I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or anything else people might have heard of before reading this, including all books, movies, songs, other shows, etc. I do own all OCs, though! Constructive criticism is accepted and very much appreciated! This is not recommended for children under the age of 13 due to language, violence, blood, alcohol reference, and mild suggestive themes. People of the internet, you have been warned. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Better Than Wine

Ryo tracked the two shadows out of the neighborhood and into a dark forest. He no longer had a visual on either of them, but he could smell exactly where they seemingly flew through the trees. Ryo's heart began to pound as he picked up voices. Voices that seemed human. They were coming from a clearing not far away. Ryo looked around to find somewhere to hide, and eventually settled with a tall tree right on the border of the clearing.

He leaped for the first branch and heaved himself up. He kept reaching for the many wooden branches until he was high enough to be well-hidden and see, but still able to hear the conversation. When he peered down to the two figures in the moonlight, his heart skipped a beat.

One was a short male, and he had spiky, multi-colored hair. …Yugi…? No, Yugi was unconscious, and in Chihiro's care. Ryo knew that there's no way Yugi could run off from Chihiro. The proud werewolf wouldn't allow it.

And who was the other being? It was definitely a female, and she looked an awful lot like Chihiro, but the face was somewhat different, and the constant hissing coming from indicated that vampire blood ran through her veins, not werewolf.

"Yami," the other growled, "why didn't you attack him?! He was in range, and you didn't take advantage of him! I even weakened him for you! And what do you do?! Pick him up and run off! What kind of vampire are you, Yami?!" …Vampire? Yami survived? I've never heard of any mortal surviving a vampire attack and become one himself.

"I-I couldn't," Yami replied, "I just couldn't."

"Don't tell me you still have feelings for him," the female laughed, "how foolish. And here I thought you would be strong enough to be in the same rank as Bakura and me!" Yami looked away.

"We must kill to survive," she continued, "we're not mindless, smelly werewolves, that eat anything that's unfortunate enough to cross its path, and we're not pathetic humans who are foolish enough to fall for us. We are the most perfected beings; vampires. We are built to kill for blood, and the sooner you realize that and get over your weak, mortal feelings, the easier it will be to move on!"

"B-but, Fukayna," Yami begged.

"Don't question it!" a gust of wind blew behind Ryo, making his long white hair fall into his face. He closed his eyes to keep the hairs from poking his eyes. He began to pull it back into place, and he opened his eyes again. His heart skipped a beat, and he almost fell off of the branch he was hiding on. Fukayna must have smelt Ryo's scent from the wind, and she was now sitting right in front of the vampire hunter with a smile of satisfaction on her face.

"Did you honestly think that you could hide and not be spotted?" she laughed. Ryo reached behind him to pull out his gun, when he did, it wasn't strapped onto his back. Damn it, I must have left it at the car!

Fukayna lashed out her and grabbed him by the throat. He tried to rip it off, but she had caught him off-guard. She picked him up, and then threw his body off of the tree. Ryo could feel his head and body forcefully slam into another tree only a few feet away. Dazed, he attempted to stand, but he fell back into the overgrown roots. He felt a trickle of blood run down to his mouth from his nose, and he froze. Now he was in even more trouble. Fukayna was back on the ground, and Ryo could see a lust for blood in Yami's eyes.

"Now's your chance," the female vampire smiled, "attack him, and I might just not report your behavior to him." …Him? Does she mean the leader of the vampires?

Ryo found his thoughts interrupted as Yami began to make his way towards his beaten body. The vampire's thirst for blood became even more obvious as he come closer with each step. Ryo's heart began to pound so hard that it felt as if it would crash through his rib cage, and then burst through his chest. He tried to move, but he was still in shock from the previous attack, and he could barely see let alone stand up and fight.

When Yami finally did get to Ryo, he bent down so he could face the vampire hunter. He had tears in his eyes, something the white-haired hikari was not expecting to see. Yami looked ashamed to be attacking and eventually killing a friend, but there was also a gleam of desperation in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," the vampire whispered so Fukayna couldn't hear. Ryo couldn't find the strength to fight as Yami grabbed him by the throat, and then pressed his body against the tree so he couldn't escape. With one hand still grasping its prisoner's throat, Yami used the other one to pull down the neck of Ryo's jacket, exposing his pale skin.

Drops of sweat began to roll down Ryo's face as Yami opened his mouth and revealed a pair of sharp fangs. He watched as, inch by inch, the distance between Yami's frightening canines and his defenseless neck began to decline.

…Wait, Ryo thought, frightening canines? Where's Yugi and Chihi—

Ryo's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a motor, and when he twisted his head to the right, he saw two bright lights cut through the darkness of the forest. Yami must have seen the bizarre glow, too, because his eyes has shifted to the edge of the clearing as well.

