Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Curse of the Moon Chinae ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Jounouchi's dark brown eyes slowly blinked open and he beheld a white stained ceiling. A state of confusion overtook him as he wondered where he was, how he got there, and what on earth happened. His head throbbed painfully, and as he turned to gaze over the rest of the room he was in, he felt a sharp pain in the base of his neck. He groaned, setting a delicate hand over the injury and rubbed in gently. There was just enough light in the room to see by, and as he looked around he saw that he had somehow ended up in a cheap looking motel room. Uneasiness began to set in, and he forced himself to sit up. He had been residing in a bed that took up most of the room facing a long dresser that supported a small television set. There was a closed door at the far wall which he guessed led to the restroom, and another on the opposite wall that he guessed led outside.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were going to wake up at all."

Jounouchi visibly jumped, having not seen anyone else in the room. But as he looked more closely, he could see a figure standing in one of the dark corners, leaning against the wall.

"Who-- Who the hell are you?" Jounouchi asked, trying his best to hide the fear in his voice. The other did not reply, and instead began walking toward the blonde sitting up in the bed. He wore all black, his pants, his shirt, his boots, and the cloak that spread out behind him as he walked were as dark as the shadows he had hid in, and his eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses. His hair was shoulder length, his bangs reaching over to cover one side of his face. His locks of hair were black as well and contrasted greatly with his pale white skin.

He stopped at the foot of the bed and stood looking at the blonde with a stoic look on his face. "You were lucky," he said simply.

"Lucky?" Jounouchi echoed. "You wanna run that by me again? How the hell can you call me lucky? Do you know what the hell just happened to me? And now I'm in some motel with a random stranger? You call that lucky?"

"Calm yourself," the other responded. "I mean you no harm. You are Jounouchi, and my name is Sahado. I've been watching you for a while."

Jounouchi stared at him. "So now you're a stalker?"

He sighed. "I know what you have been through, Jounouchi. I can assure you that I know every aspect of what has happened to you for the past few weeks. Ever since you were attacked that night."

The blonde raised his head. "How do you know about that?"

"I'm the one who rescued you," he stated. "I attempted to save your friend as well, but your attacker escaped with him before I was able to."

"That's a lie," Jounouchi spat. "Yugi said the guy who saved me didn't even see Kaiba, or the guy who attacked us."

"That's what I told the investigator, yes," Sahado acknowledged. "I simply did not want the police involved in this."

"What? You bastard! You saw him, but you didn't say anything to the cops?" Jounouchi's anger was evident as it burned within his eyes. "They could've found the son of a bitch and saved Kaib before anything happened to him!"

"You don't understand," Sahado said calmly. "There are many things you don't understand. For instance, do you know exactly what it was that happened to your friend that night? Tell me why he acted so strangely when you encountered him next."

Jounouchi fell silent, lowering his eyes. "I-- I don't know what the hell was wrong with him. I'd never seen him like that before."

"Tell me also the details of your attacker," Sahado went on. "Do you know why he was able to defeat the both of you with hardly any effort on his part?"

His brown eyes raised to the other's face again. "And you know?"

Sahado nodded. "I know more about him than anyone else." He turned his head slightly toward the front door and gazed upon it as if waiting for something.

"You fucking know him?" Jounouchi demanded.

"Silence," Sahado hissed. "We are not alone." He moved across the floor with a strange gracefulness and came to stop in front of the door. He stood still for a moment, then turned his attention back to the blonde. "It has become unsafe here. We must leave."

"Whoa, what?" Jounouchi shouted. "I don't even know who the hell you are, what the fuck you're talking about, or if you're gonna kill me or molest me or whatever, and you want me to go with you somewhere else?"

"If you want to rescue your friend you will accompany me," he said. Jounouchi looked up at him, his mouth hanging slightly open and his eyes searching desperately for an answer to his predicament. "We must move now if we are to escape unseen. Are you coming or not?"

Jounouchi eyed him warily. His mind raced, weighing out the consequences of his choices. He could go with the stranger and risk being killed or something just as horrid, or he could stay here, wherever here was, and miss his chance to help Kaiba. "I-- I don't know."

