Small Note

Sakura: I thought maybe I could finish this story before 2013 ended, but that didn't happen. Oh well I have extremely high hopes that I will finish this story before the one year anniversary. We are down to the last few chapters now with only two more after this chapter. Thank you all who have continued to review!

Chapter Eighteen

Nightmare

The things you do not want to happen always happen

The hour was late but by the sound of keys typing away on a laptop someone could not sleep. It was no surprise that that someone was the King of vampire city himself. He sat at his desk in his office working on a file he was putting together. Yami had been at it all day because over the past week since the meeting with the portal holders and the shutdown of the portals he had been busy. There was never a moment to sit down and finish the work he had been doing before the meeting with the portal holders. Yuugi could have helped him, but Yami had a feeling Yuugi probably wouldn't have been too happy with what he was doing. It was some undercover work that Yami felt needed to be done if they were going to put an end to the Hunters.

All week he had not had a moment's peace since closing the portals. The day after meeting with the portal holders and then his council, the King contacted the local news and went on live to talk to his people. He informed them about everything that had been going on and did not leave anything out. Yami had not wanted to cause a panic, but he was sure the vampires were already on high alert. There were some humans who did leave the city after hearing the portals were being shut down, but the few that were leaving had family outside the city and did not want to be apart from them for a long period of time. However for the past week what had really surprised Yami was that some humans and vampires were sticking together and were not going against each other. It was thanks to the help of both humans and vampires that they were able to locate two of the Hunters hideouts and made five arrests. So far there had been no more bloodshed, but Yami had a feeling the Hunters were not done yet and he was not sure how many were truly still in the city.

The Hunters who had been arrested after the attack on Yuugi and his children, along with the five arrests they had recently made, well none of them were talking and Yami was not going to have a trial until he could get them to talk. Daniel Smith was still in a coma and in Yami's mind he better stay in a coma, because honestly the King still wanted to kill the guy on the spot. He scared his lovable husband then tried to kill him and his children. That was not okay to Yami and the ones responsible would pay.

The King paused in his typing long enough to lean back in his chair and rub at his tired eyes. He was just about ready to call it a night when he heard the door to his office open and close. When he looked up he found his husband walking toward him dressed in his black silk pajamas. The younger ruler smiled at him and moved around the desk to sit on Yami's lap.

Yami reached out and closed the laptop to keep Yuugi's eyes off the work he was doing. "I figured you were already in bed?" He questioned as he wrapped his arms around Yuugi's waist.

"Kind of hard to sleep when I know you haven't come to bed," Yuugi informed him as he snuggled up against his lover placing his head on Yami's shoulder. "Why are you up so late anyway?"

"Just finishing up some work so I won't have to do it tomorrow, I was going to call it a night when you walked in…"

"Oh really…" Yuugi sat up and pulled the file beside the closed laptop toward him. However before he could open it, Yami had pulled it from his hand. "Come on Yami, what have you been working on that I can't look at?"

"I have a feeling you won't be happy with what I have been working on so I kept quiet about it," The King admitted hoping Yuugi would let it go until he was ready to tell him about it. However based on the way Yuugi was looking at him, he had a feeling Yuugi was not going to let him go to bed unless he told him. He sighed before handing the file back to Yuugi, "I'm warning you now that I'm only doing research and I haven't accused anyone of anything."

Yuugi took the file in his hands and opened it to find information on people he was surprised Yami was looking into. Each page had research on one of the portal holders from their current family relationships, jobs, and relationships to anyone in the city. "This is what you have been working on all week?"

Yami nodded as he said, "Yeah, I have this feeling that some of the portal holders may be involved with the hunters. There is no way these Hunters have been able to sneak in this easy without the protectors knowing. All materials shipped here are supposed to be monitored and checked, however people have been able to sneak into my city."

When Yuugi reached the few pages about his friends he felt slightly angry, "You think my friends are involved?"

"No, but I'm checking out everyone to make sure no one related to them may be pulling some strings behind their backs." Yami assured him before he went on to explain, "Ishizu is married to Shadi and they have a seventeen year old son along with a fourteen year old daughter. Her half-brother Rishid is not married, but still lives with the family. If anything were to happen to Ishizu and Shadi he would be the next in line to protect the portal until the children are old enough or do not wish to guard the portal. The only ties they have to the city are her younger brother Malik who is married to Marik. There are no red flags that would give me any reason to believe she would be involved given her brother is a target by the Hunters and I know she wishes nothing bad to happen to him," Yami then turned the page from Ishizu's page to Mokuba.

