Caught In Between

By: Ame Mitsukai

Chapter 4

Sakura's P.O.V.

Sakura…

Syaoran's voice. His sweet, soft voice. Where was it coming from? I was surrounded in darkness, my body was tingling. Where was I?

Sakura…

"Where are you?" My name called by his voice echoed in my head. The darkness shifted and I was falling. I couldn't scream; his figure was right there above me, watching me fall with sadness in his ruby orbs.

I'm sorry…

"Don't be sorry! Syaoran wait! What's going on?!" I reached for him with all the strength that I could wield. But the wind was rushing passed my face and he disappeared. I continued to fall. My eyes widened as something stabbed my chest. The feeling sent sudden fear through my being. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing could be heard. In moments, I felt the ground plunge against my back. Sheer pain ripped through my soul…

My eyes flew open and I threw myself in a sitting position as fast as I could. My eyes felt sore and my head was thumping with pain. I looked around quickly, flicking my head left and right, up and down. This definitely was not my apartment.

My breathing was heavy and forced, as if I haven't been breathing for ages. My lungs were also sore. Actually, now that I've thought about it, my whole body was sore. I relaxed my shoulders and back, and they felt heavy. My head still thrummed relentlessly and that was all I could hear. My mind refused to think back on what happened; everything was fuzzy.

Thump, thump, thump.

I didn't know where I was, I didn't know why I was hurting everywhere, and I didn't know why I was having such a strange nightmare. What in the world was going on?

I waited a few minutes to calm myself down. Surely, there were answers to all these questions. I just had to wait for the right time. My breathing slowed and became normal, the thrumming faded a little, and I was able to close my eyes and just concentrate on relaxing my whole body.

But unluckily, the sound of thudding foot steps made my body tense. My mind was attacking me, telling me to defend myself from any threat that may be making that noise. For a moment, I was even surprised I could hear the footsteps so clearly. How was that possible? But my brain pushed all thoughts away except for the fact that something harmful might be coming my way.

The sound of the door knob turning made my eyes flit towards the sound. I could see every detail of the door knob, the lights shining off of it, the small lines of age on the stainless steel. Every detail, I noticed, that I could see with my eyes were sharpened. I could see details that I could never see before. What in the world?

That door opened and the smell of blood wafted softly in the room. My stomach constricted and I felt like vomiting. I hated the smell or the look of blood. Why did I smell it now? I stopped breathing through my noise immediately.

I watched, the hairs standing on my neck, my eyes widening with blank fear. I didn't even know why I felt so scared.

Matsu walked through the door with a blank expression on his face, which quickly turned into alarm as he noticed me sitting up with my eyes staring at him and my teeth bore at him. I heard the hiss escape my mouth. But the moment I realized it was Matsu, I fixed myself and covered my hand with my mouth.

"Well, I see you're awake now, Sakura. How do you feel?" He placed a small basin with warm water and a towel on the table next to the bed I was sitting on, ignoring my previous action.

"Uh…" I swallowed, still trying to avoid breathing through my noise. "Yeah, I'm okay, I think. What happened?" I was definitely still curious about how I ended up here.

"You were really lucky. My friend dragged me into the same bar we found you in. I refused a lot, but he insisted. We were going to use one of the private rooms to chat and when we came through the door, we noticed you sleeping on the couch." Matsu looked out the window with a pained expression on his face as he continued. "I walked over to wake up you, but your face was so pale, and you were cold and sweating. Your breathing was slow and so was your pulse."

I frowned. I honestly couldn't remember anything about that night. That's definitely very strange. I was about to ask if anyone was with me, but then I shot the thought down because something flashed into my memory, although very fuzzy. A tall figure, brown hair, lovely red eyes. But that couldn't be possible; he was just a figure in my dreams. This Syaoran character seemed so unreal. I couldn't recall seeing him or talking to him, so why did I have a dream about him?

"Sakura? Are you okay?" Matsu leaned over automatically to touch his hand on my forehead to check if I had a fever. But, as if instinctively, I moved from his incoming contact. My back was against the wall before I knew it and he stared at me, mouth hanging, shock present in his light brown eyes.

