Kori: Hello, everybody. I decided to write the ever popular theme of VAMPIRES! To those of you who have not read the House of Night series, you need not do so, because I shall change whatever I see fit. Including character deaths and villains.
Communications:
/Hikari to Yami/
/Yami to Hikari/
"Speaking"
Thinking
Disclaimer: I do not own House of Night or Yugioh.
Read and Review
Into the Night Chapter One
Snowflakes danced through the night air. They were silvery-white and would have been beautiful if Ryou had not felt like utter shit.
He walked in the middle of his group of friends as they trudged through the park, having just left the arcade. Ryou's face was numb, as were his hands and feet. The snow left his clothes damp and he shivered almost uncontrollably.
A cough ripped from his mouth, scraping at his already raw throat. He tried to hide the cough behind his gloved hand, but he felt another one coming on. He pursed his lips to try and hold it in. It seemed to work for a while, but then a bout of coughing came on with such ferocity that he doubled over, hacking. His knees felt weak and he wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep for a week.
/I told you to stay home/ Bakura said. Ryou could hear the smirk he knew the spirit was wearing.
/Shut up/ Ryou sent back. /I'm fine. / Then he burst out coughing again.
Malik slapped Ryou's back a few times. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
The others were looking at him with equal concern. Ryou took a deep breath and sighed in relief when he didn't cough again.
"I'm fine," he assured them. "I might be getting a cold, but it's nothing serious."
/No. Certainly not serious at all when you've been hacking your lungs up for a week/ Bakura chuckled.
/Aw, Bakura/ Ryou thought sarcastically. /You do care. /
Bakura sent him a mental eye roll. /It didn't matter before, as I could take the body whenever you were being stupid. Now I have to get permission and all that shit. / There was a sigh. /It's annoying as hell. /
Ryou ignored him, as he'd gotten rather good at doing.
"Maybe you should get home," Malik suggested, snapping Ryou from his thoughts.
Ryou would have protested if he hadn't felt the familiar tickle of a coughing fit in the back of his throat. God, it felt like he was dying. If he died, what would happen to his body? Would Bakura take over, like some weird backup system?
Ryou shook the thoughts away, absentmindedly rubbing his neck. "Yeah," he finally said to Malik and the rest of them.
He coughed into his fist and turned from the group. He walked home, grateful that he was only a few blocks from it. When he reached his door, he fumbled with the keys.
/For Ra's sake, Yadonushi! / Bakura growled, annoyed. /Let me do it if you can't. I don't want to be out here any longer than necessary! / He phased out of the Ring, appearing as a spirit next to Ryou, invisible to anyone but a Shadow Wielder.
"Shut up, Bakura!" Ryou hissed, coughing again.
He heard his porch creaking behind him. He spun around and faced the person. It was a man who couldn't be more than a few years older than Ryou. He had long black hair that hung in his face and his head was bowed.
"Are you alright?" Ryou asked in a concerned voice.
/Are you an idiot? / Bakura shouted at Ryou. /Get your ass inside the house before he mugs you or something./
Ryou ignored Bakura and looked at the man. Suddenly, his head snapped up, flinging his hair from his face, which was circled with tattoos. There was a blue crescent moon on his forehead, with intricate knots trailing from it down the sides of his face and over his cheekbones. He raised a hand and pointed his index finger at Ryou's forehead. "Ryou Bakura." The man said in English. He then pointed to Bakura, whose eyes widened. "Akefia, Bakura, Spirit of the Ring."
Both of the white haired teens gasped. Not only could this man see Bakura, but he knew who he was.
What was happening?
"Night has chosen thee," the man continued. "Thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee, hearken to her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night."
Pain exploded in Ryou's forehead, as if he was being burned. He felt a similar pain through the mind link with Bakura. He tried to shut it out.
