Slowly crawls out into the open…carefully avoiding being seen…slowly, slowly – Oh damn! You guy's noticed!
Hehehe…Hey guys, long time no see. I really missed you all, yes, of course I did! What? No, I wasn't hiding from you; I was just…uh…going to surprise you all! Yeah that's it, seriously – okay, put the knives away, those things are dangerous…yeah and the guns…and no you can't set me on fire either.
Yikes! Talk about overreacting! Then again I kind of have left you guys hanging for quite a while, and poor Yami's been dying for…has it been a month now?... (Nervous laughter). Okay, so maybe I do deserve the looks you're giving me, but look on the bright side, you're finally going to find out if our uber hottie makes it or not.
However, I will once again apologize for my lengthy absence, and thank all my reviewers and readers for sticking by me and supporting me! You guys are all still the best and I don't know what I'd do without you! Evenifyoudowanttokillme BUT ANYWAY! Let's continue with chapter 16!
Disclaimer: (insert answer common sense here)
AN: Aww! Perfect Strangers has just turned sweet sixteen! My little story's growing up!
Rating: Hmmm…yeah it's a T…for now. (Wink – wink)
Okay, okay, let's get on with the story.
(Yugi is currently unavailable for commentary due to his…state.)
Chapter 16
Holy Mother of Ra-cock-fucker-Mickey mouse son of a bitch! Fuck!...
It hurt.
His chest stung and ached in an ungodly manner, as though a literal bomb had exploded within his chest…or through it for that matter.He felt the bone that had once solidly protected his heart, practically shatter on impact, and felt the bullet sharply nudge the soft tissue of his heart. His legs buckled numbly beneath him, and he sunk to the ground, feeling as though his body weighed more than a ton. Thinking was useless, as every thought that he managed to conjure up was centred on the pain, and how much he wanted it to stop.
Worse yet…he tasted blood and he smelt blood. This was really, really bad!
"Oh my-" Tea gasped for breath, her eyes wide with panic as she sank down with him, holding him around the waist with both arms, completely forgetting about the shooter who stood not more than twenty feet from them. "Shit! Yami, are you okay? Oh crap – y-you're b-bleeding! Badly!" He could faintly detect the hysteria in her voice, and did his best to stifle his growls of pain for her own benefit, and forced back the misty cloud that plagued his vision and senses, allowing him more awareness of his surroundings.
"T-Tea!" he gasped, feeling a slim trail of blood leak from the side of his mouth. "G-get b-behind me!" The soaring pain that came with breathing alone, was enough to make a grown man curl into a fetal position and wail bitterly at the injustice of life, but Yami sucked it up bravely, and despite the rest of his limbs being rendered immovable by the electrifying numbness and pain, he still took up as much of a defensive stance as he could muster, despite the river of blood leaking down his shirt and the sharp twinge of unbearable pain, which came with each slight movement he made. There was no way in hell that he'd let this creep get hold of her.
Instead of complying with his breathless demand, she instead tightened her hold on him, her eyes glancing back and forth between the open - terrifying! – wound, and his washed out complexion that was the palest she had ever seen on him before, seeming dangerously close to Bakura's. She needed to get help; she needed to – "Tea! I said get behind me!"
His voice, sounding much stronger, snapped her slightly out of her panicked haze, and she automatically dove behind him for cover with some assistance on Yami's part as he flung and arm around her waist and guided her behind him with such force that she nearly stumbled over. She was so confused, as everything happened around her way too fast for her mind to process what was going on. Just a few seconds before, they were in each other's arms, happy and okay. Now Yami was hurt and bleeding, but was still trying to protect her from something, but what? Common sense finally dawned on her and she looked up to see a figure standing tall above them, the gun still aimed at Yami.
His finger just reached the trigger as he proceeded to fire another bullet into Yami, and Tea glimpsed at the feral, inhuman look in the thug's lemon green eyes, as he intended to silence him once and for all. She felt herself about to scream and Yami's body tense in preparation for the next hit, both feeling as though time was standing still and everything seemed unnatural silent, save for the gentle click of metal as their attacker handled the gun, and both winced for different reasons, when the second shot exploded thunderously across the dock, followed immediately by Tea's high pitched scream…
(Earlier that evening)
He woke up much slower than normal, almost as though he were fighting his way out of a coma. The darkness still had its claws on him, forcibly dragging him back into it, whenever he was close to waking up. Yet the sound of constant thudding, muffled as though he and whatever was causing it were deep under water, slowly awoke him into awareness. He first felt the dull ache return to his body, though this time it was softened and not nearly as sharp, mostly serving as a reminder of what was, before the stiffness in his joints took hold of him. His eyes groggily fluttered open and closed, unable to settle on any one thing in particular, yet alone clear up enough to make anything out.
It took him a while to realise, in his dazed confusion that he had woken up on the bathroom floor, and even more so to figure out that the wooden banging was coming from the other side of the bathroom door. Someone wanted to get in.
He jerkily rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling, blinking the sleep out of his eyes, before bringing his left wrist up to his line of sight, wondering why it hurt so much, and then quickly began massaging it, swallowing several curse words back down his extremely swollen and dry throat that begged for liquid-relief.
The thudding increased drastically, so much that he could feel the vibrations off the floor. "Open the door!" Her voice, so eerily familiar, finally cleared from its muffled state and brought Yugi back to reality. He immediately shot into an upright position and regretted it, as a wave of dizziness washed over him, but continued to crawl off the floor and stand up, his eyes wide and partly angry. It happened again!
"Hello in there! Are you deaf! I need to wash up, you jerk!" Lamia's angelic, yet painfully annoying voice continued to growl from the other side of the door, and Yugi could just imagine the tight, scrunched up and brattish expression she wore. He smiled humourlessly and bit his tongue to avoid a really nasty comment in exchange for being called a jerk. She had only been invited to live with them a few hours ago, and yet she had completely taken over their living quarters like a regular queen bee…and here Yugi thought he was forward.
"What are you doing in ther-" she was cut off when he swung the door open, glaring at her venomously before shoving past her into the living room without giving her a backward glance. She watched after him with wide and surprised eyes, taking note of his ill appearance.
"There! Take the fucking bathroom I'm done with it!" he hissed irritably as he shovelled his way into Yami's room, almost splitting the door in half during the process.
For once she ignored his vulgar language usage, too caught up on his blood rimmed eyes and the faint bloody trails that left them as well as his chalky complexion that seemed unnatural even for a vampire, to really take any notice. She followed hesitantly after him, stopping a little way from the bedroom and watched him move around, restlessly from the left to the right side of it, pulling out a red shirt of sorts from the closet. "Um…hey, are you…okay?" she asked lightly, her black eyes been the only part of her body that moved as she followed his movements.
Yugi thrust a borrowed shirt of Yami's, over his head and yanked it down his torso in one swift and violent motion, aware that it was a size too big for him, but didn't care in the least, the girl however, was pushing on his last nerve. "Hey! Weren't you just bitching for the bathroom a few seconds ago? What the hell are you standing here and watching me change for? Want to see what I look like underneath?" He spat sarcastically, and once again shoved past her into the living room, his fiery wild eyes searching for something.
Lamia growled after him angrily. "I don't imagine there's much to wonder about!" she spat back, before leaning up against the wall with her arms folded. "What were you doing in the there for so long anyway?"
He flung her a look, before ripping open a drawer belonging to the once-desk and yanked out a pair of sunglasses. "None of your fucking business!"
Lamia gave him a feral cat-sounding hiss, "Stop-"
"Stop swearing!" Yugi mimicked in a high-pitched and mocking voice, before turning to glare at her. "Just shut up! Okay? Just shut the fuck up, because I'm not in the mood for your crap." He stormed his way towards the front door with determination, his posture stiff and angry like a black thunder cloud on the move.
