Dreaming of a Deadly Christmas

December 25: 7:27 pm

                Marik rode his motorcycle down the back streets of Domino City in hopes of avoiding the cops. So far, it was going good. He remembered what had happened the night before and al the nights before that. True, he was the one responsible for some of the murders that happened in recent weeks.

                He finally slammed on to the brakes in the parking lot. Slowly getting off the motorbike, he made his way towards the elevator. Pressing the button "7", he waited until he finally reached the 7th floor. He then wandered about the floor, trying to find room 710. At last, he found the door. Knocking on it softly, it instantly opened only to have Bakura appear before him.

                "I have a confession." Said Marik.

                Bakura nodded. "I already know." He then opened the door wider. "Just saw the news. Come in."

                Marik stepped in as Bakura closed the door behind him. They made their way towards the kitchen where Bakura handed him a glass of water before sitting on the stool.

                "What I don't really get is how you could have murdered Ishizu, Yugi and Joey. I mean, I remember you mentioned you were sitting at home with Tea the time of Ishizu's murder and you were at the hospital when Yugi and Joey were gunned down."

                "How can everyone be stupid?" Marik downed his drink. "I guess the cops were too stupid to realize but this whole Secret Santa thing is the work of two people."

                "Really?" Bakura arched an eyebrow. "Tell me Marik, are you Tea's Secret Santa?"

                "No way." Marik tilted his chair back. "I had Serenity."

                "She was on life support but apparently, someone drugged her. I saw it myself on my way to visit Yugi." He then stood up. "If you're not Tea's Secret Santa, then who is?"

                Marik slowly stood up, reaching for his keys. "Come on, I guess I can tell you on the way there."

                The two went to the parking lot. Marik started the engine as they drove into the night. They exited the city and into the woodlands.

                "Hey," Bakura looked around in the woods. "I thought he still lived in the city."

                "Either he moved or he's a liar." Marik replied. He came to a stop when they reached a log cabin about two stories high. The two got off the motorcycle. With one swift kick, Marik kicked the door open. "Follow me."

                Both of them made their way up the stairs and to what seems like an office. The door to the bedroom was all the way down. Bakura looked down at the stack of papers. Flipping through it, he was shocked, unable to believe what he was reading. "Oh my god! He's gone crazy!"

                "Not crazy," the familiar one stepped out. "Just inspired. A work of a true mad man indeed." He snapped his fingers twice. "It's just too bad you won't live as long as you wanted."

                "Say what?!?" Bakura had no idea what was going on. Suddenly, Marik raised the blade of his knife, stabbing Bakura from behind. Bakura's eyes widened as he felt the blade going through his stomach. He fell to his knees, slouching over until he collapsed to the floor.

                "See if you can make his death more gruesome." The stranger chuckled.

                "You never seen anything yet." Marik smirked as he chopped off both Bakura's arms and legs. He then dragged Bakura's amputated body, the blood trailing on the wooden floor. Lifting the body up, he tied the lights on him, pinning him onto the Christmas tree.

                Just before Marik could finish propping up Bakura, the stranger slowly approached Marik from behind with an axe in hand. Before Marik could react, the stranger, with one swing, chopped off Marik's head.

~*~*~

Tea's House: 8:10 pm

                Tea was laying on the floor in her living room, her eyes gazing up at the celing. She knew that in less than four hours, her Secret Santa was going to fulfill his promise.

                Suddenly, her phone began to rang. Being hesitant at first, she allowed the phone to ring a few times. By the time she worked up her courage to answer, her answering machine activated.

                "Tea you bitch!" the dark voice rasped. "Didn't want to answer the phone huh? Well, I was gonna tell you that I was going to let you off. I suppose I change my mind. Perhaps on how I'll kill you will simply turn you on, no?"

                Tea clenched her fist, picking up the cordless phone. "Listen Marik you stupid ass!! I know you're the one behind this!"

                A dark laugh escaped through the earpiece. "Are you sure you know who I am?"

