"Joey!" Serenity exclaimed, dashing up to her older brother and embracing him lovingly. "You made it!"
"Of course I did, sis!" Joey responded with a grin. "Ya didn't honestly think I'd blow ya off, didja?"
Serenity watched Tristan and Tea walk up casually; her smile faded when she didn't see Yugi with them. "Joey," she said, "where's Yugi? He was supposed to come with you, wasn't he?"
The ditsy blonde put a hand on his head and widened his grin. "Well, about that. Ya see…Yug…he uh…slept in too late and wasn't ready to…uh…meet us here…yeah…"
Tristan and Tea felt sweat trickle down the backs of their necks.
"Smooth," Tristan mumbled in Joey's ear so Serenity couldn't hear.
"Leave me alone, I'm workin' here!" Joey hissed back.
Somehow, by the expression on Serenity's pretty face, she didn't quite believe the lie, but decided to play along with it, just to make Joey happy. She smiled genteelly and took Joey's hands. "Well? We can still visit together until he gets here, right?"
"Right!"
Tristan cast a sidelong glance down the road that only Tea seemed to notice. She placed a hand on his shoulder receptively, trying to reassure him that Yugi would be all right. "He's got Yami with him," she said, but it didn't improve Tristan's mood. Tea began to wonder if Tristan had caught sight of the corpse as well.
Tristan made sure that Serenity and Joey weren't paying attention before answering Tea. "I know, but that doesn't make much of a difference. It doesn't make Yugi immortal."
Tea smirked, despite the tense situation. "I didn't know you cared so much for him."
"What made you think that I didn't? He's one of my best friends, just like you, Joey, and Bakura."
"Don't worry about Yugi too much; Joey might get suspicious. And you know as well as I do what that means."
Tristan turned red. He remembered the time when Joey thought everyone in the city was a werewolf, and he began to carry silver around with him everywhere, just in case a werewolf tried to attack him. It ended up just being Joey's overactive imagination.
"Yeah, you're right. But still…" Tristan kept his eyes locked on the road.
Tea shoved him gently. "If you're that worried, why don't you go be Yugi's bodyguard? I'm sure he'll appreciate it."
"Bodyguard? I don't know…"
"I was being sarcastic! I only meant that you should go see how he's doing!"
"Oh, right."
The door was stuck. It didn't matter how much Yami pulled or pushed or turned the doorknob. It was stuck, and that meant that somebody didn't want us to get out of this room. Yami had told me numerous times not to panic and that he'd get us out, but it didn't sound like he believed himself, and I had finally given in to the fear that haunted the room.
Out! Get us out! I cried. I don't want to be in here anymore!
Yugi! Stop that! I don't like this anymore than you do, but you need to calm down.
That's easy for you to say! You're a pharaoh, you can use the power of the Millennium Puzzle; I'm a regular human! I can't do anything you can!
Yami sounded hurt. You don't need to put yourself down, Yugi.
I'm sorry; I don't know what came over me…
It's all right.
Yami…
I heard Yami yell something in Egyptian, something I obviously couldn't understand, but due to the tone of his voice, it wasn't a nice word. He anxiously ran his hands over the spot where the door had been a minute ago and said the word again, only quieter this time. Realizing that we were stuck in here, he sank to his knees and pounded on the floor.
"The door's gone," he said. "We're trapped."
Trapped? I said. As in someone-doesn't-want-us-to-get-out trapped?
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Yami answered grimly. He turned and faced the area where the portrait sat. A loud, screeching noise erupted from somewhere in the room, and Yami covered his ears. I knew he was holding back the urge to hit his head several times against the wall, just to rid himself of the pain the noise bore into him. I tried calling out to him, trying to help him regain himself, but it was no use. I felt his spirit leave my body, and the ear-splitting noise stopped.
Are you okay Yami?
No response.
Yami?
Still no reply.
My hand strayed to my chest.
I felt sick with pure fear.
The Millennium Puzzle was gone, and I was alone.