*Note* This chapter uses real life places and names. Though I looked up these places and names, I have never been there so I cannot describe them accurately nor can I say what exactly would happen. Take all descriptions of real-life things lightly, for even if I look it up, I still have never been there, and the internet is limited compared to real-life experience.
In other words, don't flame me, just tell me what's wrong if you know it to be wrong so I may fix it. Thanks! =)
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… I humbly apologize for the lateness of this chapter, especially since I said there would be a new one the next week following the last one. You see, my beta had been going through a hard time and I had momentarily lost my will to write, so to speak (it's back now, don't worry).
For the full story, PM me! (XD)
On the other hand, I can understand if you're furious as hell and want to take some anger out on me… So hit me with your best shot! *puts up fireproof shield*
And now, please enjoy this next chapter! And happy belated Valentine's Day! =)
Chapter 32: Discoveries (This chapter's dedicated to Zeprithy. How are things girl? I haven't talked to you in so long!)
Bakura couldn't hear much of anything except his own ragged breath and the slow, slow, deathly beat of his heart. It was still trying to pump blood, even though there were only drops left in his system. Since vampires were technically "dead," their body couldn't make anymore blood, which is why they had to take the lifeblood of others. Now that that horrid, painful machine had taken the blood from his system, he found out what it felt like to die… truly die. Surprisingly, it wasn't painful. Well, it had been excruciatingly painful when the blood had been sucked out of him, but now he just felt this light feeling everywhere; he couldn't feel anything. He tried moving his hands, but he wasn't sure if he accomplished anything or not; everything was just numb. His vision was fading in and out, and sometimes even his hearing ability left him and he was met with a starch silence that he associated with death. He felt like he was fading in and out of this world, like he was drifting in and out of sleep. Funny… Didn't people usually call death the "big sleep"? That's exactly what it felt like…
And then suddenly… he smelled life.
The sweet, addictive smell of life wafted up his nose, causing him to feel his body only slightly. But that split second was enough; he felt pain—horrible, crushing pain throughout his body. As if his whole system was trying to suck the life out of him. Soon the pain became stronger, throbbing, aching, pulsating pain that came with each slow beat of his heart. Was he screaming? He couldn't tell… It would explain the dry, clawing feeling in his throat.
"Open your eyes," he heard… that girl say. What was her name…? He couldn't remember anything past the pain… "You need to swallow," she sounded worried, but what was she talking about? Swallow what?
Water… on his lips and in his mouth. No, it was thicker than water…
Blood.
Bakura's throat felt dry, and his tongue felt like a lead weight, but he swallowed and tried to lick the blood up. Instinctively, he knew it would help; it's blood… And although the blood livened him up, it just made him more awake to the pain. His whole body was screaming at him, "You need more blood!" He felt empty, like there was nothing; the only thing filling him up was the pain, the sucking pain, as if clawing at the edge of his skin and trying to break free or trying to get more of the sweet, red liquid. Trying… trying… like it was willing to tear his flesh open in the process once it got the blood it could heal anyways; it just needed more…
"Here, take some more…" the girl said. Amora. That was her name. Soon Bakura felt more of the thick liquid fill his mouth and he drank it up greedily, causing the pain to come over his body even more rapidly, more frantically. His heart beat faster, trying to travel the minimal amount of blood through his body, and with each beat, the pain seemed to increase. Five, ten, fifteen times the pain increased, his heart still trying to spread it… to live, just a little longer… Don't die, no…
She put even more in his mouth, and he drank it up. The pain increased; wasn't blood supposed to help? Why was it just causing more pain?
More and more… blood and pain combined. Now he could hear his ragged breathing clearly, and open his eyes. He was met with a bright light in his eyes, which caused him to shut his eyes tight again. He was still lying down… Where was he again? "Come on…" Amora told him. "You need to open your eyes. Do you still feel pain? Is it a throbbing or constant pain?"
With all these questions and commands and bright lights, Bakura felt like he was in a hospital… He remembered when Ryou went into one of those places. Neither of them had liked it much, but it had helped in the end. Wait, was he in a hospital? He couldn't remember… If it was, he should answer. "Throbbing," he croaked out, biting pain erupting in his still dry throat.
"Oh great…" he heard her mutter. "Here, take more. Do you remember where you are? What's my name?" She filled his mouth with more blood before he could answer, and he gulped it down eagerly. The pain was starting to die down; now it wasn't throbbing it was… constant, but it was fine because it didn't hurt as much as the throbbing pain, and at least this he could get used to. At least it didn't increase with every beat; there was no beat. And now he could think more clearly… and then he remembered. He was trapped.
He snapped his eyes open, groaning when the light blinded him again. He squinted his eyes and tried raising a hand to his head, but was met with a riveting shock. Oh right… he couldn't move. Duh. "I'm guessing you don't remember where you are," Amora said with a sigh.
"I do," he said. His voice was unwavering but his throat still hurt. "Why'd you give me blood?" his voice had gotten hoarser through that sentence, and he could barely say "blood" properly.
"Because Keith would… have my head, if I killed you now." She frowned; the pause after "would" was clearly meant for a different sentence. "So your memory is back?"
"Yes…" he said, though he wasn't sure. How would he know if he didn't remember? What was he supposed to remember? He was trapped, he knew that, but other than that… he couldn't remember much. Where exactly was he? Why was he trapped again?
"Does the name "Marik" ring a bell?" Amora asked while she crossed her arms.
"Marik…?" At first the name meant nothing to him. Who's Marik? he wondered, but then he remembered. All of the memories came rushing back to him in a painful wave. That day he met him and everything changed: Millennium Items, Yugi and Anzu, Pegasus and his wife, Christmas, New York, last night… every other thing that happened. (Quite a lot.) All the memories were causing his head to throb again, but at least he remembered now. He snapped his eyes open, ignoring the light by turning his head towards Amora; luckily everything was still dark around him. "Wait… you said something earlier about –"
"Miss Amora!" Bakura heard Anai's voice cascade through the room. Amora moved her head up to the ceiling where the ghost girl was coming down and smiled. "Yeah, girl?" she asked, ignoring the "miss" comment.
"I saw Marik; he was being chased by the police last I saw of him."
Bakura and Amora shared twin expressions of surprise. She turned to Bakura, "Your Blood Pack's a Jail Bird?"
"I… didn't think so…" Bakura responded, not sure why in the world Marik would have the police on his tail. He then turned his head towards Anai. "Do you know why he was being chased?"
"To my understanding, he was riding too fast through the city. I am surprised that he did not die… He also parked one of those two-wheeled machines on the grass of Central Park."
"Huh…" Amora said, looking at Bakura, "So he was speeding on a motorcycle and parked on the grass? Does that sound like him?"
Bakura scrunched his eyebrows together. The speeding he could believe, but why was he driving around in the first place? Was he trying to find him? He kind of hoped that wasn't the case; he didn't want Marik stuck in this mess too. And what was with the park?
"Thanks, girl; you can leave if you want," Amora said with a wave of her hand, bringing Bakura's attention to her.
Anai smiled at her and nodded her head once. "Okay, do not do anything too rash now, Miss Amora."
Anai was out of the room before Amora could say, "It's just Amora! No Miss!-!" She turned to Bakura with a sigh. "Every time she says "miss," I feel like an old hag…"
"What did you mean earlier," Bakura said bluntly, "about 'try having three Blood Packs?'"
Amora was silent, and then she sighed. "Do you still have pain? It's a constant pain right?" she asked, avoiding his question. She walked over to his left side where his mark was and said, "Yeah, it should be constant."
