Chapter 12
"blah" English
Yugi forgot about his laptop and ran back to Atem. Atem was sitting on the floor. Hugging his knees tightly and his head bent down into his knees. The bag held loosely in his grip.
"Atem! Atem are you alright?" Atem lifted his head up and looked at Yugi. Yugi knelt down to face Atem. Atem moved his mouth but no sound came out.
"I don't understand you." Yugi said; Atem pointed to the open door. Yugi looked at Atem then stood up slowly making his way to the door. Pushing open the door wider he looked out. Yugi gasped and stepped back. The gunshot it was aimed towards...towards...Brandon...and...it hit. Brandon was dead. Forever sleeping in a pool of his own blood. Yugi went back to Atem and took the bag from him.
"It'll be alright Atem. I wish you could talk, that way you could tell me what happened." Yugi whispered; Atem looked at Yugi and stood up along with Yugi.
"We'll go out there together." Yugi whispered as they made their way to the door.
(A/N: So you aren't left in the dark cause I'll forget to mention this later)
----Just a Few Minutes Ago----
Brandon whistled happily as he made his way out of the door. He looked around. Atem and Yugi weren't out yet.
"Guess I'll just wait for them to show up, but where's Jonas. He would be here by now." Brandon said to himself as he started whistling again. The sound of footsteps caused him to stop
"Oh hey, there you are!" Brandon said; Jonas smiled and handed him a note
"I found this in my bedroom. I take it you put it there, since you obviously love riddles." Jonas said; Brandon took the note and read it
'Protecting thy prince shall cost you. One by one you'll fall. Stay alive and it shall die. Escape thy clutches, discover the next with the clues. Thy cycle shall move.'
Brandon finished reading and looked confused.
"I didn't write this. My riddles usually have an easy answer to find. This...this thing isn't even a riddle. More like clues." Brandon said; Jonas looked at him confused and pulled out a laughing box.
"This was on top of it. I don't know what it means." Jonas said handing it to Brandon. Brandon took it and examined it. Brandon opened his mouth but no words came out as the sound of a gun shot was heard. Brandon fell to the ground. Pain shooting all over his body.
"Oh god! Hang on Brandon, I'll get some help!" Jonas yelled as he ran off to get help. Brandon looked around.
"A-Atem." Brandon muttered as Atem's figure appeared above him. Atem's eyes were wide with shock and filled with confusion "Atem. You're...the king of...games. Figure...this...out." Brandon lifted up the note; Atem took it and read it quickly. Brandon held Atem's other hand in his. Atem looked at the note confused then looked back at Brandon. Brandon merely smiled. His blood beginning to mix into his blond locks.
"I know...you'll figure...it out...I love you...baby brother." Brandon said before his blue eyes closed and his hand fell limp and onto the floor splashing in the blood. Atem gave a silent gasp then ran back through the door in the corridor to await Yugi.
//First Jeremy now Brandon...why are they doing this...why!// Atem thought as he hugged his knees close to his chest. He rested his forehead on his knees and started to think over the writing in the note.
//By Prince they must mean Yugi. Everyone's protecting him. Along with me. Yugi must be the prince. If whoever is after Yugi is gonna kill us one by one by the order we're protecting him, then I should have been killed first...but by clues that must mean that whoever is doing this will send another note along with a clue on who's gonna get killed next.//
Atem sighed in frustration
// Yes I remember. On the plane I got an e-mail from someone. They said you have two hours to discover who's next. I downloaded the file that came with it and it showed a really good drawing of me when I was four. Jeremy loved drawing me on his free time! That was my clue and I couldn't figure it out! DAMMIT! Alright the next one. There was a laughing box in Brandon's right hand. That must have been the clue. Brandon loved telling jokes and making people laugh. Dammit I can't even figure out something quick enough to save someone's life.//
//If they're targeting Yugi then I should leave him alone...that would mean breaking up with him.//
(A/N: Then you know what happens so I'm going to skip forward to where we left off!)
