Amber and Emerald: Killer and Prey

Chapter 21

Chase

Syaoran had come to the last dream in the book, the one that had finally revealed the truth to him. Now, of course, he remembered it all. His memory was whole again at last.

His eyes caught a small arrow at the bottom of the page, pointing to the right, telling him to turn to the next page. The ominous feeling in his stomach tightened and grew as he slowly turned the small paper under his finger.

A message written in charcoal covered the next few pages. One smudged word on each page—YOU—WILL—SUFFER—TOO. On the page after 'too', there was a heart. Syaoran swallowed at the twisted humour and leafed through the rest of the book. The remaining pages were cloaked in neat lines of the word 'Itsumi.'

The book clattered to the floor as the door opened and Eamon stepped inside. Syaoran leapt to his feet, looking around wildly.

"Where's Sakura?" he demanded, the knot in his stomach twisting.

Eamon watched him warily. "She's at the park. She said she wanted to be alone."

"You idiot!" Syaoran screamed, thundering past the butler.

Eamon grabbed Syaoran's arm. "Hey, what's going on?"

Syaoran whipped around and lashed his arms out in a hard shove. Eamon was thrown heavily into the wall, but he didn't retaliate after seeing the glare he was receiving from Syaoran, who quickly tore down the hallway and into the stairwell.

Sakura had run across the road and into the garden of Meiling's apartment building. Ayumu was gaining quickly on her. She spotted a large tree and changed course to head towards it. Her heart thumped arduously against her ribs as she pressed her back against the trunk and watched as Ayumu ran closer and closer until she could see the burnt skin around his murderous eyes. Then she leapt to the right, catching him off-guard, and kicked him with all her might into the tree. She didn't bother waiting to see the outcome of her clever little trick, and dashed towards the back door of the building.

She was close, so close. She slammed herself into the door, wrapping her fingers tightly around the handle and yanking it open. Rushing in, she shut the door behind her, intending to lock it—her hand fumbled around—where was the lock?

A thud against the door made her jump; she looked up and saw Ayumu pressing his face into the glass of the window. Sakura felt the coppery tang of panic in her mouth as she looked around for something to push onto the door. There was nothing. She squeezed her eyes shut and counted to three, sweat greasing her palms.

One . . .

He was scratching and banging the metal.

Two . . .

She opened one emerald eye and peeked at him. He was staring right at her, and began to laugh maniacally.

Three!

Sakura released the door handle, her feet pounding across the floor of the back entrance hall. It was a small concrete room with a door on the wall opposite her, to which she was heading. She heard the door open and slam shut and the footsteps racing after her, and her legs started to feel like a newborn doe's.

You can make it, she chanted to herself. You can make it!

She reached her hand out to grasp the door handle, her fingertips grazing the metal, when he rammed into her, forcefully pinning her against the wall. Her knees went weak and buckled, but his body against hers prevented her from falling. Was this it . . . ?

No! she screamed to herself. You aren't done yet!

She attempted to move her legs, but his were crushed against hers, so she wiggled her arm free and crashed her closed fist into the bloodied bruise that her rock had made. His hold on her eased a bit, and she was able to move her leg. She readied it for a tear-jerking blow to the crotch, but he recovered too quickly, crashing her against the wall again. Her head smacked against the concrete and she was tediously reminded of a very similar incident in Ayumu's murder cave.

He growled something severely rude to her and clutched her bad arm—the one that was still healing after being broken, also in Ayumu's murder cave. She moaned in pain, causing him to grin. His eyes studied her, sending a shiver down Sakura's spine. Then he thrust his mouth against her ear, fervently repeating "Itsumi" in a growing whisper, wrapping his arms around her crushingly. Soon he was shrieking "ITSUMI!" and shaking Sakura vehemently. She couldn't get her arms loose, but she was getting desperate and decided to bash the top of her head into his face. There was a sickeningly satisfying crunch as his nose broke, and he bellowed angrily, roaring "ITSUMI!" once again, even louder.

He clamped his hand around her mouth, and she bit repeatedly, but his hold didn't loosen. Was no one hearing his screams?

Ayumu stopped shaking her suddenly, his forefinger stroking her scar. His face split into a nasty grin again. "I remember this," he cooed. "Poor Syao-chan was so angry." He frowned suddenly, the bandages on his forehead crinkling. "You stole my Syao-chan away from me."

