Here's chapter 3 of 'Haunted'. I am so sorry for leaving everyone hanging.
Yugi: Life in general got to her and she couldn't update.
Yup, but I'm back and eager to start once more.
Bakura: Until some other crisis or distraction hits her like a ton of bricks.
That won't hap…OOOOOH…fireworks. Pretty colors…
Bakura: I rest my case.
Yami followed the man as he inspected the farmhouse. "Aside from a few loose boards and some slight water damage, I'd say that you are safe to begin whatever you wish to do to fix this place up," he stated as he signed the paperwork. "Give me a call for a final inspection after the repairs are made and before you move in here. Also, let me know if you are able to get that one room open. It might be a health or safety issue otherwise."
Yami nodded, "I will, promise."
The man handed him the papers and left. Yami decided to explore the house a bit until his grandfather came back to pick him up. He headed to the front staircase and looked around. There were stains on the floor and steps. He stepped into the room to look around before heading up. Below the landing was another stain of some sort. Yami figured that the stains were likely the water damage the inspector mentioned.
Malik grew bored as he watched Yugi's living copy explore their home and prison. He wanted so badly to mess with the male, but a faint ball of amethyst light drifted into the parlor room. That light caught the male's attention as it made its way up the stairs and into the third door. He walked into the bedroom and sighed when he saw Yugi curled into a ball on his bed. Malik sighed, "I'm sorry, Yugi."
"You always say that, Malik. Then, when you get mad at me, you'll say it again. I'll run off, Ryou lectures you, you apologize, and it starts all over again," Yugi sobbed. "Why can't we just stop the endless circle? Why?"
"Because we don't know how. Remember, our bodies were never found. Maybe that's what's keeping us here," Malik reasoned. He pulled Yugi into a gentle hug. "We'll get through this somehow. Hey, at least we're still together."
Yugi looked up to see Malik's watery smile. He gave a weak one of his own, "Like Peter Pan and the Lost Boys?"
"Yeah, and I'm Peter. You and Ry are the Lost Boys," Malik smirked playfully.
Yugi laughed his mood lifting.
Yami had been in the middle of cleaning the parlor when he thought he heard laughter coming from upstairs. He shrugged it off, thinking that it was some bird nearby. He turned back to the couch that was too far damaged to save and began smashing it with a sledgehammer that he had borrowed from his grandfather.
After he had hauled the last bit of ruined furniture out to the trash pile, Yami decided to check out the bedrooms. One of the four rooms was locked and he didn't have the key to it. Yami decided to check it out later and headed to the one that was left open. A nursery was set up and, by the looks of things, had been ransacked. Clothes and toys were missing, a moth-eaten baby blanket lay dangling from the crib by a few threads, and a fine layer of dust coated everything. Yami noticed a single picture frame on the ground. He picked it up and gently dusted it off.
He nearly dropped it when he saw the image. Three small boys and a newborn looked out from the photo, the boys had smiles on their angelic faces as they posed for the photographer. But that wasn't what unnerved the teen. It was the appearance of the three boys that was unsettling. They looked like he and his brothers. Hoping that the back would give him some clues as to the boys' identities, Yami gently pried open the backing. Written in delicate script were the names Yugi, Ryou, and Malik age 14, Baby Boy aged 2 days. The word 'boy' had been lightly scratched out and Solomon was written just below it.
Now he had an idea of the three mystery boys' appearance. His curiosity was starting to irritate him. Now Yami wanted to know which boy had what name.
Malik was relieved that the Living boy couldn't get into their room. He wanted to keep their stuff safe from the living and preserved for his younger brothers. It was all they had left of their family and he wasn't about to let some living person touch their treasures.
Yugi let out a cry when the teen picked up the only object neither of them could touch. It was the last picture their mother and father had done to commemorate the birth of baby Solomon. Just as they left with the child after the deaths of the boys, their mother had left her favorite picture of them behind as it was a bitter reminder of her tragic loss.
The teen jerked in shock when he heard the sob and dropped the picture, causing the thin glass to shatter. He looked in the direction of the darkened closet and swore he caught the sight of teary amethyst eyes. He blinked to clear his vision and looked at the closet once more only to see nothing there.
"Hello? Look, I know that I'm probably talking to nothing, but if someone is there," the male started, "I'm not here to hurt you or force you to leave. I just want to make this place a home again. I swear to you that it will remain in my family and you won't have to worry about this house being torn down or sold for a very long time. My name is Yami Atem Mutou. I now own this house, but you are welcome to stay as long as you prove to be peaceful and not cause any harm to those invited into this place."
Malik shook his head at the proposition made by the teen. "Maybe he's telling the truth," Ryou whispered to his brother.
Malik sighed, "I can't take that chance, Ry."
"But he owns our home now," Yugi argued. "He has the Power to force us to leave."
"Nobody has that right, Yugi! Unless our bodies are found, we cannot find peace EVER," Malik countered. He was seething, "The best he can do is knock us out of contact for a little bit."
Yugi shook his head, "I just hope he isn't here when the Time comes again. I don't want him to see that."
Yami checked his watch and decided to call his grandfather for a ride home. He had decided to leave the picture in the room he had found it in but made a note to bring back a frame to replace the one he had broken. Yami felt that the eyes he thought he had seen may have belonged to one of the boys from the photo and figured that he would appease the spirit by replacing what he had damaged by accident. "I'm leaving for the night, but there's a pencil and paper on the bottom step. If there's anything you want fixed just write it down. The same goes for what you don't want me to touch. I'm sorry for breaking that frame in the baby room. I'll bring a new one back tomorrow," Yami called from the front door. "I left a list of what I plan to do when I return, but feel free to let me know otherwise."
After his little announcement, Yami stepped outside and locked the house for the night. The three brothers rushed to look at the list. Yugi couldn't help but laugh as he caught sight of Number 10: Try to make contact with possible spirits until they accept me.
Malik grabbed the pencil and wrote on their sheet of paper his demand to leave them be and to leave the locked room alone. Yugi waited until Malik stormed to their room and wrote, 'Please respect that the locked room is OURS and leave it be. To enter uninvited will result in severe consequences.'
Ryou nodded his consent before they headed to their room as well.
Hope you all enjoyed this update.
Yugi: Unit next time!