Thank you for the reviews!

This story doesn't have a long way to go. It's pretty much my way to get these icky thoughts out of my head, though I can't make them go as far as I wish. :D;

Do not own Yuugioh or anything else mentioned.

P.S: The chapter titled just popped up since I was listening to a song with the lyrics... You don't have to, but it would be so sweet if you knew which it was!

Mai was unbearably sweating in her sleep, if it could actually be called sleeping. She slowly opened her eyes. There's that noise that's been keeping her awake again. What the hell is that?It's just fucking creeping me out…

It almost sounded like… muffled crying or moaning… What if Marik kept someone else here? In another chamber?

I'll…I'll take my chances.

She stood up and supported herself around the wall, everything was much too dark to see, and touching the wall all through this way would avoid her tripping over the chains on her foot.

"I-is someone there?" Her voice quivered.

The moaning stopped, followed by a raspy sigh. Mai gulped. She heard an indistinct voice, surely someone said something this time. Perhaps Marik did keep another prisoner in this… place.

No, she was not about to refer to this place as the spot right next door to hell like Marik had described… insane fucker.

Or maybe Marik brought in someone recently because the blonde had certainly not heard anything before. Regardless of the chilling thoughts and feelings Mai was having about what she doing, she kept going alongside the wall.

"Please answer me, please! I know I heard someone…"

She only frightened herself even more by saying this. Could she be hearing things? Could Marik be screwing with her head, somehow or someway, and be building these absurd concerns inside her head? Alarming thoughts of Marik truly having other fatalities in here and… doing these shocking things like He's done to her. Possibly even worse.

Suddenly the voice spoke louder and clearer.

"Help me…"

Mai gasped. She noticed that as she kept walking along side the wall, she never hit the bars… she was fully sure that Marik restrained her in some sort of cell-like room. Would He really just leave it open? She discarded the thought, this so-called shadow realm is a real puzzle. She kept going by the wall, slower and being much more cautious. Her dirty fingers bumped against cracks and sharp points, but she continued to graze over them. Touching a bug or spider web were the least of her worries.

"I-I'll go to you, please keep talking to me!" She shrieked with a broken voice, full of fear, and starting to loose her patience. The voice only continued to moan in pain.

Mai looked back down at her chains and down to her feet. She sincerely hoped that they would reach far enough, unknowing, of course, of how long 'enough' had to be. She took a deep breath and looked ahead again.

A light?

All of the sudden there was a crack of light coming out of a room with its door closed right along this strange hallway. This was instantly light of hope for Mai. She kept going, quicker this time and without being guided by the wall, hurrying her pace and ignoring the pain in her bare feet. Strangely, she had just noticed this, despite the fact that they were already bruised and bleeding from the rough ground, which looked much like the walls, only dirtier.

When she finally reached the door, she hesitated for a second, afraid of and questioning what could possibly be on the other side. Mai realized that she wasn't in any position where she could be trying to help someone when she obviously needed the help first. However, she gave it a quick second thought and decided to go through with it, if she could help, after all, why not try. It could always end up in her benefit, she might ask the poor inmate things she could know about Marik or what He'd been doing.

She finally slid the door open and squinted, bringing her hands to her eyes and covering her face; unused to the bright light.

But her eyes widened as quickly as they had closed before. Mai retreated in horror and tripped on her chains, as if she knew they wouldn't have allowed her any further anyway. Still on the ground, she tried to back up to the wall even more, trying to get away from what she was looking at.

Her sight being the young boy Malik. He was strapped to some sort of operating table with a black, muggy, plastic-looking substance. Intense punctures around his naked body, a small blade jammed in his stomach between his ribs. There were parts of his skin peeled off all along his scrawny arms, and alongside some peculiar hieroglyphs appearing to have been burned on with great detail. Some of his wounds were painfully stapled up, almost like a joke, but evidently open and bleeding. Rows of pins and needles sticking out all along his neck.

He, in an excruciatingly painful way, turned his head around to face Mai. The prickles down his neck twisted with his skin and dug themselves deeper. Malik only moaned with a mouthful of redness, gurgling out a gush of chunky blood. The blonde whimpered and trembled silently as she backed away against the wall even more, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her entire body began to tremble, her chains tangled and rattling at her feet.

Malik's eyelids were stitched and sowed down to his skin to prevent him from opening his eyes.

"Please… help me--!"

Mai cried out and screamed piercingly as she shook her head, almost trying to block out the image before her. Hurriedly, she sat up and began unscrambling her legs from the chains, hands shaking frantically.

"Puhh… please… h-hel… help--"

She began to whimper, noticing that she wasn't helping her situation any better with her panic.

She screamed.

"No! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up"

The woman cried, pulling at the bulge of shackles on her. She finally let go of them and quickly stumbled up. Half falling and running back as she made her way back to the cell, not caring if she crashed into or tripped on something in the dark, she slammed into Marik.

In all her hell screaming, yelling, and crying she didn't notice that she was currently in the arms of His. Marik pressed his arms tighter around her and closer to Himself in a not quite soothing manner. He ran his hands through her back, entwining his fingers between strands if her corset.

She calmed down, not exactly controlling her severe shaking. "I-it is real? Is this real?! Are these fucking things you do… the things you show me…" She panted lightly.

"Why?" She whispered, sobbing. Mai slowly fell to her knees with Marik still holding her.

"They're very real, my darling. We are real. Doesn't it cause you the least pleasure to observe this, Mai? Doesn't it?" He whispered the last words in her ear, as He slowly slithered his hands above her legs and abdomen.