He let go of her face, only to raise his arm and bring it down in a hard slap that echoed around the room.

"I'm sorry I don't have my axe," he said with a smile, and Sakura recognized some of his old charm. The stinging in her cheek was making her eyes water, but she refused to cry for him, refused to give him any satisfaction. She stared defiantly back into his face, her mind working as quickly as it could to find a way out.

Ayumu lifted his arms and waggled his fingers, still smiling at her. "But why not make use of the lovely concrete surrounding us?"

Sakura's heart dropped into her stomach, and her stomach dropped into her toes. Sweat beaded her face and neck, and the panic was really starting to set in. Her eyes flitted all around the room, but she couldn't think of anything.

He reached for her again, and she grunted as she shoved him back with all her might. He stumbled backwards, and she leapt to the left, towards the door. But again, he was too quick for her, and he slammed her against the wall, then threw her onto the floor. The pain in her elbow was flaring again and she had a headache fuelled by the blood pounding relentlessly in her head, crashing noisily in her ears.

He bent down, straddling her stomach as she kicked and thrashed, throwing her head around as he clasped his fingers roughly around her face. He yanked her head upwards, then jerked it backwards to the floor. Her head hit the floor with a crack and she felt her breath leave her. She widened her eyes to make the black around her vision go away. Pain pulsed through her head and down her spine with every swift heartbeat. She battled back her tears, gritting her teeth and emitting a grunt. Ayumu smiled again and bent over her, his back arching as his face drew near hers.

He ran his fingers through her short hair, gathering it in his palm and deeply inhaling the scent. His exhale was equally as deep, his hot breath covering her face and raising goosebumps.

"If I concentrate, you can even smell like her, too," he told her breathily, pressing his face against her cheek and murmuring across her skin. "My dear Itsumi . . . I am so sorry . . ."

"Get—get off me." Fear choked Sakura's words.

Ayumu's eyes flicked to hers and lingered there as if they were singing a Siren's song. "So beautiful."

"Stop this, I'm not Itsumi!" Sakura yelled, pounding her fists against his chest.

He grabbed her face and went to kiss her. A sudden rage blasted through her; she was not going to be kissed unwillingly again tonight! She threw her already aching head forward, smashing it against his. Then she pushed her knees together and brought them up sharply into his crotch. He gasped and groaned, and she attempted to wiggle away from him. He reached out with a grunt, and wrapped his fingers around her throat, squeezing it.

She started to claw at his hand, when the door burst open and a body barrelled in, bowling Ayumu over and dragging him off of Sakura.

Sakura scrambled away, her heart still banging against her chest faster than she could even comprehend.

Syaoran was emitting a feral growl from his throat as he wrestled with Ayumu on the ground.

"Syao-chan," Ayumu grunted. "How nice of you to join us."

"Shut up!" Syaoran snapped, his fist connecting with Ayumu's jaw. Ayumu's arms shot out, shoving Syaoran back hard by the shoulders. Syaoran fell back, and Ayumu pounced on him, kneeing Syaoran in the stomach. Syaoran yelped and punched blindly at Ayumu until he hit his ear. Ayumu groaned and held the side of his head, where blood had begun oozing.

His knee was no longer in Syaoran's gut; Syaoran brought up his legs and kicked Ayumu in the chest, knocking him off balance, and jumped back up to his feet. There, he gave his burnt opponent a kick to his already bloody nose. Ayumu leapt up, holding his face, and body-checked Syaoran into the wall. Pain shot through Syaoran's hip, but his adrenaline quickly masked it. He reached out and grabbed the bandages around Ayumu's neck, pulling them tight.

Meanwhile, Sakura snapped back to reality. She had to help Syaoran! She sneaked over to the door, pulled it open silently and made sure it didn't make a noise when it shut.

She turned, her head whipping around, looking for something to use as a weapon. It was eerily quiet in the corridor, and why wouldn't it be? There was no power, why would anyone be hanging around in the hallways . . . . She bit her lip, cursing Ayumu for being so clever.

She passed a door saying 'Storage' and then quickly back-pedalled. She tried the door; locked. She took a deep breath, raised her leg, and kicked the door with all her might. To her great relief, it swung open. She rummaged around in the stores until she found a shovel.

