Warning to readers: This is one of my more graphic chapters and some of the miterial may no be suitable for people under 15 years of age. I'm sorry for any confusion between this chapter and the last one. (if you don't understand what I'm saying about that don't worry about it, it's fixed now.) I updated, yay. Hahaha in your face Jadu Skia. (I'm allow to pick on her, she's my best friend. Plus I'll catch in from her later.) As always Happy Reading!!
Yami grabbed Yugi and dragged him behind as he ran out of the room. He started running down the hallway and had just reached the stairs when suddenly there was an explosion and a loud scream. The two friends turned to see Bandit Keith on fire, running up the stairs and then down the hallway away from them. When Keith reached the huge round glass window at the other end of the hallway he hesitated for a few seconds before jumping through it and falling down three stories into the bay below. Yugi turned to Yami and asked:
"What do we do Yami the stairs are blocked and if we attempt what Bandit Keith just did we could get seriously hurt." The smoke was so thick now that it made both boys cough uncontrollably. After a long coughing fit Yami finally replied:
There's got to be some way out, perhaps we can make a short-cut through the Shadow Realm…" Yugi shook his head hard while coughing. He said in a firm voice:
"No Way, Yami! I just got out of a place with lots of scary figures and I don't want to deal with anything else like that right now." Yami gasped for breath and grabbed Yugi's arm again before answering:
"Well if we don't find a way out quickly we'll both be burn to death in this tortured hell of an inferno." At that precise moment a long, immensely spine tingling moan filled the air above the sound of the blaze. Yugi looked at Yami who seemed just as horrified as he was. Yami lowered his head and narrowed his eyes, looking wearily at the burning stairwell. Yugi couldn't help but scream bloody murder when he saw what was coming up the stairs. Yami quickly scooped Yugi up in his arms and ran weakly down the hallway looking for a way out. The only thing he found was an air conditioning duct entrance. He set Yugi, who was shaking like a leaf down and quickly reached out and felt the vent cover and found it cold. Thinking quickly Yami wondered, his head spinning, if him and Yugi should try for the window and risk hitting the rocks on the cliff. Or try the air duct and hope they didn't run into more problems. Yami chose the duct because for some reason he thought it would be safer.
"Yugi, get in the duct now! Hurry!" Yugi was growing dizzy from the smoke inhalation and looked quizzically at Yami.
"You want me to do what Yami!?!?!? We could end up in the center of the fire going in there!!" Yami grabbed Yugi and tightened his grip on him. He replied:
"Right now we don't have much of a choice Yugi, if we try to attempt the foolish jump Keith made we could be putting our lives in more danger. So get in the duct now, that is, unless you want to face worse consequences waiting here." As if to agree with Yami the frightening moan rang out this time much closer by. Yugi gulped he didn't want to go into the duct, but after what he face earlier in the Realm of Mirrors this was he best chance. Yugi took as best of a deep breath as he could before going head first into the freshly opened duct. Yami had used the side of his hand cuffs to unscrew the screws, Yugi thought:
'It's true Yami can be 'handy' with anything'. Yugi started crawling deeper into the duct and heard Yami crawl in behind him. Hurry, Yugi heard Yami murmur. Yugi got a little farther when he felt Yami push his leg and the horrible moaning was really loud. The duct was fairly large so Yugi was able to look over his shoulder to see the most horrifying sight of a creature standing right behind Yami. Yami growled and gave Yugi a hard shove scraping his cuff against the wall of the duct creating a screech like nails on a chalkboard. Yugi winced at the sound and the pressed on farther and farther in the maze of duct work that filled the walls of the hospital. One good thing about the air duct is that the air was relatively clean and it made the twos smoke stung lungs work a little easier. The first part of the duct was straight, flat and wide. But as the two ventured on the duct began to slope slightly downward and the size became tiny bit smaller. It was pitch back and neither of then had any form of illumination. Yami would have had his 'Eternal Ember' power but for some reason the KC cuff on his wrist wouldn't let him use it. And since they were surrounded by metal Yami didn't dare use any of his electric powers. Soon Yugi came to a bend that cut very steeply downwards. He stopped and gently lifted his foot to signal Yami to stop too.
"What's the problem??" he asked. Yugi replied:
"There is really steep drop in the ductwork; it's almost like a slide." Yugi heard Yami 'hmm' in response. He was thinking. Finally he asked:
"Do you know how long the slope is??" Yugi reached out in the blackness and tried to feel for an end to the slope.
"No I don't know how long it is, but it's farther than my arms length that's for sure. Should I try and go down it??" Again Yami 'hmm' in response and then he gave Yugi the go ahead. So Yugi started down the slope slipping and sliding. It didn't help that he was dressed in all leather. Yami caught his leg and gently let him down until he had to let go.
"Meet you at the bottom" Yugi said as Yami released his grip. Yugi reached the bottom which lead into a larger duct and pulled himself out and turned to wait for Yami. He was near a vent from which he could see lights shining from.
'Hmm. Apparently the fire hasn't reached this part yet, we may get lucky' he thought. He waited, and waited…and waited. Finally Yugi crawled over to the opening to the slope and called up that it was clear for Yami to come. There was no answer, not a sound.
Suddenly the light shining in through the vent turned iridescent red. And Yugi turned to see long, thin, scythe-like fingers dripping with fresh red liquid grabbing the vent cover. Yugi's eyes grew wide with horror. His heart was pounding so hard he thought it was going to explode. He quickly twisted and tried to climb back up the slope, but to no avail he clothes were too slippery to give him enough of a grip. The fingers had somehow gotten the vent cover open and a zombie-like creature lowered itself to a crawl and began to climb into the ductwork. The terrifying zombie-like creature was getting closer to him. Yugi pushed himself as far up the slope as he could with his back on it. He left one of his legs lifted as some sort of sad defense. His other one rested on the floor of the ductwork to support his position. Yugi was desperate for Yami's help when he heard Yami's leather clothes sliding down the slope. The relief that washed over Yugi was suddenly shattered by the earsplitting screech of metal bending and crushing. Just then he felt warm liquid on his bare shoulder and arm, wonder and horrified at what it was Yugi looked at it. Blood. Fresh still warm blood, coming from the slope.