Disclaimer:Me don't own YGO, nor the YGO charas and btw, I aien't making money with this either!
Author's Note: Written in the darkest hour of night… 2 am till 5 am… ' It did not turn out like I wanted it to and BE WARNED, Christians may be offended by this though I really do not intend to offend anyone, that crucifix part was never planned but it still turned out that way. Can't help it!
Anyways, first YGO fic in like years… after all I only stitched up "Marry me". Probably this will be my last YGO work for another year or so, this piece was only inspired by Eve-Of-Misery's Halloween contest after all. I'm just too busy with 'fanning' over One Piece. xD
Still, hope you like this piece of trashy and bloody and totally crazy horror/angst. The real horror though was that ass-cramp I got after an hour of writing in an uncomfortable position…
So, please, for the sake of my poor, tormented butt, review! ;)

Darkness…
It leaked from every corner, creeping nearer very slowly but steadily. The way towards that door, on the other side, the shadows had already build up a barrier of black in front, taken him any hope of escape. His sanctuary, the one place he had felt safe in, the darkness was infiltrating it, taking it from him and with each time he gasped for another breath of air it appeared nearer, no not nearer but a lot more present. This thing, the shadows, that darkness he had feared since he could remember, took from him his will to live, left only fear and terror in his scarred heart and goose bumps on his skin.
How had it found him where he had hid, here in the deepest, farthest corner of his tormented mind?
He cowered; burying his face on his knees, keeping his eyes from catching the slightest glimpse of black by pressing his palms against his eyeballs until only dots of all colours danced in front of him but no darkness was visible anymore.
He felt its touch, felt its cold claws tugging on his hair, tugging on his clothes, tugging on his skin until he thought it was going to rip out parts of him.

It didn't! But he felt its embrace, its cold, unbearable icy touch all over him, penetrating his weakened psyche, clutching his heart in its fangs, squeezing it until he thought it would burst.
"Please… not yet!" he muttered. It was a lost battle already, he knew.
Right then, right there he had given up, succumbed to the darkness and its power that was now part of him, pulsing through his veins, whispering sweet little tales, telling him that all he had to do was give in and he would find himself, find his true character amidst what he had thought it to be.

The darkness' embrace all the sudden did not feel icy anymore, steadily it grew warmer, until it emitted an almost unbearable heat.
"This is, how it feels?" he wondered, his voice no more than a hiss.
Yes! it whispered, Isn't it wonderful?
The flames now appeared to come from deep within himself, the shadows one by one vanishing, their clutch on him now only a feeble remind of what had taken place moments ago… until that was gone, too.
He laughed!
At the irony, at himself, at the shadows, but most of all because from now on it would be different, all would be different. He had given in to the darkness, had let it take him over and now he finally saw himself with the eyes of them: His weak, pathetic being, his decisions that he had only made because they were the simplest, his fear of others… no, he would give them something to fear.

"How could I have been so wrong?" he spoke, his tone no more hushed but tinted with a thundering deepness.
Now finally he knew that his ultimate weakness had been his indecisiveness, his unwillingness, his fear of all things dark. But he had defeated himself, won the endgame and as he felt the last traces of shadows fade away, he was the beast's master; he had defeated fear and conquered it.
Taking his palms from his eyes, lifting his head from his knees, he found he was no longer in his room. That place that had been his only haven of security, the only place of safety, he knew that now he had no need for it anymore… and he giggled.
It was a strange sound, even to his own ears, as he was greeted with a resounding echo of his laugh, for a few seconds his eyes even widened in surprise, taking in his surroundings and resting on a colossal crucifix, high in the air, far above him but right in front of him. On it hung a man, his gaze that of immense suffering and great pain but at the same enduring and unbreakable.

Another giggle escaped his mouth then as he resumed his previous state of amusement, eyes still fixed on the figure above before he burst into a laughing fit.

Detective Shino felt cold, standing in front of this church at six in the morning, wearing nothing but his pyjama and a cheap, beige trench coat to hide exactly that. Frustrated that he had been called out at a time like this, when he could have been lying in bed for another hour or so, waiting for his wife to call for him to come down for breakfast.
"What happened Uzumaki?" he asked grimly, the bit of grey hair he had left, fluttering as a cold breeze swept along, making him feel even more out of place with all those orderly clad police men bustling around him and the tidiest of all walking next to him.
"This better be good! For crying out loud, it's still the middle of the night! If it's only another one of those break-ins, I'll be sure to have you degra… Oh my god!"