Lamia watched after him with a raised eyebrow, before realising what he was about to do, and immediately shot a glance up at the boarded up window, knowing that it was still light outside. She quickly turned her gaze back at him with wide eyes, "Hey! It's still light out, you know! Where are you going?"
He slammed the door behind him, not bothering to answer her question, and leant up against it feeling the desire for blood and something else, stronger than it had ever been. He was a mess and he knew it, had been for several days now, which were slowly turning into weeks, and it was affecting him more visibly now. How long did he have before it all spiralled out of control? A week at the most…even he had his limits, but this was all trivial in comparison with what he needed to do first. He didn't follow Yami all across from the other side of the world to fail now, regardless of his condition.
He was about to push himself off the door, when another down the hallway slammed open, and a rather unattractive face peered out at him, her expression twisted in fury and irritation. "Oh! Is it your crowd of animals living in there that's making all that goddamn noise!" her voice seemed to get louder and louder after each word she spoke.
Yugi mentally smirked, whereas on the outside his lips curled into a snarl. Number 34…delightful!
"No ma'am, it's the devil that sits on you're left shoulder - banging on your closet door that you locked him in - telling you to just get fucking laid!" Yugi all but hissed in response, mockingly raising his voice after each word as well.
She glared daggers at him, briefly reminding Yugi of the old saying, 'if looks could kill.' She seemed to be having a really bad hair day…and attempt at a perm that went horribly wrong, maybe? Her longish black hair seemed to stand up on all ends in weird curl-like towers, and it seemed greasy and sticky enough that to Yugi's imagination, if he should pluck her up towards the ceiling, her head should stick to it like gum…but then again he hadn't gotten that much sleep.
"How dare you!" she said in an almost witch-like shriek that hurt his sensitive hearing, causing him to wince in pain, yet his eyes widened when he took a closer look at her. It was the first time that he had taken note of her age, and was rather surprised that she appeared rather young, definitely under thirty, which wasn't at all like the forty-something hobgoblin that he thought, lurked in woman's clothing and snacked on children while they slept.
"Easy, bitch! It's called advice! A few good bangs in the right places ought to make you feel as good as new!" he spat in an almost sarcastic manner.
The woman seemed taken aback and at a loss for words, her mouth gaping open and closed like a goldfish.
Goldfish!
Oh! Now he got it, and almost smiled, catching on to the joke a little late, but found it kind of funny in a stupid way. Trust Yami to have a dry sense of humour at the worst of times.
"You're sick!" his neighbour spat in disgust, with a heated look in her eyes that had seemed almost…hurt? And immediately slammed her door closed, giving its hard wood one final, frustrated punch that made it vibrate slightly against its hinges, and stormed away from it with heavy, angry footsteps, which faded away as she went in deeper to her apartment.
He rolled his eyes, humans were so damn sensitive. Honestly! He tiredly slumped back down against the wall, massaging his temples with tightly shut eyes, listening to Number 34's accusation that replayed in his mind over and over again.
"Yes babe! I am," he whispered lowly, finding his lips curl into a humourless smirk as he shoved himself off the wall, swaying slightly before catching his balance. He turned around as he heard the door behind him click open, irritably coming face to face with Lamia, who stood with her arms folded and an almost murderous glare in her eyes.
He cocked an eyebrow, the annoyance never leaving his expression. "What?"
Yami waited…and waited some more, for the second explosion of pain to incapacitate him…but it never came. He looked up in time to see Yugi jump the thug from behind and gracefully grab his head, before twisting it in a clean break, and quickly flung the body to the side. His eyes scanned over to them, and widened in silent horror and what almost appeared to be regret.
The worried and concerned look immediately vanished when he became aware of Tea's presence, and was soon replaced with a cocky and amused look, as he reached them. "Hey Tea!" he greeted causally, as though nothing traumatic had ever occurred. He gently took Yami by the shoulders and pushed him down, his eyes skimming over the wound, while keeping a relatively calm look.
"Yugi! Oh thank god! Is he going to be okay? What do I need to do? Should I call an ambulance?" Tea rambled on hysterically, her blue eyes wild with panic and her body practically vibrating with shudders. The girl was going into shock, something he didn't have time for.
"Whoa, whoa! Slow down there Cutie, Yami's going to be just fine. He's always been a bit of a girl when he gets hurt, trust me…no offence by the way." Yugi grinned and winked at her, as he in an almost inconspicuous manner, placed a hand on Yami's chest, and gently applied pressure on the bullet wound.
"B-but…he usually heals! Like super fast! The last time he was shot – h-he, you know – the wound just closed! W-why isn't that h-happening now?" she continued to babble, her wide blue eyes seeming on the brink of crocodile tears. She was truly terrified from what Yugi could tell, and her heart-rate was speeding up to a dangerous pace that if left alone would have meant her death, plus she was prone to panic attacks, and medically that meant she needed to be sedated fast…well, Yugi could help with that.
"Yeah, the chest is the most vulnerable area of a vampire's body; because it's the slowest to heal, but he'll be alright soon enough. Look can you do me a favour for a second, just look at me -" he caught Tea's frightened gaze and held onto it, working on his 'persuasion' skills, which worked like a charm. "There that's it…things are going to be okay, alright? So you're going to calm down now, right?" She nodded her head, her gaze seeming more and more relaxed, though still held a slight amount of anxiousness. "Good, now can you please do me a favour? I need you to run down to the beach and find our new recruit. You can't miss her, she stands out quite…brightly…look for long white hair, pale skin and black eyes, go up to her and tell her that you're Yami's girlfriend…don't worry she won't hurt you. Bring her back here, okay?"
Tea nodded determinedly and hurried off in the beach's direction, glancing behind her one last time, as tears flowed from the corners of her eyes. Yugi nodded at her, smiling encouragingly until she disappeared from sight. His expression changed immediately, as concern and shock moulded in its place.
"Holy hell!" he grumbled under his breath as he closely examined the wound, from which a river of blood flowed out.
"D-damn it Y-Yugi! S-she c-can't be left…alone w-with L-Lamia!" Yami coughed wetly before wincing in pain.
Yugi shook his head half-heartedly, his attention elsewhere. "Lamia isn't here, I just wanted her out of the way, because this might be the last thing you'll want her to see right now…all things considered." The truth was that if Yugi didn't act quickly, Yami was going to die. He peered into the gory wound, looking for the bullet, taking note of his brother's almost non-existent and damaged breastplate that 'luckily' seemed to have taken most of the hit.
Yami chuckled breathlessly without humour, "S-smart."
Yugi's first aid training immediately kicked into gear. Since Yami was shot in the chest, it was very important that he sealed the wound to keep air from being sucked in, which prevented Yami's lungs from collapsing, and remembered that plastic was generally the best option. He dug into his back pocket and pulled out a tiny square and silver package. Yet what he noticed at the same time however, created the same kind of winding experience of a hard blow in the gut. The bullet was lodged very closely to his brother's heart…
"H-hey…w-what h-happened t…to you? You…o-okay?" Yami asked, his eyes seemed to dim as a hazy daze swept over them, and he didn't seem to able to focus all that well.
"Really Yami, you're asking me how I am bro?" Yugi asked rhetorically, as he set to work, peeling open the package.
Yami squinted at the silver papered object and lazily rose an eyebrow halfway, "Is-ss that a…condom?"
"Yep!" Yugi said a little more energetically, "Perfect for an occasion when you find yourself utterly fucked. Okay…this might hurt a little."
"You c-carry co…condoms a-around?" Yami grinned weakly, his head rolling back slightly as the world began to spin. There was so much blood around him, its scent intoxicating and forbidden, and yet his body was too weak to react to any of it.