Bakura didn't know why the type of pain he had mattered, but he answered back anyways, "It's constant, yes… Why?" It occurred to him that he probably shouldn't feel so… fine with his current position, but honestly, he didn't care. He'd try not to die, but at this point he didn't see much he could do to escape; every time he even made a move he was shocked, and he assumed he'd be shocked if he tried to turn into a cat or a shadow as well, considering before. Besides, he wanted information from this girl, and if he tried to escape he'd probably never get it. Plus, he just felt... It's hard to explain… Maybe "subdued" would be the most appropriate term. He felt like it didn't really matter; after all, nothing completely scarring had happened to him yet.
"Here, drink more," she said as she brought out a pitcher filled with the delicious red liquid from before, "Keith will want you in top condition to test his new weapon."
Even though Bakura could smell the blood and he knew he needed (wanted) it, he said, "If that's what Keith wants, then that's what I don't want, yes?"
Amora gave him a weak eye roll. "He'll test it on you no matter what condition you're in, but he'd prefer his test subjects to be in good health. And it'd be better for you anyways since you have better defense when you're not thirsty. So drink." She was obviously not going to take "no" for an answer as she started pouring the pitcher onto his mouth. Some of the blood seeped through his lips and landed in his mouth, and once he tasted it he had to drink. Soon the whole pitcher was gone and Bakura felt normal again, but when he turned his head to the left he saw his mark was still red, which wasn't really surprising. Suddenly, a thought struck him: "Where do you get the blood from?"
Amora stared at him and blinked. "Do you really want to know?"
Something in her voice made Bakura even more curious, so he said, "Yes."
She sighed. "Previous vampires…" she muttered, looking away, "and blood banks."
"… Wonderful," Bakura said sarcastically. He then repeated his previous question: "What did you mean by three Blood Packs, there can be only one can't there?"
Amora sighed again and stared into his eyes. "That's the rumor yes, but is it true? Pfft, no. Oh, but I wish it was…" She stared off into space and then scowled, focusing her attention back on Bakura. "Think of them what you want–they're wonderful, magical, delicious, 'your perfect match.' I don't care, but I see them for what they are." She started pacing the room, obviously getting lost with her thoughts. "Stupid, dangerous, weakening, illogical… Simply horrible," she said the last two words in an imitation of Anai's English accent. "And that's just with one, can you imagine having three…?" she stopped her pacing and shook her head, covering her face with a hand. Suddenly she appeared at Bakura's side, leaning over him with one arm on either side of him and crushing the metal surface in an iron grip with a resounding boom! She burrowed holes into his eyes as she said, "You want to know what I mean by having three of those stupid creatures? It's because I have three, and one's suicidal! Do you know how agonizing that is?-!"
Bakura stared back at her confused. "But… how can you have three?" he asked, trying to understand. If there could be more than one for each person, then what were they actually? How were they decided? And what purpose did they serve besides the obvious…?
"I don't know, okay?" Amora screamed in frustration, pulling at her hair. She took in a deep, calming breath and let it out slowly, then she said in a quiet voice, "I'm assuming you know a little book called 'A Vampire Story?' That's how you know of them, right? Unless other vampires told you–"
"I know of the book," Bakura interrupted, wanting her to get to the point since it seemed she liked to deter from this topic.
She sighed. "That's how I found out about them, but I didn't actually believe they existed. Until I found my first one that is." She sounded bitter at the end. "And I knew he was my Blood Pack because he had a few scrapes on his arm until after I bit him, and I'll admit, I was ecstatic when I met him. You see, I had been one of those fools who believed in 'one perfect match for each person' and all that 'true love' bullcrap… So when I first met him I thought, 'Oh great! I met my perfect match!'" She had put her hands together to form one fist, put them under her chin, and tilted her head slightly to the ceiling with a dreamy, happy look on her face, but then she scowled and dropped her hands to her side. "I had been happy, maybe even happier than I'd ever been in my life, and, not to brag or anything, but I had a pretty good life. But I mean, I had finally met my "perfect match," it was great! I'd finally get to fulfill all the romantic fantasies I've cooked up over the years. I mean, what else is a teenage vampire girl to do? Did you know that you keep whatever level of hormones you had when you changed?" She turned to Bakura with a slightly sad and angry look. "Which means I'm permanently stuck with an eighteen year old girl's hormones… Doesn't that sound great?"
Honestly, Bakura didn't understand a lot of the "hormone" or "puberty" stuff, or sex in general. He only knew what Ryou had learned from school or his family, and he hadn't really paid apt attention; it's not like he had a body to worry about. And he didn't really have much education on this subject back in ancient Egypt since, you know, his entire family and village kind of died… And like hell any of the thieves and thugs would tell him anything. Sure they might have raised him, but their idea of "raising a child" was mainly just showing him how to steal and provide for himself and to be independent. If he ever had questions he was rarely answered, so he had to find them out for himself (or threaten someone for them), and he didn't particularly care about the "changes" his body was making, or women, or finding a wife (not that he didn't find them attractive). As one of his mentors told him, "What girl will want a thief? You're better off not knowing." So naturally, he didn't understand in depth what Amora was talking about, but like hell he was going to interrupt her now with that bit of information, lest she start talking about that and giving him a "school" lesson.
"Anyways-" Amora started again, "-I had thought I was in some kind of magical fairytale; he was perfectly fine with me being a vampire, he even called it cool. It was like I would be happy forever and ever with my Blood Pack," again, she said those last two words with such malice that it seemed as if she was talking about some vile monster instead of a delicious human, "but then… I met Keith. Or I suppose "met" isn't really the proper term, more like "almost got killed by." Yeah, that sounds right." She looked at Bakura, appearing next to him and stroking the metal panel he was on. "I was in the same position as you… I went through what you've gone through and more, but you know why I didn't care? Because… It was just me, or rather someone who's lived for so much longer than she should have, and not my Blood Pack… not someone who actually has a future and hopes and dreams, not Kanaye," her eyes softened at the name "Kanaye," but then hardened again as she stopped stroking the metal and stood so straight Bakura thought she was frozen. "Naturally we had each other's numbers, and as luck would have it we had scheduled a date on the exact night that he had captured me." Her eyes turned sorrowful and her voice got quieter. "He called me… my cell phone had been on full volume, Keith had been in the room… all he saw was kanji, but he asked me if that was my vampire boyfriend and started making jokes about how he'd find him and kill him…" She looked at Bakura. "You can imagine I wasn't too… happy, with those thoughts, and my protectiveness came out. Apparently, it's weird for a vampire to care for anyone other than themselves, so Keith asked me why I cared so much about this person. When I refused to comply…" She shuddered. "Let's just say, some things happened and I ended up telling him everything I knew about Blood Packs…
"After that, he thought I'd be a great asset. Apparently he'd been looking for a 'compliant vampire sidekick' for quite some time, but no one was ever 'compliant.' Until me that is," she snarled. "Not that I was compliant out of wanting to be, but because he threatens to kill Kanaye if I don't do what he says…" At this point it looked like she was going to cry. "Kanaye…" She let the words whisper through the air, a sad song of sorrow and joy and… forgiveness… or rather wanting forgiveness.
Bakura just stared at her, kind of understanding what she meant earlier about knowing how you feel about someone just by saying their name. She sounded like she really loved and missed this Kanaye person…
Suddenly Amora's eyes dried and her face turned stony. She fixed Bakura with a cold stare. "I severed all ties with Kanaye after that, even to the point of erasing every single memory of me from his mind–"
"You can do that?" Bakura interrupted, curious and surprised. "How'd you do it? Did you just take away the memories he's had ever since he met you?"
Amora blinked at him, snapped out of her hard expression; now she just looked confused. "You know, I'm not really sure how the mind-erase-y-thing-y works. I kind of just imagined all the memories of just me going away… I think maybe he just has a black hole in his mind or something." She shrugged. "I really don't know, sorry."