Police officers were around Brandon's body examining him. Medical officials were bringing a plastic bag to put his body in. Yugi nearly threw up at the site of all the blood. Atem put a hand over Yugi's eyes and led him off the boat. Atem took his hand away from Yugi's eyes when they stepped onto pavement. A black limo stopped in front of them. Jonas raced out of the car and hugged Atem.
"I'm so glad you're safe. Come on. Let's get you to the hospital." Jonas whispered before having Atem and Yugi walk ahead of them. Kerry and Kaiba were in the limo sitting side by side next to the mini fridge. Atem went in and Yugi followed. They sat right across from Kerry and Kaiba. Jonas climbed in and sat next to Yugi. Closing the door behind him with a soft 'slam' the limo started to smoothly drive to the hospital.
"Since Aya's still in Japan then we'll have to do this against the law and say that Seto is our lost brother and he's going to pay for Atem's operation." Kerry said quietly; Atem glanced at Kerry quickly then averted his gaze back to the ground. The ride was silent. Kerry would glance between Atem and Yugi constantly. Atem's gaze remained on the ground. Jonas pulled out a small album and started looking through it. Kaiba remained transfixed with the world outside the window.
//Why is it so quiet. Usually it's hard to keep it quiet in here...I guess that was Brandon's doing.// Yugi thought as the limo stopped. The door opened and the driver spoke
"Mr. Kaiba, we have arrived at the hospital." Kaiba motioned to Yugi to get Atem out first. Yugi nodded and took hold of Atem's arm. Atem jumped a bit but relaxed when he saw it was just Yugi.
"Come on." Yugi muttered as he climbed out of the limo still holding Atem's arm. Atem followed and was immediantly grabbed by nurses and doctors. They tore him away from Yugi's grip and put him on a wheelchair quickly guiding him away. Yugi stood dumbstruck for a few seconds before running after the doctors.
"Should we have told him, the doctors here have wanted to look at Atem's case for years?" Jonas asked; Kerry shook his head
"Nah, I think he knows how anyway." Kerry said before him, Jonas, and Kaiba climbed out of the limo and walked to the hospital entrance.
Yugi was stopped from following Atem into the ER.
"I'm sorry little boy but, you can't go in there." The nurse spoke; Yugi looked at her confused
//Crap what the hell did she just say?! Why didn't I listen in my English class more?!//
"Sorry, he's just worried about Atem. You know the one you've all wanted to see the condition of." Jonas said coming up behind Yugi and putting an arm around Yugi's shoulders. The nurse gasped
"He's here!" The nurse turned around and ran into the ER.
"Uh, what was that?" Yugi asked; Jonas chuckled
"The doctors here have wanted to take a look at Atem's throat problem for the longest time." Kerry said as he pushed the two towards the waiting room.
"I already told them to start the operation. Once they're done, they'll come out and tell us how everything went. For now, there's a nurse who'll be telling us about the condition of Atem's vocal cords."
"You're always ahead of these things aren't you." Yugi said; Kerry nodded.
"He's been like this since he was eight. Always five steps ahead of everyone else." Jonas said as they arrived at the waiting room. Kaiba was talking to a nurse at the front desk. Kerry pushed Jonas and Yugi onto some chairs then left to speak with the nurse Kaiba was talking to.
"Jonas...has Atem ever seen death?" Yugi asked; Jonas shook his head
"Nope. He's never seen anyone die in front of him. Why do you ask?"
"Well it's just that when Brandon was killed, I think Atem was there. I found Atem huddled up in the hallway trembling." Jonas got lost in thought discontinuing the conversation. Yugi started to think back on the dream he had on the boat. Where Atem was killed. Tears stung Yugi's eyes.
//It can't be true. Atem can't get killed.// Yugi though. Tears flowing down his flustered cheeks. Jonas took notice of Yugi when he had hiccuped.