He screamed as blackness invaded his vision. The last thing he saw before it overtook him completely was his snow-covered porch coming directly at him.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing back on his porch, but the man was no longer there and the air around him shimmered a pale silver. His head still hurt, but the pain was now nothing more than a dull throb. He heard a groan next to him and turned to see Bakura with a fully solid body.
"Bakura! You're solid!"
"No, shit." Bakura opened his eyes and stared at Ryou. He was staring directly at Ryou's forehead. "What?" Ryou asked, and then gasped as Bakura stood and moved some hair out of his face. There was a crescent moon outline colored the bright red of freshly spilled blood on Bakura's forehead, in the exact place that strange man had pointed.
"And you-you h-have a tattoo!" Ryou exclaimed.
"So do you!" the yami said, his eyes wide.
Ryou reached up and touched the still throbbing spot of skin. "I have a red moon, too?"
"What are you talking about? It's blue, like that guys tattoos were." Bakura quickly glared at Ryou. "I told you to get inside! If you had just listened to me, then we wouldn't be in this situation!"
Ryou narrowed his eyes. "Fine! Yes, I should have listened to you! You were right and I was wrong! Happy now, your all-knowingness?"
Bakura growled something under his breath, but all Ryou ignored him in favor of looking around at the ethereal mist surrounding them. He ran his hand through a cloud of it that was next to him and watched it swirl up slowly.
"Where are we?" He said softly.
"You are at the edge of the Otherworld," a woman's voice said in English from behind the pair. Ryou jumped and spun around. He saw that Bakura had also turned around and was in a defensive position, Shadows swirling around one of his hands.
The woman stood a few feet from the two teens. Actually, floated was a more accurate term. Her rested a few inches above the ground, but she seemed completely solid. She had long dark hair that floated lazily around her. Her skin was pale and she was very pretty. She was wearing a long white dress.
"Now, now," she said, lifting a hand. "There is no need for anything like that." The Shadows dissipated from Bakura's hand.
The former King of Thieves stared at his hand, then at the woman. He began to back away slowly. "Who are you?" he said in English.
Ryou heard a slight tremor to his voice.
The woman smiled slightly. "You don't need to fear me, my son. I'm not here to hurt you. However, as you were planning on attacking me, I merely defended myself."
"That doesn't answer my question, lady," Bakura growled. "And I'm not your son."
"All fledglings are my children," the woman said. "As for your question, my name is Nyx."
The name sounded familiar to Ryou. He thought for a moment, then it hit him. "Nyx," he said slowly. "As in the Goddess of the Night? The Vampyre Goddess?"
Then he remembered. He had learned about this in school, though very little. Apparently, there were not many Japanese vampyres, so the schools and the news did not teach much on the subject. In fact, if he was correct, the only home for vampyre fledglings was in Tokyo.
Nyx nodded. "That is correct, Ryou."
"Vampyres?" Bakura said. "Like…'the Marked Ones?'"
"The Marked Ones?" Ryou asked.
"That's what they were called in Egypt," Bakura said. "I only met one of them, but still…I should have realized that guy on the porch was one of them."
Ryou's eyes widened, "You mean…I've been Marked? I'm a vampyre now?"
"Not quite," Nyx said. "You are a fledgling, not yet a fully Changed vampyre."
Bakura frowned. "Hey, what about me? I'm just a spirit! I can't go through the Change."
Ryou nodded, "Also, why is his Mark red? From what I heard in school, the Marks are always blue."
"While that is normally true, there are some exceptions. These fledglings Marks are red because, well, the fledgling was-" she paused, as if searching for the right word. "Broken in some way."
Bakura's eyes flashed with anger. "Broken?" he said in a scarily quiet voice.
Ryou tensed at the darkness that was beginning to build around Bakura. He hated when Bakura was quiet, it meant that he was about to explode.
/Bakura!/ Ryou sent over the mind link. / Don't be stupid! She's a goddess!/ But Bakura was ignoring him.
Nyx stepped forward. "Do not take offense to what I said, child."
"How can I not take offense to being called 'broken'?" Bakura said almost calmly. "And I am over five thousand years old. I am not a child. Especially not your child."
