Chapter Fifteen

Yugi was still hard at work on the silverware puzzle when his phone rang. He blinked, looking to it in surprise. "Hi, Atem," he greeted as he answered. "What's up?"

"Yugi, I'm locked in a bedroom in the basement," Atem exclaimed.

"What?!" Yugi was stunned. "How did that happen?!"

"I don't know if it was a living person or a spirit that locked me in, but I figured out how that enemy of Johnson's learned what he said. There was one other person who . . ." The line went dead.

"Hello?! Atem?!" Yugi leaped away from the counter, his eyes wide in alarm.

"Yugi, what is it?" Téa asked, coming to the doorway.

"I don't know, but Atem is in trouble!" Yugi cried. "We have to get to him right now!" He ran for the basement door.

Téa chased after him. "What trouble?! Yugi, what's going on?!" Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. Atem wasn't infallible, of course, especially now that he had a chance to live a mortal life with the rest of them, but it was still hard for her to picture him getting in trouble with the spirits in this house or the living people who were causing trouble.

"I was talking to Atem on the phone," Yugi explained as they clattered down the stairs. "He said he'd been locked in the basement in a bedroom and that he'd figured out how that guy knew what Johnson said to Noa. Then we got cut off."

"But if he's locked in, shouldn't we get Evangeline?!" Téa protested. "She has the keys!"

"I just wonder who else might have the keys," Yugi said under his breath. Louder he said, "If a ghost locked him in, they wouldn't need the keys!"

"Oh, that's true," Téa moaned.

They reached the bottom and Yugi ran towards the bedrooms. "Atem?!" It wasn't hard to find the locked door, and he pulled and tugged on the knob in desperation. "Atem, are you in there?!"

"I think I should go get Evangeline," Téa said, and she turned to run back to the stairs.

A dark shape started to materialize in front of her, coming closer and closer. "Going somewhere?" a rough voice intoned. "I'll just have to stop you!"

Téa fell back in horror. "No way!"

Yugi turned to stare. "It's you!" he cried.

"Yes, and I can't allow you to tell anyone else. Not just yet. They'll find out soon enough." The dark form enveloped them both.

xxxx

Lector made his way to the doorway of Evangeline's room. He was planning to tell her about the new arrival, but instead, he found her just setting down the last page of the last letter in the strongbox. She looked troubled.

"Evangeline? What is it?" He entered, his eyes flickering in concern.

She looked up. "Oh, Démas. . . ." She blinked back tears. "Our family is such a mess. The good ones never get treated right. . . ."

"Do you mean our grandmother?" Lector asked.

She nodded. "Her, and you, and Great-Grandmother . . . and even our great-great-grandparents. They were good people, and look at the horrors they had right in their house! There's nothing in these letters about the silent, watching ghosts, except for Grandmother talking about seeing the dark-haired lady going down the hall, but they talk about the North wing and having to keep it shut for everyone's safety, and Great-Great-Grandmother talked about the murder scene on the roof. . . . She thought it happened with the previous owners, but she wasn't sure."

Lector sighed and sat down next to her on the edge of the bed. It was hard to fault her for her bitter suspicions, although it was still sad to hear her talk like that after she had spoken in such glowing terms about their ancestors upon their arrival. "Did you find out anything about the other passageways?" he asked, trying to steer her mind to something more pleasant. "Or the family treasure?"

"Grandmother talked about having to hide the treasure so that only the people really deserving would get it," Evangeline said. "She said she hid it somewhere on the property and she left clues in these letters. Some are written by her, and some by Great-Great-Grandmother."

"So we'll need to go over them carefully and look for anything that could be a clue," Lector said.

Evangeline nodded. "I've been trying, but I just don't know," she sighed. "Maybe Yugi would have better luck with this than with the silverware."

"We can ask him," Lector said. He paused. "And Evangeline? If the North wing was haunted when our great-great-grandparents moved in, don't you think those spirits probably are connected with prior owners of the house?"

". . . I guess so," Evangeline said. "But the problem is, the only prior owners were people whose descendants became part of the family when they married into it. They were our mother's ancestors, so they're ours too."

"You're right," Lector conceded.

