~*Drowning Pool*~

            Ryou, Yami, Yugi, Duke, Tristan and Tea arrived at school making their way towards class.

            "Man," Duke looked around the empty hallways. They have arrived early to finish off a difficult assignment Shadi gave to them the night before. "Why is my intuition telling me that today is not going to be a good day?"

            "Dude," Tristan grabbed Duke by his shirt collar. "Don't be saying that. You're gonna worry Tea more with the Secret Santa thing going on."

            "You guys wouldn't believe what happened last night." Yugi opened his locker, taking out his English and History book."

            "What happened?" Duke and Tristan turned towards Yugi.

            "Yugi please…" Yami's eyes began to dim.

            "Please Yugi not now.' Tea's voice shook.

            But as usual, Yugi ignored the couple. "Yami got arrested."

            "Say what?" Tristan and Duke turned their gaze towards Yami.

            "Yugi!" Yami hissed.

            "Yami," Ryou tilted his head to the side. "I'm surprised. It's hard to believe that…I can' picture you being arrested."

            "Well, well," Kaiba appeared behind the rest. "I heard what happened. Namu arrived at Tea's house busting your ass."

            "You guys saw Namu?" Tristan, Duke, and Ryou all started talking at once.

            "Yes." Tea was quiet. "Apparently, Namu became a cop."

            "So Yami," Duke leaned against the locker, gazing at Yami. "What's the reason?"

            Before Yami could answer, a loud scream pierced down the hallways. Crashing noises could be heard from the inside of the room.

            "What was that?" Tea looked around.

            "Sounds like it's coming from class." Duke started to make his way towards class having the rest follow him from behind. He twisted the doorknob, surprised that it was unlocked. Pushing it open, they were all shocked at what they saw.

            Most of the desks have been turned over, papers have been scattered all over and Shadi just stood there watching it all happen but did not make a single attempt to stop the chaos.

            "Sensei," Yugi cried out. He ducked his head down as he saw a vase flying towards him. The vase smashed through the wall, shattering into pieces. "Sensei, what's going on?"

            "Your friend Joey," Shadi continued to stare off into space. "His sister did not come home last night."

            "Say what?" they all gazed down at Joey in the corner, sitting down. Then t hey heard something they have never heard before. Joey was…crying? No doubt he was crying indeed.

            "Joey?" Tristan squatted down, shaking Joey slightly. "Joey it's okay. It's okay, snap out of it."

            "What the hell happened to Serenity?!?" Joey screamed at the top of his lungs, shaking Tristan violently.

            Yugi tried to restrain Joey from Tristan. "Calm down Joey, calm down."

            Tea, Ryou, Duke, Kaiba, Shadi and Yami looked on for a moment before Tea finally spoke up. "Hey, we might as well clean up the place before the bell rings."

            Ryou nodded in agreement. "We might as well." Soon, they all started putting the desks up, the papers have been picked up, and the vase that was shattered have been cleaned up. Soon, Mai and Ishizu arrived, noticing that their classmates have been cleaning the room.

            "What is this?" Mai looked around. "You guys performing community service?"

            "That's enough Mai," Ishizu looked up at Mai for a moment before turning her gaze towards the rest. "By the way, have you guys seen Serenity? We tried to call her house, her cell phone and tried to stop by her house but she wasn't there."

            "No one knows where Serenity is." Duke finished putting up the last table. "She was at the skating rink…or at least that's what Joey said."

            "Oh dear," Mai settled her gym bag on her desk. "We were planning to go ice skating there after school."

            "Hey," Ryou closed the curtain. "I think we still can go to the rink. That way, we can look for Serenity there."

            "That's true." Yugi placed the books in the shelf. He then turned towards Joey. "Hear that Joey? We can look for your sister there."

            Joey managed to calm down, slowly getting up. "All right, all right." The bell rang and soon, students crowded into the classroom. Marik arrived right at the last minute. Shadi was explaining the fundamentals of Geometry when Tea's phone rang. Everyone, including the teacher faced her.

