VictorianPearl: I know, I know, it's been forever since I've updated.
Li: You've got that right.
VictorianPearl: Don't worry though, now that summer break has practically started I'll have a lot more time to write. I plan to end Living Metonymy by the end of June and start a new fiction.
Syaoran: innocently Who will be starring in this new fiction?
VictorianPearl: You will, actually, but I won't say anything more until I give the plugs. Until then, read on.
Living Metonymy
Chapter 9 Deceit
Tomoyo sighed as she began her long walk down the street. The magnitude of the situation at hand was rising. She had received a call from Sakura yesterday, telling her about how Raiden was now involved and how he and Meiling had been attacked. It was unfortunate that he had been thrown into this mess.
That was not why Tomoyo was taking a long walk down the street though. For some odd reason, Eriol had been avoiding her lately. He sounded fine on the phone, but he wormed his way out of meeting up with her anywhere.
At first she gave him his space, but now it was time to investigate. Just what was going on with him? Did he want to break up? No, that couldn't be it; there must be something else that has been bothering him.
After about ten more minutes, Tomoyo finally arrived in front of Eriol's mansion. Sure, she could have driven her car here, but now Eriol wouldn't be able to get rid of her so easily. If he wanted her to leave, he would have to take her home himself.
Tomoyo opened the gate and waited a few seconds. The door was opened by Nakuru.
"Oh, hello Tomoyo!" Nakuru cheered.
"Hello Nakuru, I'm here to see Eriol." Tomoyo said politely.
"Alright, but he's been acting strange lately…stranger than usual anyway." Nakuru said, opening the door to Tomoyo.
Tomoyo waited in the hallway as Nakuru shut the door.
"Master was up in his library, but I think he's in his music room now."
Tomoyo immediately made her way up the staircase. She was preparing herself to talk some sense into Eriol Hiirigizawa. He wouldn't get away with not talking to her for such a long time.
She quietly slipped into the music room. As soon as she saw Eriol though, her resolve dissipated. He was sitting at his piano. The board was down, covering the keys. His elbows rested upon the board and his hands held his face. He was in deep thought and looked as if he had been stressing over some kind of matter.
"Eriol," Tomoyo called softly.
Eriol jumped off of the music bench and turned to face her.
"T-Tomoyo…what are you doing here? Why are you here?" He asked hurriedly.
Tomoyo felt slightly sad at the fact that he wasn't glad to see her in the least bit.
"You're smart Eriol. I think you can figure out why your girlfriend would come to see you, considering the fact that you've been avoiding her."
"Look Tomoyo," Eriol said, running a hand through his hair. "I know I haven't been seeing you, or even giving an explanation as to why I'm not seeing you, but you have to trust me on this one. You just have to stay away from me."
Tomoyo bit her lip at his words. "Are you saying that you want to go on a break?"
"No," he answered quickly.
"And you don't want to break up?"
"That's correct."
"Then why are you doing this?" Tomoyo cried. "I can't just go home not knowing why you've randomly decided that you can't see me."
"Please just listen, Tomoyo." Eriol begged.
"Why can't you tell me what's going on?"
Eriol sighed. His emotions were going crazy. What should he tell her?
"I can't tell you in order to protect you. Please just get back in your car and drive home."
"I can't." Tomoyo said, her voice lowering. "I walked here. If you want me to leave, take me home yourself."
Eriol shook his head. "I'll have Nakuru drive you."
"If you do that then you're guaranteeing my death. That woman in a maniac driver and you know it."
A pause crept between them. They both stood there, mentally battling over who would win and who would loose.
Eriol shuddered inwardly. It was the first serious fight that had gone on between them. He felt so bad for doing it, but it was for her own safety.
When Tomoyo saw that Eriol was not relenting, her poor heart broke. Her own boyfriend, whom she was supposed to be able to share anything with, wouldn't share with her. Well if he didn't want to talk, she would just leave.
"Fine," Tomoyo whispered. "I'll leave."
She turned and walked to the door. She put her hand on the handle and paused. She turned back to look at him.
"Will you at least give me a kiss goodbye?"
No sooner had she finished the sentence and Eriol's arms were around her and his lips were moving against hers. The kiss soon became heated and Eriol's hands roughly traced over Tomoyo's body.
Suddenly, Tomoyo wasn't quite as upset, and didn't care quite as much about their dilemma. She had missed Eriol so much, she hadn't even realized.
She arched her back against him as he pressed her against the door. She tried to momentarily break away from his kiss to breath, but found that she could not. When she tried to move away, she found that she was completely trapped. She gave a hard shove to his chest, sending him stumbling backwards.
Tomoyo caught her breath and looked up at Eriol. Who she saw though, was no longer Eriol. It was his body, but he had changed. His skin had turned a scaly black color. His fingers shaped into pointed claws and he had sharp fangs pointing from his gums. Most frightening of all, were his blood red eyes, glowing like coals.
Tomoyo screamed.
She turned to push the door open, but found that it had been locked by some trickery of magic. She turned back to see who was once Eriol smirking nastily at her. He paced a few times, his eyes observing what she would do.
Tomoyo looked around for some kind of escape rout. Her eyes lay on the collection of instruments. She hoped that Eriol would forgiver her for doing this. As quickly as she could, she ran toward the instruments. If she could get to them fast enough…
But she never got there. Tomoyo was tackled from behind by Eriol. She let out another scream as she fell onto the harsh, cold, tile. She flipped over and tried to kick the creature on her. Her attempts were futile though, Eriol's hold on her neck would not give.
There was a loud banging from the other side of the door.
"Tomoyo, Eriol…are you two okay?" Nakuru's voice called.
Tomoyo bit Eriol's hand and gained herself a few moments of breath.
