The first story in My Shadowy Secrets Trilogy
This fan-fiction is set as though the second movie never happened. Li and Meilin are still in Hong Kong, but all is not well – and with Yelan out of town it's up to them to find out what the magical power Li's sensing is.
Back home in Readington, Sakura dreams an upsetting dream, then receives a disturbing phone call from Meilin. Did her dream come true?
Darkness is never as far away as you think…Chapter Two; Anger Amongst Comrades
Sakura stared wide-eyed at the bruise, memories of her nightmare flying unbidden into her mind. Her legs gave way beneath her, and Julian quickly reached out to help her to her feet.
"He hit you, didn't he?" Meilin turned away from Sakura, eyes brimming with tears.
"He hit you, didn't he?"
"We better go up to my room. He'll be back soon, and I don't want him to catch me talking about him." And with these words, Meilin led them inside and up the huge staircase.
"It's like he's a different person these now. I can hardly recognise him." Meilin said as the group knelt on her bedroom floor.
"It's so strange. It's like everything good and pure in Li has been taken away. He takes so much joy in the pain of others now. The other day, he used his ofuda paper of wind to blow a boy into the road. If there'd been a car coming, that boy would have died. And a couple of days before that, he told a little girl that he'd found her missing kitten, then pushed her in the stream when she came to collect it. He told her she was stupid to have believed him, and sent her home crying. He might have done some other stuff when I wasn't around – I don't know." The others were silent as they processed this information about the boy they all knew.
>I can't believe Li would do something like this. Maybe he's not the boy I thought I he was.> Sakura was about to say something comforting to Meilin, maybe tell her that everything would be ok, but then they heard the main door open, and froze as Li's voice floated up to them.
"Meilin? I'm home you little freak! Get me some tea!"
"Li, hi! We have some guests. Sakura, Madison and Julian have come to stay for a while." Meilin smiled nervously, sweatdropping as Li stared at her. To her relief, he slid his penetrating gaze past her, to the others. He scared her these days.
Sakura felt unnaturally timid in Li's presence. >But it's odd. It's like I can sense that something's wrong with him...> She jumped as Li stepped smartly up to her, losing her train of thought.
"Did you bring the stuffed animal?" Sakura felt a sense of relief at this common ground, and pulled her bag from her shoulders.
"Yeah, he's in my backpack. I…" She broke off as Kero shot out of her heart-shaped bag, positively fuming.
"Who are you calling stuffed animal, Brat? I am the all-powerful Keroberos!"
"All powerful? Ha! You're weaker than a kitten, and even more of a wimp! You couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag! You were probably a mistake! An accident! A mishap! No way would Clow create something as pathetic as you!" >Something's wrong. Sakura thought to herself. He's never gone this far before – he always knew when to stop.>
This was an entirely new level of anger.
She stepped forward, and Li's hateful stare turned to her again. What was up with him? He was acting like a real jerk!
"Li! There's no reason to be like that! There's insults and there's insults. It's a fine line!" She stopped as Li put his hand to his head and grimaced in pain, but stepped back when he clenched his jaw, his chocolate brown eyes flashing dangerously.
"Who are you to say what I can or can't do, Avalon?" Meilin ran forward, obviously sensing his dark anger, but he knocked her backwards without even pausing, and turned back to Sakura.
"You have no business directing my life. You have no business telling me what to do! Stay out of it!" He raised his hand, and as it came rushing down, she braced herself for the impact. But the blow never came.
As quick as a flash, Julian's pale hand caught Li's wrist, stopping him from hitting Sakura.
"Now there's no need for that! I'm surprised at you Li!" Julian's normally soft and gentle voice was hard and cold as steel when he spoke, glaring uncharacteristically at the unrepentant boy. Sakura could almost feel Yue lending the teenager anger, furious at the mistreatment of his mistress.
Li jerked his hand away, literally fuming with rage.
"I'm sick of all you weirdo goody-goodies ruining my life! I'm sick of you ruining my fun! Meilin, hold that tea! I'm going for another walk!" He whirled around and out of the house, slamming the door behind him. Back in the hall, Sakura stared after him in disbelief, whilst Meilin slumped into Madison's waiting arms, crying.
Li stormed through town, almost fit to explode. How dare they tell him what to do? Him? But before he could think of a few choice words to say in order to let his anger out, a blazing pain shot through his head like a lightning bolt. His head had been hurting a lot, but never as bad as this.
"Aah…aaah….aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Li collapsed to the floor, screaming. He'd gone way beyond pain – he was in Hell.
>He tried to slap me. He actually tried to slap me.> Sakura looked at her reflection in the mirror as she got ready for bed. He'd been so angry, so…so…violent. What had made him like this? Was it something to do with this dark presence?
Tears came to both her and her reflection's eyes as she thought about Li. Where was he now? It had been hours since he'd left, and the wayward boy hadn't come back yet. He hadn't even phoned to say he was alright. Meilin was worried sick. So worried in fact, that Madison was going to sleep in her room in order to calm her down. Julian had gone off to his own room, and after some deliberation, Kero had decided to go with him, probably wanting to talk to Yue. Which left Sakura on her own.
Not that she really minded. She felt like solitude tonight. Sakura crossed to the window and looked out, hoping against hope to see a calmer Li striding towards the mansion. No such luck. The vast lawn remained still and silent. She turned away, clutching a single Star Card close to her chest. The Nameless Card. Created from her tears when she heard Li was leaving Readington, it was the embodiment of her feelings for him. Tears streaming down her unhappy face, she closed the velvet curtains and fell sobbing to the floor. >Li…please be safe.>
