. Blood Lust .

I felt a shiver crawl up my back and I looked up to see the beautiful vampires staring down at me from their windows. But among those many pairs of red eyes, one caught me by surprise. His brown hair stuck out wildly at the ends, making him appear dashing. His beautiful face seemed to belong to an angel.

"Sakura," said my brother sternly.

I turned my gaze back to the white haired Prince Yukito.

"His name is Syaoran," the Prince said smiling.

Toya stared at the both of us, "What?"

"Nothing", said the Prince, and he put a hand on each of our backs and led us through the grand Palace doors.

Chapter two. Promises

I grew up in a small village. I never thought anything of its natural beauty or the kind people who surrounded me because I had never been anywhere else. I don't remember my mother or father but people have told me that my mother passed away early and my father, like most fathers in the village, had disappeared. Toya and I grew up together for a short period, but then he was taken away from me while I was still young. But I remember the day he left. We were walking through the beautiful fields of golden grass when we saw a tall stumbling figure with brilliant snow white hair. My brother, only eleven at the time and I five, stopped short at the approaching figure. He looked up at us with glittering and hungry red eyes. Vampire. My brother quickly put himself in front of me and stood still silently. The vampire reached out his beautiful hand and his beautiful face expressed a deep pain. Slowly, my own brother foolishly touched his hand on the vampire's.

"I won't hurt you," croaked the white haired vampire, and he sunk his teeth into my young brother's neck. I watched, terrified, and the vampire slowly opened his eyes to see mine. The red eyes seemed to ask for forgiveness. After what seemed like an eternity, the vampire broke off our eye-hold and closed his eyes as he drew his fangs away from Toya's neck. Hesitantly, I took a step forward and clasped my brother's hand into mine. He looked down at me and I back at him.

"You're…still alive…," the vampire sounded surprised. Then after a pause he asked Toya, "Do you feel any pain?"

"No," my brother whispered.

"A blood fountain," murmured the vampire in awe, "Will you come with me?"

"Yes," my brother replied without a hesitation, "I will go with you." I stifled a cry and then my brother asked the vampire, "Can my sister come?"

The vampire studied me with his cryptic red eyes, "It is too dangerous for such a weak child to live in the Palace. Later when she has grown, she can come."

I wrapped my arms around Toya's waist, "Don't go," I whispered, heart-broken. He knelt down and wiped the tears away on my face. "I'll come to visit, but I have to go. I might find some clues on the whereabouts of father."

So then they left me, a five year old child in the fields under the darkening sky. Alone and abandoned, I went home by myself, crying the whole way. I would come to learn later on that the white-haired vampire was one of the Royal twins born in line for the throne.

In this world, the vampires held power over the humans with their beauty, intelligence, strength, and life span which can go to five hundred years.

My brother never came back for me until two days ago when I turned sixteen on the first of April. I didn't recognize Toya but I remembered the white haired Prince Yukito. The Prince hadn't aged at all from the many years ago when he took my brother.

Now I was inside the palace. Although the pillars and marble floors were white, I could hear the whispers of spilt blood staining the tiles. We walked for what seemed like hours and every time I looked around, I saw pairs and pairs of beautiful red eyes watching my every move. Some of them were licking their lips…to which Toya put his arm around me protectively.

We stopped in front of a secluded area with beautifully carved doors. There were no pairs of red eyes except for one in front of us. She was beautiful with pale skin and long raven hair that turned into waves at the end. Yukito stepped in front and smiled at her, "My cousin, Tomoyo."

Tomoyo curtsied, "My Prince."

Then Tomoyo placed a hand on Yukito's shoulder in a familiar and affectionate way. Yukito turned his red eyes to me, "Sakura, you will be in care of my cousin Tomoyo. She is perhaps the most trusted of all of us. You'll be safe with her."

And I knew he was telling the truth. Tomoyo had a very sincere look. She came up to me in a swift movement and grabbed my hand. It was a very warm hand.

