Warning: This chapter's getting into the dangerous area, prepare for lots of scares but the same fun and enjoyment. Kabs and I both agree this is going to be a pivotal part in this story. Ooh, the suspense is killing me... ;-)
Malik Fan – Well, if you liked the last chapter, you'll love this one...
darklight – Thanks, this part's especially long, but I think it's worth the wait.
SetoKaiba419 – Haha! Prodigious is right! We've really been into this fic lately, and it's really fun to write. You'll get a glimpse of the basement in this chapter as well as a large boost on the creepiness meter. I suggest being careful if you have a weak stomach. *evil grin* Do give questions or any type of comment you wish, and since the story's not even close to completion, we're willing to accept suggestions too. The gang's gonna be in for quite a fright this time! Hehehe... We hope this fic lives up to your expectations. Thank you, again, for you inspiring review!
sakuya – I wanted to thank you for posting on Scarred Souls, your fic is really deep and psychological. Something that can be hard to find in Yu-Gi-Oh fanfiction nowadays in my opinion. Well, I can't tell you how it's going to turn out, but you'll venture further into the creepiness of the hotel in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Without further adieu, here's part 4. Please leave a review, though, and tell us what you think! We're always anxious to see what our readers have to say.
-- Kabuki and Sylvia
*****
Part 4:
It had taken Kaiba a while to find the stairway down into the basement, having tried doors for at least a half an hour before finding the correct one. Eventually, he found a door hidden in a corner of the hall, a large metal padlock securing the room's secrets. The door itself had once been painted a brilliant white, but now stood only a ghost of its former self, the paint seeming to cling to it like a withered gown that had worn out its usefulness. The red and orange lock was covered in rust, and Kaiba had to wonder how long this peculiar doorway must have stood here, guarding secrets that nobody seemed to want anymore.
"Typical," he felt a shiver climb down his spine as his voice echoed in the grand hallway. Although toward the front of the hotel he was at least somewhat comforted by the sounds of the wind seeping in through cracks in the walls, here he felt like he was within a tomb, buried away from the rest of the world and untouched by time. He felt a sense of vertigo wash over him as he stared at the door, which was made for only half a person, coming up to only his waist. He shook off the uneasiness that wanted to overwhelm him, knowing that he'd have to get used to it. The weekend of detention had only just begun. He couldn't allow himself to get freaked out over a little claustrophobia or the silence which accompanied it.
Kaiba pulled experimentally at the padlock, grimacing a little as the rust flaked against his bare hand. Finding it still held the same strength it must have had decades earlier, he kicked at the door, feeling the weight of the wood give easily. He tried a few more times, the padded rubber of his combat boots meeting the wood with gruesome determination, the echoes from the onslaught drifting around the room like a warning bell. He almost felt sacrilegious, making so much noise in a room that seemed to shrink away from his outrage. Finally, the door gave, and he grabbed hold of the frame to keep from falling forward into the black abyss that greeted him.
Nervously, he clutched the flashlight in hand, and flipped the switch to illuminate his path. He smiled as he spied the steps which greeted him. "You weren't so difficult to find, now were you?" He lowered his head, bending at the waist and nearly crawling as he hunched through the small, gaping passage. Once inside, however, he could stand almost fully erect, and he noted that the air was stale and stagnant, smelling overwhelmingly of mildew, dust, and decay. Upon mounting the spiral stairs, however, Kaiba found that the dizzying staircase was even more dilapidated than he had at first assumed. The boards creaked in irritation with each step, and the flashlight was his only method of discerning if a step was safe enough to trust. The spiraled staircase seemed endless, and with each step Kaiba found his heart skipping a beat as his breath became heavier. Each step he took left a puff of dust as the thick padding was disturbed, and he had to wait at each stair before he could see the next and continue. With every step he took, the staircase swayed, making him wonder how old the supports were. "If they had only built this damn thing out of metal, like any sane architect would, this wouldn't be as much of a problem. No wonder Pegasus never comes down here, these stairs are as twisted as he is."
He thought back to the look on Mokuba's face when he'd stated that he would explore the basement, how frightened the boy looked when he knew that Kaiba was going to leave him. It was part of his plan, though, and Kaiba was sticking to it. If he went ahead and fixed the electricity tonight, then he would have the rest of the weekend to look after his younger brother and ensure that no one took advantage of him. He was certain that after the long trek uphill to reach the sprawling wreck of a building, and the ridiculous sermon Pegasus had given concerning the danger of the hotel, Yugi's group would have no reason to bring harm to his little brother. But how was he to be certain? How did he to know that his brother would indeed be safe within their hands? Mokuba had been kidnapped so many times, Kaiba felt he could take no chances.