As I eyed him fearfully, I realized at once that any human being wouldn't be reacting this way to this kind of gesture. I really wasn't getting the hang of this…

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry. I was just…" I blubbered, the heat rising to my cheeks. Confusion still filled my mind.

"No, Sakura, it's okay. It was my fault for doing that. I should have asked first. I should be sorry." Matsu dropped his head and looked a little glum. I felt bad, so I decided to change the subject.

But before I could speak, my more humanly instincts told me to breathe in, and I did. The stench of blood was filling my head again. Damn, I forgot about that. I stopped breathing again, fighting the urge to gag. Maybe I should go see a doctor soon.

"Sorry but. Can I have a drink of water? My throat's really dry." I made a face and rubbed a little at my throat to emphasize my request. I felt really thirsty.

"Sure. Wait here." He stalked out of the room and closed the door. I let out my breath and breathed in again, but the smell was still there. It polluted the whole room. So before I could throw up, I got out of the bed and stumbled towards the window and opened it all the way and stuck my head out of it. Then, I took one long sweeping breath of the fresh afternoon air—

Wait…AFTERNOON?! There was no way I could have slept so long. Did Matsu tell me how long I was out for? Wasn't there school? My body spun around quickly and my eyes searched for a clock. There was one on the wall. 2:30 PM. This just get's even weirder…

The doorknob was twitching again as Matsu was about to come in. I was facing the opposite side of the window with my hands against the sill, my arms bent. I still couldn't quite register what was wrong with me. Everything was enhanced: my sense of smell, my sense of sight, and my sense of hearing…What about my sense of taste?

"Oh you're up and on your feet. You look much healthier than you were 2 nights ago." He gestured the glass of water to me and I stared at it. 2 nights ago?

I took the glass as not to be rude, but I knew my expression was of shock. "Th-thanks. Um, was I really out for 2 nights?" I took a sip of the water. It tasted so sweet in a non-sugary way, like how water would taste if you were very dehydrated. But it was so strong, that it intoxicated my senses. Maybe I'll learn to like this new change.

"Yeah, well, you did seem a lot like you were dying. I mean you looked so pale and cold. I even took you to the hospital for a check up, and even then you didn't wake up. The doctor told me you just had an odd fever kind of thing except you were, well you know, cold." Matsu shrugged his shoulders and looked to his side as if he couldn't understand it.

I just nodded and drank the rest of my water. The smell of blood started to fade away a little. I think I finally got used to the smell.

"So anyways," my friend brightened up and smiled at me as if nothing ever happened to me. "It's the weekend and you've been knocked out for a while. Want to go to the beach and catch some rays and waves?" The way he looked at me was of embarrassment and shyness. I couldn't help but smile at him.

"Sure, why not?" It had been a while since I had any good time to relax anyways.

XxX

Syaoran's P.O.V.

Black Rose was always open for the vampires. It was the only place near the city full of blood-sucking monsters like me.

I hated myself for what I did to Sakura. Even if she was alive now, it's probable that she became a vampire or even died. And it would be my fault.

"Ah, Syaoran, my best buddy. Why the long look?" Eriol, my calm-thinking friend eased himself onto the seat beside me.

Despite the fact that I was being rude, I ignored him and gulped down another shot of vodka, then slamming the small glass so hard on the table that it shattered into small, fine crystal shards everywhere around me. The light glittered off them and I blinked away from them irritably. The other vampires stared at me for a fraction of a second, then returned to their own business. I swept the shards off the counter

"Hmm, well I guess you're that upset about something. Would you care to tell me what's wrong?" Eriol didn't seem surprised at my action. I glared at him and saw the clarity and calmness of his eyes. Immediately, I felt somber and my flaring anger ceased inside my head. I hated it when he did that to me; using his god damned vampire gift to calm me down while I was in distress.

He was just one of those vampires who had gifts. Only those who were actual descendants of the first vampires ever to exist had the power. It was despicable.