The motor sound became louder as the beams of light became larger. Soon, a black car came crashing through the bushes, and Yami had to let go of Ryo as he leaped out of its way. The car stopped right in front of the vampire hunter as fell again.

The convertible had obvious small scratches and dents all over the side of the small, beaten car. It was also covered in leaves and mud, especially the tires. Ryo pulled his shirt's neck back up to cover the bare skin as a young pale woman with black hair leap over the driver's door.

"Bloody hell, Chihiro," Ryo complained, "what did my poor, innocent car ever do to you?!"

Chihiro snorted. "Well, it was either your car stays nice and neat while you get killed by vampires or I sacrifice the vehicle and rescue you." She walked in front of her partner, and then smiled as she held out her hand to help him up. Ryo sighed and placed his hand into her palm. They grasped each other's hands, and Chihiro heaved Ryo back up onto his feet.

"It's just like your kind to create too much unnecessary raucous." Fukayna snickered. Chihiro turned around and faced the vampire.

"And it's just like your kind to diss-off others," Chihiro retorted, "all because they're not goody two-shoe vampires." Her rival smirked at her comment and stared at her with intimating red eyes.

A gust of wind blew from behind the vampire, and Ryo inhaled deeply.

"She's the predator, Chihiro," Ryo exhaled, "she attacked and killed the victim I saw at the station." Chihiro nodded, informing him that she heard, but she didn't take her eyes off of her target.

Ryo could feel his heart begin to pound in his chest. Was it because he was scared? Frightened for Chihiro… or for himself? Or was it because of suspense? Did he want to see his friend battle a powerful vampire like Fukayna? The female vampire must be powerful if she was chosen to be the mate of such a mysterious mastermind.

He watched Chihiro slowly take her hands down towards her hand guns. If Fukayna knew this, she gave no signal, except for the large, evil grin that began to grow over her face.

Time seemed to fast forward as the werewolf quickly grasped the handles and pull them out of her pockets and flipped the safety off. She pulled the trigger with her index finger, and loud bangs from the guns rang throughout the forest. Fukayna leaped out of the way into a tree, and then smirked.

"So you hide behind bullets, eh, werewolf," she laughed, "That won't do much good." Chihiro pointed her gun at the tree.

"Perhaps they're not bullets," she retorted. Fukayna's grin disappeared, and Chihiro fired again, just barely missing the vampire's face. Fukayna turned her head and looked at the hole next to her.

"Thorns," she growled, "and I take it that they're from a rose, right?"

"And call us morons," Chihiro sneered. Fukayna leaped down from the tree. She looked over into the dark woods.

"Hey," Chihiro yowled, "we're over here! Are you really as smart as you think you are?" The vampire twisted her head so she was facing the werewolf.

"Sorry," she apologized, "but I need to get going. Yami!" Her fellow vampire crawled down from the tree he ended up in, and watched Fukayna as he waited for her orders.

"Kill them," she growled before running back into the woods.

"Hey," Chihiro roared after her, "get back here, you coward!" If she heard the werewolf, she gave no sign. Ryo sighed as she began cursing in that direction and he turned his attention onto the other vampire.

"Chihiro," he advised, "let her go. We'll track her down once we're done with business here."

"…No," she mumbled, "you go. I'll stay handle things here." Ryo's heart skipped a beat. Leave his partner behind? Again? Even though he knew that she could take care of herself, it still worried him, and the fact that she's a bit malnourished did not make it any easier.

"If we both stay here, we're going to run out of time, so let's kill two birds with one stone," she went on, "don't worry I'll be right behind you." Ryo's heart began to sink.

"…Promise?" he finally said. Chihiro turned around and smiled.

"Yes," she assured, "I don't break promises." Ryo nodded, and he began sprinting in the direction Fukayna was running. As he did he noticed that Yami began chasing after him, but the vampire halted when a large, black animal ran in front of him.

"I'm your opponent!" It growled with power. Thanks, Chihiro… Ryo tried to be strong and hold back the tears, but he could already feel them start flying off his cheeks as he ran into the darkness of the forest.

Ryo kept running, dodging trees and branches whenever they leaped into his path, until he came upon an old mansion. How strange, he thought, is this where they've been hiding out all this time?

He did his best to stay silent as he sneaked through the undergrowth, and towards the beaten-down building. He carefully stepped on the brick front stairs. The front doors had rotted away, so Ryo could peer right inside.

