Chapter 3

Yugi was hiding. Currently, his hiding place was his room, face down on his bed, with his face mashed into his pillow. The translucent form of the pharaoh had his forearm braced on the opposite wall and was looking down at the floor. Neither of them reacted when Yugi's phone buzzed from the desk and then went to voicemail. They both knew who it was.

I am so sorry Yugi, Yami said for what must have been the hundredth time.

It's not your fault Yami, Yugi replied not moving an inch. It's not like you wanted to get jumped and stabbed in an alley.

I lost control though. Yami's hands clenched into fists.

At that Yugi did sit up. He made his way over to Yami and put his hand on the other's shoulder. You can't hold yourself to expectations of perfection Yami, it's not fair to yourself.

Yami snorted. Yugi, I nearly killed Alex. I deserve much worse than this.

But you didn't kill her.

They were both silent for a moment. Yugi's phone buzzed again.

She's not giving up. It's been five days and if anything she's only gotten more persistent.

Yami didn't respond. He couldn't get the image of Alex, her eyes wide with fear and pinned under him, out of his head. That, and the thoughts of what had almost been, haunted him. It was all too easy to imagine her pale, cold body in his arms or her glassy eyes staring up at him. Yami's stomach rolled for the millionth time at the thought. He might never have spoken or interacted directly with Alex like he had with their other friends, yet she was just as dear to him as any of them.

It actually made him nervous at how terrified he was at the thought of Alex being injured. It surpassed his worries for their friends and even rivalled his concern for Yugi.

Not receiving an answer from Yami, Yugi sighed and went back to his bed lying down again. After Yami had run from Alex and fed on a mugger a few streets over, they hid. Neither of them had any idea how to approach Alex. What kind of explanation or apology would even begin to cover what happened? So, Yugi had started ignoring all his calls and stopped going to class. Yami stayed on the other side of town when he hunted at night. And when Alex started coming to the shop, Gramps intercepted her and gave her various excuses as to why Yugi was unavailable.

For the time being though, they had decided to hide in his room given that he and Alex were supposed to be in class right now.

"YUGI MOUTO!"

'Supposed to be' being the key words. Yugi bolted upright and shared a panicked look with Yami.

Before either of them could do or say anything Yugi's bedroom door slammed open revealing a very angry Alex.

"I'm sorry Yugi, I couldn't stop her," Grandpa said from behind Alex.

Yugi sighed. "Don't worry about it Grandpa. I had it coming. Go on I'll be fine."

Grandpa looked back and forth between Alex and Yugi for a moment before deciding to let them figure out whatever it was between themselves. After the door closed behind Grandpa they stood in silence. Yugi had no idea where to even start and the waves of fury rolling off of Alex were not helping.

"I'm waiting for some kind of explanation you know," Alex seethed.

"Alex-"

"No! No! What the HELL is wrong with you Yugi?!" Alex yelled, pacing back and forth.

Yugi flinched. That hurt. "I-"

"You were BLEEDING OUT YUGI. You needed HELP, you NEEDED my blood, you even said so YOURSELF and you RAN AWAY."

Yugi shared a flabbergasted look with Yami before looking back at Alex, "Wait-"

"NO! I WILL NOT WAIT! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR FIVE DAYS YUGI! Waiting for you to call me and let me know you were ok and why you got STABBED and how I could help and why the hell you even needed my blood and why you RAN AWAY!" Alex was quickly becoming an alarming shade of red as she stopped and glared at him.

Yugi stared with his jaw hanging for a second. After several tries he was able to find his voice, "THAT'S why you're mad?"

"OF COURSE THAT'S WHY I'M MAD! WHY ELSE WOULD I BE MAD?!"

"It's just that, well, you're not mad I didn't tell you about… you know, or that I almost… k- killed you?" Yugi stumbled over his words staring at the ground playing with his fingers.

He heard Alex heave a heavy sigh. "No Yugi, I'm not mad about that. Slightly freaked out and still pondering my sanity? Maybe. But not mad. After all how could you have told me about what you are? I'd have never believed you if I hadn't seen it. Despite the fact that I saw it, it took me two days to really come to grips with it. And I know you. Even if you completely lost yourself you'd never be able to kill anyone, never mind a friend. I've just been so worried about you."

Yugi stared at the floor meekly.

And his eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets when he felt her arms wrap around him in a hug. "I'm sorry Yugi."

"No!" Yugi said hugging her back quickly. "No, you have every right to be angry Alex, don't apologize. I should be the one apologizing. I've just had so much trouble trying to figure out what to say."

"Well," Alex said timidly. "If you want you can tell me anything. Everything. Just start at the beginning. If you want."

Yugi smiled hesitantly. "I'd love to."

They both sat on the bed and Yugi took a deep breath. "It all started twelve years ago when I was eight. Gramps knew how much I loved puzzles and how lonely I was at school so he gave me something to fill the time. The Millennium Puzzle. An ancient puzzle found in a pharaoh's tomb that no one has ever been able to solve. But then one day when I was fourteen, I did." He looked down at the puzzle for a moment running his fingers over it.

