*revised, December 2013.

Chapter 1

It was just like any other day, any other normal day she thought as she hurried through the busy streets of Tokyo. Although it started out pleasantly enough, something was nagging her at the back of her mind. However, being the 'ditzy and lazy' girl she was, she decided to let it slip. Was it time for personal introductions? Da da da dun! Serena Sinclaire! 19 years old and pretty much the explanation and reason for dumb blondes. Why was she having a self conversation in her mind in the first place? No clue.

The dumb blonde part was a joke by the way.

Seriously.

Anyways.

She had been trying to get to the mall on time to meet her friends and do a little holiday shopping; it was Thanksgiving after all. She had been making her lovey dovey way down the street when she passed by a Starbucks. She loved Starbucks. It was absolutely amazing...no, fantastic! Every time she was there, she had to order a Grande Mocha Frappucino; on hot days, cold days, any day! She was just addicted to the taste! It was 11:15 am and even though she was suppose to meet her friends at the mall at 11:35 am, she decided that there was plenty of time. Coffee always came first by the way!

Serena walked to the door of the small cafe and opened it, letting the aroma of coffee hit her as she walked up to the counter. Smiling sweetly at a girl with short brown hair, she carefully brushed some hair off of her face.

"I'll have a Grande Mocha Frap please."

"No problem...and that comes to a total of $4.59, would you like anything else?" The girl asked as the she stared intently at Serena.

"No, that's all." she smiled, giving the girl her money in exact change.

She waited on the other side of the counter for her drink as she looked around cafe, taking her time to observe the people in the small shop. There was a woman around her 60's, reading the paper and drinking what looked to be a dark expresso. She had tasted them before, but strong coffee wasn't her type. Glancing around again, she noticed a man wearing a dark blue cap with some LV shades. Serena wasn't a brand whore or anything and it wasn't the shades that caught her attention, but the way he was dressed. Too much for comfort she thought before hiding a smile. Serena knew that it was a cold day, but she didn't think it would be that cold.

"Here's your drink and thank you for waiting."

Smiling, Serena picked up the Mocha Frap and quickly put in a straw to take a long sip. Sighing, she felt the cold drink drizzle down her throat and smiled again as it seeped through her taste buds. It was lovely. Walking towards the door, Serena brought her wrist up to take a look at the time.

It turned out to be the wrong thing to do at that moment because as she was looking down at her watch and going out the door, she bumped into the man who she had noticed earlier. Taking a step back, Serena took a fail attempt to save her drink and the man from falling to the ground. She winced as she heard his shades hit the floor.

"I'm so sorry." Serena murmured as she picked up his glasses and handed them back to him. Checking the time again, her heart began to thump faster. It was 11:25 am.

"Shit." She muttered quietly as she hurried out the door, "Sorry again!" And she was off.

Serena started running, dodging through many people and trying to go between the gaps. Bumping into anyone was the last thing she wanted to do. She was slim and fast and always worked out at the gym. To avoid crashing into people was no problem. Looking down at her watch again, she frowned. 11:32am.

"Damn." She whispered.

3 more minutes and she was about 1 and a half blocks away. Serena started to run full speed before coming to a stop at the malls entrance. Taking deep gulps of breath and smoothing her clothing down, she stepped into the warm mall. Glancing down at her watch for the final time, she grinned. 11:35 am. Just in time.

"Serena! Where have you been?" She heard a voice call out.

"What are you talking about?" Serena asked innocently as she turned around to see her four friends walking towards her; it was Mina that had spoken.

"You know what I mean! We waited for half an hour and you still didn't show up!" Mina cried, waving her hands in the air. She looked so ridiculous that Serena couldn't help but snicker.

"Yes, but we did agree to meet at 11:35 right?"

"Yes-" Ami started but was cut off by Serena.

"-then I'm not late. It's exactly 11:35 right now, so you guys were just early." She said in triumph.

"You know, shes got a point. We were early." Lita said as she fixed her hair up into a ponytail.

"Lita!"

"ENOUGH!" Rei exclaimed loudly.

Every body stopped talking as they all turned to look at Rei. It wasn't surprising since she did seem to hold a air of authority. She was always the boss; the one to order them around and all that knick knack. But while she seemed cold and mean at times, she would always get them out of troubled messes or be there when they needed her the most. They held her high up in regards of respect, so if Rei said no fighting. No fighting.

"We came here to shop, am I correct?" Rei asked, looking at the each of them in the eye.

Everybody nodded.

"Then why don't we just start shopping alright?"