Nyx sighed. "You should not take offense because broken does not necessarily mean weak. You were broken because you had lost your humanity."
The Shadows immediately disappeared along with all the color in Bakura's face. "I- What does humanity matter?" Bakura shoulders slumped a bit. "I'm not human."
"I never said you were, but it is not necessary to be human to have humanity."
Bakura said nothing, but his normally straight face had a look of almost despair. "What does the Mark mean?" he said quietly. "Is it just a brand? So that the rest of the world can see me as broken?" He spat out the last word like it was poison.
"No, ch- Bakura," Nyx said, soothingly. "It means that something within you was restored. You have gained something through your Marking."
Bakura eyes hardened. "What? The humanity everyone insists I need? I don't need it, and I don't want it. You can take whatever the hell you gave me and shove it-"
"Bakura!" Ryou gasped. "You can't just say things like that! Especially not to-"
"It is fine," Nyx interrupted. "But I will not take back a gift once it is given. It is yours to keep, discover, and use as you see fit. Both with humanity and your new-found solid form."
Confusion darkened Bakura's face, but it was Ryou who spoke. "You mean, his body will stay? Even after we return to the normal world?"
"You are in your world, my son. I have merely brought my Otherworld here. So, yes, it will stay. However it is not permanent. It will remain for the duration of his strength and willpower, but he will be able to call on it when it is needed."
Bakura was looking at his hands. Slowly, he faced Nyx again. "So, what is it you want?"
"Why do you assume she wants something?" Ryou said.
"Because I highly doubt that she meets with all fledglings like this when they are Marked. Which means she needs something from us."
They both looked at Nyx and she nodded. "I will not lie, there is a reason you were both Marked. Darkness is rising. A true Darkness that is older and more powerful than your Shadows could ever hope to be."
A few tendrils of Shadow had reappeared around Bakura. They seemed to be looking up at their master, as if they could understand the words of the Goddess and wished for Bakura to explain.
"If this magic is more powerful than what I possess, then why do you need help?" Bakura said, as confused as the Shadows.
"You are not the only one to possess this magic," Nyx said. "There are quite a few Shadow Wielders in Japan, your host being one of them."
Bakura stared at Ryou. Ryou's eyes widened. "I-I don't know what you're talking about. I can't use Shadow Magic!"
"Yes, you can," Nyx said gently. "You just have not tried. Your magic is be different than Bakura's, but it powerful."
Ryou looked from Nyx to Bakura. But the Shadows are evil! he thought.
"No," Nyx said, responding to his thought. "Does not your friend, the Pharaoh, use Shadows? That is why I need your help, because your magic can be used both for good and evil."
"And you don't want it to end up in the hands of your enemies," Bakura stated.
"That too. There is a House of Night that needs your help desperately. You are the beginning."
"The beginning of what?" Ryou whispered.
"There will be five who linger on the edge of light and darkness; Two circles as one with the power of infinity to will cleanse the world."
Ryou looked at his hands. "Where is the House of Night?"
"You're seriously considering this?" Bakura asked incredulously. "She just wants to use our magic so she doesn't have to do anything!"
Nyx sighed. "That is closer to the truth than I would like it to be. I have given my children the gift of free will, so to interfere would be…"
"Going against your word?" Ryou said.
Nyx nodded. "Regretfully, yes. I will not take away free will, but I will not stand idly by as my children die!"
"So, you need us to help them…" Ryou thought for a moment. "Where is this House of Night?"
"Tulsa," Nyx said.
Ryou bit his lip. "I'd have to leave tonight. I wouldn't have time to say goodbye to everyone…"
/You're going, aren't you?/ Bakura asked.
/We are going, Bakura / Ryou sent back. /They need help. Plus, I have to go to a House of Night now anyway, so I might as well be doing something useful. /
"Fine then," Bakura said out loud.