                "Don't be fucking with me Marik!" Tea felt like she was going to explode. "I know it was you! Me and Yami saw you snapping Tristan's neck, bashing Ryou's head and gunning down Duke! It was all over the news."

                The next thing the caller said sent chills down Tea's spine. "What if I told you Marik's dead?"

                "You're bluffing!" Tea screamed. This sent the caller into a sense of hysteria.

                Instantly, Tea slammed the phone down. Still shaken, Tea picked up the phone and dialed Yami's number. The phone rang once…twice…

                "Hello," a familiar voice answered.

                "Yami! This is freaking me out. That Santa guy called me again! He…he said Marik was dead. And in about three hours, I'm dead!"

                "Tea, listen to me." Yami tried to calm her down. "I know where you can go. Bakura has a cabin in the woods by the lake. Go there."

                "But what about you?"

                "I'll meet you over there. I have a few things to take care of."

~*~*~

Cabin By The Lake (No relation to the movie) 8:45pm

                Tea had finally arrived at the lake in the dead of the night. The night was slightly warmer than usual despite the patches of snow that covered the ground. Getting out of the taxi, she paid the driver and headed towards the cabin. Knocking once, no one answered. She ten knocked once again.

                "Hello? Bakura?" Tea pounded the door. She proceeded to twist the doorknob, which to her surprise, it was unlocked. Going inside, she noticed nothing unusual. She then went up the stairs, noticing the rotating Christmas tree. She also noticed that the door to his bedroom was open outward instead of inward.

                Suddenly, her eyes widened as the walls, she now saw, were plastered with pictures of death. Most of the images had a true likeness to how each of the victims were decapitated by Santa. Tea couldn't believe what she was seeing. Then up on the ceilings and the desk, words of hate, death, and other messages encrypted within the surface. Looking around, she saw Bakura's amputated body stuffed in the Christmas tree. His arms and legs, she soon found, were jammed on top of the tree where the star was supposedly placed.

                Tea placed her hand over her mouth, unable to believe what she was seeing. A huge sick feeling plopped right in her stomach. As she backed up a few steps, she bumped into what felt like another person. Turning around, she was horrified to see a headless Marik. Rope wrapped around his legs, he was hung from the ceiling like today's raw meat. His head was placed right beneath the body, a pool of blood dripping onto the floor.

                "Oh my god! Marik!" Tea cried out. The one who she believed was Secret Santa was now dead.

                Suddenly, her eye caught a huge drawing from the ceiling down had shown her own self decapitated. Three knives stuck out of her chest and one shoved down her mouth. Blood gushed out as the body laid in a pool of blood.

                All of a sudden, the door swung, revealing the true Secret Santa. The figure stood there, smirking, his cold eyes looking down on Tea. "Evening Tea."

                "It…it can't be…" Tea was stunned at who was standing before her. For a long moment, she could not speak, Finally, she worked up the courage to speak. "Yami?"

                Yami smirked at Tea for a long time. "I'm not surprised. Of course you were bound to come running all the way here."

                "Wait! Marik's millennium rod…maybe he's just controlling you with his stupid rod!"

                "You mean this?" Yami held up the millennium rod. "I'm not being controlled to let you know."

                "It was you?!?" Tea shrieked. "You were the one behind all this?!?"

                "All part of my novel sweetie.' He unscrewed the bottom half of the rod only to reveal a blade. "I knew Marik was going to turn his back on me in the end. He couldn't stand for one more minute, killing who I point out. It was ever since I told him to kill his girlfriend."

                "You told him to kill Midori?!?" Tea couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But how could that be? Mai…Serenity…"

                "Marik did most of the work. But I'll tell you who I have taken. I simply took the lives of Yugi, Ishizu, Joey, and perhaps the stupid ass detective."

                "Rishid?!?"

                Yami nodded. "That guy was on to me. He was about to reveal my secret. He managed to get a sneak peek at my novel and was about to tell everyone but I couldn't let that happen now could I? And poor Serenity. She was up to the point of recovering. That stupid little bitch.  Well, I couldn't let that happen now could I? So one night, I injected a dose of poison within her veins."

                "You what?!?"

