Hello Little Plaything

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WARNING: Rated M. Contains mature themes such as suspense, kidnapping, danger, abuse, violence and sexual themes. Chapter Warning: blood and knife wounds. Please read with discretion.

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Kazuki Takahashi. This is a fanfiction story based off of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series by LittleKuriboh. None of these characters belong to me, and no profit is being made off of this written work, it is purely for my own enjoyment. Please support the original release.

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Chapter Six

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Ryou screamed in pain, eyes widening at the shock of a third blade slicing through the muscle in his calf. It was so close to the bone, he had felt it scrape as it sank in. It hurts so bad, he thought, crying out and trying desperately to keep standing. He could see Melvin over there, watching him like a wild animal, waiting to throw another knife at him just for moving. Hang in there Ryou... keep a stiff upper lip...

Across from him, the madman laughed and laughed, grabbing a fourth knife and balancing it in his hand. "Oh you are a fun little plaything aren't you?" he taunted. "Trying so hard to be strong. Don't you know, Cecelia?" He walked toward him, grabbing Ryou by the chin and lifting his face so he could grin down at him. "I'm going to break you. Soon, you will be a weeping, crumbled, shell of a limey-boy who is just begging me to let you die. And you are making it so very fun. I like it when victims try so hard. I like when they aren't stupid." He licked some tears that were dripping from Ryou's cheek with his ridiculously long tongue.

"D-don't... touch me," Ryou shivered. He hated that he relaxed when he felt the warm hand on his chin, hated that being touched made him feel validated as a person, instead of just a victim. I already let him touch me and use my body once. I wish I had never done that. I don't know what I was thinking. But I won't let him touch me freely again. "I said," he gritted his teeth, shoving Melvin's hand away when he didn't let go, "don't TOUCH me!"

Melvin backed up, his eyes glowing brightly with approval and desire. "Yes," he grinned. "Like that. Just like that."

"Shut up!" Ryou snapped. "Go... play with your knives!" He closed his eyes and turned his head aside, lips pressed into an angry, thin line. It took him a few minutes to battle over his body screaming in frustration at having three buggering knives puncturing it, but eventually he managed to focus on letters again. There's a 'G', he thought. And the word 'thing' is close, but not correct. Does that mean 'think' is in there? Or maybe 'something'? This is hard… He turned his head sideways, looking at the letters he had written using his blood.

"What's your next guess?" Melvin asked. He readied his fourth knife, humming cheerfully to himself.

"I'm thinking," Ryou sighed. He wrote down 'O' and 'G' next to the other letters, and sounded them out in his head. T, T, T, E, E, I, I, A, H, H, N, O, G. There's no way this can be just one word, he decided, clenching and unclenching his jaw as the pain from his stab wounds began to overwhelm the initial release of endorphins. He wracked his brain over and over, trying to figure out what it could say. If the word 'thing' is in there as a partial word, that leaves T, T, E, E, I, A, H, O. And I know it doesn't have 'S' or 'the' in there. So maybe it doesn't have 'thing'. All I know is that 'thing' is close.

"Ten," Melvin sang happily. "Nine, eight…"

Oh no. Ryou was losing one of his chances. He had to guess something. What else could use these letters?

"Seven, six…"

"Okay, okay! Hold on! Um…. Uh…." He turned back, chewing his lip till it bled. What words? What letters? M? L? J? R?

"Five!" Melvin took aim at his other arm. "Four…."

"L!" Ryou blurted. "Is there an 'L'!?"

"Three," Melvin scowled. He dropped his arm, angrily clenching his knife in his hand. He watched Ryou's face relax in relief, and rolled his eyes. "Yes…. but there are more than three in there." He sighed, lifting his other hand up and counting them out on his fingers. "One, two, three, four, five. There are five."

"Five!?" Ryou gaped. I hit the jackpot! Immediately, he turned his hand and wrote five 'L's on the wall. "Blimey, what has five 'L's?"

"Your death," Melvin muttered unhappily.

Ryou shot him a disappointed glance. "My death? Is that the best you could come up with?" He secretly hoped the madman would let something slip, but he doubted he would be that lucky. He was staring at the letters out of the corner of his eye, letting his mind scramble them and put them together like a puzzle. He wasn't as brilliant as Yugi when it came to puzzles, but he liked to think that he was pretty good at word games.

