Author's Notes: Last chapter of tonight. I no longer have the ability to name give my documents coherent titles, so they're just random strings of letters now. And then I really do have to sleep.

Enjoy!

(Sakura's POV)

After I told Kero about the events of the park, I decided to give Tomoyo a call.

"Hello?" came Tomoyo's voice over the phone.

"Hey, Tomoyo," I said.

"What's up, Sakura?" she asked.

"Something totally weird happened at the park today," I said.

"What?"

I proceeded to explain to Tomoyo what had happened. I needed to tell someone about it; I needed someone to believe me.

"And the weirdest thing was that Yukito couldn't see him at all. He just disappeared," I finished.

"That is weird," she agreed. "Do you think it has something to do with those cards?"

"I just don't know, Tomoyo."

"Oh! You left something at my house the other day," she said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"You left The Door card," she elaborated.

I picked up the deck that was sitting on my desk and shuffled through it. Sure enough, The Door was missing. I rifled through the deck again; one of the cards was glowing. It jumped out of my hand.

"Hey, get back here!" I shouted.

"Sakura? Is everything okay?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yeah," I said, making another grab for the card. "Everything's fine."

"I'll bring the card over, okay?"

"That would be great," I said again, reaching for the card, which jerked out of my grasp.

I couldn't identify the card; it was shining a brilliant light blue. The card moved farther away each time I attempted to seize it.

"Sakura, what's going on?" Tomoyo asked.

"Nothing," I said hurriedly, still trying to capture the rogue card.

It leaped across the room, and as I reached for it, the desk chair I was sitting in crashed to the floor. I dropped the phone, which slid halfway across the floor.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo shouted.

I got up and grabbed the phone while the card landed on top of the TV set.

"What was that?"

"Sorry, I'm having a little card trouble," I said as I bounded over to the card.

The card jumped again, over the gap onto my bed. I ran over to my bed and threw myself on it, once again missing the card as it sprang to my desk. The card was mocking me.

"Card trouble? What's all that thumping and banging around?" Tomoyo asked, confused.

I quietly approached the card, moving very slowly over to the desk. I carefully extended my arm and let my hand hover above the card. I moved my hand ever so slightly and brought it down suddenly, pinning the card to the table.

"It's okay. Problem solved," I said triumphantly.

I was wrong. The card remained still for a moment, but it continued to glow fluorescently. I relaxed my grip a little, and that was all it took. The card seized its chance and flew out of my hand and out the window. I yelled, reaching my hand out only too late. It continued its suicidal descent.

"Sakura! Will you please tell me what is going on!?" Tomoyo said.

"The card… it just… jumped out the window," I said lamely. "I have to go get it back. Just, bring the card over, okay?"

"Thank you," Tomoyo said exasperatedly. "I'm on my way."

I hung up the phone and dropped it on the desk. I grabbed a jacket on my way out of my room. Kero, who had been curled up on my pillow, suddenly stirred.

"What's going on?" he asked tiredly.

"One of the cards escaped. Wait here, I'll be right back," I said, running out of my room and slamming the door behind me.

Outside, it was dark and cold, windy and cloudy. The street lamps hadn't come on yet, so the only available light was that of the moon. The glowing card was teasing me, floating halfway down the street. It expected me to chase it, follow it to wherever it was leading me, where, inevitably, something bad would happen.

I ran down the street after it, closing my eyes to shield them from the first drops of rain. I was mesmerized by the rhythmic pounding of my feet against the pavement, until I ran into something that brought me out of my trance. "Something" happened to have arms, because they caught me as I stumbled backwards.

"Yukito!"

"What are you doing out here at this time of night?" he asked, puzzled.

I was at a loss for words. I couldn't explain what I was doing. My thoughts panicked, forcing to the top of my head the first words I could think of.

"You won't tell Toya, will you? Dad's not at home and Toya will get in trouble if Dad finds out that I'm out here," I stuttered.

"Toya let you leave the house after dark?"

"Not exactly," I admitted.

"Well, I won't tell him. It's not my place."

He rested a hand on my shoulder. "Just do what you need to do."

I nodded gratefully, and continued running down the sidewalk, where the card waited, taunting me. When it was within my reach, I pounced for the card, landing on the wet concrete as the card moved away. The card quivered for a minute, as if it were laughing at me.

"Shut up," I said, getting up, brushing myself off, and continuing the chase.

I didn't dare to grab for the card again. The card led me all the way to Penguin Park, and into the heart of the woods, where a clearing resided. It stopped its eerie glow and fell to the ground in the middle of the field. I approached it, leaned over, and picked it up.

The Darkness. The wind whistled through the trees, and birds flew out of the branches, silhouetted against the cloudy dusk sky. A low rumble echoed around the edge of the forest, as if something large were headed this way. I turned around slowly, my hand automatically reaching for my Clow Key.

Then I saw it – a huge pair of yellow eyes, shining out of the depths of the shadow of a tall tree. I took a step back, and stumbled as a dark shape rose out of the shadow. At its full height, the creature easily towered over the trees around it.

There was a large hole where its stomach should be, in the shape of a heart. Its face appeared to be comprised of snakes, similar to Medusa. As the creature rose higher and higher, I ran backwards to the tree line. I couldn't make it any farther, because my path was blocked by a dozen or so smaller monsters.

"O Key of Clow, Power of Magic, Power of Light. Surrender the wand; the force, ignite. Release!" I shouted, summoning my weapon.

The small, dark creatures leapt at me, scratching me with their tiny, but still very sharp claws. I swung at them with the Clow Wand, but they seemed to multiply as the moon hid behind the clouds. With my only exit blocked, I ran back to the giant monster.

It reached it large hand out towards me. I jumped out of the way just in time to see it demolish the trees behind me. As I started to stand up, I faltered a bit, just enough to give the creature time to grab me with its other hand.

I struggled in its tight grip, but I couldn't move any of my limbs. Its hand was bigger than I was. The creature moved his hand backwards, and hurled me into the sky. I pulled out a card as I flew through the air.

"Light Card! Release and dispel!" I screamed, now falling.

A bright light engulfed the entire clearing. I heard the creature howl, but whether it was in rage or pain, I couldn't tell. Blinded by the light, I continued my swift, headfirst plunge. My back hit the ground hard with a sickening thump. Then the light finally faded.

The creature was doubled over, dissolving before my eyes. As a creature of pure darkness, the light had destroyed it. The monster staggered for a minute, almost as if it was drunk, and then it fell forward, vanishing into thin air as it collided with the ground, on top of me.

I couldn't move, only watch as the darkness tainted the ground, creating pools of dark shadows. The darkness blanketed the clearing, the thick purple mist eclipsing the moon. Unable to move, I closed my eyes and blacked out.

xXx

Tomoyo rang the doorbell at the Kinomoto house. She was surprised to see Kero open the door.

"Kero? Where is everyone?"

"Toya's asleep in his room and Sakura went chasing after a card," said Kero.

"Well, I came to give her-" Tomoyo held the card out to Kero, but turned around abruptly.

A dark dome hovered over the forest in the park.

"Sakura."