Zoe: Well, how did you enjoy the first chappie of Cold Rain?

Zaylen: Do they care?

Zoe: -.- No one asked you...anyway. As for some of the people who don't know me personally, the other characters on here are some of my pals, and I'm very sorry if you are not familiar with them. If it becomes a problem, simply pretend like they don't exist.

Friends: T_T

Zoe: What? Do I have something on my face?

--------------------------------

_Cold Rain Chapter Two_

Loud music boomed throughout Club Blue Fire, as people danced and drank. In a fairly large booth in the corner, people sat down to chat.

"Why don't you guys go dance?" Serenity asked Kairi and Ryou.

Kairi shrugged. "Eh, I'd rather not steal the spotlight from Yami and Zaylen," she said, staring at the couple who were too riled up after a few shots.

Tristan looked over at Malik, who looked dismal in the corner. "You all right, man?"

Malik snapped back to reality. "Um, yeah. Just a.....little worried about my sister."

"Well, she should be home, now, shouldn't she?" Kairi questioned. "Here's my cell phone, you can call her."

Malik dialed the number.

"Hello?" answered Rishid.

Malik's heart pounded. "Rishid, its Malik. Where is Isis?"

"Oh, Malik. She still hasn't arrived home yet. I fear something might have happened."

"What?"

----------------------------------

Isis Ishtar sat in her vehicle, attempting to find a radio station that didn't have poor reception. She wished the mechanics hadn't taken so long to repair her tire; she could've gotten home sooner. The pizza in the backseat was probably freezing cold by now. She hoped Malik wouldn't be upset.

"There's nothing coming in..." she stopped turning the radio dial and turned it off.

She kept on driving, turning her brights back on when a car passed. She took her eyes of the road for a quick moment to look up at the sky. It wasn't clear tonight. It was a light gray in one spot, due to the near full moon hiding behind it. She veered her eyes back to the road, and slammed on the brakes. There was a light blue sport utility vehicle parked horizontally in the middle of the highway. She got out of her car to see what the problem was. Sure enough, there were people inside. A man and a woman were sitting in the front, and a child in the back, strapped into a car seat.

Isis walked up to the window and lightly tapped it. "Excuse me-"She gasped.

The family sitting inside that car.....

They were all soaked in blood...

Dead.

Her eyes grew wide, and she slowly backed away from the car.

"Hello, Isis..." called a voice from behind.

Then a blood curdling scream sounded that could be heard from a mile away.

---------------------------------------------------------

"It's been two hours..." whispered Malik in frantic melancholy.

Mai put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm sure she'll be back."

"But she said she would be back-"

Kairi kneeled in front of him. "Malik, you have got to calm down. Your sister's going to be-"

She was interrupted by a phone call. Ryou went to answer it.

"Hello, Ishtar residence. Yes, but I don't think he's in any position to talk, who is this? What did you say?" shock flashed across his face.

Malik jumped up. "What is it? Who's on the phone?!"

Zoe pulled his arm. "Sit down, man. You are far too paranoid."

"All right...I understand," Ryou said to the phone, putting it down to hang up.

The room hushed as everyone awaited an answer from Ryou.

He gulped, and began. "That was the police."

Terror flashed across everyone's faces.

"Isis' car was found on the highway.......and her body several feet away..."

Malik's breath sped up as everything got darker. He felt himself fall back and then there was nothing.

------------------------------------------

Malik woke up, confined to a hospital bed. Mai, Zoe, Yugi, Tea, Kairi, and Ryou all surrounded him at the foot of the bed. Rishid sat in a chair next to him. Everyone tried to look their brightest, but Malik knew there was no hiding the truth. His sister was dead. And there was nothing they could do about it.

"Stop trying to make me feel better..." he looked down in hopeless anguish.

Kairi stood up in protest. "We're just trying to help!"

Ryou motioned for her to have a seat. She grumbled, and took one.

"Who could've done this?" Tea asked, signaling the question to everyone.

Mai looked at her hands, acknowledging the few broken nails she had received from rushing to the hospital after Malik had collapsed. "Well, I heard on the radio about some crazy guy that killed five people in Partley Tower today..."

"Yeah," Yugi replied. "And the police also said that three other bodies were found near the scene on the highway."

Ryou shifted nervously. He wished they would just stop talking. He would've hated to be in Malik's position, but knew he already had been. He had lost a sister once before, and felt for Malik. "Amane....."

"No......" Malik whispered. "NO!" He struggled to get out of the wires he was attached to.

"Stop!" Zoe, shouted, everyone teaming up in unison to prevent him from leaving the bed.

"No!" he retaliated. "I'll kill him! Whoever did this to my sister, I'LL KILL HIM!!"

His body started shaking uncontrollably, in a state of shock. Tea sent for a doctor, and Ryou looked on in distress. He couldn't stand to see him like this; it reminded him too much of that day....

Ryou got up out of his chair, and took Kairi with him. He decided to drop her off at her house, knowing if she had stayed with him, she would have only become worried about his condition.

"Ryou...."

"I'll be fine, Kairi."

"Ryou, you're scaring me. Please tell me what's wrong," she looked at him with endearing eyes.

