NOTE: Hey! Thanks for the feedback! I suppose another category for the story should be Supernatural…but oh well. On with the story! It gets more "gruesome" from here on out!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter 6: Dream On

Duke fidgeted in his sleep. He and Serenity had settled down in a sitting room somewhere in the house. The couches had been all so dusty, so they had opted to sleep on the floor, near the wall, just incase anything else was lurking around.

Nightmares poured out from the walls of Duke's mind.

Duke was looking from an omniscient point of view down onto a green field. And HE was standing there too! Something rang in his head about how this could be happening. Yugi had told them something about seeing himself from a distance with the power of the Millennium Necklace. Could this vision be like that?

The non-omniscient Duke was looking around, calling out random things. Suddenly, a crack of thunder roared, and a great bolt of lightning struck down from the sky and plummeted towards Duke's body.

With a terrible cry, the Duke figure yelled and slowly, starting at the end of his body, he began turning to stone.

After the shock of lightning dissipated, Duke saw that his body –the one far off- was completely petrified. And then, small cracks began running through the statue's body. A great opening cracked in the statue's back, and a red substance spilled forth.

Without having to examine it, Duke knew what it was:

Blood.

More blood began to pour forth from other cracks in the stone and trickle down its length.

And suddenly, the vision whirled away.

Duke sat up so suddenly, letting out a yell, sweating and breathing hard. What the heck had the meant? He felt strangely weak…as if something had been sucked right out of him….

Serenity screamed, hearing the cry and jumped up, pounding the wall next to her with her hand, and resting against it in fright.

"Duke? What's wrong!"

"Nothing, sorry," he replied, "Just…a rather frightening dream."

"Oh," Serenity relaxed. Then, she began feeling the wall, "What the…" She felt a little more, and suddenly jumped away, "EWW! There's something slimy on there! Duke! Help!"

Duke jumped to her aid, "Sorry, but I can't see what it is without light-"

The chandelier above them flickered on dimly. It was just enough o see what was on Serenity's hand and in her fingers.

"BLOOD!" Serenity suddenly screeched, screaming. "OH MY GOD!"

Duke felt the blood from Serenity's fingers. It was still rather warm.

He checked himself for wounds, and then scanned Serenity. Nothing. Then how…who's blood was this?

"Duke," Serenity quieted, looking up, "Look." Duke turned to face where she was looking.

"Oh my Lord…" he whispered, looking at the wall.

It was coated in that blood. But not coated blankly. No. There was a message written upon it.

"I don't want to look!" Serenity looked away, "What does it read, Duke?"

"Why should I want to look?" he inquired, "Whatever. Here-"

"No, no, I'll read it. I should get accustomed…" she said fickly. She read it over once, before saying, "That doesn't make any sense? Who would waste…blood…writing that?

The Earl dies in the evening; the Duke dies at dawn.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Serenity asked.

Duke's face had paled considerably. If he didn't know any better, he knew exactly what that meant…and whose blood it was written in.

Somehow, someway, someone had gotten a hold of his blood, and written a message with it, pertaining to him.

It was written figuratively. The only problem with the literacy was that earl and duke were capitalized. Normally, they aren't done so.

But his name was Duke…capitalized. What if the message was an omen to him?

What if the first part of the sentence had no meaning to it: but the second forewarned him.

What if someone wanted to kill him?

At dawn?

Joey ran as fast as he could.

But what was he running from? All he knew was that he was terrified, and for good reason. Someone or something was after him….

"Run, Joseph, run," a high voice called out, laughing. Joey ran. He was growing tired, but that didn't stop him.

"Run-" the voice stated again. This time, though, it changed into a most familiar one.

Serenity's.

"Joey, run," she continued from the other voice, "You're more fun to hunt down when you run."

"Hunt down!" Joey shouted. He was only met with a maniacal laugh from Serenity.

That wasn't like his sister at all.

"Ren! Snap out of it! You don't want to hunt me down!" Joey turned a corner and stopped, terrified.

Serenity Wheeler was standing three years away from him-

-Holding a gun up in her right hand.

"Hi big brother," her voice radiated venom, "Are you ready to die now?"

Joey's eyes widened and quaked. "Serenity! What's happened to you!"

"Nothing, Joey," she lowered the gun, "Nothing at all…." Her voice suddenly got edge of that voice that had spoken before her. "Now Joey: prepare to face your afterlife."

Joey then noticed someone partially materialize next to her.

