The heavy breathing was echoing inside the forest that gray morning. His eyesight kept blurring and un-blurring as if he was constantly at the verge of falling unconscious. The soft crunching of the snow being crushed under human feet was also heard around… However the sound was irregular. The man was staggering. He was dressed in clothes that should have been good quality however now they were full with tears and holes. It looked as if he had been through a rough battle with someone. This was partly true… He was INDEED fighting…however the fighting he was doing was with himself and himself alone…

His sense of smell was also strange… The one moment he felt natural and the next he could tell the difference of the smell of the snow on his right side with the one of his left… A boar had rushed the night before from the snow on the right and a deer from the left… Even if the snow was now clear and fresh, he could still tell the difference of the smells even if they were buried under the snow… And the next moment he was back to normal… His breathing was coming out in great gasps, irregular and full of pain and agony.

He was constantly clenching his teeth to keep his jaws tight together. However a strange feeling was almost overwhelming to him. He needed blood…the smells of animals in the forest were intoxicating. He needed to hunt…to feel the hot blood and raw meat in his mouth… His right hand was clenching his two-colored shirt at the spot over his heart as he was staggering. He wouldn't allow this to happen! He would banish those irregular senses…those animalistic urges…he wouldn't allow them to control him! HE was going to control them! He was stronger…he had to be!

Bakura kept on staggering and panting, as he was moving forward constantly. He was indeed in horrible state. Sweat was running over his entire body… His knuckles had turned white from clenching too hard and even blood was visible here and there on his clothes. It was as if he had got so desperate that he had been digging into his own flesh with his nails… Yet he still kept on fighting…and he was heading closer and closer to his destination…

The Transylvanian village…

Kisara was gazing out of the great window at the sun that has been setting, painting the sky over the black forest with the colors of orange and crimson red… She was wearing her common dress. Her mind was traveling back at those moments

"I never knew…I could sing that way…" she thought

She remembered the way she sang along with Seto Kaiba, while he was playing the organ. It was almost like magic. Kisara couldn't decide whether she should be excited or scared at that. However at that moment she was feeling her heart like be ready to burst out of anticipation…out of strange power…out of some internal ray of light and darkness… She touched the cold glass while watching the sun going down…

"That strange power…was coming from inside me…or maybe…it was him after all…"

That power was indeed exciting back then, but it was caused (or pushed out) by him. That power made her feel overwhelmed and excited…but also…scared. She didn't know how to react to that. Whether she had to hide that memory in the deepest parts of her heart or use it. She didn't even know if that power was hers or Seto Kaiba's in the first place…

"…The true power…is you…" she remembered Yami's words from back then

She shook her head.

"What am I thinking…? All of the sudden…?"

Her fear hadn't faded yet…and she could still remember those demon eyes of his. Those eyes still haunted her dreams… However she couldn't also forget that pair of beautiful crimson eyes that looked at her warmly. No one else beside Tea had ever looked at her like that… But she couldn't ignore that memory of his demonic side…

"Oh, God! What should I do? What can I do…?"

She touched her chest at the spot over her heart. Fear…uncertainty… Would she ever be free of those…?

"Pleasant evening isn't it?"

Startled once more, she turned around to see the dark figure. His cape was around his body like the wrapped wings of a bat. His eyes were piercing and icy-cold as always.

"Y-Yes" she stumbled as she held the spot over her raging heart again, "You…startled me…"

"I apologize" he plainly said

He always said almost nothing and yet even him taking a breath and coming closer, could cause a strange feeling of enslavement inside her. She knew that no matter how many crosses or amulets she had on her, Seto Kaiba could make her whatever he wanted and he knew it too.

"This sunlight…isn't painful to you…?" asked seeing the vampire showered in the orange sunlight

"No. Setting sun is not enough to harm me. I find this sunlight quite…pleasant"

Kisara didn't bother to ask more. It was obvious he was being sarcastic again, or at least not entirely serious about it. He was a creature of darkness. She knew it.

"Kisara…"

She looked at him again. He extended an arm to her, extending his hand for her to take.

"This night is going to be clear with clear moon. How about coming with me? There is something I want to show you…"

She blinked in shock. She would go…outside?

