Chapter 3- Closing In

He recognized this feeling; the cold dread that seemed to crawl across his skin, the familiar sensation he could feel pulling beneath his subconscious. This feeling…he knew it well.

And he thought he would never feel this way again.

Fear prickled at the corner of his mind, his skin…making his hair stand up at the ends. Marik breathed deeply… slowly. He was just imagining it; he was overreacting. Yes, that was it. Just overreaction…

/So quick to disillusion yourself from the truth, eh, Hikari?/

The glass of milk slipped from Marik's fingertips as if in slow motion, his eyes opened wide. Everything seemed to freeze and become cold; including his heart and blood. He didn't hear the sound of his glass crashing to the floor. He didn't feel the spilt milk that stained the floor, and dressed his shoes and the bottoms of his jeans in white. He couldn't move…not even to bring himself to pick up the mess. Adrenaline soon kicked in but he still stood motionless, endlessly repeating one singular thought in his head: No, no, no, no, no….

The voice laughed. Softly…menacingly. /I've been gone for so long and this is how you welcome me?/ It snickered, clearly amused by Marik's state of well-being.

The reaction was immediate this time. Marik raised his hands and practically slammed his hands against his ears, squeezing his eyes shut as he shouted, "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

The voice howled with laughter and it seemed to echo in the otherwise silent kitchen as well as in his head. Marik felt extremely sick. Lowering himself into a crouch, he began to rock himself back and forth, his lips moving soundlessly as he did so. Soon though, the singular voice was joined by a chorus of others. They rose together in volume before settling down to a dull roar and then, abruptly, cutting off entirely.

Marik blinked in surprise. He raised his head slightly, wondering why there was now silence in the room until he heard a door in the hallway clicking. Quickly, the Egyptian stood up, opened a drawer, and pulled out a checkered dish towel. No sooner had he done this did he hear the door open; Ishizu was already back from grocery shopping.

Marik took a few deep breaths before calling out. "You're back already?" He was pleased at himself to find that his voice was calm; devoid of any of his earlier emotions.

"Yes," Ishizu voice called out from the hallway, "and I'm pleased to say that I didn't get distracted this time while I was in there."

As his sister was talking, Marik was able to mop up all of the spilled milk and pile the broken glass pieces together. He stood up and dropped the dish towel in the sink before walking into the hallway where Ishizu was.

"Before going in there," Marik said, taking most of the bags, "be careful. I dropped my glass."

He returned into the kitchen and set the bags on the counter, tuning out whatever it was his sister was saying to him. He didn't want to hear anything right now; He needed to be on guard.

/I'm not the one you should be on guard about, Hikari…./

Resisting the urge to tense up, Marik retrieved a broom and dustpan along with a plastic bag and began to work on cleaning his mess. He refused to listen to it! He was just imaging it! It was just imagination!

"Marik?"

The teen in question blinked in surprised. Oh…

He had almost forgotten that his sister was still in the same room with him. Straightening himself up, he forced out a gruff "What?" as he tied up the plastic bag and dumped it into the trashcan.

"Are you alright?" Ishizu asked worriedly. "Your mind seems to be elsewhere…"

"It's nothing," said Marik. "What were you saying again?"

"Hm? Oh…. I was just saying that I'll be leaving on a business trip in two days. To Egypt again."

Marik looked at her in as much as an expression of shock as he could muster. "What? Why so quickly?" he asked, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

This was the worse. The absolute worse. He couldn't be left alone right now. He didn't even have a clue where he had his meds either. If Ishizu left…no, he just couldn't be alone…the voice…he….

"That's what I had said," replied Ishizu, completely obvious to Marik's uncharacteristic show of display. "But you know my work. I've been told that it was a really rare find and they needed my expertise. That's why I agreed to go."

"Oh…" was all Marik could say for lack of anything else.

"It'll be for about a month but it could be a little bit longer."

"Okay…"

It definitely wasn't okay. Not in the least; far from it. But the last thing Marik was going to do was tell Ishizu he was hearing the voices again. If she knew…

/She'll have you thrown right back into that place again./ the voice injected, finishing what Marik was too afraid to end on his own.