"It's fine, as you were saying before?" Bakura asked, deciding to think about that later and hoping he hadn't stopped Amora's tale forever. He wasn't sure if she'd continue now that she stopped, but it seemed he didn't have to worry; her face took on the previous seriousness and she continued: "Like I said, I erased myself from his mind, saying I'd never see him again." She smiled sadly. "After all, I'd never be able to see him again if I was working for Keith… and I'd rather have him just not remember me, because love makes you do stupid things." She smirked at him. "Or did you already know that lover boy? Or should I say lover of boys?"
Bakura managed to glare at her since she was close by, but he didn't say anything. Not because he didn't know what to say (although that was a factor), but because he didn't want to interrupt her train again lest she fully get off the track this time.
Amora chuckled and went on with her story: "Anyways, a few months later our blood supply hadn't been properly refrigerated, and it went bad…so Keith let me feed while he fixed this mess. That was when I met my second one, Joshua." She looked a cross between angry and sad, but mostly angry. "This is the one that's suicidal… Keith had always told me that if I had to feed to find people that were worthless, because he doesn't want vampires taking the blood of 'honest American citizens.'" She rolled her eyes. "Rarely anyone in this country is 'honest' anymore, but try telling Keith that? Please. Anyways, I had found someone about to jump off a bridge, and well, drank him." She sighed. "That still never sounds right, does it sound right to you?" she asked, turning towards Bakura.
Bakura thought about it and answered, "Not really, but it's the most accurate way to say it."
"I suppose…" Amora agreed, "anyways, once I tasted his delicious blood, I knew that he was the one… the only problem? I had thought I already met the one.
"I had been so confused; the book said there was only one per person! Why then, did this guy's blood taste as good as Kanaye's? It didn't make any sense! I thought maybe this guy was a fake, maybe his blood just tasted good but it didn't heal him, or any of the other things… So then I, well…" She seemed uncomfortable now and she looked down at her feet. "I kind of cut him a little," she held up her hand, the back facing Bakura. "You know vampires' fingernails are very sharp if we want them to be?" Bakura's eyes widened. There was so much about his own race that he didn't know about; why were vampires so superior in so many ways and inferior in others? What was the point to it? "Anyways," Amora continued, "I drank a little bit of his blood, and… the cut healed up." Water built up at the edge of her eyes again. "I didn't understand it. I tried to stay away from him, but since I knew he was suicidal it was impossible; my instincts, my being wouldn't let me leave him alone when he was like that. So I went to go see him every night. I told Keith I was just scouting the place for more vampires so that he could catch some sleep, and for the day I asked Anai to watch him and stop him from killing himself by any means necessary–"
"Why was he suicidal?" Bakura had to ask. It didn't really make much sense at this point.
Amora sighed. "Well, he's just depressed… In his words, 'I have a horrible, mundane job, no girlfriend to speak of, no one loves me, and I'm a disappointment to anyone who knows me… I don't deserve the gift of life.'" She quoted him in English. Bakura rolled his eyes, and Amora turned to him angrily. "Why did you roll your eyes?" she demanded.
"Sorry, it's just I had sort of the same talk with someone yesterday. And, when it gets right down to it, who really deserves the 'gift of life?'" Bakura asked her, "Can it even be called a gift? Besides, his life can't be all that bad. He could have no house, no job at all, and I'm sure there's someone who loves him. After all-" He smirked, "-you do don't you?"
Bakura got the wind knocked out of him when Amora punched him in his stomach. "Don't speak when you don't know anything!" she practically yelled at him.
Bakura's stomach hurt a lot, since Amora had punched him really hard, and even though he was a vampire and didn't have to breathe he still needed a few moments to regain the air in his lungs to push the sound out of his mouth. "I don't know anything? Considering what you've told me this 'Joshua' person sounds like a real los–AH!" Bakura cried out in pain when something sharp dug into his right arm. He turned to look at it and saw Amora had jabbed a pen in his arm, but there was barely any blood coming out. You see, vampires didn't bleed since the blood wouldn't clot up the wound (since their body is technically "dead" the skin wouldn't heal), but drinking more would heal it up nicely (because blood is life and health for a vampire). However, the blood could leak out depending on how much you have in your system.
"Shut up!" Amora shouted at him, hot tears threatening her eyes again, "Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don't know anything! His parents divorced when he was born because his dad said he's 'too much of a burden'! His mom died on her way home from her work when he was seven, and when his dad took him in he hurt him every night! He got taken away from his father when he was nine because someone finally found out about the abuse and he was sent to a foster home! No one wanted to adopt him or be his friend in school, and now no one will hire him because of this ugly scar on his face that his father gave him! Don't you dare call him a loser!" She ripped the pen out of Bakura's arm and turned away from him, obviously too upset to even look at him.
Bakura was kind of stunned. He couldn't imagine anyone having a life like that in this time period. He had thought most in this day and age were pretty well off- well, except for the poor people on the streets. And actually, the more Bakura thought about it, it seemed this man did have a worse life than most. Even people who are poor usually have family, and even if they don't at least their family members never hurt them, which might scar you more emotionally than if you just never met your parents at all or saw them die a horrible death. No wonder he thought no one loved him; one of the two people who are supposed to love you no matter what died, and the other hurt him for probably no reason. "Well I'll admit," Bakura started out by saying quietly, "that's a horrible life, but it could be worse–"
"How?-!" Amora turned to him, tears now running down her face, "How in a million years could things be worse?"
"For starters, he could've lost a leg or an arm, or acquired a fatal disease. And tell me, does he have friends?"
"… Yes, but he says none of them understand him–"
"I'd like to meet anyone who understands someone else completely!" Bakura interrupted, "That's almost impossible, and his friends probably do like him. He could actually have no one that likes him–"
"He also says they're mainly his friends out of pity," Amora interrupted coldly.
Bakura paused a bit before saying, "It might have started out that way, there's no way I can know for sure, but I don't know if anyone would stay friends with someone if they didn't like them at least a little bit. And at least he does have a job, unlike the people on the streets, even if the job is 'mundane'"
"So you're saying he should be happy for all the crap he's been put through?"
"I'm saying there's pros and cons for every situation."
"Oh really?" Amora yelled at him, "Tell me, what's a 'pro' for your current situation?"
Bakura thought for a minute before smiling and saying, "There's interesting company to talk to."
His comment actually caused Amora to smile, and then she laughed and added, "And Marik isn't here, right?"
Bakura chuckled. "I had thought that was too obvious. But anyways, so your second Blood Pack is suicidal, though he probably shouldn't be, anything else?"
Amora sighed sadly. "No, not really… just that the only thing keeping him from not killing himself is the connection we have…"
Bakura whistled. "Damn, you have a bad situation there."
"You don't think I already knew that? It was ten times worse when I found Ferdinand! He was visiting from France and he's apparently a 'night person,' and he just happened to come across me while Joshua was buying me a six pack of one-pint ice creams… Ugh, I had never believed in that 'French people are all romantic' stereotype until I met him! You know what he did as soon as he saw me?-! He got down on one knee and kissed my hand and said, 'I had never thought I'd see an angel in my lifetime.' Seriously!-!" Amora groaned, "I mean, a romantic boyfriend was what I had wanted, but I was with Joshua… Which is what I told him, and when he stood up to walk away a branch fell and cut his arm! Of all the damn luck, right? Well, you know how vampires get around blood; I drank him." Her face turned into the essence of bliss. "He tasted so delicious… at first I thought it might be because he's French, but then I noticed his arm healed up.
"Just my freaking luck, right?