Yugi shot him a worried look that lacked amusement and bit the side of his tongue, before pulling off his borrowed shirt and eyed the bloody wound warily as he carefully yanked the bullet out, causing blood to spurt and splatter over his chest. Yugi, himself, had a hard time holding back the urge to indulge in his brother's delicious scented blood that practically bathed over both of them, but the urge to save him was much stronger, allowing him full control over himself. He immediately stuck his condom-protected finger into the wound, and used the shirt to apply pressure on it, mentally congratulating himself on pulling off such a dangerous operation without further damaging Yami's fragile heart. Especially since he had actually failed his first aid course…
Yami gasped in pain, his body rigid and stiff as he gulped for breath or relief, his teeth bared and clenched in a tight grimace. "Fu-uuu-ck!" He growled, panting and breathing heavily.
"Sorry brother," Yugi apologized weakly; as he took note of the large amount of blood that was starting to pool around them. Yami was bleeding too much too fast, and if it continued to do so, his brother would immediately go into shock, which was most definitely fatal in this case. He immediately lifted Yami's right arm with his free hand, and applied extra pressure on a pressure point just below his armpit, in an attempt to slow down his blood flow.
Of all the places to have been shot in, Yami certainly had the worst, for both vampire and human. On a human's body, chest wounds were extremely difficult to apply pressure to, due to the fact that the ribs made it hard to compress the structures that were bleeding. Chest wounds also posed many problems in terms of dealing with a victim going into shock, as the standard protocol required that their legs be elevated up from the ground slightly…but if you did that with a chest-wound victim, they would bleed out more quickly. And Yami was bleeding fast enough without that.
"Yami, hang tight bro, you're going into shock, but don't worry I have an idea!" Yugi risked releasing the pressure he had held on Yami, and with his inhuman and vampiric speed, collected the man's body, which he had just killed and brought it back with him - immediately placing a hand back on his brother's chest. The body was still warm, which was good, the only problem being that without a heart beat the blood wouldn't be so easy to flow out his veins…luckily Yugi knew a thing or two on how to make a body bleed.
There was the sound of crunching and snapping, which brought Yami slightly out of his semi-unconscious state, as he tried to figure out what was going on around him, before blood spilt over his mouth. Instinctively his tongue swept over his lips, and his pupils dilated widely as the decadently delicious taste exploded on his taste buds.
"Drink Yami!" Yugi commanded sternly, "It's the only way you'll heal!"
There was more crunching and snapping, and before Yami could process what Yugi had said, more blood flowed over his mouth. He automatically opened up and allowed a steady river of blood to flow down his throat, hungrily lapping at it without a single conscious thought to stop him. The pain, however, eventually prevented him from continuing, and he gave into to a small choking cough, as a sharp ache sparked through his being.
Yugi pulled back the shirt, and gently moved the condom aside, noting that his heart was at least starting to show signs of healing. Yami was very lucky that the bullet hadn't gone completely through, which he had only his vampiric solid-bone structure to thank for. He continued to mutilate the shooter's body, not caring whether or not someone would pass by and bare witness to the grizzly affair. His brother's life was dangerously over the edge. He poured more blood into Yami's mouth, and forced it down with fierce urgency
Yami swallowed hard and rested his head back against the hard wooden ground, squeezing his eyelids shut as another burst of pain rattled his insides. Checking the wound once again, Yugi was slightly relieved to see that the worst of it had healed, and that the bleeding had finally slowed, which was a promising sight…but that didn't mean much just yet.
He needed more blood.
Yugi temptingly looked down at his own wrist, contemplating on giving Yami some of his own blood…
Yami, now more aware and alert, caught the glance Yugi had on his wrist, and immediately jerked away from him. "No - Ah!" he flinched as pain seared across his chest from the movement.
Yugi looked over at him, with a small conflicted frown. "Yami…it could heal you immediately," he said softly…carefully.
Yami growled warningly through a pain filled flinch. "I will not be turned into a vampire Yugi!"
"It's going to happen anyway Yami! It may as well be now!" Yugi argued, bringing his wrist up closer to his lips, preparing to bite through his flesh.
"Not if I can help it!" Yami growled angrily, his eyes blazing with fury.
Shocked – Yugi slowly let his arm fall, and stared wide-eyed at his twin brother. "Yami…you aren't being serious-"
"Yugi, now is not the time to have this conversation," Yami growled lowly, and coughed yet again, feeling as though his throat and chest were on fire.
Yugi gulped back and nodded his head in understanding. Yami was right; this was definitely not the right time to have this conversation. Getting worked up right now was the last thing his brother needed. "Okay…well, we've got to get you somehow to safety…and a blood source, fast!"
He thought about their options for several seconds, finding that this was going to be much more, trickier than he thought. He was about to rethink them, when Yami took in a deep breath. "Yugi…what's bleeding at the moment?" He sounded weak and breathless, and utterly exhausted.
Yugi took a quick look, "Nothing major - major…but you're still bleeding pretty badly."
Yami attempted an awkward nod, before nudging his head in the direction of the mutilated body. "Get his gun."
Yugi gasped and shot him a wide-eyed look of horror, "What the fuck for?"
"You need to get it…don't argue with me," he rolled his eyes half-heartedly, before seeming to stare off dazedly into space, at something in the sky.
Yugi reluctantly got up and dashed over to where the gun lay discarded and plucked it up, before hurrying back at a speed that was impossible to see, jerkily kneeling down next to him, with a cautious expression. "Um…okay, now what?"
Yami glanced back at the gun, his eyes reluctant in showing emotion. "Okay…I need you to get one of the bullets."
Yugi raised an eyebrow, giving Yami a curious look, before turning his gaze back to the dangerous weapon, carefully looking it over. He hadn't ever used a gun before, and knew very little about them, but it didn't take him long to work out how to unload it. He carefully took out a golden bullet, rolling it between his fingers with such care, as though it were the most fragile thing he had ever touched. Glancing over at Yami, he swallowed hard. "Okay…what do you want me to do with it?"
Yami unintentionally grimaced.
Yugi immediately backed off with a shocked and outraged expression on his face. "Fuck no! There is no way in hell it's going to end like this you fucking son-of-a bitch! I'm not going to be the one that kills you Yami! I won't fucking shoot you, you can forget it!" he flung the gun angrily aside, and glared down at Yami, who in return just stared at him with a bored and sarcastic look in his eyes.
"Yugi…I need you to use the gun powder in that bullet…I need you to take it out and put it on the wound…and then I need you to set it alight, with a match or something...no shooting required." Yami explained carefully, with a carefully controlled voice that made Yugi feel as though he were a child being reprimanded.
He widened his eyes further, "What do you want me to do that for?"
Yami narrowed his eyes, "To close the wound and stop the bleeding, you dumb ass!"
Yugi glanced from the bullet to his older twin's face, "But that's going to fucking hurt like hell, not to mention what other kind of shit it could cause!"
"But it'll work… Do it." Yami said softly and closed his eyes, feeling the waves of exhaustion pull him under its warm seeming blanket.
Yugi looked at the bullet nervously, before effortlessly breaking it in half, and poured its powdered contents onto the wounded flesh. He pulled out his lighter, suddenly finding it ironic that he had taken up smoking just a few days before, and reluctantly positioned it…this had to be the dumbest thing he was ever going to do.
"This is so stupid," he complained, feeling a phantom sweat drop, slide down the side of his forehead. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
A ghost of a smile played on Yami's lips. "I wouldn't dream of it little brother."
"Kids, don't try this at home." Yugi closed his eyes and flicked.
Tea found herself desperately hurrying along the wooden platform deck that made up the Domino docks, and almost tripped when she hit the sand. Yugi's words had an interesting effect on her, which in her wild rush of duty, went by her, completely unnoticed. It was like experiencing emotion through glass - she believed Yami was going to be okay and that there was nothing to worry about, and had the confidence to back it up…but deep down inside her the hellish and ugly truth of it was liquidating her insides and thrashing about uncontrollably, begging her to pay more attention to it.
