Note: Yami's POV is next chapter, and this one is a little short. It wouldn't fit anywhere else, though.

A lilmatchgirl: Bakura's weak and pathetic, yeah. And Yami's gonna have to see him that way. I could make him stronger but the point is he doesn't care, which just proves how screwed up he's gotten. Or I'm a bad writer, that works too.

FlamethrowerQueen: Thank you! I will keep going, this one isn't going to be as long as Dread, I don't have the time to write something too long at the moment.Between my jobs I sleep my life away.

Brave New World 4

Yami Bakura POV

I dream of the desert, of losing myself in that perfect, endless wasteland. The golden sands fade into darkness as I slowly wake up, painfully aware that I am still alive and still here in Kaiba's bed. His arms are still around me, keeping me here against his chest where it is warm. If I cannot reach Kuru Eruna I would gladly die here over anywhere else, in his arms where there is nothing but his heartbeat. I close my eyes tightly for a moment, knowing that this is not right, and move back to sit up in bed. I have no child growing in me yet, I would know if I had. The thought that I will have to do this more than once makes me shudder, wrapping my arms about myself because I am cold now that Kaiba is not touching me.

I look over at him, my body aching, and tense in surprise because he is awake and watching me. I had thought him asleep and the shock makes me jump, jarring my bruises painfully. It had been my first time in this body, I was expecting this pain. Forcing him to hurt me did not help, but I will find a bath somewhere in this mansion and wash the pain away.

"Good morning." He says to me, watching carefully to see if I am hurting. I do not want him pretending to care, this is just a body and it only has to last until I can give him what he wants from me.

I do not reply to him; I do not even look at him. I just stare blankly at the covers and wonder how much of my blood is on the sheets beneath, and how many more times I must do this. Is it worth losing my mind just to be able to go back to the desert? I can die just as well here, but I want to see my home again. Just once…

"Are you alright?" He asks, probably seeing the emptiness in my eyes. I wish he would stop asking me that, of course I am not alright. I am a whore, it does not matter how I feel as long as I give him his child.

"Yes." I lie, because it is so much simpler. My voice sounds dead even to me, I do not know what to do anymore.

He moves up onto his knees in front of me and strokes my hair back – he is always doing that – looking at my eyes, which I keep fixed on the sheets.

"You're lying." He says gently. I don't have the energy to make it sound convincing. I do not care that he sees through me. Let him look; there is nothing there.

"I need to wash." I murmur, getting off the bed and wrapping my black nightshirt around myself. It is long enough to cover me so I leave the rest, heading out to find a bathroom. Before I leave his room I see him in the mirror beside the door, looking down at the blood staining the sheets with a frown on his face.

He will just have to buy new sheets, I needed that pain to keep me from losing my mind for just a little longer.

It is not difficult to find a bathroom, this place has many. I slip into the first one I come across and lock the door, twisting the taps on and waiting for the large bath to fill. While I wait I drop the nightshirt I had been wearing in a corner and face the mirror on one wall, taking a new look at myself. It has only been one night here and already I look as though I will not last. My eyes are blank and dead, shadows beneath them and a few light bruises where Kaiba's hand gripped my thigh. My skin is pale now, I bruise easily and it makes me look even weaker. I do not care how I look anymore, seeing myself looking so broken only reminds me of the power I had as a spirit. I would never have let this happen to me then.

My bath is ready so I slip into the water and let it wash over me, soothing the stinging that I will have to get used to and drawing out the ache in my muscles. I close my eyes and ignore everything else for the moment, letting the clean water comfort me. How much longer must I do this?

TBC

Short chapter, sorry!