Authoress's Note: Okay! Here is the next chapter!
Disclaimer still applies, as do all the old warnings of content.
This chapter was a little harder to write than the first two, as it deals with the aftermath of Bakura's wish. I do not mean to offend any fans of Yugi, Joey, Téa… *list goes on and on* Well, it does increase the overall mood of the fic, now doesn't it?
Thank you for sticking with me. : - ) I really appreciate it.
The alarm clock woke him with a screech. He picked it up and hurdled it into the wall. His head hurt so bad that the room spun when he finally decided he was awake enough to venture forth from the blankets of sleep.
That had been the worst dream he had had in his entire life. Not intense enough for nightmare status, and yet too horrible to be qualified as a dream.
He dragged himself to the bathroom and did his business, then looked at the bathroom mirror. It swam in his vision, so he reached up and grabbed it. Advil. Tylenol. He needed something for that headache. What was he talking about? He grabbed some fast-acting painkiller, wondering where those names had come from. They sounded like some kinds of monsters from a really bad horror movie.
After his vision cleared, he looked at himself in the mirror. It took the last of his hairspray to tame that mass of hair, and he threw the empty can in the trash. Some eyeliner and his appearance would be perfect. He could put on eyeliner without anyone knowing it was eyeliner. That's why he had such nicely defined eyes.
As fast as he could, he got into his school uniform, realizing that he had to be there in less than fifteen minutes. Where did he get such a headache? He put another dosage of the fast-acting painkiller in his pocket in case he needed it.
The Millennium Ring glowed under his school-issued undershirt. Quickly, he put the jacket over it. It was against school policy for boys to wear anything other than a watch, as he had learned on the first day of school. The collar of his shirt hid the string the Item was hanging from. And, no matter how hard he tried, the magical gold would never, ever come off.
He found himself running to school, and the bell rang just as he sat down. Two kids were just finishing up their game of duel monsters. They hastily put the game away so they wouldn't get caught, even though their history teacher was the one who invented the game. The guy would not shut up about Egypt.
Sometimes, Bakura wondered why a guy so rich was teaching.
They all stood up as he entered the room, their voices all chanting the same, "Good morning, Professor Pegasus."
"Sit down."
Bakura let his mind wander. He already knew everything that was being taught; he had no idea why, but Egyptian history was in his blood. On all the tests, his score was perfect; he even got the extra credit correct.
It had been a thousand years since the fall of what the textbooks referred to as a "futile system called democracy" and resulted in a worldwide dictatorship. There was a long list of rules you had to obey, and those who were caught disobeying them were never heard from again. They got a letter in the mail and sometime later that day people showed up at their homes and took them away.
Once, they had even showed up in his classroom to take away an entire family. A really nice kid named Joey had been taken, and from another class his sister. His mother had been teaching on the third floor, and they murdered her when she refused to cooperate. And it had been in front of kindergarteners.
"Bakura! Are you going to answer my question or are you going to sit there staring at the trees?"
"Huh?"
"Who was Cleopatra?"
"She was the last Queen of Egypt."
Pegasus looked at him strangely. "Bakura, I would like to speak with you after class."
"Okay."
He let his mind wander again, this time on the subject of his eccentric teacher. In an age where everyone was supposed to conform, Pegasus did whatever he could to do to make himself different. He almost always had the shades down unless it was a cloudy day, and then it had to be very cloudy. He wore ruffled shirts under his suits and he had heard from someone that Pegasus collected wine glasses.
No wonder he had that freaky dream last night. Pegasus was fuel for everyone's nightmares and dreams, especially that long hair that only showed half his face.
The bell shook Bakura out of his thoughts. He was usually fully attentive in Egyptian History. What had happened to make him space out?
"Bakura."
He stood up and walked to the desk. Pegasus was sitting down, holding his pen in his left hand. "Yes, Professor Pegasus?"
"I know you are having doubts about our government after hearing about Ancient Egypt, Bakura."
"Yes."
"You are aware of the danger in that, aren't you? It would be wise of you to mask your thoughts next time. Do you play Duel Monsters?"
"No."
Pegasus smiled at him. "I think you would enjoy it. Here is a complimentary deck from me. And do try to pay attention in class next time, okay?"
"Thank you, Professor Pegasus."
He replied with a sharp nod. "Now go to your next class or you'll be late."
Bakura felt the warm glow of the Millennium Ring, though it was almost impossible to tell it was glowing, and took a step back. Then he got out of the room as fast as he could.
As always, Bakura was sitting alone at lunch. He never ate the school food, and he didn't have much of an appetite. Nobody ever noticed him in the lunch room, as they were all wrapped up in their own conversations.
