Guardians of Tomoeda - Chapter Eighteen

Episode 18-The Evil Aura

Sakura’s Point of View

My lip trembled as I tried to hold back more tears. Tomoyo and I clung to each other, and her body wracked with sobs. My attempt to stop failed horribly and my vision blurred with the moisture. But even through my tears, I could still see Meiling’s limp body on the hospital bed.

We had only just gotten there and they hadn’t hooked her up to anything. Syaoran came over to me, concern coating his angelic face. “Sakura, how many times do I have to tell you that she’s still alive! Fool!”

I glared at him, but it fell short because my lip trembled and I sobbed again. He sighed and sat down beside me, reaching out his arms to embrace me. He pulled my head to his chest and I buried my face in it. He stroked my hair softly. “Ssh, Sakura, don’t cry, she’ll be okay…she’s only unconscious, and the doctors will be able to tell us when she’ll wake up soon….so stop crying, Sakura, you know it would make Meiling sad to see you sad…” he said softly into my ear, and then pressed his lips against my hair. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Tomoyo in a fierce hug with Eriol, whose eyes were hidden by his glasses.

“Okay, she’s hooked up!” the doctor called. Syaoran immediately eased me up and held my hand as we walked over to her bed. “Her vitals are fine; she’ll wake up in about an hour.”

I sighed shakily in relief, and I heard Tomoyo mumble, “Oh, thank God…”

Suddenly, the door slammed open and the Young Lord burst in. “MEILING!! Oh my God!!! Are you okay?!?!” he shouted, running over to her bed. When he saw that she was unconscious and everything, his face darkened. He turned to the doctor. “Is she okay?” he almost growled.

The doctor looked slightly frightened, but nodded. “She should be awake soon. You’re lucky she has magic, or it would’ve been a lot worse.”

“What did this to her?” This was the question we were all waiting on.

But no one could answer it.

Except Meiling.

--

We all stayed there for another hour and fifteen minutes. None of us took our eyes off Meiling the whole time. Even Eriol and Syaoran were pained; Syaoran and Meiling were cousins, after all. Meiling and Syaoran had known each other since they were little, and since Eriol was always with Syaoran, so had he.

“Why isn’t she awake yet…?” I whispered.

No one responded.

Another fifteen minutes passed. My lower lip trembled.

Suddenly, a scream made us all jump. Meiling bolted upright, and I realized she was the source of the scream.

“Meiling!” I choked.

She looked at me with huge, frightened eyes. Then she realized where was and relaxed a little.

“Sakura…” she said. Tomoyo and I hugged her.

“Meiling, what happened? Why were you…?” Tomoyo trailed off of her question.

“Well…there was someone…no, something, that came up to our homes. I tried to tell it to leave, and that’s when I realized I'd sensed this before, and seen this shape before…” She took in a shaky breath. “It looked at me, and that’s when I noticed it was black.”

Again, I knew we all shared the same thought— racist? Syaoran snorted lightly through our telepathy by accident, I'd say.

Meiling glared at us. “No, you fools, not like that! Black, as in…a shadow,” she said. Ohhhh…Syaoran thought in my head. “Of course, it didn’t leave, so I summoned my glove to show it my authority, and it suddenly just lunged at me. I ducked, but it came back and hit me from behind, and then it was just a short, random brawl, but it was enough for me to tell I couldn’t take this thing alone. Then, there was a flash of…black, which sounds weird, I know, but there’s no other way to describe it…and then I was engulfed by darkness, and nightmares…” She shivered. “And then after what felt like an eternity, I woke up here. So, I—ow!” She gripped her forearm in pain as her face paled. “But…but, but…!”

Kazushige went over and put his arm around her. “What is it, Mei?”

He looked at her with frightened eyes that were collecting moisture. “The snake bite,” she whispered. A tear rolled down her rosy cheek. “But it was only a nightmare, how is that possible…?”

“Ssh, Mei-mei, it’ll be okay…” Kazushige whispered and proceeded to ‘whisper sweet nothings in her ear’. It was wonderful to watch, really. NOT.

“You said you fell into a nightmare, right, Meiling?” Eriol asked, his serious voice coming to life.

Meiling nodded. “The worst one you could possibly imagine,” she breathed, clutching her arm tighter. “There was a snake, a horrible, gigantically gigantic one that came up and bit me in a dark room full of My Little Ponies…”

Eriol’s eyes narrowed. “It seems this thing has a power to intoxicate you with something that makes you see what you fear most, and it happens to you…”

Syaoran stepped in. “But what happens there happens to your body in reality, as well.”

“Is that even possible…?” Tomoyo asked weakly.

“It is now.”

--

On the way back home, loving couples surrounded us, snuggling and kissing. There was no escape, I tell you…!! Even Tomoyo and Meiling with the Young Lord and Eriol…!!

I looked away, blushing and frowning, and found my face right in front of Syaoran’s. He was blushing, too. I know, I know, we were a thing now, but I guess neither of us liked to get, er, ‘into it’ in public. Then Lord Yoshida’s proposal came to mind, and I could tell it came to Syaoran, too. Curse you, comrade telepathy. I knew I had to say something now.