"Now is not the time for indecision," Sahado snapped, his eyebrows narrowing above his sunglasses. He turned the doorknob slightly and cracked the door open a bit, then pulled it the rest of the way open. "I am leaving this place. If you remain here, you will die. That is all I can tell you now." He fixated his gaze on the blonde again, who gave a defeated sigh.

"God damn, I'm screwed if I do, screwed if I don't," he said. "Fine, I'll go with you. Where to, exactly?"

"Somewhere far from here," Sahado replied. "I will not know where until we arrive."

"Great," Jounouchi frowned. "Well, lead the way, creepy guy."

Sahado regarded him for a moment before leading the way out the door. With the curtains drawn, Jounouchi had not been able to see the sky from inside, but now he saw that it was quite dark outside, and he wondered exactly how long he had been here with this stranger. He began to ask, but Sahado silenced him and led him over to a sleek, black motorcycle parked a ways down from the room.

"Nice wheels," Jounouchi nodded as Sahado handed him one of two black helmets. The blonde fitted it over his head and joined the black haired man on the back of the motorcycle. Sahado turned the ignition and wasted no time in accelerating out of the parking lot. But as they hit the street, Jounouchi heard a shout and he thought the voice called out Sahado's name, but he could not be certain over the roar of the speeding bike. Sahado did not stop nor turn around, but continued racing down the dark pavement. It only took a moment for the lights of the motel and neighboring gas station to disappear behind them, and Jounouchi realized that he had no slight idea as to where they were. Suddenly, the street was lit up by the beams of the headlights of a car behind them. Its wheels screeched in the night as it jumped the curb in their pursuit.

"What the fuck?" Jounouchi exclaimed. "Are they after us? Who is that?"

"That is the man who attacked you and your friend," Sahado replied. "He doesn't take kindly to his prey escaping him. He'll stop at nothing to finish what he started." The trees of the surrounding forest blurred together into one mass as they rode along the one lane road at an incredible speed. The black luxury car behind them kept up however, and Jounouchi dreaded what may happen if the man behind them caught them.

"He's the one who attacked us?" the blonde inquired. "He's after me again?"

"Still, not again," Sahado corrected. "It's been because of me that he hasn't been able to get to you before now." The car began to close the distance between them, and the black haired man clenched his teeth with unease. "Damn it," he cursed. "He's going to catch up." He took a quick look behind him at their pursuer, then shouted for Jounouchi to "Hold on tightly!". He veered the motorcycle to the left, crossing over the yellow line and diving into the dark forest.

"Are you crazy?" Jounouchi demanded as he ducked behind Sahado's frame in expectation of being struck by the tree branches. Sahado did not answer and kept up the incredible speed as he wove in between the looming trees. The night was so dark that Jounouchi could not see in front of them, and he was sure that he was going to die here, splattered against the wood of a giant oak in the middle of this strange forest.

"He cannot follow us in here," Sahado stated, keeping his gaze focused ahead of them. "We will continue forward for a few more miles then stop to recollect ourselves deep within the confines of the forest."

"Can't we stop now?" Jounouchi whined, his fear causing his voice to tremble. "You can't keep this up forever!"

"On the contrary," Sahado said. "My driving skills are excellent. And unlike you, the dark does not affect my vision. I can see perfectly clearly in the darkest of nights. So remain calm and silent and I will deliver you to safety."

Jounouchi decided to comply to his requests, if only to allow him to concentrate more on driving than on talking. At the speed they were going it only took a matter of minutes for them to reach a distance that Sahado believed was safe. He slowed the motorcycle until it came to a complete stop next to a small, trickling stream. Immediately, Jounouchi collapsed from the bike out of exhaustion from the terror he had experienced while clinging desperately to Sahado's body on their speeding vehicle.

"You are crazy!" he gasped, pulling the helmet off of his head and shaking out his blonde locks. "No one in their right mind would've pulled that stunt!" He got up from the ground, setting the helmet on the seat of the motorcycle while Sahado stood and watched him, holding his own helmet at his side.

"We're safe now, aren't we?" he questioned, walking over to set his helmet down as well. "And now that we're far enough away from his danger, I can tell you what you desire to know."

Jounouchi plopped down on a large boulder near the stream, his mind and body exhausted. "You're gonna tell me what's up with Kaiba?" he inquired.

