House of Li
Chapter Five
"What? Are you scared of kissing ghosts?" he whispered hauntingly, taking a step towards me, a predator gleam glittering in his ocher orbs.
"No!" I said coldly, willing myself not to turn away from his intense gaze.
I will not lose to a damn ghost!
"Good."
Suddenly, Syaoran vanished and reappeared in front of me, his forbidding frame only inches from me. I suddenly had the strong desire to kick him in the balls— good and hard.
But ghosts can't feel that…. Dang.
He gently placed a hand on my cheek to steady himself, dipped his head, and brushed my lips with his cold ones. Goosebumps crawled up my spine and arms, my body tingling with unknown sensations, and I felt…totally weird.
I pulled back and hurriedly said, "St-stop it, Syaoran… You-you're just a g-ghost."
His eyes instantly narrowed close to slits and he brushed past me, roughly pushing me to the side. He nearly shouted, "I didn't feel a thing either— so we're even! I can't believe I degraded myself by kissing you!"
I think I hurt his feelings…
But he's awfully pushing his luck.
I replied, "Wait a second, 'degraded' yourself by kissing me? Why are you so, so—"
"—So what?" he snarled.
"Aggressive? I'm trying to be somewhat agreeable—and you keep shooting me down! What's bothering you? My looks? My hair? My voice? What?"
"You're the reason why I'm here, Kinomoto. Until you can stop pretending you don't know what the hell is going on— I will continue being aggravated with you."
Hello~ I'm lost! Somebody come find me now…
"Explain." I said frostily, my patience ebbing away with this young man.
"No, you have to figure it out yourself." He replied equally as cold, daring me to say more with a ghostly glare.
How dare he…
Me-meow~
I shot my dagger glare at whatever dared to make a noise. I needed to vent. But my anger swayed when I saw that it was the white cat that I had petted from before. Its softly padded feet expertly ran over the wine-colored carpet and jumped into my lamp.
Without thinking, I petted the cat on the head, and my eyes met with the feline's. I gasped and became fascinated with the cat—its eyes were a stunning, deep violet—the eyes that only a human could possess.
Why hadn't I notice the eyes earlier? …Another strange phenomenon?
Syaoran's hard gaze turned slightly softer as he muttered, "Tomoyo, get off of her. I still haven't finished talking with her!"
"Mew-mew, meow, me-meeeooowwwww! Mew-mew?" the cat purred decisively, its face turned towards Syaoran.
Syaoran's annoyed expression turned uncannily complacent as he stalked off into the shadows. He muttered before disappearing through the wall, "Get Kinomoto to her room."
I continued staring at the wall that Syaoran had just walked through.
What is going on?
All of a sudden, the cat leapt out of my arms and before its furry paws touched the ground, the feline's outline vanished behind a bright flash of light. I covered my eyes to escape the merciless luminosity.
When the light subsided, I quickly uncovered my eyes, and I inwardly shivered… for a spectacular young woman took the place of the feline.
Things just keep getting weirder and weirder at this place~
I got up and noticed that she and I were exactly the same height— she seemed to be the same age as me too. She had long, lavender curls that tumbled far below her shoulders, china porcelain skin, slender build, and sparkling amethysts for eyes. A breath-taking aberration from the norm…
"Miss, your room is down the hallway."
"Call me Sakura." I said shortly, I hate formality.
She giggled, the sound of wind chimes, and replied, "As you wish, Sakura. Please call me Tomoyo— I am the key master of this mansion. I make and own every key to every door."
"Where are the other servants?"
I quickly slapped my forehead, duh, they're all dead!
"Sorry."
"None taken, I've heard much worse from the other women that have come here. You are not the first woman to have entered this hallway."
"Oh? Why were there other women?" my curiosity was well hooked by this time.
"Master Li is under a curse... The only way to break the curse is for him to find true love— to unselfishly love another, and be loved in return."
I raised a doubtful eyebrow, "True love? Like in the fairy tales?"
"Yes. Why? Is there a thing such as fake love?"
"I guess not…" I replied.
At the end of the hallway, Tomoyo turned to the left, and stopped in front of a wooden door. She easily unlocked it with a rusty, gold key, and gently opened it. She motioned me to follow her.
I followed inside and my eyes widened at the majestic splendor that coated the walls, the bed, and the floor. A matching set of satin green pajamas lay neatly on the bed and my suitcase was placed in an unused corner.
