A/N: Okay, I have gotten far beyond the normal number of reviews for this chapter, and the guilt of being a procrastinator in typing the next chapter when everyone is so patiently waiting is all that's making me type this now. Don't you guys feel loved?

Ten Little Duel Monsters

Serenity woke serenely. The fairy-tale-material-birds were chirping outside her window, a gentle breeze shaking the tree outside of her bedroom window. Today was the day.

Today was the day that the boat would come to take them home.

Home... Serenity's thoughts drifted as she threw open her window, allowing the bright sunlight to waft in and cover her. What would her home be like? What would her RETURN be like? Her parents knew that she and Joey had been vacationing here. How could she tell her mother, on return, that Joey had been killed (tears began to fill her eyes again)? And it wasn't as though she could put it off- if she waited so much as a day, the papers would surely do her job for her, something she did NOT want.

Of course, the worst would be facing her father (the tears were slowly spilling out onto her cheeks). Who wanted to be the one to tell a drunken man that his son was dead? Certainly not her. There would be too much danger in it.

Glancing at her watch, she was startled to discover that it was just before noon. She had been so relieved, it seemed, to sleep and escape the danger and the heartbreak that filled her waking hours that she had continued to sleep for hours more than her body needed to function.

She wiped the tears from her face, dressed slowly and made her way downstairs, overlooking the fact that Marik's door had been closed and locked from the inside. She walked downstairs, appetite completely gone, and not in the mood to eat anything. However, it seemed that it was Ribbon's, Ryou's, and her job to fix food, so she would have to help to ensure that Marik and Kaiba didn't go hungry. Perhaps the smell of cooking food would awaken her senses. She'd need strength to deal with the reporters once it got out what had happened on this island over the weekend.

Serenity heard no trace of noise as she walked downstairs. It didn't seem as though anyone was there at all. She walked through the halls and looked around the rooms, but still all was quiet. She even ventured onto a few higher floors in hopes of finding them searching the house again, but all was quiet.

She began to panic. It seemed that no one was there. Had the boat come and they, eager to leave the island, had forgotten about her and left her there? But surely that was impossible. There were FOUR of them! Surely ONE of them would have remembered if they had left.

No. She couldn't find them anywhere, and surely they'd be making some noise. She didn't even smell the scent of breakfast having been cooked. They had left her.

THEY had LEFT her.

They had LEFT HER.

They had left her ALONE on an ISLAND with her brother's dead body.

But it WAS impossible. They couldn't have forgotten her.

So what other option was there?

Of course.

They- Ryou, Ribbon, Marik, and Kaiba- had all been killed while she was asleep.

BY WHO?

She didn't know, exactly. But that meant that there was still a rabid killer left on the island, and he or she would surely be after her. Instinctively, she picked up a nearby vase. She needed to arm herself. She needed to be ready. And she needed to find this killer before he or she or IT found her.

Serenity crept as quietly as she could around the mansion, exploring all of the upper floors carefully, until she came back to the ground floor and continued to search until she came to the dining room, where Ribbon, Ryou, and Kaiba were sitting in chairs, not speaking.

The vase fell from Serenity's grasp in shock, causing everyone to jump and give yells of surprise.

"WHAT THE &# DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, GARDNER?" Kaiba yelled as Ribbon yelped and buried her face in Ryou's shoulder.

"What do YOU think YOU'RE doing?" she replied. "Why didn't you wake me up or something? I thought you'd all been killed!"

"We're all right," Ryou said, somewhat perplexed (whether by what she said or by the fact that Ribbon was not letting go of him, we'll never know).

"Then... where's Marik?" Serenity asked, looking fearful.

"Must you really ask?" Kaiba said dryly. "He died last night."

"...oh. Sorry. So, um... what were you doing here?"

"Practically nothing," replied Ryou. "Just... sitting here. This killer is getting worse and worse. Kaiba told me what happened to Marik."

Serenity remained silent. Part of her wanted to ask what had happened, but she knew that it would be terribly rude of her to ask, as well as making someone tell her, which they wouldn't enjoy.

"So... what now? Can I sit, too?"

"Go ahead," Ribbon said, looking up from Ryou's shirt and instead leaning against his arm.

Serenity fidgeted. She just couldn't sit here doing nothing. "Have you eaten?" she asked after a few minutes.

"No," they chorused.

"Then can I make lunch?"

"Sure."

"Whatever."

"Feel free."