He left her there without an answer-a problem which could not have been fixed. Kairi was unaware that he had once had a sister, and he wasn't in the mood to tell her the story. He pulled into his driveway, and remembered that Yami Bakura had left the party in annoyance to the situation earlier. Ryou wondered if he had returned home safely. But a quick check of the door assured that he hadn't come home; the door was locked. He forgot that he had locked it before he left for the party.

Ryou sighed, but as he unlocked the door, he heard someone from up in the trees.

"It's about time you got home."

He jumped, and looked up to the tall oak by the side of the house. Yami Bakura was rested upon one of the branches.

Ryou frowned. "Don't scare me like that!"

Yami Bakura climbed down the tree, and landed on the ground. "You're too paranoid for your own good. Locking up the house for God's sake."

"Isis was murdered," Ryou spoke in a serious tone. "We need to be careful."

"It's not like you knew that before you locked up the house..." he muttered. "Whatever." He walked inside after Ryou unlocked the door. He reached for the coat hanger and grabbed Ryou's school uniform jacket. He put it on over his white shirt, leaving the jacket unbuttoned, and then taking the first couple of buttons on this shirt off.

He walked over to the door, only to be halted by Ryou.

"Where are you going?"

Yami Bakura stopped. ".......for a walk."

As he left the house, Ryou wished he could've had the courage to tell him something. It always bothered him that he wore his shirt that way, because the Millennium Ring was in sight. He didn't like that fact that people could see it. He had a twisting paranoia that someone would steal it, as Malik had wanted to before. But as long as he was still himself, he had no control over his darker side. Ryou walked over to the phone and called Kairi to see if she was doing all right.

------------------------

Yami Bakura walked through the dark, dreary alleys of downtown Domino City. Homeless people lie sleeping in their cardboard boxes, while some of them sat wide awake, fighting to survive the strain of starvation. He used to find much enjoyment in watching these people suffer, but living with his hikari, or lighter side, had softened him up a bit, and he had lost interest. But he still refused to contribute to the need of the fallen humanity as Ryou had wished.

"Isn't it wonderful?" a voice told him.

Yami Bakura turned around to see who it was. Standing several feet away from him was a dark figure, wearing a long black trench coat. The person continued to speak.

"Isn't it wonderful to see these insolent humans suffer here in the streets? The regret of their fallen lives, echoing inside of their heads, tearing out their souls, threatening to consume them..."

"Who are you?" Yami Bakura inquired sternly.

The person lifted his face up. Much to his surprise, though, the he was not a he. It was a girl. She had brown hair down to her shoulders, and he could barely trace out the blond streaks. Her hazel eyes glowed in the darkness. Her mouth slowly opened as she spoke to him.

"I am the day; the night.............the dawn........and the dusk...." as she said these words, she dematerialized into nothingness, leaving him slightly puzzled.

Yami Bakura was almost certain that this was the person that Ryou was talking about. The only problem was they were incorrect about the gender. A questioning lead for him to go by, not that it truly mattered. Ignoring the few people begging for change, he kept walking.

---------------------------------------

_The Next Day_

Scene: Yugi's house

Yugi Mutou walked downstairs, and fixed a bowl of cereal. It was around seven, and everyone else was still asleep. He turned on the small television in the kitchen, and flipped through the channels. Out of curiosity, he turned to the news. They all seemed to be discussing the ominous nine deaths yesterday; at Partley Tower, and on Hinoshitiryu highway.

He sipped the last of the milk from his cereal as the weather reports came on. The morning rays from the sun glinted in the corner of the television, blocking his view from next Friday's forecast.

"Whore!" shouted someone from upstairs. Zaylen must've been awake. Pounding could be heard from the stairs.

"Stop pushing me!" Yami laughed out loud.

Zaylen shoved him in the kitchen. "You're the whore!"

Yugi glared bluntly at the two. "Could you please be quiet? Grandpa's trying to sleep."

Zaylen walked up to him and pinched his cheek. "Aw, did little Yugi not have any fun last night? Besides, Sugoroku won't wake up. He'll sleep through just about anything..."

"Like you," he said, pushing her hand away lightly. He put his bowl in the sink, and brushed past Zaylen on the way upstairs, who was still pestering him.

"Come one. It's Saturday. Don't look so down."

Yami reached over the counter and turned the television off. Zaylen kissed his forehead, and put her long black hair up. "I've gotta go. My hikari won't be pleased that I decided to stay here all night."

"Do you want to see a movie tonight? He asked flipping through the newspaper for show times.

"Sure," she sighed. "What do you want to see?"

"Hidalgo? Hellboy?" he prodded her for an answer.

"Eh, you pick. I'm going home to catch another hour of sleep."

Yami grabbed the car keys from his pocket. "I'll take you home."

---------------------------------------

READ AND REVIEW, PLEASE! I'LL SEND YOU YAMI BAKURA'S JACKET, WATCH, AND PANTS FOR FREE!!!

Yami Bakura: WHAT?!

Kairi: *whistling innocently*

Yami Bakura: YOU'RE IN ON THIS, TOO?!

Kairi: ^_^ *steals jacket, watch, and pants from him* *runs*

Yami Bakura: *in boxers* GET BACK HERE!!!