And if she had of paid more attention to it for just a moment, she would have noticed how artificial she felt.
There weren't many people on the beach; just a few that sat in tiny clusters of friends. Otherwise it seemed pretty abandoned, and there was no one with the same description of the girl, Yugi had told her to look for. She glanced around for the obvious first, the white hair colour, not something that was common to come across on most occasions. Her wide blue eyes scanned every individual she came across, catching sight of blondes, mostly brunettes, and strangely enough, one lonesome red-head, which made her smile slightly, despite the immense pressure she felt.
Their new recruit was nowhere to be seen.
Tea gulped back her frustrated sigh of disappointment and lost her smile upon the realization of this, and wanted nothing more than to turn around and run back to Yami to see with her own eyes that he was okay…but for some reason she couldn't. Her mind would not process the necessary movement requirements to make her way back to them, without finding this new vampire.
Yami hadn't really gone into detail about her. The only thing he had told Tea was that they had come across one that wasn't Bakura and that Yugi was keeping her safe somewhere. Unfortunately she was so preoccupied with other issues at hand that she never really got around the fact that there was a new vampire in Domino City. When exactly had this started happening? There had once been a time, where the only dangers she had to look out for were her father and James, and vampires didn't exist…now the city seemed to be crawling with them.
A guy rushed passed her and leapt upwards towards the sky, trying to catch hold of a red Frisbee and failing miserably. He fell forward and skilfully rolled over onto his feet again, laughing. He was someone she vaguely recognised, with a tall muscular frame, lightly toned skin, shaggy blonde hair, and the moment he turned around to face her direction, she immediately recognized his honey coloured eyes…
She gasped for breath, her eyes terrified as she darted several steps back, feeling an airtight scream darting up her throat.
"Showing some skills there man?" A voice called to him from behind her.
He plucked up the Frisbee, with a widely amused grin on his face and straightened his posture, curling his hands around the disk in preparation to throw it back. He was about to reply to his friend's question when his eyes landed on Tea, his greeting smile, fading slightly when he noticed her look of terror.
"Yo Joey! You going to pass that back while I'm still young and hotter than you?" his friend chuckled in the distance.
It was him, the guy who delivered the package. The guy who worked for the Devil as he had claimed…her father! She needed to run; she needed to get away to a place somewhere safe…but damn, she first needed to find the new vampire girl. It was only then that she started realizing that something was terribly wrong with her; she was in danger, and all she could think about was finding someone that clearly wasn't on the beach, and she would not leave under any circumstances until she found her.
Joey raised an eyebrow, confusion evident in his expression. "Hey, are you alright?" His words were thickly coated with a Brooklyn sounding accent, and naturally roughed edged, but his tone was kind and concerned, which was rather rare to receive from strangers in a city with a social structure of dog-eats-dog kind of world.
"It's you!" she gasped, taking another retreating step backwards, "You're the delivery guy that works for-"
"Come on man! What's the hold up?" the same voice called out from behind her.
The guy seeming annoyed, flung a look at his friend, "Yo Tristan, keep you're panties on!" He rolled his eyes and turned back to her, "Hey sorry, do I know you-"
She didn't wait for him to finish before she turned to flee, accidentally running right into a guy that was running towards her at the same time. Luckily he seemed to have far more balance than she did, probably from years of athletic training, and steadied her before she fell flat on her back. "Whoops! Sorry about that, are you okay?" he asked her, as she pulled free of his rather loose grip, and looked up at him, surprised to see that she actually did recognise this one. Tristan Taylor!
At first, Tristan wasn't looking at her, and instead had his gaze trained on his friend Joey, his eyes filled with amusement. "Man Joey, I've seen girls run from you in the past, but this is just ridiculous." He turned his gaze back to hers, and immediately gasped in surprise. "T-Tea?"
"Tristan!" she squeaked.
Oh boy…what was he doing here? She hadn't seen him since high school, and even then it was barely glimpses of him on the rare occasions where they'd cross paths, since they were on different sides of social groups. Back then he'd being pretty boyish and often got into fights with the wrong crowds, but now as she looked him up and down hastily, she noticed that he had since developed quite nicely physically, now adopting more muscle to his frame, and a slight darker tan. He still kept his trademark Mohawk and charming grin, which she supposed just made him, him, but there was something different about the light in his olive green eyes…perhaps a sign of maturity?
He grinned down wickedly at her, "Wow, I never thought you'd run into my arms again – sorry babe, but you'll have to get in line, I'm kind of unavailable at the moment."
Or maybe not. Guess the different shade of lighting in his eyes had a whole different meaning.
She narrowed her eyes at him and ground her teeth together, temporarily forgetting about Joey, and focussed her irritation on the guy who stood before her, stepping away from him and folding her arms defensively over her chest. "I'd be too afraid of waiting in that line with the kind of girls you'd take an interest in, even if I wanted to, and hell would freeze over before I do. And F-Y-I, I'm way, way taken – anyway!"
He smirked at her as though he found her reaction amusing…which he probably did, and she just wanted to slap him!
"You haven't changed a bit Tea, still got the same old kick ass persona. It's good to see you again," he said kindly, his amusement seeming to soften into what looked almost like fondness. Almost!
"Am I ever going to get introduced round here?" Joey whined from behind her, suddenly reminding everyone of his presence.
Tea gasped and instinctively cowered into Tristan, her eyes returning to Joey's confused ones. Tristan looked down at her in surprise before glancing over at Joey with a cocked eyebrow. "Joey what the hell did you do to her?"
Joey's mouth gaped open, and he flashed Tristan a look of bewilderment. "Wha-what? Me? I didn't do anything! I've never even seen her before!" he defended, throwing glances between him and Tea.
"Yes you have! You son of a bitch, you sent me that sick and awful package from my father!" she spat angrily, her eyes closing as memories of its contents flashed through her mind, feeling a violent tremor pulse through her body.
"I-I don't know what your talking about-" he began but she immediately interrupted him, with a bitter cough of disgust.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about! You're as sick as he is to accept money to hand out something that terrible! Hope it was worth it because both of you are going to land up in a cell together!" she threatened angrily, not registering fully on what she was saying; until she saw his eyes go wide.
Tristan suddenly nudged her in the side, with a baffled and surprised expression of his own, looking at Tea as though she had lost her mind. "Whoa there, hang on a sec! What package are you talking about?"
Tea glared up at him venomously, "I just told you! The one my f…father had him deliver to me!"
Tristan just looked at her, "Yeah I know that, but Joey delivers a lot of anonymous packages, you can't exactly expect him to know what you're talking about." His words were in a neutral sounding tone, but his eyes were rather dismissive, revealing that he had already sided with Joey on this one.
"What do you mean he delivers a lot of-?"
"He works as a delivery boy Tea," Tristan informed her with a calm, but cold voice.
"Uh…sorry to cut in here peeps, but what exactly have I done?" Joey seemed lost all of a sudden, just like Tea had felt when the one moment she and Yami had been great, then all of the sudden he was on the floor dying…Yami! What was she doing here? She had to get back to Yami, she had to find the new vampire and get back to Yami!
Joey was still looking at her as she backed away, her eyes once again searching the beach for a white haired girl, finally spotting her walk past a crowd up ahead of them, along the concrete walkway of the car park which lead on to the beach, her back turned to her.
"There she is!" she gasped, and launched forward, but halted in mid step as she remembered she still had unfinished business with the confused appearing blonde that was still staring wide-eyed at her. She shot him a stern and warning look, before tightening her jaw, "Stay away from me, do you understand? Don't ever come near me ever again!" She backed away from them slowly, before spinning around on her heels and hurried off after the white haired figure. "Hey! Wait up!" she called after her.
