Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Anything For You ❯ Nothing Compares ( Chapter 26 )

Some implied Tix x Ryou in this chappie. Not much.

Lunara: I'd like to thank my corrupted brain for this award and Lunara Moonbeam *kisses award*

Gralnak: Thanks. I'll try.

Ryou's Misstress: I like his pants, too…mmmm….pants.

Dragondreamer: I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might incinerate…I mean,

incriminate me.

Heather Chan: hope you feel better

Cmc20db: Thank you for the praise. I'll try to keep it up.

Ssjgoddesschico: Thanks. I love the next chappie…so cute…and a little ngsty, but really good.

Negacat: Only a couple chappies away from steven and Jessica die…

AMT: they both miss their hikaris.

Nothing Compares (no relation to Sinead o'connor, people)

Jessica drove up to the house in the dark. The shadows of the night cast

deformed images on the white plaster of the home. She turned off the engine

and slammed the door shut. She tucked her red purse under her arm and

knocked on the door.

"Hello? Ryan! Open up! It's Jessica!"

No one answered. She slammed her fist harder. "Open up, Ryan!"

Jessica looked at the doorknob when she saw a hand reach for it. She turned

around suddenly only to find that it was only a shadow from a tree branch.

She felt her heart racing as the eerie silence of the house cut through the

air. The wind began to howl, shaking the tree branches against one another.

"Ryan, this isn't funny, you drunkard! Open up!"

Sweat began to pour down her forehead as she heard nothing but silence. She

turned the knob slowly and looked into the house. Nothing but the moonlight

lit the hallway. She stepped into the dark home listening to the creaking

floor boards beneath her feet.

Why wasn't Ryan answering? Was this just a joke?

She walked to the switch in the hallway. "I'm not kidding, Ryan! Where are

you?"

A wolf howled off in the distance as she turned on the lightswitch. What

she saw made her turn white.

Ryan was suspended on the wall with a knife plunged into his chest. Dried,

crusty blood formed around the wound and in a trail down his stomach. Rib

bones protruded through his chest cavity and his eyes were opened wide in

horror. Fresh blood still dripped from his lips forming a puddle of blood

beneath him.

Jessica screamed at the top of her lungs and ran out of the house screaming.

Dogs barked in the distance and the wind picked up.

She raced back to the cabin.

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

Jessica ran into the cabin and shut the door quickly and hard. The woman

pressed her back to the door, her eyes agape and her breathing quick and

uneven. Steven came out of the bedroom buttoning his shirt.

"Jessie? Jess, what's wrong?" Steven gripped her shoulders tightly and

helped her over to the fireplace. Steen poured her a glass

of brandy.

"I don't like this stuff....where is the good stuff?" She asked.

"Tim's using it on Ryou now. What's wrong? You look like you've seen a

ghost."

Jessica gulped down the other glass of brandy and breathed heavily.

"Steven....Ryan is dead."

Steven's eyes widened and he leaned back. "He's....He's.....My brother is

dead?"

"He was held up on the wall with a fuckin' knife!" Jessica screamed loudly

enough for the entire house to hear.

Steven gripped her shoulder. "Just calm down, dear."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? HOW CAN I CALM DOWN? I JUST SAW A GUY HUNG ON A WALL!"

"KEEP IT DOWN, OUT THERE! RYOU!" Tim yelled from the bedroom.

Steven wrapped his arms around her. "I know you're upset, Jess. I can't believe my brother is dead! I don't know what to say."

Jessica wrapped her arms around Steven. "What kind of monster could do that?"

"Bakura......BAKURA!" Ryou's voice exploded from the room.

Steven's eyes narrowed. Bakura was capable of such cruelty. The yami would have no problem doing that to a defenseless mortal.

"I bet you that Yami Bakura is on our tail. He won't let Ryou go. I'm sure of it. He'll continue to chase us no matter where we go."

Jessica looked at Steven with large eyes. "You mean to say that...you know who may have done it?"

Steven grit his teeth. "I do. I told him to stay away. But he's making a big mistake following us...one that he will regret."

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

Aria woke up beside Malik and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. When

Malik didn't wake up, she crawled out of the bed with her pink bunny

plushie. Aria ran to the door and tried to reach for it. She jumped and

couldn't reach it. The little chibi climbed up on a Louis XIV chair and

turned the doorknob. Malik rolled over in his bed and began to snore as the

door creaked open. Aria climbed down and ran out the door.

Her white mane swayed as she ran to her uncle's office. When she arrived,

she knocked on the door.

"Come in," Seto growled from the other side of the door.

