Title : More Than Infatuation

Author : FirstMovement

Beta-Reader : JadePhoenixBurning

Pairing : Serena x Darien

Type : AU, modern day

Disclaimer : The characters of this story is not mine…

AN : Thanks for all the reviews :D

Part III

The engine sounds were fading away as it went further. And when she finally couldn't see the car itself, she closed the door and locked it. Darien had gone off to work, and wouldn't be come back until 6 in the evening. The maid who usually helped her clean the house every two days was not here right now, making her move easier.

Maybe the maid is some kind of spy for him?

Could be so. She furrowed her brows; she was determined to know what had been happening until right now. If she was really in some sort of danger, than she had to know. She had stayed up late at night thinking about the possibilities, maybe someone threatened her in regards to his work. He was a big person in the company after all, and it would explain the sudden moving and someone watching over her. And maybe the car accident was from it too.

She narrowed her eyes. If it was truly like that, she would have a word with herhusband for not telling her, even if it was for her own protection.

But now, she needed to find some evidence. First, she needed to talk to her friends. If someone knew what happened during her lapse of memory then it must be her friends. She reached the phone and dialed Mina's, one of her best friend, number.

No answer, there was not even a dial tone, just silence. But she just used the phone yesterday to call a fast food service and it did work. Why couldn't it be used now? It couldn't be that Mina changed her phone number right? The operator would tell her if this number was out of use.

She dialed once again and met with the same silence. Was the phone broken? She checked the cord and plug-in, there was no damage and it was attached. She tried to call her other best friend named Raye, but it was met with the same dead line.

Two of her friends changed their phone number in the same time? Unlikely. Assuming that calling Amy and Lita might be fruitless too, she tried to call the local connection, her neighbor.

To her astonishment, it was connected! Another two seconds passed and the receiver picked up.

"Hello?" it was a woman's voice, probably in her mid thirties or more.

Startled at the discovery, she did not prepare what to say to the woman. "Oh, he-hello. Um, this is Serena Shields speaking, your neighbor."

"Oh, Mrs. Shield. What can I do for you?" the woman answered swiftly.

Didn't know what to say at the moment, she asked the things that bothered her at the moment. "Uh, well, I'm just wondering if your number could make long distance call?"

Silence filled the line for a moment; she could picture the woman made a confused face when hearing her question. "Yes I do. I just use it yesterday to call my parents. Is there something wrong?"

Her eyes widened. Then only her line that was cut off from making long distance call.

"Oh, no, no. I'm just wondering. Thank you for your time," in her haste of discovering this fact, she cut off immediately.

What's happening? Why was it that only her number that couldn't do the calling? Could it be so her where abouts wouldn't be tracked? So no one could get to her. A suspicious that something was really had gone wrong grew stronger, her heart told her she was in danger, and that this feeling was not the first time she had felt it. A sudden awareness gave her a jolt. It has been happened sometime ago.

She determined to know who had been putting her life in danger. She had to search something first while her husband wasn't here, since it could be very much concerning himself and that was why he wouldn't talk about it. She walked to their bedroom first, intent to begin there. Afraid that maybe there was someone out there watching her; she did not open the curtain of their bedroom and began her search.

She came out with nothing and then proceeded to the next room. She spent all day exploring, searching for something that even she herself didn't know what. She just had to keep searching. There must be something, anything, that would tell her what could possibly have happened in those six month of her memory's loss.

She fell down on the couch, panting from the exhaustion of searching the whole house. Damn, the house was just too big to be searched alone. After 6 hours of searching, she came out with nothing. Absolutely nothing. No photos of their weeding day, no memo from the wedding plan, nor the dress of her wedding. She was a sentimental kind of person; those things from her big day must be kept as a memento. She surely would do that, she always did that, despite her friends saying that it was some kind of childish act. So how come there was not even a single thing from her supposedly big day? It was as if there was never a marriage between them.

