YUGIOH

Eternal Darkness

Chapter 3.

At home, Kaiba buried himself back in the den with the lights off, so relieved to be out of the daylight. In there, he was able to relax a bit more. He did his homework in the dark, took care of work at home, called the police to finish his report to them over the phone and answered any questions. Finally, he passed out on the couch and let himself drift into a deep sleep.

Mokuba went from school to work, to push the reporters at bay about the attack they had now caught wind about. He took over his brother's job at taking care of business for now, and stayed there doing all he could until 7pm. At that time, he packed up....ready to go check on his brother. They had a much tighter security today at Kaiba Corp due to the attack, as they escorted Mokuba to the limo and made sure he made it back safely.

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Despite Yami's concern about Kaiba, Yugi hung out with his friends at their normal haunts, first going to the pizza shop, then the arcade, finally heading back to his grampa's Game Shop. There, they played duel monsters until night-fall.

Yugi had calmed Yami down, explaining to him that Kaiba was just recovering from being attacked. 'Of course he doesn't want to talk about it, Yami. I'm sure that whole event was very stressful to him, having his life threatened like that. Don't worry, he'll be fine. I mean....it's Kaiba we're talking about. He always bounces back!'

'Yes....I suppose you're right. Perhaps I am simply being over-cautious.'

That subject was dropped for most of the evening, until a news break came on the TV about Kaiba being attacked by the serial killer they had labeled as 'the vampire'.

"Seto Kaiba is the first known victim from 'The vampire' to have actually survived his attack. This is a sketch drawing of the criminal that had been described to the police. If anyone has any information on this person, he should report this to the police immediately. Seto Kaiba was not available for comment, but the Vice President...."

Turning their attention to each other, Joey said, "Yeah, Kaiba might have made it alive, but he sure looked like the walking dead today."

Ryou had recently come over, and was nodding, "Yes, I think I saw a glimpse of him in the hall today. He didn't look well, at all. And why was he wearing sunglasses?"

Tristan replied, "It looked more to me like he was on some kind of week-long drug binge. I don't know about the rest of you, but an attack and a slight blood loss doesn't make a person look that bad."

Yami's attention was caught again, hearing this. He drew himself outside of Yugi, and said,

'Yugi, when I talked to Kaiba earlier, I explained to him the strange aura of evil I was sensing from him. I can't say for sure what happened to him that night, but there is something seriously wrong with him. I am certain it's magically related.'

"Really?" Yugi asked, getting the other's attention that Yugi was talking to himself again. Yugi turned to the others, saying, "Uh....Yami agrees."

"Foolish mortal!" Ryou hissed, causing everyone to back away, as they realized Bakura had come out for some reason.

Yami immediately changed forms with his other half, and snapped, "It's you. Want do you want?"

"I couldn't help but over hear your amusing conversation." Bakura explained, being the only one that would be able to hear Yami in his spirit form. "I too have seen the priest, Pharaoh. And as usual, due to your lack of brains left in you, you no longer understand the symptoms that are right in front of your face. It's not magic that you sense in him, I'm afraid....it's something far worse."

"Magic?" Tea asked, since she never heard the full details of the conversation between Yugi and Yami.

"If that's not what it is, then what is it? Why do I sense an evil aura coming from Kaiba?" Yami asked.

"It appears you are about to lose your priest, Pharaoh. It wont be long before he joins with the world of the dead!" Bakura smirked.

"What's that?? You....you're saying that Kaiba's dying?? No way!!" Joey cried out.

"Simple-minded fool. It's not the kind of dead that you are thinking of....it's far more complicated than that." Bakura retorted.

Tristan asked, "How many kinds of dead are there?? I mean, there's dead and there's alive....right?"

Bakura's smirk only widened, saying, "You have forgotten the living dead, mortal....or as they are called nowadays, the undead."

All three practically jumped back, yelping at that. "Undead??!"

