Phoenix: Sorry for the long update, I had writer's block. And I was a little lazy. So yeah…new chapter. Oh yeah, and Happy Summer.

Chapter 14: The Warning

She fell down on her knees and sank into the sand. She would not stop sinking, so she reached out her hand and called his name. He did not answer. She continued sinking until she was buried completely under the sand.

The landscape changed around her and she was floating in darkness. There was no source of life and panic immediately gripped her heart and overwhelmed her.

"Where am I?"

A strange voice answered her and a figure was slowly appearing.

"You are in the deep crevices of your mind. Your nightmare!" It hissed menacingly. It reached out an aged hand and energy started forming inside it. Then, with a swift motion, it released the energy and struck her.

She looked at the spot where it had hit her, right under the shoulder. There was a wide line that had blood spurting out of it and streaming down her arm. The wound was slowly tearing more and she clutched it with the other hand, willing for it to stop. Then another jolt of energy hit her remaining arm, causing a similar wound to form on it as well.

"What did you do to me?" She cried.

"I injected the dark energies inside you. Soon they will capture your soul and rip it from you, separating your body and soul. Then I will finally have your tremendous power, while the only thing left of you will be your rotting carcass!"

It let out a threatening laugh. Then, without a moment's hesitation, sped towards her. She screamed his name, but again, he did not respond.

Kari bolted awake from her nightmare and sat up straight, rubbing her arms. When they ached in specific spots, she glanced at her hands. There was blood on them. She looked at the top of her arms and noticed two wide gashes on both of them. Blood was streaking down from the gashes on both of them, so she ran to her bathroom and cleaned them up and wound them in bandages.

"Let this be a warning," That evil voice said and echoed around her. "Soon you will be no more. After three attacks, you shall perish…"

Kari couldn't take it anymore. She screamed and covered her hands over her ears. Feeling lightheaded, she collapsed onto the floor right then and there.

Misty was walking down Kari's street with an MP3 player in her ears. Kaiba, Kari, and her had scheduled to meet at Kari's place to start the History project, which they were doing as a group. Misty was also holding a notebook in her hands, which had her drawings of Duel Monsters that she drew the other day. That notebook was like her second soul.

Misty was strolling peacefully while humming to the song when a scream filled her ears and overpowered her music. She curiously removed her earphones as to find the location of the scream. After listening for a few seconds, she realized it was coming from the apartment building that Kari lived in.

"What the hell...!" Misty said to herself as she broke into a run towards her friend's apartment.

She tried opening the front door, only to discover that it was locked. Getting an idea, she took a few steps back, then kicked it open and sped inside. It was easy to find the bathroom, for it was a small apartment.

"What happened to you?" She said, looking over Kari. She noticed the lines on either of her arms that were bloody and bandaged. Kari was on her side, her hair covering the pain on her face. Realizing that Kari's eyes were closed, Misty bent down and nudged her. After a few seconds, Kari came through.

"Explain," was all Misty said. Kari got up, with Misty supporting her, and took a few deep breaths.

"Let's sit down," she said, and gestured towards the table in the kitchen.

Kaiba drove up in his limousine and walked inside the apartment building. His senses were alert, however, because as he was driving here he was sure had heard a scream coming from this very building. He silently hoped it was just his mind playing tricks on him, as it apparently did that a lot.

He found Kari's door and was about to knock. He stopped with his fist a few inches away from the door, because he heard voices. And it sure didn't sound like your typical History project conversation.

"And that's what happened," the first voice—Kari's voice, Kaiba figured—concluded.

"So you had a nightmare where you got those wounds on your arms to find out that they were actually there when you woke up?" the other voice said, whom sounded very familiar to Kaiba but he couldn't figure it out.

"Yeah, and I fainted because this…presence, I guess it was…that had given me the wounds also sounded in my head even after I woke up." Kari said slowly.

"Weird," Misty said with disbelief. "But right now I think we should—"

Kaiba decided that was a good time to enter and stop eavesdropping. He pushed open the door, which oddly seemed to be broken for some reason and was expecting it to be locked, and walked in. He gave no sign of hearing their conversation.

"What's going on here," He stated simply, referring to Kari's arms and why she was holding a wet towel to her head.

"I think we should meet tomorrow instead," Kari said. "I'm not feeling too well."

"And you don't look like it, either." Kaiba mumbled.

"How about we just do it during our free period on Monday?" Misty suggested.

Kaiba and Kari nodded. Kaiba started for the door again when he was stopped by Misty and Kari.

"Next time, don't eavesdrop on our conversation," Misty said bluntly. She and Kari knew he was listening the whole time.

He paused, then said quietly to Kari, "Get some rest," then walked out the door.

"He gets annoying," Misty blinked, then went to get her notebook and MP3. "Get some rest and don't forget about meeting tomorrow. We should probably just go to that tree again." With that, she was also out the door.

"Thank God it's Sunday," Kari said to herself. "I wouldn't want to pass out during class." She chuckled to herself and then headed for her room.

She laid down on her bed, remembering the voice. "Let this be a warning," It had said. "Soon you will be no more. After three attacks, you shall perish…"

After three attacks? Kari thought. Does that mean I'm going to be attacked three times?

Not wanting to think anymore, Kari closed her eyes but forced herself not to sleep, in fear of having another nightmare. Little did she know that her soul was slowly being sucked out of her body every minute...

Phoenix: I really don't like cliffhangers, except if I'm the one writing them. :P So, there's gonna be some action coming up, and someone that was already introduced in the story. Hope you like, leave a review.