Author's Notes: Okay, so I changed my penname from Haruko Shinohara to Fuyumi-chan. Don't ask why! I just felt like it…oO
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS and The Doll master, the movie that you will get to know as you read the chapter.
IMPORTANT: To those who have not watched the Korean movie, "The Doll Master". The movie revolves around five people invited to a doll museum in an isolated area who get close to the museum's secret while they are killed, one by one. A sophisticated sculptor, Hemi, and 4 other people are invited to a gallery of dolls. They are excited to pose to be a doll model. Superintendent, Mr. Choi, and Jae-won, a doll-maker, are the hosts who invite them to this gallery. The gallery is in the beautiful forest, and the surrounding is just like fairy tales, but there are some uneasy things to enjoy themselves. The superintendent is hiding something from them. The doll maker Jae-won, who's helped by a wheel chair doesn't come out of her workroom. Hemi meets Mina, a mysterious girl who says she has known Hemi for years. The strange noises at night and the dolls seem to keep an eye on the every movement the guests are making as if they were real human beings.
Italics movie
Chapter 4: I love you
Can things like stone, wood, and metal be alive?
Well, some say that when a nonliving thing has been with you for a long time, it will form a soul of its own. Just like a doll. But the only way to kill a doll is to literally poke its eyes out and then chop off its head, because it is through the eyes that its soul can go in and out.
Night had already fallen in Tomoeda. The moon shone high above the cloudless sky and quite a few stars were twinkling. Such a peaceful little town. So calm. So quiet…
"HOOEEEEEEEE!" Or maybe not.
Fujitaka, Touya, and Syaoran immediately went downstairs where the scream was heard. It was Sakura, standing near the foot of the stairs, afraid.
Her eyes held fear and her whole body was shivering. Her father approached her first with her two brothers following him.
"What happened, Sakura?" Fujitaka asked, worry evident in his eyes, while her two older brothers readied themselves to attack whatever that had made Sakura scream.
"I-I-I saw something! I think it was a g-ghost!"
"There wasn't any ghost, Sakura. Maybe it's all in your mind." Fujitaka tried to comfort her.
Touya grumbled under his breath. "Thank the squirt for ruining a good night's sleep."
"B-But I did see something!" She cried insistently.
Out of the corner of his eye, Syaoran saw something move. The lights were turned off so he couldn't see properly. He made a move to reach the switch on the wall. That was then that a loud crash was heard.
Sakura screeched and covered her eyes.
Click. The lights turned on.
In a corner of the room, sitting beside a broken vase was Kero, licking his paw and acting innocent as if nothing happened. "Meow"
Syaoran resisted the urge to slap his forehead. It was just the darn cat! He woke up in the middle of the night for all this? He shouldn't have bought the cat in the first place!
Sakura uncovered her eyes, and was quite relieved that it was just Kero. She quickly ran up to her pet and carried him in her arms.
"See, Sakura-san. It was nothing to be afraid of." Fujitaka smiled at her. Sakura smiled back, greatly relieved, but it quickly faded away as soon as she heard Syaoran's comment.
"I told not to watch that movie." Syaoran said to her accusingly. Sakura made a pout on her face.
"Hey, I couldn't help it if I'm scared of ghosts." She shivered just by remembering the horror movie they had just watched together with her brother, Tomoyo, and Eriol.
A few hours ago
Sakura went back from the kitchen carrying a bowl of popcorn with her. She and Syaoran agreed that they would watch a movie that Friday afternoon.
Excited, she decided to invite her best friend, Tomoyo, and Eriol along with her. Although at first, Syaoran protested and complained about the navy-haired boy, he eventually gave in. With Sakura's irresistible puppy eyes, who wouldn't?
And so, after class, they met up at the Kinomoto residence. Eriol was the one who decided on what movie they would watch. Unfortunately for Sakura, he chose 'The Doll master', which was a scary movie. And if you happen to know Sakura, she absolutely feared this kind of movie. But to her utter misfortune, Eriol doesn't know about that.
Nonetheless, Sakura chose to watch the movie, despite the worried looks of Tomoyo and her brother, who by the way was trying his hardest not to beat Eriol into a bloody pulp.
So here are they now, watching the screen as the movie starts. But before turning to the movie, Syaoran cast one last worried look at his sister sitting at his left side.
Sakura was gripping the bowl of popcorn so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She visibly gulped as the title of the movie, 'The Doll master', appeared in red bloody letters. Quite obviously, she was afraid.
"Are you sure you want to continue watching?" Syaoran asked her for the nth time already, deeply concerned for his sister.
Sakura nodded her head and even smiled at him, although it was quite forced and wobbly. "I'll be alright, Oniichan." She said, though she sounded like she was trying to convince herself rather than Syaoran.
He tried to add comfort by holding her hand. Sakura shot him a thankful glance before she turned to the screen once more.
"Wow, what a wonderful room!" Hemi surveyed the small room she was in. The walls were painted grey and a small bed was situated at the center. A chandelier hung above the bed, and judging from its rusty handle and old bulbs, it seemed to be an antique.
The whole room was dark and the only source of light was coming from a window just beside the bed.
She continued eyeing her surroundings, touching the surface of her dresser and when she looked up at the mirror, she saw a pale woman standing a few feet behind her.
Sakura suppressed a scream, making her grip on Syaoran's hand tighter. He winced at the pain. While Tomoyo's and Eriol's gazes were locked on the screen, seemingly awed.
