BISHLOV'S WORDS OF GRATITUDE AND OTHERS:
Fuu: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked this story.
Wei: Thanks for your words of encouragement. I know I am too stuck up with the number of reviews I get. I try not to be but I guess I need other people's reviews to inspire me. Yours is greatly appreciated.
hikari: I am so sorry if I scared you with the 'guy and stuff'. I couldn't help it. It was too great of a temptation. I might even add much more morbid stuff so if I were you I'd read this during daytime. Well, not this chapter just yet.
Yori-chan: Thanks for the praise. I'm glad you like this. And yes…jars. Glass canisters to be more precise. The dude's a sicko because I made him that way. Just goes to show that I'm a sicko too. Hehehe.
blue eyes: Thanks for reviewing. It is greatly appreciated from the bottom of my fat, er, heart.
Mei-Hua: Thanks for the all caps. As you may have noticed, I had already posted two more chapters and this would be the third one. I hope you loved them as much as the first chapter.
The Great One: I think this is cool too. It's very different from my other fics. And yes Tomoyo does have purple=amethyst eyes.
Silver Hawk: Spiffiness? Uh, thanks (I think) ^_^0. Sorry for confusing you in the last chapter. I would like to clarify that I only borrowed the NAMES from the other anime and NOT THE CHARACTERS themselves. I am not knowledgeable when it comes to Japanese names (although Feye is really a Chinese name) so I get the names for my OC from the various anime that I watched. I know that Hikaru's eyes are reddish whilst Umi's are blue but that's in MKR and not in this story. Actually I love Hikaru's eyes…they are so unique. Anyways, the bad guy in this story left the amethyst eyes (which are in the jars) with the kidnapped girl in that dark room. Am I still confusing you?
NiSsA-cHaN: Glad to know that I'm not on a down slope when it comes to this fic.
b: Thanks for the good words.
Dark Water Tiki: Thanks. Now you'll know what's going to happen next for I give you Chapter 4.
kawaii imouto: I'm writing. I'm writing. Well, typing to be more precise ^_^0.
anjali-chan: 'So far' is the right term to use. Let's see if I can keep up with the nice praises that you guys are giving me and not suck as each chapter goes by just like in my other fic 'Yukito's Little Secret'. Did you notice that I just plugged my other fic in my message of thanks to you? Hehehe. Sorry about that. Couldn't help myself. Back to your review. Yes he is twisted. After all, a twisted mind can make such a twisted character. Bwahahaha!!! Thanks for reviewing 'H-moon Jitters 2' too. Oops, I did it again!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own CCS or any of its characters. CLAMP does. This plot is a product of my imagination. Any similarities to other fan fictions are unintentional.
AMETHYST EYES
By bishounen lovah
Chapter 4
A couple of minutes of silence passed between them. Both of them stood in the middle of the living room, staring at each other. Eriol was having trouble breathing. It started when the door opened and revealed the very beautiful Tomoyo Daidouji. Sure he saw her earlier but the white dress made her all the more stunning.
It clung to her loosely but was not loose enough to stop him from flustering. The dress was not daring. In fact it was a simple number but its simplicity emphasized the woman's beauty tenfold. Her hair was pulled back from her face in a messy bun with loose strands framing the side of her face and grazing her bare shoulders.
Her skin was creamy white and flawless as far as he can see. He resisted the urge to touch her and just kept on looking. Her full red lips were slightly parted as though she was having difficulty in breathing herself.
Damn. I'm turning into a hentai like Nakajima.
But it was her expressive eyes that caught his attention. The purple eyes were flickering various emotions like surprise, confusion, relief, and…was that joy or did he just imagine it?
He was not able to answer the question because at that moment her eyes darkened and hardened.
"Why are you here, Hiiragizawa-san?"
Eriol winced at the anger in her voice and his sudden demotion from 'kun' to 'san'. He could not blame her though. It's hard when no one believes you or takes you seriously. Of course what she confessed to him was unbelievable but nevertheless he should have given her more benefit of the doubt.
"I came here to apologize." There was a slightly bitter taste in his mouth. He was not used to apologizing and admitting that he erred primarily because he was rarely wrong and rude.
But there was always a first time for everything.
"Apologize for what?" she asked in a sarcastic tone.
God, she was determined to make him suffer. It irritated him as well as amused him. She hasn't changed at all. She's still as subtly devious and mischievous as before.
"For not taking you seriously. For not giving you the benefit of the doubt." For not comforting you when you were obviously frightened and suffering.
"You don't look like you mean it."
"Damn it, Daidouji-chan! I'm here, aren't I?"
He regretted the outburst as soon as it escaped his mouth. "Gomen nasai. I shouldn't have shouted like that."
"Iie," came her quiet reply after a brief pause. "I shouldn't have goaded you in the first place. Are we friends again?"
The moment his hand touched hers, he felt a jolt of electricity come out of nowhere. Even after she pulled her soft hand from his, he could still feel his palm tingle from the touch. He tried hard not to look at his hand but instead balled it into a fist.
"You're not just here to apologize, are you?"
Eriol followed her gaze to his left hand where he held a large manila envelope. "No. I mean, yes. That was not my only reason. I wanted to show you something."
He began to pull out the contents of the envelope but was interrupted when the bell rang.
"That must be the pizza I ordered," she said as she rushed to open the door.
He can't help but notice the tinge of relief he saw in her eyes and heard in her voice. Why was that? Did he do something wrong again?
He watched her smile brightly at the delivery guy and immediately wished to be that guy at that moment. He shook his head at the nonsense. Sure she has a heart-stopping smile but he shouldn't wish to trade positions with anyone especially not to a pizza boy.