Syaoran was having a hard time concentrating. The cut in his head had opened again, pouring blood and sweat into his eyes, as had the cut in his side that Sakura had so carefully bandaged earlier, plus the addition of new bruises. With every move he made, hot pain stabbed through his torso. Ayumu's breathing was raspy and Syaoran thought he could see purple making its way into the marred skin of his face as he tightened his hold on the neck bandages.

All of a sudden, the bandage he was holding snapped and Ayumu took in a deep breath before pulling his arm back to throw it at Syaoran.

There was an echoing slam and Ayumu collapsed. Syaoran stared, astonished, at Sakura, wielding a shovel. She dropped the shovel and rushed over to Syaoran, forgetting about the entire scene upstairs and throwing her arms around him.

Just breathing in her scent made him feel better, sent a new energy running through him. "Are you okay?" he asked, smoothing back her hair.

She nodded, tears in her eyes. "What about you?" she whispered.

He smiled at her and went to pull her close to him, just lie there holding her. But as he did so, he saw that Ayumu was back on his feet, holding the shovel.

Syaoran shouted, "No!" and hugged Sakura close to him, using himself as a shield. After a moment, he looked up again, and saw that Eamon had Ayumu in a headlock.

"Go!" Eamon spat. "I don't know how long I can hold him!"

They exchanged a meaningful glance a nod, and then Syaoran jumped to his feet, dragging Sakura with him towards the hallway door. He didn't let her look back as the door shut behind them.

"Here," Syaoran urged, making a sharp left turn to the stairwell entrance he had come from. His grip on Sakura's hand tightened as they began racing up the stairs.

They were about five floors up when the door slammed open again. Syaoran looked over the railing; Ayumu was scaling the steps two at a time. He would be level with them all too quickly.

Syaoran's foot caught on a step and he fell hard on his knees. "Dammit!" he cursed. "Run, Sakura!"

"No!" she huffed, jumping in front of Syaoran as Ayumu neared them. This time, she was going to protect Syaoran.

"Sakura, no!" Syaoran yelled. "You're gonna get hurt!"

"I'm already hurt!" Sakura snapped back, holding her arms up the way Syaoran did in a fight. Ayumu was advancing quickly . . . six steps away . . . four . . . two . . .

She threw her arm out in a left hook, her fingers crunching painfully into Ayumu's cheek. He stumbled back and spat out some blood, but was otherwise unfazed. Sakura's heart was racing. She didn't know what she should do next. She launched her leg out in a kick to the gut. He winced and grunted.

Eamon was sneaking up behind Ayumu, and nodded to Sakura to keep distracting him. Thinking quickly, Sakura flung her hand across Ayumu's face in a sharp, painful slap. He let out another grunt of pain, pressing his hand to his already bruised cheek, and Sakura allowed herself a little smile of triumph.

But her victory didn't last long—Ayumu's eyes flicked behind him and he saw Eamon approaching. He slammed the butler against the wall with his forearm and searched his pockets with the other until he found what he had apparently been looking for—a pocket knife.

Syaoran cried out, "No!" Ayumu grinned eerily at Sakura, running his finger along the length of the blade. Then he lunged at her and Syaoran called out again—she held her arms up and braced herself—but then Ayumu changed course. Suddenly, he wasn't going for Sakura anymore. He was going for Syaoran.

Sakura whipped around with a shriek, stumbling up the stairs to try and get to them. Syaoran heaved himself onto his feet, his side caked in blood, and bent his knees, preparing to jump away at the last minute. His eyes were trained on the blade. He couldn't run—that would mean turning his back. He couldn't charge Ayumu—that would be suicide.

The sound of a knife entering flesh, of blood spilling to the floor, filled Syaoran's ears. He hadn't jumped quickly enough—but it didn't matter. Eamon had jumped in front of him, and the pocket knife had struck him in the back. Sakura, only a few steps away, screamed. Eamon took advantage of the moment of stunned stillness and grabbed the knife. Syaoran saw what he had done—he had positioned himself in an awkward diagonal stance so that the blade wouldn't get any vital organs, but so that he could still get the weapon away from Ayumu.

He tightened his grip on the hilt of the knife and tugged it out of his body with a rugged gasp. He smiled at the look of shook in Ayumu's icy blue eyes, and then pushed all the air out of his lungs in a yell. He twisted around, feeling the blood soaking into his shirt, and shoved Ayumu hard in the chest. He was knocked off balance and tumbled down the stairs. Sakura kicked him in the side and kept him rolling before rushing up to Eamon's aid.

