AN: Too long, I know. Sorry. Hopefully with summer, I'll be able to update faster. I also had a gap in plot ideas. I have alot for future chapters but didnt know how to get there... Hope this isnt boring or too fillerish but I needed to get another posted. Its been too long and I feel terrible. Hope I havent lost you all. Thanks so much for the reviews on previous chapters; they keep me writing and are well appreciated. Hope you enjoy! (doing an awful lot of hoping eh?)

Chapter Seventeen

Akeno's heart jumped into her throat and her stomach squeezed itself into a ball. She shut her eyes tightly trying to cast the dark room from her sight but only to have it replaced with the equal blackness of the backs of her eyelids. She couldn't escape it. Bakura chuckled, sensing her fear and slid one of his fingernails down the nape of her neck, sending chills down her body. Gasping, Akeno tried to pull away but he quickly grabbed her wrist and spun her around to face him.

"I don't have to worry about you being a bad girl, now do I?" Bakura growled through his teeth.

She was mere inches from his face though the room's lack of lighting prevented her from clearly seeing his expression. Although it spared her from his murderous eyes, the darkness couldn't provide a sense of relief for her. She felt as if he was more dangerous and more likely to kill her in the dark, as if it gave him more power. Surely the flick of a light switch couldn't bring one closer to the Shadow Realm. Ordinary darkness wasn't his or anyone's ally nor was it a threat. Right? She gulped, her eyes flickering into the black abyss of the apartment. Was it her eyes playing tricks on her or was the darkness moving? Forming shapes and faces ready to engulf her at his command. Are we even in the apartment at all or had he already-

"Answer me!" he shouted, shaking her violently and snapping her attention back to him.

Akeno stuttered a moment, trying to think of what he had asked. "Er no!" she managed to say, hoping it was the right answer. He was silent a moment. That was it right…? He doesn't want me to be bad. He wants me to listen to him…right? Yeah, that has to be-

He abruptly pulled her closer to him, one hand tangled in her long hair, the other pressed firmly on her back. Even in the dark she knew how dangerously close they were, "kissing close" her old friend had once called it. The tips of their noses just touched and his breath brushed her lips. She was too frightened to breathe and dared not to move for fear of provoking him. He spoke suddenly in a hushed tone making her jump.

"You didn't call me master…"

Dread ran through her and made her blood pump faster. "I-I'm sorry, master! I forgot! I-"

His grip on her hair tightened and he threw her against the wall, his own body painfully slamming against hers. "Let's make sure you don't forget again."

Her stomach clenched and her whole body went cold as she felt one of his hands on her thigh. He couldn't mean… She tried pushing him away but in vain; he barely even noticed her futile attempts against him. Bakura lifted her dress and tears formed in her eyes. She was so frozen over with fear that she couldn't even choke out a plea. Wordlessly and not breathing, she stood there as his hand wandered over her thigh. She managed to shut her eyes, spilling a set of tears down her cheeks. Then nothing happened. Was he toying with me? Suddenly, pain sprang into her thigh as he ripped the duct tape holding the Millennium Rod from her like one ridding themself of an adhered band-aid. She held back a hiss of pain as he carelessly dropped the hem of her dress. Thank God, he only wanted the Rod back, not me… though of course that doesn't mean I'm safe. She fearfully remembered how Bakura had used the Rod on Marik; she thought of his agonizing screams…

Akeno's eyes widened as he tossed her to the ground as easily one does a ragdoll. She fearfully looked up at his form as he towered over her. To her surprise, he merely stepped over her and proceeded to turn on a lamp which only illuminated a small area around them, leaving the farther corners of the room shrouded in darkness. Akeno remained on the floor, nervously watching him as he inspected the Millennium Rod and pulled the remaining bits of tape off it. His back was to her so she quickly risked a glance over her shoulder at the door- three locks. She gulped and looked back to Bakura just as he slid the lower portion of the Rod off revealing a long blade. He turned to her with a wicked grin on his face. Her breath caught in her throat and suddenly instinct flooded into her; in less than a second she was on her feet heading towards the door as fast as her shaking legs could carry her.

Unable to slow down, she banged into the door and frantically tried undoing the locks. She undid one but by the time her fingers touched the second lock, Bakura was upon her. He purposely crashed into her and wretched her away from the door by her hair. She screamed and tripped over her own feet, falling backwards. He leapt on top of her, holding the Rod's dagger at her throat.

"You weren't trying to leave, were you, my pet?" he asked with a hungry gleam in his eyes. "We were about to have so much fun!"

Akeno's heart had been beating so hard since she had stepped off the plane. She knew this was her fate, for now at least, and couldn't escape it. "Please don't hurt me," she whimpered.

"Give me a reason not to," Bakura growled pressing the point into her skin, nearly drawing blood.

She was at a loss for words. Why not? Because I'm a human being! And a girl! You aren't supposed to hit girls! Or rip their souls apart for the matter!

"Well?" he pressed.

"I-I I'm sorry?"

"Not good enough," he smirked.

He turned the Rod around and activated its magic. Akeno's eyes widened as an intolerable pain spread through her body like wildfire. She screamed and thrashed around as much as he would let her. Shortly after she reached her limit, he stopped the Rod's magic looking rather bored.

She lay there shaking. "I promise I-I won't run away again! I'm really sorry, m-master!"

He snorted and carelessly tossed the Millennium Rod aside. "You're not as much fun to torture as Marik," he said, standing. "I'll have to resort to using a hands on approach when I punish you."

Akeno didn't move, she simply sniffed and wiped away a few hot tears. There was a knock at the door which startled them both. They turned their heads but neither made a move to answer it.

