Thirteen years ago...
"Stay away!" the shrill cry of a boy, only about ten years old echoed down the darkened hallway. "All of you, stay away!"
The little girl, four years old, cowered in the closet her brother had shoved her into. Her small hands covered her ears as she hid her head underneath one of the fur coats.
"Get away from here or you'll be sorry!" Edward's voice was close now; it was indignant and brazen, but there was an undertone of fear to it. The little girl, Leila, shut her eyes even tighter as tears streamed down her cheeks. Even with her ears covered, she could hear the voices of those people. The bad people...Eddy had said they had made Mama and Papa go to sleep forever and that if they would do the same to her. Leila didn't want to sleep forever; especially not in a black box like Mama and Papa. It was scary in the dark. She didn't like it. Edward did; he'd sit for hours in nothing but darkness; the sun seemed to hurt him.
There was a crashing sound; a cry of pain from Edward, then a cry of rage. Leila shook her head, whispering rapidly. "Go away bad dream, boo! Go away bad dream, boo!" over and over again, hoping that she would startle herself awake- this had to be a nightmare.
Suddenly all the noise stopped. The closet door opened and Leila looked up, her large brown eyes fearful. But it was only Edward.
"Eddy!" Leila sobbed and ran for him, burying her face in his waist. Edward put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her away. Leila frowned...he was wet; there was dark, slippery stuff all over him and she had gotten it on her dress when she'd ran to him. Edward's black hair was mussed and wild; an inky contrast to his milky pale skin.
"We have to leave, Leila. Or they'll come after us again." He said. "You understand, right? We have to leave and we can't take anything because we have to leave now."
"But why?" she looked around. The bad people were all on the floor with more of the wet stuff around them. "Eddy, why are the bad people asleep?"
"Because I wanted them to be." Edward grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway. "Come on Leila; we're going to hide. And we're going to get stronger so that when they come after us, they'll be sorry." His gray eyes became steely. "Yes, they'll all be sorry..."
Yugi was losing his breath fast, but whatever was chasing him kept coming. It was almost as if he were being played with; the figure only ran fast enough to be just a little ways behind. Yugi felt as if the creature was simply wearing him out till he collapsed. And no matter what turns or twists Yugi took, the figure was always right behind, effortlessly following. Tears were streaming down the boy's cheeks, but he wasn't aware of it. His body was shaking already from the exertion and his chest was becoming tighter and tighter from lack of air.
Yugi ducked into a side street. He had to think of something; there had to be a way to lose this thing or fight it if he had too!
There was a deep chuckling behind him. "I wouldn't count on that, little one..." the figure's voice was deep and cruel. Yugi felt his stomach twist; had the hunter known his thoughts?
"Prey always thinks the same way..."
Yugi stopped short and turned instantly, striking out a fist. He didn't expect it to do anything, but he did have the element of surprise. Perhaps he could just stop it long enough to get away...
His fist went through air and with a shock, Yugi realized that the creature was right behind him. It's cold breath ran across his neck as the figure brought up a gloved hand; knife glinting. Yugi inwardly grimaced; his body was frozen. This was it...the end...
Suddenly there was as fleshy thud and the figure hit the ground a few feet away. Yugi opened his eyes and whirled around. A dark-skinned girl stood there; she had lavender hair and large gray eyes. In her hands, there was a gun and it was pointed at the cloaked figure. Standing the creature hissed and then disappeared into mist. The girl pocketed her gun and ran for Yugi.
"Are you alright; it didn't bite you, did it?" she asked, her voice slightly accented. Yugi just stared at her, violet eyes wide.
"Wha...bite?" he asked dazedly. Suddenly, the lack of sleep, the after effect of too much fear and adrenaline and the stress put on his body overwhelmed Yugi and he fell in a dead faint. The girl caught him and gently laid him on the ground.
"Nami; I'm gonna need help." she said in her radio, then quickly gave her coordinates. The girl, Kiya gently traced the eye of Horus on the boy's Puzzle. There was something about this artifact...she could just feel it...
"Ryou, you can't leave; they won't let you." Rei protested as the boy shakily stood. "Take that IV out and you'll be sorry." she added threateningly as Ryou's hand went for the needles in his arm. She took his hand in both of hers. "Ryou, please, just rest. I'll find Yugi."
Ryou's jaw tightened, then he slowly nodded and got back into the hospital bed. Rei gave him a quick hug and then left, pulling out her cell phone as she ran. She'd call Joey and Tristan on her way to Yugi's house.
Ai stood up and brushed an errant curl. Kiya and Nami looked at her from their seat on the second hotel bed. On Ai's bed was a small boy with strange, spiky hair and a golden pyramid around his neck. Ai rubbed her eyes tiredly...it was the same boy from the vision of blood. She wasn't sure what to make of it all.
"Is he all right?" Kiya suddenly asked. Ai turned and quickly smiled.
