Chapter Ten

Lector was both thoughtful and angry as the group departed the Eternal Rest Coffin Company, cemetery list in hand.

"So my father wants the company that he supplies coffins for, the owner doesn't want to sell, and Dr. Raven may be said owner's second cousin," he snarled. "Not to mention he somehow knew two weeks ago that he wanted to set up this sickening stunt!"

"Are you going to try talking to your father again?" Bakura asked.

"Oh, what's the use?" Lector said in disgust. "He'll just insist there's nothing wrong with him wanting the company. Anyway, he kicked me out again."

"What about some of your other siblings?" Gansley asked. "Your brothers and your older sister. Would they know anything about what's going on?"

"If they did, I doubt they'd tell me," Lector said. "You saw how even Marie was a little standoffish with me when we talked to her. Evangeline is probably the only one who really still loves me."

"Not even your mother?" Yami Bakura frowned.

"She's very old-fashioned," Lector said. "Her husband is the man of the house and she abides by his decisions."

"But Evangeline said on that recording that she accused him of using you," Bakura said. "It sounded as though she was upset by it."

"And yet she hasn't made one appearance while I've been here," Lector retorted. "She cares more about catering to my father's wishes than she cares about my safety." He opened the car door. "Anyway, let's not worry about my upsidedown family life right now; we need to find those boys. We're not too far from the St. Louis cemeteries; let's start there."

"You know, if they were at one of those and managed to get out, they'll probably be near the French Quarter," Bakura realized.

"I know," Lector sighed. "Let's hurry."

Everyone climbed into their respective vehicles and drove off.

xxxx

Seto was frustrated. So far he hadn't had any success tracking Joey via his cellphone, so at last in exasperation he called the police station to find out what else Angelique might have said. It wasn't much, he was told, but she did want to talk to him. Since she wasn't under arrest and was merely in protective custody, she was allowed to come to the phone.

"Mr. Kaiba?" she said when she got on. "I've been thinking about something ever since you and Mr. Crump were rescued from the freezer. I know this is probably going to sound insane, but I have an old Egyptian box that my great-great-grandmother owned. There's a picture carved on the lid that looks like you and Mr. Crump and the other businessmen."

"What?!" Seto said in disbelief. "Not more Egyptian nonsense!"

"She always said that she was guarding the box until the time was right," Angelique told him, "and that she believed when it was, whoever was currently guarding the box would know it. She said that the man who gave it to her said that only the descendants of the people on that box would be able to open it and use whatever was inside."

"This is getting ridiculous," Seto said. "I just can't escape the paranormal wherever I go!"

Téa, who was close enough to hear the conversation, blinked in surprise. "Kaiba, what if this is why you were 'vital' to come along? Maybe Shadi knew about that box. The way things go, maybe he's the one who gave it to her!"

"Ugh." Seto rolled his eyes. ". . . Does your uncle know about this box?"

"I don't think so," Angelique said slowly. "He's not supposed to, anyway. My great-great-grandmother said it was a secret to be kept only among the people in each generation who were guarding the box."

"Where is the box now?" Seto grudgingly asked.

"I have it in a secret compartment in my house," Angelique said. "I'll bring it to you tonight. It wouldn't hurt to see if you and the Big Five can open it, would it?"

". . . Who knows." Seto scowled more. "Alright, we'd better check it out."

"Good." Angelique sounded relieved. "How are you and Mr. Crump doing?"

"We're fine," Seto said. "Although I was doing a lot better before we had this conversation."

"I honestly understand how you feel," Angelique said. "I don't like believing in the paranormal either."

When they hung up, Seto leaned forward and stared at the floor. "It's always something," he complained. "Every time I think my life is normal, something happens to turn it upsidedown again. I don't want to have to deal with magic left and right!"

"I guess Yugi would say it's our destiny because of our ancestors," Mokuba said.

