Chapter 4
The next morning, the rain had stopped. Tea was the first up and got tea from the kitchen. Atem was also up. He hadn't been able to get back to sleep since his nightmare last night. The rest of the boys were still asleep in the living room. "So do you actually know who this Philippa girl is?" Tea asked.
"A bit. She's The Demon's daughter, and she hates that fact more than I do." Atem answered. Tea gasped.
"Fat lot of a father he is." Tea said. Atem cracked a small smile. Herrick was the next up.
"Good news, we've got the place to ourselves, Dad's had to go for work early." Herrick stated.
Philippa's eyes opened. The sunlight streamed in through the window. It was still painful to move, but she managed to sit up. Her shoulder with the bite wound ached like crazy, and her throat was bone dry. She tried standing up, not sure if her feet would bare her weight, but she found that they did. She was only wearing a white nightdress, a few cloths were over a chair by the door, a light blue T-shirt, black jeans, and a grey jacket. It was difficult to put the T-shirt on with her aching shoulder. But she managed. She wondered if she should even be up, but decided to anyway. She was slow and was a bit limp. But she got down the stairs and into the kitchen. Tea had gone back to her room, the rest of the guys were still asleep. Atem was the only one still in the kitchen, much to Philippa relief. "Hey. Do you feel alright?" Atem asked. Philippa nodded.
"Well I don't know about you lot, but I'm starved." Herrick's voice came from outside the kitchen.
"I'm with you on that one pal." Jeoy replied as they came in the kitchen. "Hey Atem." He also noticed Philippa. "Philippa, right?" Joey said. Philippa nodded. "How do you do, name's Joey." Philippa just smiled sweetly. Herrick was already frying up the bacon. "Man that smells good." Tristan complimented.
"Just don't go pigging out again." Tea said firmly. Herrick put the bacon sandwiches on plates and handed one to each of them. "Hey where's Yugi?" Joey wondered.
"Hey Yug, grubs up!" Tristan called. There was no reply.
"Yugi!" Tea called, still no reply. Joey went into the living room.
"Is he upstairs, he's not in here." Joey stated. Herrick went upstairs. But Yugi wasn't there.
"Well where could he be?" Tea wondered.
"That shouldn't open should it?" Tristan said looking at the back door to the house that was looked like someone had broken into it. Philippa walked over to the door and saw the talon scratch marks on it, and her heart sank. She looked back at Atem, who knew what she was thinking. He swung round and kicked a chair over in frustration. "Do you know where he is?" Tea said, getting very worried.
"The Demons got him." Atem said.
"Well what are we standing around here for, we gotta get him back." Joey stated.
"Joey you can't just go barging into that place." Atem stated. A thought crossed Philippa's mind. If her idea worked it would get them in, but getting out would be a bit more challenging. "There's a way in around the far side of the fortress. I tried to use it to get out once, but I got caught. It leads into the underground storage." Philippa said. "It would be good for gettng in, as for finding your friend and getting out again, we'll probably have to come up with something else."
"We might not have to worry about that. The Demon's minions aren't exactly bright, we should be able to get round them." Atem said.
"Alright it's a plan, now lets go." Joey said impatiently.
Herrick fired up the land rover in the garage, which was round the back of the house. "Are you even licensed to drive this thing?" Tea asked before getting in car. Herrick pulled his driving license out from his pocket and showed it to Tea. "Managed to get it on my first go." Herrick stated. It took them a few hours to get to the fortress. They left the car in the forest and head around the fortress to the entrance Philippa had told them about. "You still haven't told me how you know your way around." Atem said curiously.
"I'd been here for about 6 weeks before The Demon brought you, and I tried getting out quite a few times, and failed." Philippa said.
"6 weeks." Atem exclaimed. "How did you survive?"
Philippa just shrugged. "This is it." They were around the far side of the fortress. But there was no door. Everyone was looking at her. "Joey wasn't it." Philippa said.
"Yeah." Joey replied.
"Take two steps to the left." Philippa said. Joey did as she said. And she walked up to the spot where he was standing, and under the grass was a small rusty handle. She lifted it, to open up a small hatch. Everyone looked in, it was quite a long drop. "Alright you first Tristan." Joey said. He took Tristan by the collar of his shirt and lowered Tristan into the hatch. The ground was only about 4 feet of the ground, so Joey let go. Tristan landed on his backside. "You'll pay for that Joey!" Tristan shouted rubbing his saw backside. Atem took hold of the edge and swung in. He let go and landed safely. Herrick was next, followed by Joey who landed on Tristan. "Do I look like a cushion to you." Tristan said.