"Show me…what…?" she dared to ask in a small voice

"An estate" he replied, "at the other corner of the forest…"

Kisara looked at him and then gave a nod. There was no point denying it after all. In the end she was his slave whenever he looked at her with his eyes…

"Yes…" she whispered

His answer was only a big smirk.

The fire was creaking inside the fireplace at Mai's house. Yami was sitting to her living room. He was sipping from a goblet his spiced wine. He was watching Mai constantly moving up and down like a caged lioness and she was…preparing herself…to go to Seto Kaiba. Yami was seriously trying not to look VERY amused.

"You know…" he said lazily, changing his position in the sofa, "There are easier ways to get killed… Shoot yourself, jump from high places, drink poison, cut your veins…use your imagination!"

Mai ignored him snorting and grabbed a knife putting it to her boot.

"You can make fun of me as much as you want when I bring you Seto Kaiba's head!" she snapped at him placing a sword around her belt

Yami raised his brows taking an expression that was saying "maybe"

"Well, what concerns me the most is whether I receive YOUR head in a box before that happens!" and took another good sip from his warm wine

Mai's heels' clicking sound kept echoing in the stone room.

"I told you, Seto Kaiba is my prey! My mission!"

"Pff!" Mai snorted, "I saw what you did to stop him till now! I can handle this myself!"

"So I noticed!" Yami pointed out sarcastically leaning his arm at the back of the coach lazily

Mai glared and walked in front of him and her face was now inches apart from his, her angry breath on his face.

"I forbid you to talk about things you cannot understand! Don't underestimate me!"

Yami simply smirked and drank another sip, as their faces were still close

"You are in this position, how long? Ten years? Nine? Seto Kaiba is still in the castle as far as I heard!"

She seemed to be fighting the urge to slap him hard. Then Joey entered holding a book in his hands.

"Hey, babe" he said, "Where did you say you had the books about the fifth Valentine?"

She straightened herself and her face softened.

"Forth shelf on the left, honey!" she answered

Yami took a fake amused or rather surprised look, sarcastically.

"'Honey'?" he mocked

Joey had seen what Mai was doing and he wasn't agreed at all, however he also knew that saying no to Mai was like asking from river to flow backwards. So he was trying to gain time. In any case seeing Mai kept preparing herself he sighed and stood up following her around the room.

"The only way to avenge your family and your lost villagers is stay alive till Seto Kaiba is killed!"

"And who would kill him if not me?" she snapped placing her hands to her waist, "Who will show courage if not me?"

"You go on there alone, you'll be out-manned and out-positioned AND you can't see in the dark!" he said the past one raising a finger as if adding a small, insignificant detail

She simply ignored him and tried to walk past him but he grabbed both of her wrists looking at her.

"Only I can hunt him down! And I think that my loss will not cause pain to so many people…"

She looked at him without talking and then said.

"The bones of my family will be constantly moving in their graves from disgust unless I avenge them!"

Yami pretended being thoughtful.

"Then you really want your beautiful, blonde head to join them, cause that is your next stop if you go out there now, alone"

She looked at him in the eyes and a small smirk twisted in her lips. Barely though.

"Your glass is empty" she pointed out as a matter of fact

Yami smirked back.

"Indeed"

"Then you probably want it re-filled"

"I would appreciate it, yes"

"The bar is down the hall, as you know it. Help yourself"

She set her wrists free from his grip and passed by him finishing her sentence.

"…As for me, I'm going to finish this once and for all!"

Yami rolled his eyes and sighed and turned around following her.

"Sorry you have the impression you have to carry this burden alone"

"On the contrary, I would wish for it no other way"

Yami didn't give up and came closer, walking a bit faster.

"Look" he said, "I'm sorry for your family and stuff but still-…"

"I will see them again!" she cut him without stopping walking, "We Transylvanians always look at the…"

"…Brighter side of death, I know, I know…" Yami interrupted her finishing the phrase he had learnt already

She stopped a little before the door and turned around to look at him

"You sure have some nerve" she said, "I see why Tea was amazed with ya"

She was ready to turn around and leave but then Yami pulled her from the shoulder making her face him, and before she had the chance to say a word he sprayed her with a strong sleeping gas and she fell in his arms unconscious right away. He grabbed her before she fell to the floor.