            "Psst…Tea," Yugi whispered. "Put the phone away."

            Shadi shook his head. "Tea, take the call outside."

            "Sensei," one of the students called out. "We're not allowed to use the phone during class."

            "The school is allowing it for now because of the case going on. So now the investigators are attempting to screen any calls that are made."

            Some of the students began to mutter to themselves as Tea made her way outside the class. On her way out, she nearly ran into Namu and Rishid.

            "Morning Tea," Namu grinned before stepping inside the classroom. Seconds later, they both came out along with Joey and Marik.

            Tea finally answered the phone, noticing it was a private number. "Hello?"

            "Ho, ho, ho you tramp," the soft laughter of the mysterious caller seeped through the earpiece. "Don't you look so cute standing by yourself in the hallway."

            "Who are you? What do you want?" Tea's voice shook in fear, looking left to right to see if anyone else is there.

            "The same person who took away your only living relative and who has targeted his next victim."

            "Why do I have the feeling that your next victim is Serenity?"

            "Not bad. You're much more smarter than I thought." The caller laughed.

            "You leave those two alone!" Tea yelled as loud a she could.

            "Listen to me Tea, you're going to be my bitch and if you don't cooperate, I'll destroy those who really care about you, including your boyfriend Yami. After that's all said and done, I'll move on to you."

            "Leave me alone you freak!" Tea screamed on the top of her lungs. All she got in return was cruel heartless laughter before the phone clicked leaving nothing more than silence. She leaned against the wall, her hand on her forehead, wanting to erase the memories of what just happened.

            Suddenly, a figure started to run down the hallways. Tea tried to distinguish the features of the running one. Tall, blue jacket school uniform, white hair. "Bakura?"

            Bakura stopped in his tracks seeing Tea. "Tea? What are you doing out here?" he slowly approached her. "Doesn't look like you got yourself in trouble from Shadi. Damn traffic."

            "Why only now have you showed up?"

            Bakura stood next to her, leaning against the wall. "There was a massive traffic accident in the highway. Even after leaving early, it was still huge."

            Tea nodded. "Yes, I've heard of the accident."

            Bakura looked down at her. "What's wrong?"

            Tea looked down at her cell phone, sighing. "My Secret Santa called. He's after Serenity. He's…he's…"

            Bakura placed his hand on her shoulder. "Yes, I have heard of the Secret Santa thing going on. Your boyfriend told me all about it."

            "I'm worried," her eyes fixed to the floor. "After serenity, it could be anybody. Right now, Serenity's missing just like my cousin."

            "All I can say is that whoever is your Secret Santa is a sick psycho," he pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her. "In these types of situations, try not to worry. You still have your friends and they'll stop at nothing to protect you."

            Tea nodded. "I guess you're right."

            Bakura finally released his hold on Tea. "Come on, we gotta get to class."

            "I'm telling you Namu," Joey pounded his fist on the fence. He and Namu were hanging out on the rooftop gazing at the view below. "Even if I was a rebel back in junior high, there's no way I would do this sort of thing to anyone. Especially to tea!"

            "You've got quite a criminal record Joey," Namu grinned. "I've seen your records. While most of the crimes are a bit minor like graffiti, auto theft, and a few assaults here and there, if you were the one behind this killing spree, it'll mean two nights plus life in prison."

            "You're the one who has a record Namu. You jacked the principal's car, assaulted Ryou because he called you a fag and shoplifted from Macy's."

            "Enough about me Wheeler," Namu took of his hat, running his fingers through his hair. "What happened last night at Tea's house?"

            "Tea's my best friend and I wanted to cheer her up. So I decided to borrow Yugi's monkey mask. It's real idiotic the way it looked. Then I noticed the mask had a rather cool feature. See, it had this little squeezable thing that you use to have the blood drip down the face. We just watched 'Planet of the Apes' a few days ago and she thought the monkeys looked hilarious, especially the mean looking ones."

            "You should know better than to use that method to cheer her up when she faces that sort of crisis."

            "I know, I just didn't feel like thinking that night."