Tristan and Joey stared after her wide-eyed and baffled, Joey more so than Tristan. "Uh…Triss? Wha's up with that girl?" he asked carefully, his eyes following after her running form with large honey eyes.
Tristan shook his head and turned to face his long time friend, "Don't know man, drugs probably." He grabbed the Frisbee out of Joey's hands and held it up smugly. "Too slow brother! My mom could have held on more, tighter than you!" Meanwhile in the back of his mind, he pondered over Tea's abnormal reaction, reminded briefly of an incident in their past where she had shown a similar kind of hysteric reaction at the question of her father's sudden and abrupt disappearance from her life, which had fuelled many of his suspicions about the man's character, but Mr. Gardner had been a very well and highly respected man, making it impossible for him to believe that there was anything sinister going on behind her closed doors.
Joey shot him an amused grin, before swiping the Frisbee back, "Yeah Tristan, I know how tight your mom is!"
"Oh you're asking for it man!" Tristan growled before tackling Joey to sand. The boys wrestled playfully for several minutes, unknowing of the dangers that surrounded them in the shadows, while Tea made her way straight into them, following a white haired figure further and further away from the safety of the public eye.
"Hey!" she called after her, almost bumping into a couple holding hands. She muttered an apology and carried on dodging her way over to her. She narrowly avoided tripping over a random brick in the middle of the pathway, her gaze temporarily broken away from the vampire's retreating form, to look at the object, and by the time she caught her balance and glanced up, there was no sign of her anywhere. "What the hell?"
She looked from her left to her right, her eyes scanning the seemingly deserted area around her, realizing for the first time that she was completely alone…pursuing a vampire! She hiccupped on a stranded breath, and took a small step backwards, her eyes scanning all the dark corners that surrounded her, before whirling around to make a quick run for it in the opposite direction, coming face to face with none other than Bakura…
He smiled at her politely, though his eyes were curious, and he had a single eyebrow arched in a questioning manner. "Evening," he greeted automatically, seeming slow with his words. She felt her lips part and close nervously, her mind racing on what to do and was too jumbled to make a coherent sense. When she took too long to respond to him, he figured she wouldn't, and immediately continued onward, "Was there something you wanted?"
"I uh- I…I," she choked on her words, taking a careful step backwards.
"You were following me?" He regarded her very carefully.
"No!" she said a little too quickly, causing him to raise his eyebrows. "I was…" Crap, she was following Bakura all along, and now he had her trapped, with Yami unable to protect her. This really wasn't good.
"Where are Prince Atem and his brother?" he asked casually, as he shoved his hands in his pockets, causing her to flinch, and he immediately gave her an apologetic smile. "You needn't be afraid of me human, I mean you no harm…it is Bakura you must be wary of. I will not hurt you."
Tea gave him a nervous and wary look, wondering how safe it was exactly to trust an obviously, insane vampire that was going through an identity crisis, before slowly nodding her head, not meeting his gaze. "Uh, I have to go!" she tried to make a run for it, but he simply stepped to the side and cut her off.
"Why the rush? Surely you must have had reason for following me? Or…perhaps you were looking for someone else? Were you, human?" There was a very intimidating tone in his voice that Tea didn't like, but it also revealed a certain curios quality to it that warned Tea to think carefully about how she answered. Common sense told her that she shouldn't reveal anything to Bakura, which sounded eerily like Yami's voice in a way.
"I-I'm sorry…I mistook you for someone else," she said carefully, swallowing hard. "I'll get out of your way now!"
He held a hand up to stop her, giving her a hard, but calm look. "Maybe I can help you find this person, what's his or her name?"
Tea felt a cold chill slide up her back and dig its way into her shoulder blades, but forced herself to remain calm. "I don't know…I've never-" she stopped herself, feeling as though it was of utmost importance that she didn't reveal the gender of the vampire she had been looking for, as though it were by some instinctive alarming bell. "- we've never met before."
He nodded his head thoughtfully seeming to believe her. "That's a shame. Though I should caution you to be more careful about running up to people that you've never met before; one of them could be a vampire." He gave her a pointed look that was dead serious and completely lacked humour, clearly not toying around with her. "That would be most unfortunate now, wouldn't it?"
She gulped and took a small step back, deeply disturbed by his words. In horror movies it was generally rhetorical and ironic statements like that, made by the killer to his victim that generally meant he was going to pounce at any minute…which was exactly what she was expecting him to do.
He lightly closed his eyes for a moment before opening them with an almost softened gaze, "Take care young human, our days of peace won't last long. I don't wish to put this responsibility on you, but I doubt Prince Atem will hear from me, so if you'll please, deliver him this message that he should take your life into regard far more seriously than he is now, for it is gravely in danger...I'm sure you're already aware of that, and this is only the beginning." He lowered his gaze to the ground with a thoughtful frown, before biting his lips and looking up at her with a slightly embarrassed grin, "I sound far too formal when I speak don't I?"
Tea was a little taken aback by the question, noticing that when he flashed her, that slight revelation of vulnerability, he didn't appear dangerous at all - scary how looks could be so deceiving. She hesitantly nodded her head, her eyes still wide with distrust and caution, and she failed to return his smile, or even relax her posture.
He seemed to understand and nodded his head slowly as though at some unspoken request or perhaps an acknowledgement in this case. "Yeah, I find it hard fitting in with these modern times, the usage of language just keeps changing and changing…" he drifted off, seeming to catch himself before he went totally off topic and cleared his throat, stiffening and straightening his posture as he changed back into business mode. "I find you to be a rather interesting human…Tea, is it? You are the only human I know of; to hold the secret of our existence and be allowed free reign…and so far it seems that you can be trusted with it. It is because of this I shall share this advice with you – leave Prince Atem now, while you still can, and forget you ever knew him, that is, if you want to live. A human and a vampire can never be together, such a thing has been forbidden by the gods, and I advise you do not tempt their rage." His matter of fact tone was spine chilling.
Forgetting that she was afraid of him, she was suddenly overpowered by rage that someone would dare tell her what to do about her relationship with Yami, parting her lips to angrily tell him where to shove his advice when he held up a hand briskly to stop her. "Consider it is all I ask, and I can imagine that it is a lot…interestingly, a human's heartbeat has a certain rhythm-pattern that it follows when it's in love, something that human hearing cannot trace, but a vampire's can. It's unfortunate you love him, really it is…"
Something immediately changed within him as he closed his eyes and shook his head, his facial expression softening drastically as though he had suddenly allowed the walls he had built around himself to collapse. "No…forgive me Tea, it is not unfortunate…in fact it is truly wonderful that you can love…that you can make him feel love. There is no other feeling like it, such a positive and incredible sensation that makes even the most miserable of hearts joyous and vibrant. Who am I…" he frowned thoughtfully, his gaze growing distant as though he were a million miles away, seeming to talk more to himself than to her, "What am I, to tell you to give it up? Life…immortality…Tea, is worthless without feeling. Never forget that."
Tea stood completely frozen to her spot, with wide eyes. She had no idea what he was rambling about, but the difference in his eyes was beginning to scare her. They seemed to be growing darker, which as she remembered from the last time, was a rather bad sign. She wanted nothing more than to flee from him and run back to the safety of Yami's arms. Yami! Had he even healed yet? Was he even still alive?
"Go," his voice was barely a whisper, yet it held a powerful commanding tone that alarmed all her instinctive senses. "Leave now before my other halves awaken!"
She found her body moving on its own, without her mind properly registering its actions, making its way hastily passed him, before he reached out and grabbed her wrist in a motion so fast it seemed like black blur swooping down at her. He held her stationary for a second, seeming to be fighting for control over himself before grabbing hold of her gaze, giving her a serious look, "No, not that way."