"What are you saying??" Yami demanded.

Bakura laughed coldly. "It's a pity just how naive you have become, Pharaoh. The so-called serial killer loose in the city isn't human, at all. He truly 'is' a vampire. And Kaiba got far more than just a simple bite. The vampire must have also made him drink some of his own blood, giving him vampirism."

"What?? You're saying Kaiba's a vampire??" Tristan asked.

"I always thought he was a blood-thirsty, but this is ridiculous!" Joey exclaimed. Then with a pause, he said, "Hey, wait a minute here! I've seen the movies, you know. If Kaiba's a vampire, then why was he out in daylight and not dying from it??"

"He is suffering from the light, but it is not yet deadly to him. That is because he has not yet fully turned. Drinking the blood of a vampire starts the process, but he has to feast on his first meal before it is official." Bakura answered.

Yami then suddenly blurted, "Then, you're saying there's still a chance to help him!"

Bakura glared at Yami, as if weighing a personal decision. He then looked out at the night sky, finally turning back to him with a smirk. "If it was daylight, I would probably not waste my time telling you this. But since it is already night, you are probably too late, anyway. And for that very fact, I will give you the information you ask for, if just to watch you fools go to see Kaiba already fully transformed and doomed forever. If a person drinks the blood of a vampire, they begin to transform. If you can find the vampire that did this to him and kill him before the victim becomes a true vampire, then yes....he can be saved from this eternal curse. But once he feeds, he is doomed."

Yami answered, "He may not have fed yet....maybe we could stop him. Kaiba didn't seem to be eating or drinking anything earlier, and he didn't show any sign of thirsting for blood. If we can inform him, maybe we can stop him."

"Vampires don't have an appetite for human consumption, fool! And are you sure he hasn't shown 'any' signs of blood-lust? None at all?" Bakura asked.

"No, he...." Yami said, but stopped as he thought about it. "Wait, earlier when I talked to him, he kept....smelling me, for some reason." Yami's eyes widened at that, "No, he 'was' hungering! Why didn't I see it?"

Bakura laughed, as the evil side faded back into the puzzle, leaving Ryou standing there. He looked around puzzled, and asked, "Uh....is there something I missed?"

Yami grabbed Ryou and rushing by the rest, crying out, "Everyone, we have to go at once....there is no time to lose! We have to stop Kaiba from making the biggest mistake of his life!"

"Uh....don't you mean 'un' life??" Joey asked as he, Tea, and Tristan followed loyally behind.

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Kaiba had gotten himself up after the darkness had finally fallen. Though he still felt weak, he was glad to see he no longer felt the dizziness or felt the horrible eye strain. He was finally beginning to feel more like himself again. There was something else that drove him off the couch, too. A need....a deep need that was calling to him, whispering in his ear. He wasn't sure what, but he had to find out what it was.

Kaiba got up, and walked through the door, up the stairs and back to the first floor. It was night and the lights were on, but they didn't bother him so much, anymore. They were still bright, but they no longer bothered his eyes.

"Big brother, you're awake!" Mokuba said, happily going over to him.

Kaiba smiled and hugged his brother. As he did, he once again smelled something. Something....good. He ignored it for the moment, saying, "Hey, kiddo."

"So, are you feeling better?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba nodded back at him, saying, "Actually I am. I guess you're right, I just needed some rest."

"That's great!" Mokuba said. "By the way, I had a great day at school today. I got an A on my math and spelling test, and this teacher...."

Mokuba kept rambling, talking about things from school. Then Mokuba soon switched to the subject of going to work, and all the problems over there. He so proudly mentioned how he helped his big brother in taking over his work tasks over there, and included telling him about the situation of him talking to the press. All the while, the smell Kaiba was trying to ignore was becoming stronger and stronger, making that alluring scent difficult to push aside. It was....on Mokuba.

Kaiba smelled for it, becoming entranced as he approached Mokuba's head, wanting it....needing it....hungering for....