If Bakura actually needed to eat, he would not have eaten anyway. There was a strange feeling of dread inside him, almost like the universe was about ready to swallow him whole. Sickened, he swallowed.
The cafeteria doors burst open and two men in black suits came in. Every conversation came to a halt. Every eye in the room was focused on the two men. Their legs moved and as they walked by, some people breathed sighs of relief, glad that it wasn't them. The two men stopped at a table behind a girl with brown hair and brown eyes. Bakura didn't know her, but she was in his class.
One of the men grabbed her and pulled her out of her seat. She gasped and started to cry. "Téa, we would like you to come with us."
"You'll never take me alive!" She kicked the one that held her and started running. The other took out a gun and aimed. He fired at her and she fell down, clutching at her lower leg. Bakura closed his eyes.
They dragged the hysterical girl out of the room.
Conversation came back like nothing had happened.
He was aware of someone watching him, and he slowly looked in Pegasus's direction. Pegasus was staring at him, and he wasn't blinking.
"So, what's your name?"
Bakura jumped. There was a really short kid standing there with a food tray. The smell of the stuff they served made him feel sick to his stomach.
"Bakura."
"I'm Yugi. It's nice to meet you. Do you mind if I sit with you?"
"No, not at all."
They sat through about fifteen minutes of dead silence.
"So, what did Pegasus want to talk to you about?"
Bakura briefly wondered how the kid knew, and then realized that he was talking to one of the Duel Monsters fanatics he knew. A lot of people liked the game, but he remembered that several kids had formed a before-school club. Yugi was in it, and he was also one of Pegasus's favorite students.
"Oh, he just wanted to ask me a few questions about what was current in the area I come from. We're natives to the same sector, you know."
"I see. Do you play Duel Monsters?"
"I have a deck, but I don't play."
"Oh."
Three minutes of silence.
"You're not as bad as everyone says you are," Yugi said. "Rae thought you were a real snob, you know, because of your high grades and how quiet you always are."
Bakura was trying to remember how his life had gotten so bad.
Yugi saw the expression on Bakura's face. "Um… sorry. That sort of slipped out without me meaning it to… I mean, because I…" He decided to change the subject. "So, why aren't you eating anything?"
"Not hungry."
"Do you ever eat anything?"
"No."
"Do you have a disorder?"
"No."
Yugi took the other boy's refusal to answer questions totally as a sign that it was really none of his business, so lunch passed in silence until the bell rang. Then Yugi looked at Bakura, taking pity on the beautiful boy.
"Do you want to come to my house tonight?"
Bakura looked at him. He usually fell asleep as soon as the sun went down, and the sleep would come no matter what. "I'm sorry, Yugi. I have to study."
"But tomorrow's Saturday!"
"I know, but my father has strict rules. I'm not allowed outside after dark."
"What about tomorrow morning?"
"What time?"
"Ten."
"Okay. Where do you want to meet?"
"The park."
"So, we're meeting at the park at ten in the morning?"
"Yup!" Yugi replied. "See you there!"
Bakura had never had a friend before. This would be the most interesting thing in his entire life.
You are so lucky it's not tonight.
Lately, the voice wouldn't leave Bakura alone. It was always there, even when he didn't want it to be. He gulped. Something happened at night. Sometimes he had dreams and woke up with the blood on his face and hands. Other times, there would be clothing in the trash. Most times, though, he found no evidence.
The Millennium Ring began to glow as soon as the sun went down. Bakura wondered why, as this had never happened before, and he was still awake. He took that as a bad sign. He ran over to the mirror and looked in.
"Miss me?" someone asked.
He turned around and looked at… himself.
"Who are you?"
"I am you."
"No, you can't be me. I am standing right here. You are standing right there."
Yami Bakura smiled. "You might call me the dark side of yourself. Yami Bakura, if you are fond of names."
When Bakura didn't answer, he continued. "I think it was really nice of Pegasus to give you those cards. I know him personally."
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you really think you're the only one who socializes?" he said as Bakura watched him open a drawer and come out with a tube of no-smear black lipstick.
"But… you can't go out there! Curfew is at ten! That's in less than two hours!" Bakura knew he was right. It wasn't legal to be outside of your house until the sun rose.
Yami Bakura sneered. "That's only for humans, you moron. Entities such as you and I don't need to obey such demeaning laws."
He put his hand under the mattress and retrieved a black cloak and put it on. He looked eerie with it on, and Bakura shuddered. He tried to make himself invisible, wishing it was a normal night and he had just fallen asleep. Yami Bakura turned toward his light, sensing fear. His fingers were like claws as he lifted Bakura up.