"That's it isn't is?" Alex said nodding down at the puzzle. "That pendant you wear is the Millennium Puzzle?"

Yugi nodded. "From that point on I started having black outs all the time, especially at night. And all these things started happening to people I knew. Bullies and criminals, anyone who treated my friends or I badly would turn up crazy, or missing, or even dead a few days later. That's also when reports of animal attacks started. Low lifes and criminals being bitten and thrown around in back alleys. It wasn't until I entered the Duelist Kingdom tournament that I found out about what had been happening."

He stopped to catch his breath and think about his next words. Alex reached out and held his hand waiting for when he was ready. He gave her a small smile and continued.

"There's another personality living inside my Millennium Puzzle. He usually only comes out at night because the puzzle forces him out as soon as it's dark every night. But he can, and does, come out with some difficulty during the day. To protect us or to help me duel."

"And this other personality-" Alex started.

"Yami," Yugi corrected.

"Yami," Alex said. "Is a vampire?"

"Yes."

"So you're a vampire?"

"No."

"No?"

"No. Yami has enhanced senses, strength, speed and a need to consume blood about twice a week. I have none of that and will always prefer burgers over any other kind of food," Yugi smiled.

"Does anyone else know?" Alex asked. "Joey, or Tristan, or – oh my Ra please tell me Tea knows. I can't know this kind of thing before your girlfriend does."

"Whoa, whoa! Relax Alex!" Yugi said holding his hands up. "The whole gang knows. So does Gramps and the Kaibas. It'd be pretty hard to keep it from them after everything we've been through."

"Sounds like quite the adventure," Alex said.

"You don't know the half of it," Yugi smirked.

"Tell me," Alex said.

So he did. All of it. Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, The Big Five, Noa, Dartz, everything. He told her about their discoveries that Yami was the ancient Nameless Pharaoh and the other Millennium Items and his missing memories.

"So he still doesn't remember anything?" Alex asked sadly.

Yugi shook his head. "We tried. After the KC Grand Championship and the whole incident in India we all travelled to Egypt and showed the God Cards to the stone tablet, but… nothing happened."

"And Malik and Ishizu didn't know why?"

"No. To their knowledge, Yami did everything right. Their scriptures say that when the Pharaoh stands in front of the tablet of memories, with his love and his friends to support him, he may present a likeness of the Gods to the tablet and his memories will be revealed. We had the God Cards, we all stood in front of the tablet and he focused on his love for all his friends but nothing happened."

They both just sat as Alex processed everything she just learned. "Wait a second. You're telling me that Seto knew about this, all of it, and never told me?"

Yugi couldn't help the smirk that crawled onto his face. "Seto knows about it but he refuses to believe any of it. He will literally come up with any excuse no matter how unlikely or far-fetched to try and explain everything. I'm also pretty sure he forbade Mokuba from talking about it."

Alex rolled her eyes at the antics of her adopted brother before they lapsed into silence again. Alex opened her mouth a few times to try and say something, but kept closing it again. Yugi watched her struggle for a minute before gently saying, "You can ask me anything Alex. You deserve the answers."

Alex took a deep breath. "Can I- can I meet him?"

Yugi blinked, before he looked at Yami who looked almost… panicked. Alex followed his gaze and looked at the spot where Yami was standing hopefully. Yami looked back and forth between the two of them before sighing and giving a single nod. Yugi looked back at Alex with a smile. Alex grinned at him.

"Thanks Yugi. For everything," she said leaning forward to hug him.

"Anytime," he said before scooting back and closing his eyes.

Alex watched as a warm golden glow emitted from Yugi's puzzle. His bangs straightened up into lighten bolts, his features sharpened, and his height grew several inches. Finally his eyes opened revealing red opposed to Yugi's violet.

"Hello again Yami," Alex smiled.

"Hello Alex," Yami replied looking uncomfortable.

They sat in silence awkwardly.

"Alex… On Wednesday night… I'm so-" he was suddenly cut off by gentle fingers on his lips.

"If the next word out of your mouth is sorry, I'm going to have to kick your butt," Alex said lightly.

"But-"

"No buts. I don't blame you for what happened and I'm not mad," Alex said smiling.

Silence enveloped the pair again.

"So," Alex said. "You're a vampire."

"Yes," Yami said looking down.

"You have enhanced strength, speed, and senses. And you drink blood. Anything else I should know?" Alex asked lightly. "I mean you don't have a garlic allergy or something right?"

Yami chuckled. "No garlic, crosses, holy water, none of that will affect me. I don't need to be invited in to enter a house. I'm not bullet, or knife, proof as you saw. I heal faster than a human, but for larger injuries I need blood to heal. I think if you shoved a stake through the heart of anything it'd probably be enough to kill it." Alex frowned at him, but Yami continued. "Sunlight doesn't do anything to me except cause some minor discomfort, although we've come to realize that it's deadly to other vampires."

"Timeout," Alex said with wide eyes. "Other vampires?!"

"Yes," Yami sighed. "There are other vampires in the world. They mostly stick to dark, isolated places though."

