Chapter 4

Croquet caught the unconscious Pegasus and flagged down the approaching van. It stopped right next to them. The window came down, revealing a man wearing sunglasses and a bandanna resembling the American flag on his head.

"Good thing Kemo called me after he called you, James, or I never would've found him!" the man chuckled.

"Nice seeing you again, Keith. How long has it been since Duelist Kingdom?"

"I don't like thinking about it." Bandit Keith muttered. "Are you gonna get in or what?"

The door opened and Croquet shoved Pegasus inside. He climbed in and the door slid shut. The engine revved and they sped into the countryside.

"I hope you found somewhere for us to continue the experiments." Croquet murmured.

"Of course I did! I wouldn't be keeping my end of the bargain if I hadn't, now would I?" Keith snapped. "You're gonna like the place I found. Totally isolated. If he" Keith thumbed toward Pegasus "tries to make a break for it, he won't find anybody for miles."

"All right, I'm intrigued. Where is it?"

"About twenty minutes from here. It's an abandoned sanatorium. They used to perform gruesome stuff on the inmates there."

Croquet grinned. "It sounds perfect."

Keith glanced into the rearview mirror and frowned. "How long before that stuff wears off?"

"A few hours at least. Why?"

"I'd rather not have to drag him kicking and screaming into the building. I'm sure you understand."

Croquet looked up. "I understand perfectly."

Pegasus shivered. Where am I? His mind felt as though it was in a fog. Part of him wanted to get up and figure out where he was; the rest of him wanted to go back to sleep. He opened his eyes with difficulty. Moonlight filtered down through the small barred window and bounced off the walls.

He sat up. Pegasus had seen enough horror movies to know where he was. Whoever had taken him had locked him in a sanatorium. He heard a rustling in one of the corners. Great. There's a rat infestation. Then he saw a small figure curled up in the corner. "Who's there?" he called out, surprised by how weak his voice sounded.

The figure looked up and crawled toward the light. Pegasus saw that it was no bigger than a child. In fact, it was a child. The boy looked up and smiled. Pegasus recognized that smile. It can't be… "Sam?" he asked in disbelief.

"You remember me?" Sam asked happily.

Pegasus smiled. "How could I forget?" His head began to throb. Pegasus winced, and his fingertips went to his forehead. "How long have I been here?"

"Well, they brought you in around midnight. It's 4:00 now." Sam stood up, walked over to Pegasus, and sat down next to him.

"Why are you here?" Pegasus asked.

"Well, my dad's a scientist. These weird people came to his lab a week ago and told him they needed his help with a project. Dad turned them down. Then one of them grabbed me and they told Dad if he didn't help them, they would kill me. They keep me here so Dad will do what they want." He looked up. "Why are you here?"

Pegasus sighed. "I wish I knew." He looked around. "Is there any way out of this place?"

Sam shook his head. "If there was, I'd have found it by now. They keep guards by the front door and all the windows are barred."

Footsteps came down the corridor. Sam jumped up and scurried towards a shadowy corner. The lock clicked and the door swung open. Keith stuck his head through the door. He saw Pegasus and grinned.

"Well, look who's awake! It's been a while, Pegasus."

Pegasus's eyes narrowed in disgust. "Bandit Keith. Why am I not surprised?"

Keith pretended to be hurt. "Gee, it's nice to see you too."

"What do you want with me?" Pegasus snapped, not wanting to spend any more time with Keith then he had to.

Keith stepped a little closer to Pegasus. He wore a malicious smirk on his face. "Well, I told one of my buddies that I was coming down here to check on you, but I have different plans." Hatred filled his eyes. "This is for what you did to me at Duelist Kingdom!" With that, Keith slammed his fist into Pegasus's chest.

Pegasus tried to retaliate, but the drug was still in his veins, which slowed his reflexes. Blow after blow rained down on him and he couldn't stop it. Keith seized Pegasus by the collar and slammed him to the floor of the cell. He felt his wrist break, and tried not to scream in pain.

Finally, Keith stopped attacking. "That's enough for now." With that, he turned on his heel and left the cell, locking the door behind him. Within a few minutes, his footsteps faded away.

Sam pounced out of the corner and ran over to Pegasus. Pegasus held his wrist stiff as he got to his feet. He knew that a vampire could heal broken bones, but he had to keep his wrist still. He eased himself on to the bed in the cell. Pain wracked his body from the innumerable blows Keith had given him.

"I should go get my dad." Sam whispered. "You look awful."

"If you do that, the others will know you've been in here. Besides," Pegasus leaned back on the headboard, wincing. "I'll be alright."

"If you say so." Sam muttered, unconvinced. He looked up. "Is there anything I can do?"

Pegasus shook his head. "No, but thanks anyway." He laid his head on the pillow and was soon fast asleep.

Sam heard the lock on the cell door click and the door swung open. He scrambled for the corner he always hid in, but then he heard someone mutter "I already know you're in here, so you can come out."

He stood up and saw a man with gray hair and sunglasses come in. The man frowned and walked over to Pegasus's sleeping form. He pressed his hand on Pegasus's forehead, and then fingered his injured wrist.

Croquet felt the bone regenerating under the flesh. He pressed his hand on Pegasus's other arm and heard him moan softly. Croquet pulled back Pegasus's sleeve and saw numerous bruises. "Did Keith do this?" He asked, fury building in his voice. Sam nodded weakly. "That bastard." He muttered, then blushed and whispered "Pardon my language." He stood. "I'll take care of this." With that he turned on his heel and strode out of the room, locking the door to the cell behind him. Sam knelt next to Pegasus's bed and stayed with him the rest of the night.

And that, children, is why I hate bandit Keith. You all know what to do now. Use the super-special-awesome button in the bottom left corner of your screen. Please review.