And Then There Were None
By The Inspector
Chapter 10: Red, Ninth Death
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Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. I don't make money. Please don't sue meeeeeeee. Thank you!
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Character Death a given.
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Yami burst out the front doors, Malik and Kaiba somewhere behind him. But Yami didn't slow down or wait for them to catch up. His mind was caught in a single thought. He was going to kill Bakura. He was going to make him suffer for all the pain he had caused.
Yami slipped around the side of the house and looked up at the window of the room they had all stayed in the night before. The ivy growing up the side of the house showed extensive trauma; as though someone had used it to climb down the side of the house. Which they had.
"Yami!" Seto snapped as he appeared around the side of the house, dragging Malik along with him. "Slow down! May I remind you that I am playing babysitter to this nut-case and it takes a little while to move him anywhere?"
"This is not your fight," Yami hissed back, his eyes fastening onto the footprints in the sand that headed down to the beach. "His blood is mine. Go back inside with Malik."
"Not likely," Seto scoffed as he tightened his hold on Malik's shirt as the lost hikari tried to pull away to go look at something shiny that had caught his eye. "We can't risk getting separated and having Bakura slip back into the house."
"Come then," Yami dismissively. "Just don't slow me down." He couldn't stop now. He just hoped that he wasn't too late. If Bakura had already tried to swim to shore, there might not be another chance. The thief was an expert at blending in and disappearing.
Hurrying down the beach, Yami followed the prints in the sand. His heart beat fast in anticipation. This would be one murder no one would morn.
Seto shook his head and followed the angry spirit. He really pitied Bakura. When Yami caught up to him, there would be no mercy shown.
"Seto?"
Seto jerked to a halt and looked at Malik. It gave him the creeps hearing his first name coming from the mouth of the insane hikari. Only his brother was allowed to use that name. Mokuba. Would he ever see him again?
"Seto?"
"What?" Seto asked, pulling his shirt out of Malik's hold.
"Is it Saturday?"
Seto blinked and then scowled. Of all things! He felt like HE was the one going crazy! "Yes," Seto snapped, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Yes, today is Saturday."
Malik looked around, searching, and then looked back up at Seto. "Then where is Isis?" he asked.
"What?" Seto asked in half disbelief. How could he not understand that his sister was dead? He had SEEN the body. Was if just outright denial?
"Isis," Malik repeated. "If it's Saturday, she makes pancakes."
"Malik," Seto sighed, but he couldn't bring himself to remind him about his siblings' deaths. "Maybe," he said at last, "She'll have them made when we get back to the house."
Malik beamed brightly and scrambled after Yami's retreating form. "Hurry, Seto!" he called. "If we don't, Ishtar will eat all the syrup!"
Yami growled under his breath as he floundered and sank in the sand. The prints were getting closer to the water and he feared losing his prey. It couldn't happen, he wouldn't let it! Bakura wouldn't have tried to swim to shore until light. And the waves were still high, even the thief wouldn't be stupid enough to brave such waters. The distance alone would exhaust him without the bad conditions of the water.
Cursing aloud, Yami scrambled up the side of one of the large boulders as the prints led away from the sand to the rocky side to scan for the Ring Spirit. How was he going to track him when there no prints to follow?
Yami jumped down over his perch, and nearly stepped on the body lying at the base. Bakura's hair was matted and a dusty brown color where blood had dyed the strands. He lay on his side, pulled away from the water, and the dismembered wings from his own Change of Heart rested beside him in the sand.
Like a burst bubble, all Yami's anger and adrenaline vanished and gasped for breath before becoming violently sick.
Seto heard someone throwing up and looked down from the rocks. From her perch, he saw Yami losing what little was in his stomach and Bakura's body beside him. Pain blossomed in his head and he let go of Malik's arm. "Yami," he winced, "What did you do?"
"I didn't," Yami keened as he wiped this mouth with the back of his hand, "I found him like this."
Seto frowned skeptically and jumped down to take a closer look at the body. "You're right," he said, "The blood is dry, and he's already cold." He turned Bakura over and pointed out where his scull had been smashed. "You couldn't do this with your hand. You'd need some sort of bat or cub."
"Why is this happening?" Yami moaned as he clutched his head in his hands. "Why is this so hard?"
"Because we were supposed to suspect him," Seto pointed out as he stood and dusted his hands off. "Four little Duel Monsters going out to sea. A herring swallowed one and then there were Three. A herring, a RED herring is another way to say a false lead. We were supposed to suspect Bakura and have our attention distracted from the real killer."
"And now Bakura's dead," Yami said flatly.
"Yes," Seto said with a sigh. "He's dead, and there are only three of us left. The murderer must have followed him outside last night," he moved down to the water and inspected what he found there. "Look," he pointed to vague impressions left in the wet sand, "He walked back in the water so that we can't tell anything from his footprints."
"Seto!" Malik whined from over their heads, "I'm hungry!"
Seto shook his head and began walking back the way they had come. He could hear Yami scrambling up the rocks behind him and trusted him to either bring Malik with him, or kill him off.
Because any theory he had about why only halfs were left had been shot out of the water. He had expected to be the next target until only those who shared their existence were left. But now both Ryou AND Bakura were dead. He felt so confused.
But at least Ryou and Bakura were together again, even if it was only through death. He knew that the restless souls of Yami and Malik too, would only be settled when they died. Because they couldn't cope being in a world without their other half.
Seto shook his head and sighed. What he wouldn't give to be home, at work, anywhere but here.
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TBC
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Three Guests Remaining
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The Inspector
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