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REMBER! CHARACTER DEATHS!!!!!
Chapter Two
"Duke! Oh my God, Duke!" Joey cried, dropping to the ground by his friend's body.
Yugi stared, wide-eyed and gaping. Yami was shouting beside him and everyone else ran about, trying to get a word in.
"EVERYONE! BE QUIET!" Yami shouted, and amazingly they did.
"Okay. Tristan, Joey, take Duke and put him in his room." Yami said, voice breaking slightly. "We need to keep him up there in his room for now."
Malik walked over to the fallen cup. He picked it up and sniffed it, recoiling at the first whiff.
"Whew! Someone's put something in here!" He said, holding the cup out at arm's length. "Smells like cyanide, or something similar. Now why would someone have cyanide in their cup?" He wondered, setting the cup down carefully.
"Suicide?" Serenity whispered, but there was a shaking of heads.
"There are easier ways to go." Yami explained. "But that doesn't rule it out. But why would Duke try and suicide himself? It doesn't make sense." Yami rubbed his temples.
A sniffle broke through his thoughts. He looked over to where Yugi was trying to stifle his tears, sobbing quietly.
Tristan and Joey walked back in, both pale and troubled.
"Yugi, maybe you should go to bed." Yami said, and Yugi nodded.
"Yeah. Tristan? Can I borrow one of those sleeping pills you use? I think I might need them." Yugi whispered, and Tristan nodded. He and Yugi left.
Everyone sat around, blank eyed and grieving.
"I need to go to my room." Ryou said softly, eyes bright with unshed tears and pale faced.
"Alright, Ryou. I actually probably will too, as it is a good idea." Malik said. He stood up and followed Ryou.
Once they were gone, Mai turned to the others.
"I don't know about you, but I don't think this was an accident or a suicide."
"What do you mean?" Joey asked.
"I think there is some foul play going on here. And I think I know who it is." Mai said, eyes narrowing.
"Well then, who?" Yami questioned.
Tristan walked back in, and caught the last part.
"Yeah, who killed Duke?"
"Malik." Mai said confidently.
"What?" They others asked.
"How did you figure that out?" Yami questioned. Malik was one of the ones to be suspected, but why him over anyone else?
"Well, consider his past. Consider what he did. And, he recognized the poison. AND....." she paused here.
"And what?" Joey asked.
"AND............he was one of the ones to go get the drinks. He had plenty of time to tamper with Duke's glass. Though how he knew which one Duke was taking would have been difficult........" Mai mused.
"Maybe it was meant for any of us." Tristan hazarded.
Mai snapped her fingers. "That's it! He was planning on getting any of us. Duke just happened to get the poisoned glass."
"And consider the fact that he wasn't very upset. It could have been shock, or the fact he didn't really like Duke, but he wasn't very affected." Yami said, thinking it over.
Now that he thought about it, it made perfect sense.
(Upstairs.)
Ryou cried softly in his room.
Why Duke? He was such a nice, playful guy to Ryou. He had never been mean to him. Even Bakura liked Duke. Why did he have to die?
(Malik's room.)
Why Duke? Sure, Malik didn't like him, but why him? The guy had at least given Malik a chance to reform. And now someone had killed him. That was just horrible.
Trained since he was young not to let emotions get too much sway over him, he stifled back any sobs that would come forth.
(The next morning.)
"Yugi?"
There was no answer from the still form.
"Yugi? Yugi, wake up. It's time to get some breakfast." Yami said, standing over the bed.
"Yugi?"
(In the kitchen.)
A scream of such utter anguish echoed from upstairs.
Everyone snapped their heads up and around, as Yami tore down the steps, sobbing.
"Yugi! He's.......he's............" Yami collapsed in a chair, heart-breaking sobs shaking his shoulders.
"What? What's the matter with Yugi" Joey asked.
"He's DEAD!" Yami cried. "Dead in his bed! Died in his sleep, it looks like!" Yami buried his head into his arms, crying.
Everyone was stricken with shock.
Two deaths since they've been on the island? That couldn't be coincidence.
"Hey guys?" Serenity's voice came from the hall leading to the kitchen.
"Guys, I think you should see this." Mai said from beside her.
Everyone (with the exception of Yami and Joey, who was comforting him,) went over.
"Look." Serenity pointed.
"I don't think this is coincidence either." She was pointing at the poem that was hung up on the wall.
"Ten little kids went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.
Nine little kids stayed up late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight."
"Ten kids went out to dine. One choked." Tristan whispered.
"Yeah, and Duke choked on poisoned soda." Joey cried out angrily from next to Yami.
"And then.................nine little kids. One overslept. Yugi died in his sleep." Mai said, running a finger under the line.
"There are ten lines, and ten of us. So each line goes to one of us? Man, this is whacked!" Joey shouted. "We're all gonna die! Whoever this Karu guy is, he invited us to a trap and is going to kill us one by one!"
"So who is Karu? Where is he hiding?" Yami growled.
"Let's search the island!" Tristan said.
