Sorry this took so long, hopefully the next chapter won't. Hopefully being
the key word. ;) Anyhow, things really start to pick up and be explained in
this chapter. Now you finally find out what she's been working for. Well,
to an extent. ;)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well sweetie, excited about your last night?" Meiling nodded, pushing her glass back to Ken, anxious to get the night over with. All she had left was her last session with the shadow man, as she had taken to calling him. The past week had been the same as the first night, and she had grown even more comfortable with performing for the man. He had paid her well, so well that she had considered calling off tonight, but had decided against it at the last minute. She felt she owed him one last time.
As she walked up to the room, she wondered if tonight would be the same as the other nights. He knew it was their last time together, would he want anything more? She knocked at the door, pushing it open slightly. She entered, closing it behind her. She heard the sound of the flashlight rolling towards her, leaning down to pick it up.
"Don't turn it on yet." She kept his request, keeping a firm grip on the flashlight nonetheless. She waited for him to say more, curious to what was in store. He had already broken his pattern. "I want you to listen to me. Take what I am about to tell you, and store it away somewhere for future reference." She cocked her head, her interest more than caught. "There will come a day when you must stand your ground. You have been running your entire life, but one day will come and you must stand. When the world around you is crumbling, you will stand. You alone will remain standing, and it is then that everything will become clear to you."
"I understand."
"Good. Then let us continue on, for one last time." Meiling went through her usual routine with the man, although her mind was elsewhere. She didn't understand what he had meant. Would something happen tomorrow before she leaves? Would her family discover her plans and try to stop her? That must be it. The more she thought about it, the clearer it became to her. He must realize something was amiss in her life, why else would she be working here, making money, if not to leave? She congratulated herself on figuring out the man's otherwise cryptic message, glad she hadn't allowed her thoughts to wander off onto another path. Come tomorrow, she would be gone, and no one would stop her.
~~~later on in the night~~~
Meiling rounded the corner before her house, clutching her purse tightly to her. All that was left now was to finish packing, and to call herself a taxi for this evening. Everything else was taken care of. Earlier in the day she had secured her passport, new id and birth certificate, dated three years earlier. Meiling Li was no longer a 16 year old dependant upon her family, she was now a 19 year old adult, free to go anywhere she pleased. She had stored all her paperwork away safely, the only thing left now to pack was clothing. She came upon the house, and with one flutter of the eyelid, her mood crashed. But where fear had previously existed, as she now looked upon the black car sitting in front of her house, anger came in it's place. She stalked up to the car, leaning down to glare in through the window.
"I was rather enjoying my week without seeing you, now what the hell do you want?" She dodged quickly as the man flicked his cigarette ashes her way, and fanned his smoke in another direction.
"I know where you're going. I just wanted to tell you that when the time is right, I'll find you again." Before she had the chance to reply, his car quietly came to life, and he pulled away from her, leaving her to stare after him. She shook her head, trying to clear thoughts of him from her head. She was leaving tonight, and even he wouldn't stand in her way. She forced herself to walk calmly into her house, quietly skipping the steps up to her room. When she got to her room, she locked her door, drawing out her suitcase. She couldn't sleep, so she began to pack. She was only taking one bag with her, so she needed to take only those clothes that she really liked. She could always buy more once she got where she was going.
An hour later, and she was finished. She pushed the suitcase under her bed, and finally slid under her covers, still not feeling the least bit tired. She set her alarm for the usual time, even if she didn't sleep at all, she didn't want to draw any undue attention to herself. She would simply go through the day as normally as possible, and then slip away, unnoticed, in the evening.
~*~
(the next morning)
"Good morning, Meiling! Sleep well?" The Chinese girl stopped in her tracks, staring at the two people standing before her.
"Fine. Why do you ask?" She cursed herself for sounding paranoid, hoping neither would pick up on it.
"Because I usually ask you that every morning. Are you okay?" Sakura took a step towards her friend, noting that something seemed different.
"I'm fine, really. I actually didn't sleep well last night, I had trouble falling asleep. You know, it just happens sometimes." She pushed her way towards the fridge, pulling out an apple and biting into it. Luckily neither of her friend followed up on her odd behaviour, as they both sat at the table, making plans for later in the day.
"Hey, I'm gonna borrow that red shirt of yours. You know the one with the yellow flower detail on the side? It'll match my skirt so perfectly!" Meiling nearly choked on her apple as she watched Sakura slip from her chair, walking towards the stairs. Meiling forced the apple down, nearly choking on her words.
"No! Wait, you can't go up there." She rushed to block off Sakura's path to the stairs, determined that she not go to her room. Sakura cocked her head, curious as to what had caused her friend to react that way.
