K, new story. This chapter took like, a long time. I even edited it, which is something that rarely happens. Be extremely glad.

Actually, I wrote it, then edited it, then took the concept and wrote an entirely different chapter today. But I read over it. Does that count as editing? I normally don't read over what I write. That's your job.

Oh, Merry Christmas!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Is there anyone with you?" the figure asked. Touya's face remained impassive.

"Do you have reason to believe that?" he returned blankly. "I don't see why I would try to keep anyone but myself alive right now."

The man frowned. "Of course you want to be difficult. You're human. Selfish, yet strangely protective of one another. One of your numerous flaws." He stepped closer to my brother; he tensed visibly. "If you want to be difficult, I can be difficult as well."

"What if I'm actually telling you the truth?" Touya asked skeptically. "I'm sure the guilt of not believing me will weigh on you for the rest of your life."

"Don't play with me." The creature, however human the body may be, moved in such a way that I just knew he- it- was dangerous. Filthy parasite.

"You don't seem like you would respond to torture well," the creature said, mostly to himself. He looked back at one of the armed men standing at the door. "So if there is anyone in the house right now, come forward now. If not, your-"

"Touya," he offered.

"-friend is going to die. You have twenty seconds."

The next twenty seconds surely had to be the longest of my life. But he made me swear to stay put, no matter what they said. My body was shaking, my jaw clenched so tightly it ached. I wanted to scream, run to him, do something. But I simply watched from the small crack in the cabinet door, stuffed comfortably under the sink while my brother was face-to-face with our enemy.

"Time's up," the creature said quietly.

I tried not to cry out. Normally in movies the bad guy made a long speech, giving the audience a chance to say goodbye. Of course, in movies the good guy would roundhouse kick the gun out of the bad guy's hand and win. But I didn't even get a chance to breathe before the bullet struck home, sending the only hope I had onto the wood floor with an inglorious thud.

"No need to search," it said before walking out the door. Two of the men by the door took Touya's body quickly, shuffling out without even a hint of remorse.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I jolted awake. I was covered in sweat and my throat ached. The room was dark; of course, it was always dark. Nevertheless, it had to be around midnight. I sat up slowly, turning on my flashlight.

I wish it were just a dream. It was a memory- a horrifying, indescribable memory. After everything that had happened over the past two years, that memory was the only thing that made my blood run cold.

I slid on my boots and opened the door to the basement quietly. I needed fresh air; the last time I had been out was weeks ago. I left the house quickly.

The cold air was refreshing. I felt oddly safe as I walked down the street, pleased that no cars were passing. It was so rare that I could simply walk without constant fear.

For at least an hour I walked before turning around. I knew I had gone too far, into the residential area of the parasites, but it felt so good. My aching muscles soaked in the exercise gratefully. I was so tired of being cramped in that horrible house.

But of course, like any time I let my guard down these days, something had to go wrong.

I saw it walking down the sidewalk quickly, straight toward me. I knew he saw me by the way his shoulders tensed, walking more quickly towards me. I couldn't run; he'd follow me without a doubt. I kept walking normally, trying not to tense as he drew closer. My eyes were glued to the sidewalk. Why did I have to walk so far?

We were feet away when he spoke. "Excuse me?"

I looked up from the sidewalk, heart beating out of my chest. My body felt numb as he looked at me slowly.

"Do you know what time it is?"

I looked down at my wrist slowly, not sure if I was glad to have a watch or not. "It's one fif-"

Suddenly he grabbed me, clamping a hand over my mouth quietly. "Make a sound and you'll regret it."

I closed my eyes and tried not to struggle as he carried me away from the street. This was my absolute worst nightmare coming true, all because I didn't like being stuck in a house.

I knew that this was crazy, just letting him carry me away like a sack of groceries. But I knew that trying to run would be the absolute worst thing to do at this point. We were probably surrounded by their guards, who wouldn't be as nice as whoever-this-guy-is. The best thing I could do was keep my mouth shut and do whatever they say; hopefully they'd just shoot me.

"Are you serious?" I heard a voice say. I opened my eyes to see a huge man looking at me warily. "You had to get a girl."

The man holding me sighed, holding out a hand for something. The large one handed him a roll of duct tape. "It's not like I had much of a choice."