"And to make things even better, Joshua showed up and saw me biting another man." She chuckled at this part. "I'm sorry, that still sounds funny… Anyways, he dropped the ice-cream and I had to go chase after him. He was going to try and throw himself off that bridge again… Luckily I stopped him, we had a little fight, I told him what happened, he tried to jump off the bridge again… Actually, he should probably get help. I think that'll be my next priority–"
"Focus please…" Bakura interrupted. Could she please just tell the story without getting sidetracked?-!
"Right. Anyways, that's my third one. I see him every now and again, and he always apologizes every time he sees me, even though I should probably be the one apologizing to him." She looked at Bakura. "That's pretty much it…" Tears formed at her eyes again. "It's so… so… stupid. Why the hell do I have three? It makes me feel like some main-character whore who has all the guys falling for her–I don't like that feeling—in fact, I hate it! I just wanted to meet a nice guy and settle down! And then stupid Keith got in the way and Joshua and Ferdinand showed up and… and…" Tears flowed from her eyes freely now and her face was twisted in sorrow. "I feel so torn! And I rarely get to talk about them because it'd be bad if Keith found out about the other two; I wish they just didn't exist!" She yelled the last part but then covered her mouth and shut her eyes tightly.
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, fixing Bakura with an empty stare. "My entire life would be so much better if Blood Packs didn't exist…or if I only had one. But no, I had to have three. And the worst part? I don't know who I love more!" She started wiping her eyes angrily from how fast they were flooding now. "Why the hell do I have three 'perfect matches'? I'm sick of it! Completely sick of it! If you think having one is hard, try having three!" She shouted the last word at Bakura before covering her mouth again, the room now bathed in tense silence. "So many times…" she said quietly, so quiet that it even sounded quiet in the stillness of the large room, "… so many times, I've thought about Blood Packs. They're so, so useless. The only thing they do better than regular blood is taste better and make you require less of it; to hell with that! They get more out of the deal than we do: a protector, an instant healer, immortality! They get it all and we get stuck with the grunt work!" She crossed her arms tightly around her chest. "And they make you do stupid, stupid things! They make your body all crazy and make you think and want things… I hate them!" She looked at Bakura. "Think about it, Bakura, wouldn't it just be great if you didn't have one of these things to watch over? Wouldn't it be great to just go on as you were before, just living without having to feel so damn protective of someone else? Without these stupid creatures confusing you all the damn time? Wouldn't it?" By the end of her emotional rant, she was panting, but then she stopped and looked at the ground when the sound echoed around the room.
Bakura waited until Amora visibly calmed down, and then he said quietly, "I think you have Blood Packs all wrong, Amor–"
"All right, let's get this show on the road!" an obnoxious, English voice called out as light streamed through the dark room before disappearing again.
Amora scowled before taking a deep breath and turning around to face her horrible boss as he walked forward, his footsteps echoing like her voice did a few minutes earlier. "So, what's the latest thing this time?" she asked.
"This beaut'!" he said proudly as he stepped into the light-ring still around Bakura, holding up an odd-looking gun. It was long and round with about the width of a fist, and had little black squares all over it. The end curved downward and slimmed down to a point so it was easier to hold and steady, and the trigger to activate whatever the gun did was in the middle. It also had what appeared to be a small showerhead on the other end of it, only instead of little holes, it had little lines that were going every which way. Bakura just stared at it, wondering what in the world it could be or do, since it didn't look that terrifying.
"… What the hell is that thing?-!" Amora asked, scrunching her eyebrows.
Keith glared at her obviously disapproving tone and pointed to the ceiling, "Just open the skylight!"
Amora sighed and "appeared" next to the wall on Bakura's right. Soon afterwards, Bakura heard a whirring noise and the ceiling did start to open, letting sunlight come in. At first, Bakura's body recoiled, as it's natural instinct was to avoid the sunlight, but then he noticed the sunbeam wasn't anywhere close to him and calmed down, but there was still a tingle of worry under his skin; Keith wouldn't open a sunbeam if it wasn't going to be used for something.
Keith stepped into the sunlight beam, and then Bakura noticed that what he had mistaken for little black squares was actually solar paneling. Bakura's eyes widened, as he now had an idea of what the gun was to be used for.
The vampire hunter smirked. "As soon as this thing's warmed up, you'll be burnt to ash!" He let out a maniacal laugh, and Bakura tried to break the restraints again, only to be shocked and subdued. He growled, glaring at the gun, terrified at the thought of this being his death.
But what could he do?
"It's ready!" Keith called out happily, like an excited five-year-old when his mommies cookies are done. "Amora, turn him up!"
Amora "appeared" next to the control post and pressed a button. A familiar humming sound filled the air as he was stood up vertical again. As Keith aimed his fun at Bakura, he closed his eyes, wondering if Marik would be mad at him when he found out he was gone…
"Hasta la vista, Vampire scum," Keith said as he pressed the trigger.
Warmth erupted all over Bakura's body; stronger than he'd felt it from just the sun. It was a tingling, spreading, hot sensation; it probably wouldn't take long before he just turned to ash like he said. Was this the end? Destroyed by warmth?
… Obviously not, Bakura thought as the warmth went away. He opened one eye cautiously to see Keith looking at his "Sun-Gun" with a scowl on his face. "Damn it! I thought that would work…"
Amora started laughing, but she quickly shut up when Keith shot her a look. Bakura just stared at the gun, wondering why it didn't work. It certainly felt like it would, it was so warm… Just like the sun was…!
Bakura's eyes widened and he tried not to smile as he remembered that he was still wearing that sun block! But how long did it last anyways? … Bakura felt sick with fear and worry as the thought hit him that the gun would have actually killed him…
Keith growled, turned around and stalked out of the room, calling behind him, "I'll fix this stupid excuse for a gun! Amora, start stage two of the torture!" The door slammed shut after him, encasing the room in silence again. At least until Amora started laughing once more. "Oh my gosh! I was so worried there for a second that it would actually work!"
"… Yeah, me too…" Bakura admitted, deciding not to tell her about the sun block, and that it did work.
"Left… No, right… Damn it!" Marik threw the Millennium Rod on the ground and sighed. He probably looked like a crazy person, following a golden stick and talking to himself, but right now he really didn't care. He was much more concerned about the fact that this stupid excuse for a magical artifact was not helping him right now!-! He walked in the direction he thought it was telling him to go, but when he actually got there it changed its mind or something and told him to go in the exact opposite direction! Why the hell did it decide to go all wacky on him now?-! Now when he most needed its power! Marik cursed to himself before sighing and picking up the Rod again.
"… Great, now it's not even pulling me anywhere," Marik mumbled to himself before sighing. He looked around; he was in the middle of some sort of meadow on Staten Island, houses standing proudly in the background amidst the barren trees and almost dead flowers. Of course that was the key; the houses were in the background, which means there was no place for Bakura or Keith to be hiding in.
Marik groaned and fell on his back, letting the Rod roll away from his fingertips. He felt the nice grass and stared up at the clouds and couldn't help but think that the sky would look so much better if Bakura was lying next to him and pointing at the clouds, saying they looked like things he'd never think of…
Marik held his hands up to his eyes and pressed on them, feeling a light blush on his face and thinking one thought: I have to find Bakura!
He sat up, grabbed the Rod, and looked around again. He highly doubted the Millennium Rod was malfunctioning, so that means that wherever they are must be underground, right under him…? But, if that was the case, he had to find a door to the underground fortress, how was he supposed to find that?
