A Semester of Deceit and Love

Chapter 8: A Deceit

Ryan unbuckled his seat belt and scooted slightly closer to her.  Sakura didn't move.

"Umm…this might be kind of weird to hear…I mean, I don't know what you'll think," he began.

Sakura just kept staring at him.

He reached over, taking her hand gently but firmly in his.  She jumped slightly at the touch but quickly relaxed. 

"You know, you're a very beautiful girl, Sakura," Ryan told her, looking intently at her.  Her eyes widened at the comment.  She tensed as he reached with his free hand and gently touched her cheek, sliding his fingers down slowly across her face.  She pulled away slightly.  He leaned in even closer, pushing Sakura against the door on her side.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked slowly.

"I like you a lot, Sakura…" he continued, his hand lowering to the collar of her jacket.  He started to slowly pull it sideways off her shoulder.  Sakura's eyes widened.

"Please don't…" she said, trying to stop his hand with her own.  He just took the hand, and now having a hold of both, pulled her quickly against him, wrapping his own arms around her struggling body.

"I know you like me too, so what's wrong?" he asked her, pulling her even tighter against him.

She jerked away, staring at the man in front of her, finally realizing what he was wanting.  He smiled at her.  She reached hurriedly for the handle to the door behind her.  She groaned when she realized it was locked.  How could I have been so stupid?  I should have at least noticed something when he brought us out here in the dark.  Syaoran-kun was right…

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted as she felt hands on her shoulders, roughly pulling her jacket off.  Sakura gasped, turning back to face Ryan surprised as she watched him throw her jacket on the floor by his feet. 

"You won't be needing that," he told her, smiling and reaching over to her, running his hand over the soft skin of her arm.  Sakura turned back to the door, trying to get the door to unlock.  He quickly stopped her, pulling her once more against him, and this time keeping a tighter grip.

"Please let me go," Sakura pleaded, her voice beginning to reveal her panic.

"I don't think I can do that," Ryan said.  "I want you too much."

Sakura's eyes widened even further as she struggled even more to get out of Ryan's grasp.  Headlights coming from behind them suddenly stole Ryan's attention.  His grip loosened slightly, and Sakura took her chance to quickly unlock the door and rush out of the truck.  She was held back for a moment as he reached out and grabbed the back of her shirt, but she broke free, her shirt tearing in the back.  She could hear him curse loudly behind her as he hurriedly got out of the truck, slamming the door behind him. 

She ran as fast as she could, not looking back, but she could tell he was catching up to her quickly.  This would be a great time to have the Sakura Cards…

Sakura suddenly tripped over a small branch, landing roughly on the pavement, scratching her bare arms.  She had just barely sat up as he reached her.  He quickly grabbed her shoulders and pinned her down to the ground.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, breathing hard.

"Please stop…" Sakura pleaded.

"You were almost lucky there, weren't you…with that car coming up this road.  It wasn't something I was expecting," Ryan told her increasing his grip on her shoulders.  Sakura winced in pain. 

Sakura turned her head away as tears began to well up in her eyes.  I can't believe this…

Ryan smirked, noticing the tears begin to escape her eyes and cascade down her cheeks.  He forcefully turned her head back to face him. 

He leaned down and gently kissed her cheek, tasting the salt of her tears.  She flinched.  He laughed and slapped her roughly.  "What's wrong my pretty Sakura?  I know you like this as much as I do."  He laughed even more.  He leaned in closer, holding her head still so she couldn't turn away.

The sound of running feet on the pavement suddenly caught their attention, but not soon enough.  Ryan, who was very much caught off guard, was suddenly being lifted up by his shirt and thrown off of Sakura.  Sakura's eyes widened as she looked up to see Syaoran standing above her, shaking in anger surpassing any anger he'd ever felt before.  He looked down worriedly at Sakura, noting her disheveled and bruised appearance, before glaring once more in the direction he had thrown Ryan. 

Syaoran quickly took his jacket off, gently placing it over Sakura's shoulders.  He almost growled as he saw the tears falling freely down her face. 

"Don't watch," he muttered hoarsely.

Her eyes widened as she watched Syaoran make his way quickly over to Ryan.  Syaoran stared at him for a moment too angry to speak.

Ryan stared unflinchingly back at the furious man.  Syaoran punched him as hard as he could, causing Ryan to double over in pain and drop to his knees.  Sakura turned away, trying to shut out the sight and the sounds coming from only a few feet away.  She could hear the continuous attacks coming from Syaoran, and the loud groans coming from Ryan.  She tried covering her ears, but the sound of the fight kept coming through.

"Please…" she whispered.  "Please stop…"

She looked again at the two young men.  Syaoran was very obviously dominating the fight.  It didn't even look like Ryan had managed to even recover from the first hit.

"Syaoran-kun…" Sakura muttered.

He finally stopped, at the mention of his name, looking worriedly over at Sakura. 

"Please stop," she begged, starting to get up.  He quickly rushed over to her, leaving Ryan to collapse on the ground where he left him.  

"Are you okay?" he asked her anxiously, gently lifting her into his arms. 

"I can stand up," she told him. 

"It's okay," he mumbled, holding her close.  "Do you have a phone?" he asked finally.

"It's in my purse in the truck," she replied softly.

He quickly walked back to the truck, still carrying her in his arms.  He handed her the purse, through which Sakura quickly rummaged to find her phone.  She handed it to Syaoran, who then immediately called the police. 

After he had placed his call, telling them where they were and some of what had happened, he sat Sakura back down on the ground, then sat beside her.  He pulled her close to him, encouraging her to rest her head on his shoulder.  He put his arm comfortingly around her. 

She began to cry again, thinking about what had just happened and what could have happened if Syaoran hadn't come when he did.  Syaoran just let her cry.

***

End of Chapter 8