[Hello, this is my unfinished fic. I wrote it months ago and never published it because of multiple reasons but mostly because of having a hard time ending it. I hope you can enjoy it anyway, I will add the last part and ending of the story as a second chapter when I finish it. Also, I decided the name of this fic before I wrote it because of inspiration from a song, so if the title doesn't seen to fit properly that's why. Oh, and the italics are character thoughts.]

Death Whispered a Lullaby

What's that sound? Pandora thought as he started to regain consciousness. A slight humming noise filled the room he was in. Where am I? He still rested on the floor where he had fallen hours before. The floor felt dusty to the bare skin on his face. His head throbbed and the humming noise and the cool floor were surprisingly soothing. He opened his eyes and his eyes slowly focused in the dimly lit basement. Just inches from his face was the source of the humming, a saw blade still spinning away. Pandora, fully conscious now thanks to the saw blade, quickly backed away from the blade. He felt a sharp pain in his leg the instant he moved. He looked down at his right shin, the blood had completely soaked his leg and there was a small crimson pool where he had been unconscious.

"Uh... what have I..." Pandora began to question aloud what exactly had happened. Unfortunately, he did remember though. Just hours before he had dueled the young Yugi in a death match in this very basement. He didn't really want to hurt Yugi. It was Yugi, after all, that had saved Pandora from having his own leg severed off after Yugi defeated him. Yugi could have left him to die.. but he saved him before the blade cut him too severely. Yugi, you saved me. Pandora felt guilty for trapping Yugi and forcing him to duel. He had almost killed the young boy. Pandora knew in the back of his mind that if Yugi had lost the duel.. he would have watched the young boy bleed to death on the floor. He wouldn't have saved him. Master wouldn't have let him save Yugi.

Pandora instantly felt a sense of panic, Yugi had escaped. Marik was probably on his way already. Pandora frantically looked around at the occult paraphernalia around the room. There was only one thing he could do. It was going to happen anyway. He limped over to the table, many candles, small dolls, and knives lay on the table. He quickly picked the sharpest knife he could find and returned to sit on the floor. He gripped the knife firmly in his hand, even in the dimly lit room he could see his reflection in the shiny blade. Pandora lowered the blade to his left wrist. His heart skipped a beat when the blade touched his skin. This was inevitable. If he didn't kill himself with his own hand, Marik would kill him. He shuddered at the thought of what Marik would do to him. Anything is better than that. I have to... kill myself. Pandora assured himself it was the only way. It was now or never. He wept silently, blade in hand. He held his breath and quickly slid the knife across his wrist. The blood began to bead around the thin slice on his wrist. Just a little more. He slid the knife across his wrist one last time, over the same spot. The pain only lasted for a second, he watched his left wrist, the blood quickly spilled onto his clothes and formed a nice round pool. The larger the pool became the more his vision blurred. He was almost free. Though Pandora knew he was dying, he's never felt happier. All of this he had been through, nothing mattered now. He felt like he was falling, falling endlessly. Falling to his final resting place, where he would sleep forever. Pandora's body slumped backwards and everything went black as he felt his head hit the floor.

"Heh heh heh. You're really quite amusing to watch."

I'm dead, Marik. You can't hurt me anymore.

"Oh, you're so sure? Heh heh heh. Well then, why don't you open your eyes and take a look around."

Pandora didn't want to open his eyes, he feared what he would see. Am I in Hell? Pandora slowly opened his eyes. He was staring up at the ceiling of the basement. So that was all a dream. I must have hit my head pretty hard... but.. it felt so real. He spun his head around expecting to see Marik standing over him, but he was still alone. Pandora clenched his left hand and moved his wrist in front of his face. No blood, no cuts.

Marik's voice echoed loudly through Pandora's thoughts, "No, you weren't dreaming. I watched you try and kill yourself. If you really want to die though you need to find something a little sharper to break those veins!" Still clenched firmly in Pandora's right hand was the weapon he used to cut his wrist, a candlestick. Pandora dropped the candlestick to the floor, Marik still had control over Pandora's mind. Marik could make Pandora see or do whatever he wanted with the power of the millenium rod. "I'm sorry, Pandora. I couldn't just sit back and let you kill yourself. Not when you managed to let Yugi escape." Pandora was foolishly hoping that Marik hadn't noticed that Yugi escaped. "While you were sleeping I went through your thoughts and memories. You don't have any family, no one loves you. You're really quite pathetic! So this is the third time you've attempted suicide? What do you have to say for yourself!" Pandora knew everything Marik told him was true. He had tried to block out all of his memories. They were too painful.