"Mokuba Kaiba is married to Serenity and they have three children. Their connections to the city are Seto and Joey Kaiba who came to this city to live with you and became vampires. Mokuba took over his brother's company Kaiba Corp, but as with Ishizu there are no red flags." The page was turned from Mokuba to Rebecca. "Rebecca Hawkins took over the portal from her grandfather who is still alive, but has some medical problems. She has two adopted sons, but is not married. Her connection to the city is you and once again no red flags to worry about. The same goes for Ryou's sister Amane who is married with two children. Her connection is her older brother Ryou and his husband Bakura. There is nothing to worry about with her."

Yuugi looked up at Yami, "So my friends are in the clear?"

"I have no reason to believe they are involved. They are connected to a vampire in this city through you or a sibling. There is no reason for them to want the Hunters to kill you or their siblings." The King turned through the pages of the other portal holders. "I have found no connections to the city for Noah, Alister, Leon, and Rafael so I see no reason why they would want to help the hunters besides of their family ancestors. However there are three portal holders that have a connection and would want the death of vampires."

Yuugi turned to the page and in a way he wasn't that surprised by what Yami had found out. "Pegasus, Dartz, and Mr. Wong, what reason could they have for wanting vampires dead?"

"They all had family that died here during the rebellion over twenty years ago," Yami told him which caused Yuugi to look up at him in surprise.

"Seriously..?"

"Yes and it came as a surprise to me also. I wish I had put all this together sooner it could have prevented all these deaths and attempts on our lives. That is if they are involved…." Yami enlightened Yuugi on what he found. "Dartz had a daughter who visited the city often to learn about it before she took over the portal from her father. She was always looking out for him when his wife dead a few years before you even came to the city. However during the time of the rebellion she got caught up in the bombing that took place in the downtown area. She had been injured badly and was hospitalized for about a week before she died. It had happened so long ago I had believed Dartz had moved on after we ended the rebellion and killed the ones responsible."

Yuugi shook his head at the memory. That was also the time he had the run in with Jiro and had been shaken up badly. He honestly just wanted to forget about it, but the past still seemed to haunt him. "I guess losing a daughter was just too much and he never fully forgave vampires for taking her away. What about the other two…?"

"Mr. Wong had a daughter who became a vampire, but died during the rebellion when she was working alongside Anzu. There was always tension between him and the vampires because she left her family to live with her vampire boyfriend then became one. I've noticed a difference in him, but never thought he would get back at all vampires. The one who changed his daughter is dead also, so I guess I figured that would be the end of it. His daughter made her choice to side with Anzu and there was nothing I could do about it." Yami then moved on to talk about the last portal holder. "Pegasus along with his wife had two adopted sons who had been twins. One made the choice to move here and live among vampires. When he became one and couldn't leave the city his brother came here to live with him. They were twins so it made sense to me. Pegasus's wife often visited the city to see her sons, while Pegasus only came to see them when we had the meetings between portal holders. The war between vampires took their son away who became a vampire, which caused a rift in the family. I thought that had been the link, but I found out recently what I had not known was Pegasus's wife died two years ago from cancer and about a month later his last son committed suicide."

Yuugi's eyes widen at the news. He had lost his grandmother before he was born and his parents when he was young. His grandfather had been the only family he had grown up with, so when he died it had been extremely hard to keep going. He could not even imagination what those three could be thinking after losing family to vampires. "Do you think they really blame all vampires for the death of their loved ones?"

Yami shrugged, "If they are involved then they must blame all vampires. I just can't find solid proof that they are a part of this. With no proof I have no reason to keep them away from the portals, hints why I locked the portals down completely. I have to keep my citizens safe, but I wonder if this was their plan all along."

"If the portals are locked down no more humans will be allowed into the city and if more decide to leave…" Yuugi looked up at Yami as he pieced everything together. "With no humans the vampire race is in danger."

Yami nodded as he tossed the file onto the desk. "We could get blood bought into the city through people I trust, but it would look strange for blood banks to be sending blood to an unknown location. The city is still not well known on the outside. If I knew people would accept us in their society then there would be no need for the vampires to be trapped here anymore."

Yuugi sighed, "This is a real mess we have here…"

"I agree," Yami then lean down and kissed the top of Yuugi's head. "The portals have only been closed for a week with only a few humans leaving. Hopefully we can get this mess dealt with sooner and reopen the portals with more monitoring."

"I trust that you will figure this all out," Yuugi said with a smile as he stood up out of Yami's lap. He stretched and let out a yawn, "Let's get to bed, I'm worn out."

Yami chuckled and stood up wrapping an arm around Yuugi's waist. The two left with Yami locking the office door behind him before the two headed to their room for some much needed sleep.