"Yeah…I am sorry about that too" he said in a tone like saying 'you left me no choice though'

In reality in his head passed, for a brief second the phrase 'that was a payback for the milk of the poppy you sent Tea give me'…but it had left his mind as fast as it came…

Her head felt heavy and spinning around however she opened her eyes and sat up on the bed. For a moment she felt lost but when she remembered she felt ready to strangle him with her two bare hands.

"Yami!" she whispered and jumped out of the bed, where Yami had placed her

She stomped out of the room and opened the heavy doors till she got back to the big hall where she was a little before, with all her weapons around.

"Yami!" she called

The room was empty and full of darkness. It was night already and the moon was painting everything with a bluish color. Immediately she felt uneasy, as if her sixth sense was telling her about a threat. She walked cautiously. She took a lamp and a sword. Her steps were careful and almost soundless. Suddenly a thud drew her attention. She gasped but controlled every other emotion and concentrated, like she had learnt to do at times of emergency.

Her other instinct would tell her to leave, but the sound was heard in her own house. She had to check anyway. She started approaching where the sound had come from. From somewhere away she could hear the ticking of the clock and it was creepy sound at that time. It almost seemed as if it was ticking…the time she had left. She reached at a place the weapon cases were forming a corner. She hid there, took a deep breath and…turned there sharply ready to face the threat. The only thing she saw was a half-opened window. She sighed and went there to close it. When she did she remained still. There was that strange feeling again, that was making the hairs of her nape to stand up. It felt as if someone was…watching her. She looked down and saw…muddy footprints on the stone floor. Those weren't Yami's. Someone had got in from the window.

How was that possible? –she thought-. That window had a good view down the cliff. It wasn't THAT high, however for sure no one would escape from falling there with nothing. The very least he could have been a broken bone. Her eyes were constantly looking around and all her senses were on guard. Another thud made her turn around sharply. Nothing. With all her nerves now on guard grabbed a pistol and armed it. Kept looking around. Another thud. She walked soundlessly like a lioness hunting after her meal and turned to another corner sharply pointing her gun there.

There was a person dressed in a torn, black trench coat. She could tell it was human even if he was curled in a ball and moaning like a hurt animal. Bakura looked up and Mai clenched her gun

"You! I know you! You had come to my village! Identify yourself!"

Bakura's answer was a growl… He looked up at her as if scanning her and seeing if she was the prey he was searching for… When he confirmed she wasn't, he growled again.

"Tea… Tea…" finally Mai could distinguish something

Mai had started to lose her patience. Her nerves were already tensed enough

"Stop acting that way and tell me what do you want!"

"Tea… Tea…" Bakura growled again, more demanding this time

He seemed desperate…helpless but at the same time more dangerous than ever.

"Enough with messing around!"

Suddenly Bakura's look changed. His eyes became feisty and fiery like an angry animal and he growled again, showing his teeth. He looked like a human filled with the spirit of a wolf, who as ready to strike!

"Tea!" he growled again

And without a warning he rushed upon Mai. Mai reacted as if by instinct and shot him and then started running. Bakura had moaned in pain at the gunshot but Mai didn't sit there, waiting to see if she had hit him or not! She had to find the proper weapon among all those. She ran and stopped to take a breath and look around. When she turned around she came…face to face with Bakura again! She gasped but Bakura was faster and grabbed her by the neck. He sure would have broken it but then the moon appeared behind the clouds. He gasped and twitched and let go of her. He backed down a few steps and then growled loudly. With one swift move he torn his half shirt and half coat and with a swift move of his other hand, he threw away a wooden case full with pistols. The muscles of his pale chest (that was now revealed) were already twitching as if the Werewolf muscles beneath them were pushing them up so they could get out. Mai took a few steps back watching the man moaning and hit his back against the wall and then actually…climbing on it still moaning loudly and from time to time growling hard. It was as if he was still struggling not to transform.

Bakura was now constantly moving upon the wall as if he was crawling on the flat floor. He was almost howling and he was clenching his jaws together so hard, that blood came out of his mouth running down his cheek. He looked out of the window at the moon and then down at Mai who couldn't take her eyes from him.

