RESPONSES

Kameeko and Kamoray

Toli: Hey, guys!

Mena: Are you really enjoying the story that much? (worried) It's not because the thought of Yami being a villain is so unusual, is it? I mean, do you want that?

Toli: Don't worry, Mena, they just probably like the story. Please enjoy the next installment!

dontmesswithYami

Toli: Yes! You love it!

Mena: I'll make sure Toli doesn't mess with Yami...too much. Isn't Yami being a villain the totally weirdest thing?

Toli: Believe it or not, I actually had someone else who was going to be the villain (not saying who) but when I saw the episode where Yami released the seal of Orichalcos, I thought, "He totally looks so evil!" And then I decided right there to change the villain to Yami!

Mena: Yeah, she even said it out loud. Like the part when Raphael goes "So, Pharaoh, how do you feel?" and you're looking at Yami, Toli saw it for a split second and said "He looks like the perfect villain." Creepy, no? Anyway, enjoy the chap and thanks for your vote!

Masami, Mistress Of Fire

Mena: Masami! Damie-chan! You've joined us here!

Toli: Mena, did you just say "Damie-chan"?

Mena: (dreamily) Well, Damion-chan just doesn't sound right. But Damie-chan sounds much better... (stops and realizes what she's saying, then hides behind Toli to hide her glowing blush)

Toli: I knew it would come out eventually. I knew you two were flirting in the author's notes of Home And Not Alone!

Mena: (through Toli's shirtsleeve) Were not.

Toli: Yeah, yeah. Why don't you two lovebirds go on a cyberdinnerdate or something before you fill these responses with so much love they spill into the story and ruin the horror?

Mena: (through Toli's shirtsleeve) YOU HAVE NO PROOF OF ANYTHING!!

Toli: (rolls eyes) Exhibit A is hiding in my shirt, and I'm sure Exhibit B is hiding in Masami's head. Anyway, you are so nice! (smiles happily) We're happy to have a familiar face here; tackling the newcomers is scary because you're always expecting a flame! But so far, so good! Thanks again for joining us here!

000

(Mena is sitting at a table with a cement block on her head)

Toli: Why do you have Writer's Block? You aren't writing!

Mena: Remember? I was supposed to write Chapter 6, but I'm totally braindrained! And Writer's Block hurts my head!

Toli: Well, this is #5, so you've got some time to think about it.

Mena: Oh, good. (heads falls to the table under the weight of the second block)

(Note: It gets a little angsty in the middle of this chapter. Sorry. Angst and horror seem to be bosom buddies, and I simply can't tear them apart. They throw tantrums when you try.)

000

FIVE: Encounter On The Roof

(At School)

Tea, Serenity and Joey sat at a lunch table together, a little bit away from the rest of the highschoolers so they could discuss vampire things in private. A few tables away, Duke Devlin sat at a table surrounded by lovesick girls. He was watching Tea, and had been doing so every day at school since he had given her his little poem.

"So, dis Yami fella, he's afta Yugi," Joey said after swallowing a giant bite of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "Am I right?"

Tea nodded.

"An' he wants to snag da little guy so's he can bring 'im back to da S.V.H. and make 'im into a whole vampire?" Joey went on.

"Yes, that's what I gathered from Yugi," Tea said.

Serenity shivered as she picked over the inedible lunch food on her tray, not saying anything.

"But what I wanna know is, why?" Joey asked, pausing as he raised his sandwich to his mouth. "What's da importance? Why's dis Yami-vamp gotta try an' force his little brother if dat ain't what Yugi wants?"

Tea shrugged. "I honestly don't know, Joey. Maybe it's a pride thing, maybe it's a family thing, maybe this Yami is just really evil and won't let Yugi have any freedom. Either way, he's dangerous, and as long as he's after Yugi--"

"It's not safe to keep him," Serenity unexpectedly finished for Tea. She looked up from her food, noticing Tea's and Joey's surprised looks. "It's true," she insisted, turning earnest hazel eyes to Tea. "If Yami wants Yugi that badly, he'll come back for him again, probably tonight. And I don't know about you, Joey," she added, glancing over at her brother, "but I don't want to be tossed into a wall again. My head is still ringing from it."

Tea nodded understandingly. "But now that I know that someone is actually after Yugi, I can't just turn him out onto the street. Like it or not, Serenity, when I decided to bring Yugi back to my house, I had no strings attached. There was no 'only if your older brother doesn't come after you' conditions. I'm not just going to abandon him now."

Serenity put her fork down. For a normal person, they would have slammed it, but Serenity couldn't slam anything successfully. "Tea, think of the danger you're putting yourself in. There's some evil--and most likely rabid--vampire out there, with enough strength to pick up my rapidly-gaining-weight brother by the neck and lift him off the ground without straining, and the one thing he's after is under your roof! Do you realize what could happen to you?"

Tea watched Serenity. "I put myself through the same amount of danger every night," she said. "I'm a slayer, Serenity; what kind of danger do you think I'd be in if that guy comes after me in my own house?"