"Come," she said to me softly with a smile. And then to Yukito and Toya, "You can go and get ready yourselves." Toya waved his hand to me before he turned to leave.

Tomoyo opened the heavy doors easily with one push of her small hand. As she led me in, I couldn't help but be stunned by the beauty that covered all the surroundings inside the room. She quickly dashed across the large room to another wall with grand doors in it.

"Sakura," she called excitingly, "We have to get ready for the party."

"Party?" I had to run to go where she was, "What party?"

She was quickly flinging dresses from where they were neatly hanging in what seemed like a closet…it was as large as my hut in the village. She groaned in disappointment, "None of these dresses are good for you."

"I don't need a dress," I said in a daze as I gingerly fingered the delicate fabrics of the clothes.

But she didn't hear me, "Oh, I'll have to make on for you…But there's no time…" And she continued to dig through the closet, "Sit on the bed Sakura and make yourself at home."

So I crossed the carpeted floor to the bed and sat on it, "Are you a Princess?"

"Nope, but I have royalty in my blood and Prince Yukito likes me so I can have one of the hidden rooms in the palace."

"Oh…" I fell onto the circle bed and stared up at the painted ceiling of angels. Slowly I began to fall asleep.

When I woke up, I found myself covered in blankets of dresses. Tomoyo was holding up a pink dress in the air and inspecting it scrutinly, "It'll do." She smiled to my direction, "Okay, now let's get you dressed."

Sleepily, I stood up, not even sure what was going on. Tomoyo swiftly undressed me and slipped on the dress that felt like silky water. She then dragged me to a mirror and studied the dress. I finally woke up completely and gasped at the reflection, "Tomoyo…I can't wear this…it's meant for royalty like you, not a peasant like me."

Tomoyo laughed, "You are royalty Sakura. You and your brother are currently the most respected individuals in the palace." And she tugged at the hem of the dress.

The dress was low cut under the neck and had small puffs at the shoulders. The dress was short in the front but then rippled into longer lengths at the sides and reached my ankles at the back. Pink silks of different colours over-layered each other. "It's so beautiful," I breathed, twirling in every way I could to savor the beauty. I would probably never get a chance to wear such a beautiful thing again in my life.

Suddenly Tomoyo left my side to bring back a chair, which she carried easily, and slid it under me so I sat down. She dragged her entire vanity desk over and began to ruffle through the contents. Just like the dresses, she threw jewelry and makeup around onto the floor. She tried on different jewelry to my neck and didn't stop until about half an hour when she fastened a pink ribbon to my neck. She sighed, "You make the simplest things the most beautiful…" And then she continued to ruffle through till she found a matching ribbon and tied it around my left leg and slipped on a ring on my finger that looked like pink jade. After she was done with the makeup, she began to brush my hair with loving strokes.

"You're so beautiful Sakura…" She said dreamily. Clearly this vampire was nuts, she was more beautiful than me by at least a million times. Then I realized that she wasn't dressed.

"Aren't you going to get ready Tomoyo?"

She stopped brushing and cried out, "Oh no!" I laughed at her innocent expression and she quickly left me to find something in her closet. I looked back at my reflection and stared silently at what I was wearing.

A glint in the vanity drawer drew my eye and I hesitantly reached out a hand to pick it up. Then I found myself immersed in the riches until I found a light purple ribbon. Tomoyo came out of her closet, dressed beautifully. She came behind me to look at her reflection in the mirror and pouted, "I look fat." I rolled my eyes at that comment but smiled at her. I got up from my chair and fastened the purple ribbon to her neck.

"Oh," Tomyo whispered silently as she watched me tie the ribbon around her neck.

I smiled at her when I was done, "You make the simplest things so beautiful."

Her red eyes filled with tears and she hugged me tightly, "You're such a sweetheart Sakura." And as we left the room for the ball, I couldn't help but feel like I had found my best friend.