"I can't! I no can weach the door, Unkie Seto!"

Aria jumped in place excitedly as she heard footsteps approach the door.

When the door opened, she looked up to see Yami standing there. "Auntie

Yami!" Aria wrapped her arms around Yami's leg and gripping him tightly.

Yugi smiled and ran to the chibi. "Yami and I are so relieved you are ok,

Aria! Are you feeling ok?"

Aria nodded as Yami rubbed her hair. "I'll never wet go of my Auntie Yami!"

Yami managed a smile. "Ok, Aria...you can let go now." Aria only held

tighter and wrapped her legs around Yami's. Yami hobbled back to Seto's

desk with the chibi wrapped around his leg smiling and laughing.

Seto leaned back in his chair and put his feet on the desk. "The least you

could do, Yami, is say you are glad to see her alive."

Yami looked up at Seto. "I am glad."

"You certainly don't look like it."

"Aria, let go of my leg, please."

Aria looked up. "I wanna do that again, Auntie Yami!"

"Do what?"

"Walk again! I wanna wide my Auntie Yami!"

Yami sighed and walked around the room with Aria clinging onto his leg.

Yugi turned to Seto and grabbed a handful of chocolate M&M's that were on

his desk. "Any news from Bakura or Marik?"

Joey grabbed another handful of the treats and sat on Seto's desk. "The

last we saw is that they were driving to the diner. I don't

know why we haven't heard from them."

A knock came on the door and Seto snapped his fingers. "Hey, uh...Auntie! Go

get the door."

Yami put his hands on his hips. "What do I look like to you? A doorman? I

used to be a pharaoh!"

"Go get the door before I tell Aria that she can stay hanging off of you all

day."

Yami rolled his eyes and grumbled to the door all the while dragging the

happy chibi on his leg. Yami opened the door for one of

Seto's secretaries. "Here's the morning paper you requested, Mister Kaiba."

"Hey, lady! Auntie Yami is cawwying me awound and Unkie Seto said I can

stay here all day!"

Aria and Aten were no strangers to Seto's staff. The chibis were familiar

sights around the halls of KaibaCorp.

The secretary laughed at Yami's obvious lack of amustment being a

chibi-rack.

"Thank you," Seto said opening the paper.

"Tank you, lady!" Aria said echoing her uncle. Aria disconnected herself

from Yami finally and ran to Seto. Joey picked Aria up

as Seto thumbed through the paper looking for a headline about Ryou. Yami

sat next to Yugi in front of Seto's desk.

Seto's blue eyes widened. "The police finished analyzing the prints on the

Millenium Ring. The prints are those of...Steven

Bakura, an escaped convict."

Yugi's eyebrow raised. "Wait, Bakura has the Millenium Ring back around his

neck. How can they analyze the prints without it?"

"They took a copy of the prints which matched Steven's exactly."

Joey let out a low growl on the desk.

"Does the paper say where my mommy is?"

Seto turned the page. "No, it doesn't say. Hey....wait a minute..."

Seto's sapphire eyes focused on one of the articles: "Murder in

Brackenridge."

The group stared at the CEO deep in thought. "It says: A 40 year-old- male

was found dead in his house in Brackenridge last night around 10pm. The

victim has been identified as Ryan Bakura. It is estimated that the body

had been dead for several hours before the body was found by a friend. Mr.

Bakura suffered numerous injuries including several broken ribs, a broken

arm, and analysis shows the victim had a blood alcohol level of 1.8. The

victim was found suspended to the wall by a knife through his chest. Police

are investigating. There are no suspects at this time."

Seto looked up from the paper and saw the faces of the group, pale and

almost sickly. Yami's eyes were wide with shock.

"How did the victim die?"

Seto looked back at the paper. "The victim was suspended on a wall with a

knife through his chest. Why? You don't look too good, Yami."

Yami shook his head. "That is Marik and Bakura's trademark."

Aria grabbed the paper and looked at the different sections. She found the

one that said "Busniess" and pulled it out for her uncle.

"What do you mean it's Marik and Bakura's trademark?"

"That is how Marik and Bakura killed their victims back in Egypt. They hung

them on a wall and stabbed them making them literally hang from the wall."

Aria held up the paper. "Here's your paper for Bissness, Unkie Seto! I found

it! Want me to see how your money is?"

Seto took the "Business" section and brought Aria on his lap. "No. I'll

check later." Seto skimmed the article again. "It says that there was a

medicine prescription found at the scene of the accident. The prescription

was made out for 'Aten Bakari Itemri.'"

