Chapter 19

The second he heard Mai's voice calling for them, SK knew something big was about to happen. He wasn't sure if it was connected to his fear about the Wen or not, but he knew there was only one way he was going to find out.

'Come on Jay, let's go,' he burst into Jay's room without bothering to knock.

Jay was sat in the middle of the room staring at the wall ahead of him. There was something really weird about the expression on his face; as though he couldn't be further away from that moment they were in if he tried.

'Jay are you okay?' SK licked his lips as he moved towards the other Nethher Herin.

There was no reply.

'Jay?' SK waved a hand in front of his face as he knelt down in front of him. 'Jay are you in there?' He nudged Jay's shoulder a couple of times. 'Octan? Jay? Anyone home?'

Just as SK was starting to feel himself panic, Jay sucked in a sharp gasp of air, which was both unnatural and unnecessary considering he was dead. He then blinked a few times before lifting his gaze to meet with SK's and a confused look spread across his face.

'You know you're supposed to knock before you enter, right?'

'I did knock,' SK lied as his tongue skated across his lips, 'you were just tranced out or something. Are you okay?'

'Yeah... yeah, I was just... meditating.'

'You know how to meditate?' SK cocked an eyebrow at him.

'Okay, fine, Octan was meditating,' Jay rolled his eyes, 'but since we share a body I don't see why you need to be so pedantic about it. What do you want anyway?'

'Mai's calling us, don't you hear her?'

'Uh...' Jay jumped to his feet, 'you're right, she is. I guess I was in a deeper state than I realised.'

'You mean Octan was, right?'

'Same difference,' he shrugged. 'So what do you think she wants?'

'Do I look like a mind reader?' SK licked his lips again. 'Although I think if we leave her waiting much longer she might assume we've been drinking again.'

'Please, neither one of us is stupid enough to make that mistake twice.'

'Yeah, but making it once is more than enough to convince others you're capable of it,' he sighed. 'So what do you say we stop wasting time and get going already?'

'Fine by me,' Jay grinned at him, 'after you.'

From his vantage point he found himself studying the all too silent house. A part of him was dying to know whether or not they'd realised it was gone yet. If they did there wasn't a whole lot any of them could do about it. Not now. Not after all his meticulous planning and calculations. Still, they were the one potential hiccup in his plan. The one thing he had to deal with now rather than later if everything were going to go smoothly for him. Because, other than him, they were the only ones who knew this weapon existed and if they told the others...

'You have to stop,' a barely audible voice interrupted his train of thoughts, 'you can't go through with this.'

'I can and I will,' he smirked, 'and I'm going to enjoy every single second of it too. Why shouldn't I? I've earned this.'

'What's that even supposed to mean?'

'It means I've waited far too long to take what's rightfully mine and I'm going to enjoy every single second of what's to come. Dealing with them will be child's play. A warm up to the main event. And it's not like I wouldn't have to deal with them eventually anyway, so why not first? This makes sense. It all makes so much sense.'

'No, it doesn't, it really doesn't. This isn't you. Please, you must see that? You have to stop this before it's too late.'

'It's already too late, or weren't you paying attention before?'

'Please, you have to stop now, before you make things any worse.'

'But I want things to be worse, don't you understand that?'

'I... No, I don't understand. I don't understand any of this. Who are you?'

'You know who I am. I am who I've always been.'

'No, you can't...'

'Oh I'm sorry, what was that?' He cut the voice off. 'Only I don't think I can hear you anymore.'

There were no further protests. No more voices bleating on like they thought they had the right to act like his conscience. What did he need a conscience for anyway? It wasn't like he was going to use it. Not now. Not since he understood what really made people powerful. And nobody could tell him he wasn't powerful, not anymore.

'Can you feel me watching you?' He directed his question towards the house. 'Can you sense what's coming? I hope you can, because I don't think it will be as much fun without a real fight.'

Kaiba's eyes drifted towards the clock on the mantel for the third time in as many minutes. Tristan should have been back by now. He'd only gone out so early because his parents had insisted on getting him checked out by their family doctor. Kaiba hadn't been too keen on the idea, mostly because he wasn't sure they were going to find anything and if they did...

His train of thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. A few seconds later another door opened and closed, then there was silence. Five minutes ticked slowly by and Kaiba couldn't help but feel more than a little annoyed Tristan hadn't come to find him and tell him how things had gone. Getting to his feet he made his way out of his office and down along the corridor. From the sounds of things Tristan had gone into one of the rooms nearest the front door. To his uncertain horror he was right.

Tristan was spread out unconscious on the floor of the fourth room Kaiba checked. Stood above him looking like the cat who got the cream was the stalker-like youth.

'What did you do to him?' Kaiba balled his hands into fists.

The youth's single visible eye lifted to meet with Kaiba's. His face was spread with the same waxy smile he'd worn in their last two encounters, only this time it felt much more sinister and taunting.

'I asked you a question,' Kaiba gritted his teeth, 'what did you do to him?'

The youth shook his head and made no attempt at a verbal reply. Instead he just continued to stare at Kaiba.

'What did you do to him? What did you do? Answer me?' Kaiba could feel his anger rising. 'If you don't tell me what you did to him right now, I'll…'

The words caught in his throat, as his body became paralysed. A shot of fear moved through Kaiba's whole body as the youth slinked his way towards him. When he reached him, he began to trace Kaiba's features with his fingers. The touch was light and soft and innocent, but somehow that just made it feel even more violating. Kaiba wanted to pull away. To scream at the youth to stop. Anything. He wanted to do anything other than just stand there like some marble statue.

After a couple of minutes the youth turned away from him and made his way back towards Tristan's body. He knelt down beside it and began fiddling with something around Tristan's neck. Seconds later he got back to his feet and revealed the key on a chain he was now holding. To Kaiba's disgust the youth wasted no time in fixing his stolen item around his neck, before admiring himself in the room's wall mounted mirror.

Kaiba had never felt so angry in his whole life. It was as if the youth knew every single button to press and the order to press it in. In fact the only thing he could do to somehow make this situation any worse was if he decided to kidnap Mokuba. The second Kaiba thought it he felt his stomach lurch; what if that was exactly what he was planning to do next?

The youth turned back towards Kaiba and posed as if to say what do you think? His fingers then began to play with the chain the key was attached to, before he lifted the key up to his lips and kissed it. Even without words Kaiba knew exactly what the youth was trying to say; I'm taking this because I know what it means and that's the only reason I need.

Kaiba began mentally cursing the guy over and over and over again. But it didn't matter how many expletives he thought of if he was unable to project them at his tormentor. Instead all he could do was watch as the youth slinked his way back towards him and took hold of his hand. The youth then lifted Kaiba's arm, so his palm was facing upwards. His single visible eye focused on it as he began tracing light circles with his fingers. After a couple of minutes of this, the youth leant down and kissed the palm. His lips linger for a lot longer than Kaiba would have liked, before he straightened himself up again. For a heartbeat the youth's single visible eye met with Kaiba's, then he simply vanished without a trace.

The second the youth left the paralysing hold on Kaiba's body lifted. Everything in him coursed with a confusing mixture of anger and fear. His teeth gritted together, as his nails dug so tightly into his own palms they hurt. No one... no one had ever made him feel this powerless before and he knew he didn't like it.

'You'll pay for this,' Kaiba's whole body trembled, as his eyes turned towards Tristan's unconscious body, 'for what you've done to both of us. You'll pay for it, don't think you won't.'