SERAPHIN

Chapter One

"Laylah!"

The blonde kept on walking, choosing to ignore the yell.

"Laylah Allocen!"

Sighing, she turned, her pale blonde hair thwacking an unfortunate junior in the face.

"What!?" her voice was sharp, her face hard.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't...I shouldn't have done that," the young man said breathlessly, running a hand through his dark golden hair.

She glared at him, her black eyes boring into his pale blue ones, "what is done, is done. Sorry doesn't even begin to cover it, Michael."

And with that, the seventeen-year old spun around on her heels and stalked away, head high.

Michael Angelico stared after her, his eyes regretful. He knew forcing himself on a girl was NOT the way to her heart and indeed, kissing Laylah Allocen against her will had not ended well. Especially for his family jewels down below.

***

"Laylah!"

The teenager froze in her tracks, hit by a strong sense of deja-vu. Slowly, she turned around, to find herself face to face with her one and only sister, Bria.

"What, Bree?"

Bria looked at her straight in the eyes, "why did you kiss him?"

Laylah almost growled with frustration, "I didn't kiss him. HE kissed ME! How many times do I have to repeat myself?"

Her brunette sister sighed, her chocolate brown eyes shining with relief, "thank God. I was so afraid you'd...wait! Why's Ari so pissed then?"

Laylah walked on, motioning Bria to fall in step next to her, "I tried explaining to her that it wasn't my fault. She was a bit too preoccupied in screaming at me though."

Her younger sister looked over at her sympathetically, her eyebrows scrunching, "D'you know where she went off to?"

Laylah shrugged, "I don't know, and I couldn't care less. Just because she's the daughter of the king, it doesn't mean I'll grovel at her feet. Especially since it wasn't my fault!" Her black eyes glowed slightly as she said this, her pale hands clenching into fists.

Bria opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a yell. Turning around, she saw Cass, her friend, waving her over. Throwing an apologetic look over her shoulder at her sister, she quickly jogged upto her friend, hugging her.

Laylah headed towards their home, knowing Bria would soon follow.

She walked through the streets of Terra Angeli, the land of the Angels, taking in her surroundings, trying to distract herself. The market was in full swing today, the streets full of stalls on either side, the vendors yelling out advertisements, trying to attract the attention of the bustling crowds of people.

She glanced up at the sky. The sun was setting, streaking the sky with oranges and reds, the cotton clouds bathed in rosy light. As she stared up at the canopy of colors, she felt the noises of the busy evening fade away into the background, until all she could see was the beautiful sky, and all she could hear was her heart beating softly. Even though she had fought with her very best friend, she couldn't help but feel peaceful and content. She would probably see Ariel tomorrow and surely, squashing down her pride for the sake of her thirteen-year old friendship couldn't be too hard. Right?

She would apologize and explain everything to her friend tomorrow. Right now though, she decided to go shopping. After all, today was sale day.

***

After she'd bought herself a floral scarf, a purple and black handbag, and a new notebook for herself, Laylah decided she'd done enough shopping for the day. Although you could NEVER do enough shopping. But it was late and her parents would probably be very worried (her cellphone had died an hour ago).

She hurried her pace- being out at night this late wasn't very safe, especially in this area of the town. Not making eye contact with anyone, including the druggies and the drunks that loitered around in the shadows, she quickly walked out of the alley, heaving a sigh of relief as she entered a much more lighted one. She was so focused on reaching home quickly, that she didn't quite look where she was going. This obviously ended in her crashing into somebody.

Dazed, she looked up as gentle yet strong hands steadied her, blinking a few times. She found herself staring into eyes-as black as her wings were, reminding her of cold nights spent alone. He had high cheekbones, a strong jaw, and lusciously full lips. Overall, he was hot. Very, very hot. Looking at those lips, she found herself licking her own, and he smirked, catching her.

"If you're done checking me out, sweetheart, I'll be going," his deep voice whispered, warm breath washing over her neck, "and next time, watch where you're going."

She flushed, embarrassment making her forget her previous fantasies about the young, black-haired man. She opened her mouth to dish out a retort, but he was already gone. Huffing, she too walked away-watching her step this time.

***

As her house came into view, Laylah almost stopped in her tracks, suddenly hit by a strong sense of wrongness. The lights in her house were lit; her parents were awake. Could they have possibly heard about the Michael incident? After all, the Allocens were close friends with King Gabriel, who also happened to be Ariel's over protective father.

But she hadn't done anything wrong! If anyone were to be blamed in all of this, it'd be Michael Angelico.

But then she realized that they didn't really know the whole story and according to Ariel, she had been the criminal in this case.

Sighing in annoyance at herself, she tried to convince herself that her parents were probably up for a late night cup of coffee.

She cautiously unlocked the door and walked inside, looking around herself at the vast empty entrance hall.

"Mom? Dad? I'm home!" she called, gripping her shopping bag tightly.

They suddenly appeared in the hallway, making her jump. Their worried yet stern looks softened slightly as they looked upon their daughter.

"Where were you?" her father's tone of voice had never been so severe before-at least not when he spoke to her.

"I was-" her attempt at clearing herself was completely ruined when a life-sized human figure launched itself at her, almost bowling her over. She gasped, unable to breathe, and hugged her sister back.

"Can't...breathe...Bree."

Her sister stepped away from her then, and that was when Laylah realized that her younger sister was crying.

"Bria? What's wrong!?"

Bree hiccupped, her breath coming out in gasps, "Lay, it's Ari. Sh-she's been...she's been k-kidnapped!"

***