The man choked in disbelief at the sight, as the two of them stepped into the building they had met up in front of.

"That's what everyone's been saying!" the young officer by the name of Uzumaki told his tall mentor, an intimidating man whom he felt great respect for.
"What, by all means, is this, Uzumaki?" But the police officer only shook his head, confessing that he knew no more than his superior. Shino took no notice however, slowly making his way towards what had to be the crime scene.
No, Uzumaki had definitely not exaggerated when he had called him…
"That's blasphemous!" he struggled to say, his voice cracking as he took in the most horrendous sight he had ever have to set view on in the forty-five years he had been working for the police.

There, right in front of him, the large golden crucifix this church was famous for - but now it was covered in a thick reddish crust, dried blood. In front of the altar, the huge symbol was placed on, a puddle of the same, though it had not yet dried out. Footsteps lead right through the red liquid; the life-giving juice had been trampled in.
And its source, the very being it had given life to was chained to the cross, the body and the clothing covering it, drenched in red just like the surroundings, the blood had obviously poured from several deep stabbing wounds all over the upper body.
It was a young man, no more than eighteen, Detective Shino concluded, taking in the dead one's face that was an unearthly white. The cheeks hollow, lips tinted blue and the eyes, wide open.
The old policeman wondered why he could find no trace of hate in the dead face, no trace begging for pity, only forgiveness.

"Just like the original, isn't he?", Shino felt his young partner's elbow hitting him playfully in the ribs but even though he wished to discipline the man for his disrespectful behaviour, he could not bring himself to do so as he studied the one who looked at them with such power in the face of death.
"Name?" he mustered the strength to ask, hoping that at least Uzumaki had found out who the man hanging off a cross was.
"The victim's?" the young officer asked behind his back and Shino wished that he could take his eyes from the scene to glare at the other but a certain underlying tone in the officer's voice had caught his attention and he waited for him to continue.

"Or the culprit's?"
Shocked he turned around, eyes wide opened, in disbelief.
"What are you talking about?" he demanded, his voice leaving no doubt about his irritation.
"Well, we caught him, he sat right there, next to the blood, staring at it", Uzumaki gestured towards the corpse, "and all he did was laugh, as the priest found this and as we arrived, he laughed all the time!" the young officer ended his explanation.
Shino was taken aback, he hadn't even thought of the possibility that the murderer had not left the church more had he reckoned him having left the country.
Gasping he nodded in understanding before motioning for Uzumaki to continue.
After looking over a sheet of paper, he had been clutching in his hands, the officer read out two names.

"The victim is Yugi Mutou, sixteen years old, lives with grandfather, is registered at Domino High and current Duel Monsters champion! The one suspected of murdering him is…", the policeman turned over the paper, "…Ryou Bakura, sixteen years old, lives alone, also registered at Domino High, the two were classmates, friends supposedly."
Uzumaki snorted, "Some friendship…" were the last words the detective heard before he tuned the younger man out.

"This is for you!"a sinister voice rumbled in his mind that he thought he knew from somewhere.
"This is my last deed – my final triumph!" it told him, as he answered it with a chuckle, clenching and unclenching his fingers, trying to move his arms a little in that uncomfortable jacket they had strapped him in.
"That curse, I passed it on to you my heir!"
Did they believe they could restrain him like that? He had power, he was master over darkness and shadows and he would punish them for treating him like this.

For a moment he halted in his hectic movement to free himself.
That voice… of course, how could he have forgotten that being that had taken control of his body so many times, the one that had called itself his darkness, his true being, that one that had left him so abruptly, alone again?
"This is farewell now!"
The called felt a tug in what he determined as his soul, as a part of it disappeared into thin air and only a moment later something new took its place. A glow caught his eye and he gazed downwards.
A golden shape materialized itself on his chest: a pendant in the shape of a ring.
"Have fun, Ryou Bakura, this is my last present for you!"

He laughed.

A/N: Please review! I'm aware that I repeat myself but I love reviews just so much! ;)