She frowned questioningly at him, before gasping in shock as he made his way forward, dragging her along with him with a determined look in his eyes. "Hey! What are you-?" she squeaked in protest, trying to yank her arm free.
"Another pursues you within the shadows, human." He continued to drag her along, walking far too fast for her human legs to follow correctly in step, yet his grasp on her was too tight for her to break away from, and his nails dug painfully into her skin. "I'll escort you to safety."
Briefly ignoring the pain she glanced up at him in surprise. "W-why?"
"As I've said…we are not yet enemies," he answered without looking at her, but tightened his grip, which caused her to wince, as blood slowly began to trail down her arm.
"Ow'ww," she gasped quietly, hissing slightly under her breath.
They had just rounded a corner, when the scent of her blood seemed to hit him, and he immediately stopped in his tracks, his body seeming to harden like a concrete statue. She saw that his jaw had clenched and heard him grind his teeth together slowly, forcing his eyes closed as he strained for control over his predator's instincts, and she felt him reluctantly release her wrist. "I'm sorry…you're bleeding, I didn't realise-" he swallowed a breath, "That I had you that tightly." His voice was strained and husky, sounding dry and…hungry.
Tea cradled her wounded wrist, which wasn't all that bad, just a little scratched and bruised, with a few droplets of blood leaking out…but then again to a vampire, those droplets were enough to send them right over the edge. She had never been more afraid of him, realizing just how bad this situation was.
He lowered his gaze to her arm, and Tea watched in horror as she saw them darkening with lust and hunger, seeming to zone in to the reddened gore like a hawk eyeing its prey. His tongue slipped out his mouth like a snake and darted over his top lip, never removing his gaze from what he hungered for. "I have never caught such a scent before…your blood is…different." He choked slightly on his words in the same way a hesitant, person in pain would. He thrust his head to the side, forcing his gaze away and shut his eyelids together tightly, visibly trembling in anticipation. "I-I must leave...take care of yourself human…life…fragile." He made a choking sound, which sounded terrifying, and before she could blink he was nothing more than a black blur that disappeared into the night, leaving behind nothing more than an eerily cold breeze that blew aside some discarded trash that littered the pavement.
She felt frightened tears burn in the corners of her eyes as her heart rate thumped loudly against her chest. It was too much! Everything was just too much! She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as fear began to take its toll on her body. What had Ryou's words meant? Everything he had said and done, confused her, yet a part of her subconscious seemed to latch onto some understanding of it, but annoyingly kept it out of her mind's reach, which was not only frustrating but aggravating as well. She bit her trembling lip, trying to get her thoughts together, when she heard her name being called from her right.
"Tea!"
It was Yugi's voice.
She felt a wave of relief wash over her, and turned to see Yugi rush towards her in a black blur, stopping just short of where she stood. His scarlet eyes were trained in the direction of where Bakura had hurried off and she noticed that his fangs were drawn slightly at the corners of his mouth. "Get behind me, Bakura's somewhere close by and I smell blood," he commanded, his eyes still searching for a threat.
Tea choked on a sob and coughed, as she wiped away a tear that had been slowly making its way out of the corner of her eye. "It's my b-blood Yugi," she whispered softly, as she stepped closer towards him, feeling the events of the day weigh her down on each step as though gravity was increasing on her. "He's gone…he just…he's gone now."
Yugi gasped and stared wide-eyed at her, immediately taking a step back and holding up a halting hand to stop her. "Don't!" he commanded, before cocking his head slightly as though he had heard something, and quickly glanced around. "I need to get you out of here."
She began to nod her head in understanding, when she suddenly realized that Yugi had come alone. "Yugi, where's Yami?" she asked tiredly, her eyes and cheeks burning from her teary assault, feeling as though something was terribly wrong, in the form of a sixth sense whispered to her instincts.
He turned away from her slightly and frowned, his body seeming to tense in the same way as Ryou's had. "He's…I'm sorry Tea, I couldn't…" he breathed in deeply, briefly meeting her eyes before lowering them.
She felt something clench around her heart tightly and allowed sob to escape her, as she lost the feeling in her legs and collapsed to her knees, "No!" she cried out heartbreakingly, covering her face with both her hands.
Yugi dashed over to her, quickly catching hold of her around the waist and lowered her to the ground gently, as she thrashed weakly against his hold. "No! No! No! Nooo!" she sobbed, punching at his chest as hard as she could, though inwardly she knew it didn't faze him.
"Shush, Tea please, you need to calm down," Yugi commanded desperately, seeming to struggle against something, as he tried to comfortingly stroke her back, which was a little too harshly for a soothing motion. "Bakura's in the area, and if he catches scent of your blood…" he frowned slightly, and lowered his head down to her shoulder taking a sniff of some foreign scent that made his eyes widen in shock. "What the hell? Did he do this to you?"
She didn't hear him, her thoughts centred entirely on her fallen lover. "You told me that he would be okay, I trusted you!" she whimpered and sobbed as her heart throbbed painfully, slowly shattering back into the thousand little pieces that it had once been, before Yami had mended them back together.
Yugi shook his head, before yanking Tea back up into his arms and lifted her off the ground, his eyes scouting out the area cautiously, before lurching forward in a black blurry cloud of inhuman speed. Tea held onto him tightly, burying her face in the crook of his neck, as she allowed her tears to flow freely, all the while regretting ever leaving Yami's side.
Within a minute, they were in the museum's open parking lot next to Yami's shiny black Ferrari, and as gently as he could, he placed her down on her feet, while still holding her waist supportively, fumbling in his pocket for the keys. Tea wanted to shove herself away from him and run back down to the docks where she had last seen Yami, not wanting to accept that he was dead, and especially not get into his car, which still had a trace of his intoxicating scent, and drive away from him…but before she knew it, Yugi had her strapped down in the passenger seat and was already backing up the car.
"No! I don't want to leave him there like that!" she cried, jolting her body forward in her seat. "Yugi turn back!"
As they pulled out of the parking complex a large white van, with the museum's logo plastered on its sides, drove past them at a casually slow pace, flashing its headlights in greeting as Yugi sped past it.
"Not while Bakura is out and about, we're not; we're going straight to your apartment. By the way, care to tell me exactly what the hell happened between you two earlier? I know he's the reason behind those…" he swallowed deeply and played with his tongue a bit, seeming to compose himself, before continuing, "Claw marks on your arm. Did he try to bite you?"
Tea stared at him incredulously with wide, tearing eyes, "Forget about him Yugi! Yami's…" She thrust her gaze away from his as more tears flowed from her eyes. This wasn't happening! This really couldn't be happening! Not Yami, anyone else, but not Yami. It all had to be a dream, a really sick and horrifying dream that she would soon wake up from, and find herself back in Yami's arms, all safe and care-free again.
Yugi ignored her and continued to swerve expertly around sharp curves and sped down semi-deserted streets, passing by several abandoned warehouses with broken windows and rusted roofs; Gangster territory. "What a shitty little neighbourhood," he commented dryly as they sped past an equally dodgy building that looked like it could collapse at any second.
Tea couldn't believe how casual his words were; almost as though he didn't even care that his brother's body was laying abandoned back at the Domino Docks, like a discarded piece of trash. Didn't Yugi feel anything?
"Yugi, what the hell is wrong with you? What the hell is going on? For fuck's sakes answer me!" she screamed, her voice tight with frustration, anger and above all, hurt. He winced at the shrillness of her voice, but continued to ignore her, seeming to have his mind on other things.
She continued to cry quietly to herself, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, trying to crawl into herself and wake up from her obvious nightmare. Yugi glanced at her in concern and slowed the vehicle down slightly, deciding that the last thing she needed to go through was an accident on top of everything else that had happened.