Serenity still looked incredibly unconvinced. Joey put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax, sis; Tea knows what she's doin'. She's a smart cookie, and no lame-o vamp could eva get da best of 'er. You an' I both know dat. Tea's makin' a practiced decision hea, and she ain't gonna do nothin' she isn't perfectly comfortable with."

"All he said is true," Tea said. She smiled at Joey. "Thank you for the infomercial." Joey blushed. "Seriously, Serenity," she continued, turning back to the unhappy redhead, "it's gonna be okay."

Serenity sighed. "You keep saying that, Tea, but one of these days I know you're going to get yourself hurt taking all these big risks. You're my best friend, and we've been close for almost all eternity. It would kill me if anything happened to you."

"I know you feel that way," Tea said, reaching over and patting Serenity's hand. "Don't worry. I've got this under control. I promise."

Serenity shivered again but said nothing, despite the thousands of protests rising to the surface of her mind. But what if Tea didn't have it under control? What if she was jumping into something really dangerous and she didn't realize it? And how could she trust this bispecies kid anyway? They'd just learned his name yesterday. How did they know he wasn't secretly in league with that evil Yami? How did any of them know what they were getting themselves into?

They didn't.

And that was the whole problem.

000

Yugi stared up at the ceiling. He was strapped down to a table. He had been kidnapped from Tea's home and dragged back home to be transformed. Somewhere along the line, he had been knocked unconscious, and the transforming had occurred while he was passed out. He could feel something primal rising up, screaming orders at him, but he fought to keep it under control. Not now. Not after all he had done.

The dim lights overheard were blocked by the head and hair of his brother as he leaned over Yugi's face. "So, how do you feel?" he asked, with a particularly evil glint in his eyes.

"I feel..." Yugi began, not sure how to answer. Then, the evil suddenly inside of him took control, and he could feel the urge to kill rising inside of him. It couldn't be stopped now.

Yugi smiled evilly, to match Yami's. "I feel like eating."

Yugi's eyes flew open, and he shot into a sitting position. "No!" he cried. He wrapped his arms around himself, hoping to be able to fight the feeling, the urge to murder.

It wasn't there.

Yugi kept his eyes shut tight and refused to look. The silence greeted him. Finally he peeked open an eye and found himself in Tea's room, sitting upright in Tea's bed. An old T-shirt of Tea's served as his nightclothes.

"It was only a dream," Yugi said. Then the words he had spoken finally began to sink in. "It's a dream. It's only a dream. I was not transformed into a complete vampire." A complete monster is more like it, he thought with a miserable smile. He then noticed the sun shining through her window and glanced over at the mirror propped up behind her desk. A scared face with huge purple eyes and no fangs glanced back. Yugi sighed with relief. Good. He was human now. He wouldn't have to deal with that pain.

Swinging his legs out of the bed, Yugi let his feet dangle in the air as he recollected what had happened last night. Yami had shown up and told him to come back. He had resisted. Yami had insisted. Finally Tea returned and Yami left. He left with a promise. What had it been? "Don't expect that you've seen the last of me; I will be back, and when I am, you will be coming with me." Yugi shuddered at the thought. So Yami must be planning to come back another time. Would he force Yugi to come? Would he try? Would Tea show up in time to stop him?

Yugi put his feet on the floor and stood up. He changed out of Tea's T-shirt into his own blue pants and tank top. After doing so, he slowly walked to Tea's mirror and touched the surface. His reflection aped him. Was it possible for such a normal-looking reflection to hold so much pain? For such pretty eyes to hide such a wild storm of emotions? He only looked a little unhappy. In truth, he was angry, sad, disgusted, and more importantly, terrified. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see his own face. A lonely tear pushed from behind his eyelid and slid down his cheek. He caught himself almost wishing for his brother to be here, to hug him and tell him there was nothing wrong with him, like he always used to.

What are you, crazy? Yugi scolded himself as he shook his head hard, flinging the tear away. You don't want to be near Yami. He's evil. And he's bad news for you. You have to move on.

To what? Yugi argued. To people like Serenity, who will only be afraid of you because of the monster inside? To people like Tea, who are supposed to kill you? There's nothing to move on to or go back to. I'm stuck in the middle.

No you aren't, his mind argued back. You're moving on to people like Joey, who like you despite the monster you possess. And people like Tea, who are willing to trust you and give you a chance. There are people out there who want to help you; you just have to be willing to try hard enough to find them.

Yugi opened his eyes again and looked in the mirror. His reflection stared back, and he saw the hope in his eyes because he could feel it in his heart.

Downstairs he faintly heard a door open and close. "Yugi? I'm back from school!" Tea called. "And I brought Joey with me!"

Yugi turned in the direction on the door. There are people out there who want to help you; you just have to be willing to try hard enough to find them. Well, he had found two. He pushed open the door and headed for the stairs.

000

That night Tea let Joey and Yugi keep her sword while she went out vampire hunting. Serenity didn't come over again because she was too afraid. But Joey refused to leave Yugi there alone. Tea was nervous and decided to come back a little early in case she was needed.

