Dark Alleys

Mystical Knight Dragon: Many, many, many, many thanks to Bakurasgirl who helped me on this chapter!!!! And for Hiei Lover Girl who gave me enough motivation to type up this chappie!!! *bows* Arigatougozaimasu! Yes! I finally figured out how to spell it! ...Anyways... More thanks to my other reviewers as well! Cookies to all! And to those of you who wanted to know: No, I don't speak Egyptian. I wish I did, though... I had to look up all the words... ^_^'

Note: Any large portion of text that's in italics is a dream of some sort.

Chapter 4: The Dream

"Ryou," said Kaiba softly, coming into the room with some soup and kneeling next to his koi. "Did you want some food?"

Ryou shook his head.

"Come on, hikari," Bakura coaxed. "You have to eat something."

Ryou shook his head again. "I don't want anything right now."

"Hikari, you need some food."

"I don't want anything."

"A hot bath might make you feel better," Kaiba tried.

Ryou closed his eyes. "Please don't make me move," he mumbled.

"I'll carry you," Bakura offered.

Ryou's eyes shot open, and he stared at his dark half. "Wh-what?" he stuttered, staring up at Baku as if he had misheard him.

"I'll carry you up there," he repeated.

"And I'll go fix some ramen and rice," Kaiba said, standing up. "The bathroom's up the stairs, turn right, and first door on the left."

Bakura nodded and leaned over to pick up his hikari. Ryou winced as Bakura's hands slid under him but made no other movement. Bakura carried him bridal-style up the stairs.

Kaiba watched them closely as Bakura brought Ryou upstairs, the tiniest twinge of jealousy creeping inside him. He brushed off the feeling and looked down at the couch where Ryou had been only moments before. A small pool of blood had formed on the middle cushion and was just now beginning to dry. He looked from the couch to the stairs and back again, his eyes wide in both confusion and fear.

Bakura carried Ryou all the way to the bathroom and set his hikari down onto the closed toilet seat. He reached over and turned on the water. Ryou shivered a little and rubbed his hands up and down his arms.

Bakura plugged up the tub and turned on the water. After the tub was full, he turned to look at Ryou.

"Do you need help?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

Ryou shook his head, but when he tried to stand to undress to get into the tub, he almost fell over.

Bakura sighed and helped Ryou undress.

As Ryou's pants fell down around his ankles, he suddenly felt very vulnerable. He hugged his body with his arms and continued to shiver.

Bakura helped Ryou into the tub. The moment Ryou's bum had touched the water, he let out a shout and clutched at Bakura's arms fearfully. A low whimper escaped his lips, and a tear escaped his shut eyes to work its way clumsily towards his chin.

Bakura looked at Ryou, his eyes full of concern. "What is it?" he asked.

Ryou shook his head. "N-nothing," he stuttered, his eyes still shut in pain. "I-I...I just...my muscles are sore... That's all..."

Bakura raised a questioning eyebrow, but didn't say anything more about it.

When Ryou was situated in the tub, a feeling of awkwardness spread over the pair.

"You can go now," said Ryou softly. "I-I can bathe myself..."

Bakura nodded hesitantly. "If you need anything, I'll be standing right outside the door..." He turned around to leave. Ryou's pile of clothing caught his eye. Quite a bit of blood had stained both his pants and his boxers. He turned back around to look questioningly at Ryou, but the other boy's eyes had closed as he fell into a deep sleep. Bakura hesitated for a bit longer before finally walking out of the bathroom.

Ryou ran along an abandoned road as fast as he could. He didn't know where he was or why he was running, but he felt that if he stopped, his life would come to an abrupt halt.

He reached a fork in the road and turned right.

A sudden chill flew up Ryou's back. He felt as if someone was suddenly right behind him. He turned his head while still running but didn't see anything. He quickened his pace, but it felt like the person was closing in on him. He sped up until he was in an all-out sprint, but the person kept coming closer and closer...

Ryou was suddenly knocked to the ground as the person suddenly caught up to him. He screamed as his clothing was ripped ruthlessly off him. He pleaded for the person to stop but knew that no one could hear him.

Ryou was flipped over, and he found himself staring face to face with the rapist from the previous night.

He screamed again.

The rapist slapped his hand across his mouth. "Shut up, bitch," he snarled. "That's all you are: my little whore. You had this coming for you, and now you'll pay."

With that, the rapist began to slam into Ryou with harsh, uneven strokes. Ryou felt the blood begin to pour out of his body and puddle around his legs. He cried out again, but he only received another slap across the face.

Suddenly, the rapist's face changed into Kaiba's.

"My little slut, that's all you are," snarled Kaiba.

"Kaiba! No!" Ryou cried.

"Ryou...?"

Someone was calling to him.

Someone had found him...

"NO!"

"Ryou..."

There was the call again.

Ryou's head thrashed against the pavement, desperate to get away from Kaiba and to the voice calling for him.

"Ryou!"

"HELP!!!"

Kaiba's hands grabbed Ryou's throat as he continued to pound into the albino, oblivious of the boy's pain. Ryou's cries began to become softer and softer as he began to receive less and less oxygen.

"Ryou!" the voice called again, more urgent this time.

Ryou shook his head once more. He had to get to this voice, this savior. It was the only way out...

The darkness began to lift around Ryou's head, and the boy found that he had somehow gone under the water of the tub. He lifted his torso out and took a deep breath of air.

There was a loud knock on the other side of the door. "RYOU!!!" Bakura cried. "RYOU, ANSWER ME!!!"

Ryou coughed up some water. "Bakura..." he whispered just loud enough for his yami to hear him.

Bakura sighed in relief. "Ryou, are you all right?"

"Y-yes B-b-b-bakura..." he stuttered. He took another gulp of air and silently thanked Ra that he was out of the dream.

Ryou looked at the water around him. It was red with blood. He pulled the stopper of the tub and let it drain out before refilling it. He sighed and sank into the water flowing around him.

* * *

It's not very long, but I had some fun on the dream part. I hope you didn't get too confused... I didn't exactly specify what was going on...but then again, you never really know what's going on in dreams...well...not in mine, at least... ^_^'

Please review!