            "Your story checks out though. I questioned Yugi over the phone late last night and his story is the same as yours."

            All was silent for a long time before Joey spoke. "Serenity…"

            "Yes, I have heard the news of your sister turning up missing. Me and Rishid are working on that as well as the case of Midori Hamasaki and your friend Tea's case. Basically, our hands are tied with three extremely difficult cases."

            "You bastard!" Joey grabbed Namu by his uniform, shaking him violently. "Namu you dumb ass. You better look for Serenity and find her."

            "Joey take it easy." Namu wrenched Joey off of him. "We will do all we can to find your sister."

            "Alive!" Joey raged. "She better be alive Namu!"

            Meanwhile, Marik and Rishid were in the cafeteria, sitting across from each other in the empty building.

            "I have known Tea for a couple of years before we actually dated." Marik rested his hands on his lap. "I think it was Yugi or Yami who introduced her to me. We…we dated for two years before we broke up and she went out with Yami and I dated her cousin."

            "Do you know a girl named Midori Hamasaki?" Rishid jotted something in his notepad.

            Marik nodded. "Yes, that's my girlfriend. And yes, I'm aware that she is missing."

            "You see, I believe her case and Tea's case are somewhat connected. By the way, do you know a Serenity Wheeler?"

            "Joey's sister? I know she's in my class but other than that, I don't know her too well."

            "It's just," Rishid pulled out a cigarette, lighting it up. "She was recently reported missing."

            "I see," Marik looked out the window. "Can I go back to class now?"

            "Not so fast Marik," Rishid exhaled out a string of smoke. "I have other questions. First of all, where were you on November 15th, the day Midori Hamasaki disappeared?"

            "I was sick that day. I mean, I managed to make it through school thank goodness. Midori and I had plans to go to the movies that night but I told her that I'd have to cancel out so she said she was going with Tea. Later on at about 9:30, Tea phoned me asking if I had seen Midori."

            "Basically you were home most of the night?"

            Marik nodded. "Pretty much."

            Rishid looked at him strangely before writing something on his notepad. "If it's not too much to ask, why did you two break up?"

            Marik's features creased slightly, an uncomfortable silence filling the air. Finally, he cleared his throat. "We have had a few problems the last days we had been together. A bunch of personal arguments and fights. So she decided that we should be friends and that was it."

            "Usually when we deal with these sort of cases, we question the boyfriend or others in a previous relationship." Rishid pressed the cigarette onto the ashtray. "I will have to talk to Miss Mazaki about your relationship. Now…um…where were you last night.?"

            "Last night I was bored so I decided to drive around the roads."

            "You didn't happen to have taken a pit stop to Tea's house on your way home have you?" Rishid looked on at Marik suspiciously.

            "All right detective," Marik stood up. "You're making it seem like that I have done it."

            "I'm not saying you did it Marik." Rishid looked up. "But as I said, me and Namu are still looking into the case."

            "Who are your suspects so far?" Marik looked out the window.

            "To tell the truth, we are nowhere near a suspect." Rishid took out his phone.

            "Good, that's good." Marik slowly made his way towards the door.

            "But," Rishid continued. "The closest I could come up with is either you or Yami."

            "Hmph!" Marik slowly made his way out of the café. "Save your breath detective. I have nothing to do with the Secret Santa." He then disappeared out of sight.

            Rishid watched Marik disappear before dialing up a few numbers on his phone. "Chief, I would keep my eye on Marik and Yami…yes  chief…Bakura sir?…Wheeler's cleared? I would suggest combing over Wheeler's area. You got the phone counts of Anzu Mazaki? Right…keep running down background checks every half hour. No…don't worry, I'm sure they wouldn't notice. Yeah…yes…they're what? Chief listen, just put the files in my box and I'll look them over tonight. Yes chief, I know being two things are difficult. All right, I'll call you back later." He then turned off his phone.

            At around three in the afternoon, Yugi, Yami, Tea, Ryou, Kaiba, Mai, Joey, Ishizu, Duke, Tristan, Bakura and Marik were at the skating rink. Besides a few kids, they were the only ones there. All of them managed to skate for a few minutes but after that, only Tea, Yami and Ryou remained on the rink, racing each other all around.