Marik felt a smile spread slowly across his face as he stood up. His vampire training had taught him how to notice even the smallest change in any kind of place; he just had to focus… He started walking around, staring intently at the ground. He'd find the opening; he had to find the opening. He felt himself slip into a predator-like way of stalking; walking slowly, stealthily and looking around, making sure he didn't miss a single thing, analyzing every inch of the ground carefully in a matter of a few seconds before taking another step. His movements became that of a skilled hunter, which he hated to admit that he was. This state felt so familiar, even though he hadn't had to do this for so long. It felt so natural to tap into this dormant hunting instinct he had, something that had helped him on many occasions. Lately, there hadn't been any time for this careful procedure, it all had to be fast and now, decided in a split second and having to be ready to change ideas in the blink of an eye. Not like this, with this he was searching for one thing and one thing only…
"An opening!" Marik exclaimed happily as he spotted it. He had to admit, it was hidden very well. It was under a patch of wilting flowers near the base of a medium-sized tree, and the door's opening lines looked like the ground had just been cracked from the tree's protruding roots. But the door couldn't hide from Marik, not when he was searching and focused and not when he became a hunter…
Marik shoved all thoughts of that aside as he walked towards the tree. Now how to open it… he thought to himself. Maybe a branch…? He started pulling on the branches, but soon realized that wasn't going to work. Maybe there was a stone he had to step on…? He looked around, but after seeing no stone he started to get frustrated. He was so close…! He had to get in!-! He kicked the tree, and was surprised to discover that the tree was very loose. Marik stared at the tree and thought for a while, getting an idea in his mind. He stood on the outside edge of the opening and started pushing on the tree. Just like he thought, the tree gave way and the door on the ground started turning upwards, revealing stairs. He smiled as he let go of the tree and started to step on the stairs, but quickly extracted his foot when the doorway came crashing back down with a surprisingly quiet sound. He stared at the door in disbelief; how did this thing work if it fell down as soon as you let go of the tree? He pushed on the tree again, watching the doorway move up, and when the tree was pressed as far as it could go (which made it look like it would fall any minute), he grabbed the doorway itself and walked down the stairs, letting it collapse behind him. Now he was surrounded by stone walls in complete darkness, which for most would be very bad, but Marik's eyes had been trained for the dark; he had lived in a pyramid for the first eight years of his life, which are most of the years a child takes to develop. He felt a sense of grudging thankfulness for what he's learned and been through, as it was certainly helping him now. And it had also helped him before with the vampires…
Marik shook his head and walked forward, looking around for a vent or something where he could hide in for a little bit of spying, as he was sure it wouldn't be too good if Keith saw him and asked him what he was doing here…or if anyone saw him actually. But for now, he would have to make do with blending in with the shadows, which was a complicated maneuver that involved being as quiet as darkness, as quick as a light, sticking like glue to the shadows, and doing whatever you could to make yourself seem smaller or even invisible at times. It had taken a long time to master, as it required tapping into the natural magic that lied dormant in all humans on purpose. You see occasionally humans tapped into their magic, usually in a time of great need or emotional stress. For instance, a child would be able to just know where their pet had run off to, or a teenager had forgotten to do their homework and was able to finish it the five minutes before the next class started, or an adult was able to fly through traffic without crashing or getting a ticket (Marik had a feeling he used this one a lot.) But that was on accident when you didn't realize you were using it. Magic was much easier when it is that: a magical occurrence where you don't know how it happened but are thankful for it and don't care where it came from. Tapping into it on purpose was extremely hard to do if you were a human and you didn't practice year after year, day after day, hour after hour… What defined a human from a magic-user? You see, magic users have to be over a certain amount of magical energy, same with magical artifacts. Of course, Marik did have the Millennium Rod, which was probably helping him out greatly. It was probably most suited for this type of magic too, for with the Rod he could alter people's minds and erase all trace of him from their memory.
But never mind that now; he had a kitty to find.
"What is the, point of… torture, again?" Bakura asked slowly, finding it hard to think or process much of anything right now. Of course it's to be expected; he had just been stabbed with multiple sharp implements over and over again, tearing holes in his skin and body, causing him to ripple with pain, his mind to black out and blur, his blood slowly leaking out of him—when they hit the right spots.
"There isn't a point really… Keith just likes to know that you're suffering." Her expression turned sour. "Might be a little bonus for keeping me under his command… Here, drink more." She said as she put more of the blood from their supply in his mouth.
With this new intake of blood Bakura was able to think more clearly. "I mean…" he began to get a headache to try and explain what he meant. "What's the point if you're just going to give me my health back?"
Amora sighed before walking over to the control panel to turn him vertical again. "It has something to do with 'false sense of security,' or making them feel like they're in control or some shit like that… I really never paid attention. Oh wait, I think the main thing is that he wants me to get information out of you or something, of course I'll just say you don't have a Blood Pack and that you're a loner, and don't know where anymore vampires are."
"So you torture for information?"
She shrugged. "Makes sense. Like I said, I never really paid attention to his reasoning…" She gave him a hard look. "You said something before about me having Blood Packs pegged wrong… What was it?"
"Right…" Bakura said, trying to remember what he had been trying to say back then. He tried to remember Amora's story about her trio problem, but his head was starting to hurt still… It was something to do with… Oh yeah! "What I was saying was that you're looking at it the wrong way. You think they're stupid and useless, right? And make you do stupid things?"
"Because they do!"
"Well, yes… I guess I can't deny that," Bakura admitted, thinking about Marik and all the stuff he's done for him… "But they are useful. In this day and age, if people kept collapsing or dying at night there would be investigations, and then the vampire would be found out and killed. With a Blood Pack, you don't really have to worry, because you don't need much of it or a lot of people to feed yourself."
"Big deal, you could just take a little from a lot…"
"With our blood lust? Don't make me laugh."
"But that's another point: We could just drink the whole 'useful' creature in one feeding," she said "useful" as sarcastically as she possible could. "So that defeats the purpose too."
Bakura smiled. "But that's also another benefit: They taste the best. Wouldn't you rather have the best than average?"
Amora blinked at him and scowled, crossing her arms. "… Good point," she said. "But I still hate that they're you're perfect match… What's fun about love is finding the person for yourself! With these things it's picked out for you and you know–"
"I don't think that's true," Bakura interrupted. "I mean, I used to, but when you told me about your… problem, I remembered what the book actually said…"
Amora raised an eyebrow. "And what did the book actually say?"
"It said they're chosen by their compatibility with you."
It was silent as Amora thought about his words. "… So, what are you saying…?" Amora asked, sounding calmer.
"I'm saying that just because someone is compatible with you doesn't mean you have to love them," Bakura explained. "Think about it, there's probably hundreds of people that are 'compatible' with you, but does that mean you love them all? No! You could be really compatible with your best friend, but that doesn't mean that you love them, does it? At least, not, um… that way," Bakura finished awkwardly.
Amora thought about this, and she seemed to really be thinking that maybe he was right… But then her face hardened and she glared at him. "Are you saying that I don't know my own feelings? I do love them all! I just can't–"
"Do you really believe that?" Bakura interrupted her again, "Or are you just saying that because you don't want to hurt their feelings?"
Amora took a step back, her eyes wide at him, and then she looked sad. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she did she got angry again and said, "You know nothing!"
"You keep saying that, but that might just be a cover-up for the truth."
"Shut up!" Amora screamed, tugging at her hair and closing her eyes. "I do! Honestly!" she said, though it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than him.
"Amora," Bakura said, thinking of something else, "tell me, is it them you love or their blood?"
Amora was silent and frozen, and for a second Bakura feared that he had broken her or something. She opened her eyes and looked up at him sadly. "… I never thought of that…" She crossed her arms and gave him a hard look. "But what about you?" she asked.
"… What do you mean?" Bakura questioned when she didn't explain further.
"Do you really love Marik? Or do you just love his blood?"
"…" Honestly, Bakura knew the answer, but he didn't really want to say it to her.
Amora suddenly started laughing. "I'm guessing you love him? Based on your facial expression. What does he look like anyways?"
"… He's tan, tall, and– "
"Sexy?" Amora offered with a smirk.
Bakura looked away from her, starting to feel heat come to his cheeks. "I was going to say blonde, but… sure."
