C A U G H T S T A R I N G
Shii-Chan©

AN: Hi, thanks to my two reviews in less than twenty-four hours!

Summary: "I-I'm Kinomoto Sakura...my friend, Hiiragizawa Eriol, gave me this box and the house caught on fire and I was supposed to call this number..." Sakura said. The person over the phone just kept breathing and in a deep, manly voice said, "I'll pick you up in a moment..."
Genre: Romance/Horror/Hurt-Comfort/Mystery/Adventure/Suspense

Year: 2011
Date: 10/23
Time: 10:39
Place: Tomoeda, Japan

"How do you manage to conquer life when life conquers you?"
-Author Unknown

Before: Sakura took the pictures and put them somewhere else. She didn't want to be reminded of the pictures whenever she accidentally stepped on that tile. She put them on top of the box Eriol gave her and then wondered what the box was for. How mysterious...

All of a sudden, the smell of smoke rose in the air...

"Is dad makin' barbecue?" She ran down the stairs to see a flame spreading throughout the house. Except for at the front door. Sakura was so frightened that she ran up the stairs and hid under her purple blanket.

"So everything that's been happening—mom and Sakuya-Chan dying, Tomoyo-Chan leaving with Eriol-San...and not returning for a while—it all leads up to me, dying a horrible life in a fire—and Touya-Chan and dad dying..."

She peered around the room and then remembered what the card on the mysterious box had said...

"...open this until great distress..."

She took the box and the creepy pictures and ran down the stairs and outside. From the outside of the house you could hardly tell it was burning. It was just hot as you approached the drive way. Sakura stood in the street, knowing the one neighbor whom she could trust was gone, she didn't do anything about the fire. She wondered how she actually made it out alive. Then she opened the box, which was about a foot long and a foot high. Inside was a small slip of paper on which was written a Chinese name...Xiao Lang-and a phone number. Sakura looked in her back pocket and found a phone, but as this happened the fire truck and police drove up and began to spray the house, while Sakura was being questioned by the police.

"Who are you, girl?" A man with silver hair and golden eyes and pale skin (probably in his mid-thirties) asked Sakura.

"Kinomoto Sakura, may I ask the same to you?" She said.

"Chief of Police Tsukishiro Yukito...That's funny, I knew another Kinomoto once, she looked like you, but her name was Sakuya and she's obviously dead in the fire now." He said with a small frown.

"That-That's my sister...but how did you know her? She died...no...was killed three years ago. We moved out of Japan when we were two years old, so there's no way you could no her!" Sakura shouted. Did this man really know her sister?

"She wasn't dead, I had coffee (I LUV COFFEE!) with her a few months back. She had the same honey hair you did, kiddo, but her eyes were a little...off. Well anyway, can you tell me how she died? And then go on about how the fire started." Chief Yukito took out a notebook and a pen.

"I don't know...but I was the one who discovered it. They were each lying on the ground of our kitchen...

**F L A S H B A C K**

A twelve year old Kinomoto Sakura trailed in, skipping and singing Gumi's 'Catch You Catch Me.' She lied her backpack on the table and went to go see her twin sister, Sakuya, whom had been sick with an awful cold. She went into the kitchen and let out a high pitch scream. There on the floor, were her mother, Kinomoto Nadeshiko, a woman of beautiful height and features; soft black hair that touched her bottom and amethyst eyes that sparkled day and night; and her twin sister, Kinomoto Sakuya. Sakura flipped them both over, for they were both on their stomachs, hoping they were still alive. There were no visible wounds, but a dark red pool of blood lie next to them. When her father came home with her brother, they all together called the police. No strangulation marks had been found, but Sakura swore she saw muddy footprints leading out the door. But a few seconds later they one by one disappeared.

**C A U G H T S T A R I N G**

After she told Tsukishiro the story of the death, she told him she knew nothing of the fire and that she was left with no guardian, but an emergency number to call. He asked who it was from, and she said she couldn't reply, but with the slightest hope she called the number, and at each ring wondered what was happening and why she couldn't imagine the answers, and trying to decide whether this person was trustworthy or not.

"Nihao?" A voice over the phone said.
"Umm...I speak Japanese and English..." She said. There was a beep and then another answer.
"Hello, who is this?" A secretary-lady with a voice of an angel answered.
"Kinomoto Sakura, calling for someone named Xiao-Xiao Lang? I think?" She said and the woman nodded to her callings as she heard that and replied, "He'll be here in a moment." Then a deep voice answered the phone. He just kept breathing in and out.

"Is this Xiao Lang?" Sakura asked with a shudder.

"Hai, Li Syaoran, in Japanese Translation...I'm guessing you found the package? I didn't mail it but I was informed I would be getting a call from you."

"I-I'm Kinomoto Sakura...my friend, Hiiragizawa Eriol, gave me this box and the house caught on fire and I was supposed to call this number..." Sakura said. The Li just kept breathing and in a deep, manly voice said, "I'll pick you up in a moment..."

"Huh? But aren't you in..." The phone went dead. "...China?"

** C A U G H T S T A R I N G**

It wasn't long before a black Ferrari pulled up in the driveway. The man coming out of it looked about sixteen or seventeen with messy brown hair and golden eyes that had a silhouette that was visible yet covered by dark sunglasses, even though it was practically nightfall. He made a disgusted face as he saw the charred house. He then noticed the emerald-eyed beauty and paced towards her.

"Kinomoto?" He asked.

"Hai, are you Li?" She asked.

"Yes, I am taking you over to my mansion in northern Tomoeda while this house is inspected for paranormal activity."

"Li, you talk big, how old are you?" Sakura asked.

"Seventeen three days ago." He said while shaking his hand through the back of his hair.

"Wow, and your parents rewarded you with the Ferrari I suppose?" Sakura said, making small talk.

"How could you not know how old I am? Or how I got the Ferrari? Or how I have no parents?" Syaoran asked.

"Hoe? Well gomen, but I just moved here like two days ago!" She said while face-palming. She hoped she didn't sound like an idiot.

"Hmm...interesting..." Was all he said. "So Kinomoto, would you like to explain to me in further detail about what happened?"

***E N D O F C H A P T E R T W O*
"Muddy Footprints"

-Shii