"Why not? Your room can't be in much more of a mess than Syaoran's."
"My room is not messy. It's just, I'll find you the shirt later, okay?" Meiling inadvertently started chewing her lower lip, not even realizing the nervous gesture. Sakura nodded, wondering what Meiling was hiding. In the mean time, Syaoran had taken advantage of a distracted Meiling, and had slipped upstairs by another staircase, intent on finding out what his cousin was hiding. He walked into her room, and saw nothing amiss at first. He opened her closet, expecting to find whatever she was hiding in there. But there was nothing. On second glance, though, he noticed that Meiling's closet seemed to be a bit more sparse than usual. It was then that he turned around, and noticed her comforter on her bed stuck on something. He leaned down, and pulled out a fairly heavy suitcase.
"Meiling! You wanna tell me what's going on?" Leaving the suitcase on her bed, Syaoran hurried down the stairs, coming to a halt before his cousin. Right away, he noticed the look of fear in her eyes.
"What are you talking about?"
"The suitcase. Under your bed? Fully packed?" The fear disappeared, replaced by that trademark annoyed expression.
"It's none of your business, Syaoran. Just leave it be."
"No, not this time. You're gonna need a better explanation than that." The stare-down between cousins continued, as Sakura simply watched on in shock.
"I said to mind your own business. That means leaving me alone." Meiling called up all the anger in herself, determined to make her cousin step down. The other Li was just as stubborn, though, and refused to let her off the hook.
"This is my business, Meiling. You're my business."
"Don't you dare talk about me like that, as though I have to run everything through you. Don't you dare." Meiling stepped up to her cousin's face, her face registering such a look of anger, Syaoran actually stepped back. "What I do from now on is of no consequence to you, so I suggest you get off your pedestal." Meiling brushed her way past him, taking the stairs two at a time until she reached her room, at which point in time she slammed the door shut. The other two stood at the bottom of the staircase, shocked into silence.
"Okay, did that make any sense at all to you? Am I missing something?" Sakura had no answer for her boyfriend, but wished she did.
"So you said she has a suitcase packed? I wonder where she's going." Sakura longed to run up the stairs, fling open her friend's room and beg for details. She restrained herself, however. She wasn't about to let her curiosity get the better of her.
In her bedroom, Meiling sat on her bed, her door locked. She had taken all her paperwork from her desk drawer, and went through everything again, placing it all in her purse. She contemplated calling that cab now, and just heading out to the airport already. She didn't want to face her cousin again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well sweetie, excited about your last night?" Meiling nodded, pushing her glass back to Ken, anxious to get the night over with. All she had left was her last session with the shadow man, as she had taken to calling him. The past week had been the same as the first night, and she had grown even more comfortable with performing for the man. He had paid her well, so well that she had considered calling off tonight, but had decided against it at the last minute. She felt she owed him one last time.
As she walked up to the room, she wondered if tonight would be the same as the other nights. He knew it was their last time together, would he want anything more? She knocked at the door, pushing it open slightly. She entered, closing it behind her. She heard the sound of the flashlight rolling towards her, leaning down to pick it up.
"Don't turn it on yet." She kept his request, keeping a firm grip on the flashlight nonetheless. She waited for him to say more, curious to what was in store. He had already broken his pattern. "I want you to listen to me. Take what I am about to tell you, and store it away somewhere for future reference." She cocked her head, her interest more than caught. "There will come a day when you must stand your ground. You have been running your entire life, but one day will come and you must stand. When the world around you is crumbling, you will stand. You alone will remain standing, and it is then that everything will become clear to you."
"I understand."
"Good. Then let us continue on, for one last time." Meiling went through her usual routine with the man, although her mind was elsewhere. She didn't understand what he had meant. Would something happen tomorrow before she leaves? Would her family discover her plans and try to stop her? That must be it. The more she thought about it, the clearer it became to her. He must realize something was amiss in her life, why else would she be working here, making money, if not to leave? She congratulated herself on figuring out the man's otherwise cryptic message, glad she hadn't allowed her thoughts to wander off onto another path. Come tomorrow, she would be gone, and no one would stop her.
~~~later on in the night~~~
Meiling rounded the corner before her house, clutching her purse tightly to her. All that was left now was to finish packing, and to call herself a taxi for this evening. Everything else was taken care of. Earlier in the day she had secured her passport, new id and birth certificate, dated three years earlier. Meiling Li was no longer a 16 year old dependant upon her family, she was now a 19 year old adult, free to go anywhere she pleased. She had stored all her paperwork away safely, the only thing left now to pack was clothing. She came upon the house, and with one flutter of the eyelid, her mood crashed. But where fear had previously existed, as she now looked upon the black car sitting in front of her house, anger came in it's place. She stalked up to the car, leaning down to glare in through the window.