Amora laughed again before walking over to the table that held his clothes. She picked up the collar and played around with it before walking back over to Bakura and placing it over his heart. "He gave you this collar right?" She smirked. "Does he want to see you wearing only this collar sometimes…?"
Bakura felt a heat wave go through his entire body and take residence inside his face, and Amora's eyes widened. She dropped the collar and took a step back with a shocked look on her face. "D-did I guess right? What kind of relationship do you have with him anyways?-!"
Currently, Marik was still walking through a dark stone tunnel only dimly lit by torches placed every few feet. He was beginning to feel like he was in a video game or a movie…
He had seen a few doors and other paths, but something told him to just keep going straight… And that something was the Millennium Rod, so it was pretty reliable…
Hold on, now it was telling him to go through this door. He cautiously pushed it open a crack, and quickly closed it again when a stream of light came shining through. "Great…" he mumbled to himself. It was hard to blend in with the shadows if there were no shadows. He'd just have to be prepared for anything… He opened the door, and shielding his eyes from the bright light he squinted into the space. Honestly, his first thought was that it was a hospital room, but as his eyes adjusted to the light it looked to be some sort of failsafe room or something. It was a small, white, tiled room, with only two lines of lights on the top and a door across from him to occupy it. Marik stepped into the room fully and closed his door behind him before looking at the other door. It was barred and locked with several different complicated locks, and it seemed to be made out of thick metal. No doubt behind this door is where Keith would be holding the vampires, especially since the Rod was telling him that Bakura was behind this door… But how to get in?
Marik walked up to the door and held his hand up to one of the locks. Nope, there was no way he was going to be unable to unlock it, and even if he managed to there were all the other locks to worry about… He looked around the room; there had to be another exit, a vent or something. The room couldn't not have a vent; it would be unsafe. Marik closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again, using his hunting instinct for the second time that day. He looked around slowly, but he didn't have to do this long. He quickly saw the vent; it was close to the ground on the wall to his right with the vent holes facing downwards so you wouldn't see them.
The vampire hunter walked towards the carefully concealed vent, kneeled down, and pushed on it. Of course it was sturdy, but not for long… He just hoped it wouldn't make too much noise. Marik sat back and kicked the vent, feeling it give a little. He braced himself and kicked again, harder this time, before watching it fall into a dark hole with a loud crash, but it didn't echo for some reason. Of course he was thankful for that and didn't really care about the details. He climbed inside, thankful that the duct was pretty big and that he was slim. Before he could get going however, he took the vent cover and tried to put it back in its place, at least try to cover up that someone was here at least a little bit. After this, he started crawling through, trying to make as little noise as possible.
He had to go up a pretty long, steep ascent and then take a sudden sharp turn to the left, but after that he started to hear voices:
"…right? What kind of relationship do you have with him anyways?-!" It was a girl's voice, but what was she talking about? Marik kept crawling forward but froze when he heard a familiar voice say, "I don't know okay!-!"
That was Bakura! Marik thought to himself, hurrying to find a few holes or something to see through.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Marik heard the girl asked him.
"I mean… it's complicated all right?-!" he heard his vampire say, obviously frustrated.
"How complicated can it be! You like him right?" It was at this point that Marik finally found some of the vent openings to peer through, and he saw an 18-year-old girl talking to Bakura, who was… strapped down on top of a metal slab wearing nothing but his boxers. Marik closed his eyes and held a hand up to his now warm face. Oh for Pete's sake, worry about that later!-! Right now I've got to–
"Well, yes, of course I… like him," Bakura's voice interrupted Marik's thoughts. "But… I just don't know okay!"
"Oh come on, how can you not know?" the girl said, exasperated. "Here, let's start with you actually admitting that you're completely and madly in love with him…?" she suggested with a smirk. Marik's eyes widened. Who the hell is she talking about? I didn't know Bakura was in love with anyone… Marik felt his stomach tighten, but he told himself it was just because of the dangerous situation he was in–never mind that he's been in more dangerous situations and he's never felt this crushing sensation before… Yes, never mind that.
"Okay, first of all, don't say it like that. My god, that makes it sound so…"
"Weird? Superficial? Weak?" the girl suggested, obviously having fun.
Marik saw Bakura glare at her and smiled–Bakura was damn good at glaring. "I'm going to say weird and leave it at that."
"Ugh," the girl groaned. "Okay, different approach… Has he shown any signs of liking you?" When she asked that question, Marik wracked his brain to try and figure out who she was talking about, but he couldn't figure it out! The only person he's seen Bakura really hang out with is—
"Well…" Bakura's hesitant voice interrupted Marik's thoughts again. "He seemed to like it when we kissed…"
Marik's eyes widened and his face heated up. Wait, could he be talking about–
"You guys have kissed already?-!" the girl exclaimed. "Are you sure you're not already in a relationship and just don't know it?"
"I don't know! That's the problem!"
"It seems to me like you need to sit down and have a long talk with him about this…"
"Oh, yes, because going up to him and asking, 'Hey Marik, do you like me?' isn't awkward at all!" Now Marik felt frozen. He… Bakura… he liked him?-! No-no way… that, that couldn't be– "Besides," Bakura's words traveled into Marik's mind. "I've already dropped a lot of hints and he hasn't even picked up on them…" Hints? Marik thought to himself. What hints? I don't remember any… Marik's eyes widened as he remembered a few things Bakura's said…
"What if I told you I wanted to stay in this position forever?"
"Am I your 'someone special', Marik?"
"You're so dense, Marik! I'm not even trying to hide it!"
"I like your blood, but I like you more."
And not just what he's said, but what he's done for him too; his attitude has gotten gradually nicer towards him, and he actually did a lot of kind things for him… For example, when he bought that boat, or tried to help him with his fear of heights, or… Just everything he was. Sure, he was sarcastic and teasing, but it was never really mean per se; he just wanted to get a reaction out of him.
And not to mention all the times they've… kissed…
… Actually, now that Marik thought about it, Bakura's feelings should have been really obvious! So why is this coming as such a surprise to him?
Have I really been so blind this entire time?-!
"Maybe you should just tell him how you feel," the girl suggested. "Some people don't get it until they hear the person tell them directly." She smirked. "Of course, to tell him that you love him, you kind of have to admit it to yourself first."
"Hey! I know how I feel, damn it!-!"
"Then why don't you say it right now?" she asked him with a smile. "Say right now that you love him. If you already know how you feel."
Bakura made a scoffing noise. "I don't have to do anything you tell me to."
"Oh, yes, because it's not like I can torture you right now or anything." When the girl said that, Marik was about to break the vent so that he wouldn't get tortured–no way was he going to let that happened when he was there! But he kind of wanted to hear Bakura say it… just to be sure is all… Yes, that's the only reason.
"… I… love him," Bakura said quietly, so quiet that Marik barely heard him from the vent he was in.
She held a hand up to her ear. "What was that? I didn't hear you," she said playfully; obviously she heard it with her vampire hearing and just wanted Bakura to say it louder. She wasn't the only one…
Bakura glared at her. "… I love him," he said a little louder.
"You love who now?"
"I love Marik Ishtar, all right?-!" Bakura screamed angrily at her. "There, is that what you wanted to hear?-!"
Yes… Marik thought before he could stop himself. The Egyptian closed his eyes and put his hands up to his head. He was still having a hard time processing this; Bakura… loved him…? He felt… weird. He felt happy and confused and float-y and… and… just, so much emotion! Bakura… loved him! He… Wow… How would he ever look at him the same again? And why didn't Bakura tell him before? Well, he supposed the hints were pretty obvious…
Although, now Marik had a different problem.
Did he feel the same way…?