Inwardly, Marik shuddered. He didn't want to think like that. Ishizu, of all people, wanted him to get better.

/No, she doesn't./

Marik was beginning to feel sick. This was the last thing he wanted to hear right now.

"Marik, are you sure you're alright?"

This time Marik couldn't help but stiffen, his sister's word cutting off his inner thoughts once again.

"I said I'm fine," he replied listlessly. "I was just thinking I'll have to cook for myself for a while again."

He took a glance at his sister's expression; she didn't look to be buying what he was saying but he was expecting it. His sister was very good at seeing right through him most of the time, even if he didn't want it.

She still held the worried expression on her features and she was looking at him intently; something she did when she was worried or confused about something.

Not wanting her to read to closely, Marik quickly said, "What?"

"I'm just worried; you don't seem to be yourself…"

Marik could hear the voices begin speaking again faintly, he made sure it didn't show on his face. "What makes you think that?"

"Marik…" Ishizu said. "Did something happen? Or…"

Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it…

"…did you stop taking your medicine?"

Now the voices were unbearably loud. Their voices had been rising through all of Ishizu's words, Marik's fear rising with them until they've become like this now. Pressure coming in on every side, he could feel bile coming up his throat.

It took a lot of effort but Marik was able to tune the voices and look at Ishizu with a straight face. "How crazy do you think I am?"

Ishizu continued to look at him, doubt clearly written on her face, before she sighed in defeat. "All right then."

Uncomfortable with the way his sister was still looking at him, Marik averted his eyes towards the clock.

"I have to go to work now," said Marik, walking out of the kitchen and heading for the door.

As soon as he opened the door he felt his sister's hand on his shoulder. He couldn't help the sigh that escaped his lips. "What is it?"

"….Just…promise me that you'll take care of yourself, Marik."

Indifferent to his sister's plea, Marik merely nodded once, shrugging his sister's hand off of him as he stepped outside and closed the door shut behind him.

The sky was a clear, pale gray, appearing every now and then under darker gray clouds. Marik tore his eyes away from the dull view of the sky and opened his front door. It was late and the Egyptian teen wanted nothing to do except eat and then take a relaxing long nap. All day he had to be on his guard, especially while he was at work, making sure the voices didn't surprise him so that he wouldn't act any different than he would while he was on meds. He didn't need anybody to notice that he was beginning to have episodes again. So, he needed to put up a front and find the bottles of meds that he had hid away.

Leaning back against the door and locking it, Marik called out into the darkening house. "Ishizu, I'm home."

No answer.

"Ishizu?" he called out again. Still no answer.

A sinking feeling of dread was beginning to crawl its way up the pit of his stomach; he was starting to feel sick. Oddly enough, the voices were quiet.

Marik pushed himself away from the door and quickly headed towards the kitchen. If his sister had to leave earlier than planned she would always leave a note on the table. He hoped this wasn't the case this time.

As he rounded the hallway corner and into the kitchen, his fears were confirmed as he saw a blue sticky note on the table. Stiffly, Marik picked up the note and read it:

Marik

Sorry, but they found more rare items near the site of their first find. They needed me straightaway. You'll have food for the rest of this month. Just make sure you're eating well.

I'll be back soon.

Ishizu

It felt like hours had went by as Marik stared at the simple piece of paper; he could even hear the hands ticking on the clock.

/Standing there isn't going to change anything, Hikari./

Shut up…, Marik thought. "Just shut the hell up."

It merely laughed as Marik crumbled the note and tossed it into the trashcan. He left the kitchen and hurried up to his room on the second floor, his eyes wide and his breaths coming out in heavy bursts through his mouth. Nearly unhinged his bedroom door, Marik tore into his room, immediately throwing his belongings across the room as he searched for his meds.

What the hell did I do with them? Marik thought desperately, as he tossed clothes out of drawers. As more and more time went by, the voices began speaking in his head, increasing in volume as Marik continuing searching his room. By now the teen was panicking, his fear growing as steady as the voices' uttering was, practically consuming him. He felt like the room was progressively becoming smaller and smaller as the seconds ticked by. After searching under his bed, Marik stood in the middle of his room, his eyes darting to the chaos that was his room. His mind was a mess; it was confusing to think where he hadn't looked when the voices were continuously talking and attempting to confuse him further.