"You! Get away form my sister!"

The new figure spoke, "Not a chance Joseph," that voice came back. "Now, Serenity: hit the target."

Joey turned around to run but found his way blocked by a new wall. He spun back around, "Serenity, NO!"

A gunshot.

Everything immediately went black.

"SERENITY!" Joey sat up, shouting into the hall. Tristan yelped and jumped up from his sleep.

"Joey, dude, what were you thinking! You made me think we were getting attacked again! It's bad enough we're stuck here-"

"Sorry, Tristan…just…had a bad dream…somethin' happened ta Ren."

Tristan sat up straighter now, "What?"

"I dunno…. Maybe someone had taken ov'a her mind or somthin'…but she wanted ta…" he gulped, "Kill me."

Tristan's eyes went wide, "Whoa. That's deep. But it's just a dream, Joe, nothing to worry about."

"Yeah…yeah, I suppose you're right," Joey stated. What he failed to mention was the great pain he had in his chest right now…. "Anyway…how's Mai?"

"Still hasn't waken up yet by the looks of it," Tristan replied, looking at Mai's unconscious form.

"Yeah, she pretty much fainted when I grabbed her from that shadow thing…" Joey commented.

"I'm just surprised she's stayed out cold for this long. You don't think…."

"Nah," Joey shook his head quickly, "Nothing like dat could have happened. She's just taking a little longer to get back to consciousness. Besides, we've checked life signs constantly, right?"

"Yeah, you're right," Tristan looked away, "I just can't believe we're still stuck here. How long will it be until we can find a way out of this creepy house?"

"Dunno," Joey replied, "If only we had Duke back. At least he had an inkling of where we were going. Now, we just have to walk around and hope we find a door or garage or somthin'."

"Yeah…. Well, we had best get moving. I don't think we're going back to sleep for a while."

"True," Joey stood up. "I'll grab Mai." He walked over to her, checked up on her and then but her form on his back. "Which way?"

"Well, let's go the way we were going last night, after running," Tristan pointed behind him.

"Alright." And they set off once more.

"So, Mokuba," the ghost boy paced the air above the living room where Seto and Tea were resting, "I ask again: do you want to return to your family?"

Mokuba scrutinized the boy as best as he could. He could barely make out anything about the ghost. He just looked so familiar….

It didn't help that he felt like half of himself was missing….

Still skeptical about accepting the offer, Mokuba slowly answered, "Yes…."

"I figured as much," the ghost replied, putting his hands together. "We'll go down together then, shall we?"

"What?" Mokuba managed to get out, before the ghost grabbed his arm and descended with him to the floor.

On the way down, Mokuba felt as though he were sliding through some sheet of liquid ice…. He looked back up and saw that where he and the ghost had been standing before now just looked like the ceiling to the room. What had happened to the dark abyss they had just been in?

His feet hit the floor, as did the other boy's. Mokuba immediately ran to Seto and started shaking him, "Seto! Seto! I'm back! Seto, there's a ghost-"

"He can't hear you, Mokuba," the ghost commented, walking over to Tea, "He can't feel, hear nor see you." Mokuba gazed back at him horrified. The ghost just sat on the arm of the couch next to Tea's sleeping form. "Let me demonstrate, Mokie…. No matter what it is that I do to her-" he twiddled with a strand of her hair, and then quickly bent down and kissed her on the lips, "She doesn't awaken."

Mokuba dropped his hands, aghast.

What was wrong with this ghost? Feeling something for living females?

The boy didn't seem to notice Mokuba's reaction, "She's gorgeous, isn't she? I could tell she was special the moment she stood outside the gates. If only we were two dimensions apart…" he sighed, looking rather longingly at her, before standing up.

"What? "Love at first sight," is that it? Sorry, but that's kind of stupid," Mokuba replied. He was still a little young for that sort of thing, but that didn't mean he didn't harbor certain feelings for anyone else…say some certain girl in this very household. He reddened slightly at the thought.

"No…I know her better than that…" the ghost smirked, "I've been inside her mind…. It's a beautiful place there…. I probably know more about her than she knows herself."

"That's too freaky," Mokuba muttered.

"Is it?" the ghost looked up at him. "Tell me, Mokie…what is freaky exactly?" he grabbed the boy's shoulders gently and led him over to a mirror on the other side of the room.

Mokuba wasn't paying attention to what was happening. He was staring up at the ghost boy; his mouth agape, "Who are you?"

