Fallen Angel

by Adelaide Elizabeth Morgan



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Chapter 1

'What is that noise - I'm trying to sleep?' A loud crashing noise from the room next door wakes me up. I turn over and look at the illuminous face of the clock radio on the cupboard beside the bed. 1:30 in the morning!
I drag myself out of bed, and stretch the kinks of sleep out of my body. Another loud crash, the sound of breaking glass and a loud, slightly slurred curse means it can only be one thing. Daniel has gotten himself drunk again. I walk over to the door that joins our rooms, and turn the handle. As usual, it's unlocked and open. I open the door slowly as not to startle Daniel - he can get very jumpy when he's drunk after all. I peer into the darkened room. It's too dark to see anything so I reach my left arm to the wall and flick the light switch on.
I see Daniel sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed, knees bent and drawn up to his chest, head on his knees and arms over his head. The sound of breaking glass was from the lamp, which is now shattered on the hotel floor. Daniel has a bloody cut on his ankle, so he obviously cut himself on the glass.
Although I was being as quiet as I could, I must have made some noise because Daniel turns his head and looks at me.
"Hey," I whisper. "How you feeling?" 'Dumb question Darren...' I silently reprimand myself. Daniel doesn't reply, so I ask again. "Dan, you OK?"
Daniel still doesn't reply, but slowly and without saying a word rises to his feet and walks towards me. He's definitely drunk because he's swaying as he walks. He stops right in front of me and just stand there, watching me.
"Dan, is everythin..." I trail off as I see the way he's staring at me. The hungry look in his eyes is similair to how Colby looks at me when...
I mentally shake myself and wonder why I think that Daniel is looking at me like that.
The corner of Daniel's mouth curls up into a smile and he reaches his hand out and places it on my shoulder.
"Has anyone ever told you how adorably sexy you look when you're half asleep?" he whispers. I unconsciously take a step back. "Don't be scared Darren," he continues, "I could never hurt you. You do believe me don't you?"
As he's talking he runs his hand down my chest, following the muscle lines through my T-shirt. I step backwards again, shaking my head. I push Daniel away from me, and cross my arms across my chest, in a feeble attempt to make myself feel less vulnerable. "Daniel, I..."
"It's ok Darren. I know how you feel. I've always wanted you too" I feel my skin go pale, what is Daniel talking about? It must be the alcohol, I tell myself. It's the alcohol talking, that's all. "There's no need to be shy, Darren"
Daniel grabs the bottom of my T-shirt and pulls it over my head and throws it on the floor before I can react. Automatically I reach down to put in back on again but Daniel places a hand on my now naked shoulder. "Trust me, you won't need that".
I stand up straight and take another step backwards. Daniel steps forwards so that we are now both in my hotel room. My first mistake because Daniel simply turns the lock in the joining door, locking us both in the room. I always lock the main door for privacy.
I stand stock still wondering what the hell Daniel is thinking and doing. His mouth curls up into a smile as he starts caressing my naked chest, playing with my nipples. He takes my left nipple between his fingers and starts rolling it. The feel of it being stimulated makes me gasp. "Glad you're having fun. There's plenty more where that came from!"
Daniel's words jolt my brain back into action and I realise what is happening. "Daniel, stop it" "But I thought you were having fun" Daniel pouts, still running his hands across my chest and stomach.
"I don't know what you are doing...."
"Having fun with you" Daniel replies.
"But I'm not having fun" I insist sighing
"I can soon change that" Daniel answers, his voice low husky. His hand snakes down my stomach to the belt of my jeans and starts unbuckling them.
'Do something fast' my brain screams at me so I knock his hand away. Daniel looks back up at me, his eyes spitting fire."That wasn't very nice," he hisses. "You aren't supposed to hit people. That means you've been a very naughty boy and need to be punished..."
Chapter 2

"No, No. Stop it! What are you doing? Get away from me! No, leave me alone! Please, stop it, no!" Darren awoke from his nightmare-filled sleep and sat panting in the darkness, cold sweat dripping from his fully-clad body. His nightwear was twisted around his body and his shortly cropped black hair was drenched.
Colby, awoken by Darren shouts, sat up next to him. "Darren, what's the matter?" Darren turned to look at his wife, an expression of pure bewilderment on his face, as if he were seeing her for the first time. "Um.. nothing. Just a bad dream"
"Must have been a really bad one, you were shouting and twisting like anything! You wanna talk about it?"
Darren shook his head. "Nah, I'll be alright. After all, it was just a dream." Colby narrowed her eyes in the darkness at the tone of Darren's voice - it sounded more like he was convincing himself and not her.
"Hmmm..."
"What do you mean 'hmm'?"
Colby sighed, Darren's temper could be so short at times. "I don't 'mean' anything by it. Just that for you to have been woken up screaming by a nightmare, it must have been one hell of a dream."
Darren forced a smile. "I guess you could say that!". He looped his arm around Colby's waist and pulled her closer to him. "But, I'm sure you can help me forget all about it!!"
Colby sighed contentedly and snuggled closer to Darren, tracing the shape of his face with her fingers.
"And how would I do that then?" she asked innocently.
"I'm sure you can think of something!" Darren replied mischeviously before lifting her head of his shoulder and deeply kissing her. Colby immeadiately responded to Darren's kiss by grabbing the bottom of Darren's long-sleeved black T-Shirt that he was wearing. Feeling his top being lifted he broke away from the kiss and shrank away from Colby, shaking slightly. He pulled the top even further around himself and sat hugging himself.