"Aten! My bwother! Is he ok?"

"This just says that they found a medicine script made out to him, Aria."

"The article says that no trace of Aten Itemri or Ryou Bakura could be

found. The police found evidence of a struggle and are analuzing blood

stains found in the living room, bedroom, and the basement."

Joey turned his head to Seto almost coughing out the M&M's. "Blood stains

in the bedroom? Lemme see that!"

Joey grabbed the paper out of Seto's hands and read it. "Blood stains in the

bedroom? That don't sound good."

Seto ran his fingers through Aria's long hair. "No. It doesn't."

The phone rang and Seto picked it up. "Kaiba here."

// Hey, moneybags! //

"Grrrrrr....STOP CALLING ME THAT! What have you found or are you and Bakura

just screwing around in the forest?"

// I resent that! What makes you think we're screwing? And, what exactly do

you think I'm screwing???//

"Marik? Knowing you? I wouldn't be amazed if you were with Bakura or

anything else you could get your hands on."

// Just what are you implying? I'm not a dendrophiliac, moneybags. //

(Dendrophilia is when someone makes love to a tree. Don't ask me. I don't

know how or why this is done. Frankly, I don't want to know.)

Seto turned to Joey and handed Aria to him. "Aria, cover your ears for a

second. I'm going to say some very naughty words."

Aria covered her ears and Seto's eyes narrowed. "Just what the fuck happened

in Brackenridge? Were you responsible for that?"

// .........//

"Talk to me, Marik! What did you guys do?"

// We gave that bastard what he deserved, Seto Kaiba. He deserved much

worse than what we gave him. I thought we were merciful to him. //

"Merciful? You hung him on a fuckin' wall!"

// We did what we had to do, Kaiba. Surely you can understand. //

"Tell me what justifies hanging someone to a wall."

The phone crackled and Marik was heard speaking.

// Kaiba....//

"Bakura? What did you and Marik do in Brackenridge?"

// Ryou was raped, Seto. Ryou was held in the basement. I found the word

"Cabin" written in blood on the wall. I found Aten's blood in the living

room. Broken glass and blood was everywhere. What else was I to do? I had

to teach that asshole who was boss. //

Seto was silent for a moment. "I see your point. You found no trace of Ryou

or Aten?"

// Just one of Aten's dolls near a puddle of blood. That is all we found. I

had to do it, Seto. //

Seto looked at Aria in Joey's lap still holding her ears. "Alright. Fine.

Now what's next?"

// Marik and I are searching the nearby cabins for Ryou and Aten. We found

the word "Cabin" written in blood, so we are using that to track them down.

//

"The papers reported today that they confirmed the fingerprints on your

ring. They do belong to Steven Bakura."

// I KNEW IT! That vicious, cold-hearted, son-of-a-bitch! Keep an eye on

the papers, moneybags. Ryan Bakura's death is nothing compared to what

Steven is going to get...oh no....not by a long shot. //

Seto heard the phone click. "Hello? Hello? Bakura? Marik?" Seto hung up the

phone.

"Well?" Yugi asked impatiently.

Aria uncovered her ears. "Is mommy ok, Unkie Seto?"

Seto picked up Aria and put her on the ground. "Puppy, go take her to Malik.

See if he's up."

"But, I wanna stay for.."

"Puppy, go! Me and you will talk later."

Joey sighed and jumped off the desk taking Aria's hand. "Come on, kiddo. You

can ride on Unkie Puppy's shoulders." Joey put Aria on his shoulders and

carried her outside.

"Joey's gone crazy with this "Unkie Puppy" business. He's gone nuts. He lost

it," Yami said cramming a handful of candy into his mouth.

Seto leaned back in his chair once again flexing his fingers. "Bakura and

Marik have reason to believe that Ryou and Aten are not in too good a shape.

Bakura claims that Ryou has been raped."

"That would explain the blood in the bedroom," Yugi said shifting

uncomfortably.

"They also found Aten's blood in the living room. They don't know how badly

he is hurt or how he got injured."

"Where are they looking next?"

Seto bit his lip and arranged the newspaper into a stack picking out the

comics for Aria later. "They're looking around for a cabin. They have

reason to believe they are hiding in the nearby cabins. Bakura said they

found the word "Cabin" written in blood. That's the best lead they have."

Seto stood up and walked to the window looking down on the city of Domino.

"I can't blame Marik and Bakura for doing what they did. I just hope it

doesn't get them into more trouble later."

Next Chappie: Aten's Hallelujah….more tim x ryou x jessica implied only next chappie. Nothing really described.