He tried to get his body to move forward, but it was refusing to listen. It took him a lot of effort to move his left foot, and then his right. Slowly, he made his way in. he began to reconsider staying in the forest clearing with Chihiro instead of come here alone. He wondered if she was holding her own, or if she was already… Ryo shook the thought out of his head. He had to trust Chihiro that she wouldn't break her promise, and that she would definitely come soon. He just wished that she was standing with him right now. It was easier to climb the dark, steep mountain when a friend was there to catch you in case you lost your footing. He sighed as he continued on, heading up the large staircase.

To his surprise, he did not encounter any minions as he walked down the worn-down halls. But why? Was this the lead vampire's personal rooms or something? He heard a creek come from one on the shut doors, and he froze. He looked to his right, and the door knob slowly turned. All he could hear was his own heart pounding as the old, eerie door slowly creaked open. Thud!

The body of a young woman fell at his feet. Ryo clapped his hands over his mouth in order to silence his own scream. The young woman was tall, and she had short brown hair…

"Anzu," Ryo quietly mourned, "oh, Anzu, I'm so sorry!" He saw that there was still dried-up blood all over her face, and that she had two puncture wounds on her neck. The vampire hunter froze again when he heard voices coming from behind a door a few paces in front of him.

He looked up. He could see a low light flickering from inside the same room with the voices.

A woman's voice began to clearly come into hearing range as Ryo approach the slow-rotting door; "…saw them was in a clearing a little ways in the forest."

Next it was an unfamiliar male voice; "And you let them get away," he growled, "That isn't like you." The woman began laughing.

"Why the hell would I do that," she asked, "No, I left our newest recruit out there to kill them."

"…And you're sure that he'll be able to complete the mission?"

"If he doesn't," she explained, "then the survivors will likely come here. An action that they will quickly regret." Ryo froze by the wooden door. Should he go inside? Or should he go back? He turned his head and looked at the corpse of his former friend. His mind was made up; if he was going to stop the killings, he would have to face the vampires, even though Chihiro and Yugi weren't with him yet.

Ryo gently placed his back onto the wall next to the door. He pulled out his gun, and he made sure that it was loaded. He felt around his wait for the wooden stake. When he felt the sharp object brush against his fingers, he lightly sighed with relief. Ryo took in a deep breath, and before he could give it a second thought, he turned around and kicked door, making it fly open. In the dim, flickering candlelight, the vampire hunter saw them; Fukayna, the female vampire, as well as a white-haired male vampire with glowing red eyes. She was sitting on the left side of his lap, and her head was lying on his shoulder while her arms were wrapped around his torso.

The male was wearing a red European robe tied at the waist with his pale chest exposed. His left hand was around her abdomen, and there was a glass filled with a red liquid in the other. He grinned, revealing his sharp canine teeth.

Ryo's heart pounded, but he held up his gun and held a stern look on his face, hoping that they couldn't tell that he was frightened. He began to regret leaving his partner behind.

"We've been expecting you," he snickered as Fukayna stepped off of his lap.

I gulped. "Wh-who are you?!" He laughed again.

"If you must know," he sneered, "my name is Bakura. I've heard that you've been upsetting us during our feeding times." I could my hands begin to shake as he peered into my soul, but I held my ground.

"Look at you," Fukayna laughed, "you're shaking like a leaf! You're not really fit for taking on creatures of the night, are you? Why don't you just go home and--"

"SHUT UP!" The vampire hunter yowled. Bakura slanted his eyes and stood up next to her.

"Looks like I finally got you to move your ass out of that seat," Ryo said coolly. Bakura gritted his teeth, and he turned to Fukayna.

"Make sure no one else enters the building," he whispered in her ear. She nodded, and then leaped out of a shattered window. Before Ryo could point his gun and shoot, Bakura stood in his way.

"I'm not going to let you leave this place alive, vampire hunter," he hissed as he reached for his glass. Ryo still held his gun at the vampire, praying that he could not sense how terrified he really was. Bakura lifted the glass and began to drink the contents.

"Enjoy that," Ryo taunted, trying to mask his fright, "because it'll be the last drink of wine you'll ever have." The vampire smirked as a red drop began to fall from the corner of his mouth.

"You believe my drink is wine," Bakura laughed, "try again." Ryo pulled his attention away from the red drop. He watched it as it fell down Bakura's face and on his neck. Soon he could smell a warm, sticky scent in the air. Ryo froze. The liquid in the glass wasn't wine; it was blood.

A/N: Sorry that this took so long. I kept having spazz attacks every time I imagined Bakura in the robe (mmm… smexy!). ireneotaku and I are currently having some issues, so that ate up a lot of my time, not to mention I had a ton of schoolwork last week. This week it doesn't look like I'll have as much, but you never know! I'd like to thank ireneotaku for the blood-as-wine idea and the smexy robe idea! And what you guys didn't know that the thorns of a rose was one of the vampires' weaknesses? Don't forget to review please!