He decided to look around her apartment. His eyes darted everywhere and anywhere as long as it's not on the dark haired woman. There were lots of books on the bookshelf at the far end of the room and decided to look at them. Once he finished browsing on the book skeletons, he found out that they shared similar tastes in literature arts. Most of the books that she owned, he already have while those he doesn't were on his shopping list for his next trip to the bookstore.
Which won't be anytime soon if I don't solve this kidnapping immediately, he thought as his hand clenched on the manila envelope. He shot another look at the door and found the pizza guy standing there alone. She must be getting some money.
His eyes roamed around the room once more and this time he noticed something. There were no framed pictures anywhere. That was extremely odd to him because, if his memory served him right, Daidouji loved to take picture of everything. Her favorite model was Sakura Kinomoto but not a single photo of her could be seen. Nor were there pictures of her mother, Sonomi Daidouji.
Eriol's keen mind took note of this for further musings. He was wrong to think that she had not changed. The more he spent time with her, the more he realizes that she had indeed changed.
She had lost that innocently gay look of hers and was replaced by forced maturity. Her lustrous eyes were dulled by, what he suspects, pain and depression. And her bright smile, no matter how cheerful she made it be, was of no caliber to what he knew back in grade school.
He looked at her with sympathy, feeling pain for his childhood friend. He could only imagine the devastation that she felt whenever she had those dreams…those nightmares. The devastation that she apparently feels even when she was awake.
Yes, he believes her now. Not only because of the proof that he now held in his hand but because of what he saw in her eyes earlier that day. He realizes now that nobody could fake such mixture of emotions.
Sympathy. Fear. Disgust. Horror. Anger.
Her eyes flashing with intense anger and hatred for that man in her visions was something he would never forget.
Eriol found himself in front of a covered canvas. He was in a slightly partitioned area of her apartment that obviously served as her studio. He gave in to the temptation and gently tugged on the paint stained cloth.
His breath got stuck in his throat with what he saw. The painted amethyst eyes were looking at him with so much fear that he had to take a step backwards from the canvas.
The paint was still slightly fresh which meant that she had just done this twenty-four hours ago. Maybe less.
Was this what Keiko Mori's eyes were showing?
A shuffling sound broke through his thoughts and saw that Daidouji-chan was looking at him with sad eyes.
"I painted that hours before dawn…after my first dream."
"First dream? You mean you had another? Can you tell me what happened in that dream," he asked anxiously.
Daidouji flashed him with a smile that has little or no warmth at all. "Later. But first, let's eat. I haven't eaten anything since dinner last night."
Eriol followed her to the kitchen, not wanting to press her on. Besides, she did look pale and a little nutrition (even though it was a junk food like pizza) would do her good. Come to think of it, he needed the nutrition too. His stomach was now bereft of the small sandwich that he had managed to eat while driving around searching for clues.
He had let her decide the path of their conversation. They talked about everything except the circumstance that brought them together again. She told him about their old friends. Naoko was now a feature writer for the local newspaper in Tomoeda. Rika was now married to Terada-sensei and is carrying his baby. Chiharu and Yamazaki have an 'off again, on again' relationship, both of them being stubborn as a mule. Sakura and Syaoran were planning their wedding that's to be held a couple of months from now.
She asked him about what happened to him after he left Tomoeda. He told her although there wasn't much to tell about. He went to high school here in Tokyo and went on to becoming a cop.
For some reason, he had a feeling that Daidouji was stalling. But all things must come to an end. Time was ticking for the kidnapped girl and Daidouji was the only one who could help him find her.
"Leave that," he told her when she finished clearing up the table and poised to wash the dishes. His eyes conveyed the urgent plea that he felt. She sighed and went back to the chair she vacated.
"I know what you have in that envelope and to tell you the truth I am scared of them." She quietly said as she looked down at her folded hands.
"They're just pictures, Daidouji-chan."
"Yes but they're the pictures of the girls in my dreams. It hurts me to think that such innocent children would end up with gruesome deaths what more if I see their faces?"
"Please. I need you to look at them. You are my only link, my only hope to find Keiko Mori."
"What is it that you expect me to do, Hiiragizawa-kun?" She raised her head to look at him with teary eyes. "Are you expecting me to see a vision if I look or even touch their photos. It doesn't work that way!"
"You told me you wanted to help. You told me you didn't want Keiko to end up dead as the other victims. Onegai, Daidouji-chan."
"Gomen ne. It's just that I'm so scared."
Eriol moved his chair closer to hers and impulsively pulled her in his embrace. He let her cry on his shoulder until she couldn't shed a single tear anymore. "I won't let him hurt you. I promise."
Several minutes later, she calmed down and nodded her head in affirmation. One by one, he laid the pictures that he was able to print out from the database on the table before her, including the picture of Keiko Mori.
From the database he was able to find five positive matches of missing person files. Just as she had said, all the victims were girls and all of them have amethyst eyes. They went missing in various places in Japan that's why nobody had connected them before. Another thing that he found intriguing was that all of the girls were seven years old when they disappeared without a trace.
He watched her gaze at the photos. Her own amethyst eyes showed bravery as well as grief and pain. She touched them with a finger one by one and to his surprise, she gave their first names correctly.
"How did you…?" Eriol asked in surprise.
"In my last dream, he told me their names. He took their eyes, Hiiragizawa-kun. He killed them and took their eyes."
Bastard! He felt sick from anger and disgust. What kind of an animal would do such a thing? No wonder Daidouji-chan didn't want to talk about it while eating. It was too much even for him.
He needs to find the kidnapper before he could kill again. But how?
And then he made a decision.
"I want you to come with me." He said to her with unwavering determined eyes.
"What? Where?"
"We're going on a road trip."
To be continued…