"Well, I'm sick of destiny!" Seto retorted. "Why should what my priest and his followers did 3,000 years ago have anything to do with me and the Big Five today?"

"Maybe because even with that many generations in between, family still passes on their heirlooms?" Téa suggested. "It sounds like they left behind something really important that they intended only for their modern-day descendants to have. Actually, that's pretty special."

"I just wonder what the Big Five will say when we tell them their ancestors were completely loyal to my ancestor," Seto snorted. "That was one thing the Pharaoh withheld from them. I guess he thought it would be too much for them to take in."

"I guess it is pretty weird," Mokuba said. "But it's kind of nice too. You guys all had that connection because of our ancestors, and even after all the problems we've had with them in the present-day, they're starting to turn their lives around and be helpful allies. Since I always liked Lector, I kind of like that he's important in the big picture like this."

"Lector's got enough on his mind already without this," Seto objected.

"Yeah, but we'll have to tell them," Mokuba said.

"I know. Meanwhile, we still need to find Joey and Tristan," Seto grumbled.

"Maybe I should call Yugi and find out if they've had any luck," Téa worried.

"If they'd had any luck, he would have called or texted you," Seto pointed out.

Téa's shoulders slumped. "That's true. I just feel so helpless! . . . Where could they be?!"

Seto had no answers.

xxxx

Joey and Tristan had indeed managed to wander into the French Quarter. Currently they were traveling up one of the many streets filled with jazz clubs and bars. Despite the late hour, musicians were still on street corners and crowds were gathering to listen to them. Up ahead, two women were performing a wild dance to one musician's saxophone.

"Nice," Tristan commented.

"You punk," Joey grunted, but he was clearly ogling the dancers as well.

"We'd better try to find a phone so we can call the others," Tristan said.

"Yeah." Joey looked up and down the block. "The only thing is, where the heck do they put payphones these days?"

"Maybe we'll have to go in one of those places and see if there's a phone on a counter we can use," Tristan suggested.

Joey wasn't listening. Now he was staring ahead to where people had gathered both on and under a Spanish-style balcony and were yelling and laughing raucously. "What the heck's going on there?!" he exclaimed.

Tristan stared too. "It . . . looks like they're flashing."

A piece of clothing soared over their heads.

"What the . . . ?!" Joey stared. "Isn't that the top one of those dancers was wearing?!"

Tristan went red. "What have we got into?"

"Come and join us, boys," one of the dancers purred.

Joey and Tristan exchanged a long look.

"Uh . . . thanks for the invitation, but we've got somewhere we've gotta be," Tristan hedged, trying not to look in the dancers' or the flashers' general direction as he attempted to inconspicuously flee to the opposite side of the street.

"Yeah, that's right," Joey agreed with a wave. "We're meeting friends. I think we took a wrong turn somewhere. See you around!" He tore after Tristan.

"Oh brother," he sighed, holding a hand to his heart as they hurried back the way they had come. "I never wanna bring Serenity down here."

"No kidding," Tristan exclaimed. "This city really does get wild. I knew what I read say to stay out of the French Quarter if you wanted a family-friendly experience for Mardi Gras, but I didn't realize we were so close to it coming out of that cemetery!"

"So what the heck are we gonna do?!" Joey cried. "We've gotta find a phone somewhere!"

Now it was Tristan who wasn't paying attention. He was focused on a car heading their way. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "I think that's the car the Big Five have been using!"

Joey ran past him and waved at the car. "Hey! Help!"

The vehicle pulled over to the curb and the window rolled down. "What are you kids doing over here?" Gansley growled.

"It's a long story," Joey said. He grabbed the handle of the back door. "Just get us out of here, will ya?!"

Lector sighed. "Get in. Just be careful of Gansley's cane back there." As Joey and Tristan scrambled in, he asked, "Where have you been?! Everyone is worried sick!"

"We got zinged by Dr. Raven's voodoo!" Joey exclaimed. "We both woke up in coffins with our names on them in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1!"

