Chapter 38

It had been nearly half an hour since his first attempt to get hold of Tristan via the mobile Tristan had left him with. When no one had picked up he figured they were probably still busy so had decided to wait to try again. Ten minutes later still no reply on any of the numbers he had access to. Ten minutes after that the same story. And now with the full half hour gone he was repeatedly calling the numbers to try and abate the bad feeling slowly moving through his stomach.

'Come on, come on, someone pick up,' he tried the house number for what felt like the fifteenth time.

He mentally counted the number of rings. Two more and the answer machine would kick in. He got himself ready to hang up again when someone picked up and a sharp breath sounded down the line. Somewhere in the background he could hear an infant crying, but before he could really assess what he was hearing, a near hysterical but familiar voice spoke.

'Please stop calling. Please stop calling. I can't... I can't take the noise anymore. Please...'

'SK?'

'Joey...? I... I need help.'

'What... what's going on?' The bad feeling in Joey's stomach rolled into dread.

'I can't... I can't get Taylor to stop crying,' SK's voice was little more than a broken sob. 'I can't get him to stop crying. And... and I don't know how Seto is and... there was so much blood...'

'Blood?' Joey tried to keep the fear out of his voice. 'Why...?'

'I got lost. I got lost. I couldn't back track the Jump properly and I got lost. Then when I got there... when I got there... there was so much blood... and... and Tristan was hitting him and Seto... Seto begged me to... and... and there was already so much blood I... I think I might have killed him. But I don't... I don't know... I know they're here. I... I sensed Tristan's Jump but I... I was too afraid to find out and I... I just can't think right now. Please, you have to help me.'

Everything in Joey reverberated with shock. This isn't what he wanted to hear. With tension running through his body, he half sat, half fell back onto the bed. For a few long moments he was silent, then Mai placed a hand on his shoulder forcing his attention towards her. He could see from the wide-eyed look she was wearing she'd guessed things were pretty bad and she needed him to do something about it.

'Joey...?'

'It's okay SK, it'll all be okay. I'll get Yugi and we'll come right away. You just hold tight, okay?'

'Okay... okay, but I...'

'What is it?''

'I... the... the prisoner, we... we captured the guy, but I... no one's been to check on him since and I... I'm sorry; I just can't think straight right now. I don't know what to do. Please. Please. Please...'

'It's okay SK, I'll get Covo to go check on him,' he let out a sharp, exasperated sigh. 'We'll be there soon; you just try and hold things together till I get there, okay?'

'I don't know if I can. Taylor won't stop crying. He just won't stop crying. I...'

'Calm down SK, it'll all be okay, just calm down, we'll be there soon.'

'Please,' with that he hung up.

For a few moments Joey started at the phone trying to work out if SK had done that deliberately or not. In the end he figured the guy was in such a mental state of shock he wasn't completely in control of what he was doing.

'You should go, now,' Mai squeezed his shoulder, 'they need you.'

'Right...' his voice sounded as dry as his mouth felt.

'Joey...'

'I'm going, it's just... I shouldn't have been so complacent,' he squeezed his eyes shut. 'I... I should have known something would go wrong. I... I should have been there.'

Less than half an hour ago Joey had come to them and given them three simple orders. Catilin was to sleep. Ahna was to look after Mai. And Covo was to check on the prisoner. Covo couldn't say he was exactly comfortable with his assigned task. It wasn't that he was a coward, far from it; it was more the idea of facing someone strong enough to subdue the Pure. On top of that he was finding the vague directions he'd been given weren't enough to help him control his own Jumps. It had taken him several attempts before he arrived somewhere which looked the way Joey had described it.

Taking the chance this was finally the right place, he made his way down the adjoining alleyway, looking out for the exact door Joey had described. It didn't take him long to locate it. Sucking a deep breath in, he pushed the door open and descended into the basement below. Everything was just as Joey said it would be; the metallic tables, the blue semicircle, the chains. There was just one problem.

No prisoner.

A flutter of fear moved through him as he cautiously began to examine the rest of the room. A part of him was terrified of the notion this guy might be loose and waiting in the shadows for him somewhere, but a greater part of him was equally as terrified their prisoner had escaped. When his search turned up nothing he found himself letting out a long and flabbergasted sigh.

'Well this is the last thing we need right now.'

'I'm sorry, what was that?' An unfamiliar female voice sounded from behind him.

He turned round to see a young woman dressed in a roman style black tunic standing in the middle of the basement. There was something about her face which made it hard for Covo to decide if she was actually really pretty or just on the more attractive side of plain.

'Err...' he felt caught out for a moment, 'aren't you a member of Dayena's Council?'

'Yeah,' she smiled, 'but don't worry; I'm not here on that kind of business.'

'Then why are you here?'

'Curiosity. I've recently met someone... strange and in meeting them I also discovered some... strange things were happening. I'm not usually so curious, but...'

'There's something about this situation which just intrigues you?'

'There's something about this situation which bothers me,' she folded her arms. 'Whatever it is that's going on required someone to mess with some of our records. Records I personally oversaw. It bothers me; a lot. And I won't be satisfied until I have a full explanation.'

'You're talking about the changes to Jay's records, aren't you?'

'Well at least my instincts were right about you,' she let out a slight sigh, 'you are one of SK's friends.'

'Yeah, I am. I also think we might have an explanation for why Jay's records were messed with, but I'm not totally sure I can tell you what they are right now.'

'I figured as much, but...' she hesitated, 'well... it might have been the changes in my records which made me want to pursue this situation, but it wasn't those changes which made me curious. Nayta was.'

'You've met Nayta?' Covo wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. 'How is she?'

'I thought you were a friend of SK's,' she stared at him.

'I am.'

'Then why don't you know?'

'Know what?'

'There's no record of her death. It was the final straw which caused SK to confront Dee about the whole situation. From the way he made such a big deal out of it I was sure he would have told you.'

'Wait, did you just say there's no record of her death?' Covo shook his head in confusion. 'How can there be no record of her death?'

'Because she's not dead, obviously,' the woman rolled her eyes. 'Although clearly if she hasn't let her friends know that yet something strange must be going on. That's why... that's why I used what influence I have to do a little... investigating of my own.'

'I see and what have you found out so far?'

'I'm sorry, I'm not totally sure I can tell you what I know right now,' she smirked slightly.

'Okay, I get it, I'll tell you what I know if you tell me what you know,' Covo rolled his eyes, 'deal?'

'Deal,' she grinned, 'but you go first.'