(Bakura-centric, PG, post series, Hallowenfic)
It was Halloween night, and Ryou Bakura was home alone. Truly, happily alone, ever since his darker half had been defeated a few months before. For Yuugi, losing his darker half had been a necessary sorrow, something that he knew he had to do but didn't want to.
For Bakura, it had been the greatest thing that had ever happened. His greatest enemy, the thing that he could never defeat on his own, indeed, that he almost couldn't acknowledge to himself, was gone.
He smiled as he read in his favorite chair. He was curled with his favorite book, his apartment was quiet, he had good tea nearby, and a bowl of candy waiting by the door for any trick-or-treaters that came by. Everything seemed idyllic, just perfect.
He frowned a bit at that thought, an old worry coming back to haunt him. He always got worried when things were too perfect. After sharing an existence with the King of Thieves, he had developed what he called a 'permanent sense of impeding doom'.
But that was silly, he assured himself. His darker half was gone forever. There was no reason to worry.
Absently, he noticed the lights had gotten a bit dimmer outside his window. Must be getting late, he thought, too comfortable to look at a clock.
Yawning, he set his book aside. He needed to write a letter to his father before he went to bed. His father was off on another trek, this time looking for evidence of Egyptian influence on the European culture.
Only my father, he thought, chuckling.
He stood reluctantly, glancing at a clock on his bookcase. It was fifteen minutes before midnight, far later than he usually stayed up. He yawned again, stretched, and walked over to his desk, where he kept all of his paper, envelopes and stamps.
He paused as he reached the desk. There was an itch in between his shoulder blades, a feeling that there was something not right in the room. He looked around and noticed that the room seemed darker than it should have, especially in the corners where the shadows pooled.
He shook his head to rid himself of the note of panic that had crept into his mind. There was nothing to be worried about, and it was awfully late, and that was all.
Right?
He shook his head again and sat down at the desk, pulling out a piece of paper. He just got past 'dear father' before he thought he heard someone at the door, chuckling.
He smiled, stood, and walked over to the door, grabbing the bowl of candy on the way. He opened the door, expecting to see a child in full Halloween costume, but saw no one there.
He blinked. "I could have sworn I heard someone at the door…" He said to himself, and then shrugged. "Oh well." He closed the door, put the candy back, and went back to his desk.
Once again he paused as he got there. The itch on his back, the uneasy feeling of something or someone else in the room, just out of sight, hadn't left him. In fact, it was stronger than before. He caught himself glancing over his shoulder, but caught himself and sat down at his desk.
He picked up his pen to write, but he heard a sound behind him and jerked his head back to look.
Nothing there. But of course there wouldn't be, right?
A bit shaken, he turned back and began to write. But he felt a presence behind him, very close and far too familiar, and he looked back again.
And saw nothing. Just black. He couldn't even see the rest of the room. His entire field of sight was covered with a swirling darkness.
"But..." He whispered, afraid. "It can't be…"
A voice he knew too well answered, "Oh, yes it is."
Bakura started and stood, the panic he had swallowed earlier rising up again and choking him. It couldn't be. That part of him was gone, destroyed and tossed into the shadows.
"Was I?" The voice laughed. "You should know better than to think that, Yadonushi."
Bakura closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head and trying to block out the voice. He was dreaming, that was it, he had stayed up to late and his fears came out in his dreams. That was all.
"Foolish, foolish little boy." The voice said, and Bakura opened his eyes, soon wishing he hadn't.
In front of him was his darker half, his shadow, the part he cast away. He was in his spirit form, stealing Bakura's appearance again as he had stolen so many other things. He was smiling a smile that was anything but kind or gentle, one that was all teeth and dark amusement. He was cocky, arrogant, and worst of all, there.
His darker half took a step forward, and then another.
Another step, and he was so close that Bakura couldn't move or he would have touched him. But Bakura didn't move; his fear had taken hold of him and forced him still.
"Do you know what night it is, little old host of mine?" The thief grinned. "It's Halloween. The night when the barrier between the living and the dead is as thin as paper. And I couldn't help myself but to come and visit you. I'm sure you missed me, didn't you?" His smile widened. "You always missed me… You called me back, just like you always did." He lifted his hand and ran it down the side of Bakura's face, his grin widening even more when he felt sweat.
"Oh, are you afraid of me?" He asked mockingly. "Why ever would you be scared? I've done so much for you…"
Bakura forced himself to speak past the fear clogging his throat. "You destroyed my life, threatened my friends, and almost ruined the world. Why wouldn't I be?" He was surprised at how bitter he sounded.
The shadow laughed out loud at that. "Destroyed your life? My dear little Yadonushi, I was the only person that protected you, never left you. You know that."
Bakura shook slightly. It was the truth, twisted and warped but the truth, and that was the hardest thing of all to accept. "You may have protected me, but only because you needed me. And you never allowed me any freedom, even though it was my life to begin with." He accused.
"You certainly weren't doing anything with it before I came around." The ghost pointed out, still smiling.
Bakura shook his head, trying to ignore what his darker half said. It was, again, the truth, but it was still painful. He spoke again, saying,
"That doesn't justify it. You still imprisoned me and hurt me."
The ancient thief only smiled more. "Me? Hurt you? You know I didn't and wouldn't hurt you. You're too valuable…." He leaned forward, almost touching his former host. "Much too valuable for me to damage."
Bakura wasn't sure what his darkness was going to do, if he was going to kill him or….
He heard the clock strike twelve, and those twelve chimes drove away the shadows and his shadow like a bad dream.. For a moment, Bakura was willing to believe that it had been a dream, a product of his own paranoia and the late hour, but then he turned to look at the paper he had been writing on, ten minutes and a nightmare before. On it, there were three words, but not the words he had written. It said,
Next year, Yadonushi.
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Yes, it's a Halloween fic. I, actually, realize that it is currently two months after Halloween (or ten months before) , but really don't care.