Ryou blinked. Why was Bakura letting this go so easy? He'd expected him to argue more, or to completely ignore Ryou's opinion and say no.
He looked at Nyx. "Y-yes. We'll go."
Nyx smiled. "Thank you. Now, I expect you wish to wake up?"
Ryou nodded. "Yes please."
Nyx raised her hand. The last thing Ryou heard before the world went black was the Goddesses voice saying, "Good luck, child."
Ryou opened his eyes to find himself on the couch in his living room. He blinked as saw that vampyre that had Marked him. The man was perched like a bird on the edge of the couch, staring at him with wide eyes.
"Oh, good," he said simply. "You're awake." He stepped down and strode to the center of the room. "You should pack quickly. The House of Night is waiting." He looked at Ryou, a small smirk on his face. "Never have I had to travel so far to Mark a fledgling, nor have I ever Marked one such as you."
Ryou felt his face begin to flush, as it always did when he was nervous. "O-okay," he stuttered, responding in English. He might as well start speaking it now, as he was going to America. "I'll go pack."
He rushed up the stairs and into his room. He pulled two empty suitcases out from underneath his bed and proceeded to fill them with clothes and other necessities. He packed all of the pictures of his friends from the top of his dresser, much to Bakura's dislike. /Must you take all of them, Yadonushi? / the yami sent, annoyed.
"Yes," Ryou said aloud. "I'm not going to get to say goodbye, so yes I do."
"You could always call them," Bakura's voice sounded from right behind Ryou. Ryou looked and saw that Bakura was solid. The teen looked as though it was perfectly normal as he picked up a bottle of sleeping pills and turned it in his hands, but Ryou could feel excitement leaking through the mind link.
Bakura noticed that Ryou could feel it, and immediately shut the link tightly.
Ryou zipped his bag closed and looked around at all his things. "Yeah, I could," he said to Bakura. "But not until we leave, they won't let me go alone and I can't let them come to the House of Night with me."
"Won't they just show up anyway, after you tell them?" Bakura asked, shoving the pill bottle back into the suitcase.
"That's why I'm not going to tell them about Nyx," Ryou said simply. He felt Bakura's shock through the link, but it quickly disappeared.
"You're going to lie, Yadonushi? I'm impressed," Bakura smirked.
"I'm not lying because I want to!" Ryou snapped, slamming his last suitcase closed.
Bakura raised an eyebrow at Ryou's tone. Ryou looked away and muttered an apology. He'd been testy the past couple days, but he'd never snapped that badly at Bakura.
"I'm lying because I don't want them to worry about me," he said a few minutes later, in a much calmer voice.
"They'll worry about you anyway, they're stupid like that," Bakura said, rolling his eyes.
Ryou frowned at that, but said nothing. Bakura was in a good mood, and Ryou did not want to make the yami angry. "I know," he said quietly. "But I'm just going to tell them that my father wanted me to come to that House of Night. He's working on a excavation near Tulsa right now."
"They won't buy that bullshit anymore than I would," Bakura laughed. "Your father couldn't give two shits about whether you're a fledgling, vampyre or human. When was the last time he even wrote you?" Bakura's voice had turned sneering and cruel.
Ryou felt tears prickle in his eyes. Bakura was right, though. His father didn't care about him. He clenched his jaw and tried to blink the tears away. He wouldn't give Bakura the pleasure of seeing him cry.
He picked up his suitcases and trudged downstairs. As he walked out, he noticed that Bakura had once again faded to a spirit. Why didn't he stay solid, now that he could?
/It's a waste of energy / Bakura sent to him, having heard the question.
Ryou knew the yami was lying, he could sense that those few minutes had weakened Bakura significantly. He didn't say anything, not wanting to anger Bakura.
They reached the bottom of the stairs and Bakura went back into the Ring.
The vampyre had two plane tickets in his hand. He handed one to Ryou. "I trust you have a passport?"
Ryou nodded and pulled it out of his pocket.
The vampyre nodded, "Then let us be off."