"Yeah you do actually." Joey replied. Tristan growled. Tea lowered herself in and landed in Herrick's arms. "Thanks." She said. Philippa got down and Atem caught her.
"Right, where do we go now?" Herrick asked.
"This way." Philippa said, leading them down a corridor. They soon came to the stairs that lead to the main part of the fortress, but the door at the top had a guard on it.
"Usual plan Tristan." Joey whispered.
"On three partner." Tristan replied.
"Three!" The two of them shouted in unison. They burst through the door and knocked the guard out. The corridor was now deserted. "This way." Philippa said as she lead them down the corridor. They came to the hall, and heard the Demon shouting at his minions. "You idiots, this isn't the Pharaoh!" The group crept towards the open door. "You will get back to that village, find the Pharaoh and the girl, and bring them to me!" The Demon bellowed.
"Got any ideas?" Joey asked Atem.
"Yep." Atem lied.
"Right here Demon!" Atem shouted as he entered the hall. Joey, Tristan and Herrick were behind him. Philippa and Tea were still hidden around the corner. The Demon turned around to see them, he had Yugi in his talons. "Let him go." Atem demanded.
"Surrender yourself and the girl, and I might let him live." The Demon replied.
"How about you let Yugi go, and we won't kick your ass!" Joey said.
"You against me. I'd like to see that." The demon snarled, before he attacked them. He was thrown back by a blue force, causing him to drop Yugi, who ran to his friends. "Yugi, are you alright?" Atem asked.
"I'm fine." Yugi said. The Demon got to his feet. Philippa came up next to Atem.
"So you've come back to daddy." The Demon said sarcastically. Philippa just glared at him. A dark red ball of fire formed in the demons talons. He threw it at them, but it was deflected into the back wall by Philippa's blue force. "You do have strong powers." The demon said. "I'll enjoy obtaining them." Atem knew what he meant instantly, and put a protective arm in front of Philippa. The demon made another attack only to be thrown into the back wall by Philippa's force. "Let's go!" Atem shouted and grabbed Philippa's wrist and the group ran for it. The Demon was close behind. They came to the place where Atem and Philippa had escaped the first time. Before Philippa could jump from the window, talons wrapped around her wrist and pulled her back. "Philippa!" Atem cried, and climbed back through the window. The Demon punched Atem in the chest, sending him down the hall, before The demon ran in the opposite direction, with Philippa still in his grip. Atem got up and raced after them.
The Demon gripped Philippa by the neck and smashed her painfully against the wall. "I should have drained you when you first go your powers." He snarled. Philippa tried to use her powers to free herself, but the Demon countered with his own. He forced her head to the side and tore her shirt and bandages to revile the previous bite wound. "Still not to late to finish the job." He said coldly. The Demon sank his teeth into her already damaged flesh, and she screamed in pain. The instant Philippa's blood entered The Demons mouth, he felt his power grow, which made him drink faster. Blood ran down Philippa's front and her back. Something made of metal swung into the demon's head, narrowly missing Philippa's face. The Demon let go of Philippa. She looked up to Atem holding an enormous steel mallet, which looked like one of the weapons The Demon's minions would carry. The Demon shock his head like a dog, and glared at Atem. "Why do you even fight for her. She's a demon, she could swing round and kill you in an instant. One day, she'll be as bad as me, and like me, she will love it. That is the path of all Demon's, full and half alike." He attacked Atem but was thrown back Philippa's force. Before the demon could do anything, Atem hit him again. The Demon tried to get up but he looked far too dizzy. One more blow to the head from Atem and the Demon was completely out. Atem went back to Philippa, who was gripping her shoulder. "Come on we need to move." He said, helping her to her feet. Philippa still had the energy to run, and they got back to rest of the group. "Let's get out of here." Joey said. They got back to the car and headed back to the village. Atem noticed very quickly that Philippa was deteriorating. He looked at her shoulder, which was still bleeding beneath her hand, she was going pale too.
By the time they got back to the village, it was about 7:00 pm. From the looks of Philippa, she could pass out at any moment. Atem helped her inside, and took her up to her room. Fortunately Herrick's father was back, and he could treat her, and Tea took care of Yugi. "Is she ok?" Yugi asked.
"I hope so." Atem replied. "What about you?"
"I'm fine." Yugi replied.
"But this is why I didn't want you to come." Atem said.
"Well you were right about one thing." Tea said. "Those guys that work for the demon really are idiots. I mean they mistook Yugi for you Atem." Herrick's father entered the room.
"She should be fine. The bite hasn't got infected this time." He said.
"Thanks." Atem said.