Dark Secrets Author: Aria Rated: UnRated Chapter 1 Loud pulsating music, smoky rooms flashing with coloured lights, and smiling men promising a fantastic night. Friday nights were all the same. It all use to be fun, exciting even to spend hours dancing to music that you couldn't understand because the bass was too loud, and screaming at the top of your lungs because you're trying to have a conversation with someone next to. There was a time where nothing would have been more enticing. Not anymore. Now it was just a necessary evil. It's amazing how one night could change your perception of the entire world. Serena Carson sat at the smoky bar squinting through the darkness trying to make out the figure of her target writhing sexily to the music. Giving up, she lifted a drink to her lips and took a swig of the strong alcohol and smiled wryly as she watched the girls smiling seductively at their dancing partners. And just think, a few months ago she was just like them. That was until Darien came into her life. Up until then life was all smiles and hanging out with friends. Then one by one her friends were disappearing without a trace. The police came up with nothing. No one knew who, what, where, when or why they went missing. And it wasn't only their group that was affected. Men, women and children were disappearing from the city at an alarming rate. Then one night it almost happened to her. Four Months Earlier. Serena ran through her small apartment looking for her keys. "Where are they?" she ran past a mirror and took a moment to take in her reflection. Her straight blonde hair had been cut to chin length just that afternoon and she had to admit it looked good. The annoying buzz of her intercom sounded as she ran her fingers through her tresses. "Serena! I'm here! Let me up!" "Hey Mina!" Serena pressed the button to let her up. It was a weekly ritual with them. Every Friday night, they would get together with some friends and head to the clubs. After a long week at work, it was a welcome diversion. There was nothing quite like getting glitzed up and heading out for a night on the town. Serena opened the door as she walked past on her way to the bedroom. "Serena where are you?" A tall blonde walked in dressed to kill in leather pants and a tight velour top walked through the door. Serena crawled into the room. "Right here. Can you see my keys anywhere?" Mina picked them up off the floor next to the couch and handed them over to her. "You have really got to clean up in here." She eyed the piles of clothes on the floor and wrinkled her nose. "I haven't had the time." was Serena's careless answer. "You ready to go?" her plum colored eyes gazed lovingly at her own reflection, critically searching for any flaws in her makeup or hair. "Yes, and so are you." Mina put her hands on Serena's waist and steered her towards the door. "Now let's get going before all the hotties are taken." They were out the door with a squeal. They arrived at the club ten minutes later and walked into the dark crowded building, smiling half seductively at the bouncer they swept in. The pungent scent of alcohol, smoke and cheap perfume mingled gloriously to create the ambiance so craved by the younger set. To Serena and Mina it was heaven. Serena immediately walked up to the bar and ordered their first set of drinks. The darkly handsome barman smiled at them. "What'll it be tonight ladies?" "Martinis. Straight up." She turned and eyed the dance floor that was heaving and undulating with scantily clad beautiful people. "I think you have a bite!" Mina elbowed her hard in the ribs and nodded toward the dance floor. Serena turned her eyes in the direction Mina's blue eyes were fixed. She smiled appreciatively at what she saw. Walking towards them were two men: one light and luminous and the other dark and devastating. Brows raised in a signal of interest, Serena turned back to the bar and picked up her drink. Mina grinned. "Dibs on the dark one." "Fine with me." Serena turned back and leaned on the bar with one elbow. The other was raised as she drank eyeing the two men seductively over the rim of her glass. It was like a game. No, more like a hunt. Night after night they'd prowl the clubs looking for a conquest, trying to see how many interested nibbles they got. The more the better. Free drinks and even better, conversation were the prizes of a successful hunt. But never, ever did they once bring the quarry home. For once they were caught, the fun was over and it was time to move on to the next. "Can we buy you ladies another drink?" The tall blonde smiled sexily, eyes roving up and down Serena's slender form. Coyly she tilted her head and smiled back. "Not at the moment, but you can dance with me first." Not needing further invitation he took her hand and lead her to the crowded floor. Serena enjoyed dancing. It could have been the music or being in such close proximity with so many gorgeous men. Whatever the case she absolutely loved it. Lithely, she entwined her arms around his neck and moved with him, swaying to the music. Not too long later, Mina and her guy were right beside them. Serena concentrated on her guy though, she knew the more interest you showed him the better. She turned in his arms so that her bottom was against his groin and she wiggled in time to the music. She smiled triumphantly to herself when his arms went around her waist. Got him! Five songs later they sat at a table in the corner and talked over an endless stream of drinks. Serena was happily swilling drinks and talking about nothing when Mina came over. Tears streaming down her ashen face she grabbed Serena's arm and dragged her to the side. "Lita's missing!" she managed to sobbed