With each step he took, he felt as though he were going in circles. The darkness above was just as pitch black as the darkness below, and Kaiba had an unsettling image of himself spiraling endlessly into the very pit of the Earth. A strange feeling of light-headedness took hold of him, as though he was breathing air from a very high altitude, and he had to clutch the railing a little tighter to steady himself. As he took another step, however, he lost the careful strategy he had formed to reach the bottom of the corkscrew staircase. It seemed the stairs were just waiting for him to make a mistake. He felt his foot slide farther than the stoop of the step should allow, and flung his arms out as the rest of his body fell through the gaping hole that was formed. Two, then three, then four stairs crumbled as his weight met with them, and he wondered briefly if he would ever land. He gasped as a splinter of wood viciously gouged his bicep, and the dusty air filled his lungs, causing him to erupt into violent coughing. His reaction time, though, was admirable. His body reacted even before his brain could register what had happened, and suddenly Kaiba was hanging above the dark abyss, only his fingers clutching one of the few steps left intact.
Kaiba attempted to pull his weight upwards, hoping to obtain a better grip on the step above him and recover enough to get the hell out of such a precarious predicament. The wood creaked dangerously, and bits of dust fell into his eyes. He blinked, shaking his head, his heart pounding deafeningly in his ears. He looked down below, seeing a great distance away the tiny gleam of the flashlight that had fallen before him. Its beacon seemed a warning of just how far he would fall if he couldn't hang on or pull himself up. He recalled Pegasus' words about how the man never came down here – he must have not even tried to unlock the door.
He whispered a curse and tried to lift his other arm, but the wound on his bicep throbbed from the sharp piece of wood which still remained lodged there. He grimaced and looked upwards again, preparing to summon any remaining strength to begin the dangerous task of pulling himself up, when he heard a strange scratching above him. It seemed like the sound of something sharp being dragged across wood, and confused he squinted up into the looming darkness, his vision slowly becoming accustomed to the pitch black which surrounded him. Surely he was imagining the sound, but the scratching was getting closer, and Seto felt a knot forming in the pit of his stomach. From the blackness slowly materialized a yellow gaze, catching Kaiba completely off guard. He reasoned that someone might have followed him, and his pride flared at the outrage of Yugi or one of the others seeing him in such a foolish situation; however pride soon merged into fear when the creature slid forward. Humanoid eyes, luminescent and wide, stared down at him from the staircase he had just fallen from, and though Kaiba couldn't make out any details, he could tell the thing's body was horribly twisted and pale, gleaming a little in the shadows like the pale flesh of an underwater serpent which had never seen the light of day. The scratching noise continued, as a gruesome grin spread across the creature's face, its teeth yellowed and rotten with decay and disuse.
Seto sucked in a breath, and closed his eyes tightly, opening them again and hoping it was only a hallucination. But the creature was still there, the smell of rot and decay flowed through his nostrils as the thing reached downward, the other hand clutching the wooden step wetly. The nails were curled, as though they hadn't been used in years, tapering to a jagged point which was the source of the scratching sound that pervaded the stillness of the stairway. The creature reached out one wasted hand, as Seto heard a sharp hiss from the creature's mouth, he felt the nails slice swiftly across the skin of his hand leaving a trail of searing pain, and then he could take no more. For the first time in his life, Kaiba was forced to swallow his pride and put his logic aside in wake of the sheer terror and survival instinct which took hold. The darkness below seemed more inviting than such a revolting creature, and with a rebellious cry he let go of the ledge. As he plunged into the abyss and vertigo took control of his senses, the creature's frightening grin remained branded into his memory.
He felt stairs give beneath his weight as he fell through level after level in a riot of noise and pain, the rotten wood spewing a mildew and moldy scent into the air which accompanied him through his descent. The shattering woodchips left splinters that tore through his face and hands, leaving blood spattered sporadically on his dirty white trench coat. He watched the creature fall back into the shadows as the knowledge that the ground would eventually greet him increased. Then his head struck something hard as warm blood trickled down his cheek. He groaned slightly as the darkness of unconsciousness overtook him.