One full month the portals had been closed with not much change in the city. Besides the arrest that were already made and the two new arrests that were made over the month it had been fairly quiet. The King had a feeling after long they probably would have all the Hunters in custody. He hated having to play judge and sentencing people for their crimes, but this time around it wasn't that hard. A few that they had arrested ended up with fingerprint matches to the murdered vampires so they were sentenced to death on the spot. It helped Yami sleep better knowing he bought some families some justice for losing a loved one. There were still a few they had locked up plus Daniel still in a coma at the hospital. With no links to the crimes there was not much Yami could do with them, but knowing they were a part of it and helping the Hunters, Yami was going to hold on to them until he could think of a way to make sure they could not reenter the city and cause trouble again. Once Daniel woke up he would be given his trial but after trying to kill members of the royal family he was better off in a coma.

Due to the quiet month, people in the city were starting to move on. Humans and vampires still got along and it proved more to Yami that vampires and humans could live together if given the chance. He hoped to one day allow the vampires to leave the city and see the world once again. The King would enjoy seeing his homeland again and taking his family on a real vacation.

As the sun set after another long day, the King, his family, his council, family members of the council, and some of the palace workers were holding a small party in the throne room. They were not celebrating anything just having fun as friends and family should. It was helping take everyone's minds off of the last few months.

It had been Yuugi's idea to throw the small party and Yami put it all together in no time. Yami knew Yuugi deserved so much after what he went through and the scar on Yuugi's arm was a reminder every day. It took a while for Yuugi to feel comfortable showing his arms off again, but over the past month he was slowly getting over it.

The younger ruler had been hanging out by his husband's side as Yami talked with Seth, before he caught sight of Malik and Marik who had finally decided to show their faces. Yuugi patted Yami on the arm to get his attention long enough to point where he was going, before he headed that way.

"I thought you two were going to skip out," Yuugi teased causing Marik to chuckle.

"I had to convince the kitten it would be a good idea. He hasn't wanted to do much for the past few weeks," Marik said as he ruffled Malik's hair.

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me that," Malik growled as he swatted Marik's hand away. "Go find Bakura or someone to mess with."

Marik rolled his eyes before he left the two. Yuugi looked Malik over and realized something did seem off about the older vampire. "Something on your mind..?" Yuugi asked, "We haven't hung out as much as we used to in the past month. I know I've been busy helping Yami, but I get the feeling you have been avoiding me."

Malik sighed, "I'm sure Ryou feels the same way. I just haven't felt right this past month. Marik thinks I'm just moody for some odd reason, but I think it's because I haven't talked to Ishizu for the past few weeks."

"She hasn't called you?" Yuugi asked surprised. Once a week Malik's sister would call her baby brother up no matter what was going on to keep in touch with him. The same went for Ryou, Joey and Seto with their own siblings. It was odd that Ishizu hadn't called him, but it did explain him being distance. He was probably always by the phone waiting to see if she would call so he wouldn't miss it.

Malik shook his head. "She does have two teenagers to raise but I figured she would have called me at least once this month."

Something in Yuugi's gut told him something was off, so he grabbed Malik's hand and dragged him over to where Joey, Ryou, and Kisara were hanging out. The three looked up when they hurried over and Yuugi immediately questioned them.

"Ryou, Joey have either of you heard from Amane or Serenity this month?"

Joey and Ryou looked at each other confused by the question before looking back at Yuugi. Joey was the first to respond, "Not really, but Serenity just had her baby and I'm sure she and Mokuba have their hands full with three children. Mokuba hasn't called Seto lately so I'm sure work and family are keeping him busy."

"The same for Amane, it's not strange for her to not call for weeks on end." Ryou explained to him and then he noticed the frown that developed on Yuugi's face. "There is something on your mind?"

Yuugi nodded, "Ishizu calls Malik once a week, but he just informed me he hasn't heard from her for a full month. I just have this feeling that something is off." He looked to Malik and placed a hand on his arm. "I'll see if Yami has been in touch with Ishizu."

Before any of the others could question him further, Yuugi took off back over to where Yami was still talking with Seth. "Yami," He called to get his attention causing both Seth and Yami to turned to look at him. "Have you heard from Ishizu lately?"

Yami shook his head. "No, I normally only hear from her when someone new wants to enter the city. Since the portals are closed I haven't heard from her at all."

Yuugi's frown deepen as he told Yami, "Malik hasn't heard from Ishizu all month and she normally calls him once a week. I've talked to Joey and Ryou and they haven't heard from their siblings all month either."

"They do have families Yuugi. They are probably all busy…"

Yuugi shook his head. "Something feels off…"

"You think something happen to her?" Yami asked since he could tell this was troubling Yuugi.

"I don't know, but since the Hunters can't get into the city, what if they did something to a few of the portal holders to try and get in." Yuugi theorized wondering if that was why Ishizu hadn't been in touch with her brother. He hoped he was wrong, but it would make him feel better if they knew.

"It makes sense…" Seth added in as he looked toward his cousin and King. "If the Hunters do not know that you control the portals, they could go after the protectors in order to try to regain access to the city."

