Hi! I'm back for the ninth chapter~! I am extremely extremely happy! No joking when I saw the reviews given by BakuraLOLZ99 and The Evil Chocolate Cookie I was literally bouncing off the walls! Thank you all for reviewing the story it made me extremely happy and now I'm going to shut up and start with the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, I only own Winter and the Eternal Family.
It's stranger now that the suitor has been watching my every move, what is he planing? Even Father is watching me closely, why is that? Grandmother has started locking herself in her room and quit talking to everyone completely. She writes on paper to ask the maids for something now, is she going to die? Celia even had her child this morning, deciding on the name of Mandy. Oh mother why? Why wont you bring me my salvation? I'm begging you.
Ryou awoke to Yugi shaking his shoulders, it was still night out and the time was almost two AM. "What is it Yugi? I'm trying to sleep." Ryou murmured crankily as he turned away from the light Yugi turned on. "I can't find Malik, or Joey or even Tristan! They're gone and I'm sure they aren't in the manor!" Yugi said worriedly as Ryou woke up completely from the sound of his friends being gone. "Your sure they're not just out for a walk?" Ryou asked as he stood from bed "I'm sure! I even went through the woods to find them! They're not there, their cars are still here and they even left their shoes and flashlights at the tent!" Yugi said as he followed Ryou with his amethyst eyes. Ryou walked around the room and put things in the old green bag, such as Winter's Diary, the music box and his phone along with the keys to the manor and a few medical supplies. "Tell me exactly what happened." Ryou said as he and Yugi walked down stairs to the front door where Ryou put on his shoes while Yugi explained.
"I woke up for some reason at midnight, looking around I found that the others were gone and they left their things at the tent. I thought that they just had to go or something so I waited for them to come back. When they didn't I got worried and looked around the woods for them, I even went up to look around the outside of the manor. When I didn't find them I knew something went wrong, so I came here and woke you up. Of course you know what happened afterwords." Yugi explained as the two of them headed outside but, before they went out Ryou pulled out one of the kitchen knives "For safety reasons." He explained when Yugi asked him about it. Together Ryou led Yugi with a flashlight to the front of the manor where he took out the keys to the manor. Ryou was about to unlock it when the door swung open by itself and a wind came at them. Ryou and Yugi stood their ground though and made their way through the manor to the kitchen where they faced the cellar steps. "Something tells me not to go down their Ryou." Yugi said as Ryou looked at the padlock on the doors leading to the cellar. There was no way what so ever that Malik and the others could have made it down there.
They turned and left the kitchen heading for the third floor where the library was, opening the locked library door Ryou stepped inside after Yugi as the two made their way through the library. Sweeping the shelves looking for their friends, their was a point the two spilt up and Ryou found a book that made him think. The book was made of scraggly yellowed paper and had words written in a spidery hand writing on the cover that read 'Puella Mortuorum' . From what Ryou knew this was latin for 'The Dead Girl'. He shivered, what a creepy name to call a book that looked like a child might read. Opening the first page Ryou found that it was a map of the grounds, including the lake and the graveyard almost a mile away. "Hey Yugi-" Ryou began to say when a scream filled the air and the sound of a body being dragged across the floor made him run towards it. The sound came from Yugi as he was clutching onto the frame of the door for dear life "YUGI!" Ryou shouted as he dove for Yugi's outstretched hand. Before Ryou could reach it though Yugi was dragged into the blackness outside of the library. Ryou didn't have time to think only time to act as he scrambled onto his feet and began chasing Yugi down the stairs to the kitchen where the cellar doors were torn open, the murky darkness felt uninviting as Ryou reached for Yugi one last time before the doors slammed shut with Yugi's screams echoing up from the stairs. "YUGI!" Ryou screamed as the doors locked on itself, he threw himself against the doors over and over. The doors did not budge. Ryou sunk to the ground on his knees as tears slid down his face onto the linoleum black and white checkered floor of the kitchen. He had lost one of his last friends, he failed to protect them!