"Then we got away, but we ended up in the French Quarter here," Tristan said.

Lector shook his head. "Boys. . . ." He took out his phone. "I'll let everyone know you're safe."

Joey relaxed. "Hey, thanks." He paused as something suddenly occurred to him. "Wait a minute! Have you guys been out looking for us?"

"Well, we're not out joyriding," Gansley grunted.

"Almost everyone is looking," Lector said as he typed. "Crump and Mr. Kaiba stayed back, of course, and a couple of people stayed with them. But everyone else is out."

"Well . . . gee, thanks," Joey said, feeling humbled. "You've been worried too?"

Lector grunted. "Naturally we didn't want anything to happen to you boys. Yes, we've been worried too. Crump was even going to get up to look. Johnson and Nesbitt convinced him to stay down, or so Nesbitt told us after he went out to look."

Joey and Tristan exchanged a stunned look. The Big Five truly had changed. Lector had already been their ally and friend, and now the others certainly were as well.

"I hope you didn't see anything too disturbing before we found you," Lector said.

"Mostly we were trying not to see," Tristan said, shifting uncomfortably. "How is the stuff that goes on there even legal?!"

Lector shook his head. "That part of the city is a different world. There's a lot of rich history there that's good, but it isn't a good place for underage tourists during Mardi Gras."

"No kidding! Man, I hope Serenity isn't anywhere near there," Joey worried.

"She says she isn't," Lector said as a text came back from her. "But she saw a ghost walk through the wall." He glanced up at Joey. "Most residents here just accept the ghosts as a part of everyday living."

"Are you serious?!" Joey exclaimed. "I am never moving here!"

"Well," Tristan said, "at least we were helped out by a ghost."

". . . True," Joey relented.

"Serenity also says she's very glad you're both alright, and she wants to hear the story in every detail when we get back," Lector said.

". . . Maybe almost every detail," Tristan said, knowing there were a few things he would prefer to omit.

"Yeah," Joey nodded in agreement. "That sounds about right."

xxxx

At the hotel, Johnson's phone rang just as he heard the door to the suite open. He snapped it up and tried to retreat to the farthest corner of the room he was sharing with Crump to talk.

"Hello?" he almost demanded. The caller I.D. said it was Seto's doctor.

"Hello, Mr. Johnson," the doctor greeted him. "I've finished analyzing the powder. You'll be relieved to know you haven't been poisoned. Apparently that woman was just trying to scare you."

"Well, what was it?!" Johnson asked, even as relief and a joy he hadn't realized he could experience swept over him.

"It was astragalus," the doctor reported.

"What?!" Johnson cried in disbelief.

"Just a harmless herb used for healing cuts and boosting the immune system," the doctor reported. "I wanted to get you told immediately, despite the late hour."

"Yes." Johnson drew a shaking breath. "Thank you."

Crump was staring as he hung up the phone. "Well?!"

"I'm alright." Johnson started to smile as that truth really sunk in. "I'm really alright. . . ."

"What are you talking about?!" came Lector's voice from the doorway.

Crump cringed. "Oh boy. . . ."

Johnson went over to Lector, who was coming in and silently demanding explanations with his eyes. Gansley and Nesbitt, confused and also wanting to know, came in right behind him.

"When I found Crump and Mr. Kaiba in the freezer, Dr. Raven's assistant randomly threw some kind of a powder at me," Johnson said. "I didn't know whether it could be poison or not, especially since Dr. Raven had ordered Angelique to poison anyone who came to rescue the prisoners. Kaiba's doctor has been analyzing the powder and finally learned it wasn't poison at all."

Lector stared at him. Before he could speak, Nesbitt summed up both of their feelings. "And when were you going to tell us about this?!"

Johnson looked down. "Maybe never," he admitted. "Crump only knows because he was there when it happened. I . . . I didn't want to add something else for everyone to worry about. . . ."