Shocked, she stumbled backwards and turned around. Then she noticed that it was only a large doll, life-like in size. It was holding a mirror between her hands, the color of white porcelain.
Hemi's fingers went to reach the doll's face, entranced by its beauty. The surface was cold, pale. The lips were smooth, and the eyes…there was something eerie in those eyes. It was as if the doll was really watching her. But she shrugged it off with a laugh. "I wonder if the others have ones like this." Referring to her other companions who were also given their own rooms.
Then she moved towards the window, not noticing the doll's cold black eyes following her.
By now, Sakura's fingernails dug deep into Syaoran's skin, not seeming to notice at all. Unable to control the pain, he turned to ask. "Um, Sakura, you're hurting my hand. Could you…let go for a while?"
Sakura snapped from her attention to the screen toward her brother and seemed confused at first until she realized that she had been gripping his hand Hard. She quickly let go not without muttering an apology. Syaoran just nodded his head in understanding.
Kyoko stayed in her room after what had happened a while ago. She couldn't forgive her. Never. Hemi was just pretending to be friends with her after all, and then she could kill her Damian!
Who else would destroy her doll? Jingsun said herself that Hemi was the last one to touch her Damian after she, Kyoko, fainted during the photo shoot. Hemi knew that Damian meant so much to her. And for that, she couldn't forgive her. Never.
Her eyes welled with tears. Damian, her beloved little doll who had lost its head, lay beside her. Then she felt something creepy. She felt as though someone was watching her.
Slowly, she looked up, and cold black eyes met her. They belonged to the doll hanging on her ceiling. It was similar to the one on Hemi's room, only it was not holding a mirror; instead it had an old chandelier.
The doll moved her hands to Kyoko's throat, lifting her up, up, up to the ceiling so that Kyoko's legs were dangling in midair. She struggled for breath as the doll choked her. Its black eyes never leaving her face. She could only watch Damian's lifeless eyes as darkness began to seep through her vision.
Then, she could no longer breathe. Her heart stopped beating. And her hands ceased their struggling. She. Was. Dead.
Sakura covered her face in Syaoran's chest, her hands gripping his arm. Tomoyo hadn't noticed, but her hand was gripping Eriol's.
Eriol could only smile in amusement.
Jingsun couldn't control it anymore. She had to go to the bathroom but she was too afraid. The mansion creeped her. So WunLu, the photographer, went with her.
But as she arrived there, she found that the stalls had dolls sitting over the toilet, every single one of them with each stall just the same. Her need to pee controlling over her fear, she entered one stall, trying to make it quick.
Then, she felt something cold on the back of her neck, making her hair to rise. Slowly, she turned around. The face of the doll was just inches away from hers.
She was about to scream when it clamped a hand on her mouth, preventing her from making any noise.
WunLu, who was also a pervert, slid his Polaroid camera below the door of the stall where Jingsun was in and shot a picture of her, hoping that he would get a picture of her cough while she was urinating.
Within seconds, a picture was produced. WunLu looked at the picture in anticipation and was scared to death as he saw Jingsun, her arms and legs twisted in odd angles, and half of her body was inside the toilet, seemingly to have been flushed. Her blood trickled down her face and limbs and down to the tiled floor.
And behind her, was the doll.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" she could no longer hold it. She had to scream. Her grip on Syaoran tightened. Her body shook in fear.
Syaoran put his arms around her, whispering words like 'It's okay' 'Don't be afraid' 'it's not real'.
She tried her best to calm down, repeating her brother's words in her mind. Already, she was calming down.
Tomoyo had been gripping Eriol's hand for quite a while now. His hand was becoming numb, but really he didn't mind. It seemed to amuse him as to how long until the girl will notice she was holding his hand. Deep inside, he did not want her to, despite the pain.
After a half hour, the movie neared its ending. Sakura heaved a sigh of relief. Well, at least she made it to the end without having a heart attack or losing consciousness. But she had to admit, she would have fainted in the middle of the movie if Syaoran wasn't with her.
Back to the present
Touya and his father had already gone back upstairs, leaving Sakura and Syaoran in the living room with Kero. Syaoran started to go up when Sakura grabbed his arm, halting him in his tracks.
"Ano, Syaoran-niichan, I…" She looked at him with her sincere emerald eyes. "I really want to thank you for being at my side during the whole movie. Not only that, but also during those times when I needed a friend. You were always there for me. Whenever Tomoyo couldn't be with me, you were there. I couldn't imagine what it would be like without you by my side"
Hearing those words, Syaoran gave her one of his rare smiles. God truly had given him the most wonderful sister in the world. "Sakura, the reason why I did those things was because you mean a lot to me. I love you like I love Dad and Touya." Then he paused, and corrected his latter sentence. "Well, just Dad, anyway."
Sakura giggled. Then, she looked up and stared deep into his eyes. She held his hand and said, "Syaoran, promise me you'll always be at my side."
Her older sibling just smiled, holding her hand firmly. "I promise, and I'll never let you go."
As if to prove his point, he wrapped his arms around her small body, and inhaling her sweet scent of cherry blossoms. She sighed in contentment as she returned his hug.
"I love you, too, Syaoran."
-
-
-
-
- - - - - - -o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o- - - - - - - -
A/n: sorry to keep you hanging there, I noticed that the chapter was too long so I divided it. I'll post the next one soon, so review if you don't want dolls to haunt YOU. MWAHAHAHAHHAHA!
And remember, this is Fuyumi-chan. Bye!