The trip to the airport was short and not-so-sweet. Bakura was sitting at the back of Ryou's mind, not saying anything but listening to everything.
Ryou tried to ignore him, but Bakura had a way of making his presence very known in Ryou's head when he wanted to. He was doing that right now, making his mind heavy on Ryou's so the boy wouldn't forget he was there. As if he could.
The plane left shortly after they arrived. Ryou was happy that it was actually mostly empty, but the vampyre still sat beside him. He was quiet most of the way, but would sometimes question Ryou. "You speak English very well," he said once. "You should not have a problem at the Tulsa House of Night. Your spirit, on the other hand…"
Ryou stiffened as he felt a flash of rage from Bakura. The spirit appeared above both of them, glaring at the vampyre. "I am not his spirit!" he spat.
The vampyre did not seem fazed by this. "I meant no offense by my statement," he said rather calmly.
Bakura merely narrowed his eyes and disappeared again. /He didn't mean anything by it, Bakura / Ryou sent to the spirit.
/Shut up, Yadonushi / Bakura spat.
Ryou flinched at the anger, but stayed quiet until the about halfway through of the flight.
"You knew about Bakura before you Marked us, right?" he asked the vampyre.
"I did not know the details, I knew two names and that I would be Marking two fledglings at once."
"Does anyone else at the House of Night know?"
"No. They merely know that I was told by the Goddess to Mark a fledgling in Japan. I gave no details, nor did I need to."
Ryou felt a bit of relief at that. "Can you please not tell anyone about Bakura?" he asked. "It important."
The vampyre looked at Ryou for a long time, then nodded.
"Thank you."
There was silence for a few minutes, then Bakura sent /Weren't you going to call your friends? /
Ryou blinked. /Oh, right. Thanks, Bakura. /
Bakura merely grunted at Ryou's thanks.
Ryou pulled out his phone and dialed Malik's number first. It rang a few times, then his best friend picked up. "Ryou? Are you okay? Did you make it home?" Malik said quickly, tripping over words.
Ryou laughed. "Calm down, Malik. Yes, yes and sort of. There's something I need to tell you."
"What?"
Ryou took a deep breath. "Do you remember learning about vampyres and the Change in school? Getting Marked and all of that?"
"Yes," Malik said, a bit skeptically. "Why?"
Ryou felt his jaw lock up. He didn't want to tell them. He knew Malik would be hurt that Ryou hadn't called him right away.
/ Just say it already! / Bakura snapped at him, irritated at Ryou's hesitation.
"I-I got Marked," Ryou finally blurted.
There was silence. "You're serious?" Malik whispered.
Ryou nodded, then realized Malik couldn't see him. "Yeah, I am. There's no House of Night in Domino, and I didn't want to move to Tokyo, so I'm…I'm going to Tulsa, where my dad is right now. There's a House of Night there."
"YOU'RE MOVING!" Malik yelled into the phone.
Ryou held it a bit away from his ear. "Yeah," he said, once Malik had calmed down. "It's easier than going to Tokyo. I just called to say goodbye. It was quick, so there's still a lot of things at my place."
"G-goodbye?" Malik choked. Ryou could hear his friends tears and felt his own eyes begin to water. "You mean you're never coming back?"
"I can visit, or you can visit," Ryou said, trying to keep his sadness out of his voice. "And we can talk on the phone."
"Then it's not goodbye," Malik said defiantly. Then, he got quiet again. "Where are you?"
"On the plane," Ryou said.
There was another long silence. "You already left? Without telling me?"
"It all happened so fast, Malik. I d-didn't really have a chance. I'm sorry."
Ryou heard Malik sigh. "I know. It's alright. Do you want me to send you your stuff?"
"Actually, could you just hold onto it for me?"
"Yeah," Malik said, happier now. "Now you'll have to come to Japan and get it yourself."
Ryou smiled to himself. "Yeah. A-and, could you tell the others…"
"Sure," Malik said. "Isis is calling me, so I better go. But you have to promise to call me every other day."