Her mind relisted other possibilities of where she could search again. Bedroom, bathroom, living room, garage, and bookshelves. Every place where someone could keep something like a record or photos, where else could it be. She had checked up every pl-

Her eyes widened. Of course! His office! Serena pulled out from her sitting position and bolted to Darien's office.

Serena looked around the neatly arranged room, vaguely remembering his warning not to enter this room. But the last place of her search was the most possible place to have something. Yes, this place was mostly used for his work; he must be saving some important file in here. She started at his desk, going through the file in the drawer. It was all some company stuff she had found, half of it even written on another language.

She reached the last drawer; it was filled with their marriage certificate. She finally found something, but not what she expected it. They were marital, it wouldn't be weird to find this in his work place. She sighed in disappointment, putting back the certificate and pushed the drawer to close it.

It was almost missed by her, the black agenda book in the corner. It was more of a phone book, saving numbers and current addresses of people when she read through it. It didn't peak her interest, before she saw a person she knew so well on it.

Aino, Mina; 23rd Cross Street, Cherry Apartment, 4th floor, number 42; xxx-4533

Why was her friend's name on it? And completed with the address and number. She traced the name lower, and even surprised to see almost all her acquaintance in it; Amy, Lita, Raye, her parents, Samuel, her friends at work, the guy who worked at the coffee shop she usually had coffee, the laundry woman she always went to, even her neighbors at her old apartment. The last name on it was the neighbors on this house, her previous boss, and her co-workers; it seemed the person written in here was based on the meeting she had with them. Why did Darien have it? Was it possible by chance he knew all these people too?

She looked back the name at the first page. No, even if it was reasonable to know her friends and parents, it was weird to have a coffee shop employee's number he never ever once met.

To keep track on her? Why should he? He's not some kind of possessive man. He had never shown that he was overly possessive of it be to keep an eye on her?

She looked back at the black agenda, almost all the names on it had been marked by a highlighter, leaving only the laundry woman, her new neighbors, and some of her co-workers not. What did the high light mean…

People who were close to her? No, she had rarely talked to old neighbors. Some important people to her then? No, the coffee man was only a normal employee…

Damn, this was too frustrating! She got up and sat on the chair atDarien's desk, leaning back to rest her throbbing head. She heaved a sigh, her eyes getting tired from searching through the house. Her eyes roamed the things on the desk absentmindedly; noticing how neatly arranged his desk was. There were stack of papers, folders, pens, telephone, Darien's glasse—

Telephone… Her muscles tensed. He was a vice president of a worldwide technology company, his company must have some branch outside this country, or at least some partnership over the city. Then he should make some international call regarding to work!

She snapped the cordless phone from its place and dialed one of her friend's number, just to be disappointed when it did not connect.

She slumped back to the chair. This wasn't making any sense, why every line in this house wasn't connected for long distance call… It couldn't possibly be blocked, right? How did he do his work then?

Tired fromher fruitless search, she didn't have the strength to put back the phone and opted to dial a friend she had been able to make on her short time from her latest workplace, having someone to talk to could relieve some of her tension. All her tiredness evaporated when the same silence line was heard on the phone.

What? What was this? How could this happen? She just called Melvin, who definitely lived in the same city. Why was his number was blocked too? What did this mean?

The book…

She grabbed the black agenda and opened it to the last page. Melvin, McCellbellum. High lighted. Could this mark were numbers of which numbers were blocked? Why would Darien do that? He had no business with them; he barely even knew them all, maybe some of her close friends.

But, still… It could be, right? The voice in her mind was disturbing her. What if it was that? Choosing to test her theory, she called the only numbers left that wasn't marked.

She felt her heart stopped beating when the line was not dead. She even didn't realize it when Mrs. Sanders, the laundry woman, answered her phone. She cut off the line immediately.

Oh god, what is this supposed to mean…

Her breathing picked up pace, her heart hammered in her chest at fast speed. This meantDarien wanted to cut all ties with everybodythen. But for what? Was her life really in danger? That he had to cut all ties with everybody she knew back then?