I had no idea what they were talking about. Why would it matter if I was a girl? I was a human, hiding from the parasites that took everything I ever had. Besides myself, up until this point.

"I can't hit a girl, no matter what she is." The large man rubbed his face. "I should have done this myself."

"What you should do," the man said impatiently, "is shut up." He taped my wrists together tightly behind my back. Of course, there was no need to do that. Maybe it just made him feel superior. "There's no need to knock her out, I don't think she's going to run."

The other man laughed. "You're quite compliant, aren't you?" he asked, looking at me smugly. "Maybe it's better with a girl. They'll do anything you say."

I wanted to punch him more than I wanted to run.

"Shut up," the other man said. "I don't want it angrier than it needs to be." He turned me toward him and slapped a piece of tape over my mouth. "There. Take it."

The large man smiled and swung me over his shoulder haphazardly. My scream was muffled with the tape, but it was still loud. The man sighed.

"Don't scare it, Nate."

The man carrying me mumbled an insult and began walking quickly. "You know, maybe you should carry it if you're so concerned."

"That's why you came. Do you remember volunteering for this job? Because I do." Leaves crunched loudly as we moved farther away from home.

I was confused at this point. We should be going deeper into the city; that's where most survivors were taken if they were found.

"Shouldn't we blindfold it?" the large man asked quietly. "I mean, if it gets out, we could all be dead."

"That's why it won't get out," the other man said impatiently. "After all, that's your job."

What would I get out of? The prison was impossible to get out of, even for parasites.

"But, like... what if it sends the others messages? They could come find us."

The man sighed heavily. "Parasites can't send messages with their minds."

I took in a quick breath. They thought I was a parasite? Why would they be taking...

No.

These guys weren't humans. They couldn't be. It... wasn't.

"Whatever. If we all die, it's your fault." I heard the other one- human- sigh. This was both a dream and nightmare come true.

But mostly nightmare at this point, so I shut my eyes and waited for whatever was coming.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey!" a voice shouted, shaking me quickly. "Wake up."

I opened my eyes slowly. I was in a small room; a man sat in front of me frowning. "I can't believe it fell asleep."

I looked around quickly. There were two people behind the man in front of me. "Should I take the tape off?"

"Sure." I vaguely recognized the man that kidnapped me; I now saw his dark brown hair ruffled around his face haphazardly. He glared at me, arms folded over his chest tightly.

The strange man ripped the tape from my mouth quickly. Tears stung at my eyes as I tried not to scream. That was unnecessarily painful.

"Hi sweetie," the man said happily. "I'm Yama-"

"Don't tell it your name," the kidnapping man said, clearly annoyed. The woman to his right looked impassive, her long black hair tumbling down her back.

"Never mind. Okay, we need something from you. If we don't get it, you're... we just need it."

The man whispered something to the woman angrily. I made out "idiot". The woman whispered back, clearly frustrated.

My shoulders were aching. How long had it been since I got here? Wherever here was, of course.

"Okay, move." The kidnapper shoved the other man out of his way. "Listen."

I was definitely listening.

"You disgusting freeloaders took one of us. Humans. We want him back, and you're going to help us." He paused. "Can you do that?"

I swallowed. My throat felt thick and dry. "You... made a mistake."

He looked at me incredulously. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I know you're not going to believe me. But I'm human."

He looked at me closely for a few seconds, then laughed. "I'm not an idiot."

I sighed. "I know. But even if I were... one of them, there's no way that you can get whoever you lost back. They're either dead of miles underground with no way of ever getting back up. If he's compliant they may even use him as a vessel. There's-"

"Shut up!" he yelled, shoving me against the wall. "Don't do that. You're not fooling me. You might as well just give it up."

I looked at him silently. If I were him, I wouldn't believe me in a million years. But there had to be some way to prove I was a human.

"Look," I said, lifting my shirt to expose my stomach. "No scars." I was filthy, and my stomach looked disgusting and bony from lack of food. But the obvious scars from parasite insertion were nowhere to be seen.

He looked down. "Mei Ling," he said softly. The woman was by his side immediately.

"Okay, what does that prove? Maybe they're faded by now." Nevertheless, his face was brighter, eyes hopeful. He almost believed me.

"She wouldn't starve herself like this if she were a parasite," Mei Ling said quietly. "Unless she's anorexic."