through her tears. "What?" Lita was one of their best friends and was totally unpredictable. "She's probably gone away with Andrew. You know what they're like." Since those two had started going out, they'd disappear for days, even weeks at a time without notice. Mina shook her head. "Andrew's the one who told me!" she grabbed Serena's arm again and pulled her to the bar where a sandy haired man was downing shooter after shooter of tequila. He turned to them when Serena tapped on his arm eyes tear stained and bloodshot. "Oh Serena! Have you seen Lita? Please say you have." He grabbed her arm and stared frantically into her face searching her eyes so that he could have at least a little hope. "I haven't seen her, Andrew. Not in days. We were all suppose to meet up tonight remember?" she kept her tone as gentle as she possibly could with all the music and activity around them. Andrew turned back to the bar as listless as when she found him and took another hit. "What happened? Did you two have a fight?" He shook his head sadly. "No. The last time I saw her we were at my apartment. Everything seemed to be fine." He took a sobbing breath then stood up eyes wide. "You don't think that she left me do you?" Because he looked as though he was going to pass out, Serena and Mina help him back onto his stool and stood on either side to help steady him. "Calm down. I'm sure there's a rational explanation for all of this." Serena wished for the life of her that she could think of something that could have possibly happened but with all the alcohol she consumed and the gut shaking bass she could barely stand let alone think. She went to tug a lock of hair into her mouth like she often did while she thought but when she found nothing there remembered that she had it cut and dragged her hand through it instead. "Where's Raye? She's supposed to go pick her up tonight wasn't she?" "Can't find her either." Mina retorted. "Well there you go. They probably got up to something and forgot to give us a call. Nothing to worry about Andrew." Happier now, she slapped him lightly on the back. He didn't look too convinced so the two girls dragged him to the dance floor and they danced until he fell over, exhausted from the exertion. "It's ten minutes till closing. Might as well get going!" Serena took one of Andrew's arms and half carried, half dragged him to the door while Mina grabbed their things. After dropping the two off, Serena took the cab back to her apartment as she often did. Most nights she made sure everyone got home safely before heading home herself. Just something to atone for her sins, she often told herself. Serena paid the cabbie and stumbled out of the cab and up the stairs to the cramped little space she called hers and flopped face first onto the couch. Rolling over onto her back she shimmied out of the tight pants she had been wearing and slung them somewhere into the darkness. She sat up intending to take off her blouse and noticed the blinking light on her answering machine. Half asleep and swaying on her feet, Serena made her way over to it and hit the appropriate button. "Serena. It's Alan Heston. We need you at the hospital right away. We have something that you'd be interested in." the message ended with a bleep. "Oh god." Moaning, Serena ran to the kitchen and boiled some water. She was going to need a lot of coffee. Alan, being the Chief of Staff always had interesting things for her. Mostly because he was interested in her and wasn't about to hide it. Unfortunately for him, she wasn't interested. It wasn't him. She just wasn't interested in any man at the moment, her career as a Haematologist and her friends were enough to fill her life. She dumped spoonfuls of instant coffee into her giant travel mug and went to the bedroom to get dressed. Serena shied from the bed. The last thing she needed now was to get too comfortable and fall asleep. Leaning against her wardrobe, she quickly pulled on a pair of faded jeans and threw a sweatshirt over the top she was already wearing. She grabbed her mug and headed down to hail a cab. Some twenty minutes later she was making her way down the antiseptic white halls of the hospital. The wonderful alcohol induced haze had given way to a full blown headache that was made worse by the bright fluorescent lights and the overpowering smell of the disinfectant. Head pounding and sure that her eyes were bugging out of her head, Serena made her way to Alan's office. The tall redhead sat at his desk reading some papers when she came in. he stood up smiling and adjusted his wire rimmed frames. "Serena. Thanks for coming in. I know how much you hate to have your time off disturbed but I think it's quite justified in this situation." Serena nodded silently. He studied her for a moment and thought better of making chitchat; she didn't look like she was in the mood for it. "Well, I guess we should get to it. Follow me." He led her back into the quiet halls and through the maze they created to the labs. "We had this fellow in today. A hit and run. And quite bad as well. Unfortunately he passed while in the ER." "Yeah? And you need me because..." Serena let her sentence trail off. Lack of sleep and her throbbing head were shortening her temper tremendously. Alan looked at her and smiled gently. "Well the nurses noticed something about him that they found odd. They called me in and I agreed so we took some blood and had it analyzed." He walked up to a microscope and nodded at it. "Take a look." She complied and looked. What she saw was definitely unexpected. Serena looked at Alan and then took another look. She adjusted the magnification and even blinked several times but what she saw was the same. The blood