Those words did not settled well with Yuugi as he looked up at Yami with a pleading look. "Can you try and get in contact with our friends just to see who you can get in contact with… I don't like how this is looking…"

Yami nodded, "I'll call first thing in the mor-"

"Yami!" All three turned to see Seto coming over to Yami holding out his cell phone. "My brother is on the phone and told me it was urgent he speak to you."

Yami took the phone without a second thought and answered it. For a while Yami said nothing as he listened to Mokuba on the other end. After a minute of silence, Yami said, "Stay on the line and I'll let you know when the portal is reopened."

The King then turned to Seto, "Mokuba informed me he couldn't tell me much over the phone, but I'm allowing him reenter into the city. I'll bring him straight to the palace when he arrives." There was nothing else said as he hurried away.

Yuugi apologized to Seto before quickly hurrying after Yami. He had no clue what was going on, but for some reason he had a feeling something was not right.

The younger vampire did not catch up with his husband until Yami was already using his key to open the closed postal office. The two entered the shop with Yami turning off the alarm system, before locking the door behind them.

"Yami what's going on?" Yuugi asked as he followed Yami to the door that lead down to the portals. The answer he was waiting on however did not come as Yami unlocked the door and headed down. The two entered the room which was pitch dark, so Yami flipped the light switch.

This was the first time Yuugi had ever been down there with the portals being shut down. The place was very plain with gray walls and on the spot where the portals should be there was nothing but the name of the places the portals would be linked to. Yami made sure Mokuba was still on the phone before informing him he was opening the portal.

The King walked over to the wall that had the name Domino on it. He placed his hand on the wall and closed his eyes. There was a moment where nothing looked like it was going to happen until in the blink of an eye the portal to Japan was back where it was before in its colorful glory. Yami stepped back and just when he did Mokuba came hurrying through it. Once Mokuba was out of the way, Yami worked his magic once again and made it disappear.

Yuugi hurried over to Mokuba as the older male collapsed to his knees. He kneeled down also and put his hands on Mokuba's shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Mokuba nodded, before he looked up and Yuugi winced when he saw the black eye developing over Mokuba's left eye and a nice bloody lip. He looked like he got caught in some kind of fight.

Yami walked over to them and saw Mokuba's state, before he asked, "You said you couldn't tell me over the phone, but what has happened?"

Mokuba took a deep breath before he started to explain. "I was having dinner with my family when the butler answered the door. We heard a gunshot, and then these men came out of nowhere. I tried to fight some of them to let Serenity get the children and run for it but there were too many. I was able to pull off a lucky swing and Serenity started yelling at me to run for it." Tears started to form in his eyes as he thought about his family, "I didn't want to leave them, but she kept yelling that they would be fine and I knew if they got me no one could save them. I went straight to Kaiba Corp and used a secret entrance to get in in case someone was watching the place. I then locked myself in the room where the portal is kept and called Seto."

"Why didn't you call the police?" Yami asked, since this was happening outside his city and there was not much they could do.

Mokuba looked up at Yami in tears as he said, "I recognized one of the men from a company party I went to for Pegasus. He was Pegasus's right hand man and with all that had been going on I knew it had to do something with the shutdown of the portals. It makes no sense for anyone working for Pegasus to come after me otherwise."

"He has a point," Yuugi told his husband. "If it had been about something else, they probably would have strike way before the shutdown. You said you thought some of the portal holders were involved. They are probably capturing our friends in order to get you to open the portals back up. It would also explain why Malik hasn't heard from Ishizu."

"They must have already captured some of the other protectors before going after Mokuba," Yami guessed, but it still did not let him know how many portal holders were involved. "If those men worked for Pegasus we know he is involved, but we can't say much about the others."

"What are we going to do? I can't leave my family with those men." Mokuba stressed wanting this to all be a bad dream.

Yuugi helped Mokuba stand back up and gave him a smile. "Don't worry, we will figure out something and rescue everyone." He looked toward his husband for support, but Yami seemed to be deep in thought. "Yami..."

Yami snapped out of whatever thought he was in and nodded his head. "Let's get back to the palace and get a plan together." Nothing else was said as he led the two back up to the postal office. He made sure to turn the alarm back on and lock the place behind them as they left. They then made the trip back to the palace at a slower pace given Mokuba was hurt and it gave Yami some time to think of what he was going to tell his friends and council. Something had to be done and by the looks of things Yami was going to have to act fast.

Sakura: So the Hunters have made an even bigger move outside of the city. I've given the hint that Pegasus is involved, but let's see if my readers know who else is behind everything. I know it may seem silly for Mokuba to run to Yami and not call the police, but he knows this matter has to deal with a city no one truly thinks exist. Mokuba is in no way a coward, but in order to go get help he had to not be captured. The next chapter is going to get even more interesting and it's one of my favorites!

Yumi: Review!