"Parasites don't have eating disorders," the man said absentmindedly. He was staring at my stomach, looking for any hint of a scar. His hand reached out-

"Syaoran," the woman said quickly. He looked at her, eyebrows furrowed. "Don't."

"Sorry," he said, but I wasn't sure who he was apologizing to. "Get- get Tomoyo and have her... you know." His face was a light pink.

Mei Ling looked at him amusedly. "You don't blush easily."

He glared at her. "I'll get Tomoyo. Don't let her out of this room."

"She's not going anywhere." They both left quickly, the door shutting loudly. I looked around the room; it was boring, white walls and linoleum floor. There was a small bed in the corner.

After a few minutes, the door opened softly. "Hello?" a voice called. I looked up, seeing another woman with soft pale skin and gorgeous black hair falling effortlessly in waves. She looked oddly familiar.

Suddenly I realized who it was. "Daidouji Tomoyo?" I shouted.

She looked down at me, suddenly scared. "How do you know my name?" She asked quickly, walking back to the door. "Syaoran, come in."

He walked in quickly, eyes on Tomoyo. "What's going on?"

"I'm Sakura," I said quickly. "Kinomoto Sakura. We went to-"

Her eyes shot open, jaw dropping. "Sakura!" she screamed, running to me and hugging me tightly. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're here-"

"What the hell," Syaoran shouted. "is going on?"

Tomoyo stood up, beaming. "I know her!"

Syaoran looked unimpressed. "I figured." He looked to me again. "Tell me everything you know about her."

"Her name is Daidouji Tomoyo." I looked up. Tomoyo was beaming. "Uh, her mom is Sonomi, she owns a company... or did, I guess." Tomoyo still looked pleased. "She used to dress me up all the time."

Tomoyo glared at Syaoran. "If you don't believe her, you don't believe me. And if you don't believe me I swear I'm leaving and taking Eriol with me. Then you'll starve to death and only have yourself to blame."

Syaoran looked down at me for a long time. Tomoyo pushed past him to the door. "You're eating now," she said before running out.

He said nothing.

"So there's... no way to get to him?" he finally asked, still as a statue. I sighed.

"Not if they have him."

He looked away from me blankly. "How would you know?"

"They..." I paused, trying to put together what I needed to say. "They either take you or kill you. They took my parents and killed my brother. He doesn't have a chance against them." My voice cracked pathetically. I felt stupid.

He looked back at me. "How old are you?"

I paused. "Seventeen."

He didn't speak for a while. "...How long have you been seventeen?"

I looked up at him. "What?"

"Irrelevant." He walked to the wall opposite of me and sat down tiredly.

"Breakfast!" Tomoyo shouted, barging through the door gleefully. Completely unaware that no one else was feeling the same, she set a plate full of breakfast food in front of me. I took the fork she gave me and gratefully began eating. Tomoyo sat down beside me.

"Syaoran, you look sad. Do you want some breakfast?" She sighed. "Even though it's three in the morning."

He got up slowly, visibly bruised and aching. I couldn't help but wonder what happened to him. "I'm good, thanks. Make sure she's taken care of," he added before walking out of the room quietly.

Tomoyo sighed. "He's not normally so sad. He was just really close to the guy that got... taken." She looked down at the plate. "You are really hungry."

I set the fork down gently. "So he isn't going to kill me, is he?"

She let out a small laugh. "No. He knows what I'd do to him." She grinned. "I can't believe you're here!"

I smiled wryly. "Neither can I."

"Oh Sakura," she said soothingly. "You have to stay here. Well, you honestly don't have a choice in the matter, between me and Syaoran. He doesn't like people going out that have been in. Especially people he doesn't trust. No offense, of course."

I set the plate on the ground. "Sounds like fun."

"You are so negative," she said accusingly. "You should look on the bright side."

"What bright side?" I asked. I didn't see the bright side in this situation. "Well, I'm not dead. I guess that's a good thing."

Tomoyo grinned. "Exactly! See, it's not that bad." She looked at me again, a sly grin creeping across her face. "You know..."

I looked at her pleadingly. "No, Tomoyo. Please no."

"But look at you!" she exclaimed, her long hair bouncing with an exaggerated sigh. "You're filthy, and your clothes are... ugh."