            Joey sat on the tree stump gazing at the snow below him. "Of all the things…"

            "Joey," Yugi shook him gently. "Joey it's okay. Serenity has got to be here somewhere."

            Mai took off her skates replacing it with boots. "Guys, I'll be back. I have to make a quick phone call."

            "Hey," Tristan looked around. "Where's Kaiba, Marik and Bakura?"

            "They said they had to go home. Kaiba had to take Mokuba to the dentist, Marik just wanted to be alone seeing that he couldn't get his girlfriend off his mind. And Bakura…well, I don't know. He just left." She yanked out her cell phone, making her way into the forests.

            Not a moment after Mai disappeared, piercing screams filled the air. Looking up, two kids were skating away from the thin ice. Even Yami, Tea and Ryou stopped themselves. Ryou slipped on the ice, landing on his butt.

            "What's going on?" Tea watched the two kids. "What got you guys scared?"

            "The little girl looked up at Tea with tears in her eyes. She then pointed to the far end of the rink. "There's a dead body in the water?"

            "You kids saw a dead body?" Yami gazed at the two kids.

            The little boy looked at the girl, making hand gestures all without a speaking a wood. The girl nodded, then turned back to Yami, Tea and Ryou. "My brother said the body looks like a girl."

            "Serenity?" Joey suddenly jumped up. "Good God! It can't be!! Serenity!!" he started to jump onto the rink, skating towards the thin ice.

            "Joey wait!" Yugi, Duke and Tristan went after Joey. They all neared the far side of the rink, the sight of the body floating face down in the water.

            "Serenity!" Joey screamed at the top of his lungs.

            "Joey stop!" Yugi yelled. "You're standing on thin ice!"

            "What the?" Joey stopped, noticing the ice cracking. He also saw a body floating. Thinking twice, he then reached down the water, pulling the body out of the water. The face and features were all too familiar to him though instead of a flesh colored skin, it was nothing more than an icy figure.

            "Serenity?!? Serenity!!" Joey shook his sister, trying to wake her up. Suddenly, the ice around him cracked and at that instant, he plunged into the icy water.

            "Joey!" the rest looked on as Joey sank into the water. Tristan and Duke raced towards to where the two are.

            "You guys be careful!" Tea shouted. Tristan pulled Joey's body out of the water. Duke pulled out the lifeless body. All were shocked at the sight of Serenity's lifeless body, which was pale and cold. Here eyes were closed, some of the strands of her hair were covered in ice.

            "Serenity!!" Joey's body toppled on hers, his hand caressing her face. "Serenity wake up! It's me! It's me Joey!"

            "I'll call the ambulance." Tea reached inside her pocket for her cell phone. Surprisingly, her phone rang that she nearly dropped it. Answering it, she placed the receiver in her ear. Hello?"

            All was silent for a split second before the sounds of cynical laughter flowed into Tea's ears. "I see you have discovered the mannequin I placed within the icy waters of hell."

            "You did this?!?" Tea shrieked.

            "Don't think of this as a murder my sweet. Think of this as a piece of art. One of my masterpieces might I say."

            "You're doing all of this to get to me huh?" Te screamed.

            "I know you have never experienced the death of one so close to you. But now, I'm giving you the perfect chance. Ah yes, I seek my next victim too soon. If you won't mind my dear, give the phone to Joey."

            Unable to think straight, Tea held the phone away from her ear before handing it to Joey.

            Joey looked up at Tea. "Huh?" he took the phone. "Who's this?" Tea didn't answer but only gave Joey a blank stare in return. He placed the earpiece on his ear. "Hello?"

            "Mr. Wheeler," the raspy voice whispered. "I see you are taking a liking on my art."

            "You!" Joey's voice raged. "Who the hell are you? You're the one who did this to Serenity huh?"

            "She used to be such a beautiful girl," he laughed. "But I see another young blonde on the horizon."