Ryou sat there for hours until the sun rose and began to set again, he was angry at himself. He was angry because he let his friends be taken, he was angry because Winter didn't help, because she had hidden. He was angry at the manor and the ghosts, he hated himself now. He hated himself because he decided to move to the manor and take the job as groundskeeper. Ryou sat there deep in anger, still staring at the doors leading to the cellar. Yugi's screams still rang through his ears as he took matters into his own hands and stood up. Walking away Ryou's hand tightened against the knife he had brought with him. He thought of things he would never have thought of, he thought that if he saw Winter ever again he would throw the knife at her and run. Almost as soon as he had thought of Winter, she was there behind him, Ryou turned and threw the knife at her. It grazed her arm as a single tear slid down her face, the knife landed in the wall behind her as she looked up in fear and disbelief. Ryou realized what had just done as Winter turned and ran through the wall, "Winter I-!" Ryou shouted after her as he tried to go after her. "Winter I didn't mean it! I didn't want to hurt you!" Ryou shouted as he saw her come out of the wall on the upper levels and turn around to leave when he said that, she stopped and turned to face him. The next moment she was in front of him and shaking as she slowly became less transparent, then transparent again. You really mean it? She sounded angry and yet Winter looked afraid and weak.
"Yes, I really didn't want to hurt you." Ryou whispered to her as he pulled her into a hug, now she felt so solid. She felt alive but, he couldn't feel a heart beat or pulse. "I'm just afraid, I just lost my friends to this manor. I'm angry at this place." Winter looked up at him as she stepped back. "I know you are." She said, this time it wasn't broken up into pieces and whispers of long forgotten voices. Winter looked, felt and sounded human again. Winter must have taken notice as she looked at herself in the mirror nearby, she didn't see through her. "I'm still dead though." She said as she put her hand on the mirror, Ryou let out a breath he had been holding. She turned to him and pulled the knife out of the wall "We should get your friends back." Winter said as Ryou nodded and followed her to the cellar. Once the two of them were at the doors Winter and Ryou looked out the window, it was night out, then Ryou looked at the time on his phone and found that it was almost seven PM. "We have five hours to find your friends." Winter said as she looked over at Ryou's phone. "Why five hours?" Ryou asked as Winter stopped dead in her tracks "We just have five hours that's all." She said as she held out her hand to the lock on the door and it dropped to the ground. The doors swung open and Winter pointed down the steps "This is where I leave you Ryou. I'm sorry but, I cannot leave this floor as of current." She said as she put her hand on Ryou's face, "I'll be up here. Don't worry Ryou." Ryou nodded and turned on his flashlight heading down the stairs. Into the cold and dark cellar. "Wait Ryou!" Winter called after him as she tossed the locket from the music box down at him "If you run into trouble! Use it." Ryou caught it and nodded as he continued his decent.
The cellar was darker then Ryou had thought, there was water dripping from some point far away that echoed through the cellar. Ryou stood there at the foot of the steps and looked back, the doors were open still and he could see Winter watching him. There was a moan from far off in the cellar that Ryou had realized it was Yugi's voice. "Yugi?" Ryou asked as his flash light died. "Crap! Yugi? Are you here?" there was another moan and then a whisper 'Over here.' came Yugi's voice. "Yugi… It's me, Ryou." there was another 'here' from Yugi as Ryou found his way through the dark "Yugi I can't see that well, your going to have to speak louder." there was a louder voice that said 'Right here.' Ryou jumped as he realized it came from behind him. That's when he realized he had his phone, using the light from the screen Ryou made his way to a caged off area "Yugi!" Ryou said loudly as he realized Yugi was in the cell, bleeding but still alive. Yugi met Ryou's eyes and jumped to the front of the caged area "Ryou!" his voice was horse and sort of like a whisper. There was the sound of a chain moving as Ryou searched the key ring for a key that could open the lock on the door, when he found one labeled 'Cellar Back' Ryou fit it into the latch and was about to turn the key when something dark and evil came from behind. Ryou turned and gasped at the sight, it was Winter's grandfather. His right eye had a bullet staring back at him as blood seeped down