Chapter Four

First contact

When Eriol and Sakura woke up, the sun had already risen. She left the tent quickly and ran towards Tomoyo, very nervous.

"Did you see anything else?" she asked, pointing to the building across the street.

Her friend shook her head and Eriol came to their side.

"What should Tomoyo have seen?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

Sakura explained that she had seen a figure leaning out of one of the windows and he frowned.

"I'm sure it was a vampire."

She nodded.

"If it was, he knows we're here. He'll probably come looking for us tonight with more of his kind," Tomoyo murmured, suppressing a shiver.

"We need to pack up everything and find a safer place, away from here," said Eriol.

The three of them hurried to pack up the tent and all their things to leave the building as soon as possible.

They walked through the streets of Tokyo, following the map until they reached a river. There they rested for a while, ate some food and refilled their bottles.

They bathed in the river in turn and washed their clothes, which were full of dirt and sweat. They had spare clothes, but they put on their wet clothes. As it was summer and so hot, it was a very refreshing feeling.

When their clothes were more or less dry, they covered their necks and arms with mud again before walking on.

They found a building similar to the one they had used the night before. After checking that it was safe, they climbed up to the roof and took up residence there, barricading the door as well.

That night, Eriol and Tomoyo were in charge of guarding the perimeter, so Sakura was able to sleep without having to wake up.

However, in her dreams, the figure of that mysterious man appeared.

He watched her without saying anything, getting closer and closer to her until she could make out his red eyes and fangs shining between his lips. He gave her a wicked grin before pouncing on her with a terrifying growl.

Sakura woke with a start, frightened and sweating. She looked around and saw Eriol sleeping next to her.

She sighed and tried to relax. It had just been a nightmare, like so many others she had had involving vampires. She stroked her friend's face until she woke him up and the two of them left the tent.

The sun was already out and Tomoyo was leaning on the rooftop railing, camouflage clothes on.

"Anything we should know?" Sakura asked, approaching her.

"I saw two vampires in the distance a couple of hours ago, and several lights that I pointed out on the map," she commented, showing it to them.

The three of them stared at the map in silence.

"There seem to be a lot of vampire nests in this city," Eriol mumbled with a frown.

"That's normal, it's huge," Sakura said, looking around.

She was still amazed at how enormous everything around her was. Some of the streets seemed to go on forever, like they were several kilometres long.

They exited the building with their weapons in hand and set about exploring the surrounding streets, avoiding going into the dark areas where no sunlight could reach them.

From the moment they entered the city, Eriol was looking at the fuel tank of every car they came across. Just as Sakura said, he hadn't found a drop of fuel in any of them.

Until that day.

"Girls!"

The two of them turned and ran towards him.

"Don't yell, Eriol," Sakura muttered when she reached his side.

"I'm sorry, but I got excited. Look at this."

He pulled out the stick he had stuck through the entrance of the car's fuel tank, showing it to both of them. It was covered with a substance that had a very strong smell.

Sakura and Tomoyo wrinkled their noses.

"It's gasoline," Eriol whispered, smiling.

He took off his backpack and set it on the ground, taking out several tools and a huge car battery.

"Did you bring a battery with you? Have you really been carrying that around all these days?" Sakura asked, arching an eyebrow.

He gave her a mischievous grin.

"I couldn't help it. I've had it for a while and I had a feeling I'd find a car with gasoline in it."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. At their shelter they had learnt all about cars and how to repair any batteries they could find, though their energy didn't last long and they'd never been lucky enough to find a car nearby with a full tank.

"It's not long before sunset, Eriol," Tomoyo commented nervously.

"Help me, then. It would be great if we can get around the city with this thing for a few days."

The two girls snorted, but began to follow his orders. In addition to a new battery, that car needed two of its tyres replaced and the other two inflated.

While Eriol was installing the battery, Tomoyo was busy looking for and bringing two tyres that would fit that car, inflating them with the machine she found in one of the boots. Meanwhile, Sakura was trying to hotwire it and start it.

Something told her that what they were doing was a very bad idea, but she couldn't deny Eriol one of his greatest dreams.