"Hey, Yugi, it'll be okay. Atem's a fighter, he won't die on us." Jonas whispered; Yugi sniffed and hiccuped before looking at Jonas.
"H-how d-do you kn-know that. F-for all w-we kn-know h-he c-could be k-killed in h-his sleep." Yugi said between sobs. Jonas hugged Yugi reassuringly.
"It's okay. After last time, Seto's going to put guards to protect the inside and outside of Atem's room." Jonas whispered; Yugi hiccuped and pulled back from Jonas.
"B-but wh-what if he c-can n-never sing a-again?" Jonas shook his head
"Stop worrying. Take a nap. You're probably just tired." Jonas whispered; Yugi leaned onto Jonas and fell into a dreamless sleep.
Kerry and Kaiba returned and sat next to Jonas.
"How's he holding up?" Kerry asked motioning towards Yugis' sleeping form.
"He's worried that Atem will die or something. Maybe it was a bad idea sending Atem to Domino High School." Jonas whispered the last part.
"No, it wasn't a mistake!" Kerry yelled standing to his feet; Jonas lay Yugi's head down on the chair and stood up
"Yes it was! You knew perfectly well what was going to happen! You knew the reason everything happened for the longest time! Stop lying to your baby brother and help him! Tell him the truth and we can save him faster!" Jonas yelled; Kerry grabbed Jonas by the collar of his shirt
"HE'S MY BABY BROTHER AND I'LL DECIDE WHAT HE SHOULD OR SHOULDN'T KNOW!!!" Kerry yelled
"HE'S MY BABY BROTHER TOO! YOU CAN'T MAKE ALL THESE DECISIONS FOR HIM! HE'S NINETEEN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! HE CAN DO WHAT HE WANTS!!!" Jonas yelled back
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kaiba yelled pulling Kerry and Jonas apart "ATEM NEEDS YOU BOTH NOW! SO START ACTING YOU AGE AND NOT YOUR SHOE SIZE!!!" Kerry and Jonas nodded and glared at each other a few seconds before a nurse walked over to them.
"E-excuse me. Are you here for Atem." The nurse asked in perfect Japanese.
"Yes we are." Yugi spoke standing up.
"Yugi, you should go back to sleep." Jonas said; Yugi shook his head
"With you guys yelling I wouldn't get much rest anyway." Yugi said walking in front of him
"Well? How's Atem?" Kerry asked; the nurse sighed
"Atem's vocal cords are completely singed, on the verge of collapsing. There is a very low chance of him ever being able to speak again. But what has us baffled is that his vocal cords should have collapsed three weeks ago." The nurse said
"You mean the day the plane crashed." Jonas whispered; the nurse nodded
"Then why does he still have them?" Kaiba asked
"We do not know. He has an angel looking after him I suppose. The doctors will try and give him artificial vocal cords without damaging the remains of his vocal cords. Though as I said his chance of speaking ever again are very low." the nurse said bowing and leaving to the ER once again.
"Yugi, come on. Seto booked a room for us. I'll take you there and you can sleep." Jonas said putting an arm around Yugi's quivering shoulders
"The limo is outside. I'll stay here with Kerry. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Kaiba said; Jonas nodded and guided Yugi out of the hospital. Yugi entered the limo first then Jonas. As the limo started something crashed through the window on Yugi's side. Yugi shielded his eyes from the glass. When he looked again, on the seat next to him was a note and a tape recorder. Yugi picked it up and played it. Atem's song 'Proud of Your Boy' started to play. Jonas grabbed it and turned it off. Grabbing the note he read it out loud.
"Can you guess who's next?" Jonas crumbled up the note and glanced at Yugi. His eyes shined with unshed tears.
Authors Notes: BLAH! I hate this chapter so much! Anyway can you figure out who's next? Sorry for such a short chapter. I had TONS of homework this week. Anyway till next time! See ya!