Title: Darkness in the Depths - oneshot

Author: Demon Fritillary

Date posted: 27th May 2006

Summary: The hunter and the hunted. "Mai staggered on, blinded by the wind and rain,in terror ofthe relentless pursuing shapes in the dark behind her."

Warnings: MAJOR AU, blood and death. attempted horror/suspense

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters for the aforementioned programme.

The trees swayed violently, clawing at the sky, forcibly being beaten back by the solid waves of water. The rain sleeted down out of the bleak grey sky, dashing between the sodden branches, driving into the ground. The trees' shabby leaves offered no protection for the hard earth, which soon became pitted and cratered by the pounding rain.

Huddled in the temporary shelter of an abandoned hut, only three walls still standing after the recent landslide, Mai started to wring out her hair as best she could, and then gave up. She left the dripping tarnished-blonde strands trail over her shoulders in a straggling mess and stared out into the torrent coming off the remains of the roof. She shivered and pressed her back against the damp wood, wrapping her arms around her body, hunching down to gain whatever little warmth her soaking jacket still held. The thunderstorm's bleak downpour, though not overly cold, was enough to chill her once she stopped moving.

She crouched by the open side, straining her ears for sounds in the dark undergrowth. But she knew it was futile attempt. The keening, howling wind blotted out all other sounds, mixing with the scratch and lash of the branches till it sounded like a furious clawing monster screaming for its freedom in the dark. The weak pale moon offered no assistance to vision, dipping and diving behind scurrying clouds that fled across sky.

Then a patch of darkness nearby shifted, breaking its cover from the trees, slinking forwards, closer. She pulled upright her weakening legs, and staggered on, blinded by the wind and rain, and alone, all alone, except for the relentless pursuing shapes in the dark behind her. Stumbling and tripping, pure terror-produced adrenalin pushed her on, as she forced her way through the tangled masses, praying for a break in the trees, for the sanctuary of the village she knew was so near.

She wished in a bleak kind of desperation for a weapon: a knife, anything, although a gun of some kind was what her heart was set on. Silver was hard to come by: hoarded by locals like gold-dust, but even iron bullets were preferable to nothing, they would at least slow them down. The woodland floor was clear of strong branches (except for those still firmly attached to trees) and her short rest to prevent collapse from shear cold and exhaustion a few minutes ago had brought the pursuers too close behind to risk stopping to arm herself.

Then her battered heart gave a leap, for there ahead a light shone out through the dark, beckoning, calling to all lost in the forest, telling of the village that was so close, and of the safety within the barred wooden gates. The rain seemed to ease and her travel-weary strength put out a spurt, forcing her to move faster, bringing the light nearer and nearer. Her heart sang that if she could but reach the light she would be safe, for she knew the bloodied shadows behind lived in hatred of light.

But fate had other plans. The sodden ground, loosened by the running water, shifted suddenly, and her feet flew back from under her, throwing her full-length into the black mud. Rolling onto her back, spitting out the darkened slime, she raised her body on her elbows to look back through the branches at the shadows.

A shape in the darkness moved slowly forward, prolonging the terror of its helpless victim on the ground. Then, it pounced, pushing the struggling figure into the suffocating mud, and bared a set of blood-covered fangs. In a last desperate attempt to fight for her life, Mai flung her hands at the killer, but a sharp twist of the muscled neck and her hands were beaten back, mutilated and bleeding. The last spark of hope faded and died in her heart as fangs glimmered again in the night, lit for a moment by the full moon.

The creature suddenly gave a howl of pain, and, throwing its head from side to side, backed away from its prey. It began to writhe and cower in the mud, scrabbling in panic and fear at its own jaws. Then its howls and whimpers became cries and yells as it tried to change, its fur melting away into pale bare skin, sharp claws dulling to fingernails, but this offered no release from the pain. The young woman pressed her bloodied hands to her ears, trying to blot out the screams. She dared not move from her half-lying position on the ground.

When the cries died away, to be replaced by only the whistling wind, she knelt up and turned to face the human body that lay a short distance away, blood streaming from the self-inflicted wounds around its mouth, to be washed away by the rain.

The former victim slowly dragged herself towards her hunter, barely aware that her left hand had lost three fingers and that her blood stained the mud black beneath her. Mai gently parted the clenched jaws, and removed the bloodstained metal from where it was caught between two teeth. She smiled grimly and forced herself to her feet, and pulled the mud-streaked remains of her jacket around her.

On her forefinger, the diamond engagement ring, with its silver band glimmered softly as she turned for the warm yellow light that still shone between the trees ahead.

---END--

This is most probably a one-shot unless I get enough ppl saying they want more of this AU. I have a few vague plot bunnies hopping around but no concrete ideas as-of-yet.
Who's the werewolf:p I'll leave you to make up your own minds about that.