Chapter Seven

The cave

Once outside the building, Sakura didn't see any more vampires around.

She sighed when she saw that the rain had stopped and the sun would be out soon. If it had risen a little earlier... Maybe she and Tomoyo would still be safe inside that room and all those vampires would have fled or burned to death.

Syaoran pulled some ropes out of his pocket, binding her hands and feet. She gave him a look of hatred, gritting her teeth.

"It's just a precaution," he said as he put a blindfold on her eyes.

Sakura gasped when Syaoran held her in his arms. She couldn't see anything, but she felt like they were running at full speed.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked with a frightened voice.

"To the place I live," he replied, still running.

Sakura heard many grunts as Syaoran walked with her still in his arms.

"Tomoyo, are you here?"

He covered her mouth with one of his hands.

"Yes. She's nearby, but don't scream."

After a few minutes, he set her down on a soft surface.

Syaoran removed her blindfold, but at first she couldn't see anything. They were in a place so dark that she couldn't even see her own hands.

He walked over to a piece of furniture and lit a candle. Then Sakura realised that she was in a room with stone walls.

There was a bedside table, an armchair and two cupboards apart from the candle cabinet, and she was sitting on a bed.

"What is this place?" she asked quietly.

"My room," Syaoran replied, watching her reaction.

Sakura grimaced and he chuckled.

"Did you think that we're just lying on the floor during the day? We like to be comfortable, even if we don't need to sleep," he added in an amused voice.

She kept looking around. The only access point was a steel door.

"You can try to escape if you want, but I assure you the vampires outside won't be as gentle with you as I am."

Sakura laughed bitterly.

"Gentle? You've bitten me, threatened me, tied me up and brought me here against my will."

Syaoran took a few steps towards her, staring at her with a frown.

"If it weren't for me, you'd be dead now. And your friend, too."

"You think I'm going to thank you?" she grunted as she squirmed, trying to free her hands.

The vampire growled and untied the ropes that held her, putting them in his pocket. Sakura moved back as far as she could until she bumped into the headboard, scowling at him.

"You can hate me, I don't care," he said with a smirk.

"I want to see my friend," she muttered, not looking away.

Syaoran laughed again.

"Do you think you're in a position to ask for anything? You're a prisoner, in case you haven't noticed."

"I don't understand why you brought us here, or why you're willing to take all this trouble if you're going to kill us in the end," Sakura hissed, averting her eyes to one of the pieces of furniture.

Syaoran sat down next to her and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye again. She jerked and turned away from him.

"I've never met anyone like you in over a century," he commented, a smile on his lips.

"You're over a hundred years old? For a damn mummy, you don't look like it," Sakura growled with annoyance.

Syaoran grinned again and moved closer to her, grabbing her so she couldn't pull away.

"I don't know if you're too brave or too reckless... you shouldn't piss me off."

Sakura stared up at him.

"You don't scare me," she replied, her voice full of contempt.

"You should be scared. Just a little squeeze here and I could kill you," Syaoran whispered, wrapping a hand around her throat.

Sakura was undeterred and didn't look away from his amber eyes. Within seconds, he loosened his grip and stroked her skin from neck to shoulder with one finger. She flinched, jerking his hand away.

"Don't touch me. You vampires disgust me."

She stood up and walked away, sitting down in one of the corners of the room.

"You'd better get used to this, human. You'll live here until the trial."

"Trial? You're going to judge me?" Sakura asked, laughing.

"Of course I am. The rest of my people want to just kill you, but my cousin and I are the ones in charge, and we'd rather see justice done," he said,0 getting up from the bed.

"Is your cousin like you, too?"

Syaoran nodded.

"In a few days she'll be back and you'll meet her... now get some sleep, you look like shit and you'll need strength for what's coming," he murmured with a half-smile, heading for the door.

"Are you going to judge Tomoyo too?" Sakura asked when the vampire opened the door.

"Yes. We have to decide if you deserve to die or if we'll give you some other kind of punishment," he said, turning to look her in the eyes.

"Punishment? What punishment?"

Syaoran gave her a wicked grin.

"For example, it could be that you have to stay here forever, being my slave and letting me drink your blood whenever I want."

"Never. I'll take my own life if that happens," she replied, glancing around the room for any sharp objects.

"As you can see there's nothing made of wood, and you shouldn't think about killing yourself for a few days."

"And why do you say that?" Sakura asked, challenging him with her gaze.

"I'll tell you another secret... if you die with my blood in your system, you'll become a vampire."

Sakura blanched and Syaoran let out a big laugh, leaving the room and locking the door.

She sighed and got to her feet, wobbling a little. She was still weak.