Part 2

I could feel my eyes turn big and round in wonder at the beautiful ballroom. Tomoyo and I never let our hands drop hold of each other, and she led me through the crowds of vampires to where the King and his royalty sat. Tomoyo bowed down deeply in front of the gentle looking King and I followed suit.

"Rise," said the King's kind voice. I looked up to see that he was smiling.

"My King Clow, this is the new blood fountain, Sakura Kinomoto," said Tomoyo. My skin crawled at the words blood fountain.

"Hello Sakura," said the King. "Hello King Clow," I replied.

Tomoyo squeezed my hand gently, "Sakura, this is Prince Yukito and Prince Yue. The twin heirs to the throne."

I smiled at Yukito, and he smiled back lovingly. Then I looked at Prince Yue, and my smile froze in its place. He looked exactly like Yukito but his hair was longer and his red eyes were colder. Prince Yue held no warm smiles for me but only cold eyes.

Tomoyo moved on, "Sakura, meet the Princess Meiling and the Princes Spinel and Keroberos." The princes had kind smiles, and Keroberos even winked at me, but the beautiful princess didn't even glance at me.

"Where's Toya?" I asked.

"He doesn't like parties," said Yukito with a laugh. I felt saddened that I didn't know my own brother very well. And I had hoped to talk some more with him here…

Suddenly Meiling stood up, "Father, I'm going to sit somewhere else." Prince Spinel nodded.

"Sit here," said Keroberos, indicating at the now empty seat, "You'll have a better view of the ball."

I looked at Tomoyo and she smiled at me, "Go, I'll be on the dance floor. Look for me, I'll wave." And then she left. I hesitated before sitting down, "Will the Princess Meiling mind if I sat here?"

"No," said Prince Yukito, "She won't."

So I sat down and Keroberos immediately began to talk to me about funny things. We quickly became friends and I delighted in this. Prince Yukito, Prince Keroberos, Lady Tomoyo, and my brother. I already had friends in the palace.

Suddenly during the middle of the dance, the doors opened and two young vampires walked in. But nobody seemed to notice except for me.

"Who are they?" I asked Keroberos.

He glanced at them, "Ah…the illegitimate ones. They are, to put bluntly, the bastards of the royal family."

"…Who are their parents?"

Keroberos eyed me warily, "That is a secret. And it will never be more than a secret."

I shivered at those words and turned my attention back to them. They were both beautiful, but the one with the unbrushed hair seemed more…handsome. Suddenly, his red eyes looked up and I found my gaze caught in them. It was the vampire from the morning. Syaoran

And I watched him, and only him. I forgot about looking for Tomoyo on the dance floor and I watched as Syaoran bumped into a dancing pair. He quickly left to the safety of the walls. Then Princess Meiling came up to him and they began to talk. I felt my heartbeat quicken. Suddenly Syaoran was smiling at her and leading her to the dance floor. The crowds of people parted for them and they became the centre of attention. I was no longer the only one watching them now.

"It seems your daughter is fascinated with Syaoran," said the King to Prince Spinel, "And she has promised our new blood fountain to him if he agrees to marry her."

The Royals turned their eyes to me.

Prince Yukito looked worried, "Father, you wouldn't actually let Meiling promise off Sakura to Syaoran…would you? Sakura was meant for Yue."

My head began to spin. I was meant for someone? What?

"It will be Sakura's choice. She can go to whomever she wants."

"I…I don't know what's going on," I said dizzily.

Keroberos placed a hand on my shoulder, "In this palace, there are only two blood fountains. And they are yourself and your brother. A blood fountain is someone who can give as much blood as desired to a vampire without suffering from pain or death. They are valued greatly."

Now it was beginning to make sense.

"But how do you know I'm a blood fountain?"

Then the King spoke quietly, "Because your father was a vampire. We recently discovered, with Toya's help, that blood fountains are born from the mating between a vampire and a human being."

I placed a hand on my forehead to stop the spinning, "My father…?"

"Was one of the vampire twins destined for the throne. He was my brother, Fujitaka."

And then everyone's faces disappeared, and I fell into a dark peace.