Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Anything For You ❯ You Knew.... ( Chapter 21 )

AMT: well, if Ryou gets put behind the bookcase, then Bakura would be able to smell anything. ALL HAIL THE CHEESE….mmmmm..cheese

Malik's girlfriend: I'll continue this…I promise. Anzu's behavior in that chappie is my trademark..all writers need trademarks.

Sailor Optimal Optimus: There's a lot of things I want to put in before Ryou is found. I will have to see how many chappies are left…more than 5, but they are not all Ryou angst chappies.

Angel Black: Well, you may hate cliffies, but I'm glad you like my story!

Mystical Dragon: Kill him…but you have to bring him back to life so I can kill Steven

Bluesummers: Seto will get it.

Heather: My computer problems seemed to be worked out for now. Steven should get the same punishment as ancient Egypt.

Sumomo: I do plan a Marik X Bakura later…that's a given.

Pharaoh Yami's Princess: *hands Aten plushies..dozens of them * Umm…Ryou couldn't walk right…um…yeah, Jessica and Tim..raped Ryou..it was only implied.

That is why Ryou seemed really distant towards Aten at first and quiet.

Lunara: When that point comes, I will. I know I'll get 30 reviews that day.

Lupusdragon: I know it's a sad story, but I'm glad you guys like it so much…you do like it, right? I'm trying to add some funny stuff when I can…I really try to.

Starfire: Nope. I didn't mind. I researched a lot of torture stuff…(I know..I can be morbid, but I try not to be like that constantly.)

Dragondreamer: Shopping again right…….OH……for paper clips and binder clips????? That IS what you are talking about, right???? *plays dumb *

You Knew……

Aria ran down the hallway looking behind her to see if she was being followed. Her spiky hair pulled back in a ponytail swished as she ran. Aria slowed when she saw the end of the hallway and an approached an intersection. She plastered her tiny body against the wall covering her mouth to silence her giggling.

She looked down one end of the hallway and down the other. Aria darted to the other end of the hallway when Joey jumped from the end of the hallway.

"Unkie Puppy found me!" Aria ran towards Joey and ran between his spread legs. Joey turned around.

"Hey, I found you! You're "It" this time!"

Aria laughed as she ran. "Unkie Puppy gotta catch me! Unkie Puppy no catch me, Unkie Puppy no "It"!"

Joey could have easily caught the little running, squealing, happy chibi, but he thought let her wear herself out to the point of exhaustion for a nap. Joey simply walked behind her with his arms outstretched.

"Puppy can't catch me! Puppy can't catch me! Catch me if you can, puppy!"

Joey stopped dead in his tracks and Aria stopped. Joey remembered the note on the wall in the abandoned building as he looked down at Aria, his eyes aghast.

"What?"

Aria put her hands on her hips. "Puppy! Catch me if you can! What'sa matter wit you? Chase me!" Aria ran up to Joey and tugged on his pant leg. "Puppy? Puppy? What's wrong?"

Joey looked down at the wide-eyed chibi looking up at him with genuine concern. For a split second, her look reminded him of Ryou. Her brown chibi eyes sparkled with a kind of innocence that Ryou's did.

"You no wanna pway anymore? Why?"

Joey shook his head when he saw Malik sneak up behind Aria. Malik picked up Aria off the ground and pulled her into his arms. The chibi threw back her head and giggled as Malik kissed her little belly.

"Mom! That tickles! Puppy and I were pwaying Tag! Puppy was "It", but stopped pwaying!"

Joey shook his head as Malik raised an eyebrow. "Hey…I don't know what came over me, Aria. Sorry. I just got…distracted." Joey smiled and let out a playful growl by Aria's ear and covered the little girl's ear with kisses.

Aria wrapped her arms around her Unkie Puppy and returned to kissing Joey's neck.

Malik crossed his arms and leaned against the wall watching the little girl assault Joey's neck with butterfly kisses. He let out a sigh. "Aten used to kiss me like that. I really miss him. I hope my yami is closer to finding him."

Joey turned to Malik and put his hand on his shoulder. "Cheer up, Malik. Aten is out there. Marik will bring Aten back and Ryou safe and sound. Let's go see if Seto found anything."

Joey prodded Malik down the hall to Seto's office. Joey put Aria down and Aria ran into the office.

Seto stood up from behind his desk and pointed an accusing finger at the seven men lined up before him. The little chibi ran into the room and stopped at Seto's desk.

"I will not tolerate any screw-ups! I want Ryou found and that means you are to search everything you see! You either find Ryou or you go looking for new jobs! Am I clear?"

The men nodded.

"I can't hear you!"

"YES, SIR, MASTER KAIBA!"

Aria stepped in front of the desk. "You go find my mommy!" Aria said mimicking Seto's pointing, accusing finger. "I want my mommy back! I wan my bwother back! Now go out dere and find my mommy or my Unkie Seto and my Unkie Puppy will be weawwy weawwy angwy! You no wanna see my Unkie Seto angwy! He gets weawwy mean!"

Seto scowled at the men. "You heard the kid! Go out there and don't come back until I have Ryou and Aten here safe or Steven's head on a golden platter!"

"Yeah! A golwen pwatter!" Aria echoed.

The men hurried from the room and Aria ran behind the desk sitting on Seto's lap.

Her little legs dangled as she sat on his lap. She grabbed a pen and a blank piece of paper and began to draw a picture.

Seto picked up a letter opener and began opening mail. "Those idiots couldn't find their way out of a paper bag sometimes, I swear!"

Seto opened up the letter. "Stupid bills. I hate bills." Seto put it aside rolling his eyes.