*****
As the group made their way through the darkened hallway, they came upon a set of wooden double doors freshly painted white. Not enough coats had been applied yet, and the unmistakable red varnish still peaked out beneath the fresh coat. Duke pushed on them experimentally, and found a small amount of white paint rubbed off onto his fingers.
"Well, be careful, guys. It seems that Pegasus has already started to remodel this place." Duke smiled at Tristan's black leather jacket. "Watch what you lean against, Tristan. I wouldn't want you to ruin your coat."
Tristan eyed the boy suspiciously. "I think I'm more worried about you pushing me into something…" He rolled his eyes dramatically. "Aren't you going to open the door?" Duke blinked at him in confusion, and then realized that he hadn't even tried the handle. But as he stared at the polished metal, he felt a wave of uneasiness fall over him. He couldn't explain it, but for some reason, he didn't want to leave the safety of the main hall. It seemed to him a good idea to stay within the areas they already knew were safe. He shrugged, rather annoyed with his own superstitious behavior, but was jarred from his caution by a shove as Joey pushed past and through the double doors without a second thought.
"The paint's not that interesting. Quit talkin'! I want food!" Joey growled, already far into the room and scanning about with his flashlight searching for anything edible.
Yugi shook his head, "I guess we'd better follow him."
Mokuba glanced nervously behind him and into the darkened hallway they had just passed through, "I don't like leaving my big brother behind. Maybe someone should stay out here in case he gets lost."
Yugi smiled at the bushy-headed boy, "No, I'm sure he'll be alright, Mokuba."
"Yeah," Duke muttered as he rubbed his arm, eyeing Joey in the darkened kitchen as he banged around in boxes, tossing utensils aside in his quest for anything edible. "Besides, I'm sure all he has to do is listen for a minute to figure out where we are." He sighed in irritation. "That dog needs a leash, Yugi."
"I heard that, ya jerk!" Joey yelled, as he held up the prized possession of a bag of potato chips that he salvaged from a corner in the room. "Well, I found myself some dinner. What are you critics gonna eat?"
"Joey, there's supposed to be plenty of food for us to eat," Yugi smiled. "There's no need to fight over potato chips."
Joey sighed, still clutching the bag with determination. "Well, do you see anything else to eat around here?"
"It's probably just been put away," Tea commented as she stepped toward a hulking dark shape in the corner. "Hey," she said, moving her flashlight over the gleaming metal. "This is a gas stove; I can use this since the electricity's out still. It's still warm from Croquet making the tea earlier, so the gas must be hooked up." Sure enough, near the sink was the tea kettle, washed and set aside to dry.
Joey looked uncertainly from the stove to the bag in his hands then toward Tea. "Okay, so there's chips and tea. Great. You expect us to live off that for the weekend?"
"Well, I brought a candy bar," Mokuba mentioned offhandedly. "It's a Snickers, so I know it's good."
"You have a candy bar?" Joey's eyes lit up, eyeing the boy. It was such a ferociously hungry expression, that the child took a step backwards.
"But… I'm sure Yugi will find something to eat, right Yugi?" Mokuba glanced warily at the blond that towered over him.
"Come on, Mokuba. You can't eat that candy bar all by yourself, you know…" Joey gleamed.
"Easy, boy. I'm sure we'll find some cans of dog food around here for you. Just stop trying to hump Mokuba's leg." The dicey duelist laughed as he searched with his flashlight through the cabinets. "We'll have to get you fixed if you keep that up. Hey, I found some cans of tuna!"
"Hey, dice-man, stop with the dog jokes, already! It's getting …. Did you say tuna?"
"There's some loaves of bread over here too," Tristan said, "and a couple of jars of pickles! Weird… You certainly can tell Pegasus stocked this place. Tuna, tea, and pickles."
"Yuck!" Mokuba cried, sticking out his tongue in the dark. "I found some caviar and wine. Who wants that shit?"
"Watch your language, Mokuba! If your older brother was here to hear that, I'm sure he'd have a thing or two to say about it." Tea had already found an old fashioned can-opener, and was taking the cans of tuna from Duke.
"I found a bunch of cans of vegetables," Yugi mentioned from a corner in the room. "There's some tomatoes, squash, carrots, beans… all sorts of stuff. There are also some cans of soup down here as well. Pegasus wasn't lying when he said he had provisions made for us."
"Great, here's a bunch of pasta over here. I can make spaghetti!" Tea exclaimed as she retrieved a few cans of vegetables along with the boxes of pasta, and began filling a pot with water.
