest peaking as the answer slowly began to dawn on her.
"By not being effected, by acting like he doesn't exist at all. He feeds off off our fear, so cut his supply. Be normal, make social appearances, he is bound to be watching us and specially you during social affairs. Go around your life like he never really made an appearance in your life. But that's just the warm up, Rena, he is going to be completely frustrated by your lack of reaction."
"But is that going to be enough to lure him out?" Serena asked still sceptically.
"Maybe, maybe not. But we do have an ace up our sleeve." Darien smiled grimly.
"What is that?"
"Our impending nuptials."
Hope you guys liked it, there's going to be much more happening in the chapter after this, trying to upload asap. Thank you for all the love and support and reviews you guys have given my stories, it really encourages me to write better