Serenity rose, surprised that no one had offered to help her. Surely they would want at least one other person there to make sure that she wasn't poisoning anything! But they seemed to be in such shock over what had happened to Marik that they couldn't think straight.

She walked into the kitchen and performed her usual routine of inspecting everything she took off of the shelves to make sure that it hadn't been opened before. Once she was sure that everything she had was brand new, she began to cook, and returned later with four plates, which she set on the table in front of herself and her friends.

No one seemed to have much of an appetite. They merely sat there, picking at their food, until Serenity finally got up and cleared the table, resigned to the fact that no one wanted to do anything.

They continued to sit there until dinner, when Serenity gave them a lecture about how they needed to keep their strength up, and they all needed to eat something in order to do so. She walked back into the kitchen and fixed up soup, which she forced upon everyone. Once everyone had eaten, they retired into their respective rooms.

Four locks clicked.

Four chairs were slid under doorknobs.

Serenity wrapped blankets around herself as she had the night when she'd first arrived. How long ago it seemed, even though it had only been a couple of days. Now, Serenity seemed to measure time in lives, as though every young life that had been cut short had amounted to a year of being trapped on this miserable island, where Joey had fought for her eyesight and his life. But he'd lost the second time.

She couldn't stand it. She just couldn't stand it. She couldn't sit through another day like this one, a day filled with people grieving for those that they once knew, who they had seen die. She would just have to stay in her room.

That was it. She could stay in her room, guard herself, and make sure she was armed. If anyone entered her room intending to harm her, she'd be ready. And once the murderer was gone, they would have plenty of time to make a boat or search for Kaiba's laptop.

She commended herself for this genius thought before she fell back into a deep sleep.

Ryou's eyes snapped open at the sound of a scream followed by several loud thumps. What was that? Oh, NO! He got up slowly and cracked open his door. He saw no murderers rushing past his door, but rather a totally deserted hallway. Therefore, he crept out and glanced up and down the hallway.

Serenity was standing at the top of the stairs, carrying the candlestick that she'd had with her when Tristan entered her room their first night there.

"Serenity?" Ryou called before walking over to her.

Serenity pointed, wordlessly, down the stairs. Ryou, followed by Kaiba, who'd just exited his room, walked over to the top of the stairs and looked down them.

Ribbon lay at the bottom, arm clearly broken and bent at an odd angle, blood streaming from her nose and ear, as well as trickling from her mouth. The smashed china figure of the Dark Magician Girl lay beside her head.

"Serenity..." Why are you carrying that candlestick?

A/N: And that's all she wrote. I apologize for the INCREDIBLY long delay; I had finals, EOCTs, projects, bug collections (blech), and other inventions made to torture students to deal with. I'll update sooner next time (promise!).

Setoglomper: Okay, well I (finally) updated! Hope you enjoyed it!

TCD0012: You really have a head for strategy. I'm not saying if it's right or wrong, but it seems well thought out

SiriusIsthar: Uh, don't kill anyone (especially me!) until you're sure of who it is, please. That gives me a chance to smuggle the killer away, no matter who it is :P You were right about Ribbon dying. Congrats! Have a cookie!

JessiePotter: You were right about Ribbon dying. Still sticking by Mai? Maybe, maybe not...

Valora: Thanks! Throughout the book And Then There Were None, I was convinced it was Armstrong. And then I didn't read the little letter at the back of the book for two years, so for two years I thought the killer was someone it wasn't. I've never actually seen the play, but I own a book with the play script in it. I liked the ending better than in the book

Prescious Princess: Thanks!

Athena777: Thank you! This chapter probably wasn't up to scratch, but oh, well. More and more people suspecting Mai...

BlackNinjagirl: Okay, two votes for Spike...

kobear91: Thanks for reviewing!

BlackTiger57: Thanks, trying to keep it up (although now that it's summer, I'll have more luck in doing so)

CuteKitsune57: Why does everyone know that Ribbon's gonna die? Am I that obvious? Oh, well. I didn't want to kill Yugi, he's too nice, but I couldn't make him the killer either...

Kaiba-Kun: Thanks for reviewing; I think this chapter answered your question.

Elizabeth Aiken: (pats Yugi and Joey on the head) You'll have to fight Mai, LLB, Rebecca, and Mel if you want them... Thanks!

Nicole: Danke! (Thank you in German).

Pegasus: lllll

Tristan: llll

Kaiba: lll

Ribbon: ll

Mai: ll

Ryou: ll

Yami Marik: ll

Yugi: l

Bakura: l

Alister: l

Marik: l

Serenity: l

Dartz: l