"Damnit, just shut up," Marik forced out between gritted teeth.

He rubbed his forehead as he scanned the room once more, trying to drown out the noise.

/Hikari…/

"Stop calling me that."

He could almost feel the voice grin evilly. /Hikari, Hikari, Hikari…/ it drawled.

"Fuck," Marik whispered, pressing his hands firmly against his ears.

/Hikari, stop running away. Your escape from me is no longer here…/

It's here, Marik thought, unconsciously answering back. I know it's here; I fucking saw it!

/Marik./

Marik flinched and shrunk in on himself, slowly falling down to his knees and whispering furiously to himself. The voice sounded even scarier than before, all the maniacal playfulness vanished from its tone. Marik couldn't help but fear it; that voice that sounded more insane than the rest of the voices…

He could tell the voice was becoming impatient since Marik had yet to answer it back, and that scared him even more. This has never happened before. Why now? Why now of all times? Marik could feel the tears welling up in his eyes and buried his head in between his legs. Eventually, reluctantly, Marik answered back with a terse, "What?"

/ I am only here to protect you. After all…that is what you created me for…./

Marik suppressed a shudder. Those words, those exact same words…Marik remembered hearing the voice say it before.

/I'm glad you actually do bother to listen to me/ it said, smugly. /Know that I am telling the truth; right now you need me….They want you gone. Everybody. Even your sister and those so called friends you've managed to gain since my absence…/

Squeezing his eyes shut, Marik could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks. "Shut up, it's not true. It's not…" he whispered.

/You sound so sure of yourself…/

"It's not true."

/You saw the looks your "friends" gave you when you told them what you were…/

Unwillingly, Marik thought back to the time he first met Bakura and Ryou. He was sure they had accepted him with warm smiles but now…Now, he could only remember the disapproving glances they gave each other and the conversations they would have behind his back.

I…I don't remember that happening. That couldn't have happen….That didn't happen!

The voice continued on as if Marik hadn't said anything. /Even today…you saw how she looked at you. She wanted to send you away…/

"SHUT UP!" Marik screamed. He refused to believe this. The voice was lying; it had to be. Marik knew it wasn't real. "Stop trying to confuse me!"

/You're only confusing yourself…You've buried yourself in your own fantasy land…completely ignoring the danger around you…./

The voice suddenly laughed, causing Marik to flinch again. /Think of me as the better part of you/ it said haughtily. /Let me take over and you won't have to fear anyone ever again. I can take care of all of your fears…/

"You're not me," Marik said stubbornly, latching on to the one statement that was safer than the others to venture into. "And I'm certainly not you."

/Is that so?/ the voice said in a deadly whisper.

Suddenly Marik felt his hands begin to move away from his ears. His eyes filled with horror as Marik raised his head and watched his own hands moving towards his throat. Marik felt his breaths come out in short gasps, his heart felt like it was beating right out of his chest; in vain, Marik tried to pull his hands away but he no longer had any control over his own limbs.

"Oh, Ra," Marik choked out, now nearly sobbing. "Stop, please, stop it."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Marik's hands ceased its path to his throat. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly pressed his hands between his legs.

/That's not all I can do either…/ the voice said, arrogantly. /You say I'm not you….Well, why don't you look in the mirror, Hikari? You'll see me…/

Tentatively, Marik stared at the mirror across his room. He could only see part of his arm and leg in it yet the teen couldn't bring himself to move in order to see what the voice was talking about.

/Such weakness…/

The whisper caused Marik to flinch again. The last thing he wanted to do was look at the mirror but…he didn't want to end up being choked to death. Marik hands shook as he wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up. Hesitantly, Marik moved towards the mirror, his breaths coming out in shallow bursts, and his whole body trembling slightly. Finally, he stood in front of the glass…and everything suddenly became cold.

In the mirror, two lavender eyes, like his own, stared back at him, an insane glee filling them.

/You can call me Malik./ it said before Marik's vision went black.

A/N: Yay, two updates in a month and before my birthday! *dances happily* Not only that but this chapter more than enough made up for the seriously short chapter I last posted X3

Please review? :3