She needed to call someone, anyone… She needed to talk to her friends, they would probably know what's happening, they were close to each other. But, all of her friends, plus her family, were already marked. Who could she call… There must be a hole…

Chad… She bolted from her seat and flipped the black book to its first page. Her fingers traced the list, hands trembled with anticipation. Chad was the man who usually worked at Raye's temple, before he went to make his music carrier two years ago, they were fairly close since they liked to hang out at Raye's temple. He was back, though decided to live on his own now. Busy with his new life and making new music, the girls and he kept a minimum contact.

That's it! Chad's name wasn't on it! It was hope against hope that he was in his apartment and not doing concert out of the city. She entered Chad's number after looking at it from her phone, thanking God that they were not completely cut off.

Five seconds of waiting felt like years for her, especially when there was a waiting line this time. She almost let out a cry of joy when the sounds she knew so well answered.

"Hello?" A baritone voice said from across.

"Chad! Oh my god! Chad, please tell me where are you now." She could jump five feet in the air for this little contact with him.

"Serena? Is that you? Uum, I'm on my apartment of course, why?" Now she could literally do those jumps.

"Chad, I need some help. Could you go to Raye or anyone of the girls and give this phone to them? Please, I'm desperateand I don't know how to contact them."

Hearing the desperate tone in her voice was enough for Chad to help her, Serena was rarely asking for someone's help, and when she needed one then she was in dire of help.

"Sure Sere. They must be on the Arcade right? I'll call you back when I reached-"

"No! No, please don't cut this line. I… I don't know if I can get this line ever again. Can you, can you leaveit on?"

She was afraid once the line was dead, she wouldn't be able to call him. And she really was in a need of some contact with someone she knew from those old times.

"Um, sure, I think… But I can't really be a company to you, I don't really like talking through the phone while driving" Chad knew immediately there was something wrong with her, he scrambled to his feetfrom his leisure position on the sofa and grabbed his keys.

"Fine by me," she finally could let out a sigh, relieving her tension. She could talk to her friends and knew what really happened to her.

"I'll talk to you in 10 minutes again, 'kay? I'll be fast," Chad said through the phone, she could faintly hearan engine being started.

"Okay." And the line was silent except from the soft humming of engine from the speaker.

Now what should she do for the ten minutes remaining… She let her eyes wondered the room, trying to pull her mind from the phone and calmed her heart. The room was neatly organized and perfectly clean, while being simple and nice. So much liked Darien. She wondered if the man even had a mistake on his life. His life was flawless, as far as she knew him. And she knew him a lot, being in the relationship for almost two years before marrying him.

He was working as the vice president on a worldwide technology company, his handsomeness was a complement to his well built body. Rich and handsome, one a man would die to have. And yet, even though with his busy schedules, he was still able to come home every night just to be with her wife. Kissing her before and after work, not letting her doing hazardous work, preferring her to stay at home… Come to think of it, he was a bit protective. Or maybe possessive? She hadn't really noticed it before now…

So, maybe he was protective and possessive, man were always like that. It was not something new. But those thoughts sent an uneasy feeling to her, as if she was afraid of that personality in him. Was it possible he actually acted overly protective of her? It could, he moved her out of the city just to hide her, right?...

She shook her head. It would be cleared when she talked to her friends, hopefully. She turned her head to the side stretching it and something was caught on her peripheral view. She almost forgot there was an extra room in here. Serena got up from her seat and walked to it.

She put her hand on the handle and pushed it downward. It was locked, the handle won't budge. A small computer with numbers keypad on it was placed beside it, completed with four underscores on the tiny screen above it. She never knew the room needed a pin code to open it; it must be something top secret. Like Darien's company newest design… or maybe something more private, his secret maybe? Before today, she would declare that she knew him very well, but after discovering that black agenda, she wasn't so sure. Darien might be keeping something from her, thinking that it was necessary to make her safe. But she has a right to know! It was her life after all.

