Hey all!😸
Here's a new chapter for Stalked. I haven't been able to write much more on my other stories and decided to go ahead and post this one.
Enjoy!
Yami had to gently shake Yugi awake to feed him some of the fresh, raw ground beef that Bakura tossed to him. Too dazed to feed himself, Yugi was fed the meat in small pieces. Yami sighed as he watched Yugi struggling to stay awake enough to eat. "Let's just give you some of the blood," he said.
Yugi drank a fourth of the small cup of warmed blood before his eyes drifted shut. "He must have hit that tree pretty hard," Malik stated.
Ishizu looked up from her medical guide, "I picked out several pieces of bark and a number of splinters from his body before I could treat his injuries. He also has a mild concussion. I want to wake him in an hour to check on his condition."
Despite being checked on and given a few bites of raw meat and a little blood hourly, Yugi wasn't irritable when he was finally able to stay awake. He was properly introduced to everyone. Ishizu was shocked to learn his history while Malik was amazed that he could take on a ghoul on his own.
"You should have seen her," Yugi laughed as he rolled a bit of ground beef into a ball for the main group's dinner. "When the huge rock I threw hit her in the head, she went all cross-eyed. Idiot couldn't even see straight as I brained her with another big rock."
Malik laughed, "I would have paid to see that. Sounds like you're a tough tyke."
Yugi scrunched up his nose, "I wish that vamp hadn't have found our cabin that day. Everyone calls me a kid or underestimates me."
"Use it to your advantage, Yugi," Malik said. "There's been times that we've been low on money or out on a cold night. Marik poses as a legally blind person and I'm the service dog. Places can't charge for a service dog. As for cold nights, I've got a fur coat so someone else can use my sleeping bag to keep warm."
"So you're saying that if our query assumes that I'm a harmless little kid, then I can attack without warning?"
"Exactly," Malik laughed as he helped make dinner.
As Yami, Bakura, Ryou, Odion, and Ishizu ate their meal of spaghetti and meatballs, Yugi and Malik ate their meat. Yugi's steaks were cooked rare while Malik's were raw. Both had raw ground beef. Yugi had swiped a couple of carrots from the fridge when Ryou was busy cooking and happily ate them with his meal.
"How is it that you can still eat produce," Malik asked.
Yugi shrugged, "I think it's because I was only 'half-Turned'. I got all the benefits of being a vampire and little of the disadvantages. Our parents refused to give me human blood."
"What's the longest you've gone without blood or meat," Malik questioned.
Yugi hesitated, "four days. I was too weak to walk and Yami had to carry me to the nearest farm to get a chicken. We were nearly caught, but the fox took the blame."
Malik laughed so hard that he started tearing up. "Too funny," he laughed. We've always had to keep super-fresh meat on hand for me after I was bit by a freaking poodle. Sister said that buying beef hearts is too expensive to do everyday so we settled for once a week."
Ishizu tucked Yugi in and smiled at the little vampire, "So what does your brother do to get you to sleep?"
"He plays Classical Music," Yugi yawned, "but I'm sleepy enough."
The woman smiled as she started the tape Yami had left with her while the others tracked a werewolf in the forest. Yami felt that Yugi was still recovering from the wendigo encounter a few days ago and Ishizu agreed with him. They were still five hours from Ryou's bunker when they'd heard of a monthly series of attacks where the hearts were missing from the victims and decided to check things out.
Yugi pulled both his worn teddy bear and new one closer and drifted to sleep as the cassette tape played its soft melodies. Ishizu decided to study her medical texts while she kept watch over the small boy and waited for the others to return.
It was near dawn when the men returned, exhausted. Having rested up, Ishizu offered to drive as the rest slept in the back. "Don't bother waking Yugi," Yami said wearily. "As long as that tape is playing, he'll stay asleep. Dad and I have him trained that way."
Yami wasn't kidding about it either. It took Bobby and Yami a few weeks, but they managed to train Yugi into sleeping whenever certain music was played. They needed to do it as he would stay awake for days until his body collapsed from exhaustion. Unfortunately, Yami spoke too soon. The tape player's batteries died. Yugi stirred as the music came to an abrupt stop. Rubbing his eyes and stretching, Yugi yawned. "Mornin' 'Ami."
Yami smiled down at his brother, "Hey, aibou. Let's check to see if you're still dry."
Yugi hated this part of his day. Because his body was that of a four-year-old it also meant that he had to deal with things like very little control of his bladder. Yami insisted that he wear pull-ups to bed to minimize accidents. Smiling after checking, Yami pulled out the clothes that Yugi was to wear for the day. "You're dry. Go to the bathroom and I'll help you dress when you're done."
Yugi climbed out of bed. "Yami," he started to ask, "why do you look ready to fall over?"
"Long night," Yami yawned.
Ishizu cleared her throat, "Ryou's showed me part of the route he wants us to take. I'm going to drive while you six get some sleep. Yugi, you're to be in the car seat while I drive."
Yugi nodded silently, remembering the last time he wasn't in the seat while the RV was in motion. Bakura had to hit the brakes hard to avoid hitting a cow and he had hit the corner of the countertop. Ishizu had to stitch up the wound over his right eye before securing him in the hated contraption.
Ishizu looked in the mirror to see that Yugi had fallen asleep in his seat. A book that he'd been doodling in had fallen to the floor and his spill-proof cup was upended next to him. His small form was slumped to the left as he slumbered. She checked the map and Ryou's notes before deciding that it was time to pull into the nearest exit and wake the others.
Malik was the first to wake as soon as the engine cut off. "Where are we?"
"Lebanon, Kansas," she answered. "Ryou and Bakura wanted me to stop where there was a diner so that we could eat before they headed to wherever it is we're going."
After waking everyone else and making sure that Yugi was dry, they headed into the restaurant for food. Yugi scrunched up his nose at the smell of the place. Cigarette smoke permeated the air and made him gag. He buried his nose in Yami's jacket, "It stinks in here. Can we just order to go?"
Ryou gently touched Yugi's back, earning his attention. "We can find another place to eat if that'll help."
"I'm starving," Yugi admitted. "I don't think that they'll serve a rare steak to a kid."
"How about I order the steak for myself and you get the French toast? We can eat out in the RV and switch orders," the male suggested.
Yugi beamed before gagging and choking on the secondhand smoke that filled the air. Yami handed Yugi to Ryou, "You go ahead and take him back to the RV. I'll order for us and get it to go."
Ryou took the boy outside and sat on the bench, rubbing Yugi's back to alleviate the coughing fit that shook his tiny body. "I should have known that certain scents don't agree with vampires," Ryou sighed as the issue subsided.
Yugi pulled back to face Ryou, "Not your fault. I just wish that they wouldn't allow smoking in places like that."
A waitress had seen the whole ordeal and felt bad that the little boy had an asthma attack just inside the diner. "Welcome to Blue's Diner. I'm Macy, how may we help you today?"
Yami ordered for himself, Ryou, and Yugi before letting the others order what they wanted. Macy wrote down the orders and submitted the ticket to the cooks in the back. She looked at the tired group, "I hope your son will be alright."
Yami half-expected the mistake so he played along. "He's pretty delicate when it comes to certain things. A bit of fresh air and some rest will help him."
"I'll knock half the price of the steaks off for the trouble," she stated. "Pops won't be too mad if I tell him we nearly sent a little boy to the hospital for an asthma attack because he's too cheap to open a window to let the smoke out now and then."
"Thank you," Yami said, grateful that they didn't have to pay full price for the three steak meals.
That's it for Chapter 5! Hope you all enjoyed it🐈
Hopefully I can find some time to edit and update my other works soon.