"Wow…but I came here to be a maid." I said guiltily.
"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way. But Master Li wanted you to get the best guest room— he's quite taken with you. My only favor from you is… please try to help him learn to feel…"
"Isn't that kinda impossible? He is a ghost."
"Not exactly."
"What do you mean?" I asked hastily—the reason I came here in the first place was to get rid of ghosts from the living world.
"Like I said, he's cursed with a dark family secret. Not even I know the true contents of the curse."
"Tomoyo…"
"Yes?"
"Are you a ghost?"
"No… I am half-human and half-demon."
"Really?"
"My mother was a very talented and beautiful dancer. But since my father is a demon— I am immortal."
"But you disappeared into a puff of smoke! I remember, I saw you jump down—"
"Sakura, I shape-shifted into smoke. No more questions now, it's getting late. I hear that tomorrow you have to go the market to buy some supplies. It shall be quite an adventure—I know it… Good night, Sakura."
"Sweet dreams~" I called back, watching her softly close the doors.
"Alone at last." I whispered as I ran my hand over the bed's luxurious silk covers.
Hm….she said that Syaoran was 'quite taken with me' and something about 'other women having been here'. And I still haven't asked my four questions...
What the heck has been going on in this mansion? And there are no freaking ghosts—well, Syaoran is part ghost— but there's no real reason for me to stay. No reason at all…
At exorcist training camp, there were three solid rules that were taught.
One: Don't fall in love with non-humans, especially ghosts.
Two: Don't make friends with non-humans, especially demons.
Three: Don't get involved with curses and black magic.
I guess rules are made to be broken, right? Right?
Well with that in mind, how the heck am I going to solve this case?
Good question. I want to know too...
**~**~**
AN//: Whew! Finally done! Yesterday was my b-day, so I was celebrating with family and friends. And I had a yummy ice cream cake! ^ ^
*Ahem* Alright, down to business…
I want to apologize for the crappy and short fourth chapter. I was having a shitty day, so naturally, my writing suffered. The straightforward reviews snapped me out of my pitiful thoughts, and made me realize never to post a chapter written out of depression.
Also, all the lovely third chapter (Three is for Hate) reviewers… I salute you with a standing ovation and bows~ But alas, if I were to answer your reviews, you'd be scrolling down pages and pages of bold print. So, I promise to always update reviews—no matter how much of a lazy bum I am!
Lemme clear some things up in Chp. 4 (courtesy of reviewers):
-I wrote something like "my first dying question" and Sakura had said that. It meant she was impatient to fire her first question at Syaoran. (However, the four questions remain unanswered…)
-Therefore, she's not dead. (-____-;;; so many people were confused!)
-The "creamy white contract" is her contract with her exorcist boss. (next chapter)
-Syaoran was erm, flirting… ok, this will definitely be explained in his POV in one of the chapters. (hopefully)
-Eriol will appear in the next chapter! (yay! he's OOC too!)
-If you're still flabbergasted…..sorry!
Thank you so much! (8 reviewers from chp. Four)
Mizutenshiai: (hands blue ribbon) u reviewed almost all my fan fics—you're so incredibly nice! And if you're flabbergasted, I'll just have to update faster!
Anonymous T: I read your CCS fan fic—gah! Luved it! U must update the next chapter! *ahem* (let's get serious) Yes, I made an attempt to make this chapter longer than the previous one. Did I pass your length test?
Annelee: No, she did not die…(do you think it'd be more interesting if she was?)
@skool: nifty name… I appreciate your compliments! Keep reading!
Anzyllie: YES! Another reader that liked my story! (my goal in life…I'm so lame ^ ^)
Cygna-hime: As always, you stay true in your review. Yes, as you can see, my writing suffers (turns crappy) when I'm depressed or down. I'll try to improve myself! Thanks for the suggestions!
EdgeofChaos: Ah- confusion ensues! The conflict becomes thickened and sickly twisted… Lovely, isn't it? Yay, someone actually thought that Syaoran kissing Sakura could be kool! (I was beginning to feel like a retard for writing that) Pleez read my next chapter too!
Luckyducky7too: another confused victim. *mwhaaaaaaaaa* (cough) ok, that's enough evil laughing for Neb Moon. Once again, you'll have to stay tuned for the next ghostly chapter…
…I think I should learn to make my author's notes shorter. This is really long~ And I'm just making it longer. ^ ____ ^
Once again, thank you for reading! I really appreciate it!