"Our family is such a mess," Evangeline moaned again.

"Maybe so, but we have the chance to change that," Lector told her. "There are good ancestors in our family, and we can honor them and make this family something to be proud of in future generations."

Evangeline smiled a bit. "Will you and I even have future generations?" she wondered. "You're married to your work and you're happy with your friends. . . . Sometimes I wonder if you don't lean asexual like Mr. Nesbitt."

"So does he," Lector said. "But even if I never marry, I'm sure you will someday. And hopefully Gabriel will also grow up to stay a decent person."

"I hope so," Evangeline said. "I'm certainly going to do my best to make sure he doesn't get corrupted."

"And I'm sure you'll succeed," Lector said firmly. "Now, why don't we take these letters and go find Yugi?"

Evangeline nodded and stood, setting the letters back in the strongbox. "Let's."

"By the way," Lector said as they headed for the door, "Mr. Tolliver is here. I still hardly believe it."

"Oh. . . ." Evangeline looked up at him. "We should ask him about our ancestors. Imagine! He knew them first-hand!"

"I hope he can help us find more secret passageways in the house," Lector said. "As much as I'd like to hear some positive things about our family, we need to solve this mystery first."

"You're right," Evangeline relented.

They were both stunned when they went downstairs into the kitchen and found Yugi and Téa woosily stumbling up from the basement. "What on Earth happened?!" Lector demanded.

Yugi blinked at him. "Huh? We don't really know."

"We both woke up laying on the floor," Téa added. "I don't even know what we were doing in the basement. . . ."

"Maybe you were checking on the Pharaoh?" Lector prompted. "As I recall, he was down there."

"Atem?" Yugi mumbled. "Nah, I think he went upstairs to bed. . . ." He sank down at the counter and crossed his arms on it before lowering his head on them. "I think I'll do that too. . . ."

"Something isn't right here," Evangeline gasped.

"They both act like they've forgotten something," Lector frowned. "Or rather, that they were made to forget."

"But I thought the only ghosts that could do that were in the North wing," Evangeline exclaimed.

"We still don't really know how or why Nesbitt forgot me," Lector said. "It might not have even been the ghosts in the North wing, even though it happened there."

Evangeline watched as Téa went to the table and slumped forward over it, laying her head directly on it. "Mr. Nesbitt didn't act like this when he woke up," she said in concern.

Before Lector could reply, a loud crash from the basement sent him running to the top of the stairs. "What's going on down there?!" he called. "Pharaoh Atem?! Are you there?!"

Atem appeared in a moment, the Infinity Puzzle glowing while he looked very frazzled. "Yes. . . . Are Yugi and Téa alright?!"

"I wouldn't say they're alright," Lector said slowly, and before he could finish, Atem charged up the stairs and stood staring at the scene.

"Neither of them remember what happened down there," Evangeline said. "Do you know?"

"I was locked in a bedroom," Atem said. "I'm sorry, but I finally had to break the door down to get out. I heard Yugi and Téa come down and try to help me, but something accosted them and they collapsed. When they came to, they couldn't seem to hear me calling to them and they apparently came up here." He ran over to Yugi.

"That's just like when we couldn't see Yugi and Mr. Nesbitt when we were running past them," Evangeline said in horror.

"So it was the same force," Lector said darkly. "I'm sure of it!" He looked to Atem. "Did you find anything down there?"

"I'm afraid not," Atem said. "I was just going to give up when the door slammed."

"You were leaving and something trapped you for no reason at all?" Evangeline blinked.

"I know it doesn't make sense, but that's what must have happened," Atem said helplessly. "I didn't find anything." He started to lift Yugi up. "I'd better get Yugi to bed. . . ."

Yugi stirred, burrowing against Atem's shoulder. "Would you read me the story about the bunny?" he mumbled.

"What is this infamous story about the bunny?" Atem said, shaking his head.

Lector went over to Téa and carefully lifted her as well. Still mostly asleep, she threw an arm around his neck. "Atem . . . Kaiba . . ." she slurred.

Atem quirked an eyebrow but didn't comment.

Feeling very awkward, Lector said, "No, Miss Gardner, it's Lector."