Seto opened up the next one along with a curl of his lip. "Well, our new duel disk system is the top seller for the last fiscal year. That's good news. Finally. Good news."

Seto came to the next letter and gasped. "Joey…..Malik….. Look."

Seto turned the letter around. It read: KibaCorp. Unkie Seto….Pwease give to him. Fwom Aten Bakari Ishtar.

Malik reached over and grabbed the envelope. "Aten….he's alive."

Malik saw that the postoffice which processed it was in Brackenridge. That must be the city where Aten and Ryou were being held! Malik held it out to Seto.

"You open it, Kaiba. I can't…my hands are shaking."

Seto slowly opened the envelope and brought out a child's drawing. It was a picture of a large white house with a large yard and gardens out front. In the bottom part of the house, there was a window where Aten drew two people waving their arms. Down the left side of the page were more glyphs. At the bottom was: To my Unkie Seto and Unkie Puppy…I wuv you! Joey's jaw dropped at the sight of the drawing.

Aria's head picked up and she turned around. "My Bwother drawed a pisher?"

Aria looked at it and snickered. "My bwother aways get that word wong!"

Seto and Joey looked at her.

"Aten put a stork…he should have put an eye!"

"What?" Joey said looking at the glyphs.

Malik looked at the hieroglyphs closer. Aria was right…..Aten did put the wrong symbol down. "Aria, is Marik teaching you how to read glyphs, too?"

"No. My daddy is teached me! He and Daddy Mawik sit with us and teached us how to wead and wite hinogryphics."

Seto took back the drawing. "What does it say?"

Malik took the paper and sat on Seto's desk. Aria gave a yawn and put her head down on the desk.

"It says: "Mommy miss …..you. Daddy…wuv you much. All…bottles…mommy not let me drink. Bad men…..hurt mommy." Malik looked at the paper closer. "I can't read the rest. It's illegible."

Seto looked on the envelope. "Brackenridge. That's hours away from here! I have to put my men on heightened alert there." Seto grabbed the phone and dialed the cell number of Marik and Bakura's phone.

/ Bakura here./

"Bakura, we got information. I just received a letter from Brackenridge. It is a drawing from Aten."

A struggle seemed to ensue for the phone. Marik came on the line.

/ Is Aten ok? What was on the drawing? /

"The letter came from a town called Brackenridge. The area code is 102578. Check that area code. Even if the letter didn't come from the general vicinity, we have a description of the house. The house is white with gardens around it. There is a picture of two people waving from the basement. Wherever Ryou and Aten are, they are being hidden away somewhere."

/ Any news on Aten's health? /

"It's just a drawing with some glyphs saying he loves you."

/ Any news on Ryou? /

Seto took a deep breath and another battle ensued for the phone. Bakura retrieved the phone.

/ Any news on my husband? /

"Aten's drawing mentioned that Ryou may be injured."

/ What is wrong with him? /

"The kid's not a doctor, Bakura! He's only a baby!"

/ But how bad is he hurt? /

"The note doesn't say, Bakura. It just says that `mommy is hurt'. That's it! There's no details."

/ At least we know what we are looking for. Right now, Steven could be anywhere. We're searching on foot. Brackenridge is a small town, but it's spread across a wide area. At least now we know we are in the general vicinity. /

"Keep us posted. Seto out." Seto called his trucks and told them to search for the house in question. When he was done, he looked down at Aria. Aria had her head down on the desk sleeping contentedly on Seto's business contracts, her white hair sprawled all over the desk.

************************

Ryou and Aten sat at the dinner table. Tim sat next to Ryou who stared into his plate of stew. Aten ate the carrots hungrily.

"I wike cawwots a whole bunch!" Aten said licking his fingers clean of stew sauce.

Ryou couldn't lift his head, but just rolled his spoon around the gravy.

"Ryou, eat up," Steven said shoveling meat into his mouth ravenously.

Ryou shook his head. " I can't eat…..I'm not hungry.."

Steven nudged the bowl close to him. "Jessica made this stew especially for you, Ryou. You should show some gratitude and eat what your mother cooked for you."

Ryan turned to him shoveling a piece of bread into his mouth. "Yeah, Ryou. If you put on some weight, you wouldn't look so girlie. You need some meat on you, boy!" Ryan leaned back and rubbed his beer belly. "Yeah, that's the stuff."

Steven nodded. "Yeah, Ryou, you don't wanna be so skinny like a little girl. Eat up."

Ryou shuddered as he looked at the gravy and how it stained the sides of the bowl…how the meat floated and dripped in gravy.

"Eat, Ryou. You are too skinny. You would look so much better if you had some weight on you."

Ryou picked up a spoonful of the gravy and watched the gravy-covered meat wait to be eaten….helpless on the utensil….waiting to be consumed….to be digested….to be torn apart and grinded.

Ryou put the meat into his mouth with a look of disgust on his face.

"You should be happy we are feeding you, Ryou," Steven said. "After warning the police, you deserve less than this. But…you worked off your punishment."

Ryou's head snapped up. Did Steven know about Tim and Jessica raping him? How much did Steven know?

"You behave for us, Ryou, and you get rewarded…you get fed. You misbehave and you don't…and that includes Aten."

Ryou looked down and took another gulp of stew.

"But…dad…you know what happened after you cut my hair?"

Steven leaned back and crossed his arms. "Hey, boy. I told you I wouldn't lay a finger on you, didn't I?"

Ryou looked at Steven dropping the spoon in the stew. "You mean…"

"I told you I'd make you get used to it, Ryou…there's no time like the present."

Ryou buried his face in his hands. His father would MAKE him love it? Ryou closed his eyes and indulged in the darkness of the abyss before his eyes.