"Tea!" he growled, "TEEAAAA!"

His yell though came out as loud growl in the end. Mai was sure she had enough and she was ready to grab a new pistol when…

"Mai!" Yami yelled as he entered the room running.

Bakura's head snapped to his direction and the last thing he did was to leap forward and…break through the window and get lost outside it. Yami ran at it and looked down. He barely saw a splash at the surface; the last proof Bakura had fallen in there.

"Dammit!" he mumbled

He had heard Bakura's last cry, and he was sure that it was Tea the one he was searching for. Just on time, Joey entered the room and then sniffed the air.

"Why does it smell like wet dog in here?" he questioned out in the blue

"Werewolf!" Yami said running past him

"Oh, right! You'll be needing silver bullets then!" Joey said throwing him a box

"Well done!" Yami said with a smirk to his partner before running out of the room

Joey on the other hand ran to Mai.

"Babe you okay?" he asked her touching her shoulders

She nodded.

"Yes" she replied, "Just shocked, that's all"

Yami was running in the empty streets of the village trying to follow the traces.

"Tea!" he was thinking, "Tea! Tea!"

Tea was in the inn. She was among some friends of hers, having a good conversation with them. A growl in the night, though, made her look outside. Without saying a word she took her cape and got out. It was freezing outside once again and the moon was adding a strange, cold atmosphere to the chilly night. She looked around her again and again and then…

"Tea!"

She turned around sharply and saw…

"Bakura!" she breathed out

She gasped seeing his clothes…the look on his face that seemed exhausted and scared. Oh, yes. He sure seemed terrified! Bakura fell on his knees.

"Bakura!" she kneeled close to him and he grabbed her sleeve pleadingly

"Tea…help me…" he begged in a raspy growl, "Tea you have to help me! Please!…"

Tea didn't know what scared her the most: The condition his clothes were in or the look on his face.

"Bakura please…"

"No!" he cut her in a panic, "I have only a moment!…You…You have to help me! He-…"

His voice was cut as he gasped once again and fell on the snowy ground growling. Tea was looking at him with her hands covering her mouth. Her eyes were teary. She was standing there, helpless, not knowing what to do to help him!

"No!" she breathed out in tears, "No!"

The moon was now above them and Bakura growled loudly. His muscles were pulsing violently again, his bones were cracking. Tea closed her eyes shut, not being able to bear this sight any longer. Bakura left out another growl and then leaped inside some bushes. Right then, Yami came running

"Move!" he yelled

"No!" Tea screamed

Yami pointed his silver gun at the bushes but Tea screamed again "No!" and pulled his gun upwards and shot in thin air at the black sky. The gunshot made Bakura emerge out of his bushes jumping high and growling like crazy wolf, and run away in the forest

"Move!" Yami bellowed while running there

"No!" Tea screamed again holding his arm

Bakura had left… Yami pushed his lips together in rage and grabbed Tea by the shoulders pushing her against a close wall.

"Why!" he bellowed, "Why you stopped me! I am asking you Tea! I am asking you why!"

He was shaking her constantly. She only cried.

"I can't… I can't… Please…" she whispered. She couldn't bear seeing him dying after all.

Yami released her and walked a bit further from her.

"I told you he is not human anymore!" he bellowed towards the direction Bakura had gone lost

That, made Tea jerk up

"You knew?" she moved away from the wall and glared at him, "You knew he hadn't transformed completely yet!" it sounded more like an accusation rather than a question

"Yes" Yami said

"Before or after I stopped you from shooting him?" she had come closer

"Before!" Yami snapped at her face

Tea pushed him hard

"And still you tried to kill him!" she yelled

"He's a werewolf! He's gonna kill people!" Yami had started to lose his patience

"He can't help it! It's not his fault!" she yelled back

"I know but he'll do it anyway!" Yami's bellow covered her desperate voice

Tea's eyes were full with tears cause she could see Yami was right. She couldn't help him after all… Seeing her like this, Yami's anger completely faded away… He pulled her in a warm embrace

"Come on…" he whispered as if comforting a child, "Come on now… Life is cruel…we must get used to it…"