"Oh, my God," she breathed, wiping tears away with a grimy sleeve, "Eamon."

His legs buckled; he couldn't really feel them anymore. The pain in his side and back was excruciating, and it didn't help when he fell heavily on the stairs beneath him.

"We have to get you help, oh my God, oh my God," Sakura choked. She stripped off Eamon's jacket and bunched it at the wound. "Syaoran, what do we do?"

"That was really brave, man," Syaoran said quietly, kneeling beside Sakura.

"It was reckless and stupid," Sakura corrected, again scrubbing away tears.

Syaoran managed to smile. "You saved my life. Thank you."

Eamon's head was throbbing and his vision was going black. He nodded at Syaoran and then looked at Sakura. "You are such a wonderful girl—"

"Don't talk like that!" Sakura snapped. "You are not going to die."

"I was just giving you a compliment," he said weakly, his breathing turning to rasps. "Gosh. But, I better not have gotten shanked for nothing—you are going to have a happy life with Syaoran, and to do that you need to go after Ayumu. Right now."

"No!" Sakura protested, appalled. "We can't just leave you here! You're gonna—" She cut herself off.

Eamon gave a look to Syaoran, who nodded. He clapped Eamon on the back. "Thank you. Let's go, Sakura."

"But . . . ." She saw that she had lost and bent to kiss Eamon on the forehead. "Thank you. For everything. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He murmured something she didn't hear as they dashed down the steps, where Ayumu was attempting to stand. His arm was hanging limply at his side, but the knife was still held tightly in the other hand. Syaoran hesitated, but Sakura charged him, ready to push him down the stairs again. Ayumu jumped onto the railing and leapt off. Syaoran and Sakura looked over the edge, astonished. One of his legs was clearly broken, but adrenaline got him back on his feet, running to the exit.

Syaoran darted after him, Sakura close behind, packing on the speed to get back to ground level. He was almost out the door when they made it to the floor, and Syaoran put on a burst of speed, following him through the stairwell door, through the storage room and out the back door. As soon as they were back outside, Syaoran flung himself at Ayumu, covering the last few feet that separated them. He grabbed Ayumu's shoulders and they fell to the ground with a heavy thud. The knife fell out of Ayumu's hand, skidding across the grass.

Sakura rushed outside, her throat burning, and saw the scene. Syaoran had his knee on Ayumu's chest, holding down his arms. Her eyes travelled to Eamon's pocket knife, lying in the grass. She staggered over to it, collapsed to her knees, and curled her fingers around the handle. She held it up with shaking hands and glanced over at Ayumu. Syaoran saw a wild shadow darkening her green eyes.

She could do it. She could end it all. All she had to do was swing downwards. She glanced at Syaoran.

"He brought us so much pain," she panted. "And so many other people, too. And Eamon."

Syaoran hesitated for a moment. "He also brought us together."

Sakura looked down at the murderer again. Her fingers tightened around the knife. She raised it up above her head, sucked in a deep breath—

Suddenly, there were several loud sirens whooping around them, blindingly bright lights glaring at them.

A voice came over a loudspeaker: "Drop the weapon! This is the police!"

Sakura's stiff fingers unclenched the knife and it clattered to the ground. Several men in uniform came rushing over and handcuffed Ayumu, who snarled and bucked in their grasp.

One man touched Sakura's shoulders, and she jerked violently, looking at him with wide eyes. "Uhm, we also got reports of a badly wounded man?" he asked, startled.

"Yes. Yes! Eamon! He's on the stairs, he was stabbed, please help him!" Sakura pleaded, her eyes coming into focus again. The man nodded and set off into the building with some other officers.

Sakura watched as they dragged Ayumu over to the paramedics van and interviewed Syaoran while they looked at his wounds.

Then the ground came rushing up to her and everything went black.

Well. Quite a journey, this chapter was. Sorry for the update wait, I kept trying to make myself sit and write but I kept getting distracted. Whoops.

Please remember to review! Last chapter I got like five reviews but way more favourites—not to sound whiny, but come on….

What did you think of this chapter? Tell me in a review! :D Did you think this chapter was as action-packed as I thought it was?