Yugi watched the girl carefully. "Tea, do you know how to make pasta? Because if you don't, you shouldn't waste our food."
"Of course I know how to cook! I make spaghetti all the time at home."
"For who?" Joey asked. "Not me. And personally, I just might wanna bag of chips over Tea's cookin', ya know."
Tea glared at the boy between her preparations, and preferred to let the topic drop over riling her friend even more. She made a mental note that hunger and Joey just did not mix. It seemed to bring out some of his more unlikable qualities. Joey, meanwhile, had already torn the bag of chips open and was munching happily as he strolled about the room, flashlight in hand. Yugi, Duke, Tristan, and Mokuba were helping Tea with the cooking in whatever way they could. The promise of food for some reason made them all very polite, and they seemed willing to help in any way they could to get a plate of the wonderful-smelling pasta Tea delighted in preparing.
Meanwhile, Joey found a large metal door in the back of the kitchen, far away from the stoves. The room it opened into seemed to have been made into the wall, so he knew Pegasus hadn't had a hand in building it. He eyed it suspiciously for a moment, placing his emptied bag of chips on the counter as he pulled on the large metal handle. The door was much heavier than he'd expected, and Joey grunted with the effort it took to swing the door open. He felt a cool breeze hit his face, but the smell of decay hit his nostrils making him flinch. As he peered into the darkness, he brought his flashlight up, and swept the cylindrical beam in a lazy arc which stopped suddenly when he realized what he was looking at. There were seven of them, hung carelessly on large hooks attached to chains which draped from some unseen place in the roof of the room. He felt his heart leap into his mouth and his stomach churned at the sight before him. They had at one time been human, but before him they were stripped of their skin, little more than muscle and bone, bloody masses hanging in the darkness. Below them, a warm pool of blood had formed. The light touched on one of their faces, and he noticed wet white things moving behind the eye-sockets. He felt the chips he had just eaten rise into his throat, and he turned away from the gruesome sight as he lost his dinner over the polished floor.
"Joey?" Yugi called from the other side of the room. Everyone abandoned what they'd been doing in their anxious haste to see what was wrong.
Tea took one look at the mess and shook her head, closing her eyes against the sight. "You should've waited for my pasta, Joey."
Duke averted his gaze and rolled his eyes. "Ok, that's disgusting. Nice pre-dinner entertainment there, doggie."
Joey ignored everyone and leaned heavily against the counter, his eyes were clenched tight and skin was covered in cold sweat. He lifted the palm of his hand to cover his mouth, as though he was afraid of what else he might lose. Yugi was the last to reach him because of his short strides, but he immediately pushed past the others stepping gingerly around the small puddle to wrap a supportive arm around his friend. "Joey what happened? Are you okay?"
Joey's eyes opened wide and his evident fear took Yugi by surprise. "Look in there, Yugi. You're not gonna believe it. Pegasus's been doin' some fucked up shit in this hotel!"
Yugi watched his friend carefully, and then looked over his shoulder into the room. He picked up the flashlight that Joey had involuntarily dropped. The gleam of the metal room flashed back at him, nearly blinding the poor boy, but the room itself was bare. "I don't see anything, Joey. It looks fine to me."
Tristan looked into the room from behind Yugi, moving to the side to see around Yugi's pointy hair. "It looks like an old meat locker, but it doesn't look like it's been used in a while. It still feels cold."
Yugi took a step forward, intent on entering the deserted meat locker, when Mokuba ran forward, nearly slipping and falling in the puddle, but managing to reach Yugi before he could step inside. His eyes were wide, his breath coming in quick pants as he clutched Yugi's jacket, his knuckles white in his desperation. "Don't go in there," he whispered.
Yugi eyed the boy strangely, feeling the warnings of Yami permeating throughout his body like the tingling of an electric jolt. "Why not?"
"Please-oh-please don't go in there! It's awful!" Mokuba tried to pull Yugi back.
"It's only a meat locker," Duke commented, squinting curiously into the darkness from between the shoulders of Tristan and Joey.
"What do you mean it's empty?!" Joey spun around, nearly knocking Mokuba to the ground. "I swear I saw…" he trailed off, his shoulders rising and falling with every sharp breath. Indeed, although the locker was empty to Joey's eyes, Mokuba still saw the figures hanging before them. Except with his heightened senses, he noticed that the faces were slowly turning to regard their guests. The mouths began to open slowly, and the white insects began to pour out from the gaping holes. The boy gave a startled cry, and though he knew Pegasus had said to shut your eyes and count to three, Mokuba couldn't break away from the lifeless figures.