Colby put her arm around Darren, and felt him recoil. "Darren, honey, what's wrong?"
Darren didn't reply, just shook his head and started rocking backwards and forwards.
"Darren, please talk to me. What's the matter?" Colby was starting to get worried - even though Darren's behaviour could be quite bizarre at times, she had never seen him like this before. She didn't think he was playing either, it was almost as if he was scared to have her touching him, or even near him. Darren's face had flushed an extreme shade of white, and he was sweating heavily.
In an effort to calm him down, Colby decided to try to forget this incident and change the subject. "And why, may I ask, are you wearing a long-sleeved top to bed in the middle of summer?" she asked with a grin. "Aren't you boiling?"
Darren responded by shaking his head. "No, I'm fine". He was trying to be his normal cheerful self but his voice came out a little shaky.
"Are you sure, because you're sweating like anything!" Colby continued. She didn't know why exactly, but she had a feeling that she had to get Darren to take his top off if she was going to get the bottom of it. "Colby, I'm fine. Really I am. There's no need for you to worry, just go back to sleep."
Darren Hayes, what are you hiding? she thought to herself. "I'm not going to sleep until you tell me what's wrong, and why you are wearing a longsleeved top in bed in summer."
"What does it matter? I can wear what I like can't I? And for the last time there's nothing wrong. I just want to get some sleep." Darren turned away from Colby and curled up into his favourite sleeping position
"Darren, don't be like this."Colby sighed. "Somthing is obviously wrong and I want to know what it is. I can't help you if I don't know what the problem is"
"I didn't ask for your help did I?"Darren mumbled into the pillow
"What was that?" Colby placed her hand on Darren's shoulder and felt him recoil from her touch again.
"Darren, don't shut me out, please"

Darren rolled over to look at Colby, who thought she saw him wince as his full weight momentarily rested on his shoulder. The singer sat up and sighed. "Okay, I'm wearing the top because I'm cold."
"And..." Colby prodded him.
"And nothing." Darren insisted. Colby gave him a look which told him she didn't believe a word he was saying. "Okay, so perhaps this nightmare shook me up a bit, but I don't really want to talk about it. If the nightmare was really that bad, which I can't remember, then it can't be good for me to talk about it, can it?"
Darren's feeble attempt at psychology must have convinced Colby becuase she relented. "Ok, well if you're sure...."
"I'm sure" Darren yawned. "Now, can we please go back to sleep?
"But if I'm going to have to go back to sleep, I'm going to need a kiss and a hug!"
Darren made a sound that was halfway between laughing and choking. "You're insatiable, you really are!"
Colby laughed. "Yes, but you love me that way!"
Darren smiled. "Hmm..."
"That's not exactly the answer I was looking for!" Colby pretended to pout and lightly punched Darren playfully in the stomach. Darren winced and doubled over. "Very funny Daz!" Colby laughed.
Darren looked up at her, with tears in his eyes, very obviously in pain.
"I didn't hit you that hard" Colby stated firmly. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this and I know exactly how to do so, and you're not going to like it one but, and I'm sorry, but it has to be done. Understand?"
Before her words had sunk in, she reached over to Darren and pulled his top over his head and threw it to the floor beside her.
She looked back at Darren and gasped, all colour draining from her face.
Darren's chest, stomach and arms were black and blue with bruises and partially healed cuts.


Chapter 3

"Oh Darren!" Colby cried as she saw the state of his body. Very gently she turned him around so that she could see that rest of him. His back was as battered as his chest.
Darren hung his head, refusing to look at her. She cupped his chin in her hand, lifting his head to look in his eyes. His blue eyes were filled with tears and he was biting his bottom lip. The pained look on Darren's face hurt Colby more than seeing the bruises on his body. She let his chin go, and he looked away, unable to look his wife in the face. Colby gently trailed her finger around some of the bruises on Darren's chest, making him wince slightly.
"I'm sorry" she apologised.
Darren looked up at her, a dejected, sorrowful expresssion filling his face."What are you apologising for?" he asked her, genuinely confused.
"If I knew you were hurt I wouldn't have hit you, would I?"
"No, I don't suppose you would have. Colb.. I'm really tired, can we talk about this tommorow?"
"Sure"