"Seto....are you okay?" Mokuba asked.

His first name being said snapped him from his trance, as he realized he was strangely close to Mokuba's neck....smelling him. He backed away, wondering why he reacted like that. After he blinked a couple times, he said, "Yeah....I'm fine, I...."

Finally, Kaiba began to realize what it was that he was feeling. Giving a sheepish look, he turned away, muttering, "....I think I'm hungry."

Mokuba laughed at that, saying, "Well, that's no surprise. You haven't eaten anything all day. Why don't you go in the kitchen and get something to eat?"

"Sounds good." Kaiba said, and walked to the kitchen.

He looked around the kitchen and no matter what he saw that he normally enjoyed drinking or eating, nothing looked good to him. He considered trying to force himself to eat something, but it only made him sick to his stomach to even consider trying any of it. In frustration, he looked in the fridge, and finally smelled something that he liked.

Kaiba drew out some uncooked ground beef. Maybe he could cook it up and eat that, but the thought of the meat surrounded by all that grease made his stomach turn. He pulled a piece off, trying to think of a way to make this into something edible that wouldn't make it all greasy....maybe boil it in a stew, or cook it in an oven. Yes, and let all the blood slowly leak from it as it simmered in a pan. All that delicious blood just oozing from it, dripping from it....

"Seto???" Mokuba called out, again snapping him out of his trance.

Kaiba found himself sucking the juices out of the raw beef in his hand, and he immediately tossed the thing down. Next to him was Mokuba giving him the strangest looks.

Kaiba muttered, "I....I'm going to go for a walk. I'll be back."

"Uh....okay, Seto." Mokuba said, still watching him strangely the whole time he put on his violet trench coat and hurried out the door.

Kaiba began to walk for a while, eventually reaching the edge of the park, as he muttered to himself. "Air....that's it, I just need some air. I've probably been stuck in that house for too long today. Once I get back to a normal schedule, everything will be back to normal. Maybe I've been overworked and it's getting to me. Maybe it has something to do with that anemia thing the doctor was talking about. I was supposed to let him take another blood sample, wasn't I? Oh well, that can wait...."

Kaiba then stopped, smelling that lovely scent again, coming from somewhere ahead in the park. Like a trail of sweet music, Kaiba followed the scent hypnotically.

narr: Hello again. I'm very pleased on all the responses I'm getting on this fic. Everyone seems to like it! Now, normally I respond to all my writers individually. But this time I think I'm going to try to respond to them right here in my fic. The main reason for the change is because of my own recent adjustment that now allows anonymous e-mailers to contact me. It was strange that the lock was on in the first place, but I was told it's automatically marked and I have to unmarked it to allow it. Anyway, this way I can reply to everyone.

xXXkIkOkEnxXx and Doma Yuset( ): You got it...it's updated. ;)

kai( ): Yes, I think Kaiba makes a very interesting vampire, too. Then again, he is after all my favorite character in the show.

Aibyoka 13: Thanks on the comment of Ryou. I don't normally use the characters of Ryou/Bakura or Malik/Marik. They're not my most favorite characters or the easiest for me to write about. But there are parts where I will occasionally throw them in, where I think they will best fit. So you may see Ryou or Bakura pop-in every once in a while in this story line.

Rubi-chan: Thank you. That was in fact my intention, to make it different than most vampire fics. I don't mind those type of fics myself, but there's a lot of things I don't like about them, or I think they could improve on. I guess that was the reason I made this fic, to see the type of vampire fic I wanted to see. I don't want this to be just a vampire story. I assume people are also reading this because it's Yugioh, so I wanted to make sure to keep the flavor of Yugioh in the entire story and plot line. So that's my plan. Instead of taking the characters and basically throwing them into an AU vampire flick, I intend to keep this the Yugioh show and simply introduce vampirism. Hopefully it'll work out well.