"Yes, just a little worn out. Do we know who he is or where he lives? It's late and his family will probably be worried."
Both girls shook his head. Ai sighed. "All right then, let's try to find out."
"No." Akiko said. "Okay, thank you, Joey." She hung up and sighed.
"No word?" Grandpa asked worriedly. Akiko shook her head.
"No." she mirrored. "I hope he's not in trouble."
"I'm sure that he's just visiting Ryou and lost track of time." the old man smiled and patted his daughter's arm. She nodded and then looked up as the door in the living room opened. Standing she quickly walked forward as Yugi walked in, followed by a woman with short auburn hair.
"Oh, hello." the woman smiled. "Um, I'm Ai Touya. I brought Yugi home."
The boy sleepily nodded. "Sorry I'm late." he murmured, going over to his mother. She reached out and pulled him to her.
"Thank you, Touya-san." she said quietly. Ai smiled.
"It was no trouble. I'll see you later, Yugi-kun." the woman said, then let her self out. Akiko put her hand on Yugi's shoulders and knelt so she could see his face.
"Where have you been?" she asked in a shaky tone. "Do you know how worried I've been?"
"Sorry." Yugi murmured. Solomon put his hand on Akiko's shoulder.
"Let's talk about this later, Yugi can barely keep his eyes open." he said softly. Akiko nodded.
"All right then. Go to bed, Yugi."
The boy murmured good night and went to his room. Akiko hugged herself and sighed. Solomon patted her back. "It's late. We should turn in too."
Akiko nodded, then turned. "I'm going to call Yugi's friends back first though; they'll be worried."
"You sure that's what he said?" Tristan asked worriedly as Rei got on the back of his motorcycle. She sent him a withering glance as she tugged on the helmet he had given her.
"Yes. Come on, this is important. Yugi's mom called you right? He's not home." she pointed out.
"Yeah." Tristan sighed and kicked the throttle. The engine revved and they shot off.
Ryou laid in his bed, listening to the monitor beeping. He couldn't sleep. He hoped that Yugi was alright and that whatever had been chasing him wasn't after Yugi right now. He glanced at the window and jumped as he saw a shadow whip by. Heart pounding, Ryou inched out of the bed and stood, then walked over.
The window only showed the quiet parking lot. Ryou closed his eyes and turned, then screamed. It was stifled by a hand over his mouth. A woman's face appeared near to his. Her glossy black hair was pulled away from her face, yellow eyes staring intensely into his. Her skin was very pale, in contrast to her red lips. The hand that covered his mouth was cold.
"I am not here to hurt you." the woman said in a quiet tone, slightly accented. "I want to help. You promise to be quiet if I let you go?"
Ryou nodded. The woman removed her hand. "You should lay back down; you're shaking."
The boy sat on the hospitable bed. "Who are you?"
"My name is Natalya de Tremaund." she answered, sitting in the visitor's chair. "You are Ryou Bakura. You are sixteen; you turn seventeen at the end of December. Have top marks in school, but haven't stayed in one place for long since your mother's death. Before that you lived in Egypt for two years, India for three and you were born in England. You had an older sister, Amane who disappeared several years ago. Your father, James, works as an archeologist." she stared at him. "One might wonder why you moved here to Japan."
Ryou felt his mouth dry up. "One might ask why you know so much of my personal business." he retorted. The woman smiled.
"Are you frightened? I don't blame you. But I am not here to harm you."
"Then why are you here?" Ryou asked.
"Because of this." Natalya picked up the Millennium Ring, which was on the table next tot the hospital bed. Ryou stiffened. She smiled grimly.
"I'm not going to take it from you. I am not that foolish." she handed it to him and her smile disappeared. "My kind knows the power of such items. But they will try to change you." she leaned forward. "You have experienced much in your life, Ryou Bakura and you have seen much. I am asking you to trust me for your sake and the sake of your friends."
Well, I should really apologize for my long absence. bows Gomen nasai, minna-san!! Life threw me this huge, gigantic loop and my existence has been a huge mess of chaos recently. But now things are somewhat back to normal, so I'm posting again.
"Flying Shadows" is already completed. I am working on the sequel "Depths of Memory", but I do not plan to post any of it until the entire story is finished. I just think it's easier that way and then I can go back and fix things in the plot later on.
Indigo: Wow, I'm surprised you're still reading this, lol. Unfortunately, I didn't get to work in Shadi, Isis, Ankh and Scales as much as I wanted to. sigh But I am going to try and feature them more in the next one!!
ChildlikeEmpress: Thank you so much for your two enthusiastic reviews; No, Inuyasha and co. are not involved in this story. The white haired vampire is an original creation. Ryou and Rei will eventually fall in love, I'm just not sure when. I don't plan to reveal anything from Rei's past any time soon, but it may come up later. We'll see!
Dr. Vorlon: I'm very sorry!!! You are very loyal tho; I really appreciate that. Hopefully, updates will be a little more regular.