"So all this evening you've been afraid you might die?" Gansley realized.

". . . That's a good way of putting it," Johnson said.

"I was really sure he was okay," Crump said. "But of course, we were both worrying anyway."

Lector finally found his voice. "We could have lost you and we wouldn't have even known that was a possibility until it was too late?!" he boomed at Johnson.

"I told him that," Crump said. "But it was still no go; he wasn't gonna add anything more to what you were already dealing with."

"It was very unselfish, actually," Gansley quietly told Lector and Nesbitt.

Nesbitt whipped around to look at him. "Wouldn't you have wanted to know?!"

"Of course I would have wanted to know." An edge crept into Gansley's voice. "I wish we had been told. But we've all been so upset since Crump went missing, and then there was something new to be angry about when we learned how Lector's father deliberately used him. Johnson saw all of that and he chose not to hurt us anymore than we already had been."

"I would have told you had there really been poison," Johnson said softly. "But until I knew, I didn't want to give you something else to think about when it might be a false alarm."

Lector came and towered over him, his expression unreadable. Although Johnson tried not to feel intimidated, it was hard not to. Lector was the tallest and strongest man among them, while Johnson had the smallest frame. Still, he knew Lector wouldn't hurt him.

Without warning Lector pulled Johnson into a tight hug. "Don't you do that again," he hissed. "If anything might be wrong, I want to know. So do the others. But . . ." He pulled back and looked Johnson in the eyes. "I appreciate your consideration. You've changed."

Nesbitt finally gave a grudging nod. "In the past, I could imagine you completely falling apart and going into hysteria the moment you thought you might die. You were never good at acting when it came to something involving you. But you put on quite an act tonight."

"Then . . . you both forgive me?" Johnson looked hopeful.

Lector frowned. "Tonight I discovered that my father lied to get me out here and couldn't care less if Dr. Raven hurts me. Then I come back here and find out that I could have lost another of my dear friends without even knowing he was sick. He lied to me too. Only his lie was because he cared a great deal whether I was hurt." He heaved a sigh, clenching his fist.

"Of course I forgive you," Nesbitt blurted. "But Lector might need a little time."

"No," Lector said. "How can I not forgive someone who really does care about me?" He turned away, passing a trembling hand over his face. "It's forgiving my father that's really going to take some work." His voice broke.

Crump got out of bed and came over to him. "Did he really say he didn't care?" he said in concern.

"Yes, he did," Lector said. "To my face! And he used to care. He used to. . . ." He trembled, close to breaking down but trying to hold it back.

"Oh Buddy . . ." Crump drew a firm arm around Lector's shoulders. "You told Nesbitt once to cry if he needed to, that none of us would judge him. That's the same thing here."

Lector shook his head. "I'm not going to cry. But I . . ." He trailed off and just let Crump hold onto him. There had been too much going on earlier to really process his father's hateful words. Now, coming back and learning about Johnson had really driven it home. Two lies, and two completely different attitudes regarding them. . . .

"My father already drove a knife into my heart," he said at last. "Why does he have to carve it up in pieces too? I wish he'd never called me. I wish we were all home right now. I want to just pack up and leave. . . ."

Gansley and Johnson came over to him as well. Nesbitt, never very good at being comforting, trailed behind but was also clearly concerned.

"We can go any time you want to, Lector," Gansley told him. "We came here for you."

"We wouldn't be here otherwise," Nesbitt added.

"I don't know what to do!" Lector burst out. "The police are involved now, but if there really is magic, how are they going to handle it?! My sister has amnesia. What's going to happen next?!"

"Dr. Raven probably won't hurt her again," Gansley said.

"But he may go after the others," Lector said despondently. "My family turned against me, except for Evangeline. What do I owe them?!" He pulled away from Crump and turned to face him and the others. "I don't owe them anything! All of you have been getting hurt because of my father's cruel plan to use me as a target! I need to think about your safety above theirs!"

