Even In Death-- 2/4
[Here's chapter two, as promised. I'm typing this up before I post any of these, so thanks in advance to all reviewers! I love you and I give you candy. I can't think of anything else to say in this a/n, so I'll shut up and let you read the story!]
[Ooo! I never saw this quickEdit thing before... awesomely neat! Now i can fix stuff w/o ripping down that whole dang fic!]
[Disclaimer: I do not own YGO or Evanescence, I have only my love for Bishonen and the lovely voice of Amy Lee.]
"Bakura," called Yami, pounding on the door, after nobody answered after five minutes of knocking normally. "Bakura, open the door!"
"Yami, please," cautioned Yugi. "I really don't think he wants any visitors right now. Think of how you would feel if anything happened to me."
Yami's expression softened considerably at the thought, and he stopped his banging. Carefully, he tried to open the door, and was surprised to see that it was unlocked. He cast a glance to Yugi and Anzu, and stepped inside.
Inside, the first thing the three noticed is that Bakura hadn't even bothered trying to clean up. Anzu gasped at the sight before her; she hadn't seen the mess before, and now Ryou's blood had dried over everything.
"What do you want?" came a low voice from the bottom of the stairs. Yami turned toward him.
"Bakura, come over here," he said slowly. Bakura calmly walked over to him, and Yugi's face fell. It had been just as he feared.
The once proud looking tomb robber now looked wasted and thin, dark circles under his eyes showing that he hadn't slept in quite a while. He wore the same clothing, and still had Ryou's blood on the shirt he had covered with a jacket at the police station. His hair was limp and knotted, and he looked completely without life. He still held his head high, though, and demanded again to know what they were doing in his Hikari's house.
"Bakura, we're here to help you," Yugi started slowly, but Bakura scoffed.
"Bring him back, that's all I want. I don't know where you took him, but I want him back," was all he said, glaring at them coldly.
Anzu caught her breath. It really was worse than she thought it would be. Yami didn't look intimidated at all, but Yugi gulped.
"Bakura, you need to come with us," he said levelly.
"Where?" he asked instantly, staring at them distrustfully.
"You need to see where Ryou really is," he said, calm as ever. Yugi blinked back tears that stung the corners of his eyes. He was worried, and a little afraid of the distraught boy in front of him. He'd hurt people before, intentionally, and didn't look very stable right now.
Still glaring at them, he followed the three out the door into Anzu's car. She put the key in the ignition, and they were off. She prayed silently to whoever could hear her that this would be worth it, and that the boy would come to grips with his situation, and not their throats.
By the time they reached the graveyard, Bakura was on edge. "Where are we going?" he asked irritably. "He'd better be ok," he growled. Anzu was getting more nervous, and Yugi was fidgety. He knew something about this felt wrong, like they shouldn't be trying to convince him this way. 'This will only end in tears,' he thought to himself.
Anzu stopped the car at the part of the road through the graveyard closest to Ryou's small tombstone. The moon was high in the sky as they all stepped out, Bakura looking around angrily, Yami still calm and cold.
"This way," he said softly, leading the Egyptian off the left, motioning for Yugi and Anzu to stay where they were.
..
Moonlight on the soft brown earth
It leads me to where you lay
They took you away from me but now I'm taking you home
..
"Here," Yami said softly, carefully. Bakura looked down at the tombstone incredulously. It said "Bakura Ryou," and it listed the year he was born, then the current year. A small inscription of an angel graced the upper half. Bakura could only stare down in shock.
"Is this some kind of sick joke?!" he screamed, furious. Yami took a step back, bracing himself. But Bakura only looked back down. Yami could swear he saw something inside the thief break and crumble. Moments later he was on his knees next to the stone, his fingers on the inscription, as if trying to make himself read different words.
Yami backed away to let Bakura be alone. He didn't want to see this any more than Bakura wanted to be seen.
Bakura could feel his grip slipping. What he was hanging on to he didn't know, but he was about to lose it. "Ryou," he whispered softly, then more angrily, "Ryou!" He couldn't think of anything more to say.
