Title: A Crimson Beginning
Disclaimer: I do not know any member of Savage Garden, nor am I related or have permission to write such FICTION. You are reading at your own free will!
Pairing: Darren/Daniel, Karl/OC
Rating: Over All “R”
Genre: AU / Angst / Fantasy (Sci-Fi)
Summary: Prequel to ‘A Crimson Memory’-Tabitha’s illness leaves Karl devastated while Daniel tries hard to correct his mistakes. Darren dabs into Dan’s theories. / Karl’s POV
Chapters: 10/10
Warning: The following may include drugs, death and/or foul manner. Some material not suitable for others
Author’s Note: It’s been forever! I decided it's time to close this so I can move on - ends in a way that it opens into A Crimson Memory.
“Did you see how she was shackled down?”
I shook my head, still pacing back and forth at the foot of Darren’s bed. My poet went on and on in detail, discomforting himself with his own words. As he spoke, the anger in me increased - I wanted to destroy something; someone. Daniel Jones
“Stop this madness.”
The chair to the right of the bed looked sane; I sat down as if programmed, my hands cradling my head. Didn’t know whether to cry or unleashed - my world…my life…the only reason for existence, gone.
I sensed Darren observing me as I listened as words died on his lips; I looked up to see his curious eyes glistening as if near mourning toward my own loss - his loss. He knew what would happen and what needed to be done.
“Now all that’s left is for him to come home,” I said softly, as if speaking to myself (in which, all honesty, I was).
“What will you do?”
I glanced toward the ceiling as if searching for the answer.
None came.
“I don’t know. Hopefully an impulsive moment will come into play…”
Kill the son of a bitch.
Darren lowered his head, tucking his chin into his chest. Suppose now he was contemplating the love he had for Danny…how much love? Although, Daniel had a shitty way of showing affection, I knew deep down how much Darren loved him…how much I adored them both.
Too much to think about, too many emotions were coming into play; only thing to do was to do just that - do, not think, do.
It was some time in the afternoon when I left Darren’s room, walked downstairs, outside and got into my truck. Although it only took about forty-five minutes to get up town and into the parking lot of The Hive, it took me an hour to conjure up exactly what was to be discussed.
I needed answers but didn’t know how to ask my questions.
* * *
I waited the long seven hours until Daniel emerged from the lobby doors and approached his Hydra Spyder until I made a move. With uncontrollable anger I grabbed him by the collar, pinning him up against the side of his corvette - the wild eye look in him doing nothing but motivating my rage. “What did you do to her?!”
“Whoa, Karl, calm down - do to whom?”
I felt the eyes of several near by looking on but at the time it had no effect on me.
“My wife, you sonofabitch, I saw her. The basement - what did you do?!”
Daniel, pushing my irate hands off him looked around with an aura that feared his modesty. Hitting the door to relock up his Hydra he gestured for me to follow him back into the building. “Please, not here. Let’s go into my office. I can explain.”
Baffled with rage and confusion, I held back pressing anger and did as suggested - I couldn’t very well get answers out if Daniel was eating my fist.
We walked back to the office in silence. Once entered, Daniel locked the door, closing the blinds that hung upon the door window and turned to face me, his eyes shifting my frame in what seemed like a search for an introduction. How badly I wanted to strangle him.
“You’ve been to the basement?” he asked, circling his desk and sitting down in his chair, slowly. I nodded. “What exactly did you see?”
“Enough. She’s there, Danny,” my voice sulked into a depressive tone, “what happened? What did you do?”
“Nothing she didn’t agree to,” he responded, his elbows upon the desk, face pressed up against his hands which formed a temple in front of him in contemplation. “Tabitha understood my project… or so she claimed. There was no intended harm, I assure you…it just…there were some things-”
“Daniel Jones,” I stated, pressing my own hands upon the desk opposite him as I leaned to tower in on him, “tell me, exactly, what this top secret of yours is. I need to know.”
An abrupt thunder hit the office door. Daniel’s name was called in a cry from the other side - sounds of weaken fists banged upon the metal - the blinds shaking to the vibration. Daniel looked to me in surprise, than ran to the door. Opening, a chest palpitating poet stumbled in, his words suffocated amongst the hollow panting as he hunched over himself to gather energy.
“Darren, what are you doing here?” Daniel put an arm around him which Darren meekly turned away from. His eyes of sky enveloped my presence once looking up - “She’s alive, Karl,” he gasped for air, “she was screaming.” He turned to Danny. “She’s screaming down there.”
* * *
The basement was empty. The vials and lights gone - broken; the cold ground coated with shattered glass which snapped underneath the cautious heels. The scene spoke for itself. Darren stood at the door, not wanting to enter the hues of travesty. Already having the environment etched into memory through first glance - I seemed to have an intuition for what had taken place. She was gone. Once here, yet no more; the person (creature) I had fell upon this morning wasn’t my Tabby. Maybe at one time, but couldn’t possibly be any longer. The aura that had lingered wasn’t my wife.
My eyes shift, zooming in to penetrate my depressive anger through into the lanky blonde that I had none practically all my life - he had the answers. I needed to know.
He turned then, as if his sixth sense had picked up on my perplexity. His face plastered with bewilderment and innocence - was it innocence? “Karl… I-I’m sorry.”
“For what, Danny,” I slid my feet amongst the cemented ground, “Tell me what exactly happened. I need to know.” I glanced over my shoulder at the entrance to the basement, making sure Darren was a witness to this.
“It was not meant to result in this,” he hesitated. I felt my brows furrow - was this rage? “She was not meant to inject herself with the dose - we had a specimen to test it on - we had the lab-”
“WHAT HAPPENED!?” I felt my eyes widen - a small gasp of fear escaped from Darren from behind, quickly silenced under the suffocation of a hand over his mouth. Maybe it was just my paranoia, but for some reason I had a sense that he had a notion as to what this was leading up to. He vanished then, into the living room opposite the doorway. A few seconds later I heard voices and the shifting of channels - why had he turned on the tube?
“We wanted to resurrect the idea of vampires,” Daniel begun, I brought my attention back to him and watched him, backing slowly away from me. “It was a theory, you understand,” his eyes pleaded with me, “not meant to be finalized - she was well aware of the negative outcome that would follow…”
Thirty minutes ago, reports flew in of an unidentified murder taking place on Oakfield, nearly 4 miles away from the Hive District. We’ve linked this in with the unmotivated killings that came to us no more than three hours ago. We urge citizens to take precautions and to remain indoors until further notice - no evacuation zones have been announced as of yet, please stand by…
We all heard the news. Daniel seemed to know more than I did, for he fled my vision then, running upstairs. I attempted to follow but halted once stepping out of the basement. Darren’s blue irises shown enlarged, reflected through the breeding tears that came without invite. “Darren, what is it?”
“You know it, Karl. You know what’s happening.”
Part of me did, yes… yet another part of me still stood in denial and didn’t want to agree with what was going on.
Daniel came down from the stairs then, a 9mm in hand, half way tucked into the front of his pants as he went about covering it with his shirt, heading for the door. My hand came up to stop him on impulse. “What the fuck is that for?”
“Karl - I didn’t bring her into this, she brought herself, please believe me mate,” he placed his hand on mine then, “please. I would never bring this on those I love.” He moved around me then. “However, I will kill you if you try to stop this,” he looked to Darren, “you as well, as much as I love you.”
He left. I stood there, utterly lost with an uninspired poet of tears. “What will he do?” I managed to speak.
Darren wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve and readied himself for the front door to follow. “Darren…”
“He’ll kill her, Karl. Unless she kills him.”
- Amanda, not the best ending, but an ending nonetheless