"Yes, your death," Melvin snarled. He came closer, grabbing Ryou's thigh and squeezing it so that he cried out in pain, blood pouring over the madman's hand. "The first 'L' is because you're a 'limey.' The second two because you're 'little'. The fourth…." He lifted his hand, and wiped the blood over the letters Ryou had written on the wall, obscuring them. "…is for the 'last' knife. And the fifth," he grabbed Ryou around the neck and squeezed until Ryou's vision was tinged with black, "is for the 'slice' I'm going to carve from your head down to your knee."

Struggling to breath and stay conscious, Ryou grasped his hand and yanked on it. He knew he should be terrified. He knew his life hung in the balance, but he couldn't feel fear. Right now, all he could hear was his own mind screaming LITTLE! The word LITTLE! Over and over.

Melvin let go of him before he could pass out, and marched back to the table to lean against it. "Hurry it up, I'm getting bored again."

Gasping for breath, Ryou held himself against the wall. "Little," he panted out, eyes glinting with triumph. "Is there the word 'little' in there?"

The madman's eyes narrowed dangerously. "There is," he affirmed. After all, he may be sadistic and violent, but he played by the rules every time. It was a matter of pride.

I knew it. What's left if I take 'little' out? T, E, I, H, H, A, N, G, O, L, L, L. Am I missing anything? That's 18 letters…. What are the last two?

"You have less time now than before. Fifteen seconds to make a guess," Melvin snarled.

Ryou ignored him, thinking carefully. And if I take 'thing' out, I have E, H, A, O, L, L, L. How about halo? Little halo thing. I don't know…. Thing has to be connected to something. It isn't thing. Maybe it's think. Or thin. Little thin halo…..

"Ten seconds." His captor began aiming again.

If not halo, how about heal? Hole? Goal? Little goal… little hole…. Heal little thing…. Ah! This is hard!

"Five seconds!" Melvin was yelling now. He glared at his captive angrily, eyess fixated on his next target—Ryou's other arm.

Or maybe…. Hello? Little hello? Hello little?

"Three, two, one…." Melvin didn't wait for him to call out 'wait', he threw the knife and let out a groan of relief and pleasure when Ryou shrieked. He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he wasn't paying attention, and when the blade sliced through his forearm between the bones he couldn't control himself from screaming. "Yes," Melvin smiled again. His face relaxed slightly, and he picked up blade number five with a wicked grin. "This is much better."

"Bloody… hell…." Ryou writhed, whimpering and hating the burning sensation of pain lashing up his arms through his nerves. There were more nerves in his forearm than his bicep, so it hurt much worse.

"Next time, I think I'll aim for something more vital," he said cheerfully. "Maybe your liver."

"N-no…." Ryou groaned. He tried to remember what he was thinking before, and found he was having trouble. Everything was getting blurred as dizziness overwhelmed him. I'm losing too much blood. What was I thinking again? I was onto something.

"Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen…"

Ryou looked up and glared at him. Really glared. "Shut up!" he snapped. "Just shut up for one minute, won't you?"

"Nope," Melvin cackled. "Twelve, eleven…"

"Hello!" Ryou finally blurted. It felt like battling through deep waters just to get it out, and when he did, he sighed in relief. Yes, that was the word he was trying to think of. "Is the word 'hello' in there?"

Melvin's voice cut off, and then he growled like a vicious animal. He grabbed the remaining five knives and held them all in his hands, trembling with barely restrained rage. After a moment of silence, he hissed, "yes."

Ryou closed his eyes, sighing. "Hello little. Little hello. Okay. What's left…"

"Fifteen seconds," Melvin said in reply. He counted them down much faster than before.

I only have T, H, A, I, N, G, L left. It isn't 'something', it isn't 'thing', and two letters are missing.

"Four, three, two, one!" Melvin flung another knife, this one ending up in Ryou's hip.

"No faIR!" Ryou wailed, sinking down to the ground and moaning painfully. "Oh god…. It bloody hurts…"

"WAHAHAHA!" Melvin laughed loudly. He seemed to cheer up at once, and set down the rest of his knives. "Better get up, Tweetums. If you stay down too long, that will count as trying to move away, and I'll get a freebee."