Bakura tensed and felt like screaming, but his father wouldn't be home from work until nine, and it wasn't like anyone would hear him. He looked at Yami Bakura's mouth and saw two dagger-like fangs where his eyeteeth should have been. He closed his mouth and felt something bite at his own lip, and he realized he was the same as Yami Bakura.
Yami Bakura held Bakura close to him and whispered in his ear, "Remember, there are no such things as monsters…"
The light felt black lips pressed against his own, and it was all he could do not to kiss back. He felt the familiar darkening world, and then there was nothing but a cold, terrifying dream world.
Pegasus felt the day abate, and, like every other creature of night, he had assumed its guise. Quietly, he lowered himself from his window and crawled down the brick wall. Then, he crept across the yard and jumped onto the fence. His body tensed, and he melded with the shadows. A patrol car crept by, and, as it was searching for humans, it did not notice the predator.
He jumped off the wall and slithered across the shadows, finding a few more bodies. There was the red-haired Saffron, a tall girl who had been a prostitute when she was still alive. Now, she was above that. He noticed the small form of Rayenne, the child Saffron had made a vampire at the age of seven. She was wearing a black dress. The bottom reminded him of a hoopskirt, but it barely came to her knees.
Then there was Bakura. He was like a god, cloaked, though his pale skin and ruby red eyes shone through it with a burning intensity. Pegasus wondered why Bakura still went to school and seemed like he didn't remember a thing about his adventures at night with Ambrosia Red, the name of their gang.
"Are you ready for some action?" Bakura asked them. A renegade vampire, Bakura was one of the most feared faces at night, and as such, the leader of Ambrosia Red. Everyone nodded in response to his question.
Yet no one even caught on that he was the dark side. They wouldn't ever call him Yami Bakura, not that he wanted them to. It would be so much fun when his light found one of the less quiet members of Ambrosia Red. It would be worse than the shock he had earlier, maybe. He would be forced to recognize his nature.
Rayenne tugged at Pegasus's leather pants. "Am I special?"
Pegasus nodded. Rayenne was a seven-year-old who had been turned into a vampire. She had lasted two hundred years without going insane. She was very, very lucky. She still acted like a seven-year-old, though in some areas she was mature, namely her vocabulary and vocal qualities.
"Let's go," Bakura said. "I have some business I would like to take care of."
Bakura awoke the next morning at the glorious time of nine. He spent at least forty-five minutes in the bathroom, using the hairspray he had bought the previous afternoon after school had gotten out to make his hair look as good as he could get it. A little eyeliner, rubbing off the rest of that red stuff on his mouth and he was good to go.
A sickening feeling of dread tugged at his insides as soon as he left the house. The feeling had never let him down before, and he wanted to just go back to his room and lie under the covers until at least mid-afternoon. A ten o'clock meeting with his friends was just way too much for his sleep-deprived body to handle.
He arrived at the park just as his watch beeped out the hour. Several people he recognized from school were there, and he sat down on an empty bench.
"Hey, Bakura! Over here!" someone yelled.
He looked up at his classmates, wondering if there was someone else named Bakura in his school that might be showing up. He knew there wasn't. He calmly stood up and walked over to Yugi's friends.
"Hello."
"Yugi told me you'd be joining us in the park today. Speaking of which, do you know where he is? He's usually the first one here."
"No," Bakura said. His stomach was doing flip-flops.
A girl, who he knew was named Fate, looked at the boy who had been speaking. "I'm sure Yugi forgot to set his alarm again. He was probably up late reading again."
Bakura looked at them. "I think we should go over to his house. I have the feeling that something isn't right."
The other kids nodded. "Okay. We're right behind you, Bakura."
Bakura was about to lead them down a street when he stopped. "Um… where does Yugi live?"
About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the game shop. Bakura smelled dried blood in the air; it was coming from out back. He knew the others smelled it, too; Fate had her nose with one hand and her face was contorted into a look of pure disgust. . Yugi was behind the game shop, pale and hardly breathing.
A large pool of blood rested underneath him, staining his hair and his neck. His head was at an odd angle, not broken, but not where it would be if he were merely asleep. There were puncture wounds at his neck. Bakura thought he saw the remains of what had been a glass of water or something of that sort.
He was still in his pajamas.
Bakura knelt down beside him. "We have to get him somewhere. He's almost dead. Go call someone."
His eyes studied the body, faintly remembering something from a dream the night before. As he watched the body, he heard a car door slam. Pegasus's black car was sitting there, and he was watching Bakura and Fate with cold, calculating eyes.
Bakura just stared right back.
Something was going on, and he knew it involved Pegasus and that weird double that called himself Yami Bakura.
He just hoped he wasn't involved with this.