"That's it," he said, satisfied.

He left the battery in place and hurried to clean the exhaust pipe, removing the branches and stone chips from around the car.

Tomoyo finished with the wheels and looked at the time. It was only a few minutes before sunset.

"Shit, Eriol. We're late," she whispered, frowning.

"Don't worry, the car engine will work soon and we can be back in the building in no time."

They both let out a sigh of relief when they heard the engine. Sakura had managed to get it started, but the car was so broken down that it was making too much noise.

"They'll be hearing this for miles around," she said, gesturing for her friends to get into the car.

"We have to hide it somewhere and get back to the building now," Tomoyo hissed as she sat in the passenger seat.

Eriol opened the door to climb into the back. They heard a scream and the two girls turned around with terrified faces.

Someone had dragged Eriol out of the car and was taking him away.

"No!" shouted Sakura, grabbing her bow.

Tomoyo also got out of the car with a gun in her hand. Eriol was lying on the ground and had stabbed one of his knives into the arm of a man who was kneeling near him, a grimace of pain on his face.

"Bloody humans," he muttered, pulling out the knife and screaming in pain.

The two girls pointed their guns at the other three people around Eriol.

"Let him go and we won't kill you all," Sakura growled angrily.

Four pairs of red eyes glared at her.

"Do you think you can do anything against us?" a woman replied, moving a little closer to them.

Sakura almost dropped her bow on the ground in shock.

"Nakuru?" she asked, her voice trembling.

In front of them stood her brother's former friend, but now her eyes were as red as blood and her gaze was filled with hatred.

"Wow... I didn't recognise you, Sakura," she said with a crooked smile.

"How can you be a vampire? It's not possible, we're all immune to the virus," Tomoyo said, still pointing her gun at her.

"You're right, but they know a few tricks to transform us," Nakuru murmured, winking at them.

"And Yukito? Is he a vampire too?" Sakura asked, clenching her jaw.

"No, he died when he and Touya were trying to rescue me. The poor things didn't know that I didn't want to be saved," said Nakuru, smirking.

"Did you kill him?" Sakura shouted, drawing her bow.

"Yes, I admit it. He was the third human I devoured and his blood wasn't bad," she replied, licking her lips.

Sakura felt the fury invade her entire body, making her hands tremble.

"He was your friend!" she cried, aiming for her heart.

"Since I turned, I only see you as food... You're very lucky that Touya and Yukito took care of the maps and compasses when we came here, Sakura. Otherwise, I would have known to go back to the shelter and we would have killed you all," Nakuru added, still smiling.

Sakura fired her arrow and Nakuru dodged out of the way just in time, but it stuck in her shoulder.

"Big mistake, little friend," she said, baring her fangs as she pulled out her arrow and threw it to the ground.

The other three vampires pounced on Eriol. One sank his fangs into his neck, another into his arm and the last one bit his shoulder.

"NO!" Tomoyo shouted, firing wooden bullets.

She hit one of the vampires in the heart. The man fell backwards and his body turned the colour of ash. The other three vampires scrambled backwards, hiding in the shadows.

"We have to go, they're going to come back with more," said Sakura, who was already at Eriol's side.

She and Tomoyo were trying to contain the blood emanating from his wounds. The vampire that bit his neck had pierced his carotid artery and blood was gushing out.

"You have to leave," Eriol whispered in a trembling voice.

"We won't leave you here," Tomoyo replied.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she held one of her friend's hands lovingly and tried to cover his wounds with the other.

Eriol was getting paler and paler. They tried to move him, but that only made him bleed more.

"I love you girls so much," he murmured almost voicelessly, looking them both in the eyes.

Sakura threw herself on top of him and hugged him, crying on his chest.

"You know we love you, too."

She heard the last beat of his heart perfectly and felt her own heart stop as well.

"Sakura, we have to go now," Tomoyo demanded in a choked voice, tugging on her right arm.

She sat up and looked at her friend one last time.

His blue eyes were empty, but the hint of a smile could still be seen on his lips.

Well, the first death. Were you expecting it? Poor Eriol :(