"But you're still worried about them too," Gansley knew.

"You still love your family," Johnson quietly said.

"Yes." Lector turned away. "Maybe all of them feel like my father does, but I don't know that. And regardless, I have no intention of being a sacrificial lamb, but . . . I don't know how to walk away from this mess until they're safe. I don't know what to do. . . ."

". . . There is that angle of Yugi and everyone saying we're all supposed to defeat the great evil," Johnson said. "Not that we've ever been in the saving the world business, but if you feel you have to stay until Dr. Raven is defeated, at least we don't have to do it by ourselves."

". . . That's true," Lector conceded. "Alright, let's go talk to them. Maybe we can figure out a new plan."

He headed for the door. The other four went with him.

xxxx

In the Kaiba suite, everyone had gathered waiting anxiously for Joey and Tristan to return. When they walked through the door after Gansley and Lector brought them back, they were immediately mobbed by their loved ones.

"Joey! Tristan!" Serenity ran at them both, throwing her arms around their necks.

"Sis!" Joey hugged her close.

Tristan tried to hug her too. "We're really okay, Serenity," he said, beaming to see how she'd been worried.

"Mr. Lector said you were in a cemetery!" Serenity cried.

"Oh my," Bakura gasped.

"I doubt you handled that well," Yami Bakura remarked, eyeing Joey, who flushed.

"It's the most haunted cemetery in the country! How do you think I'd handle it?!"

"By freaking out," Téa playfully smiled.

Joey scowled. "I can keep my cool when I have to!"

Yugi chuckled, but smiled up at him and Tristan in relief. "We're all so glad you're okay," he said.

"You big dork! We were all worried," Mai declared, looking at Joey with her hands on her hips.

"We were pretty worried too!" Joey shot back. "We didn't set out to get plopped in a cemetery!"

"Kaiba tried to find you too," Téa said. "He wanted to track you through your cellphone, Joey. He wasn't able to make it work, but he tried."

"Yeah?" Joey blinked, looking through the crowd to where Seto was standing near the back, not speaking. "Well . . . thanks, Kaiba. Thanks a lot."

Seto nodded. "Just don't go doing anything idiotic like that again," he scolded. "If you want to investigate, take some of the others with you."

"Hey, I doubt anyone could have done anything against that voodoo potion!" Joey snapped.

"It might have only been chloroform," Tristan countered.

"Well," Yugi sighed, "I guess the question now is, what should we do next? I bet if we try to find out what was in those packages, we'll find the file missing and the information deleted from the computer."

"On the contrary," Seto said. "It wasn't deleted from the computer . . . yet."

Joey stared at him. "You hacked in and found it?!"

"That's right," Seto said. "You and Tristan wouldn't have had to leave to look for it at all."

"Seto decided to try looking for it after he couldn't get you tracked down," Mokuba said.

Joey scowled. ". . . Well, what does it say?!" he demanded.

"Unfortunately, nothing very helpful," Seto said. "If it is more than your average voodoo knick-knacks, it's not listed as such."

"Mostly it's just figurines and voodoo dolls," Marik said.

"And mojo bags and amulets," Mokuba added.

"Amulets," Atem mused. "Those are quite important in the vodun religion, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I think so," Mokuba blinked.

"Then maybe the possibly powerful magical artifact is an amulet, disguised as just another one to sell to the tourists!" Atem exclaimed. "Kaiba, did you find any photographs of the contents of those crates?"

"Some," Seto said. "I saved copies of everything to my laptop."

A bit of hope shone in Atem's eyes. "Then let's look!"

Just as everyone was starting to move toward the couch to gather around the laptop, a knock came at the door. Seto paused and went over to it. "Who is it?" he called.

"Angelique," was the reply.

Quickly Seto opened the door. Angelique was standing there, flanked by two policewomen, a strange box in her hands.