It could be something regarding her in there, maybe about the one who wanted her life? Or maybe something else?...

Curiosity eating her slowly, making her hand itched to enter some number on that screen. She was his wife, right? He wouldn't mind if she peeped what was inside, right? It couldn't be all work related file in it, maybe their wedding photo was in there. And if it really only contained stuff for work she doubted she would understand on it.

She knew she only made excuses to see what's inside. But the nagging feeling that she knew this door from somewhere before was bugging her!

What he didn't know won't hurt him, right? It was only peeping, and it was high chance she didn't even know what those files (if it was really some company stuff like he said) mean. And the code could be anything, it needed ten thousands try to get all the possibilities numbers in. What luck she had to enter the right one with only ten minutes?

She turned on the mini-computer, the blue ray on the screen lightened up in a second.

Let's see, from the most easiest one. 1-2-3-4.

The screen flicked twice before resetting it back to 0-0-0-0.

Okay… That was worth a try, but Darien was not a simple man didn't he. What could possibly be four numbers? A date, or a year. She entered the numbers one by one. His birthday? No. The year maybe? No either. Mine then? Nope. Our wedding day? Uh-uh. Then the day he proposed her? Wait, she never asked that to him.

When or where did he propose her? He said he did it twice, one officially then the other was on the hospital. Oh- the day she was released from the hospital! She entered the number, and once again denied the access.

Maybe he did not use date then? But he used date for his security code on his penthouse back then. What was it before? Her birthday. But she had done that and it won't budge! Maybe she should try the six month date prior from her memory loss, one of it could be the day he proposed to her.

She had reached the middle of it, 0-2-1-8, when the phone she was holding screamed her name.

Startled, she put the speaker on her ear. "He-hello?"

"Rena?! Rena, is that you?"

"Raye! Oh god, I finally reached you!" She never felt happier than now to finally hear Raye's voice. She was ready to jump in joy for able to reach her friends!

"What? I'm the one who can not reach you Rena. No, that's not important. Rena where are you?" she could hear the edgy tone on Raye's voice.

Why did Raye ask her that? She must knew about her departure of course, Darien said they already knew and were sad that they couldn't have more time to say goodbye to her. Darien said that to her, and he didn't lie to her right? Why should he lie to her about her friends? "I'm out of the city of course. Why?" she heard a sigh had been released from across the phone.

"Let me talk to her," a faint voice said from the background, which she identified as Mina's.

"Sere, are you alright? How's the thing with Dairen?" Mina's alarming voice somehow told her that something's was not right.

"Yes, of course I'm alright. And Darien's just fine also, he was working now. Do you want to leave a message for him?" she was rather sad they had to ask about Darien. They had been out of communication for about six weeks, don't they miss her?

A silence filled the line for several minutes. "What do you mean he was working? Are you with him, Sere?"

Why shouldn't she? He was her husband, right? It was only logical to be near him. "Yes, of course I'm with him. We were married guys, don't tell me you forget it," she chuckled, assuming her friends was just joking with her.

Though it soon died down when she heard no respond from Mina.

"What do you mean you were married? Sere, tell me you're really okay," Mina's voice was strained, where she guessed from worry and fear.

What was she afraid for?

Her condition after the car crash? They didn't come to see her actually, so maybe they were worried.

"I'm fine Mins. It's already over a month from the accident, so I'm perfectly fine. Well, accept for the memory loss of course," she tried reassured her friend, Darien said he had told them about her condition, they really did not need to worry about her though she appreciated it. "Which reminds me, can you tell me all of the events from the past six months before I went away? I felt something was off with my life."

"What?! Sere—"

The line was silent suddenly, and a second after that a dead line was heard.

What? What the hell?!

She dialed the number and the same dead tone met her. She cursed under her breathe. How could this happen? She was just so near the truth and it was snapped out from her!