… He wasn't entirely sure… He did like Bakura, and he did enjoy those kisses, and he couldn't really imagine living without him anymore… maybe he…?
He didn't have any more time to dwell on the matter as he felt himself going down the long, steep descent he had climbed not too long ago. Apparently he had been moving back subconsciously… probably because he had been so close to something that shocked him so much. In any case, he concentrated on not making any noise through his fall and started focusing his mind so that he could rescue Bakura like he was supposed to! Geez, he could worry about their relationship problems and his feelings when Bakura was free again! What was wrong with him?-!
When he got to the bottom of the descent he felt even more focused than before (as well as feeling a ridiculous amount of happiness, but that was besides the point) and was about to climb to the top again so he could break into the giant room when the door in the bright white room started to unlock. Marik smiled; his day just kept getting better and better! He turned himself around and peered through the vent holes, watching the door open and that girl walk out. Marik felt a smile etch its way on his lips. He was about to crawl out of the vent and take her by surprise when she turned and looked directly at him. Before he knew it, she had pulled the vent cover away and was staring right at him. She looked surprised and said, "You're… Marik, aren't you?"
"…" Marik didn't really know what to say; should he say yes? She seemed to be nice enough, but she threatened to torture Bakura back there… but maybe that was just because Keith was making her? Why was she working for him anyways? Eventually, Marik decided to say, "… Yes."
She tilted her head to the side. "… Did you, hear my and Bakura's conversation in there?"
"… Yes…" Marik answered, hearing Bakura's confession replay in his mind again.
"Oh, great…" she muttered under her breath before extending a hand to him. "Well, come on out of there I guess. My name's Amora." Marik grabbed her hand and pulled himself out, but then she pulled him up on his feet.
Amora put her hands on her hips, analyzing him. Damn, Bakura's got good taste in men, she thought to herself approvingly, but then she started to worry. Overhearing a confession of love was the worst way to find out because you'll never look at that person the same way again! Not to mention it could actually hinder the relationship if the eavesdropper didn't know how they felt, and by what Bakura's said she assumed that was the case. Oh what am I talking about? It's not my problem… she told herself, but she was back in the matchmaking groove that she had been in during high school… She enjoyed helping people with their love issues; knowing how people felt was what she was good at, as well as knowing what was best for the relationship. And right now, her instincts were telling her that it would be best if Marik didn't hear that confession… It would be much better for them if Bakura told him face to face.
Amora took a deep breath and closed her eyes before letting it out. When she opened them again, everything was in a tinge of blue. She had to act fast… "You know, I don't think Bakura wanted you to hear that…"
Marik tensed up, an alarm going off inside his head. "Yeah, probably not…" he played along, wondering what her angle was.
Amora held up a hand to inspect her nails before reaching up and fingering a lock of Marik's hair, to which he tensed up even more and gave her an untrusting look. "So… I think you should just forget." She said the word "forget" in a whisper as she placed the palm of her hand on his forehead.
Almost immediately Marik's eyes dilated and his face took on a blank look. "… For… get?" he asked slowly.
Amora cussed under her breath; of course it was going to be hard to erase his mind; he wasn't an idiot, and he was probably trained against this kind of attack! He was stuck in the trance, but to actually take the memory away… It was going to take some effort and time, something she hoped she had. Hopefully Keith wouldn't walk in any time soon. "Yes," she continued in that whispery voice, "forget… after all, wouldn't it be better to hear him tell you himself? So just forget… let a better time be the first time you hear it… Forget… " It occurred to her how much easier it would be to take the memory if he was unconscious… That was usually how a vampire's victim was anyways.
She kept repeating the word "forget" in that low tone, but Marik only heard her subconsciously. Right now he felt… weightless. Like he was floating in the air, outside of his body; like he could just fly around without a care in the world. And memories… all of them, even the ones he had tried to lock away, even the ones his dad had locked away… Memories were floating in front of him, and he felt so much emotion towards each and every one… His family passed right in front of his eyes, filling him with pure happiness; it was so easy to feel when he was like this… feel the wonderful, uplifting feel of happiness, but the same went for anger too, as his dad passed in front of his eyes… He felt such a strong sense of the powerful, hateful anger that his dad made him feel… he wanted to rip that memory to shreds, make it go away forever, but then Bakura passed in front of his eyes, and he felt… something, but what was it? It felt like happiness, but it also felt stronger… maybe it was love…? He couldn't dwell more on this as he saw the vampires he's killed, and he felt the crushing, painful feel of sadness envelop him. I'm sorry… I'm sorry!
... Forget…
Forget? Forget what? All of the painful memories? It would be so nice to just forget all them wouldn't it? He saw the memories pass in front of him, but they usually went side to side, back into his mind to haunt him, what if he just pushed them away…? As a memory of one vampire murder passed in front of his eyes, bring the sadness back, he imagined it being pushed away, out from him, no longer in his mind to torment him. It felt… wonderful! But what had he pushed out…? He remembered it was sad, but he couldn't remember what it was… Either way, it felt fantastic to get rid of that crushing, painful feeling; magnificent! He was going to push another one away, when suddenly one memory presented itself to the very front of his mind. It was Bakura, saying, "I love Marik Ishtar, all right?-!" He smiled to himself as happiness floated tangibly inside him and in the air; dancing around with bright colors. I love you too Bakura… he thought to himself, watching in wonder as the words floated around his mind, attaching itself to that memory. Marik felt like laughing; yes… they loved each other, it was so simple wasn't it…? It was so much easier to realize that now… Why was it so hard before? It seemed so obvious, how could he have been so blind? He loved Bakura, and he loved him… This proved it.
But then something horrible happened.
He saw the Bakura memory being pushed back… away from him. No… No! He reached forward for it desperately; he didn't want that memory to go away…! Come back! He tried frantically to make it come back, and soon it did. It came towards him so fast that the memory crashed right into him instead of going to the side.
No! Forget!-!
Forget…? Why would he want to forget that? He didn't want to forget that, so who was telling him to…?
The powerful, hateful emotion of anger washed all around him. He knew what was going on…! That vampire girl, Amora, she was trying to wipe his mind!-!
He felt the weight of his body again as he rushed forward, past the trance and into the physical world. He had his hands at Amora's throat, pushed up against a wall. She snarled and clawed at his hands and they started to bleed, but Marik had received worse wounds. He pressed his hands further into her throat, and she winced in pain, now starting to kick as well as claw at him. "Try to erase my mind…?" he said dangerously. How dare she! He's already had his mind tampered with enough thanks to his dad, making him forget or lock away whatever was convenient for him. And how dare she try to take one of his happy memories…! How dare she try and take away Bakura! "Don't mess with my mind!-!" he yelled angrily as he took out the Millennium Rod, unsheathed it, and held it at her throat. "Stop moving, vampire."
She stopped struggling and gave him a look that he was all too familiar with… submission. She gave him a weak smile. "Go ahead… kill me. You'd be doing me a favor."
Marik felt some of his anger dissolve away. Oh, how many times he's heard those same words… in the same situation…! So many times vampires have asked, begged for him to just end their life, so that they wouldn't have to suffer anymore. They couldn't do it themselves; usually they were too afraid to end it themselves. Plus, it would be so much easier if someone just ended it for them… And who better than a vampire hunter? Of course… So many times he's found out that a vampire was found on purpose so that they would be killed… They called it an act of mercy instead of an act of murder.
Marik felt his grip loosen and saw her eyes sadden, just a little bit. 'Kill her!' his mind told him. 'She's asking for it, so kill her! She tried to take your memories away! She tried to take Bakura away from you! Hell, she's probably tortured him! Kill her, kill her, kill her!-!'
No! he told himself, I don't want to…! I don't!
'But Marik, she's saying you'd do her a favor, so shouldn't you do as she wishes?'
