When The Heart Sings

Chapter 9

Serena's POV:

I was shaken awake. "Wake up!"

I blinked groggily at a younger man in a white lab suit as he shook my shoulder. I was disturbed and alarmed by the presence of this stranger, and I pulled back as I tried to sit up. A second man walked into the room, and I recognized him as the man from the time before.

"Come with us, Serena. Darien is having anger issues, and I am curious as to how he is going to react when he sees you."

The younger man in front of me managed to grab my elbow and pulled me to my feet. I stumbled a bit at the unexpected action, and I leaned away uneasily from the stranger. The younger man seemed somewhat panicked and tugged my elbow again as he tried to get me to follow him. I tried to pull my arm away from his grasp without success.

The older man sighed, "Relax, Ty. She is barely awake and you are scaring her. Just point her in the direction she needs to go."

The younger man released me and stepped back before gesturing me towards the older man. I knew I didn't have a choice, and I did want to see Darien. Neither of these men could be allowed to know that though. I took a hesitant step forwards while I rubbed my eyes sleepily, "What is going on? What time is it?"

The older man walked beside me as he led me down the hallway, "I should probably introduce myself since we will be seeing one another a lot. I am Dr. Halbert, and I am in charge of most of what goes on here. It is 2am."

I glanced around at the numerous hallways as I was still trying to wake up. This place was a complete maze... "Am I being discharged? Did someone find my backpack? It has my ID and money in it."

Dr. Halbert shook his head, "Sorry, you aren't being discharged. I am taking you to see Darien. He is unusually upset and I am hoping you can calm him down."

I gave him a confused look, "How do you expect me to do that? You know him better than I do. I barely met the man."

The magnet pull was growing stronger, and I was starting to hear shouting from down the corridor. We stopped in front of a stainless steel door as Dr. Halbert swiped a card in front of a scanner. Noise flooded out as the thick steel door opened. An enraged roar boomed through the hallway.

I knew it was Darien, but I hadn't been aware that a human could actually roar. Dr. Halbert had said he was unusually upset, and I now considered that the understatement of the century. Darien sounded ten stages past furious.

If I hadn't known it was Darien, I would have balked and refused to enter. As it was, my feet paused at the enraged sound that promised violence. Dr. Halbert put his hand on my back and gently pushed me forward. We rounded the corner and I blinked in shock. About 50 guards holding some bizarre weapons had Darien backed into a corner at the end of the hallway.

The door beside him was open, but looked severely damaged. That door had more in common with the door on a bank vault, a rather dented door... Streaks of blood splattered the walls, and the guards looked pretty shaken up. My eyes flew to Darien, but other than some red marks on his skin, he looked unharmed. I had never seen someone look so angry before.

He was in a crouch as he snarled fiercely at the guards. The ache in my heart relaxed as I finally saw him again. Despite his towering rage, I wasn't afraid of Darien. Dr. Halbert kept going forward, "Darien, calm down. Serena is here, and you will scare her if you don't relax."

That gained his immediate attention. His head whipped around towards us. Our eyes met and time froze. Just like the first time, I forgot to breathe. I simply couldn't look away. The glow in his eyes was blazing brighter than I had ever seen it before.