She let out a calming breathe, and tried to rethink the short conversation she just had.

They were worry about her; from the edge voice on her friends it must be serious. Then something hadreally happened with her in those six months prior, probably regarding her life in danger. And the fact that they seemed surprised to find her married with Darien did not go unnoticed from her.

Could it be Darien and her never really gotmarried at the first place? But she had just found the marriage certificate, so it couldn't be. Then Darien had done something terrible that the thought of marrying him was not accepted by her friends? Or were they married in secret, that would explain the absent picture and mementos. If that was so, why did he do that?

Maybe he was involved with something dangerous and by that her life was at stake? It was the most plausible reason she could think of. He was a big person after all, 'known by all, even your grandmother', she could vaguely remembered he joke something like that on the day they hadfirst met—

"I remembered that day, you're wearing a Louis Vittoun blazer, with black tight skirt. You looked so damn sexy that day."

He said that when she mentioned their first time on the limo. Then it must be considered as an important day if he remembered it that well. Her eyes drifted to the mini-computer's screen she had been struggled with the past ten minutes.

What day was that? She was sure she saw flowers blooming across the bar. So it must be on spring then. And as far as she knew, she went out at that time on weekend nights…

Turning on her cell phone, she opened the calendar and went to spring months at one and a half years ago, then putting one by one the date of the possible answers. She was reaching her second month and first week when the screen flickered once and shut down, and a soft click was heard from the door.

Her hand froze, heartbeat increased, eyes went wide. The door was opened.

She never expected it to open, and actually she was hoping it wouldn't open. Half of herself told her that nothing was wrong with her life, that she was just being overly paranoid; the part where she undergo this past weeks despite the uneasiness she felt, the part where she was afraid to know the truth. But other part told her to be cautious, that everything was just too weird for her life, that it did not make any sense, from the missing wedding picture to the blocked numbers.

Her eyes turned to her left hand, to the cordless phone she was holding tightly right now. The phone she had just used to call her friends… She decided it then. She had enough of running; she would get this figured once and for all!

She gripped the metal handle, a cold sensation greet her clammy hand making her tense. She took a calming breathand pushed the door forward.

It was a small room (as wide as a walk-in closet, if not slightly bigger) with just a dim light as its lightning. A desk with a computer on it was placed on the far end of the room, a pile of papers and cds were placed on each side of the room, with a small open cabinet full of clothes added on the right side. Some glass frames were hanged on the wall and the one in front of her was covered by photographs.

Some of the pictures caught her attention. Fromthe distance she was standing at, she could see the pictures on the wall. She knew those pictures alright.

Her legs brought her nearer in slow unbelieving strides. She reached the desk, leaning her body forward to look more closely at the picture, at the object of the photograph.

It was her. She was in the middle of buying a coffee, without her noticing that her picture was taken. The date said it was from a year ago. She shifted her eyes to the picture beside. Another candid photo, of her when she had just gotten out from a cab. The date was from six months ago. And the picture above it was her walking in the crowd while making a phone call; the date was eight months ago.

It's her. Oh god, it was all her. All of it. She looked around frantically, noticing that the pictures were all taken without her knowing.

Darien stalked her, had stalked her for more than a year. He had taken pictures of her and displayed it on the wall. How far had he stalked her? Did he put something inher apartment? Taps? Camera? From the picture on the wall, the one where she was on her bedroom changing clothes, it could be. How far had he invaded her privacy? When she slept? When she phoned her friends? When she took a bath?

This wasn't happening. This was not really happening. She was just in some twisted dream; her mind played tricks on her. He wouldn't do that, he couldn't do that. A clatter of sounds was heard from behind her, startling her already high adrenalin. She didn't notice she had backed off from the photo and reached the wall, making her back collide with the rack. Some cds was on the floor, and even though the dim light this room had provided, she still could read the title on the case.

Serena, Bath Room, Sunday morning, September 3rd 20xx.