"That and what else you need to know," Sahado replied, taking a seat on a rock opposite Jounouchi's. "It will be a strange story, and you must keep an open mind to everything I say. It is not easy for people to accept these kinds of events."

"Just get on with it," Jounouchi snapped. "Tell me what the hell was wrong with Kaiba. Tell me what that bastard did to him!"

Sahado's eyebrows narrowed. "You are arrogant and impulsive, Katsuya Jounouchi," he said. "It rather irritates me. If I didn't despise Crimson the way I do, I would've turned you out long ago."

"Live with it," the blonde retorted. "Who's this Crimson guy? What's he got to do with anything?"

Sahado sighed, but continued. "Crimson is the man who attacked you and your friend. If, that is, Crimson can be described as a man. He is more of a monster than a man, a creature born of the night time and who lives by destroying the lives of the innocent. He is, in essence, what you would call a vampire."

At this Jounouchi raised an eyebrow and made strange face of confusion. "A what? A vampire? You want me to fucking believe that?"

"I instructed you to keep an open mind," Sahado reminded him. "I know it is hard for you to accept or to understand this, but it is the truth."

"So you're telling me that Kaib and I were attacked by a vampire, and now Kaiba's one too?" Jounouchi inquired, hardly believing what was coming out of his own mouth.

"Of sorts," the black haired man answered. "Did you not notice it when he attacked you? Your friend, I mean. You didn't notice his elongated teeth, the emptiness of his eyes, or the coldness of his touch?"

Jounouchi shivered slightly, reflecting on the moment that Kaiba first touched him that night. The coldness of his body had been unnerving, terrifying actually, and he had noticed that Kaiba's eyes had changed. Although he had not witnessed fangs on the brunette, he had certainly felt them when they sank into his flesh. "Holy fuck!" he exclaimed suddenly. "He fucking bit me! And if he's a vampire, that means that I…"

"Calm yourself," Sahado interrupted. "It is true that he bit you several times, but you will not lose your mortal state because of it. Crimson is of a different species of vampire than you are most likely familiar with. His kind cannot convert mortals into their species simply by biting them. There is a strange and horrific ritual for that. It requires a vast knowledge of the Dark Arts, and as a newly transformed mortal, your friend would not have had the experience necessary to learn such a knowledge."

Jounouchi breathed a sigh of relief. He passed a hand through his blonde locks as he closed his eyes and moaned tiredly. "God damn, I don't know what to think or say anymore."

"That is understandable," Sahado said. "I implore you though, do not despair. You were fortunate enough to learn these facts before you were victim to Crimson or your friend. Unlike myself."

At this the blonde looked up at him, a look of astonishment on his face. "You… You're a vampire, too?"

Sahado nodded in acknowledgement. "Unfortunately yes, I am." He looked away then, his gaze falling on the clear water of the stream beside them. He fell silent.

"I get it," Jounouchi said, causing Sahado to lift his gaze slightly. "So this Crimson guy turned you into a vampire against your will and now you want revenge on him! Am I right?"

Sahado looked slightly amused. "Perhaps," he said.

"And I need revenge on him for turning my man against me!" the blonde went on. "We got that in common and you thought I'd make a great addition to your team of vampire hunters! We'll hunt him down and stake the bastard through the heart!"

"Most of what you said is correct," Sahado told him. "One important thing though, is that there is no team of vampire hunters. What we have is you and myself."

Jounouchi's face went pale. "You're kidding me, right?"

Sahado shook his head in the negative. "Sadly, I am not. But there is something else in your declaration that you are misinformed about. If you want revenge on Crimson, that is fine. But you must also know that by killing the Sire, you free the souls of those whom he has taken them from. That includes your friend, Seto Kaiba."

"You mean if I kill this bastard then Kaiba will be set free?" Jounouchi inquired. "He won't be a vampire anymore and won't have that creepy blood fetish?" Sahado nodded and Jounouchi smiled broadly. "Then count me in, guy. Not only will I team up with you to kill him, I can get a few more people on our side, too. They've always had my back and I know they won't let me down now!"

"You speak of your friends," Sahado said. "You do realize how dangerous our mission will be? And that there is a great chance that you, I, or any of them may be killed in the process?"