"I don't have anything to say really. You knew I was pathetic and weak, that's why you have such control over my mind. So are you going to kill me now?" Pandora wanted to die now. He had already accepted this fate.

"I can't kill you Pandora. It would be a waste of my talents to kill someone as pathetic as you! I will do one thing to help you though, I'm going to alter your thoughts. It's the least I could do for all the trouble I've put you through. Heh heh heh!"

Marik's laughing echoed all around the basement. Loud enough it made Pandora want to smash his own head in. Stop laughing! Pandora clenched his head in agony. The room was spinning, Marik still laughing hysterically in Pandora's thoughts. Darkness filled the spinning room. "I'm going to be sick." Pandora closed his eyes, still clenching his head. After what felt like hours, everything was quiet again. Pandora couldn't even hear the humming from the saw blades anymore.

Minutes passed and Pandora didn't move a muscle. Eyes still closed tightly and his hands still clenching his head. Once he was certain the room wasn't spinning he relaxed his hands and opened his eyes. I know this place. Pandora was no longer sitting on the floor of the basement, he was now in a long hallway. A very familiar hallway. Directly in front of Pandora a wooden door towered over him. Pandora struggled to get to his feet, his leg throbbed as he put his weight on it. He reached for the golden door knob and slowly turned it, silently fearing what he would find on the other side. The door slowly creaked and Pandora squinted as the light poured on him from the room. Pandora's jaw dropped when he saw the room. Light pink walls, floral decorations, family pictures, everything was just as he remembered it. The sun shone brightly through the lace curtains onto the bed where a small frail woman lay. She was sleeping. "Mother!" Pandora squeaked. He limped over to the side of the bed. He couldn't believe this was real, his mother had died eight years ago. He couldn't keep the tears from streaming down his face. Tears of joy. He reached out with one shaking hand and gently touched her shoulder. "Mother." He whispered. He almost didn't want to wake her, she looked so peaceful sleeping there. She turned her head to him, not opening her eyes though. "Eric, you're home early." She said in her soft voice. "I'm so sorry Mother. I'm never going to leave you again! I've missed you so much." Pandora blurted as he quickly wiped the tears from his face. She opened her eyes and gave him a concerned look. She reached to him and placed both of her hands on his cheeks. "Are you sick, Eric?" she said with a confused look on her face, "Somethings wrong, you can tell me." She stared into his eyes. His whole life she could always tell when something was bothering him. "I'm... sorry.. for everything." Pandora said. I should have been a better son. I shouldn't have left you at the...end. Pandora regretted all of the decisions he made when he was younger. He grabbed her hands and knelt on the floor next to the bed. He wished he never disobeyed her. He remembered the day she died.

I remember everything... That's unfortunately not something I can block out of my memory. It started out as a day like any other. I was still in highschool at the time and Mother told me that dinner would be ready at 6 before I left for school. I excelled in school without even trying so my best friend and I decided we could afford to miss a half a day of school. We left early and went to his house. He lived on the other side of town and his parents were out of town. Of course, we drank the alcohol his parents kept hidden, poorly. It seems like such a silly thing to do now, but I guess I got some kind of rush out of it at the time. I headed home later that night, my friend assured me everything would be okay. I remember that it was already dark when I started walking home, I had no idea what time it was though. When I got home, the lights were still on. That's a good sign, right? When I walked in the front door the clock read 10:19. I didn't know it was so late. I hoped that dinner was still waiting for me. I stumbled to the kitchen, still not completely sober. To my delight, my dinner was still sitting on the table. I was such a selfish kid. I started walking over to the dinner table when something caught my eye. It was my mother dead on the kitchen floor. The doctors told me what happened was caused from a brain aneurysm, which caused her to collapse. The artery kept swelling after she collapsed and hemorrhaged. I think that's how the doctors described it. They also told me the only way she would have survived was if she had been rushed to the hospital after she collapsed. It's because she lay there for hours on the floor that she died. "Eric, if you had come home for dinner like you promised the only person who loved you wouldn't have died." Yeah... well, that's why Eric's not here anymore.