Darren reached down to the side of the bed where Colby had dropped his top and put it back on again, wrapping an arm around Colby and pulling the duvet tightly around them. Colby automatically moved closer into Darren's embrace, making him wince as she accidentally nudged one of his worse cuts. "I'm sorry" She appologised again.
Darren forced a weak smile. "Don't worry about it, and stop apologising."
"I'll try," Colby returned his smile. "Does it hurt really bad?"
"Only when I breathe!" Darren joked in an effort to mask his real feelings.
"Simple solution then, stop breathing!"Colby retorted back. "Seriously Darren..." Colby's voice took on a slightly stern edge to it. "You know you dont have to hide your feelings from me."
"Yeah I know, and yeah, it hurts." Darren replied quietly. Carefully so as not to cause Darren any more pain, Colby hugged him, an embrace that Darren greatfully returned.
"What happened?" Colby asked the question that Darren had been fervently awaiting.

What should he tell her? He knew he couldn't tell her the truth, and even if he could, who would believe it?
"I was attacked" It was the most obvious thing he could think of, and the most likely to believe, they were in New York City after all. Colby remained silent, although she didn't need to say anything, the look on her face gave all her feelings away. "It was, umm, more like a mugging really. They took my wallet, credit cards, car keys, everything. And..." Darren's voice trailed off as he desperately tried to think up another lie. "I never carry much money in my wallet, and that must have made them mad or something, cos they started laying into me. They had baseball bats and the whole lot."
The expression of pure horror on Colby's face told Darren that she believed him. "Are you sure you're ok?" she asked him. Darren simply nodded. "When did this happen?"
"A couple of days before you got here."
"So that's where you got your black eye from!" Colby exclaimed "I thought the tale of you and Dan dragging a drunk Ben out of a bar and he lashing out at you sounded a bit phoney".
Again, Darren nodded. "Yeah."
"Why didn't you tell me the truth?"
"I dunno, matcho pride or something" Darren shrugged. "Anyways, now you know, so you'd better get some sleep, you've got an early flight in the morning.

"Due to the fact that your little wife is coming to stay for a while, we're not going to be able to play, are we?" Daniel's voice wakes me up. He's standing at the side of my bed, naked, with a belt in his hand. He pulls the cover off the bed, and sits down beside me. "Just to make sure you don't forget me, I'm going to give you something to remember me by!" He starts cracking the leather belt in his hand. I feel my heart beat speed up as I realise what he is talking about. Ever so slowly I try to back away from him, sliding towards the other side of the king-size bed. He grabs my arm. "Going somewhere?"
He crawls onto the bed, and pushs me down so that I am lying on my back. He straddles my hips pushing down with his full weight, making my squirm.
He runs his fingers up and down the fabric of my Star Wars T-shirt before pulling it over my head and chucking it onto the floor. He bends over and starts to tease my nipples with his teeth. I try to push him off me, but he just grabs my wrists and holds my arms above my head. With his other hand he loops the belt around my wrists and around the bedpost so that I can't get away.
He goes back into his own room and I can hear him rummaging around, as if he is looking for something. He comes back with a strip of masking tape which he places over my mouth, gagging me. He turns around again, and locks the hotel door. When he turns back to me again he has another, thicker leather belt in his hand. He stands at the foot of the bed and starts whipping me with it. With my hands tied above my head I am helpless and can do nothing to escape the blows that are coming thick and fast. Everytime I squirm to desperatly ease the whipping Daniel moves closer to the bed. He ends up standing right next to me, and puts the belt down. He unties the bonds from the bedpost but still leaves my hands restrained. He looks around the room, and his eyes fix on the metal curtain rail. He pulls me over to the curtain rail and loops the belt around the rail, yanking it tightly. He pulls the belt so tightly that I have to stand on the very edge of my tiptoes. He picks up the belt again and starts to whip my back.
I hand my head in defeat as this painful torture continues. I can feel the blood pouring down my back from the deep cuts the leather is leaving, the same as has happened on my chest. My arms are aching from being tied so tightly above my head. I move around to try to relive the pressure. Daniel grabs my chin, forcing me to look in his eyes. "Did I give you permission to move?" Unable to speak I shake my head. He loosens the belt so that I can stand with my feet flat on the floor. He pulls my boxer shorts down, so that I too, am totally nude. He stands in front of me and rips the masking tape from my mouth. He starts kissing me, thrusting his tongue into my mouth and running it along the top of my mouth. After what feels like an eternity Daniel stops kissing me and starts running his hands along my body, chuckling as I whimper because of the injuries he has inflicted. His hands run further and further down my body, caressing the tops of my thighs and resting on the tip of my penis.
I stiffen my body as I know what is going to happen.
Slowly at first he starts massaging me, moving quicker and quicker. There is nothing I can do about it, I start to become aroused, my penis hardening. Daniel keeps the pressure on me and starts to kiss me on the mouth again. The combined sensations bring me closer and closer to the edge, until I climax, screaming into Daniel's mouth, my body quaking against it's bonds.
Daniel reaches up and unties the knots from the rail. I drop to the floor in relief. Not caring about the state of my inured body, Daniel drags me across the floor and dumps me on the bed.
"Like I said, we don't want you to forget about our games"