I looked at myself, quite aware of how filthy I was. But I wasn't in the mood for dress-up.

"...But it's three in the morning." I wriggled away from the wall and stood up. "And I'm really tired."

Tomoyo glared. "There is no way you're getting your grimy self in the bed I just made."

I turned around slowly, taking a deep, long breath. Tomoyo's eyes were shining with happiness, because she knew.

"...Fine."

"COME ON." She dragged me by one arm out of the hallway, laughing maniacally. If I hadn't done this a thousand times, I would be scared for my life. But I wanted to sleep, and taking a bath wouldn't hurt.

The halls were a blur as we rushed toward who-knows-where, Tomoyo telling me things I couldn't understand about "tulle" and "heels" and "bust size". It made me nervous.

Finally she pushed a door open, revealing a medium-sized shower room overflowing with steam. "Go on," she said excitedly. "I'll be right outside when you're done. Towels are above the sink." With that she left me alone and extremely confused.

However, once I turned on the hot water I knew that everything in life was perfectly extraordinary. This was the best day of my life, I decided, while I rinsed off the seemingly permanent layer of stink from my scalding skin.

After what seemed like an eternity of bliss, I turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around my now freezing body. My hair smelled like strawberries, the first time it had smelled like anything other than personal odor in years.

I slowly opened the door to the hall, finding Tomoyo staring at a sketchpad, pencil tapping annoyed on the edge. She looked up at me and smiled. "Finally!" Jumping up from the ground, she grabbed my arm and dragged me around again. I was grateful when we stopped in front of another door, Tomoyo digging a key out of her pocket hastily. The door burst open and I groaned.

Somehow, Tomoyo had managed to stock a room full of fabric, a bulky-looking sewing machine in the far corner surrounded by every color thread I could imagine. Before I knew what was happening she was measuring me, noting quickly on her sketchpad. When she was done she threw me some clothes and went to her machine. I threw them on hastily and sat on the ground. This would be exhausting. My eyes closed involuntarily.

I woke up slowly to the sound of Tomoyo squealing excitedly. "Sakura, it's perfect!" she exclaimed, holding up... a bright pink party dress.

"Seriously, Tomoyo?" I asked. "We're not going to a party." I paused. Then realized what this meant.

"No."

Her smile widened.

"Please, no."

She laughed loudly, eyes glittering. I feared my life if I didn't comply with her. "Surprise!" she yelled. "Tonight, we're throwing you a party. I mean, what else could I do?"

"Making suitable clothes" came to mind, but I wasn't about to say anything. She was unstoppable when it came to this kind of thing.

"Okay, shoo. Go sleep or whatever. I have things to do." I looked at her incredulously. "Oh. Two rooms down on the right."

I sighed and walked out of the room, suddenly feeling very exposed. I walked two rooms down and opened the door slowly. Collapsing on the bed, I wrapped the blankets around my head tightly. Beds were wonderful things.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Wake up."

I opened my eyes slowly, Tomoyo looming over me happily. "It's time to get dressed!"

"Okay. Whatever." I stumbled out of the bed, wondering why I was getting up in the first place. My head felt like lead as she dragged me back down the hall.

Tossing me the dress, Tomoyo opened a huge armoire in one corner of the room. It was filled with accessories, and I had to wonder how she managed to get all of this in here. "Oh, your hair looks awful," she chastised, grabbing a pair of black heels and setting them beside me. "Put it on!" she exclaimed, motioning to the dress.

I followed her commands quickly. She cut my hair like she used to, making me feel more myself. I had to give it to her, she made me look normal. After an eternity of grooming, Tomoyo finally seemed satisfied. She was dressed in a floor-length violet dress, her long hair pinned up expertly. "Oh, we're late," she said exasperatedly. "Come on."

I tried to keep up with her pace, but the heels she forced me into felt like I was on stilts. She was unfazed, of course, by her shoes that were taller than mine.

Suddenly the hall broke into a large living space, with gorgeous leather furniture seating a group of people.

"Everyone," Tomoyo shouted above their conversation. "This is Sakura."

A short pause followed. I looked at them nervously.

"...Who?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Merry Christmas, kids. I hope this keeps you entertained for at least a little bit while you're waiting to open presents.