"You're… you are disgusting."

She closed her eyes and lowered herself to cry on his chest.

Mai was a fighter, Mai was strong. But however strong or aggressive she was, she was still a woman. And although she had always been insanely proud of that, she still had something that could bring even the most confident female down. Emotions, feelings, compassion. Now, none of those words are very descriptive of Ms. Kujaku… but she cannot get rid of them, and those feelings were what tore her up right then and there. This situation she was in, this wasn't a competition, this wasn't a contest to prove how magnificent she was. Which she was, of course, God forgive a poor soul ever said otherwise. Nothing could have ever changed her mind about that. Yet now, she wasn't so sure. She hated herself for the fact that only because of the state she was caught in, because it wasn't dueling, that she a pathetic piece of nothing. She had never given up on anything she was determined to get before. Suddenly this monster comes along and begins carving his way to her flaws, things she had always kept locked inside her and made sure they were never exposed. Yet here was the stain in her stream and flow of greatness.

Marik.

The fucking bastard who made Himself almost the worst thing in her secretly screwed up life. That's not his problem, obviously, He didn't have a care in the world for her troubles, giving that He was causing more and more of them for her.

Her pathetic reality had been exposed during the duel with Him. She had tried so hard, so hard, not to give up and she almost did. If it hadn't been for… for her… friend? Someone-- somebody she couldn't quite remember but was sure that was there. This person helped her. She carried herself out 'till the end, going down with her pride.

Mai couldn't believe her thoughts. A blurred image in her head, a ghostly figure trying to help off her knees with encouraging words… and yet she couldn't quite recall.

Marik lightly shook Mai's limp body laying on Him. He cupped her face in his hands and placed her face to face with him.

"Would you just look at yourself now, my doll…" He slowly licked her tear soaked cheek. She shivered at sick feeling of his wet, hot tongue in contact with her soft skin.

"So fragile…" He whispered hungrily.

Mai violently pushed him away and looked at him coldly.

"You do not own me! Can't you see how much you've hurt me? You speak of caring, but all I fucking hear and see is pain! I don't understand you!"

"You'll learn."

He held her previously marked hand and kissed the symbol, a forming scar and still bloody. Mai shivered and closed her eyes, holding back tears.

Malik's painful moaning continued, even louder, in the background.

Marik drew his mouth to her neck, slowly moving himself up to her chin and sniffing at it. Mai whimpered with bated breath, not daring to open her eyes.

She was feeling so violated, and although one might say she should be used to the feeling, this was completely different. Mai didn't consider herself a… seller. She didn't have a half-assed excuse of doing what she used to do for a living, for economic survival. She used to do it, to explicitly expose herself for simple pleasure. She wasn't about to defend herself for her past actions, she didn't have enough care for that. She respected herself, however, Mai wasn't sex-crazed animal looking around all night for a man or woman to use to please herself. Because that's how she viewed it, even though they were paying her, it wasn't a service she was giving. She only did it to please herself, she just happened to be smart and decide to make money off of it. The thought of walking into a club or a bar, taking a seat, and then waiting for her prey to come to her didn't bother her the slightest bit.

It was a very sad and cruel world for her, she had known that since she was a toddler. She had known that since her parents were stripped away from her when she was at the age when she needed them both.

But Mai hated to think of them. She just felt like she didn't know who the hell she was thinking of, like she hardly ever knew them. So, when she would go on and do her whoring acts, the thought of 'what would your mother think of you?' was the farthest thing from her mind.

"You sick b--" Mai groaned.

Marik licked her lips and put his arms around her, pulling her closer to him, but Mai resisted the kiss.

The man noticed the sickened rejection. He rested his head on her shoulder for a second, and Mai suddenly began feeling lightheaded. Like a train-wreck slamming into her cranium, except she was falling peacefully asleep and loosing consciousness.

Marik opened his eyes and turned back to her, glaring at her motionless body. Her eyes had remained wide open, blank and emotionless, pupils completely gone. He moved her pale hair off her face and picked her up, looking much like a ragged up bridal picture. He walked down the dark corridor, past the tortured Malik and not even wincing at the sound of his sickened moaning. He ended up turning and walking into a dark room similar to Malik's.

Much too similar.

He carefully placed her in the center table. Her body twitched at contact with the cold stainless steel.

The image of Malik's state being inflicted upon Mai crossed His mind...

He stood silent for a while, admiring the woman's perfect curves and features, her every ideal detail. He decided against torturing her in that manner, if He did so, His reason for keeping her alive would be worthless.

He continued look at her and just noticed that she was sweating and breathing heavily. Marik slowly wiped the smeared lipstick from the side of her lip with His thumb. So miserably and desirably pathetic that she was. The psychopath couldn't even help but to lick his lips as He looked at her, He urged to rip off her corset and touch her. Strangely enough, He did not.

He only stripped her of her dirty clothes, moved her long, thin arms and placed them by her sides and then proceeded to cover her with a black, thin sheet. He tied her wrists, feet, and neck to the table with wires and chains that were hanging from it. He smirked to himself.

"So fucking beautiful," He whispered while pulling back wet, sweaty locks of hair from her face. He ran a finger down her smooth jawline, a strange look of admiration in His cold eyes. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as He gently leaned in and-
Ahh… no…
He opened his eyes, inches away from her face, starring into hers.
Not yet.
He turned back and began to walk away, the lights switched off as He stepped out and left her.

Left her with nightmares of tomorrow.