The Challenge of Life or Death

By MissLadyMinxx

Warning:This fic contains yaoi, vampires, werewolves, blood, gore, possibly lemons in the future and religious statements.

If you feel uncomfortable or easily offended in any way reading this story, please DO NOT READ!

Tormented: 07

It was a calm and silent night. Merely the sound of the cricket's song could be heard from miles around the neighborhood, along with the faint echoes of the adjacent city. Yugi was fast asleep in his bed; tightly snuggled under his chibi Dark Magician printed blanket. The digital clock on the nightstand next to his bed read 12:00 am. He slightly opened his drowsy eyes to see Yami sleeping in his usual spot of the bay window with his back leaned against the wall and his arms carelessly crossed. Yugi slightly smiled. This was the most peaceful state he has ever seen him. With a sigh, Yugi turned around to the other side of the bed with his back to Yami and gradually fell back to sleep.

Yami's demeanor might have been serene, but in his mind, there was a struggle between him and his recurrent nightmares. He began to softly grunt and mutter in his sleep, tormented; his body twitched ever so slightly from his vivid hallucinations.

In his nightmare, he was in an endless void of darkness; a never-ending labyrinth that one could not escape. He hastily turned around when he felt a manifestation appear behind him. They were transparent figures of his mother and father. As he reached for them, his hand faded into a little boy's hand and he was soon turned into his former self as a small boy with the age appearance of 8 or 9. Suddenly, the transparent figures of his parents began alter into a malevolent silhouette of his older self with glowing crimson eyes. Frightened, Yami ran as fast as he could away from the towering shadow as it reached out its hand to grasp him. His speed wasn't enough as the shadow grabbed him with an overwhelming constricted grasp and brought Yami closely up to his face. The shadow let out a dark snarl as it shaped into a silhouette of a demonic wolf with those same crimson eyes. Yami trembled at the sight of those wicked eyes as the darkness slowly engulfed his entire body as well as his heart. His agonizing screams echoed throughout the void.

Yami immediately awoke and darted up from against the wall, his face flushed with cold sweat. His eyes are widened from fright as he took in labored breaths as his heart pounded against his chest. He brought his hand to the brow of his forehead, ran his fingers through his hair and then took a glance at his hand. To his belief, it was trembling from anxiety, a feeling he has never felt since his parent's demise. Taking this as a sign of weakness, he tightly clinched his hand into a fist until it seeped blood and he grunted from frustration. This was the same, recurrent dream he's had for years. All his life it tormented him along with those terrible memories from all those years ago.

Intensely angered, he glared at the small boy that was slumbering peacefully in fetal position. Hate along with am immense hunger of carnage filled his eyes as they began to glow a vivid red. Yami feebly stood and walk over to the bed where Yugi slept. As Yami towered over him and glanced down at his small lookalike, his heart began to beat faster than before, nearly at an all-time high. As he continued to look at Yugi, his canine fangs began to lengthen and he panted heavily. Yugi's unique aroma emitting from his body filled his nose, which nearly sent Yami into a sadistic frenzy. Yami hasn't consumed flesh in days and after all, Yugi was a chosen one. Opposing his instinctive urges was a conflict he felt he was never going to win.

Has he reached out his hand to seize Yugi, he found himself at a moment of hesitation. He had to remind himself why he could not dine on this chosen one. Yami growled, immensely annoyed by his predicament. Here was a chosen one, inches away from his grasp and he cannot be harmed. Yami knew he had to feed, but it wasn't going to be Yugi, at least not anytime soon. As desperately as he wanted to, the boy couldn't be harmed. He gradually took steps away from Yugi and made his way back to the window. He had to feed and he was getting weaker with every step he took. At least ordinary human flesh could give him enough strength to defend himself against the lesser vampires. As Yami opened the window, he took a glance at the full moon of the night sky. The cool gust of wind blows through his hair. He shuts his eyes and sighed deeply as the rays of the moonlight filled him with such ecstasy and his primal instincts began to take over. He opened his eyes and they began to glow vividly red; he smirks menacingly. To him, this was a seamless night for a massacre.

Yami jumps from the 2nd story window and gracefully lands onto the pavement of the ground with ease and silence. Casually putting his hands into the pockets of his pants, he began the pursuit of his victim.

Meanwhile, at the local bar, an intoxicated young woman wobbles out of the building with two of her fellow intoxicated girlfriends. They had been drinking all night to celebrate her promotion at her job. The young woman rubs her head, already feeling the effects of the alcohol.

"Kanpai!" she shouts while slurring her letters and holding up an invisible drink. "Oh, right…" she drunkenly snickers when she realizes she's outside.

"Jeez, you never could hold your liquor." One of the females said.

"Hey, Yuriko, you never did tell us how you got that promotion! Everyone knows you're one of the worst employees!" one of her friends spoke, slurring her words.

"It's an age old secret. It's called…" she pauses to hiccup. "…sleeping with your boss. Never fails!" She laughs along with her friends.