Smiling gently, everybody complied and Serena sighed. She loved her friends, but sometimes they were too much for her. Like Mina, a hot headed blonde who read nothing, but romance novels. Once she had her eyes on something, she would make up all these crazy plans to get it. Or Lita...an amazing cook, but with a really bad temper. If you messed with her, she would have your head off in a matter of seconds. Now it came down to Ami, the bookworm. Serena liked Ami the most in school. Nothing could go wrong if you studied with Ami Mizuno. If you look past the 'she wouldn't hurt a fly' look, Ami was actually a pretty decent kick boxer.

Hmmm, Rei Hino. She was Serena's best friend. They always figured things out together...well on the most part, it was because of Rei's help. She was the shoulder to lean on and Serena wouldn't trade her for anything in the world.

It was going to be a fun day shopping! And food! Yes.

...

Serena got back to her apartment late. She had bought a lot while shopping with the girls and planned a sleepover in two days time during dinner. Feeling rather fatigued, Serena shut the door before starting to reach for the light, but stopped abruptly as a shiver ran across her back.

Dropping her bags carefully on to the floor, she quietly inched forward towards the balcony in front of the living room. It was pretty much dark, but from the light of the moon, she could make out that there was some one there...standing with their back towards her. She shivered again to the thought that some one had came into her apartment.

Serena's heart was pounding as she slowly grabbed a baseball bat that was leaning against her kitchen counter. She always had a spare incase something like this would happen, but the real question was...how did they get in? Serena didn't notice anything strange with her door...that would've been the biggest sign! Her lock was obviously not picked or destroyed. Plus, they couldn't have climbed all the way up! She lived on the 18th floor! Serena didn't even know why she wasn't running yet or why the intruder hadn't made a move when she opened her door. Serena was positive she wasn't as quiet as she made movements to be.

So many questions were running through her head, but she couldn't come up with a possible answer for any of them. Inching towards the person, Serena squinted her eyes to evaluate the figure. The shapes made out to be a man...a well built man. It was obvious she couldn't fight him off...but she could try. If worse came to worse, the only plausible action was to push him off the balcony. Crazy as it seemed, it didn't seem like she had too many options on her hands. She didn't want to be a runner yet, even if the scared portion of her mind wanted her to be.

Tiptoeing quietly behind him, Serena stood behind them without moving. She felt a trickle of sweat running down her temple as her heart pounded like crazy to the many thoughts running through her head. Serena found herself thinking about running away again, but she knew that she would be a coward if she believed herself to be that weak.

The male in front of her was wearing a outfit that consisted of almost all black clothing. He had dark hair that was almost the colour of a midnight blue in the moonlight and was dressed in a black crisp dress shirt with dark blue jeans. She hadn't noticed it in the beginning when she had spotted him. Serena let out a slight breath as she felt something radiating off the man that made her shake in an unknown feeling. Frowning, she touched her head. What was wrong with her? Her mind was clouded as she began to heat up. No matter how much she tried to keep her focus back on the intruder, her attempts seemed futile until the pressure that had been weighing her down finally released. What was that?

Shaking her head lightly, Serena puzzled as she found herself confused for a moment. What was she suppose to be doing again?

Looking up, Serena gasped out of her trance as she took in the intruder once more. Why did she steer herself away from the importance of the situation? Scolding herself for being foolish, her eyes widened when the man in front her disappeared. Were her eyes playing tricks on her?!

Turning slightly, Serena gasped as she felt herself being struck down, the wind knocking out of her lungs. She didn't even see it coming. Closing her eyes, she braced herself for the impact of hitting the floor, but she felt nothing of the sort. Instead, she felt herself being engulfed into a warm pair of arms. Opening her eyes a little to take in the surroundings, she surprised herself by looking into a pair of intense midnight blue eyes staring down at her.

Shrieking, Serena pushed the intruder away before falling on her butt. Grimacing at the pain, she stood up quickly as she saw him getting up as well. Fear crept over her. She had to get away. She eyed the door that she had shut earlier, damn...she should have propped it open.

The man was facing her now, but before he got to move, Serena grabbed a vase that had been on the ground and quickly threw it at him before making her way to the door. She didn't know if it hit him or not, but she wasn't going to find out. Serena reached her door and started opening it, but was clamped down by a strong force.

"Eeeep." She quietly let out before turning around to find the man hovering over her.

Serena felt small. The man in front of her was so tall! At least 1 and a half heads taller than her. She acted on impulse as she kicked the man with all her might at his shins before kneeing his gut as he bent down from the sudden movement. Taking her chance, she pushed him away from her before turning around and opening the door again. Running out, she gasped for air as the exhilaration clouded over her. As Serena made her way to the elevator, she quickly pressed the button repeatedly, glancing around another possible escape route.

"Damn elevator." She muttered. Looking down the hallway, she noticed the man turning the corner to make his way towards her.

Who cares about the fucking elevator.