She remained silent and mourned for her loss the entire drive to her apartment, and didn't even glance at Yugi as he brought the car to a halt, and leant back against his seat, sighing loudly. "You know…" he started softly, breaking the silence between them. "Egypt was pretty wild with all the wars between the different clans and shit, but Ra-damn, tonight's giving me a run for my money. I can't ever remember being this worn out." He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose, waiting patiently for her response, which he already knew he wasn't going to get.
She continued to ignore him, and stared at her lap with a lost look in her eyes that were washed out with pain and tragedy, hardly even aware of where she was.
"Can you walk?" he asked her gently, concern evident in his voice, but had no affect on her as she continued to give him the silent treatment.
"Look Tea-"
"What happened…" she sobbed quietly, fresh tears once again making an appearance. She clutched her hands together as they trembled uncontrollably in her lap, and felt her whole world swirl around her in a morbid dance.
"To Yami? He was shot in the chest by some bastard with a gun-" Yugi tried to answer, but his calm and casual way of voicing it, came across to Tea as uncaring.
She whirled around and slapped him so hard that her hand stung in protest, and glared at him with fire-blazing blue eyes that were filled with so much hurt and anger that Yugi felt himself automatically freeze beneath her gaze. "He was your twin brother!" she spat, through partly clenched teeth, "How can you talk about him like that, like he didn't mean anything to you?" Tears were flooding from her eyes now, uncontrollably and she gave one final sob before she leapt out the car and slammed the door behind her, dashing toward the front doors, somewhat clumsily as her muscles tiredly gave out.
She had no idea that Yugi was behind her, and was surprised when she felt his arms catch hold of her before she hit the ground. "Let go of me! Let go!" she sobbed bitterly, thrashing about pathetically as he lifted her up into his arms yet again and hugged her. He felt her body become still, before she mimicked the action, squeezing her arms around him tightly, before sobbing into his neck.
"Tea, you can stop crying now," he whispered as he carried her up the steps.
"Damn it Yugi, I'm upset okay! I just lost the only guy I have ever loved, so just shut up and let me cry!" she growled through her sobs.
"Lost?" Yugi asked sounding confused.
"His dead!" she cried out in frustration.
He stopped walking and held her gaze steadily, allowing a small grin to creep onto his lips. Her expression quickly changed to horror and she growled in disgust, utterly shocked that he would find any of what she'd said amusing. "Arg! You're-"
He tightened his hold on her and shook his head, sobering up his expression slightly, but his smile still remained. "Is that what you've been crying about this whole time? I thought it was just the after-effects of a very stressful day." He continued walking up the steps, while she stared up at him absolutely flabbergasted.
"Of course I'm crying over Yami, I loved him!"
Yugi rolled his eyes, "I know, but you don't need to cry over him-"
"How can you be so insensitive? I'm crying over him because I miss him, and because I'll never see him again!"
"Sure you will, Yami's fine," he said lowly as he reached the end of the long flight of stairs, and gently placed her back on her feet.
She gasped and looked him in the eye, wondering if she heard right. "W-what did you just say?"
He leant up against the railing with a smug look on his face, and folded his arms over his chest. "I said he's fine, he's still alive, not dead, so there's no need to get emotional about it."
She froze on the spot, not quite understanding what Yugi had meant, till his words began to sink in. She gasped; feeling a sense of relief, excitement, absolute joy, confusion and also anger, all boil down in an explosive emotional bomb, which unfortunately Yugi was in the line of fire of. She jumped into Yugi and threw her arms around his neck and squeezing him happily, before realizing how angry she was at him, and shoved him backwards, which he playfully allowed and purposely fell to the ground, looking up at her with an unsurprised and almost playful gaze, as she glared down at him venomously with her hands clenched tightly at her sides. "Yugi, you son of a bitch!"
He held up his hands in surrender, "Calm down, I can explain!"
"You better explain! I thought that he was dead Yugi! Do you know how I felt? Do you know how much it hurt! How could you do that to me?" she felt angry and relieved tears flow from her eyes, and strangely felt like laughing.
Yugi got up and brushed himself off, before adjusting his collar and flashed her, a tiny smile as she continued to wipe her tears away with both her hands, both sobbing and laughing under her breath. "I'll explain why later, but right now, let's go inside and order a pizza or something."
Tea removed her hands and stared at him with a small smile, far too happy that Yami was actually alive to stay mad at him. She nodded her head softly and allowed him to guide her to her apartment, suddenly feeling really light and numb with shock. "He's really alive?" she whispered softly.
"Yes, and safe. I promised him I'd take care of you in his place tonight," Yugi answered her back, taking her around the waist and guiding her to her door. "You're in shock, usually I'd recommend a dose of rum or tequila, but perhaps for now, we'll just settle on a glass of sugar-water, and I think some Pizza will go down way better than Chinese, don't you agree?"
Tea giggled hysterically, leaning more of her weight against Yugi as her body became even more, numb with exhaustion. "Vampires eat take-out?" she mused dryly.
Yugi grinned, "Well in a sense."
"Is he okay though?" she asked in an exhausted and whispery voice.
"Well…that's kind of what we need to talk about - but don't worry," he added immediately when she shot him a worried look, "He's pretty much, intact. Look just relax okay, you've been through a lot today and it's not good for your health…you are still human after all. And once you've calmed down a bit, I'll explain the new arrangements to you, okay? Have we got a deal?"
Tea nodded her head tiredly with a small, nervous smile, believing she could trust Yugi. Yami was alive and that was all that mattered, and sooner or later she was going to find herself back in his arms again; that she could most definitely count on, no matter what…
- -(Awww cute!) - -
The driver of the white van gave a low grunt as he pulled the oversized vehicle to a halt right outside the silvered-door back entrance, and flopped back against his seat as the twelve-hour drive took its toll on him. His co-driver finished munching on his burger, and nodded for what ever particular reason he had, before clambering his way out the van, humming an unrecognisable tune, which had grated on his partner's every nerve.
Growling lowly under his breath, the driver got out the van and stretched his old tired muscles out before marching to the back of the vehicle and slid open its back doors, taking one look at the huge, bulky and heavy looking packages, before growling in annoyance again. He was getting too old for this job.
"Good evening Gerald," a rich, warm-coated feminine voice spoke out from behind him, as the museum's curator came out to greet him.
He turned around tiredly and nodded a greeting in her direction. "Evening Ma'am, nice weather for once," he muttered dryly, reminded of his last memory, of delivering artefacts, all the way from New York, during a thunder storm in which he, as a result of, suffered a week long of Bronchitis soon after.
The curator laughed softly, "Ah yes indeed. How have you been since then?" Her attempt at small talk almost made him scoff, but he politely swallowed his vulgar comment and responded as cheerfully as his sullen and grim personality allowed.
"I've been well," he responded simply, as he reached into the back and pulled out a square box first, which was probably the lightest of the load.
"Good, good…ah," she exclaimed excitedly, as she gently took the box from his hands, her blue eyes sparkling with awe and wonder, as though she could see the item within it, through the cardboard. "I have awaited this remarkable gift from Egypt for a while now."
Gerald grunted a response and continued on with unloading the van, by unhooking the restraints that held the boxes stationary, eyeing the large coffin-sized one particularly with resentment. At the same time his co-driver, Phil, pushed a wheeled cart over to the back and positioned it precisely where it needed to be, wearing a stoned expression that made him look dumber than usual.
"Phil I'm going to shove it out, make sure its steady on your side," he commanded, eyeing his shaggy-blonde haired co-worker suspiciously, as he slowly pushed the edge of the large box out, which was way heavier than normal for its size and shape, like deadweight.
