Her Sweetness: Hello there. Sorry that this one took me a while. I suffered from 'author laziness'. A very common disease. In fact, a few friends of mine are suffering from it as I speak. Lack of inspiration, I supposing…

This one is for all those writers who don't want to get going.

Here's hoping you find what you're looking for, guys.

Motel 37

Chapter 5:

"… Well, well." Was all Shivers said, standing in the middle of the hallway. He actually had been there for about a minute or so, but he'd been stuck in silence. Surveying the scene that lay before him. Drops of red on Yami's hands. It was smeared on the knees of his leather pants as well, glistening under the light of the dim candle. He looked back from Shivers to the other to boys, arguing amongst themselves. Then down to the older woman that lay in an endless sleep, blood trickling down her wrists and ankles.

"C'mon! Just a little taste, please! There's enough for everybody!" Bakura whined, trying desperately to get out of Marik's tight grip and wriggle in the red stuff.

Marik's hold on him did not waver, "Now is not the time, Bakura! Satisfy your lust for blood later. Right now, Yami's killed someone, so-"

"What? N-No…" Yami shook his head, scrambling to get off the woman. His breath had been caught in his chest ever since Shivers had come and stood there, his face blank. Those only two words he spoke were even worse than the silence and Yami knew he had to explain himself and quick, before any accusations were made, "Y-You see, I was out looking for my-"

"Grandmamma!" Suddenly a shrill cry echoed down the hall, followed by what sounded like a stampede, but ended up only being one pair of size six feet, trotting down the hallway. "Grandmamma! Where are you!" From out of the shadows stepped the young woman they'd seen at dinner. The carrot-top, bird-like girl who tried to wake up her Grandmother at dinner.

"Brittany, I don't think you should be here, right now." Shivers said to her, his eyes not moving from Lydia, on the floor.

"Ah…" Her brown eyes darted from Yami to Marik to Bakura then back down to Yami, "Y-You murderer!"

"No, wait!" He protested, "I didn't!"

"Call the police, Mr. Shivers! Get that madman locked up!" Brittany lost all control, banging her fists on Shivers' shoulders, "Please, please! I beg of you, call the police before this crazy person strikes again! He's killed my grandmamma! Oh, please…!"

"Ms. Coe, I think you need to calm down… We have no way of knowing if Mr. Motou has actually murdered anyone…" His eyes shifted, "But. This does look a bit damning, doesn't it?"

Yami stood up, clasping his hands together in front of Brittany, "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I didn't kill your grandmother! I was out here, searching for my own Grandfather and I-I tripped. O-Over her foot…"

"Lies! It's not true, he killed her! Just look into his eyes, that madman would kill me right now if you all weren't here!" She pointed accusingly at him, her finger touching his forehead.

It was at this time when both Marik and Bakura made their presence known once again by rolling on the floor, and holding their sides. Apparently sick with laughter. Tears streaming down their faces, Bakura's visage red and Marik's purple. Bakura was first to gain control of himself and speak, "O-Okay, please… stop, before you kill us, too…! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"And what may I ask is so funny!" Yami shouted, "I'm in real trouble you guys, stop it!"

Brittany dropped to her knees, her white dress being stained by the blood, "Indeed you are! Look at my Grandmother… Oh, just look at her!" She stood and staggered towards the tri-color haired boy, "You…! You murderer!"

"No, I-"

"Alright, first and foremost," Marik stepped in between Brittany and Yami as the girl was beginning to take matters into her own hands. "There's no way Yami could kill your old lady because… Well, just look at the guy! I-I mean, he's geek with a little bit of chic. And I say this only because of his leather pants."

Yami blushed.

Bakura stepped in, "And besides that, what motive would he have? He doesn't like getting his hands dirty, why would he try and kill someone? No reason."

"Yes, I'm afraid he has a point." Shivers finally decided to say something. Although he'd been quiet for almost ten minutes, he stepped forward, "And now, please, I must ask you all to go back to your bedrooms, at once. Seeing as how this has happened, I fear for your safety."

"But, Grandpa-"

"Mr. Motou, your Grandfather is out of our hands now, you must go back to you rooms. It must be near ten o' clock by now… Shakes!" Shivers called into the darkness, though his call was firm, it was also hushed. Almost immediately, a very tall came staking out of the abyss, carrying a black bag. He stopped right in front of Lydia, whose blood was almost spent. The man shot Shivers a look.

"Shakes. Would you be so kind as to take Mrs. Coe away…? We had… an accident."

The grim man nodded, throwing the black garbage bag over Lydia's body. Before scooping her up in his arms, he scanned the hallway quickly, as if searching for Marik. His dark eyes finally resting on Marik's form, looking at him from top to bottom.

This time Marik did not let such a gesture go without notice, "Ah, hey! What? Do I have something on my face?"

Seemingly startled, he scrambled to him feet, dropping Lydia on her head, causing more blood to stream from her body.

"Eww…" All yamis cringed at once. Brittany had fainted and Shivers whispered something to Shakes, causing him to fumble down the hallway, a trail of blood marking his footprints.

Shivers gasped to himself, "… I'll take Lydia to her room. Mr. Motou, I trust this little incident will see to it that you stay in your room for the remainder of your stay here?"

"B-But, my Grand-"

"Enough, Yami!" Bakura cried, dragging Yami towards their room, "I've had enough of all this nonsense! I'm saying that the old man's in the can and that's that! No more! End of discussion!"