I don't care! She's not thinking straight, get out of my head!
'But Marik, I'm the voice of reason! Haven't I always tried to give you logical answers to your problems or dilemmas? You've listened to me before–'
Shut up!-!
He saw Amora's eyes widen, and he assumed it was because of all the emotions and indecision flickering across his face, but in actuality she was staring in shock at his forehead. It was glowing, his forehead was glowing in the shape of an eye, and there was this odd aura around him causing static in the air. The static was even affecting his hair and making it stand up in spikes.
And suddenly, his head started to pound painfully, centering around his right eye. He shut his eyes tight as the pain increased. It felt like something was trying to come out of him; something was trying to break through his flesh and into the world. He let go of the vampire girl and held up his hand to his eye, he let out a scream of pain as it felt like the thing was going to come out of him…!
'Come on, Marik… Let me out. I'm your friend!'
No you're not… What are you?
Marik felt the pain decrease slightly as he heard malicious laughter inside his head. 'Why don't you see for yourself?'
He was about to ask what he meant, but then he felt the familiar sensation of leaving his body. He couldn't hear the world anymore, and when he opened his eyes he was in a dark room. Somehow he just knew the room belonged to a pyramid, even though the edges and corners were covered in shadows and darkness. In fact, the only visible platform was the stone floor he was standing on. He looked around, but there seemed to be only him in here. That is, until someone came out of the shadows and stepped right in front of him. What crossed his eyesight first was an evil smirk and haunting, purple eyes. When he saw the rest of the figure he gasped and took a step back. It was his replica; it looked just like him, only his eyes were lazier, laidback and confident and his mile was pointy, sick and twisted, matching his spiked hair that sparked with electricity. The Eye of Horus glowed bright on his forehead as he tilted his head to the side slightly and smiled at him. "You seem surprised to see me."
"You're… How did you…? Why do you look like me?" Marik finally asked.
"Why, Marik, I'm your imaginary friend." He laughed, a low tone that spelled danger. "Would it not make sense that your imaginary friend would look like you? Although I'm not so imaginary anymore." He said the last part proudly as he held his looked at his arm and clenched his fist, his smirk growing.
"… Who are you really?" Marik demanded.
The look-alike grinned lazily at him and chuckled amusedly. "I'm you Marik," he said as he walked towards him. Marik took a step back, so the imposter stopped walking and shrugged. He pointed at one of the bracelets Marik was wearing and said, "Remember when Isis told you about your jewelry? She said you could tap into the strength of the previous vampire that wore them right?"
"… Yes. Are you saying you're that vampire? But then why do you look like me? And-"
"Please please, one question at a time," he said as he held his hands up in front of him. "No, I'm not that vampire… At least, not completely," he clarified with a smirk. "I may or may not have some of his soul." He held a hand up and pointed at his head. "But my mind is all thanks to you."
"What do you mean?" Marik asked, scrunching his eyebrows together.
The other Marik chuckled and started walking around him in a circle, but Marik just stood there and watched him, turning only when he had to and readying his body in case of an attack. "When the jewelry absorbed his strength, it also absorbed fragments of his soul that harbored inside along with the strength. Because of this interesting bit of information, if you were to tap into the strength, you would also tap into the soul fragments. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal..." He smirked as he stopped and stared at Marik. "… Unfortunately, this isn't a normal situation.
"Do you know how much anger you possess, Marik?" he asked as he lifted up some of Marik's hair and let it fall back strand by strand. He chuckled and walked away, behind Marik's back. "You shouldn't; you put it all inside me."
"So what are you saying?" Marik asked as he turned around to look at him.
The look-alike laughed cruelly before looking at him with a wicked smile. "Everything bad that ever happened to you in your life you tried to shove away, because you couldn't deal with it. Anger, sadness, disappointment, confusion, fear, pain, hate." He said the word "hate" with a certain edge that made the hair on the back of Marik's neck stand up. "Everything that was painful you tried to just forget about; you tried to lock them away in your mind forever. Tell me, Marik:" He asked as he walked towards him and stared into his eyes. "Where did you think all those emotions went?"
"… You have them all," Marik said quietly, realizing just what he was getting at.
The look-alike put his hands together. "Ah, so you do get it." He smirked and laughed cruelly. "You're such a child, Marik, hiding away all your emotions because you don't know how to deal with them. Of course I suppose I should thank you… After all, if you weren't such a child, I wouldn't exist."
"How long have you been…?"
"Alive? Aware? Existent?" he asked as he started walking around Marik again. "Well, I've been growing and growing on years of those 'bad' emotions, of course to me they aren't bad, they're… powerful." He said the last word strongly, and the electricity that sparked in his hair zapped the floor around him, causing Marik to take a step away from him out of shock. "For a while I was just a voice, simply your 'imaginary friend', locked away inside your mind, unable to do anything. But then-" He turned to Marik and smirked that evil smile again. "-you got so mad, so upset, so hateful, that I was finally able to take form." He looked at his arm again and clenched his fist. "And may I say, it feels great to be alive."
"… So, what happens now?" Marik asked quietly. He was having a hard time processing this; all those emotions he shoved away created another person?-! It didn't make sense, how did that work…? He had a mind, a hateful and angry mind unfortunately, and soul fragments, that's it, was that enough to make someone? Although maybe he's not a someone, maybe he's a something. Marik shuddered at the thought. So what had he made? A monster? A demon? Marik was starting to feel sick to his stomach… Well, no matter what he made, a mind and bit of soul is still not enough to make anything, you need a… Marik's eyes widened.
You need a body.
The creature laughed dangerously. "I believe you just figured it out, Marik! Don't worry; I'll take good care of Bakura for you." As he said his last words, he started to fall back into the darkness. It almost looked like he was becoming one with it.
"NO!" Marik screamed as he rushed forward and tried to grab him, but as he did that he noticed red lines appearing on the floor, connecting their feet. It looked like the lines were moving through, from him to the creature.
The other being smirked again and chuckled as the Eye of Horus on his forehead glowed brighter. "Yes, Marik, get angry. All the more for me to take and grow with." He rushed forward and pushed Marik to the ground. "I'm stronger than you, Marik!" he yelled at him. "Don't you ever think for a second that you can overpower me ever again. All your strength is in me, Marik; didn't you ever notice how anger and hate were right by your side as you killed and trained and tracked? They were one with you, trying to rise to the surface and overtake you. Only rarely did you let them." He smirked. "That was me, Marik. You can't overpower me, because I am your strength. You're nothing without me, and now I'll have the chance to prove it." He backed away into the darkness again. Marik tried to stand up, but his back hurt and he couldn't. All he could do was watch as this creature that he created walked into the darkness, his malicious laughter ringing throughout the air.
Heheh. Oh my, New York's just full of cliffhangers and surprises isn't it? ^^ Did anyone expect this turn? ;) (Yes, that part where Isis talked about Marik's jewelry giving him strength was important). I do hope I'll be able to keep Yami Marik in character… but he'll probably be a bit angrier in this story.
In later news, I'm currently addicted to Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler). I love Grell!-! "Oh Bassy~!" and "Sebas-chan~!" XD His English voice actor makes me happy~! *giggles*
I don't know when the next chapter will be up (though that's a good thing since I'm not done with France yet…), so please just be patient! ^^;
Thank you all very much; I don't know where this story would be if it wasn't for you all. You're wonderful and I love you and I wish I could give you all a big hug! *super special awesome hug*
You have no idea how much I appreciate each and every review, and how I'm so much more confident now than I was before I was on this site… So thank you all very much! (It helps that most of the reviews make me laugh - a lot XD You people are hilarious!-!-!)
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Joy: Haha, I'm glad you liked the Christmas present! ;) I love you too Joy, and thank you very much for reviewing! It made me laugh XD