"You've gotta shut it!" Mokuba cried, pulling Yugi to the ground with him. Joey, knowing what he saw in that instant, and trusting Mokuba's decision, attempted to shut the door, but found that its weight had increased ten-fold. He looked around him at his friends and noticed the scent of decay reaching his nose again. In the panic, he began to push harder at the door, straining with all his might as Mokuba screamed, "They're coming through! Hurry Joey!"
With Mokuba's cries bringing the rest of the group to their senses, even though they had no idea what was happening, Duke and Tristan moved to help the blond. Yugi stared into the gaping meat locker, the scent of decay finally reaching his nostrils. His Yami started to scream in his head, his voice echoing throughout the soul chamber.
::Yugi, you must get away! Move away from them! You can't see them, but trust me, they are there!:: Yet despite Yami's warnings, Yugi found that he was rooted to the spot, his limbs felt heavy and refused to do what he asked of them. He stared into the locker as his friends toiled away, slowly pushing the door shut, and for an instant, Yugi felt a foreign unfriendly gaze upon him as dark shapes began to materialize in the metal room. He might have stared forever into the abyss if Tea had not grasped him tightly about the elbow and pulled him away from the sight. The door slammed shut, the three boys sliding to the ground in front of it, exhausted.
Tea's face suddenly appeared before him. "Are you alright, Yugi? I was calling to you, didn't you hear me? You almost were locked in there, you kept walking forward." The King of Games stared into her hazel eyes blankly, realization rushing forward, and with the aid of Yami, became aware of his surroundings once more, the haze of confusion lifting like a cloud. Behind Tea, Mokuba simply stood rigidly with his small arms wrapped defensively about his torso, his mouth agape and his eyes wide. The child looked a wreck and Yugi felt a heart-wrenching sympathy for the boy that had seen what Yugi never wanted to see.
"I'm sorry, Tea, I didn't hear you." He stood, giving her a hug. "Thank you. Whatever that was, I think you saved me from it."
"No thanks to the guys on the floor, right?" Tristan mocked, rising to his feet with the aid of Duke. Joey simply sat on the floor, staring at Mokuba curiously.
"You saw it too, didn't you? I didn't imagine it, did I?"
"No, Joey, you didn't imagine it." Mokuba's voice came as a hoarse whisper as his eyes were glued to the shut door before him. "They were all dead, all seven of them. They wanted us to go with them." Tea gave the boy an odd look, and then swept him into her arms, giving him a fierce hug.
"Its okay, Mokuba. You can't possibly have seen dead people in there, but trust me it'll be alright. You were just upset; this is a very upsetting situation, but you have friends all around you and nothing can hurt you with us here to help."
"Upsetting situation – yeah, you can say that again," Joey mumbled, crawling to his feet, and eying the door with fearful regard. "We've gotta keep this thing closed, guys, and most definitely locked."
Duke dragged a large steel table over to the door, shoving it up against the handle. "Well, that should hold it." He pushed a stray strand of black hair away from his emerald eyes. "Don't worry, Joey, the boogeyman won't get you now, not with the Dice Master around," he gave a sly grin as the blond simply rolled his eyes.
"Whatever you say, Duke." Joey staggered over and felt around the counters until he found some cleaning utensils that he had seen earlier. "I'm gonna clean up this mess. Sorry, guys, I didn't mean ta…" he looked down to his feet, suddenly very ashamed of his actions and the small puddle before him. He felt his cheeks flush as he looked at the haggard group before him. Tristan and Duke had returned to the food talking amicably and in hushed voices, both tired but unwilling to show it. Tea had a hand on Yugi's shoulder, afraid the King of Games might fall into another strange trance. But perhaps the saddest sight was that of poor Mokuba. The kid looked as though he had seen a ghost… but then again, Joey was pretty certain he had seen one as well. Joey cleaned up the mess and washed his hands in silence.
Yugi walked over to the blond, giving him an encouraging look. "At least we're all together, Joey. No matter what happens in this hotel, just remember that you can always count on us."
