Living in the Dark, Take 8!

This chapter was really hard to write, so I hope I ended up with something close to good!

I'm not sure how many more chapters there are going to be, but I doubt there'll be more than 11- yep, we're approaching the end. You can all breathe a sigh of relief!

Enjoy reading!


"Well? Do you want to come?" I jerked out of my daydream, to find Yugi standing in front of my desk, looking at me quizzically.

"Um, sorry?" I mumbled, trying to stifle a yawn.

He raised an eyebrow. "Wow, Ryou. You're really tired today. I was just wondering if you'd like to come round to the Shop tonight."

I shook my head. "No thanks. I've got a ton of homework."

"Oh, okay," he smiled at me, and went to join his friends.

I rested my head back on my arms. I was tired. I hadn't slept much last night, because of the dreams.

I often had nightmares; they were something I was well accustomed to. Dreams about the car crash that killed my mother and little sister. I would have dreams about my father, in which he never came home. I would have dreams where Bakura died, and left me all alone. But there was one dream that scared me more than anything. This was strange, because I could only ever remember one thing about it when I woke up.

In this dream, Bakura was crying. He was calling my name in a terrified voice, over and over, begging me to wake up.

I don't know why this scared me so much, but I always woke up with tears of my own running down my face, and I could never get back to sleep.

And this was the reason I was falling asleep on my desk.

*

The bell finally rang, at the end of a very long day. I sighed in relief, and began to pack up my bag. I had so much extra homework; I'd fallen asleep in nearly all my lessons, and my teachers hadn't best pleased.

Yugi and his friends were standing at the school gate, waiting for me.

"Hi," I grinned at them.

"You sure you don't want to come?" Tea asked, in a concerned voice.

It hit me then that probably all thought that Bakura had forbidden me to go, or something along those lines.

"Seriously, I've got a lot of homework. Besides, I'm really tired and…" I interrupted myself with a massive yawn.

Tea laughed. "You do look exhausted! Well, see you tomorrow."

The rest of my friends echoed her, and began to walk towards Yugi's Shop.

"See you tomorrow, then!" I waved goodbye to my friends, smiling, and turned to cross the road outside school.

I don't really remember what happened next.

I was walking across the road, when a girl screamed. There were voices calling my name. I turned towards them, confused, when I saw a huge truck bearing down on me.

I couldn't move.

I didn't have time.

It hit me.

Pain flooded through my body, as I was flung through the air. I couldn't even feel the impact when I hit the ground; I was virtually unconscious by that stage. I tried to call out, but I couldn't speak. I tried to open my one working eye, but I couldn't move the lid.

"Call an ambulance," I heard a panicked voice. Yugi's.

"Ryou, Ryou, come on, man, speak up." Joey. Tugging at my shirt sleeve.

"P…p..lease b..be o..okay," a whisper from Tea. I could hear her in floods of tears.

"Ryou!" Tristan. He sounded as though there was no hope.

I heard more of my friends moving around me, shocked, terrified.

Then….

Yugi's voice, trying to keep someone away, by the sounds of it.

"What's happened? Let me past!" Oh no. Malik.

"Ryou!" I could hear the raw terror in his voice. The utter and complete horror.

I could feel him clutching my arm, tears splashing on my exposed skin. Tears? Malik never cried.

I wanted so badly to comfort him, but I couldn't move.

But there was someone that they had to call, someone that had to know what had happened. I wanted him there even more than I wanted my best friend.

I heard the ambulance arrive, and the paramedics move my friends away, but in my last act of strength I grabbed Malik's wrist.

"Ryou?" He sounded hopeful, but his voice was hoarse from crying.

"Bakura…. Please get him for me," I managed to whisper. I don't know if he heard me, I don't even know if I was actually talking, but before he could reply, I was lifted onto a stretcher and rolled into the ambulance.

That was all I could remember before I fell into darkness.

Faces swam before my eyes. Yugi's kind expression as he asked me if there was anything he could do for me. Tea's laughing eyes as she described her dream of becoming a dancer. Tristan's quiet but solid presence. Joey's idiocy. Duke's arrogance. Atem's majesty. Malik's….well, everything about him, really. I remembered his protectiveness. I remembered how, even if I was going to die, I was glad that I'd had a best friend.

More faces. My father's. Would he come home for my funeral, or would he be too caught up in his work? My mother's and Amane's. Would I see them again, if I did die?

Then there was Bakura's face. He was crying, and I could hear him begging me to wake up, like in my dream. It was my dream. Only this time I couldn't wake up.

*

The only thing I could see or feel, for the next few days was darkness. Or hours, maybe. Could have been years for all I knew.

Was this death?

Was this it?

I couldn't die.

I knew that much.

I had to tell Bakura it wasn't his fault. He believed that it was; I'd heard him saying that when he was beside my body.

And I knew why he thought it was his fault.

Because the reason I had walked into the road and been hit by the truck, was not because I was tired. Or because I hadn't been paying attention. It was because I hadn't seen the truck coming.

The truck had come up on my blind side.

So Bakura thought it was his fault. And if I died, I would never be able to reassure him that it wasn't.

This was not good.

Hikari….. please wake up. Why aren't you waking up? You can't leave. You can't. Please.

*Sighs in satisfaction* I love dramatic scenes. It's a weakness! ^^

Always a Bookworm