"Ahh, Yuriko, you're such a slut!" her other friend joked with a laugh as she nearly lost her balance and fell to the ground.

"Hey, hey, what time is it? I…gotta work in the morning." One of the friends asked.

"It's getting late. We better catch a cab. You coming, Yuriko?" her other friend asked as she wobbles with the other woman to the curb.

"I live only several blocks away. I can walk…" Yuriko slurred as she starts her disoriented trek back home and gives a messy goodbye wave to her friends.

"Okay, see you at work." Her friend spoke as they waited for the cab.

The drunken young woman was halfway home but then decided to cut through the secluded park to get home as soon as possible. She had a headache only a good night's rest could cure. Being disoriented, she strayed from the cement path, which would have eventually led her out of the 500 acre park, but instead wandered off into cluster of trees. Soon, after several minutes of wandering, she finally realized she was no longer on the path and got herself lost in the middle of the shady park, surrounded my bushes and trees. Not a lamppost in sight to shed some light on her surroundings; just the dim shine of the moonlight. Before she could turn back and retrace her steps, she heard rustling noises coming from the bushes next to her. She slightly jumped by the sound and looked to the direction of the rustling shrub.

"H-hello? Is anyone there?" she spoke nervously, hoping it was just another person who was lost or a stray cat.

As she spoke, everything around her went silent and still, until the only sound she heard was an unholy, demonic growl from, what it seemed, coming from all around her. She let out a startled gasped when she saw a set of crimson eyes staring her down and she trembled at the sigh, her body motionless from anxiety. When she gathered up enough courage she could, she began to back away. Each careful and slow step she took back, the creature took one step forward out of its hiding spot until it reviled itself in the moonlight. Terrified, she screamed when she saw the frightening pair of eyes that were staring her down belonging to what she thought was a massive wolf. As she continued back away, a rock causes her to lose her balance. She trips and falls onto the ground and crawls to get away. In a moment, a burst of adrenaline rushes through her body and she gets up to her feet and runs further into the park. Yami tauntingly licks his chops as he watches his victim trying to escape; always taking pleasure in a victim's chase like some sadistic game of cat and mouse. He snarls as he begins to pursue after her on all fours.

The woman ran as fast as she could through the darkened park, desperately trying to find some sign of the lampposts leading back to the path. "Somebody, please help me! HELP!" she screamed, hoping someone could hear her cries for aid, but she was too far into the park. The countless trees around her were drowning out the sounds of her screaming. She turned her head to see if the animal was still chasing her and in the process, trips and falls onto the damp grass. As she sits up, her clothing smeared with grass stains and dirt, she turns around, and her petrified eyes quickly scans the surrounding landscape, only to see nothing. Everything was just as serene as before.

She tries to catch her breath, her heart pounding hard against her chest from all the grueling running and sweat trickled down her face. As she feebly stood to her feet and turned to the opposite direction, to her astonishment, she saw the exiting path that led out of the park just several feet away from where she was standing.

She sighs with great relief. "Oh, thank God." The relieved young woman sprinted her way towards the exit in high spirits. She was halfway towards the exit when she saw something leap swiftly towards her at the corner of her eye. Before she could react, she felt an overwhelming jaw firmly compress around her tender neck. She gagged from her own blood as the razor-sharp teeth entered her flesh as if it were butter. The sheer force of the tackle knocked her off her feet, as Yami brought her down onto the ground, her neck securely in his mouth. Soon, she lost all feeling. She no longer felt pain, just numbness throughout her body. She couldn't scream, as her vocal cords were crushed. Her body went limp as she could faintly watch her own blood flood the sod, soaking it. She heard a crunch sound and her eyesight drifted into darkness as Yami clamped down firmer onto her neck, severing it from her spine. Within a second, she was dead.

Yami dropped her lifeless body onto the blood soaked ground and releases a chilling and air piercing howl that could be heard throughout the night.

Yugi quickly sat up from his bed. "Yami?" he spoke as he glanced at the opened window.

"Yes?" a voiced answered him from a dark corner.

Yugi looked to the location of the voice and softly gasped when he saw glowing, crimson eyes looking at him from the shadowy corner across the bedroom. Yami walked into the dimly moonlit area of the bedroom, his eyes no longer glowing. Yugi noticed some blood stains on the corner of Yami's mouth and cringed nervously from the sight.

"N-nothing…" he spoke quickly and hid under the covers, not only frightened of Yami, but frightened at the thought of whoever's blood that belonged to. He tightly gripped the blanket in his hand as he did his best to get that gruesome thought out of his mind. He knew Yami had to kill to survive, even if it meant killing innocent people, not that it mattered to Yami. He didn't like the fact that Yami was murdering people, but what could he do or say? He was helpless and stuck with him for the time being. He hoped, by some miracle, Yami could somehow change for the better, at least by the time of the red moon's arrival, because if the vampires don't kill him he knew Yami would when this was all over.

To Be Continued...