"Yeah, but we have to stick together."
"Wait!" Tea called.
"Look, the next line could give us a clue to how the next person will die. Then we can watch ourselves." She pointed to the line.
Eight little kids up until eleven.
One decides to leave and then there are seven.
"One decides to leave? I don't understand." Serenity said, scratching her head.
"Yeah, that's a difficult one. I say we puzzle it out later and search the island right now!" Joey said, and they decided it would be a good idea.
"Alright. Stay in groups, though!" Yami cautioned.
Yami, Joey, and Tristan went to search the shoreline and the cliffs.
Tea, Mai, and Serenity searched inside the house.
Malik and Ryou searched around the outside of the house.
(With the first group.)
"See anything?" Joey yelled over the wind, peering down at the crashing waves.
"No, not yet." Tristan yelled back, standing on a rock and peering across the barren expanse of stone.
"Well, this island isn't large! He can't hide forever!" Joey answered.
"Hey guys, look at this!" Yami called from over where he was.
The other two wandered over to see what had gotten his attention.
(With the girls.)
"Gosh, I'm scared." Serenity whispered as she and Mai searched for any hidden doors in the library.
"Don't worry, hun. As long as we are on our guard and in groups nothing should happen." Mai said, trying to soothe the other girl's nerves.
Tea walked in.
"Nothing in the kitchen. No secret doors or hidden closets. I just don't think he is in this house." She said, brushing her brown hair away from her face.
"Well, let's keep on checking. That way we can be sure." Mai answered. "Let's check upstairs now."
(With Malik and Ryou.)
"I'm scared, Malik." Ryou admitted, running his hands over the stonewall of the house, seeking any weak area that could be a door.
"Don't be. I'm sure you and I can take care of ourselves." Malik reasoned. "After all, living with Yami Bakura has gotten you able in self defense, and I've led the Ghouls for so long I can face any kind of street fighting." He was looking at the pantry doors with interest.
"Maybe he's hiding in the pantry?"
(Back with Yami and co.)
"What is it, Yami?" Joey asked as they neared him.
"Look, is that a piece of glass?" He pointed down the cliffs. There was something glinting down there.
"Hmm.......looks like it." Tristan said. "Maybe one of us should go down?"
"Nuh-uh! Not me! I'm not climbing down some steep cliff just to look at glass that might not even be glass!" Joey said, backing away.
"We can look for caves as we go down." Tristan reasoned, and Yami nodded.
"I was kind of thinking that way myself." He said.
"I'll go find some rope. Joey, you are the more limber of us, you can go down." Tristan left as Joey sputtered.
The time Tristan was gone was spent in tense silence. Was Tristan, being out alone, and going to be the next victim?
They just couldn't be sure.
(Back to the girls.)
"Shh!" Serenity held up a finger to her lips to the other two. "There's someone down in the pantry!" She whispered. She could hear feet scuffing, and things moving.
"Let's open the door and surprise him. We may have found our killer." Mai whispered back.
"One, two, THREE!" The three girls threw open the door and leaped inside the pantry.
(Back to the cliffs.)
"Doing all right, buddy?" Tristan called, slowly letting the rope down so that Joey could have enough room to maneuver.
"Oh, yeah! Just peachy! Ducky! Perfectly fine!" Joey howled up at him, scowling and managing to look terrified at the same time.
"Ok, then. Keep going!" Tristan said, smiling slightly.
Yami shook his head at his friends' antics.
Joey climbed back up and sighed.
"Nothing. A whole load of nothing! He's nowhere on the island. Maybe there is one of those secret door thingies." He said.
"Maybe the girls found one." Tristan said, and they walked up towards the house.
(To the surprise ambush in the pantry.)
"What the – "
"Gotcha!"
"Hey!"
"Found you – "
"No more killing for – "
The three girls stopped in mid-step, facing a rather surprised looking Malik and Ryou.
"What do you think you are doing?" Malik questioned, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes.
"We thought you were the killer. You were supposed to look outside!" Tea accused. She never really had liked Malik.
Wordlessly, Malik pointed towards the open door that led outside from the pantry.
"We found that and was wondering where it went." He stated. Tea blushed slightly.
"So did you find anything?" Mai asked, changing the subject.
"Nope. You?" Malik replied.
"Nothing." Serenity sighed.
"Huh. Maybe Yami has found something." Ryou said, and they closed the pantry door to the outside and went back into the house.
(End Chapter)
Thanks to all reviewers!
Inspector: Oops.......didn't know there was already one. Sorry, didn't mean to copy or anything. But reading yours I saw that you were sticking pretty close to the book, and I'm basing my rather loosely on it. I'm reading the book in English. So sorry! Hope you don't mind. And yes, I have my killer (and victims) planned out.
AnimeLuverGurlz: Mokuba will be in at the very end. Very far at the end, and only a little. But he will be there!
Queen-galux: Thanks a lot! I'll be sure to use the correct spelling if I use his last name again.
Tlc: Thanks a lot!