"Shit," the blonde swore, realizing the truth in the other's words. "I didn't even think of that. Well fuck, what're we gonna do? The Master Vampire is always the strongest, ain't he?"

"You give Crimson far too much credit," Sahado frowned. "He is not the Master. He is Seto Kaiba's Sire, but he is not the Master."

"Oh," Jounouchi blinked. "Okay then. Then he's not the most powerful, right? Hey, if we get the real Master on our side, we could take him down no problem, right?"

"Even if the Master were still on this planet," Sahado replied. "he would not assist us. His hatred of me rivals his of Crimson himself, and he despises mortals."

"What do you mean if he was still on this planet?" Jounouchi inquired. "What, does he got like a spaceship or something?"

"He has a space travel vessel, yes," Sahado said. "But I do not wish to explain things more than once. Make your decision now if you are going to ask your friends for their assistance. If yes, then we will depart from here and return to Domino. There I will inform all of you at once the details you will have to know in order to destroy a creature such as Crimson."

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, let's go back. I can at least get Honda and Otogi. They can handle themselves pretty good." He got up from his seat as Sahado made his way back over to the motorcycle. They adorned their helmets and, to Jounouchi's ultimate dismay, sped out of the forest in much the same manner as they had entered it. The road came swiftly and unexpectedly, but Sahado turned the vehicle to the east and continued at his high speed toward the distant town of Domino. The one lane road stretched before them into the horizon, giving no indication of exactly how far away they were. Jounouchi watched the passing scenery, feeling his eyelids growing heavy. He had not realized how tired he was as his utter terror had kept him awake until then. But now the want of sleep became almost overpowering and he had to struggle to keep a conscious state and not fall over asleep right there on the road. He yawned and rubbed his watering eyes, shaking his head in an effort to call the awareness back into his brain. He resorted to watching the glowing horizon, trying to spot the outline of his hometown against the reddening sky, when something occurred to him.

"Sahado!" he shouted over the roar of the speeding bike. "Sahado, the sun is rising!"

"We will arrive in Domino in less than two hours," the other replied. "That short amount of time in the sun will not affect me much. You, however, should concentrate on keeping yourself awake. I know that you yearn to sleep, but now is certainly not the time. I will give you ample opportunity to rest before we set out to find our enemy, but now you must occupy yourself with something else."

Jounouchi agreed, although he did not know exactly what it was he was supposed to occupy himself with. Being the passenger on a motorcycle, his resources were limited at the moment. At first he resigned to trying to count the trees as they flew by, but he quickly realized that that was going to be impossible. At the speed Sahado was traveling, Jounouchi was sure that they would be pulled over by a cop first chance they got. He mentioned it to the black haired man, but Sahado disregarded him and kept up his pace. Jounouchi shrugged and turned his attention to the side of the road and resorted to counting the road kill they passed by. Two deer, seven possums, twelve squirrels, and several things he could not identify later, the tall buildings of Domino appeared on the horizon and loomed ahead of them. Jounouchi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally, we're here," he said. "I can finally get some shut eye. What day is it, by the way?"

"Thursday," Sahado replied. "It would be best to first go to your home and allow you to rest. This evening we will hold session with your friends and decide a plan of action from there."

"Right," Jounouchi nodded. "Sounds good. I live in an apartment on…"

"I know where you live," Sahado interrupted. "I told you before that I've been watching you for some time now. I also know where you attend school, your class schedule, your friends' names, addresses, and who they live with."

"God damn, you're creepy," the blonde murmured. "All right, then take me home Jeeves." They sped through the waking streets of Domino, slower than what they had been traveling but still fast enough that Jounouchi worried about getting pulled over at any time. But Sahado's driving got them to the building in less than half an hour and the two of them climbed the flights of stairs to the apartment. Jounouchi let them in and promptly collapsed on the couch in the front room. "So what're you gonna do while I'm asleep?" the blonde inquired, closing his eyes.

