| Locked in a Room Yue sat down slowly, blue eyes glazed over. He felt strange. Very, very strange. The world spun every once in a while, especially when he tried to focus. At the moment he was seeing at LEAST fifteen empty bowls of what had originally held punch. He blinked, grimacing, and something new and totally wonderful happened. His stomach gurgled. He looked down in total and utter amazement. That had been his stomach! HIS stomach had made that noise! His stomach NEVER made noise! Especially because he never ate or drank anything. Realization dawned on him as quickly as evolution. Oooh. So THAT'S why his stomach was making noise. He patted his tummy and choked on a loud burp. So this was why people drank. What a new and wonderful experience. What a horrible person Clow Reed was for not making him complete with human urges. They were so delightful! And suddenly, he grimaced. He felt a slow pain creep around his temples. This was not as good an experience. He leaned forward, thinking that maybe it would ease the nausea, and he clutched his stomach. A moment later he threw up all over the floor. Meilin came out of the bathroom, sighing in relief. Her bladder had been full, to the point that one little wayward giggle, the slightest loss of control, and the entire second floor would have been her toilet. She bumped into Keroberos who sat directly outside the bathroom door. "Wow." He rumbled. "When you gotta go, you gotta GO, huh?" Meilin glared at him. "You were sitting outside the whole time?!" she demanded angrily. At his wide, satisfied smile and nod, she lifted her foot and stomped down hard on his tail. "You PERVERT!" Keroberos' fur leapt off his body, loud roar echoing throughout the hallway. Meilin "hmphed" at him and went strolling off, head held high. She paused, however, when Kero called to her. "Have you seen Sakura-chan?" She turned as red as her eyes, fire suddenly springing to life behind her as she grew twenty times her size and loomed over him, fingers clenched into talons. "No! But she BETTER not be with MY Syaoran!" She shrieked before shrinking back down and marching off. Keroberos looked off after her, sweat drop rolling down from his ear. "Her name is Akane." Syaoran explained to Sakura, seated Indian-style in the middle of the bed. "Her family originally owned this house until she was murdered and all." Sakura looked at the red-haired girl, wide-eyed. "So, you were really killed here? Why?" she asked. The girl, Akane, shrugged. "Probably because my betrothed didn't want to marry me. Although there ARE better ways to go about getting out of an arranged marriage..." Syaoran was nodding wisely, as if he totally understood. "Un, un." Sakura felt a sweatdrop roll down the side of her face. "Anyway, wow! You and I look a lot alike! Think we're related?" she asked Akane. "What are the chances?" asked Syaoran. "This is Daidouji-san's house." Sakura nodded. "I know." And she sighed. "I guess a part of me was just hoping-" Syaoran raised an eyebrow. "Hoping you were related to a ghost with a huge chip on her shoulder?" "I was MURDERED!" "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Syaoran nodded, eyes rolling. "So, if Daidouji-san didn't lead me here, who did? And for what purpose?" Sakura looked at Akane, the same question on her face. "Yeah, who scared me into locking myself in here?" Akane shrugged. "Him, of course. I'm sure he's dead by now but his magic holds. Every year, on the same day, his magic lures two new victims into this room. One to impersonate him and one to be me." She nodded. "I expect you two to flip out in the next few hours." Sakura and Syaoran stared at her. "You mean-" Syaoran uttered. Akane nodded again. "One of you will turn against the other and one of you will die in the same fashion I did." She motioned toward the ceiling. "The other person will die also, but only because there would be no point in keeping you alive." Sakura looked at Syaoran and he looked right back, eyes wide. "Funny how she tells us this NOW..." Syaoran was looking regretful. "If it's me," he said slowly, "I apologize ahead of time." "SYAORAN!" Somewhere close by a chime went off, resounding through the room. They all looked up, Akane nodding sadly. "He came for me a few minutes after 10:00pm. It won't be long now." Sakura and Syaoran stared at her once more. And then, in unison, they leapt off the bed towards the door. "HELP!" "LET US OUT!" Nakuru opened the closet door, now ignoring the choking sounds the apparition was making. "Suppi-chan, look." She uttered, staring in from the doorway. Spinel Sun came up behind her, peeking around her legs. There was no definite scene inside the closet. The walls shifted, objects appearing and disappearing, the floor lifting and falling like a wave. First it was a closet. Then it shifted, expanding into a hallway. Windows appeared, moonlight peeking. The floor spun away like a funnel, steps rising from its smoothness, sudden torches flaring up along the walls to illuminate the staircase. And then, instead of winding down, the staircase lifted, leading upward. "Some kind of illusion." Spinel Sun murmured. Shadows suddenly moved, dancing across the walls of the staircase, coming close. "Eek!" Nakuru cried and she flung the door shut, flattening herself and leaning her weight against it. "What'd you do THAT for?!" Spinel Sun demanded. "That might have been our exit!" Nakuru smiled sympathetically, a sweat drop rolling down from her temple. "I'm such a chicken at times." "Chicken?" Suppi-chan prodded. The door suddenly jumped under her weight, causing her to shriek again. She pressed herself against it again, this time fighting to keep it closed. It bounced once more, pounds coming from it. "We have to get OUT of here!" Spinel Sun said, once more stating the obvious. He turned back towards the girl and reared up in shock, tail tucking between his legs as he encountered the murderer standing directly behind him. Over his shoulder hung the girl's corpse, turning and swaying slowly. "You're in my way." The man said to both Spinel Sun and Nakuru. Nakuru shook her head. "You can't open this door." She said, smiling sweetly. "All emergency exits are to the left, passed the hanging girl. Thank you for flying Air Nakuru. Please come again." And she winced as the door bounced one more under her. Spinel Sun backed up against Nakuru as the man took a step in their direction. "You're in my way." "Let him THROUGH!" Spinel Sun shouted and he wrapped his tail around Nakuru's ankle, yanking roughly. She went down with an indignant cry. "Why you LITTLE-" The door flew open then, smashing into her fallen form and flinging her aside. "Eeeeeh!" And then Eriol entered, blazing staff held out before him, Tomoyo behind him clutching his free hand. "Illusion begone." He commanded, pointing his staff. Nakuru rolled over onto her stomach, blinking wide eyes. The man's form shifted, waving eerily. And then he phased away, like a wind blowing. The girl's corpse did the same, the room suddenly melting. Slowly, the bed and the drawers, along with the portrait and windows were replaced by a dusty old room, cobwebs and old debris littering the ground. Nakuru glanced around before whooping and snapping her whip, causing Spinel Sun to jump and turn in happy anticipation. "Score one for the home team!" And then she noticed an object in the corner of the room she had originally come in through. "My HAT!" Sakura pulled away from the door. "It's no use..." she wailed. Syaoran looked up, examining the thick door. "We have to get out of here. NOW. We HAVE to." He said urgently. And he winced, lifting a hand to rub his temple. "What is it?" Sakura demanded, staring at him. "Beginning of a headache." He replied. Behind them, still seated on the bed, Akane tsk-tsked quietly. Sakura whirled. "What?" she cried fearfully. "What's wrong?" And then two arms wrapped around her, one arm trapping her, the other holding a damp cloth to her face. |
| All images and works done/altered by ShiNoFuriko and TasogareBan. Please do not steal and always give credit to where it is due. |