“…Hi,” I said.

The corner of his mouth twitched, and then he started…how should I put this? Not chuckling, but…man-giggling. Er, yeah. So that’s what he was doing and then I started, too. Except…girl-giggling…ur, what? Uhm, anyway…

Our giggles gradually got louder until we were full out laughing. People were starting to stare, not that we particularly cared…

He tried to start walking again, but his knees were probably just as weak as mine and he fell, but not before dragging me down with him. So we lay there laughing until we were out of breath, and then we kind of just stared at each other. Syaoran’s arm twitched, and then he reached out and twined his fingers in my hair (which was probably hard, considering how short my hair is…). Eventually his hand moved down my face until it held my chin, then moved his face in and I prepared for a kiss that never came.

Syaoran went “Uwaah!” as Toya plucked him right off the ground. I heard some girls whisper, “Wow, with one hand, he’s so cool…!” and, “Do you think he’s single, or his friends…?” (Yukito and Yue were with him)

“Never ever try something with my sister in public, punk,” Toya growled.

“Toya, honestly,” Yue sighed, flipping his hair over his shoulder. Some girls sighed. “When will you learn?”

“When someone I know and trust is with my sister,” Toya grumbled, glaring at Syaoran.

Yukito and Yue exchanged glances, and Yue smiled. He walked over to me and swung his arms around me. “Oh, Sakura, I love you, and I'm one of the, what, three boys, that Toya knows and trust as well as you!! I hope he accepts me!”

I laughed; Yue didn’t usually crack jokes unless he was honestly amused by the subject. Toya grunted and dropped Syaoran. He walked over to me and put his arm around my shoulders. “Ha ha, very funny, Yue. Don’t let my glare fool you. I truly adore your humour.” He rolled his eyes.

Yue grinned back. “I’m glad.”

Yukito recovered from his laughter, and his face took on a more serious expression. “So what happened to Meiling?” he asked, looking at her. “Are you all right?”

“Yep, but…” She rolled up her pink sleeve to reveal the bite mark the snake had left her. “But my nightmare was real.”

Yukito and the other two were bewildered. “What?”

“In a sense, it was real,” Eriol jumped in, putting his hand on Meiling’s shoulder. “Whatever it was that attacked her has something that enables it to make you realize what you fear most and have it happen to you. That part’s only a dream, but whatever happens to you in that nightmare world, happens to you in the real word. For example, Meiling’s snake bite.”

Yukito’s eyes were wide. “Unreal…!”

“You’re pretty smart, kid,” Yue complimented.

“Thank you, sir,” Eriol said, smiling.

“But do any of you know what did this? Or why?” Toya asked.

We shook our heads solemnly. “No,” Meiling said. “But it was up there to try and do something to us. I know it. But it seemed familiar, everything about it…!”

“Familiar?”

Meiling nodded. “Yes, it’s figure, I'd seen it before, it’s presence, I've felt it, but I don’t know where…”

Syaoran jumped up, brushing the snow off. “Like right before Sakura fell off the cliff?”

Meiling’s mouth hung open slightly. It was a moment before she responded. “…Yes,” she said tentatively.

“Exactly, I've been feeling that for a while. So I think that whatever pushed Sakura off the cliff is the same thing that attacked Meiling.” Syaoran’s eyes were fierce.

I bit my lip, thinking of how I should stay away from cliffs. Then I breathed in the crisp, cold air and thought, hey, why I don’t I see if the presence feels familiar to me?

I spread my arms out and rolled my head back, taking in another deep breath. The wind blew past me, and I tried to sense something.

…………

Sigh. Nothing.

I frowned. “I don’t feel anything…” I mumbled.

“I think it’ll be…” Tomoyo started, but trailed off and fell to her knees, clutching her chest. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled sharply, coughing up blood.

“Tomoyo!” Eriol cried, jumping down to her side. “Are you okay…? Tomoyo?”

She coughed again. “I don’t know…what happened…rrgh!” She coughed up more blood, hitting her chest and shaking her head.

“Tomoyo!” Eriol’s voice was urgent. She kept coughing for a few more minutes. None of us knew what to do; we didn’t know what was happening!

Finally, she coughed loudly and screamed, followed by vomiting. When she finished, a man came over and handed her a cloth to wipe her mouth with, and another with a water bottle. She cleaned her mouth and guzzled the water eagerly.

“Tommy…what happened…?” Toya asked.

She looked at him, almost pained. “I don’t know. Suddenly, my chest started to hurt, and I don’t know why. I've never had any problems with things asthma or whatever.”

The wind blew coldly, blowing my hair back.

All of sudden, the memories of right before I fell flashed through my head, and when I came back to reality, the feeling didn’t go away. The feeling that someone, something, was right there…

I gasped. “I feel it! The presence!”

“Wha…yes, you can…!” Syaoran breathed, the wind caressing his face.

And then it was gone. Just like that.

Syaoran’s face fell into a frown. “Wow…that was fast…”

Eriol’s face darkened. “It looks like whatever this is…or whoever…is trying to be rid of the Guardians of Tomoeda.”

Devastation and terror hung in the cold, silent air as realization finally hit us like a boulder.

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