"I will wait," Sahado said simply. He sat down in the easy chair nearby, crossing one leg over the other as the blonde settled in to rest. Jounouchi sighed, feeling the fatigue in his body overtake him and throw him into a very deep but restless sleep. In this sleep he dreamt about Kaiba, as he had been for the past several days. But this dream was different than the others. In those he had seen his lover return to him, holding out his arms and letting him embrace him. They would kiss and hold one another close, relishing in the simple presence of each other. But this dream was not like the others. In this dream Jounouchi saw Kaiba differently, the way he was that night when he attacked him. He was cold and cruel, with an empty look in his eyes. Empty as if soulless or dead. Jounouchi could see his fangs, white and gleaming in the moonlight as Crimson's had. Then those fangs sank into Jounouchi's flesh and drew out his blood, letting it flow out of his body and onto the cold and listless ground. Jounouchi awoke in a chilled sweat, sitting up to find that it was darkening as the sun was already setting in the horizon. He looked around and found Sahado standing by the window, gazing through the glass with a hard set jaw and tensed muscles. At the sound of the blonde's movement, he turned to him.

"You're awake," he said. "Good. Now we will continue with our mission. It is late enough, your friends will have arrived at their homes by now."

Jounouchi got up from the couch and walked over to where the other stood. "I've been asleep all day?" he asked, yawning and stretching tiredly. "Sure doesn't feel like it." He shook out his bangs and turned from the window to walk to the center of the room. "I'm gonna change, and we'll go. I've been wearing these clothes too long and even I'm starting to feel unclean."

"Hurry then," Sahado instructed. "Kaiba and all of Crimson's other victims are awaiting our arrival."

Jounouchi hurried into his room where he adorned some random clothing that he found on the floor, then joined Sahado downstairs by his parked motorcycle. They rode a few miles to Honda's house first, and to Jounouchi's dismay, they met with not only Honda himself, but Yugi and the others as well. Naturally, the group of teens dashed outside to Jounouchi, demanding to know where he had been, if he was all right, and what had happened.

"Easy guys," Jounouchi said. "It's a fucking long story, but I don't think it'd be a good idea for all of you to hear it right now." He looked to Yugi, as well as Anzu and Bakura and added, "Don't take it the wrong way, guys. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"But it's all right for Honda and Otogi to get hurt?" Yugi questioned. "Jou, you know that whatever it is, I want to hear it and I want to help you with it. So don't leave us out, okay?"

The blonde sighed. "Okay Yug, But it's not something you're gonna wanna hear."

"We don't care Jounouchi," Anzu said. "Whatever it is, we want to know so we can be there for you. Let us in on it!"

"We don't have time to waste," Sahado intervened. "We must act quickly." He turned to Honda. "If you have somewhere that we can converse without being heard or interrupted inside, lead the way."

"Who the hell are you, anyway?" Otogi asked. "I've never seen you around here before."

"That's part of the explanation," Jounouchi answered. "Let's go Honda, lead the way. Me and Sahado will hopefully explain everything inside."

Honda nodded and opened the door for everyone to enter. The group of them went up the stairs and to Honda's bedroom at the far end of the hall. Honda assured them that his parents were out and that his siblings were nowhere to be found at the moment, but Sahado insisted on the door being closed while they conversed. When everyone was seated, either on the bed, the floor, or a chair, Sahado began his explanation.

"I will first tell you what I told Jounouchi earlier," he said. "What am I going to tell you will be hard for you to accept or understand. You must keep open minds in regard to the story I shall tell you. This story is, in fact, true and you will do well to listen closely to every word.

"My name is Sahado and I am not from this world. My roots extend to the farthest reaches of space on a small planet known as Runage. But my past is not important. What you must hear is in regards to a certain species of creature that originated on my home planet. I know that all of you have heard of mythical creatures called vampires. The Earth legends of vampires are not far off from the true creatures that are regarded as vampiric in other parts of the universe. One of these races of creatures is known as Moon Chinae and they began their destructive rule on my home planet several years ago. I am one such creature."

"You're a vampire?" Anzu gasped, raising a frightened hand to her mouth.

Sahado glanced at her. "No, I have just told you that I am a Moon Chinae, not a vampire."

"You told me you were a vampire," Jounouchi pointed out.

"That was to keep things simple," Sahado replied. "It would have taken too long to explain all of this to you then. Now remain quiet and allow me to finish my tale." The others fell silent and he continued. "I am a Moon Chinae, not a vampire. We are a different species, different creatures with different physical attributes, strengths, and weaknesses. As Jounouchi has already seen, I can venture outside during the day, as long as I do not stay in the sunlight for several hours at once. The sun does irritate my skin to a degree and I feel very uncomfortable in its light, as do all Moon Chinae. There are other differences between us and the vampires that you may be familiar with."

