Smile, My Host

Art by YaminoOtaku

Concept by JTP1717

It felt like he had been running for days. Ryou was getting tired, his legs ached, and he was hungry, having to leave his house just before dinnertime. He slowed down, but sped up once more when he heard the demented laughter behind him.

"I have to keep going, I can't let him win." Ryou thought to himself as looked for a place to hide/rest.

"You think you can outrun me, host? How cute! I can smell your fear, and I will find you." The dark man cackled in the distance.

Ryou kept running until he found an abandoned warehouse. It wasn't the most ideal of hiding spots, but it was large, and offered many different crawl spaces and holes to try. He ran in quickly, closing the door behind him. Ryou searched for a space to crawl into, and found an area he could fit into, just behind some boxes. As he made his way under the shelf, he heard the door slam open, and watched as a flash of lightning illuminated the man in the doorway. It was Yami Bakura, the evil spirit of the Millennium Ring. He was looking for his host, and had tracked him to this warehouse.

"Come on out, Ryou. I just want to talk, I promise." He sneered with a bit of sick pleasure as he thought about what he was going to do to the boy.

"How could he have found me? I got rid of that stupid ring two years ago." Ryou panicked in his mind.

It was pitch black in the warehouse, the only light being the occasional flash of lightning. Ryou heard the heavy footsteps of his Yami as he searched the building. Chains rattled above him, causing him to jump and hit the top of his head on the metal grate. He began to bleed a little, and he watched his Yami sniff the air, turn to face his hiding spot, then disappear.

"Where did he go? He just disappe-" Ryou stopped midsentence as he looked up to see his Yami's cold eyes staring at him through the grate. "Hello Host."

Ryou screamed and tried to run, but Bakura was much faster than him, and already had him pinned against the wall with one hand, as grabbed his knife with the other.

"Ryou, I caught you. Your blood gives off the most delectable of aromas." He shuddered in delight, licking his fangs.

"What do you want with me? The items are gone, the Pharaoh is gone, and we beat you." Ryou struggled to yell as he choked.

"Yes, I remember all of that. Those were dark times for me, and I'm still livid that you betrayed me for that little bastard and his friends." He tightened his grip as he said this, causing Ryou to cough.

"I was helping my friends, something you couldn't understand, being evil. I had to beat you, you were killing me." Ryou said in an assertive tone, which he quickly lost as the spirit stared back at him angrily.

"Is that so? Do you know what I lost to become this "evil spirit" you keep referring to me as? I lost my family, my real friends, my home. I wouldn't wish that on anyone." Bakura growled, but with a sadness to it.

"What are you going to do to me?" Ryou asked, still pinned against the wall.

"I'm going to take my time and play with my new toy. But first, how about we cheer you up, huh? Let's put a smile on that face!" Bakura laughed as he raised his knife and slashed Ryou's cheeks to form a permanent smile. Ryou cried as blood flowed from his face, and splashed onto the ground.

"Let just stitch you up here so it takes effect..." Bakura trailed off as he pulled some string and a needle from his coat pocket, and began to sew the wounds up, without painkillers, and he watched as Ryou wept and sunk to the ground.

"Don't cry, buddy, smile!" Bakura let out a laugh that could scare the Devil himself.

"Why did you do this to me? I thought you loved me…"Ryou was slowly fading out of consciousness.

"I do love you, but sometimes my dear, love hurts." Bakura grinned.

Bakura lifted Ryou up once more, and held him against the wall by his shoulders. He then bit him hard in the left shoulder, gaining a small cry of pain. Blood dripped out of the two fang marks, and Bakura looked down at his prey.

"This is what happens when you try to run, Ryou. The only one you hurt is yourself." Bakura laughed as he used Ryou's shirt to wipe off some of the blood on his lips. He walked away from Ryou for a few minutes, knowing the boy was too weakened to run. When he returned, he crouched down and grabbed Ryou by the chin.

"Ryou, you're going to help with a few things, okay? Where are Yugi and Joey?" Bakura asked as the boy started to cry again

"I won't tell you a goddamned thing!" Ryou yelled as he spit blood into Bakura's face. Bakura pulled out a handkerchief, wiped the blood off his face, and then backhanded Ryou extremely hard in the face. Ryou coughed, and then spit some blood and a tooth onto the floor.

"You better answer the fucking question, Ryou! Next time I won't be so nice." Bakura snapped as he held the knife under Ryou's throat.

"Fuck you! I won't betray my friends so you can do this to them too!" Ryou yelled again, blood still flowing from his several wounds.

Bakura stared at him with disappointment, and then stood up. In an instant, he kicked Ryou hard in the ribs, then stabbed his hand, pinning it into the concrete floor. Ryou was defeated, crying, and in an incredible amount of pain.

"See? I told you it would get uglier. What do you have to say now?" Bakura looked down at the poor boy lying on the cold floor, stained by his own blood. Ryou had slipped into unconsciousness, as his body desperately tried to repair the damage it had just sustained.

"What's that? I can't hear you to well." Bakura said mockingly to the boy he just beat half to death. He looked around for something to restrain him with when he woke back up. He used some chain to hold him in place, and used a rag to keep him quiet. He would return the next day to continue the "negotiations" and have some fun.