"Hi, Lector," Téa smiled, still out of it.

"Yes, we'd better get them to bed immediately," Atem said.

Seto arrived in the doorway just as they were preparing to walk out. "What is this?!" he cried. "More people injured?!"

"I'm afraid so, Kaiba," Atem said. He walked past Seto and headed for the stairs. "Come up with us and we'll explain."

Seto listened to the explanation in growing distaste. "This is ridiculous," he snorted. "Who or what could have done this?!"

"I couldn't make out anything to help me identify who was attacking them," Atem said.

Evangeline suddenly froze. "You know, since Yugi and Téa forgot things, isn't it possible that you were made to forget something too?"

Atem stopped in the doorway of his and Yugi's room. "What?!"

"What if you really did find something down there and now you don't remember?" Evangeline persisted.

"Oh no," Atem said in horror. "If I've forgotten something, we may never find that information again!"

"How about we try going back down after you and Démas put our friends to bed?" Evangeline suggested. "Maybe we can find it again."

"I'm afraid that's unlikely, if someone went to so much trouble to keep that information from us," Atem said.

"I still say we should try," Evangeline said.

"Whatever it was that made them forget might only come out again," Lector pointed out as he carried Téa into her and Serenity's room. "I think we should keep looking for the other secret passageways."

"But that's what I was looking for downstairs," Atem said. "Maybe I found it."

"Mokuba had a theory that the ghosts in the North wing might be trying to protect the family treasure," Seto said. "That might be where the passageway leading to it is located."

". . . That's possible, I guess," Evangeline blinked, "but they shouldn't be guarding it from other family members."

"I don't advocate going in the North wing to look around," Lector said in concern.

"Me either," Evangeline assured him. "At least, not yet.

"You know, there's something else we could try," she mused. "Since I was sure the basement passage came out in the cemetery, we could go through the mausoleums and see if we could find it from that angle. We'd just have to remember which one had the passageway from the study in it."

"I like that idea better," Lector said.

Evangeline smiled. "Then let's try it. Maybe when we're done, Yugi will be feeling better and we can show him the letters."

"I had best stay with Yugi until he wakes up," Atem said. "Someone should stay with Téa too. . . ."

"I'll stay with her," Seto grunted. "There's no one else around right now; they're all looking for secret passageways."

"And coming to think of it, we could easily show you the letters, Atem," Evangeline said. She held out the strongbox. "There's supposed to be clues in them to where Grandmother hid the family treasure."

"I'll take a look," Atem said in surprise.

"Thank you," Evangeline smiled. "Now, let's go to the cemetery, Démas." She linked arms with her brother.

"Someone taking that out of context would wonder why anyone would be that excited to visit a cemetery," Seto deadpanned.

Evangeline waved him off.

xxxx

Atem frowned as he looked through the letters for the third time. He had written down everything that could potentially be a clue, but really, he felt Evangeline was the best one to work with this puzzle. She knew the house and the location of the rooms. He wondered too if they should talk to the grandmother in spite of Mrs. Leichter's warning. The woman might very well have some important clues, even if she didn't consciously realize they were clues. And she might not be as fragile as Mrs. Leichter seemed to think she was.

Yugi stirred, turning to face him. "Hi, Atem," he said with a sleepy smile.

"Hello, Yugi," Atem replied. "Are you feeling better?"

"I think so." Yugi sat up. "Was I pretty out of it?"

"I'm afraid so," Atem sighed. "And it looks like both of us and Téa were made to forget things."

"Oh no!" Yugi gasped. "What could we have forgotten?!"

"I may have learned something important in the basement, but now I don't remember," Atem said. "You may have learned it too, when you came looking for me."

"That's terrible!" Yugi cried. "Hey, is Téa okay?!"

"I think so," Atem said. "I believe she just needed to sleep it off, the same as you did."

Only now did Yugi see the letters. "What are you doing with those, Atem?" he asked in surprise.

"Evangeline gave them to me to see if I could find the clues that are supposed to be in them regarding the location of the family treasure," Atem explained. "We already know that it's supposed to be in the cemetery, so what I've been doing is writing down any instances of mentioning specific family members looking a certain direction or doing something in a certain part of the house. I figure we can then go to the cemetery, find their tombs, and see if there's anything important in the parts of the tombs that correspond with the direction mentioned."