"It's just like pictures in a book," Mokuba moved over to look up at Joey reassuringly. The boy still looked badly jarred, but he seemed able to pull himself out of the shock that had enveloped him earlier. Joey admired the kid suddenly, and wondered where Mokuba got such inner strength. "That's what Pegasus said before he left. Whatever we see here that we can't explain are just like pictures in a book. They can't hurt us."
Joey scoffed, "Yeah, Mokuba, and all I had to do was shut my eyes and count to three to make those… those things disappear, right?"
Mokuba looked away, "I just don't want to see anything like that again, that's all."
"What exactly did you see?" Duke called over from the stove. Mokuba's face darkened, and the boy seemed terribly frightened once again as he recalled the images. Joey gave the dice-lover a scowl. Duke blinked, "What did I say?"
"Stupid Pegasus-lovin' creep. Can't ya see the kid's shaken up enough?" He put a hand on Mokuba's shoulder protectively. "Don't worry, kid, I think I saw what you saw. Don't let it get to ya. This place is just another one of Pegasus' evil little tricks that he's playing. It was probably just a hologram or somethin'."
"Yeah," Mokuba sighed. He knew Joey meant well, but at the same time he knew what he had seen, and he wasn't about to chalk it up to some weird hologram. He'd had a lot of experience with holographic projections. Every duel he'd ever seen, the big ones anyway, had all used the latest in such technology. If Mokuba had learned anything from his older brother, it was that technology was not necessarily the answer to everything. It could make duel monsters look real, but there was no way they could be made to be seen by one person and missed by another. Visual tricks had to be carefully planned out in order to create that big of a scam, and Mokuba doubted Pegasus had the time or the patience to create something of that caliber. He suddenly smelled the distinct scent of tomato and garlic emanating from the gas stove at the other end of the room. "Tea, I think the pasta's done."
"Oh," Tea cried, running over to the stove to check on the food.
Tristan gave Tea a frustrated look and she ran past. "Ya know, I've already found plates and napkins and silverware – Tea, can't you at least watch the food? Jeez!"
"I'm sorry! Someone had to help with Mokuba and Joey!"
Triatan sighed, glancing at the small group which had formed around the two meat locker victims. "Joey's tough, Tea. He's gotten through worse than a little scare like that. He saved his sister Serentity, didn't he? And as for Mokuba, he's Kaiba's little brother. I think they'll manage. Right now, we've gotta get this food served before it burns." Tristan rushed over to help Tea serve as Duke walked over to Mokuba, ruffling his hair.
"You okay to eat, kid?" he smiled down at the bushy-headed boy. Mokuba rolled his eyes, he really hated being called kid all the time.
"Yeah, I think so. I'm really hungry, no matter what I saw in there,"
The two moved over to the food, leaving Joey and Yugi alone for the moment. Yugi peered at his friend, his face a mask of deep concern. "You don't really believe in that hologram stuff, do you? What you saw wasn't anything like pictures in a book, was it Joey?" Yugi whispered to his friend while the others became interested in the food being prepared.
"Not a bit, Yug," the blond rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He shrugged, unable to form the words to describe what he'd seen in the meat locker. The ghastly feeling of absolute terror would remain burned into his memory for a long time to come. "I guess ya saw through it, Yug. I just figured Mokuba needs something to make him feel better, since Kaiba's not here at the moment and since he saw that… thing in the locker…" he closed his eyes for a moment, pulling himself together. "Sorry, Yug, but I don't feel like eatin' anything right now. I'm gonna go out into the main room. I need to think on this for a while else my head'll blow up."
"But aren't you afraid of being there alone?"
Joey shook his head, glancing over his shoulder at the rest of the group. Tea was serving the food to the grateful guys, who slowly began to migrate from the kitchen. "I'm sure someone'll come out with me. And besides, I don't think anything can be worse than what I saw through those doors. Anyway," he closed his eyes for a moment as a thin smile on his lips, "I don't think I can stay in this room anymore tonight."
Yugi's face became serious as Yami took over, intending to offer advice to the blond. "Just be careful, Joey. I feel that was merely a taste of the power that lies within this hotel, and I'm afraid we'll be privy to far more elaborate displays." Joey sighed in frustration.
"Well, no matter what, Yug, I'll be here for ya. I think if we stick together, we'll be able to get outta this place." He gave his friend a weak thumbs-up and grinned as he retrieved his flashlight before heading warily out through the double doors which led to the grand foyer.
"I hope you're right, Joey." Then Yugi wandered over to join the rest of his friends, as an unshakable feeling of dread crept down his shoulders.