"Damn it, Eriol," I closed my eyes and breathed slowly. "Why do you always have to do that to me?" I opened my eyes and glared at him. He only smiled his sly smile. That jerk.

"This time is just so that you won't trash the place. I know how rash you can be when you're frustrated." He propped his head on his hand, elbow on the counter, and leaned against it to relax and face me with an annoying smile.

I had to admit, it was true though. When I lost my temper, I tended to break things and make havoc around me. I guess I would thank him for saving my ass from a visit to the ancient ones…later.

"So…" My friend was still looking upon me with calm eyes. "Would you please tell me what went wrong that seems to bother you so much?" He thought about it for a moment, and then added, "Aside from you being a vampire of course. That, I can't help you with."

"I…" My voice hesitated. It embarrassed me to talk about this in particular, which made me angry at myself. I've vowed so many times to him, to the ancients, to everyone that I'd never drink blood. But here I sat, reveling over the fact that I have, and that I liked it. "I…bit someone." My eyes closed tight and my teeth grit together as I talked. I tried not to think about the limp body that was lying in my arms days before, her hair that smelt like strawberries, her eyes that were a beautiful green color, her singing voice that sent a wave of unknown feeling through my body.

"I see. So you've drank blood for the first time." He smiled. It made me want to punch him in the face. But I knew I couldn't. He was the only person who would listen to me and let me do what I wanted, aside from trashing things.

Eriol didn't say anything after that. I watched him, waiting for him to say something wise. But he didn't. My frustration rose again, despite the calm I felt before. Maybe I didn't give him enough details to let him figure out a solution like he always did.

"She was only maybe 17. She was young and active and beautiful. And I ended her life." I dropped my head into my hands and sighed. The air filled my lungs and flew out of my throat like a breeze.

It was silent. I was still waiting for a response. I guess he didn't have one. So I just shut up and tried not to think of anything. But that face kept popping into my mind. That care-free smile, the excitement in those emerald orbs, the smooth auburn hair, and the mellow singing voice. No matter how hard I tried to push these thoughts away, they came back stronger as if they were haunting me. God damn it.

"How long did you drink for?" Eriol's voice made my head snap up and look at him questioningly. What did that have to do with anything? I may have killed someone and he even supported me with the idea of not drinking blood. Why did he want to know how long I was drinking for?

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Irritation was thick in my voice as I placed my hands on the table. He glared at me with a look that told me the answer should have been obvious. I felt stupid under his gaze.

"Of course…" He picked up a martini glass and sipped from it. "Transformation or maybe even death would only occur if you've been drinking for more than 5 minutes." The glass didn't make a sound as he placed it in front of him to look at me.

That made me think. I was so intoxicated at that moment; I wasn't sure how long I was actually drinking her blood. My memory flashed back at the scene. Remembering her taste made me swallow my thirst. Her arms were gripping my shirt, her breathing was irregular, and her voice was weak. It was because of her voice saying my name that made me stop. I probably drank for about thirty seconds…

Then it hit me. So maybe she wasn't dead or even changed. If it took 5 minutes for anything bad to happen, then that meant she could be okay. I stared at Eriol with realization.

"I probably drank for about 30 seconds. Something stopped me from drinking very much." I decided not to tell him that it was her who made me stop. I was pretty sure a normal vampire wouldn't care if the world was exploding, drinking her blood.

"Then you don't have to worry. She probably isn't dead or hasn't transformed…much." He took another sip from his glass.

Wait a minute. Much?

"What do you mean she probably hasn't transformed much?" I demanded.

"Well even if you just drank for 30 seconds, the venom enters the blood stream the moment you sink your teeth into her skin. Surely, you knew that much, right?" Eriol sighed as if I were a naughty student who didn't pay attention in class.

So Sakura isn't dead, but transformed a little. I better keep an eye on her just in case she started killing people or something…

But I knew that wasn't the reason why I wanted to follow her around though. I was pretty sure it was because of something else. Something that I couldn't quite understand.

To be continued…

Okay I think I'm starting to mess up the story by accident. LOL. Enjoy anyways. Cheers!

Ame.