            "Another young blonde?" Joey was confused at first but now realized what the caller meant. "Touch her you psycho and I will be sure you will get a beating you will never forget!" he then turned off Tea's phone. "I don't know who the caller is but whoever it is has picked his newest victim."

            "Who is it?" Ishizu looked up at Joey.

            "He's after Mai!"

            "Oh god!" Tea's hand covered her mouth.

            "You guys stay here and call the ambulance!" Yami stood up, taking Tea by the hand. "We have to look for Mai before it's too late."

            "Yes doctor I've been taking my asthma medication regularly." Mai paced back and forth in the snow in the middle of the woods. "My appointment? All right, I'll be there at 12:30 next Saturday. Olay…okay bye." She finally turned off her phone, her eyes watching the sky noticing the sun was setting. Leaning against a tree, she muttered to herself. "Maybe I should get back to the rest. They probably know where Serenity is."

            "I don't think you'll be going anywhere my dear." A voice from behind softly called out.

            "What the?" Mai took a glance before finally recognizing the one close by. "Oh it's you."

            The figure smirked, slowly stepping out of the shadows. "Yes it's me." His face turned towards her. "Why in such a hurry to leave?"

            "Oh come on. You know it, I know it. We're trying to look for Serenity. Did you forget already?"

            The figure smirked. "I'm sure the others will enjoy looking for you as well." He tossed down a duffel bag onto the snow, unzipping it, taking out a long piece of rope. Tossing that to the side, he took out two pairs of handcuffs. Before Mai could react, he made his way towards her, handcuffing each wrist to a tree branch.

            "What is this?" Mai tugged fiercely on the chains. "Have you gone insane?"

            "Not necessarily," he picked up the rope and started to wrap a few strands around her waist and to the tree. He took out another rope and tied her ankles before tying it to the tree. "Unless you have seen a truly insane person before."

            Realization dawned on Mai as she gazed up at him. "You…you're Tea's Secret Santa aren't you?"

            A twisted smile curled his lips. "Oh yes my dear, she is my child. I can assure you that she won't get a lump of coal in her stocking," he then shoved an apple to in her mouth to silence her. "I can't let you tell anyone who I am now would I?" he took out a radio and started walking until he was twenty feet in front of her. "I'm sure you've heard this song before. He pressed the play button and soon, the sounds of William Tell flowed out of the speakers.

            He smirked as soon as he saw Mai struggling through the bondage. He then took out a bow and a pack of arrows. "Stay still my dear. If I hit the apple, then I'll probably let you free." He shot out one arrow and struck her in the arm.

            Mai screamed in pain but the apple muffled her cries, almost silencing her.

            "Whoops," that smirk had yet to leave his lips. "Must've missed. Oh well, I could always try again." He started to set up another arrow, releasing it only to have struck Mai on the leg.

            The music continued playing as he shot out two more arrows. One struck her right arm while the other struck her in the chest.

            Searing pain shot through Mai's entire body. She could feel her arm blood dripping to the ground. Breathing heavily, her gaze weakly fell upon him.

            "Oh dear," he frowned as he picked up a single arrow. "Only one arrow left." Placing it on the bow, he aimed it for the apple. "Now hold still dear, this is my last one." He shot out the last arrow, which speared right through the apple and shot out through the back of her throat and through her head.

            Mai's head tilted to the ground, blood seeping out of her mouth and of all the places she got shot. Stopping the music, he picked up his radio placing it in his duffel bag and disappeared into the night.

            "Mai, Mai where are you?" Tea called out.

            "Mai can you hear us?" Yami yelled.

            The two have been combing through the forest grounds with no such luck. The night was darkening and it was getting harder to see.

            "Oh my God!" Tea cried as she saw the lifeless body pinned on the tree. "It's Mai! Yami, it's Mai!"

            Yami stopped in his tracks, stunned at what he was seeing. "No way!" taking out his cell phone, he called the ambulance. "Hello…somebody...my friend Mai…she's been shot. We're in the forests…Hurry! Hurry!"

~*To be continued*~