"I'll call you as often as I can," Ryou promised.
"Okay, then. Goodbye."
The phone went dead and Ryou felt a new weight press down on him as he flipped through his short contact list. He had to call his father. He pressed the call button.
It rang for what seemed like forever before the man picked up. "Yes? Shen Bakura speaking."
His father didn't realize who it was, Ryou noticed. Which meant his number wasn't on his father's contacts. He frowned briefly before answering. "H-hello, dad," he said, hating how scared his voice sounded. This was the first contact he'd had with his father in over two years.
"Ryou?" His father's voice now sounded tired and slightly irritated, as if he was angry that it was just Ryou calling, and not someone important. "What is it? I'm waiting on an important call right now."
Ryou flinched. "Dad…something happened."
"Did you get kicked out of school again?" His father snapped. "What did you do this time?"
Ryou felt his own rage well up, along with Bakura's. Bakura hated Ryou's father almost as much as he hated Atem, but Ryou could never quite figure out why. He pushed aside the anger though. He didn't want to argue with his father right now.
"No. I didn't get kicked out of school." Ryou paused, a little unsure of how to continue. "I g-got Marked. I didn't want to move to Tokyo, so I'm coming to Tulsa. That's where you are isn't it?"
He heard his father cluck his tongue. "Why don't you just go to Tokyo?"
Ryou felt a twinge of pain. "Because I have to go to Tulsa. The tracker from that House of Night Marked me."
"You could still go to Tokyo," his father insisted. "I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem."
Ryou opened his mouth, but he couldn't say anything.
/ Do you want me to get rid of him for you/ Bakura offered.
Ryou was surprised at the almost gentle way Bakura said this, but he knew the yami was just probably trying to get Ryou off the phone. / Sure. /
He felt himself get pressed to the back of the mind as Bakura took over the body. He was happily surprised that he still had all the senses. He was usually completely cut off when Bakura took over the body.
"That isn't really your concern," Bakura said into the phone. "I am going to the House of Night in Tulsa."
"I-I am your father and I still have say in what you do-"
"No. You lost those privileges when you abandoned Ya- me eight years ago. Besides, I'm fairly certain that the vampyres have no care what the human family says." Bakura was angry now; Ryou could feel his fury, though he still wasn't sure what caused it.
"Ryou, I did not abandon you. Stop acting like a child!" His father said sternly.
Bakura opened his mouth to speak, but Ryou decided he didn't want to further burn that bridge. He pushed his way back to the front of the mind, taking his limbs back. He was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to push Bakura out of his body. For a moment he wondered if there was a way he could seal Bakura to the back of his mind, so he couldn't bother Ryou anymore. He quickly disposed of that thought and hoped with a twinge of fear that Bakura had not seen it.
Bakura was now seething, but Ryou knew it wasn't the thought; he hadn't caught that, thankfully. It was the fact that Ryou had so easily pushed him aside.
Ryou ignored his yami's anger for the moment. / I'm sorry Bakura, but I'll finish this myself. /
/How can you finish anything if you're too weak to even talk to him? / Bakura sneered.
Ryou frowned. Bakura was right… No, he wasn't. Ryou was not weak.
"I'm not acting like a child, Dad. I'm not a child any longer. I only called you to let you know where I was, because I had the slightest hope that you might care. I can see I was wrong. Goodbye." He pressed the "end call" button and leaned back with a sigh of relief.
/ How was that? / He sent to Bakura.
/ Better than I expected. / the yami admitted.
Ryou nodded and pulled a black cap out of his bag as the flight began to descend. He pulled up his hair and stuffed all of it into the hat.
/ What are you doing that for? /
/People in America will think my hair is strange and I'd rather not draw too much attention. /
Bakura gave a mental shrug as the plane came to a stop on the ground. Ryou stood with the rest of the passengers and left the plane.
He took a deep breath. This was a new adventure, he only hoped he could handle it.