She shifted her eyes to look at the pile of cds on the racks, it could easily passed the number of one hundred. And it was all about her. He taped her? Was it not enough to take pictures, but also record her? Watching what she was doing every day? Every hour? How long had it gone? A month? A year? From the first time they started dating? How long? Watching her taking a shower, sleeping, eating. Everything. Oh god, she felt sick, she felt violated, she felt the need to throw up.

She had to get out of here.

She turned and blindly going forward, trying desperately to get out from this vicious room. Her sightless escaped made her stumbled on something and fell hitting a cabinet. She guessed she had crashed on apile of clothes by the softness she felt when she fell. She opened her eyes and came up with colors of clothes. Colors she knew very well.

She took out the dress from the hinge. It was a pale blue knee length dress, a v neck with a small cut on the side. It was a nice dress, the material was soft and light, suitable for a stroll in a park on the summer afternoon. A kind of dress she would wear for her first date with him. A kind of dress she thought she lost when she laundered the dress.

The dress slid from her trembling fingers, she shifted her eyes to look at the cabinet. Yes, she remembered that silver night gown, the one she wore for one of his business dinners, and never wore after that due to the rip on the back, or the red blouse beside it, for where she wore on one of their lunch dates, then lost it after they had sex inhis old penthouse. She always thought all those missing clothes just slipped in somewhere, never thought that it was stolen and was made a collection of some twisted madman.

But it's not all, her eyes landed to the glass frame on the wall beside the cabinet. A black panty, her black panty, with a rip on one of the side, from their first night together. She wouldn't miss it, she was sure it was hers. It was her favorite after all.

"It's okay; it's not your fault. No one wanted that accident to happen anyway. You're here, safe and sound, that's all matter"

"The doctor didn't know what best for you. Meanwhile I know what you need the most."

He had been caring through her recovery, way too caring to her.

"I wanna give it to you. Well, it's actually yours; they took it when taking you to the emergency room. It's our wedding band."

She looked at her trambling ring finger where it hosted the diamond ring. There were no wedding pictures, because there was no wedding to begin with.

"Sorry Hun,I've already turned off the phone. I thought when I toldyou that we're moving that you'd be happy about it so I went ahead and started making preparationsbut instead you ran away and got an accident."

He tried to block her from her friends, so no one would know what had happenedto her while he moved her further away from them.

"That sounds absurd. I know your work is great! Do you want me to talk to Mr. Jones?"

She wasn't fired because she was not good, but because she was too busy with her work and she had pay less attention to Darien. He had it set up so that she was fired and become a full time house wife.

"How was your shopping? Oh, the car was parked the opposite from this morning. So you must have used it."

"Thursday, I know. But you need to rest Sere. How long have you been working, hm? 6 hours without a break."

He had watched her, every move, every hour, every day.

A chill went down to her back, shivers run down her arms. He was sick; he was out of his mind.

He had passed the border of being protective. Passed the border of infatuation.

He was obsessed, with her…

Her breath quickened at the discovery, she backed away from this twisted room. She had to get out; she had to get away from him.

Her back hit the wall behind her, she was too occupied with this sick discovery too realize where she was going. It didn't bother her first, her back touching the wall. But her eyes gone wide when the said wall rumble behind her, a chuckle was heard from above her head.

Oh god, oh god, please, please, tell me it was a dream, please tell me it was just a nightma-

"Well, well. I'd never realized you would go here, to my secret place. Even after I told you not to," his smile was kind, soft and understanding.

In which she didn't believe any of it. God, oh god, he would kill her to shut her mouth. He would kill her and nobody would know. She began to hyperventilated, her body shook in fear. She backed away from him, trying to put more spaces between them, where he followed her slow step.

"But I understand that curiosity could get the best of you. After all, we're husband and wife." He kept move forward, not following her step anymore, but leading her even deeper to the sick room she desperately wanted to get out.

"We have to understand each other, right darling?"

Fin

AN: Thank you so much for the reviews :)