cells weren't characteristically human. They looked smaller and striated. "Where did you get this? Are you playing a joke on me?" He shook his head. "Not at all. Then a few hours later there was another hit and run. Same as the other one the man didn't make it. And like the other one there was something about him that wasn't quite right. He's there." He pointed at a microscope next to the first. Serena took a look at this one and frowned. "The cells are biconvex." "Yes I noticed that as well. So what do you make of it?" "I don't know. I need more time to examine them." What the hell was going on? She took another look, her mind suddenly clear and focussed. "I'll get on it right away. I just need to go and change." He put a large hand on her shoulder. "I knew we could count on you. Let me know as soon as you get anything." Serena barely heard him she was too busy trying to figure out the strange samples. A minute later she was in her lab coat and was strictly business. Gone was the party girl, she was replaced by Dr. Carson the no nonsense scientist. She spent the remainder of the night and most of the morning in the lab trying to determine the cause for such a strange mutation in the cells. By the time lunch came around Serena was exhausted but exhilarated at the same time by what she had found out about the cells. She sat at a table in the cafeteria nursing a coffee while she read her notes when she felt a light touch on her arm. Serena cast her violet eyes up in time to see Alan slide into the chair opposite and set his tray down. "I thought you might like something to eat." He flashed his straight white teeth at her. "Thanks, I'm fine." Her stomach growled despite her words. "Have you found anything?" he set a sandwich and soup in front of her before starting on his own. Serena took a sip of coffee then answered. "I still have no idea what could have caused it but I have found some interesting qualities." She took a quick break from reading to rub her eyes with the heels of her hands. "What do you mean?" Alan looked puzzled. "Take a look for yourself." She handed over her notes. "I did a little experimenting with the samples." His brows lifted in characteristic Heston style. "And this is what you found? Hurry up and eat." Serena complied, but only because she was anxious to get back to the lab. Back in the lab, Alan stood next to her waiting for Serena to show him what she found. "Sometime last night I was trying to figure out what could have mutated the cells so dramatically. But nothing came to mind that would so it in such a way. So I began thinking, what if it wasn't a mutagen? What if it was like a virus? So I introduced healthy blood cells and observed the reaction." She did just that and stepped back so that Alan could have a look. He watched with horrified interest as the strange striped cells attacked and consumed the normal ones. Alan turned his wide blue eyes to meet Serena's. "That's not all. Keep watching." He did as she said. "Nothing's happening." "Keep watching." Slowly, one by one, the strange cells divided instantly doubling their number. Alan stepped back pale shaking his head unbelievably. "What does the other one do?" "Pretty much the same but much faster and instead of splitting into two daughter cells, it splits into four." "Oh my god. This is terrible! Something like this is going unchecked in the city. What are we going to do?" "I don't think we need to alert the authorities quite yet. At least not until we find out what it actually does. There's no need to cause panic where there's no need." He nodded still staring at the microscopes. "Alan, I need to see the men these samples came from." "Huh? Oh. Right. Follow me." He turned abruptly and walked quickly away like he wanted to get as far from the lab as possible. Serena hated the morgue. Everything about it just gave her the creeps. And unless it was necessary she always gave it a wide berth. Taking a deep breath she followed Alan in. Why did they have to keep the place so dimly lit? Keeping close to him, Serena eyed the compartments in the walls that she knew held bodies. "Still don't like the morgue eh, Serena?" he put a supportive hand on her shoulder. She briskly shook it off. "I'm fine. Where are they?" The sooner they did this the sooner she could leave this place. "Over here." She moved carefully past the body on the table and walked over to where Alan stood. He pulled the door open and pulled the pallet out. It was empty. "What the--" he jerked open the one next to it. "What's going on here? They were here yesterday." He began looking in the other compartments. "I'm positive they were in these two..." he ran a hand through his hair and exhaled loudly. "I'll see what's gone on. Go back to the lab and lock up the samples." "Right." She shook her head as she walked down the hall. It wouldn't be the first time things went missing here. Cursing the organization of the hospital, Serena walked back into the lab. It was curiously quiet. "That's strange. Hey! Paul! You here?" she knew Paul Lambert would be here. It was his shift. "Paul?" Serena walked around the corner and tripped on something lying on the floor. She looked down and stifled a scream. It was a foot. Around the other side of the lab bench Paul laid face first on the floor. Serena quickly looked for a pulse and thankfully found one. Instruments were strewn around the room; test tubes and slides were shattered on the floor. On the other side of the room, two more technicians lay prone on the floor. Serena ran out into the hall and started yelling. "Someone help! Help!" Nurses and orderlies were the first ones there, followed closely by doctors and security. Serena went back in with