Tea met another vampire slayer, Mai, in front of a laundromat, and they went out together and killed twenty-four vampires. After they had killed the last one, which had been on her way to a sleepover, Tea said she had to leave and go home.

"Why?" Mai asked. "The sun won't be up for another hour. We've still got plenty of time to work."

"I have to get home because there's something important I need to take care of," Tea said.

Mai sighed. "All right, I'll let you off this time, but it had better be something important. Because if I ever find out you shirked work to hop to some silly girls' party or something like that--"

"Trust me; it is! And you won't!" Tea said as she leaped to the roof of a nearby building and started for the apartment complex. She was about three miles away when someone's scream and the sense of a nearby vampire stopped her. She jumped to the next roof and saw a figure nonchalantly toss a body over the edge like a used cigarette.

Tea pointed her gun. "You," she said.

The figure turned, and Tea saw a face and hair that looked a lot like Yugi's except more evil. Red eyes looked at her. "Yes, me," Yami said. "I was planning on visiting your house again, but I decided against it. I know how cautious you are and didn't want something slicing through my head the moment I entered."

"I'll give you one warning," Tea stated bluntly, ignoring Yami's version of small talk. "Stay away from Yugi. He wants nothing to do with you, and neither do I."

"You don't exactly understand," Yami said, crossing his arms. A wind kicked up and blew his cape and Tea's trench coat. "Yugi is supposed to be a full-fledged vampire. He would happily accept the fact if he didn't have those inferior human emotions. I simply need to speak with him. I should think you are the one who needs to stay away from him."

"I don't think so," Tea said. "Do you think I'd just stand idly by and let you kidnap him?"

Yami's left eyebrow raised slowly. "Kidnap him? I don't need to. See, I knew you wouldn't understand, because you are a human, and humans cannot comprehend the ways of vampires."

"They don't want to, either," Tea said, cocking her gun. "If you refuse to leave Yugi alone, I have no choice but to destroy you where you stand."

"Like you wouldn't have tried that otherwise?" Yami said with a smirk.

"No; I would have let someone else have the privilege," Tea said. "Possibly."

"Why don't you put that pathetic weapon away and fight me with your own two hands?" Yami suggested, his evil smile becoming more evil. "Or are you afraid to try?"

"I don't stoop down to accepting challenges presented by vampires," Tea said. "I just want you dead, and the rest of your posse with you." She fired.

Suddenly something at the back of her mind alerted her that something was wrong, terribly wrong. She thought that for a split second Yami was advancing towards her at an incredible speed. Instinct kicked in and she leaped several feet into the air. She looked underneath herself and saw Yami standing where she had been, a pleased smile on his face. She landed on the edge of the roof without losing her balance.

"Interesting," Yami said. "For a moment I wondered if you would notice." The gun had somehow pulled itself out of her hand and flung itself several yards away from them both. Then Yami vanished again. Not completely however; Tea could see him zooming towards her again. She wanted to jump away, but before she could, he had come up to her and grabbed her around the neck and was now dangling her over the edge of the building. A hard street a good seven stories away was below her. Her own hands reflexively grabbed Yami's wrist in an effort to pull off his hand, which was cutting off her air.

"If you don't mind," Yami said as if shooting the breeze with a buddy, "when I finish with you I am going to go get my brother before he gets himself into trouble. He's quite the unstable one, you know. Goes half-crazy if he doesn't eat in his vampire form."

"I don't believe you!" Tea managed to say though her throat was being squeezed.

"Then you're in denial," Yami replied. He made a move as if to release Tea and let her plunge to the waiting ground. But before he could, Tea's leg shot out and she kicked him in the chest. He let go and stumbled backwards as Tea used her own momentum to make it to the roof. Her lower half slammed against the wall, but she managed to kick her legs into a flip, regain her footing, and stand up, safely back on the roof.

Yami stood up as well. "Not bad," he said. "I was beginning to wonder if your gun was the only weapon you had."

"I'm not an idiot," Tea replied shortly. "You could take my gun and destroy it somehow. I only use it because it kills vampires more quickly. But if I have to, I can use my sword or myself to destroy you."

"Well, you won't succeed," Yami said. "I wonder if you know how badly I want to kill you and drink your blood right now. Fortunately for you, the sun is coming up. But when it goes down tonight, we will meet once again, and I will get rid of you. And then I will retrieve my little brother from your house with no interruption. Heed my words, and heed them well." Then he disappeared, leaving his customary wisp of black smoke behind.

Tea turned to the east and saw the first rays of sunrise. She massaged her neck and picked up her gun. It was time to head home. She was certain Yugi was safe for the rest of the daylight hours now, but when night fell, she would have to be ready for Yami. And she would be.

Oh, she would be ready.

000

END CHAPTER

Mena: Woooo...

Toli: (grunts as she tries to lift block off Mena's head) Quite the...(grunt)...long chapter...(grunt)...no? We'll...(grunt)...see you...(grunt)...next time!...(grunt grunt)