"Mr. Bakura?" came a muffled voice from the other side.

Bakura raised his lip at the unseen man then looked back to Akeno. "I don't want you seen. There aren't supposed to be pets in the building…" he said in a serious tone. "Go… take a shower," he said yanking her up by the arm and shoving her down the hall.

She opened the bathroom door and flicked on the light, pausing a few moments to listen. She heard Bakura undo the locks. "Yes?" he said in his fake voice.

"Mr. Bakura, I hate to bother you at this hour but… some of the other tenants were reporting um screaming coming from your apartment," the man said awkwardly. "They said it sounded like someone was getting murdered…"

"Oh, that," he laughed. "I'm sorry, my television must've been turned up too loud. I was watching a scary movie."

Akeno didn't wait for the landlord's reply and quietly shut the door. She stood awkwardly looking around at the majestically clean bathroom. This isn't going to get any less uncomfortable… I might as well get it over with. She locked the door and slipped off her dress. After turning on the water and getting it to a moderate temperature, she removed the rest of her clothes and her bandages and hopped in.

A sigh escaped her lips as she stood in the stream of warm water. She smiled. "This feels great," she said to herself. She scrubbed up, being careful around her still healing wounds and grabbed Ryou's 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner. Squirting only a little in her palm as she didn't want to use up his products, she rubbed it into her hair until it was a nice lather. Just as she was about to rinse it off, the shower curtain whipped to the side.

"How long do you think you have in here?" Bakura sneered.

Akeno paused before letting out a shrill scream and crouching in a corner of the shower trying to hide her body. Her face was beet red, she gave him an unbelieving look. "What are you doing? H-how did you even get in here?!"

He scoffed at her. "If you thought a simple lock would keep me out, you're even dumber than I thought."

She resisted saying something back seeing as she wasn't in the best position.

He stared at her a moment longer before glaring. "Now hurry up! You have thirty seconds."

Tentatively, she shut the curtain without exposing herself and quickly rinsed the suds from her hair. She shut off the water and blushing again, peeked out to see Bakura still there.

She grinned shakily. "Could you uh please hand me a towel, master?" she asked nervously.

He said nothing but continued to stare her down. "Please?" she asked again, sounding more desperate. Growling slightly, he opened the bathroom closet and chucked a towel at her. She caught it and quickly retreated behind the curtain. "Thank you, master."

Bakura muttered something under his breath but she didn't catch it. She hesitantly stepped out with the towel wrapped tightly around her. He was leaning on the door blocking her way. Her stomach clenched. What do I do? I can't exactly tell him to move... maybe I should just grab my-

"My clothes are gone," she stated surprised.

"How observant."

"Where did you-"

"I threw them out," he said casually, walking past her.

"Wha- but what am I going to wear?"

"Stop being stupid," Bakura ordered, obviously growing impatient. "You'll wear Ryou's clothes for the time being unless you prefer to run around naked?"

"No, no! That's fine, thanks master!" she said quickly moving around him towards the door.

He slammed his fist into the door before she could open it. She jumped. "You leave when I leave."

"C-couldn't I just get-"

"No. I am not giving you another opportunity to run. You'll stay right here," he said, his eyes intense.

She backed away from him. "Okay," she squeaked. "Yes, master!"

Akeno faced the door when he started to take his shirt off. A mad blush spread across her cheeks as she heard the zip of his jeans. She swallowed hard as his pants plopped to the floor. Don't run, don't run. Nothings going to happen… She couldn't help but notice she was visibly shaking. It's not because I'm afraid, I'm just in nothing but a towel... oh who am I kidding?

The shower turned on and steam started to pour out. She let out a breath. Too bad he isnt the singing-in-the shower type. That'd relieve a lot of tension.. About ten minutes later, the water sputtered off. The shower curtain opened. "Towel."

Her blush returned. Keeping her head down, she fidgeted to get him a clean towel. She shut her eyes and held out the towel for him which he snatched. Hurriedly, she went back to waiting at the door, keeping a hand on the top of her towel. Okay, this bathroom is WAY too small for this much nakedness!

"Move," he said.

Akeno complied and followed him out of the steamy bathroom. She couldn't help but notice the towel wrapped loosely around his waist. Do not fall, she ordered it. When he went into his- er Ryou's room- she waited outside even though he left the door open. He came back out still in his towel and threw folded clothes at her. Clumsily she caught them while holding onto her towel.

"T-thank you, mast..." she said though he hadn't waited for a reply. "...ter."

She rushed back into the bathroom to get dressed. She dropped her towel and examined the wounds on her stomach. Twisting her lips to the side, she decided on just using band-aids. It saves time at least.. Her wrists were still a little sore but there was nothing she could do about them. She turned to the clothes. He had given her a red T-shirt and plaid boxers. She put them on without complaint. The shirt, she realized was rather big on her despite Ryou's small frame; one side kept slipping off her shoulder. Better than naked! Akeno opened the door and gasped, seeing Bakura standing there with his arms crossed. His hair was still damp and hadn't regained its normal spiked appearance. He was wearing a black shirt and black pants.

"We're going to bed."

He wordlessly pushed her into the room and shut the door behind them. Akeno tensed. "Can't I sleep on the couch?"

"And leave you by the door?"

There was no arguing with him. "Master, where do I…?"

He pointed to the floor beside the bed. Akeno held back a sigh. How am I not surprised?

Bakura smirked as she obediently sat on the floor. He turned out the lights and walked over to the bed. With his foot, he forced Akeno to lie down then proceeded to climb into bed.

"I'll know if you so much as move so don't bother trying to escape. Sweet dreams, pet," he chuckled.

More like nightmares! Ah! This cant be my life!