Marik followed, glancing back only to see Shivers hurriedly wiping the blood off the floor and taking Brittany down the hallway. The lack of candlelight limited his vision.

"I feel bad about this, you guys…"

Ryou laid his head down on the rim of the Jacuzzi and slid further down. His pink hair, turning a darker hot pink when it hit the water. He stirred his finger around one of the bubbles that formed by Malik's shoulder. The nighttime air was calm and warm. The palm trees swayed a little in the breeze but it was really nothing and the sun had set a good four hours ago. After hearing from Grandpa that everything was fine with him and their yamis, the hikaris decided to go out and do something fun. Looking down on the boardwalk, this was the thing that looked the most suitable, but there was something that didn't make Ryou relax like he was meant to.

"Oh, Ryou… C'mon." Yugi patted Ryou's arm, sliding his own back under the bubbles, "You can't be worrying about Bakura. Grandpa said they're in a motel, and that they're fine."

"It's not that I don't know they're fine. I mean, it's just that… well, bad things always happen when we're away from them. Somebody always gets hideously maimed. It's like some kind of curse. I'm sorry, but I don't feel good about this."

Malik nodded, his eyes closed, "… Yeah. But, hey, look on the bright side!"

Both Lights looked over at him, "What bright side?"

"At least none of us are there with them…!"

"…" Yugi sighed, "M-Malik… I don't think that's exactly a 'bright side'. Don't you feel bad about having Marik out there in that storm? In a dingy, little thing of a motel?"

"Bleh! Heaven knows Marik's put me through hell and high water. Both within the same day! So, he can stand a bit of misery."

Ryou and Yugi scooted to the other side of the Jacuzzi with horrified looks on her faces. "…!"

Malik blinked, "What?"

"You're going to get struck by lightning, talking like that!" They yelled.

"Oh, please!" Malik rolled his eyes, tossing his hair back, "You two are being silly. I dare anyone to try and make a lightning rod out of me…!"

A bright, white flash struck in the near distance, just over the horizon. The deep blue sky lit for a split second and the clouds parted. Suddenly, Ryou and Yugi clung together shouting at the blonde, who was dumbstruck, "See! We told you!"

"Gah… O-Okay, okay… I believe you." Malik stood up and shouted to the heavens, "I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN IT! … Whatever I did…"

Suddenly the clouds cleared, the lightning disappearing behind the pale moon. Malik plopped back down into the water and looked over at Ryou and Yugi, who were both considerably calmer now. But both in complete shock over what had just happened. "Oh my Ra…" They looked up at the sky then back at Malik, "How'd you do that?"

He shrugged, "All I did was apologize."

After a moment of awkward silence, Yugi cleared his throat, "… Uh, does anyone remember what we were talking about?"

"… I don't know, but whatever it was, I suggest we continue our conversation inside where there's a lesser chance of us getting hit by lightning."

"Ditto."

Currently, about half a world away, on the grounds of Motel 37, the hurricane had gotten much worse. There used to be exactly ten dead trees on the front lawn of the old motel. Right then, there were two trees that were still standing. Actually, one of those trees was hanging on to the ground but just one root. Until one second later, when a bolt of lightning struck, severing the trunk from the root and freeing it. The large tree went flying in the direction of five of the other trees, right to the front door of the motel, bashing it in. Most of the door was barricaded with the trunks of large trees, but there was one spot under the doors that was a rather large hole.

Inside room number 5 on the second floor, there were three yamis that were trying desperately to get to bed. But it wasn't as easy as it sounded, due to the fact of possessiveness and paranoia.

"I'm sleeping on the bed and that is that! So, you can just shove it, Bakura!" Marik stuck out his tongue to the Tomb Robber and hopped onto the bed. Bouncing on it as he did so. "Good night."

"What? Marik, you get off there right this minute!" Bakura immediately pounced onto the bed, arms outstretched, ready to attack the boy on the bed.

Marik only winced when he was scratched on the shoulder by Bakura' nails, but sent a swift kick to his groin, which rendered Bakura immobile for a few minutes. As Marik smirked to himself, he noticed Yami over by the window, shuddering to himself when lightning struck.

"What are you doing over there?"

Yami whipped his head around, "… Marik, I have a bad feeling about this place. I really think we should leave tonight. I-I mean, I don't think it's safe here."

"R-Relax… P-Pharaoh." Bakura's eyes were watering as he fell to the ground, holding his crotch, "S-S-Stop being… paranoid. We c-can go in… mo-morning…"

"That's right. You tell 'em, Bakura." Marik yawned, snuggling under the covers of the hard and crusty bed. (In a place like Motel 37, what do you expect? Sleep Master 3000? Hardly.)

"Someone has died, Marik! Grandpa is gone! For all we know, he could've been killed as well! And- Hey, what happened to Bakura?"

"Ah, don't worry about him. He's just a little blue."

"Y-Yeah…! And you don't want to know where…" Bakura wheezed.

"… Oh, I give up!"

"Good night, to both of you. And turn the lights off, someone."

That night, Yami slept curled up in a little ball on the foot of the bed, right by Marik's foot. He did get kicked quiet a bit (most of the time was not an accident) but at least he felt safe. Bakura got over his excruciating pain and managed to crawl into the bed without Marik noticing, and he gave the Egyptian a good kick of his own. All the while, the storm continued overhead and Shakes patrolled the hallways, relighting candles that had gone out.