onto the ground with each step the man took he looked as if he was limping. Suddenly Winter's Grandfather tackled Ryou as he reached for the knife he had brought with him but, he was knocked out of the way as Yugi screamed and backed up into the dark area of the caged area. That's when Ryou remembered the locket that Winter handed him, he fumbled to get it from his pocket, rolling around trying to get the dead man off him. When the locket was out Ryou didn't know what the use would be for so he opened it, that might have been a mistake as the dead man evaporated into the locket and it closed itself. Ryou turned back to Yugi and unlocked him from the cell. "Can you move?" Ryou asked as a shaking Yugi nodded and walked with Ryou back to the steps and into the kitchen, where Winter shut the doors to the cellar and locked them tightly. "Yugi needs medical attention." Winter said as Ryou pulled out the first aid kit from the bag and helped Yugi with his wounds. Winter aided in handing Ryou things he needed and putting away things he didn't need, "What did that locket do Winter?" Yugi asked as Winter continued aiding Ryou "It was my mothers locket, along with the music box. My mother was an underdeveloped physic and could help pass spirits of the dead on through the locket I guess. I'm not sure really what it does." Winter said as Ryou finished up, "Yugi I need you to go back to the groundskeepers house and lock yourself in, don't let any one but Malik, Joey, Tristan, me or Winter in okay?" Ryou said as he opened the back door leading directly to the back of the groundskeepers house. Yugi nodded as he ran through the wet grass and got inside the house. "Now we need to find Malik and the others." Ryou said as Winter nodded and led him through the house.
Winter ended up leading him to one of the guest bed rooms, "It used to be the family nursery until we….. were murdered." Winter explained as Ryou opened the door, "This is where my Grandmother was killed, protecting Mandy." Ryou stopped "I thought Mandy was dead." "She was dead, it's just Celia had her child and named it Mandy." Winter explained as Ryou walked into the large nursery. Joey stood looking out the window then he turned around and smiled "Aww man you gotta talk to this lady. She's so awesome." Joey said as he motioned at the woman that looked exactly like Winter's grandmother. Her grandmother held a little bundle of cloth in her arms as the sound of a baby came from the bundle. When Ryou looked behind him, Winter was at the door, her hand clenched over her heart as her hair covered her eyes. She stepped back as the door closed, Ryou could hear his heart thumping as Joey grabbed his hand. The baby sounded extremely demented as Winter's Grandmother looked at the two and smiled, "You can see us Groundskeeper. You hold Emily's locket. You are like her." She said as the baby suddenly went even more demented "But we cannot let you pass us on." With that the Grandmother started coming towards them with long strides "I don't like the looks of this." Joey said as Ryou held his arm over Joey's chest pushing him back. "I've got this." Ryou said as he pulled out the locket and opened it. Just as soon as Winter's Grandmother came with in arms length she was gone, both her and Mandy were gone. Ryou let out a breath he had been holding as Joey became confused and asked "What just happened?". Ryou just told him to ask Yugi and led him to the kitchen with Winter. Before Joey left for the house though he asked "So that's Winter Eh?" Ryou nodded "I can see why she likes you." At this Ryou blushed and Joey laughed while he left. "Is something wrong Ryou? Your just standing there." Winter asked as Ryou jumped and turned, "I-it's nothing. Say Winter. I've been wondering…. who exactly killed you?" Winter froze and darkly said "I don't remember." "But you must know something! I mean they did kill you!" Winter glared at him "I said, I don't remember anything! Now drop it!" Winter shouted in anger as she calmed down and looked at the clock on the wall, "It's almost midnight Ryou. Promise me that you'll come back tomorrow." Ryou was shocked at how quick she changed moods, was she bipolar? "I promise." Ryou said as he walked out the back door and turned to lock it, just before he locked it though he pulled Winter into a kiss and shut the door locking it. With that Ryou walked back to the cabin wondering if Malik and Tristan were alright, they would be if Winter could protect them. She should be able to now but, little did Ryou know that as soon as the clock struck midnight Winter would change.
Well there's the end of day nine! I'm happy about the reviews again and I want to thank you the reader for sticking with me through this chapter. Well I'll see you tomorrow! Bye!