"That already WAS a bloody freebee!" Ryou moaned. He held onto his hip, arms and legs trembling. I need to hurry, if I pass out I fail, and I'll be stuck here forever.

"You have fifteen seconds to stand up and guess again."

"Give me more time!" Ryou pleaded. He struggled to push himself up to his feet, failed, and crashed down again with a whimpered cry. To his relief, Melvin didn't penalize him for it, but simply decided to sit back and watch with an ever-widening grin of delight. Bloody wanker! I should stab him and see how he likes it. He closed his eyes, desperately trying to figure out what the rest of the letters could be. Hello little la thing. A little hello glinth. Um… what could the last letters be?

Across from him, Melvin began counting down from fifteen, generously making the seconds longer. It was like he was toying with him, confident in his victory now that Ryou was effectively unable to stand up.

Ryou glared at him in frustration. How was he supposed to win this? He was so close, he knew that he was close, but what were the last two letters? I can't afford to get anymore wrong, or to let him count down and stab me again or I really wont be able to leave! He moaned and tried to stand up again, somehow managing to stay pressed against the wall. So far so good.

"Seven," Melvin said, laughing and twirling his knife on his palm. "Six. Five."

He's just toying with me, Ryou closed his eyes weakly. He's a big spoiled brat in a man's body, treating me like I'm his bloody plaything and… His eyes snapped open. "Oh my god."

"Is that a guess?" Melvin leaped off the table and came closer, pressing Ryou against the wall with his arm and slowly caressing his cheek with the flat of his knife blade. "Please say yes…."

He looked up, meeting his eyes with a sudden burst of adrenaline. I know the answer. "Hello little plaything," he said quietly.

Melvin closed his mouth, grin vanishing, and a distinct pout crossed his face. He stood there a moment, without moving, and then pressed the knife into Ryou's cheek to draw blood.

Ryou managed to keep from crying out. "That's the answer, isn't it?" he demanded instead, clenching his hands to keep from trembling. Ow…

After a second, Melvin stepped back, and walked to the table. Then, one by one, he threw his remaining knives into the wall around Ryou's head. They embedded themselves deeply into the concrete.

Ryou swallowed.

"You are correct," his captor said at length. He let out a sigh, and came closer to grab Ryou by the neck and begin dragging him to the elevator. "I suppose that means I have to let you go. A game is a game. And you win. This time." When the doors opened, he stepped in and pulled Ryou with him, never letting go of him. "I'll have to blind fold you of course," he said, ripping off a piece of purple cloth from his cape, and tying it tightly around his captive's eyes. "Wouldn't want you calling the police or anything."

All Ryou could do was stand there and shake with relief mixed with disbelief. Was it really over? I was right. I was right! He's letting me go. I don't care if he blindfolds me, the fanfic police will track him down. I won't let him get away with this. As Melvin secured the blindfold and exited the elevator with Ryou in tow, Ryou just quietly kept track of how many turns and how many paces they went until he felt the wind on his skin, and knew that they were outside. But it was a long while of walking before Melvin released him.

"Don't take off the blindfold until I'm gone," he said, gripping Ryou's shoulder hard enough to bruise. He leaned in, licking his cheek and cackling when it sent shivers down Ryou's spine. "I had fun, Tweetums. You can be sure I'll come find you again." He groped Ryou's body, laughed when he flinched, and then yanked out his knives one by one. "Oh, and I'll be taking these back. Thanks!"

He walked away laughing, and Ryou waited before he was gone before slowly and painfully taking off the blindfold and looking around. Melvin had left him at the docks. Grimly, he made his way to the hospital as fast as his shaking legs would take him. Sure, he was naked, bleeding out, and feeling extremely miserable. But he had won.

And now, he was free.

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Afterword...

Thank you to everyone who has read through my first fanfiction! I appreciate your taking the time to read through it. Kudos to my anon reviewer Pink for correctly guessing the phrase before I completed the story. You rock! I especially want to thank sitabethel for her very appreciated critiques that helped clarify some concerns I had been feeling, and opened my eyes to some ways that didn't quite work in the story. I feel like I learned a lot, and am looking forward to taking what I learned into my next stories moving forward. Thanks for your thoughts and time, they are very much appreciated!

Sincerely, Maxifabulous