He held her there…forgetting about Bakura who ran away…or Mai who wanted (some hours ago) to rush into Seto Kaiba's castle…

Bakura was almost at the verge of no return from being transformed. He was running in the forest, growling loudly and he finally reached a big, abandoned house. It looked like a palace in the middle of the forest. Bakura ran there and broke through a window. Once he was in, he fell on the floor again clenching both of his sides in pain…

"I see that you are lost, young man…" he heard a cold voice behind him

His head snapped at that direction and his wolf-like eyes stroke the dark man with the ling black cape. Behind him there was a girl with long, white hair… Hiding behind his cape as if she was a child waiting from her father to protect her. Bakura was twitching all over. And before he was able to stop himself he rushed upon them. The girl hid further behind the man. However the man didn't do much. He just extended his arm and stopped him by…touching his pointing finger exactly at the middle of Bakura's forehead!

"Poor creature…" Seto Kaiba said

Bakura's eyes were wide open as he started kneeling down, forced by an unknown power. Of course Seto Kaiba hadn't moved anything else but his index finger on his forehead. Bakura was now completely on his knees and he was eyeing like a scared animal the dark man above him.

"Pitiful creature" Seto Kaiba repeated coldly, "Allow yourself sink in the darkness…accept it…"

His eyes glowed red for a moment. As if that was the last blow, Bakura felt an unbearable pain through his entire body. It was as if his bones were on fire! He screamed and yelled in pure agony, holding his head. His fingernails started growing forming claws and soon he started twisting around himself and…tearing his own skin! However now under his human skin, emerged fur…white fur... Bakura was throwing around peaces of his skin as though he were a snake that was getting rid of his old skin. His clothes were long torn too. His yelling became animalistic growling and soon…he even torn his own face and under it…emerged the face of a werewolf… Werewolf-Bakura raised his head up and released his first howl to the moon… The transformation was complete. The werewolf's golden eyes turned and looked at the couple before him. His eyes fell on the girl. With yet another growl he rushed upon her and he would have bit her if… Seto Kaiba hadn't extended his arm out so his teeth buried into it instead. With one move of his arm Seto Kaiba sent the Werewolf flying on the opposite wall, as if he had thrown a toy away. The werewolf released another howl and jumped out of the broken window again running in the forest once again…

"What a horrible wound!" Kisara whispered looking at Seto Kaiba's arm

His wound hadn't closed yet and it was black as if it had rotten. She still found it hard to believe that Seto Kaiba had put his arm as a shield.

"It will heal, eventually" he said, "However it was done by a creature of darkness and that is the reason it takes some time to get well… Only Darkness can harm Darkness"

Kisara looked up at him.

"What about Light?" she asked

Seto Kaiba smiled a small smile.

"That is the romantic and childish thought, my dear" he said, "In reality though, darkness is the thing that exists most in this world. If you look in the universe you will see only darkness…even if there are small spots of light…in the end darkness wins…"

He passed his fingers through her white hair.

"Light can tame the Darkness…however in reality…only Darkness can defeat Darkness…"

Kisara didn't want to believe it. However the way Seto Kaiba had said that seemed really true to her. She didn't know what to think… She knew that Light was the opposite for Darkness. She had seen Darkness in action so many times already… She even witnessed the Werewolf's first transformation… And still now the darkest man on Earth had protected her from the beast that was ready to close his teeth around her neck…

In the meantime, the pure-white Werewolf stood on a small hill covered in snow. His white fur looked like silver in the moonlight. The big animal with the golden eyes stood on his two legs and raising his big head with the long ears, taking in the smells around him and raising his head upwards he released another long howl that echoed through the forest in the dead of night…

He wanted flesh and blood…and animals weren't enough for him anymore…

Yay! Another chappie! I am so glad I finished this! Poor Bakura though Bakura was suffering

Yami has been playing with Mai's nerves again! However this time he was right I think Yes the scene with Bakura and Mai was inspired by the Van Helsing movie and Velkan's first transformation...
Yes that "estate" looks like Dracula's summer palace in Van Helsing And apparently Seto Kaiba "helped him" transform...

What is going to happen now? Wait and see! Stay tuned and please review me! Enjoy!