I don't own bakugan. Pity, I'd be rich. Mentions of torture and swearing in this chapter.

Bold is thoughts

Italics is flashbacks

Ch. 13

Tonight was the night. They'd waited for long enough and they were getting sick of seeing Shun walk in and pretending that he was perfectly fine. He had told them he would take it easy almost a week ago, and nothing had changed.

Even after he said that he would take it easy, there were still many cases where he would wince if he moved a certain way. If he was wincing, that meant it was serious.

They had gotten Kato to drop them off a bit off the dojo, so they could see when Shun would go in. He would probably catch them if they went on foot, if he was even going slowly enough for them to keep up. Waiting didn't take too long, because Alice spotted the raven as soon as he jumped over the front door.

Silently, the five crept to the edge. Dan had no problem pulling himself over and to the garden. He waited as Alice and Julie went over as well. They had no trouble getting over and jumping down. Now, Runo and Marucho went over. It was just their luck that they would fall into the very trap they had succumbed to years ago.

Runo and Marucho were careful not to scream, even as they fell, thought Runo was close to biting her tongue off from the effort. After the close shave, Runo and Marucho sat in front for a couple of minutes before the group decided to proceed.

"What about the traps inside?" Julie asked. They were all too aware of Shun's grandfather and his want of holding onto his ninja lifestyle. That meant whispering floors and all.

Dan looked at Marucho, "Hey, did you get them all down?"

"Yeah, I got them down after Shun asked me to."

Alice felt the fear crawl further up from the pit of her stomach, reaching her chest. Something felt off about everything that was happening. They stopped in the main hallway, almost bumping into each other. Dan stood there, gaping at the wall next to him.

Runo hissed, "What's wrong? Keep moving Dan!"

Alice took a breath, "Dan? Is something the matter?"

The silent boy nodded. He pointed at the wall, using the small light he'd brought to shine on the words that had become visible. The group silently read it, not understanding its meaning.

"Games? What games?" Julie questioned obliviously.

"I have a feeling that these weren't fun games Julie. At least, not for Shun."

"Why do you say that Marucho?" Alice asked quietly.

He closed his eyes briefly, "Did you guys look closely at the words?" When they shook their heads, "The letters, at least some of them, are a bit reddish-brown guys."

"Then, I'm guessing it's…" Dan trailed off. They all knew the word that he hadn't said. Blood.

"If this person's not for losing, what does that mean for," Runo thought about the word 'raven', "Shun, I'm guessing?"

"I don't think it could be anything good," Marucho answered.

A thought suddenly dawned on the bluenette, "Could this be the same thing that was in the stalker letter?" she asked, careful to keep her voice low.

"That's not much of a stalker letter. It's more like a death threat."

"Exactly," Runo pointed out, "Wouldn't that be the perfect reason not to show us the letter? We would have immediately called the police, even if Shun told us not to."

"Why would Shun LET a stalker get to him?" Dan stated back. "He would ignore the person. Shun wouldn't be visiting the person or letting him stay at his dojo!"

"Blackmail?" Julie suggested.

"About?" Marucho asked.

Dan answered bluntly, "There's nothing good to blackmail Shun about. Unless having a dead family is bad."

"Don't be so insensitive!" Runo retorted.

"Well, it's true!" Dan was waving his arms back at her. "Plus, if there was anything to blackmail Shun on, I would have found it by now."

Alice decided to speak up. Well, whisper up. "Maybe we should focus on finding Shun. Then we can just ask him. If he's here, there wouldn't be any way for him to get out of answering our questions. We have all the evidence."

Marucho shifted, "That's the best plan we have. Maybe we should split up into two groups to try and search faster."

Within minutes, the groups walked in opposite directions. Marucho, Julie and Runo said they would head towards the kitchen, and then search outside. They all made sure to have lights and cell phones at the ready as they marched off.

Alice and Dan went along the hallway, walking slowly to avoid sounds that could give them away. The shadows of the house that Dan used to goof off in had suddenly become fearsome. They opened each door silently, taking time to make their way through the maze-like house. How did Shun ever live here? This is huge, Alice thought.

When they went off the main and into a smaller hallway, Alice could sense that gnawing feeling begin to climb past her heart into her throat. Dan stopped at the door.

Something felt off about this door. It was as if there was an invisible signal from Shun telling him to turn back now. On instinct, he turned off the small flashlight. As he reached for the small notch that was the handle he recalled the door from the past.

"Hey Shun! Do you want to play hide-and-seek now?" Dan chirped happily, pleased that his friend finally got to play with him. It had been two WHOLE days since he saw him!

Shun looked off before nodding, "Sure. That'd be fun here, wouldn't it?" he asked. If Dan had been as perceptive about Shun as he was at eighteen, he would have realized something was off. But at the small age of five, he couldn't fathom why Shun looked a bit fidgety.

"But Dan, before we start, I want to tell you which rooms you can't go into." Dan pouted at the idea of restrictions, "Dan," Shun started.

"Fine."

"Okay, so Grandpa's room and my parent's room are out," Shun said. That much was obvious, it would be rude to enter those two rooms. Shun led Dan down a hallway and stopped at the first door. "This room is also off-limits."

"Why?" Dan was curious. Shun's dad went in there a lot, especially whenever he was over.

"That's my dad's private room. Even I'm not allowed in there," Shun looked at the door as if it were about to bite him. Dan nodded and they walked back.

If Dan had been more attune to Shun, like he was in his later years, he would have realized that Shun had been in that room. Several times, and each more frightening than the last.

Shun Kazami was afraid of that room.

Steeling himself, Dan opened the door. Alice could immediately feel the horror coming from it, even before she could see anything inside. Dan took a breath in, and slid open the door. The pair walked into the dark room. They spotted the one they were looking for immediately, and Alice's eyes welled up like a pond after a monsoon.

She could see all the cuts, scrapes, and bruises that were hidden beneath his ripped up shirt and jeans. His jacket was next to him, already red in color, and quickly fading into brown. His hair didn't look immaculate, but rather hung around his face as a sort of protection.

Alice saw that oddly, his face looked fine, besides the smudges of blood and cuts. When she thought about it, someone hurting him then leaving his face perfect, it made her feel sick inside.

He had been leaning against the wall in an attempt to regain some form of control of his body before leaving. That 'lesson' had left him feeling completely exposed, and his emotions still swirled rapidly, threatening his coherency.

Shun looked up. What could his father want now? He saw red hair and realized who it was.

He groaned and slid down the wall, covering his eyes, leaving smudges of red along the wall. "Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t," he muttered over and over. How could he explain this?

Jazz peeks in, wiggles back out...Whaddya think? Well, whatever the case, we've reached the "no return" point. If you've stuck around this long, I am EXTREMELY grateful! I love all of you!

Shout out to Pooch2010, for keeping me going, InnocentDiamond, for insightful tidbits, and for the forthcoming reviews. You guys rock!

Tip: From here on out, there is going to be mentions of torture, and maybe a little cussing. See you next week!