It all hit him in a rush. Ryou. Under this stone, under the ground, in a coffin. Suddenly he found himself near hysterics, and he grabbed a handful of earth and tossed it violently aside, digging with all his strength to reach the box locking his only Light away from him. All this time, he kept repeating the little one's name desperately, as if he could wake him up just by calling him.
"How did he take it?" asked Anzu softly as Yami reached the car. The Pharaoh just shook his head lightly, staring at the moonlit earth. Suddenly, they heard Bakura's sharp cry, and they ran to him before he hurt himself or something.
When they reached him, he was still clawing at the earth, soft, brown, and still fresh. His knees were sunken into the dirt, and all he had managed to do was spread it everywhere, trying to throw it out of his way.
"Bakura, stop!" cried Anzu. Yami nearly dove at him.
"Get a hold of yourself!" he cried as he tried to restrain Bakura from any more thrashing. Yugi didn't know what to do as he looked between the two wrestling figures over Ryou's grave. He couldn't help but feel like this was the last place those two should be fighting like this. Anzu could only think the word 'Sacrilege.'
Finally, Bakura stopped fighting. He nearly went limp, but his body kept shaking violently. Yami let him go, and let him fall to his hands and knees on the soft earth. They all stood very still for a moment, watching the shuddering figure on the ground, not wanting to disturb him again, lest he go back to being hysterical.
After a long pause, from his spot on the ground, Bakura said, "You can all go now," in his low, raspy voice. They all stared at him. Yugi started to speak, but Bakura cut him off. "I'll be fine. Leave me be."
Anzu and Yugi could only look to Yami, who stood very still for a moment, thinking. Finally, he said, "Let him mourn in peace," softly, and turned to walk away. Anzu and Yugi hesitated only a moment, and then ran to catch up to him, glancing back every now and then.
..
I will stay forever here with you
My love
The softly spoken words you gave me
Even in death our love goes on
..
"Ryou," Bakura whispered again once he heard the car start up and drive away. He knelt like that all night, his head hung between his arms, feeling defeated and very, very lonely. "You said you'd be fine," he whispered. Then his voice escalated to a yell. "You said you'd be alright!"
His fists clenched over the ground, and he still shook slightly. "Ryou, Hikari, you just can't be gone…"
And that was how I got to be here, lying over where I knew you must be. It had finally hit me, and the force of impact paralyzed me. I couldn't move, although much later on I was glad for that. Anzu came by in the morning in her car, I was still sitting there, leaning against your tomb stone, reading the words for the millionth time. "Bakura Ryou," I said aloud again.
"Bakura?" came her timid voice from above me. She carried a tray of food, hot cereal, some kind of cream of wheat stuff. I told her I wasn't hungry, but she said the others were worried about me. I scoffed, but she insisted. "Please take it, Bakura," she said, "You haven't eaten anything in so long, we're all worried for you. If you won't leave here, at least stay alive."
I considered her words carefully. At least she didn't tell me I needed to leave. I would have yelled at her, cursed at her; but all she wanted was for me to eat. So I did. It didn't taste bad; it didn't taste like much at all, but it didn't matter. Not much mattered anymore.
I handed her back the empty bowl and spoon, and she sat down next to me. I stared at her darkly. "What?" I asked.
Bakura, you can't just stay here," she started, but stopped when I began to growl at her. I pointed down at the ground, an almost cruel gesture.
"There. That is where I am. I can't move," I said, my voice cold and hard as ice. Anzu looked stunned, but said nothing. She gathered her things and left quietly, giving me one last glance before she was gone. I heard her car drive away and leaned back onto the tomb stone of my Hikari.
I would never leave this place.
I couldn't.
Not without you.
[Are you depressed yet? Have I made you cry? I made my friend Abby cry -. Please review! And here's another preview!]
Every morning when I woke up from then on, I felt something growing in the back of my mind. It was like how it had felt before, when you were still alive and present in the back of my mind when I took over our body. There was the feeling that something was there, but faint and sleeping. I felt myself growing more hopeful every day, and giving all of my energy to the Ring whenever it would activate, holding nothing back.
I wanted you back, and if the Ring could do it, I would do everything I could to help it.