She started running towards the emergency exit. Serena couldn't hear the mans foot steps, but she knew that he must have seen her. As she reached the stairs, her thoughts pondered. Should she go up? Or down? If she were to go down, it would be a long way to go...but if she went up, she would reach the roof top.

Serena decided to risk it and go to the roof. She knew many places where she could hide. She quickly climbed the stairs and looked down when she was on the 21st floor. He was on the 19th floor. Damn. Only 5 more floors before she reached the roof. Serena sped up as she focused on maintaing her pace to reach the door to the roof. Finally, she made it!

Serena took a deep breath as she opened the door, briskly jogging into the cold night. She shivered, thinking what a nightmare it had been for her...and it wasn't even over yet. She decided to hide between some broken down wood, but before she could even run to the place, the doors behind her opened and out came the man. She turned around quickly. He wasn't even tired or taking deep breaths like she had been when she had ran up all those stairs. Instead, he had his hands in his pockets and was standing in a cool pose, as if to mock her.

The darkness of the night hid his face and only did the moon show the shine in his eyes. She was cold, very cold. Not only by the the chilling winds, but by the way he stared at her...she felt an odd sensation in her stomach...and suddenly, out of no where...she felt a desire to kiss him.

It surprised her. She was scared...but...she liked it? There was something wrong with her...she knew it. She shivered again as the wind picked up. She had only been wearing a thin white sweater and tight blue jeans. Shit. She knew she should've dressed warmer. Serena glanced back at the man who was slowly making his way towards her.

She watched him carefully as his eyes shone with a strange determination. Each step he took towards her, she would always take one back. Now that she noticed, she never screamed and he never made a sound. It was strange...there was a strange pulling towards the stranger no matter how many times she tried to shake the thought away. Whenever she attempted to make a movement to the left or right, her body froze and she was forced to step back again.

Serena's thoughts came to a abrupt stop as she felt her back hitting the edge of the roof. No where to go now.

Her lips trembled, "What do you want from me?"

Silence. He only stared at her as he tilted his head, a longing glance met her gaze. She was suddenly tired. She didn't feel like running anymore. Was her body surrendering itself without her consent? Did her own body realize there was no way to get away from this man? She felts tears at the edge of her eyes as her vision blurred. She didn't feel like running anyways.

Serena watched through hooded lids as he stepped towards her; the power radiating off him in waves as he reached out to grab her. Her blood ran cold and before she knew it, she blacked out.

...

Serena felt her head pounding. Where was she?

The memories from the night before came back full force. Shit. Serena rubbed her eyes as she felt warm soft sheets covering her body. Startled, she looked down before breathing in relaxation to see that she was still wearing the clothes from the night before. Sitting up from the warm bed she looked around the room before trying to adjust to the darkness of the place. The curtains to the window were pulled closed. She was definitely not in her room. The room around her was fairly clean and tidy while hers was unusually messy.

Serena quickly got out of the bed and quietly walked to the door before opening it. The bright light of the hall way blinded her eyes for a minute before she was able to take notice of the surrounding. There was no one in the halls and everything seemed normal. Creeping slowly out from the room, she made no sounds as she shut the door behind her. Walking very quietly to the right side of the hall, she stayed close to the walls and listened for any movement. Peering around the next corner, she saw some stairs that lead downstairs before quickly making her way towards them.

Serena gasped at what she saw. The place was huge! She must be in a mansion or something right now. Blinding light shone around the place as she slowly made her way down. There was no one in place. Good. She could probably leave quietly and safely. As she finally got herself to the ground floor, she heard noises up the stairs and down the halls from where she came from. She was only able to catch some of the words.

"-where is she?" It was a demanding voice of a man...which sounded oddly enticing. She shivered at the thought. He didn't sound like anyone she should situate herself with.

"I don't know sir." This voice was a bit softer...possibly a female?

Serena didn't feel like staying any longer as she heard them slowly making their way down the stairs. She quickly moved into a room which turned out to be the dining room. She glanced around as she heard their movements creeping closer. Serena ran through another doorway that connected to the dining room. Why did this place have to be so huge? Turning through another door way, she found herself in a kitchen with two chefs working on the stove.

Serena felt relieved when she saw that the kitchen had a back door that was sure to take her out of the place. She started heading towards it quickly.

"Miss, you can't leave! Our master has ord-" One of the chefs started.

But she didn't even hear him finish as she was already out of the darn kitchen. Running down the side of the house, she grimaced as she heard the clattering of the kitchen door kicking open.

She didn't even know where she was running to. All she saw was a big clearing with many flowers and across the field, was a road. Pumping her legs even faster, she made about halfway there before she heard a low growl behind her. Twisting her head slightly, she peered behind her shoulders. Nothing was there but the wind teasing the flowers with a slight breeze.

Puzzled, she made the attempt to turn her head back in front when she knocked into a warm chest; sending the both of them flying to the ground.