"I was rather enjoying my week without seeing you, now what the hell do you want?" She dodged quickly as the man flicked his cigarette ashes her way, and fanned his smoke in another direction.
"I know where you're going. I just wanted to tell you that when the time is right, I'll find you again." Before she had the chance to reply, his car quietly came to life, and he pulled away from her, leaving her to stare after him. She shook her head, trying to clear thoughts of him from her head. She was leaving tonight, and even he wouldn't stand in her way. She forced herself to walk calmly into her house, quietly skipping the steps up to her room. When she got to her room, she locked her door, drawing out her suitcase. She couldn't sleep, so she began to pack. She was only taking one bag with her, so she needed to take only those clothes that she really liked. She could always buy more once she got where she was going.
An hour later, and she was finished. She pushed the suitcase under her bed, and finally slid under her covers, still not feeling the least bit tired. She set her alarm for the usual time, even if she didn't sleep at all, she didn't want to draw any undue attention to herself. She would simply go through the day as normally as possible, and then slip away, unnoticed, in the evening.
~*~
(the next morning)
"Good morning, Meiling! Sleep well?" The Chinese girl stopped in her tracks, staring at the two people standing before her.
"Fine. Why do you ask?" She cursed herself for sounding paranoid, hoping neither would pick up on it.
"Because I usually ask you that every morning. Are you okay?" Sakura took a step towards her friend, noting that something seemed different.
"I'm fine, really. I actually didn't sleep well last night, I had trouble falling asleep. You know, it just happens sometimes." She pushed her way towards the fridge, pulling out an apple and biting into it. Luckily neither of her friend followed up on her odd behaviour, as they both sat at the table, making plans for later in the day.
"Hey, I'm gonna borrow that red shirt of yours. You know the one with the yellow flower detail on the side? It'll match my skirt so perfectly!" Meiling nearly choked on her apple as she watched Sakura slip from her chair, walking towards the stairs. Meiling forced the apple down, nearly choking on her words.
"No! Wait, you can't go up there." She rushed to block off Sakura's path to the stairs, determined that she not go to her room. Sakura cocked her head, curious as to what had caused her friend to react that way.
"Why not? Your room can't be in much more of a mess than Syaoran's."
"My room is not messy. It's just, I'll find you the shirt later, okay?" Meiling inadvertently started chewing her lower lip, not even realizing the nervous gesture. Sakura nodded, wondering what Meiling was hiding. In the mean time, Syaoran had taken advantage of a distracted Meiling, and had slipped upstairs by another staircase, intent on finding out what his cousin was hiding. He walked into her room, and saw nothing amiss at first. He opened her closet, expecting to find whatever she was hiding in there. But there was nothing. On second glance, though, he noticed that Meiling's closet seemed to be a bit more sparse than usual. It was then that he turned around, and noticed her comforter on her bed stuck on something. He leaned down, and pulled out a fairly heavy suitcase.
"Meiling! You wanna tell me what's going on?" Leaving the suitcase on her bed, Syaoran hurried down the stairs, coming to a halt before his cousin. Right away, he noticed the look of fear in her eyes.
"What are you talking about?"
"The suitcase. Under your bed? Fully packed?" The fear disappeared, replaced by that trademark annoyed expression.
"It's none of your business, Syaoran. Just leave it be."
"No, not this time. You're gonna need a better explanation than that." The stare-down between cousins continued, as Sakura simply watched on in shock.
"I said to mind your own business. That means leaving me alone." Meiling called up all the anger in herself, determined to make her cousin step down. The other Li was just as stubborn, though, and refused to let her off the hook.
"This is my business, Meiling. You're my business."
"Don't you dare talk about me like that, as though I have to run everything through you. Don't you dare." Meiling stepped up to her cousin's face, her face registering such a look of anger, Syaoran actually stepped back. "What I do from now on is of no consequence to you, so I suggest you get off your pedestal." Meiling brushed her way past him, taking the stairs two at a time until she reached her room, at which point in time she slammed the door shut. The other two stood at the bottom of the staircase, shocked into silence.
"Okay, did that make any sense at all to you? Am I missing something?" Sakura had no answer for her boyfriend, but wished she did.
"So you said she has a suitcase packed? I wonder where she's going." Sakura longed to run up the stairs, fling open her friend's room and beg for details. She restrained herself, however. She wasn't about to let her curiosity get the better of her.
In her bedroom, Meiling sat on her bed, her door locked. She had taken all her paperwork from her desk drawer, and went through everything again, placing it all in her purse. She contemplated calling that cab now, and just heading out to the airport already. She didn't want to face her cousin again.