Phil gave him a, thumbs up and a goofy grin as he took the sides firmly with both his hands, waiting for Gerald to shove it out further…which he was hesitant to do, since Phil seemed weirdly unbalanced, and one little stumble could result in a very pricy accident. Carefully he slid the box down to Phil's waiting arms, and manoeuvred it in a way that it slid onto the cart easily, though at one heart-stopping moment it looked as though Phil was almost about to drop it, and after a few exchange of curses at one another, the box was safely loaded on the crate and rolled inside the building, closely followed by the curator who watched each movement like a hawk.
She had wanted it to be placed in one of the examination room's, which just so happened to be on the other side of the bloody museum, and required both Phil and Gerald's physical strength to lift it onto the examination table, and by the time they had managed it, both were red in the face, particularly Gerald. He slapped his hands together and rubbed them, mentally cursing each splinter that had managed to prick through his calloused hands.
"Thank you gentlemen, I'm sure the rest will be much easier to move, though would you mind opening it for me?" the curator requested sweetly, using her womanly charm to con them into more work, which they were not been paid for…
"Sure," Gerald responded politely, as he fetched a crowbar from the storeroom, and began pulling the dry-wood apart, doing his best to stifle his negative comments with several grunts and snorts, as the wood fell away piece by piece, revealing what looked like a richly decorated sarcophagus, snugly kept in several rolls of bubble wrap and other supportive structures to ensure that it survived the trip intact.
"Ah, magnificent! Do you know what we have here in our possession gentlemen? This young boy was a lost prince of Ancient Egypt that has only just being found in the Valley of the Kings!" she exclaimed excitedly, but Gerald wasn't listening, and quite frankly didn't really see what was so exciting about finding a dead body of some kid who lived several thousands of years ago. It was quite sick actually in his opinion.
"Humph…that's very interesting Ma'am, now where do you want us to put the other stuff?" Gerald asked in a neutral tone that border-lined disinterest, whereas Phil, a natural-born womanizer, jumped at the opportunity to impress the rather attractive woman.
"Wow for real? You know, I really find this kind of stuff interesting, I mean I'm still warped around Tutankhamen's mysterious death and things like that, you know? What do you think happened to this poor guy?"
"Well according to the ancient records we found, he was struck by lightning!" she answered eagerly, her eyes taking on a new shade of blue as she went on passionately about one of her favourite subjects that she loved to talk about…Ancient Egyptian History.
"Whoa, for real? That is so intense; you know I had a buddy once that was out-"
"Phil, we need to get the rest of those crates in before midnight, so let's get moving," Gerald interrupted impatiently, growing rather irritated with conversation that was leading nowhere for either of them.
"Yeah sure Jerry, just let me-"
"No, now!" Gerald commanded before shoving his way out the door, practically dragging his partner with him, leaving the curator alone with the sarcophagus, who smiled down at it fondly as she ran a finger along its side, harshly ripping off the plastic as she did so. It was one of the most beautiful sarcophagus's she had ever seen, with such intimate detail warped with solid gold and gem stones, as well as hieroglyphic engravings that gave a clearer picture of the man who had been placed within the coffin…or so she thought.
"Apparently you were a handsome man too," she whispered to the sarcophagus, with a small grin. "Too bad you're dead; we may have made a really cute couple." She chuckled softly as made her way over to the other side of the room, gathering several tools that she planned to use for her examination operation, when she thought she heard a soft thud. She turned around and glanced around the room, expecting to see either Phil or Gerald, but neither of them appeared. She shrugged, figuring it was just a figment of her imagination, when she heard another odd sound that she couldn't exactly place.
This time she made her way to the door and peered out into the hallway, and noticed that both Phil and Gerald were still a long way away unloading the van with the help of one of the museum's staff members. She frowned in their direction, before shaking her head, slightly baffled, and returned to her work, not giving the weird sounds a second thought, as she sat down on her stool, and grabbed hold of an important document, which she had to fill in before morning. Distantly she heard the van's engine start up and fade into the distance, and the sounds of the back entrance been locked up for the night by the night's watchman, who would be leaving any minute for his hour break. Meaning that it was just her and her obsession, the sarcophagus, for now, just the way she liked it…
She was just about to fill in the opening line of the document, when another thump caught her attention…since it sounded like it was actually coming from within the ancient coffin…
She eyed the object of her affection warily, holding the pen firmly in her right hand, frozen to her seat as her imagination began to run wildly over several possibilities, for the noise's cause. Grinning amusedly to herself, she chuckled lowly under her breath, playfully joking to herself that the mummy had come back to life. "Are you coming back to life in there my Prince?" she chuckled, as she turned back to face her work…never expecting what took place next.
The top lid of the sarcophagus exploded open with one simple thrust, and clattered loudly to the ground, startling her right off her stool, as she stared wide eyed at the impeccably handsome figure that was gracefully climbing out of it, and felt her mouth gape open in a silent scream of startled surprise. He flexed his muscles and rolled his shoulders back, before ironing down his silky white shirt with both his hands, neatening up its fabric, not bothering to glance in her direction.
There was something darkly unnatural about him that called out to her instinctive responses of fear, something that defied logic and scientific explanation. He finally glanced sideways at her, seeming to take in her whole appearance with just one brief observation, before continuing to adjust his outfit in a neat fashion, not bothering to grace her with any form of verbal acknowledgement.
She couldn't help but notice his eyes, finding them to be one of the most beautiful pair of crystal blue coloured orbs she had ever seen on a human being, though there was something really dark and unnaturally alluring about them, something that wasn't quite…human.
Summing up the courage to speak, she managed to choke a few words out, "W-Who are you?" He straightened his posture and rolled back his broad shoulders yet again, giving her a blank look before staring down at her neck.
"E-Excuse m-me?" she stuttered nervously as she inched away from him, making her way towards the panic button that was just an arm's length away.
"Seto," he responded politely before grapping her forearm and pulling her away from the button she was about to push, effortlessly, as though she weighed absolutely nothing at all, and without warning bit down into her neck. She struggled against him, trying to scream and push him away, but it was like fighting against a solid wall, and he easily overpowered her. She felt her life force slowly slip away as a wave of unnatural black exhaustion overtook her, and soon slumped limply against him with closed eyes. He took several more sips of her blood before pulling away and yanked her body up into his arms, before placing her in the sarcophagus, deciding that was probably the most suitable place for someone that dedicated their lives to digging up and exploiting his family in such horrific and humiliating ways.
He wiped away a faint trail of blood that leaked from the side of his mouth, and growled irritably. He had been confined to such a limited amount of uncomfortable space for over thirty-two hours, without a single meal or ability to move, and his Nintendo had died shortly before he arrived in the country, leaving him with several hours of absolute boredom, while he read the same paperback novel over and over again that someone – most probably Dendera – had placed in there for him, which was a trashy romance novel that he wouldn't be caught dead reading in public…literally.
He walked around to where the document lay discarded on the woman's desk and briefed through its contents, picking out the coded information he needed from it, before tearing it apart. He had finally arrived in Domino City and not a moment too soon in his opinion. He'd find his cousins easily, especially Atem, who he knew all too well, but first he had business to take care of.
He reached into his sarcophagus, which had been made especially for the occasion, and pulled out a leather- wrapped item. It was time to find his dearest cousin…
Slowly crawls out into the open with a white flag! Okay! Okay! I'm sorry this chapter sucks! But I'm pretty sure that the next one's going to be better, because, well, it's a surprise. Anyway, I got to out-run you all before you get hold of me and kill me. So see ya and thank's for reading. Love you guys! Mwa Mwa mwaaaaa- holy shit that's a big gun! Ahhhhhh!
Oh by the way, did anyone pick up on how extra weird Bakura is? Oh and how many of you slapped your foreheads and went - Oh so that's what she meant when she said Joey had already featured in the story! Oh yeah, I'm supposed to running - bye!