"That's a great idea!" Yugi chirped.

"Yes, I think it should help," Atem admitted, pleased. "Now that you're awake, why don't we go try it out?"

"That's great with me!" Yugi got off the bed. "But we should check on Téa first."

"I agree," said Atem. "She may want to come with us."

xxxx

In the other room, Seto was finding it awkward to watch over Téa. He supposed she would be fine, but he wondered how much longer she was going to sleep. If she awakened, he imagined that she would rather someone else was with her instead of him. Then again, they had usually got along well ever since Seto had admitted that he finally considered her and the others as friends. That was a strange change, considering how rocky and antagonistic their relationship had been before that. Seto had to admit, however, that it was a nice change. He had never particularly enjoyed arguing with Téa. It was Joey whose goat Seto liked to get, and even at that, he preferred just teasing Joey rather than arguing with him.

He got up, idly wandering around the room. Téa and Serenity had likely checked it over thoroughly for secret passageways, so there probably weren't any in there. Still. . . .

He opened the wardrobe, moving the clothes aside as he felt the back of it. Solid.

"Kaiba?!"

He turned. Téa was awake, and regarding him in bewilderment. "What are you doing?!"

"Making sure we didn't miss something," Seto said brusquely. He shut the wardrobe. "Are you feeling better?"

". . . Yeah, I think so," she said in surprise.

"Great!" came Yugi's voice from the doorway.

Atem was there as well, and he looked to Seto. "I think I've figured out a possible series of clues in those letters," he said. "We're going to the cemetery to see if I succeeded."

"Go ahead," Seto said. "I should check on Mokuba. Maybe then I'll join you."

"Very well," Atem nodded.

Téa slowly got up. "Has a lot happened while I've been out of it?"

"I don't think so," Yugi said. "Although we don't know what's happening with anyone else. . . ."

"Hopefully nothing too serious," Atem said as they walked out of the room.

xxxx

Nesbitt had been looking for secret passageways in vain for some time with Johnson.

"You don't think it's possible that whoever's been causing trouble has been getting in through the North wing, do you?" Nesbitt said at last.

Johnson turned to stare at him. "The North wing is locked! . . . Oh. You mean maybe they enter the wing through a secret passageway from the outside and then get into the rest of the house through another one?"

"That's right," Nesbitt nodded.

"Surely you're not thinking of going in the North wing," Johnson said in horror.

"No, but maybe we should examine the wall on this side of it," Nesbitt said.

Johnson sighed. "I don't like it, but maybe you're right. Only . . . if we find a passageway, you won't plan to go in it, will you?"

"Let's see if we find one first," Nesbitt grunted. He walked over to that wall and started tapping it.

Johnson hesitated, looking at him. "Are you alright?"

Nesbitt wouldn't look at him. "I . . . want to do something right and help," he said haltingly. "I remember . . . on our last misadventure, I only caused pain. . . . And that's what's been happening now, as well."

"Nesbitt. . . ." Johnson stared. "Do you remember anything else?"

"The look in Lector's eyes. . . . I've caused it so many times. . . . And he still loves me." Nesbitt occupied himself by feeling across the wall.

". . . You think you hurt him the last time?" Johnson asked.

"I know I did," Nesbitt insisted. "That's all I really remember—the pain, and that look."

"You were hurting too," Johnson told him.

"That's not an excuse," Nesbitt growled. He hit the wall with his fist.

A panel suddenly ground open, swinging out an entire section of wall.

Johnson gaped at the space beyond. It led directly into the entryway of the North wing.

"Well," he said at last, "part of your theory is true."

"Now we just need to know if the other part is," Nesbitt added. "Unfortunately, we can't learn that without going in there."

Johnson swallowed hard. "I guess we'd better go then."

Nesbitt frowned. "I don't want you to put yourself in danger," he objected.

"And I don't want you to either," Johnson retorted. "If you insist on going, you won't be alone."

". . . Alright," Nesbitt relented. "Let's go."