Pandora snapped back to reality and stared back at his Mother, the tears welling up in his eyes once again. He stood up and leaned over to hug her. He never wanted to let go of her this time. He hoped that if he never let go she would stay here forever. "I love you." He said to her, still holding her close. He hadn't said those words to her very many times when she was alive. His hand was on her hair which smelled just like he remembered. He waited for her to say she loved him too. That's what he needed to hear just once more. He wanted to know she still loved him even though it was his fault she died. She didn't say a word. Her arms weren't hugging him back anymore. Pandora leaned away from her so he could look her in the eyes. Her arms fell to the bed, her head fell back. He felt his mother's body go limp in his arms. He gazed into her eyes. Her blank eyes stared back at him. Pandora couldn't breathe. She's gone... again. Pandora slowly stood up and backed away from the bed. He turned to face the bedroom door. He hoped she did still love him. He reached for the bedroom door knob. His shaking hand stopped short of the knob. He glanced over his shoulder back at the bed just one more time. Don't look back. There's no one home. I don't want to be here anymore. Don't. Look... Pandora glanced back over his shoulder at his mother just one last time. It had been so long since he had even seen a picture of her, he didn't want to forget her face again. He quickly flung the door open and left the bedroom behind.

The hallway was darker than he remembered it being. He couldn't even tell what color the walls were in the darkness. The bedroom door behind him slowly creaked as it closed itself. The last sliver of light disappearing as the door clicked shut, leaving Pandora alone in the darkness. Pandora felt faint. He reached his arms out to feel for the walls of the hallway. He couldn't even see his hands in front of his face now. He started walking down the hallway, his leg still hurting with every step. I need to wake up now. Pandora kept walking. He wanted to get as far from his mother's room as he could. He wanted to get out of the house. The hallway seemed longer than he quickened his pace. He had a bad feeling in his gut, something wasn't right. There wasn't a single door in this hall, except for his mother's bedroom door. He didn't dare go back that way. He paused for a second to catch his breath, he heard a faint shuffling noise behind him. Pandora was breathing heavier now, mostly because he had been practically running the whole time. That sounded almost like footsteps. Was someone following him, or worse, watching him? Those thoughts made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. His exhausted body didn't want to keep walking. He leaned against the wall and stood motionless. It's hopeless, there's no end to this. This dark, lonely hallway isn't going anywhere. It just needs to end right here. Suddenly a light appeared down the hall. The end? Pandora willed his legs to keep moving. He can't give up yet, he's almost there.

Pandora reached the source of the light, a small window on a door. He couldn't see anything through the window, just a blinding white room. He pressed his ear to the door, he couldn't hear anything. The doorknob, to his relief, was unlocked. He breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped into the bright room. "Eric, it's been so long." a woman's voice whispered in his ear from behind. The woman's arms hugged around his waist. He reached down and grabbed her wrists, releasing himself from her embrace. He turned around to look at the woman face to face. "Catherine?" Pandora sputtered. She was just as beautiful as the last time he saw her. She was wearing the purple floral dress that he had bought her for her birthday so many years ago. It was always her favorite. Her blond bangs covered her face. He reached and brushed the bangs to the side, her sad brown eyes stared up at him.

"How did you get here, Catherine?" he asked.

"Eric, why are you wearing that mask again?" She asked in her soft voice. Pandora trembled at the sound of her voice. He wore the mask all the time. She reached up and pulled the mask away from his face. He quickly tried to cover his face with his hands. He didn't want her to see his face now. Tears began falling down his cheeks.

"I can't let you see my face, you won't love me anymore. I don't want you to leave me."

Catherine pulled his hands away from his face. His eyes were red from the tears and his face red and puffy, but he was still very handsome. Pandora was, after all, only about 25. He had very youthful features, and beautiful brown eyes. On the right side of his face was a long pink scar. An accident from when he was a magician left this on his face. The scar really didn't take away from how handsome he was, but Pandora could never accept it. The scar, to him, was a symbol of his failure. After the accident, his life truly took a turn for the worse.

"Don't you remember," Catherine said firmly, "you're the one that left me. I never wanted to leave you then." Pandora remembered, he didn't want someone as amazing as her to have to stay with someone as pathetic as him. He knew her life would have been so much better without him. He had too many problems that he couldn't come to terms with. He hadn't even been faithful to her when they were together. That's why he left her. It wasn't just because of his face, it was everything about him. He loved her more than anything, even still, and he couldn't drag her down with him.

"I'm sorry, Catherine! I love you! Will you stay here with me?" Pandora said with a shaky voice. He didn't regret leaving her before, but he still longed for her embrace.

Catherine stepped closer do him and ran her hands up his stomach and chest and stopped on his shoulders. Her touch made him tremble. He leaned in close to her face, just one kiss. She leaned in close to his lips and softly whispered "No." Pandora's eyes widened at her words. "I could never love someone as ugly as you are. Go back where you came from." She spoke such hurtful words without even batting an eye. She shoved him backwards through the door to the hallway. Pandora didn't resist, or try to stop her. The pain in his left leg overwhelmed him and he fell on his back in the hall. The door in front of him slammed shut and the bright light from the door disappeared.

[To be continued...]