Author's Note: Thanks for the feedback! On the prologue/first chapter I forgot to declaim that I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters but I do own the story and the plot.
Home.
Rriinngg rriinngg
Dammit! A lazy brown eye popped open, the digital clock on the bedside table glowed the time in neon red numbers. 2:45! Who the hell phones a guy at 2:45 in the bloody morning!
Joey Wheeler struggled to sit up a couple of times before realising what was anchoring him down on the bed. His wife was half on the bed half off, her right arm was carelessly thrown over his naked chest and her head was resting on his shoulder, her wild golden curls hid most of her face.
Joey smiled as he slipped out from under Mai's arm with some regret and picked up the receiver to the phone.
"Whoever this is better have a good excuse to waking me up. People tend to sleep when it's three in the morning." He muttered at the person at the other end.
"Ma? What? No, Serenity isn't here."
"Missing! When? How?"
"But I live on the other side of the city. Serenity doesn't even know what street I live on."
"Yeah I'm on my way. Yeah see you ma."
Mai opened her eyes to see Joey struggling to put his jacket and shoes on at the same time. He finally managed to get himself sorted and snatched up his keys while heading for the front door.
"Honey? What's wrong? Where are you going?" she asked her voice was husky from sleep and she looked tempting and warm.
Joey glanced up and Mai saw the worried expression in his eyes. " I'm going to see my mother. Serenity ran away last night." He answered.
"Wait! I'll go with you."
Serenity glanced at the Weirdo again. That's how she thought of him now seeing as he hadn't offered his name. She hadn't bothered to ask either.
" That's the fourth time you looked at me." He stated calmly. "Do I have something on my face?" He kept his eyes on the road but could feel her glaze shoot back toward his face. What was he thinking? Telling this kid to get in his car… wait he didn't tell her he ordered her to. He thought with self-disgust. But she hadn't exactly put up a fight. She jumped in the minuet the door opened. Didn't her mother teach her not to talk to strange men? And I'm practically the king of strange men. The last part was thought with a dry humour no one but his friends would understand.
"You have a name?" she asked.
"Seto. What's yours?""
"Serenity Wheeler. Seto what?" she said trying in vain to make conversation.
"Just Seto."
"Congratulations, you just answered my question with more than one word." She muttered sarcastically.
"Want some gum?" serenity asked holding the bright pink wrapper out to the driver.
"No." he didn't even look at her.
Serenity shrugged before popping the strawberry gum into her own mouth. Which promptly fell open when she saw the house.
It was old. It stood seven stories tall with circular towers as corners and spiral rooftops, it was made out of dark grey stone and the property were surrounded by a black iron-wrought fence and a matching gate led into the grounds, the initials GK were welded on to the top of the gate. It looked like it belong in a fairy tale or a creepy horror movie. Serenity thought.
"What is this place?" she asked in awe.
"Home." He answered simply.
"Yeah real nice. Look I need to go to my brother." She said. She was starting to feel self-conscious.
" You don't know where he is though." Seto got out of the car. The rain still hammered down from the sky.
"Yeah but…hey how come you know that I was lost?" Serenity followed suit then turned and slammed the door as hard as she could.
"You were pretty blatant about it." He said. he ignored what she did to his car and started to walk up the steps that lead to the front door. "You can stay here until the rain stops."
Serenity ran to catch up with him. "Why?"
"Out of the kindness of my heart." He chuckled at an invisible joke. He pushed the door open and then held it for her.
The foyer was dark and smelled rather musty, like it hadn't been cleaned in a decade. Despite the smell it was decorated with rich mahogany wood panelling on the walls and floors. A rich crimson rug with gold edging lay by the door.
"If you follow me I can show you a room."
Serenity followed him down a corridor equally as dark as the foyer and decorated in the same way the walls were lined with doors and what looked like priceless paintings and small sculptures.
He stopped at one of the doors near the end of the hallway, Seto pushed the door open showing a large beautifully decorated room, there were two doors leading out of the room besides the one Serenity and Seto just entered from.
"Ones a closet and the other is a bathroom. Don't leave your room and don't let anyone in. unless it's me." He murmured.
"What do you mean? Hey I'm talking to you!" Serenity called at his retreating back.
"Just do what I say and I'll bring you some dinner later." He closed the door in her face.
Seto stalked into a room dimly lit by a small fire in the hearth. The room had once been a study or drawing room, it's wall were covered in floor-to-ceiling book cases all of the jammed with thick dusty volume.
Two of the three men already in the room looked up at Seto's arrival.
"Thought I heard you bring something else here." One tried conversationally. He looked to be about twenty-five, six foot two. He had short blood hair and dark blue-grey eyes.
"He did. A young mortal girl." Amelda spoke softly. He had a feminine appearance with dark red hair and cool silver grey eyes. He was lounged on an expensive antique settee, his booted feet resting on the arm, a thick book covered in green leather sat open in his hands. He hadn't looked up when Seto had entered and didn't look up now, his eyes stayed on his book.
"Is she pretty?" Valon asked. He was the youngest out of all of them. His spiky light brown hair and soft light blue eyes still held some of his innocence.
"Beautiful." Amelda answered, he turned a page in his book.
"Are you nuts?!" Raphael, the blonde raged throwing his empty shot glass at Seto's head.
Seto caught the glass and set it down a table then moved over to Amelda and casually shoved his feet of the armrest.
"She had nowhere else to go."
"So? Dammit man, you can't go around picking up strays cause you feel sorry for them."
" I nearly killed her."
"Seto." It was Amelda who spoke. His voice was soft and understanding.
"Not like that with my car… she just ran out in front of me."
"Well if you don't want to go near her that's okay…I'm looks after her." Valon smirked with a cheeky wink.
"The hell you will!" the other three males in the room shouted.
"Look as soon as the storm stops, she going home. Until then the less she knows and has to do with us the better." Seto explained.
"The storm won't let up for another five days. And then there will be flooding on all major roads." Amelda looked at each of his friends in turn. "She gonna be here for a while."
Author's Note: okay so there it is! Please review and give me any suggestions to improve!