"NAKURU, HELP ME! IT'S ERIOL HE'S-"
Tomoyo was cut off as Eriol harshly slapped her across the face. He then clamped his hands over her mouth.
Tears of frustration and absolute fear came out of Tomoyo's eyes. She faintly heard a voice yelling.
"STAND BACK!"
There was a loud explosion and the door went flying off of its hinges. Both Nakuru and Spinnel flew into the room in their transformed forms. Spinnel ran and dove into Eriol, sending him flying off of Tomoyo. The panther then pick up Tomoyo with his teeth and threw her on his back.
"Are you alright Tomoyo-chan?" Spinnel asked.
"I will be as soon as the real Eriol is back, Spinnel." Tomoyo panted.
Nakuru powered a ball of energy in her hands and launched it at her master. The energy hit target, causing Eriol to be launched into the air and sent crashing into the wall. When his body hit the floor, the creature which was occupying it came up.
"Spinnel, take Tomoyo and have her call Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan. I'll distract it until you do so!" Nakuru called.
Spinnel immediately obeyed. He went flying out of the room and down the stairs to the nearest phone. Tomoyo jumped off of his back and called Sakura. Her cell phone rang twice before she was able to answer.
"Moshi moshi, this is Sakura-chan." Sakura said cheerfully.
"Sakura," Tomoyo breathed. "You've got to come quick. I'm at Eriol's house. That thing's took control of Eriol. It's out of him now though and Nakuru is fighting it!"
Sakura gasped. "I'll be right there."
"And bring Syaoran-kun." Tomoyo cried before hanging up.
Another explosion was heard from upstairs. Tomoyo saw Nakuru getting blown out of the room and falling unconscious onto the floor. The creature walked out of the room after her. He looked at her and then down the stairs to Tomoyo and Spinnel.
"Stay back Tomoyo." Spinnel said. "Find something to protect yourself with while I distract him."
Tomoyo watched as Spinnel flew up the stairs to meet the creature. She immediately turned and ran to the kitchen. She searched all of the drawers until she found a large butcher knife. She ran back to the edge of the staircase, watching the battle between Spinnel and the creature. Spinnel wasn't doing so well.
"Tomoyo, go and find a place to hide. I don't know how much longer I can hold him off." Spinnel called, sending another magical attack in the creature's direction.
"Hang on there Spinnel." Tomoyo called to him.
She didn't want to just run and hide, but it seemed as if she had no other choice. She knew just the place to go. There was a room where Eriol stored everything. It would be a good place to hide and she would be able to get out fast if needed.
She had barely gotten to the room and shut the door when she heard Spinnel crying out. She knew it wouldn't be long before the creature started to come looking for her. She ran and ducked under a table that was surrounded by stacks of boxes. She could see two clear pathways for her to escape from her spot. She just hoped that the creature wouldn't find her before the creature did.
Tomoyo listened as intently as she could for the creature. Her eyes were adjusted to the dark room and she stared at the light at the bottom of the door, looking for a shadow that might cross it. She scarcely breathed as she lay in wait.
Suddenly, Tomoyo had the strange feeling that she was being watched. The hairs on the back of her neck and spine crept up. She felt the panic rising within herself. She slowly turned to look toward her second means of escape.
She saw nothing.
Tomoyo let out a sigh of relief. She was just imagining it. She turned back to look at the door but was met by two blood red eyes.
Tomoyo screamed at the top of her lungs. She scrambled to the second exit but was caught by her ankle. She was flailing and screaming, trying as hard as she could to get away. She gained more strength in her fear and kick the creature squarely on its nose. It released its hold on her and she darted out from under the table to the door.
The door flew open from Tomoyo's hands. When she was out, she saw Sakura, Syaoran, and Yue running through the front door.
"Sakura!" Tomoyo cried.
Tomoyo was caught up by her best friend's arms and started crying uncontrollably. Sakura held onto her poor friends, cursing the creature that did this.
"It's in there." Tomoyo cried, pointing to the room from which she had come.
Yue sent a burst of bright magic into the room, lighting it up. There was a squeal heard and the black creature came running out of the brilliant room.
Syaoran saw the creature coming and sent a kick strait to its solar plexus. The creature fell. Before it had a chance to melt into the ground though, Syaoran picked it up. He held it up before himself.
"Yue, I want you to cause this thing as much pain as you can possibly manage." Syaoran said, his voice low.
"As you wish," Yue replied.
The angel placed his hands on either of the creature's shoulders. He whispered some foreign words under his breath. A bright light came from his hands and spread throughout the creature's body.
It began to scream and twitch all over. Yue held for a while before Syaoran called him off.
"What do you want?" Syaoran asked the creature. "Tell me what you want with me. If you have something against me, you'll deal with me, not my friends."
The creature didn't reply.
"Do you want Yue to send the light through your body again?" Syaoran asked, nodding his head toward the moon angel. "I know that you can speak, tell me what you want."
The creature gave a slow nod. "I want you and everyone you know to suffer."
"That's not good enough. I want a reason as to why you're doing this."
Silence filtered through the room. Syaoran nodded toward Yue, signaling him to send the light through the creature's body again. But before Yue could reach the creature, it melted through Syaoran's hands and into the ground.
Syaoran cursed and kicked the ground. He then turned to Sakura.
"They're upstairs." She said.
The four went upstairs to see how badly Nakuru, Spinnel, and Eriol had been injured. Thankfully, nothing major had happened. They were just a little beat up. The latter as well as Tomoyo were all put into beds.
Sakura, Syaoran, and Yue cleaned up the damage and tended to their wounded friends. Syaoran vowed that the next time he saw this creature, he would end it all.
OOO
VictorianPearl: How did you like it? I think it was a pretty good chapter. Please review.