Chapter 4

"Where the hell is he?" Daniel exclaimed, his guitar dropping to the stage in his outburst. A confused look passed between Ben and Lee - Daniel's guitar was among his most prized possesions and he never treated it with anything other than the utmost care and respect. The fact that the blond one had carelessly, and violently dropped it was, in their opinion, cause for concern.
A similair look passed between AnnaMaria and Nicole, whilst Karl just hid behind his drums, not wanting to be involved in another argument.
Daniel stormed off the stage and started pacing in front of it, up and down along the bare floor. "Why is he always late? Doesn't he know how to tell the time?
"Daniel, calm down. There's probably a very good reason why Darren is late" Nicole, once again, attempted to play peace-maker.
Daniel spun to face her, outloading the full force of his anger on the blonde backing singer. "Oh yeah, a perfectly good reason. How come, if he's late, everyone just sticks up for him, saying he's got a 'perfectly good reason'. Yet if I am late, he pulls a full blown temper tantrum, screaming, and brushing any reason off as a 'stupid excuse? And, he always gets away with it. Well, It's not bloody fair and I'm getting fed up of it!"
Nicole flinched; none of the band were really used to seeing Daniel lose his temper, but as the tour was drawing to a close and everone was waiting to go home, the tension mounted and tempers, especially Daniel's, flared.
Anna sighed and ran a hand through her thick dark hair. She turned around, her temper also starting to boil over, as she became increasingly fed-up of Daniel's outbursts. "Daniel, just shut up and stop acting like an immature brat. You're not the only one here waiting for Darren, but unlike you, we aren't blowing a gasket over nothing."
Daniel threw his hands up in the air, sighing as he realised that everyone was against him and this was one argument he was not going to win. "Fine, if his Lordship does decide to grace us with his presence, I'll be in the bar." He started to walk towards the door of the rehearsal room, but was stopped by Ben stepping out in front of him
"I dont think that's such a good idea Daniel"
"Oh, and who are you to tell me what to do?"
"Your friend, for starters," Ben retaliated. "Or, at least, I think so. And you've been drinking a lot more than you usually do and," he paused, looking at the rest of the band, who nodded at him, "We're worried about you Dan."
The tone of Ben's voice was partway between being caring and being hard, and he had assumed a stong stance, his muscles tensed almost as though he was partly execting Daniel to lash out at him.
Realising this Dan lowered his eyes, he wasn't used to be talked down at like this when he was in a bad mood, everyone normally just let him get on with it.The muscles in the left side of his jaw twitched momentarily as he turned back to face the band. "I'm sorry, I'm just tired, want to go home and..." he raised his arm, and ran his hand through his hair, tears glistening in his eyes as he realised he'd been making a fool of himself.
"It's ok Daniel, we're all feeling the same. But it's really not fair for you to take it out on us" Anna replied, her voice softer than it was before.
"Yeah, I know. And I'm sorry, what more can I say? I think it would be a good idea to cancel this afternoon's practice, don't you?"
Karl made his only move throughout the events, nodding his head in relief as Daniel walked out the door. "I'll go and see if I can find out what's kept Darren"

Nicole slipped up the stairs to the 5th floor, where all their rooms were located. She paused outside Darren's room, number 71, and hearing no sound from within, knocked on the door. There was no reply so she quickly grabbed the doorknow and tried the door. It was unlocked and opened under the pressure she had unknowningly exerted on it.
She stood silently at the door, listening for any sounds that would give her presence away to Darren. She could hear none, so slowly stepped in the room, partially concerned that Darren would start screaming at her for "invading his personal space". She thought about it a bit more, then realised that Darren had been getting quieter and quieter, his outbursts and tantrums had barely happened recently. She knew that Colby was worried, becasue she'd asked her if she had noticed anything strange about Darren, which she had. It was almost as if Darren and Daniel's personality's had swapped, with Daniel blowing his top and Darren becoming...
Nicole's train of thought broke off as she heard a quiet sound from the other side of the room. Her breath caught as she realised it sounded like someone was... crying.
She mentally shook herself. The idea of Darren crying had taken her by suprise. She stepped fully into the room closing the door behind her. The light was already on, but she couldn't see Darren. She looked around the room again and could see Darren, curled up in the corner, sobbing heavily.


..to be continued.


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