The boy smiled, "All in due time, little…oh, never mind. Now answer the question, Mokuba. What is freaky, exactly? Is…this, freaky?"

Mokuba turned to look where the ghost was looking. He looked into the mirror, and almost yelled out in shock.

He, Mokuba Kaiba, was as pale as a ghost….

Seto stood in a blank area. There was nothing there: no one.

All of the sudden, Mokuba came running behind him, "Seto! I'm back!"

"Mokuba?" he turned around, "Mokuba!"

"Seto!" Mokuba ran into his brother's arms. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Me too, kiddo," he hugged his brother tightly. Never again would he lose sight of his brother….

Seto felt a tugging on the back of his shirt, "What about me?" a voice said. Seto stood up and turned around. To his great surprise, there was another Mokuba standing there.

"Mokuba?" Seto looked back and forth between the two of them, "What the?"

"Seto, don't you know about our other brother?" the original Mokuba put an arm around his twin counterpart.

"What other brother?" Seto screwed up his eyes. This made no sense…. Mokuba wasn't a twin….

"Well, I'm not REALLY your brother…" the other Mokuba spoke. Seto gave a start. That wasn't Mokuba's voice….

The new Mokuba began to laugh, and change into someone else.

Seto's eyes widened. He had seen that figure before….

"Remember me?" the morphed Mokuba held up a dagger, chuckling, "I still can see you, Seto…."

Seto jumped in his sleep and looked around frantically. Where was he? Oh, right...the other mansion….

He looked to his right and saw Tea still sleeping. She seemed to be in such a peaceful sleep….

He envied her. She didn't have to live with the constant worries of keeping watch over a younger sibling. She could just go on sleeping without another care in the world….

But he had to find his brother.

Fast.

Before anything major…or worse, fatal, happened to him.

Seto sighed. Goodness…he was dying for something to drink, at least. But even if he had found a bathroom, the taps would all be out of water, as no water had been directed here for years. And food was definitely out of the question.

Tea shifted and turned in her sleep. Now, this was a small couch. In shifting, her head came to rest on Seto's straight shoulder. She didn't seem to take much notice of the new "pillow".

Typical. Now he was being deprived of food, drink and comfort. Instead, he was being used for comfort. Why him? Why?

Nevertheless, it did feel sort of…nice…sort of…. Oh, the heck with it: it did feel comforting.

At least of all the people in the whole group to get stuck with…he got stuck with the most agreeable of them.

Was that really his opinion about her? The most agreeable? Yugi was a person he could tolerate. Then again…thoughts of revenge and duels usually filled his head, when Seto was around him. The others were just plain losers: there was nothing more to say about them. So, yes, although Tea had a mouth at times (one very similar to his a lot), she was the most "agreeable."

But Seto didn't have to wait long. It seemed that Tea had gone into an uneasy sleep, for she soon moved off Seto and back onto the couch.

Seto stood up quickly, should her motions prove fickle once more. Not that he didn't miss the pressure on his shoulder…which felt rather cold at the moment.

He decided to scope out a bathroom just for the heck of it. Perhaps, by some odd and slim ration, there was a hint of water still here…as nasty as it might be.

He set off down the corridor, hoping against hope that he wouldn't be lead astray or wind up anywhere wacky again.

A noise caught suddenly in his ear. A small trickling….

Water.

Seto started running out of desperation to find the source of the vital liquid. Where, though?

If he had been right about this mansion being similar to his home, then there should be a bathroom right around the corner….

He spun around the corner and saw a door ajar. He stopped and slowly walked towards it. He peered around the door just in case….

Nothing. Nothing except the sink leaking water.

Seto crept into the room, watching everything in there, just to be sure. He walked up to the sink, and examined the dripping faucet. The faucet itself was rusted and dusty, but the water looked clear as ever. It looked pure…strange, as it seemed. Then again, this whole house was whacked out of proportion.

Seto decided to take the chance. The worst that could happened was lead poisoning or something. He could deal with that…at some point or another…. He turned the tap more, and more water gushed out. Finally!

The water felt good running down his dry throat. It was so cool and refreshing…. He sighed and looked up into a mirror right above the sink.

A face –not his own- looked back at him. It smirked.

Seto stumbled backwards. Him! AGAIN!

"Not only in my sleep do you haunt me, but here too?" Seto murmured, watching the image watch him.

Seto's heart was starting to pound harder. What was he so afraid of? It had to be…a hologram or something. Some old defense hologram that still worked somehow….