Alex took a second to process that fact. Then she moved on to the big question. "And you don't have to kill when you feed?"

"No." Internally Alex breathed a small sigh of relief. While she never would have held it against him if he did, it was nice to know that her friend's really hot spirit friend didn't have to kill to live. Wait, really hot? Where did that come from? Alex asked herself.

"So how does this whole sharing a mind and body thing work?" Alex asked.

And so it continued. For hours, Yami answered her questions and explained his and Yugi's situation as best he could. And when she ran out of questions, they continued to talk, and trade stories, and get to know each other.

Eventually they lapsed into a comfortable silence, laying side by side on the bed and looking up through the skylight. Yami turned his head so he could look at Alex's profile. He felt contentment sweep through him and his heart started to beat a little faster.

Frowning at the reaction he reached out to Yugi. Yugi, I think something is wrong with our body. Our heart does not seem to be functioning properly.

Yami could feel Yugi smirking in his head. Trust me Yami, our heart is just fine.

Then what is it doing? And why?

You like Alex.

Yami frowned. Of course I like Alex. Why wouldn't I? She's a respectable woman with great wit, intelligence, humor, loyalty, and kindness. She is a great friend.

Yugi snickered. Yeah, Alex and I make good friends, but you like her as MORE than a friend.

I do not understand.

You like Alex the way I like Tea.

Yami's frowned deepened. That cannot be right. We barely know each other. I am not even human. I am a vampire. A SPIRIT vampire.

"You know, if you keep frowning like that much longer your face will be stuck like that."

Yami blinked. Realizing the voice had come from outside rather than within he focused on Alex's face which held a fond, teasing smile. He smiled a little sheepishly in response.

"You were talking to Yugi weren't you?" she asked.

"Yes," Yami replied.

"All those times he just dropped out of a conversation or stared off into space…" Alex said shaking her head while smiling. "I was starting to get a little worried."

"I am sorry Alex."

"Don't be. What were you guys talking about?"

Yami snorted, "Logic and love."

Alex outright laughed at that. "You do realize that the two rarely go together right?"

Yami just smiled in response and let the sound of her laughter fill his ears. And ignored Yugi's self-satisfied smirk in his head.

Eventually, Alex's giggles tapered off and another comfortable silence fell. She frowned suddenly as something occurred to her though. "How did you end up in that alley unconscious and bleeding all over the place?"

At that Yami's face darkened considerably. "I was snuck up on and attacked. Normally that wouldn't have been possible but I was weak. I went too long without feeding because I was distracted."

"You just said you have enhanced senses. How was someone able to sneak up on you?" Alex asked surprised.

Yami sighed. "Because they also had enhanced senses."

Alex's eyes widened. "There are other vampires out to get you?"

"A few, yes. I suspect they are the ones responsible for the disappearances of young women around campus," Yami said reluctantly.

"That's why they attacked you isn't it? Because you were investigating them?" Alex asked. Yami nodded. "And you were distracted from feeding because of this investigation?" He nodded again. "Idiot." He looked at her with wide eyes.

"You put yourself in danger by not feeding and you got hurt because of it!" Alex exclaimed.

Yami's eyes narrowed. "I need to take care of these people and quickly. If that means I have to wait to feed, so be it."

"You could've died Yami!" Alex yelled jumping off the bed. She might've just officially met him but the thought of a dead Yami was horrifying.

"A small price to pay to make sure you and the rest of our friends are safe!" Yami said also standing.

"I can take care of myself you know," Alex frowned.

"On Wednesday night I was half dead and I still nearly killed you Alex. With ease!"

Alex crossed her arms. "I told you I'm not scared of you Yami! I told you I trust you!"

"And I told you not to! I'm dangerous Alex! I've killed people!" Yami roared.

Alex's glare was ice. "You can try to intimidate me as much as you like Yami but it won't change a thing. You might not like it but I do trust you. With my life. You may have killed people, but I know you wouldn't hurt an innocent person or someone who didn't deserve it." As she spoke she got closer. Yami kept backing away but eventually he had nowhere left to go and he found himself backed against a wall.

"Alex," Yami said through gritted teeth. "You need to back up now."

"And why is that?" Alex demanded.

"Because you have the most potent blood I've ever smelled and even under normal conditions I find it hard to resist you. Right now when we're both angry everything is heightened and I'm barely holding on to my control," Yami said his fangs flashing.

For a moment it seemed like Alex was determined to push her luck, but finally she backed off. Yami sighed with relief. They stood in silence.

"You should go home before it gets dark Alex."

Alex searched his eyes. "Fine," she finally replied. "Tell Yugi I have his notes." With that she turned and left.

That… probably could've gone better.

She needs to understand what she's dealing with Yugi.

I think she does. Do you?

Yami sighed heavily. I cannot have feelings for Alex. It will not end well for any of us.

I don't believe that.

You are too optimistic.

And you're too pessimistic.

I'll hurt her.

You'll hurt her more by pushing her away, Yugi said gently.

Yami didn't reply. Instead he got dressed and left the shop. He needed to hunt.