                Yami laughed cynically. "Now all I need is an ending for Silent Night," he ran the tip of the blade on his finger. "And you're the one for it."

                "You've gone psycho Yami!" Tea took a few steps back. "This isn't your novel, this is reality!"

                Yami slowly approached Tea, the rod still in hand. "What do you think of my new office? Enjoy it while you still can though." He then tackled her onto the floor, the blade raised right above her face. "Because I'm afraid you won't see it anymore." He kissed her on the lips for a long time. As the two kissed, Tea's hand reached out for the small nightstand, grabbing a porcelain vase. Finally releasing the kiss, Yami looked down on Tea, still grinning. "I suppose St. Nick will finally be saying goodbye to you little girl." He raised the blade once more, being more than ready to strike.

                "Say goodbye to this Jolly ol' Fucker!" Tea yelled out, smashing the vase with all her might on his head. The vase shattered into pieces, and with pure luck, Yami tumbled over, holding his head.

                Tea got up as fast as she could, seeing Yami knocked out. She scrambled for the window. Taking a baseball bat, she started to smash the glass as hard as she could. In no time, she managed to shatter the window. The sound woke Yami up. His eyes glared at his girlfriend as he watched her break the rest of the window, climbing out of it.

                "I ain't through with you yet Mazaki!" Yami got up, picking up the millennium rod, going after Tea.

                Tea climbed up the wall, using the ledges to climb up the roof. She hugged herself tightly, trying to keep herself warm. For minutes, Yami didn't appear on the rooftop. Her eyes looked around, trying to find him.

                Yet he was no where to be found.

                "Yami," Tea looked around, shivering in the cold. "This isn't funny anymore. All I just wanted to ask is why, that's all."

                Suddenly, a shadowed figure appeared on the edge of the roof. "Who are you looking for honey?"

                Startled, Tea whirled around, seeing Yami standing no more than three feet away from her. "How…how did you…"

                "I figured out a perfect ending to my story, Tea." Yami smiled a sadistic smile. He took out what seems to be a miniature recorder. Pressing the button, he started to speak in that all too familiar voice. "I suppose I could slice your pretty body open." He grabbed her arm, pulling her close to him. "Watch your blood dripping onto my flesh and down the rooftop."

                "So it was you who made those phone calls?" Tea struggled against Yami's grasp.

                "Only when I'm not around." Yami placed the recorder away. "But Marik has been doing most of my bidding." He then raised the blade which gleamed in the moonlight. His grip on Tea became tighter as he placed the blade on Tea's arm, slicing her flesh open.

                Screaming in pain, Tea stumbled back, holding her bleeding arm. Yami looked down at Tea with his cold eyes. His hand raised once more, ready to attack. "Say goodbye," he smiled, looking down at her.

                But before he could attack, a gunshot sounded off, striking Yami. Stumbling back, Yami tried to see who shot the bullet but the night was too dark. Another gunfire shot out, piercing his shoulder.

                As Yami stumbled, he was unaware of where he was going. Before he knew it, he stumbled off the roof. A loud thud was what's left. Slowly, Tea got to her feet, holding her bleeding arm, letting the shock consume her.

                "Tea," a familiar voice called out.

                Turning around, Tea's eyes widened with surprise at who she saw standing on the roof. "Joey?"

                Joey slowly limped his way towards Tea. His left hand held his stomach while his right hand held a handgun. "Are you all right?"

                "I'm fine." Tea made her way towards the edge of the roof, looking down. Yami's body landed on Joey's car, shattering the windshield. Blood had seeped through his body, dripping down on the car. "But why are you here? Or at least how?"

                "I decided to take an exit from the hospital without the nurses knowing." he limped towards Tea, placing his hand on her shoulder. He looked down at Yami's lifeless body for a long time.

                Tea leaned against Joey, a few tears streaked down her face. Joey wrapped his arm around Tea, pulling her close to him for comfort. His hand dropped the gun off the roof. The two closed their eyes in silence as the sounds of sirens came closer.

~*~*~

~*To Be Concluded in the Epilogue*~