Sakura opened all the drawers in search of something she could use to escape, but all she found were clothes and books, hundreds of books. She snorted in annoyance and flopped down on the bed. After two sleepless nights she was exhausted, so her eyes closed without her noticing.

She fell asleep wondering if Tomoyo would be alright.

Sakura woke up when she heard voices. She sat up suddenly and jumped out of bed.

She grabbed the metal candle holder, which was almost burned out, and blew it out, leaving her in total darkness.

Feeling around with one hand, she slowly approached the door and heard Syaoran's voice.

"You know you have to wait for Meiling to return."

"We're sick of waiting, we want them dead now," an unfamiliar voice growled.

"If anyone dares to touch them, they'll have to deal with me," Syaoran replied in a deep voice.

"They are vampire slayers and they deserve a punishment," a female voice demanded.

"And they will get it, but you must wait."

There were several grunts and then silence. Sakura gripped the candle holder tighter, standing on one side of the door.

A few seconds later, the door opened and Syaoran entered. She heard him gasp when he saw that his prisoner wasn't in bed.

Without thinking and without being able to see anything, she stepped out from behind the door to try to hit him with the candlestick and run away, but Syaoran was quicker and caught both of her wrists.

"What is the point of this, human?" he asked, holding the arm with the candle holder tighter.

"Escape," she replied, trying to resist.

"You still don't get it? I'm so much smarter, faster and stronger than any vampire and a human like you can do nothing," he growled, squeezing her right arm even tighter.

It was hurting too much, so Sakura dropped the candlestick to the ground. Syaoran released her, locking the door. He put the candle holder back where it was, placing a new candle inside and lighting it.

Sakura stared at the vampire. His eyes were amber and he looked like he was enjoying himself.

"I bring you some food and this is how you receive me," he said with a smirk on his lips.

Sakura ignored her hunger and walked away from him, sitting down on the bed.

"I'm not hungry," she replied quietly, pulling her knees to her chest.

"I know you're lying."

She felt something fall on the mattress. Looking up, she saw that there were three apples beside her. Sakura glared at Syaoran but picked up the apples, eating them in desperation.

He chuckled at seeing her like that.

"When was the last time you ate?"

Sakura glanced down at her solar wristwatch, which had barely any battery left.

"Almost two days ago," she replied, biting into another of the apples.

Syaoran watched her silently as she devoured the fruits. When she finished, she wiped off her mouth with the hem of her shirt and stared at him.

"I want to get out of the cave."

He let out a snort.

"Whenever you wish, Your Highness," he replied sarcastically.

"I need... I need to go to the bathroom."

He pointed to a bucket at the side of the room.

"I'm not going to use that," Sakura said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"I'm afraid it's the only thing we have around here. You know vampires don't go to the bathroom," Syaoran said, holding back a chuckle.

"That's why I want to go outside."

The vampire rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling.

"We'll make a deal. Since it's already dark, I'll walk you out... but you won't try to escape. It's stupid, I'll catch you in no time and you'll make me angry."

Sakura bit her tongue to keep from answering and just nodded.

He opened the door again and reached over to grab her arm. She stood up and followed him out of the room without complaint.

It was really dark outside and Sakura couldn't see anything, she only heard his footsteps beside her and sometimes a grunt in her direction.

"Can you see anything in the dark?" she asked as she drifted through the corridors of the cave.

Syaoran snorted.

"I see a thousand times better than you, light or no light."

Sakura let out a grunt and heard Syaoran chuckling.

A few minutes later, she began to feel a cool breeze and her heart skipped a beat. At last she could see some light, there was a rather large entrance of sorts in the distance.

When they came out, Sakura realised that they were in the middle of a forest. She turned around and saw that there was a huge cave behind her, the entrance alone was over fifteen metres high.

"Where is Tokyo?" she asked in confusion.

"I'm not going to tell you that," Syaoran replied, walking through the trees.

"I thought you lived in the city."

He glanced sideways at her, raising an eyebrow.

"That's what we like to make you think, but we only go there at night."

He released her and folded his arms, staring down at her.

"You don't think I'm going to do it with you so close and watching, do you?"

Syaoran rolled his eyes, turned and walked a few feet away.

"I'll give you two minutes," he growled back.

Sakura hid behind some bushes and, while relieving herself, picked up a small branch that was lying near her and hid it inside her bra.

After standing up, she checked to make sure that what she was hiding wasn't noticeable before she moved.

She passed Syaoran and continued walking back to the cave, but he grabbed one of her elbows.

"You smell like sweat," he murmured, pulling her close and walking away with her.

"Where are we going now?" Sakura asked, annoyed.

"To the river."