"You think technology is the source for everything, don't you, Seto?" the face asked.

Seto jumped. He was rooted though. He felt the need to run, but couldn't.

A grand yelp tore him from his shock.

Tea.

He dashed out of the bathroom and back down the unchanged road he had come. Seto skidded into the living room and stopped.

He couldn't believe it.

"Hi, Seto!" Mokuba suddenly turned around, from looking at Tea. He suddenly rant o his brother, "I'm okay!"

"Mokuba!" Seto choked out as he caught his brother in his arms. "Oh, thank God…."

Tea sighed on the couch, "Please, Mokuba…don't stand over me like that again…."

"Sorry, Tea," Mokuba said, still hugging Seto.

"Mokuba, where were you?" Seto placed Mokuba in front of him, "What happened?"

Mokuba's eyes flashed with terror, "Seto…I was so scared. Seto, there's a ghost here!"

"I knew it!" Tea jumped up, "Didn't I tell you-"

"Save it for the people who don't know," Seto silenced her with a wave of his hand.

"What?" Tea stopped, "What do you mean by that? …You knew then?"

"Of course I did," he replied, "What else would shock me enough to lose my balance on the staircase?"

"Oh…" Tea answered. It all made sense then…. "But then…why didn't you back me up when I told the others about the ghost?"

"I really didn't want to look like a mad lunatic. Would you?" Seto remarked. Tea huffed, offended.

"Fine then," she muttered, "Be a conceited snot-head…" she mumbled even softer.

Mokuba sniggered. Seto's head whipped around to his, "What did she say?"

"Nothing," he replied. "So as I was saying…there's a ghost here! And he took me to this dark place…and I don't remember much after that…."

"I'm just glad you're alright. Did anything happen to you?"

"No, I'm fine, Seto."

"How did you get back here?"

"…I escaped and…found my way."

"Really?"

"…Positive."

"Good," Seto nodded, standing up, "We should continue looking for an exit. I want out of this place."

"Yeah," Tea replied, "The faster we get out, the faster I get to eat something."

"You thirsty?" Seto threw in.

"Why?"

"There's running water –don't question how- not far from here."

Tea walked over to the two of them, "Well then, could you possibly lead Mokuba and I there?"

"Possibly. I don't know if I will though," Seto smirked.

Tea frowned slightly, "Your sense of humor is whack, Seto Kaiba," she sighed.

"Seto, I'm thirsty. Can you take us there?" Mokuba asked him.

"Sure," Seto replied.

"Oh yeah, tell him yes and screw my needs," Tea muttered.

"What was that?" Seto asked with a hint of glee in his voice.

"Nothing," Tea retorted, "Just get on with the tour."

"There's that sarcasm again," Seto replied, leading Mokuba off.

"Don't forget about me!" Tea huffed, "Goodness! Why people regard you as polite is beyond me."

"Who regard me as polite?" Seto asked.

"Just the entire press! Seto Kaiba: sophisticated this; polite that; blah, blah, blah!" Tea let out with great emotion, "Everywhere, there are comments from the stupid press."

"Your not the only one who thinks that way, you know," Seto answered with a slight scowl.

"Oh, I'm sure," Tea answered.

"Seto? Are we almost there?" Mokuba turned his head to look up at his brother.

"In a minute, yes," he replied, looking forward. Tea watched the two of them from behind; her focus on Mokuba's face.

Mokuba, after talking to his brother, regarded Tea and looked at her by turning his head slightly. He lowered his eyelids slightly –giving him an unnaturally mysterious and rather…dark look, and smiled slyly.

Tea jumped and stopped: horrorstruck. Her face paled immensely.

Were those…fangs?

Behold! A suspenseful…or rather mysterious, ending! Yeah! I love pulling those on my readers, MUWHAHAHA! So, I have more…mysteries surrounding Mokuba. And what of the others? This chapter has MUCH significance! This was no transition chapter mind you…. Well, maybe I used it for that in the first place, but it DOES hold strong significance! Anywho, PLEASE REVIEW! We get to the good stuff soon enough….

PS: In regard to Duke's dream with the statue and all that: have any of you read The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by Shakespeare? (Don't: it's SOOO boring! Unless it's a school assignment…like mine is…) Well, that dream alludes to a dream that Calupurnia (Caesar's wife) had in that. Of course…that dream also alludes to something else…. Can you figure out what? Maybe I'll give you a virtual cookie if you can figure it out….