everyone else and checked on her microscopes. Like all the others they were smashed on the floor. Her notes were gone and the samples had disappeared as well. "Jesus! What the hell happened here?" Alan strode into the room staring in disbelief at the scene before him. "Alan!" Serena took him to one side. "Someone's taken the samples and my notes!" she hissed in his ear. "Oh god! You're sure they're gone?" "Yes!" but she remembered what she had done earlier that morning. "But I still have these." She pulled two small test tubes half way out of her pocket. Inside was the strange blood. "Oh thank god. Go home and get some rest. I'll come by later tonight." "Ok." Serena told the security guards what had happened and then went home, with the assurance that they would contact her again if they needed anything else. She quickly changed into her street clothes and headed home. The cab ride seemed to be the longest she'd ever taken. Who'd want her notes anyways? And what was going on? What could have introduced such strange transformations to the blood of those men? Whatever it was, someone wanted it bad. She got out of the cab and was struck with a horrible thought. Whoever trashed the lab would know she was studying the blood. Cautiously, Serena ran up to her apartment and unlocked the door. She took a moment to listen and when she heard nothing, walked in. nothing looked like it had been disturbed. Of course it was hard to tell the place was always in such a mess. She looked out the windows at the darkening city. How had it gotten so late? Serena drew the curtains then carefully checked all the rooms before settling down on the couch. "I'm being ridiculous. I'm sure I'm not in any danger." Serena wandered into the kitchen to see if she could scrounge up anything to eat. She opened up the fridge and stared into its empty depths. "I forgot to go shopping." Kicking herself for being so absent minded, Serena proceeded to rummage through her cupboards. After about ten minutes of searching, she settled on a tin of soup and a heel of bread. Sliding her slender form into a chair at her table, she pulled out the tiny tubes and laid them on the table. "What happened to you two?" she asked the phials. As she ate, Serena started writing down what she could remember about what she found about them. Her mind started to wander as the hour grew late. Who could have taken her notes and the samples from the lab? And what about the bodies in the morgue? It had to have something to do with the strange blood. Serena sat lost in her thoughts. A loud ringing interrupted her thoughts. Still staring at her notes, Serena reached over to the phone and brought it to her lips. "Serena Carson speaking." "Serena, it's Alan. You still want me to come over?" Want? Who said anything about wanting him to come over? "It's kind of late Alan. Perhaps another day?" "But--" "Goodnight Alan." Serena hung up before he could get a word in edgewise. Seconds later it rang again. Serena jerked it off the hook. "Look Alan--" "Serena. It's Mina." The voice was hardly a whisper. "Mina? What's wrong?" "Lita and Raye are missing." Serena pried her mind away from analyzing the blood to the situation at hand. "What?" "No one knows where they are. Andrew's filed a missing person's report. But the cops have no clue what's happened. It's like they disappeared into thin air." Serena listened to her friend sob into the phone for a little bit before cutting in. "Be ready in 10 minutes. I'm coming to get you." Twenty minutes later the two women were seated in a dark corner of the local pub. Serena blinked her bleary eyes at Mina. After walking into the pub, did she realize that she hadn't sleep in almost three days. And now it was beginning to hit her. "Tell me what happened." Mina was too upset to notice Serena's condition and took a drink before she started speaking. "I have no idea other than that the two have been missing for more than a few days. Andrew called Lita's mom and even she hasn't heard from her in over a week." "Oh god." It was true that Lita and Raye were unpredictable, but for no one to hear from either of them in over a week was definitely strange. "And the police?" "They said they would do all they could." "In other words they'll get around to it." "Yeah." Serena stared at the grain of the wood on the table for a moment. Then looked up. She had to move around before she fell asleep. Just as she was about to get up, the two guys from the club walked over to their table. "Hey ladies. Fancy seeing you here." She barely acknowledged their presence. "Can we get you a drink?" Serena got up and pushed past them. "Whatever." She put her hand on Mina's shoulder. "I'll be right back." She walked away when she got a nod. Serena headed to the bathroom and washed her face in the sink. Serena looked at herself in the mirror and blinked a few times. This wasn't happening. She splashed the icy water over her face again in an attempt to wake herself up before returning to her friend. When she got back one of the pair of men was sitting at the table but Mina was gone. "Where's my friend?" The blonde smiled widely. "She's chatting with my friend somewhere. Don't worry they'll be back in a bit. I got you a beer." He handed it to her. Serena took it from him. "Thanks. You didn't have to." "Sure I did. You look pretty depressed." Serena just shrugged and took a sip. "So what brings you out tonight?" "Just needed to get out I guess." Serena took another, longer sip. This time her head started to spin and her eyelids felt like they were weighed down by anchors. She looked at him, amethyst eyes accusing. "What...did you...?" his smiling lips were the last thing she saw before her head hit the table.