"And what exactly does this have to do with us?" Otogi interrupted, his arms crossed in front of him. He had a very skeptical look on his face as if he was refusing to believe what Sahado was relaying to them.

"Kaiba was turned into a vampire," Jounouchi announced. "Er, Moon Chinae or whatever."

"Kaiba was?" Honda asked.

"Yeah, remember when I described that freaky guy who attacked us?" Jounouchi said. "Yeah, he was one too. And he turned Kaiba into one. That day I stayed over at Yugi's house with you and then I walked home alone, Kaiba showed up and he attacked me."

"Attacked you? Are you all right, Jounouchi?" Bakura inquired.

"Are you a vampire too, now?" Anzu gasped.

"I'm okay, and no, he didn't turn me," Jounouchi replied. "He bit me, but Sahado here says that to turn someone into a Moon Whatever you have to go through some ritual thing. It's more than just biting and drinking blood."

"Yes, Seto Kaiba was turned into a Moon Chinae," Sahado took over. "He attacked Jounouchi, but I was able to stop him before anything else could happen. I took him far out of the city and explained to him Kaiba's circumstances and about his attacker: A Moon Chinae by the name of Crimson."

"Bastard," Jounouchi mumbled, and Sahado glanced his way for a moment before continuing.

"Crimson is a powerful Moon Chinae who enjoys the suffering of others more than he enjoys his own life. He lives for nothing else but to torture those less fortunate than he is, and once he sets his mind on a victim, he will never stop in his or her pursuit. That is why I have been accompanying Jounouchi these last few days. Crimson is still after him, determined to either kill him or to make him into a Moon Chinae as well."

"But," Jounouchi interrupted. "Sahado says that if we can kill this bastard, not only will I be safe, but all of the people he's turned into Moon Chinae will turn back into humans."

"So you're going to kill him?" Yugi asked, wide eyed.

"Fuck, not without me, you're not!" Honda declared, standing up. "Nobody tries to kill my best bud!"

"That's why we're here," Jounouchi said. "I need your guys' help to kill this guy. So far it's me and Sahado and we need all the help we can get."

"You're way beyond help, but I got your back covered," Otogi stated, standing up as well. "I don't really know what to think of all this vampire shit, but if you need my help, I'm here for you!"

"I don't know what I can do for you physically," Yugi said, also standing. "But I'm coming too. I won't let you guys go without me."

"Or without me," Bakura said, and Anzu reported the same. They were all standing now, save for Sahado who remained cross legged on the floor.

"It is good that you will all assist us," he said. "But there is still more that you must learn. For as I have already said, Moon Chinae are very different creatures that the vampires that you Earth people are familiar with. We have fewer weaknesses and are not defeated as easily as our legendary counterparts."

"Fewer weaknesses?" Honda inquired. "What about crosses, garlic, all that shit?"

"They have no effect on us," Sahado replied. "We are stronger than vampires in most aspects."

"What about a stake through the heart?" Otogi asked.

"Anything through the heart will kill us," Sahado answered. "We are not undead as vampires are said to be, and any object through our hearts will kill us. We can also be killed by decapitation, but these two methods are the only known way to destroy us. We cannot bleed to death, and our bodies can function well enough without the use of most of our organs."

"So sharp pointy things will do the trick then," Jounouchi spoke up. "Works for me."

"But how are we going to find this guy?" Anzu inquired.

"He's near now," Sahado replied. "He has been following Jounouchi for some time now, as I have. Crimson knows every step we will make, and so we must take them carefully and with precision."

"I just wanna kill the fucking bastard," Jounouchi said. "Make him pay for everything he's done to me and Kaiba."

Sahado stood then, looking over the group of anxious teenagers. "Then ready yourselves," he told them. "We will depart and begin our search in two hours. Arm yourselves with what you can find and calm your states of mind. Moon Chinae can sense fear, and I can sense all of yours now. Fear will not help you in our mission. Only courage and determination. Have these with you, and they will be your greatest weapons."