Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Death's Not Particularly Fair ❯ Scared Half to death ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Te'a Gardner pulled desperately against the chains that bound her to the foot of the bed. Her face had turned a nasty shade of white as it drained of all colour. Sweat trickled down her brow and her hands shook.
He was coming. She could feel it.
He's coming!>
She felt a lump settle itself in her throat and refuse to go away as the start of panic began to bear down on her. How could this happen to her? Out of all the people, all the millions and millions of people on Earth ... why did she have to be the one locked in this dingy little room, her frail wrists chained and handcuffed at the end of the bed? While the madman came ever closer to her.
she cringed, her cheeks now so pale she looked like death.

There was a footstep at the end of the hall. And Te'a's entire body tensed as she snapped her head toward the open door that faced her and the bed. Peering out into the passageway in case she might be able to catch just a glimpse of his movement, or be able to spot a dark silhouette among the shadows. But all she saw in the dark hallway in front of her were shadows.
The shadows crept up along nearly every wall in the house, seeming to twist and turn and watch Te'a's every move whilst she was in this house.
Every curtain was closed, every window was barred, every door was locked.
A perfect place for shadows to linger and haunt the frightened girl who huddled at the foot of the bed, her navy blue eyes wide with fear as they darted continuously around, in search for anything that could be a threat to her.
But that in itself was useless. Because the ever-present shadows were always watching her. Ever-ready to pounce on her and eat her up whole ... or at least that was how it felt to her. And the thought of them sliding off the walls and creeping up onto her weak form, slowly eating her, making her dissolve away from existance ... that image made tears of terror enter the corner of her eyes.
But, as awful as these thoughts were. None were as completely petrifying as the madman who had brought her here. And when she thought of how easily he'd managed to snatch her away from her friends ... that was another picture that made her cringe inside and want to hide herself under the bed. Away from him, away from those dark eyes. Those eyes that defied his youthful appearance. Those eyes that looked a thousand years old. Cunning, wise and murderous. Just the mere memory of them brought shivers running down her spine.


Her hands clenched on the sheets that were just in reach of her fingertips. The action made her chains rattle ominously. Clink clink clink. Filling the room with the sound of her entrapment. And surely the madman know he's there> could hear them too. They were so terribly loud. Maybe even louder than her heartbeat. If that were at all possible.

Oh, but why not? Playing games with you is so much fun his deep voice said in her mind. Making her face contort in a wince. Her thighs automatically snapping together, and her fingers gripping the sheets with even more ferocity than before.
even in her mind her "voice" sounded weak and alone, and so nakedly scared. With her arms twisted sideways so that they could be tied to the bedpost while her body was swivelled around. Her brown hair falling irritatingly into her eyes so that her line of vision had worsened even more. Something that she really didn't want to happen. Since this man was not someone you would want to be kept out of your sight. Especially when you were handcuffed and helpless and at his mercy.

If I don't read your mind ... then I'm gonna have to speak to you in person.
She whimpered, not able to keep the sound out. Closing her eyes, she slowly counted to ten. Pressing herself up against the cold rail of the bed post.

She heard another footstep. His black boot settling down on the floorboards. And her entire body went rigid. She didn't like this. She wanted to live. She wanted to grow to be a dancer, to then settle down and have children with someone she really loved. She wanted a happy life, or even a sad one. It was better than no life at all.
Why am I doing this?

She heard his deep mind-voice chuckle evilly in her head. Making her recoil and clench her jaw, her wrists rubbing painfully against the handcuffs, and more sweatbeads appearing on her forehead. Her panic was rising into her throat, though she fought to keep it down. If she screamed now. She'd never stop.

Another laugh sounded in her head. It was cynical and to her it seemed all knowing. As if the man could smell her fear right off her, as if he could tell that her heart was racing in her breastbone, and her breath was laboured. As if he knew that the roof of her mouth was as dry as a sponge, and her head was whirling with dizziness.
You think I'm going to kill you, Te'a? What use would a dead body be to me?

She didn't answer him. But huddled her face in her arms. It was freezing in here. And Te'a was not only shivering from fright, but also from cold. Goosebumps were raised on her bare arms, and her teeth were clenched tightly together to keep them from chattering, for that would make the unbearble noise that made her feel even more vulnerable.
All she was wearing was tourquoise blouse with a yellow collar and buttoned down the front, her blue shorts with a light green belt holding them up, two pairs of white socks which were more like stockings and came up to mid-thigh, and her blue shoes. Coloured bangles were pressed into her arms by the chains.
her mind moaned, almost urgently
Ahhhh, princess. Don't go putting foolish ideas in your head
She flinched as if she'd just been slapped. Hating the fact that the madman could read every thought in her mind, hating the way the horrible shadows seemed to be sneaking up on her. Hating this whole damned situation she was in. Wishing that someone ... anyone ... would save her and take her back home where she could have a hot bath, then sink into bed and feel safe, safe, safe. Away from all these horrible thoughts. Away from the nightmare.
she squeezed her eyes shut as if in pain. Hearing the jangling of her chains against one another at her slight movement, said he wasn't going to kill you! What use am I as a ... dead ... body ...?>
None whatsoever, princess

Heh heh heh

Her head snapped up at the sound of another footstep, and she squinted into the dark passageway. But still, not even the shadowy outline of a body could be seen. The place was far too dark. Even the dingy room she was in now, shrouded in the dreaded shadows, was lighter than where the madman was standing.

You know who I am? Who am I princess?
She quivered, not wanting to say the name of her old friend because it hurt to know that this was not him. This was the spirit that controlled him and made him who he was. But she also badly wanted to prove that she had caught a glimpse of his face when he'd wrestled her into his car, pulling a t-shirt over her head and tying her hands behind her back.
the thought she sent him was extremely soft and reluctant. And it made her want to cry, saying her friend's name as if it belonged to this madman.
Very perceptive ... I'm sure your precious Yugi would be extremely proud of you.
And at that moment, as the moon slid out from behind a cloud and peeked through a crack in the curtains, Yami Bakura stepped out into the half light, glowing softly and making the dreaded shadows retreat back slightly. Extracting a sigh of relief out of Te'a.

His white hair was entertwined with the soft light, making it look as fluffy as angel's feathers. And making Te'a ache for Ryou Bakura, the real boy inside of that madman.
But the eyes were oh so different. Though Te'a could only see one of his eyes as only half his body had been highlighted. Ryou's eyes were wider, and far more innocent. But this spirit ... his eyes were frighteningly crafty, and yet also haunted. The brown seeming also to glow with a strange sadness that he never expressed openly. Not even to himself.
The Millennium Ring glinted, the moon making it send threads of uneven light across the room. It rested comfortably by his chest, the pointers limp and unmoving.
He wore a blue and white striped shirt and a pair of jeans. Also, he was protected by the cold with a pale blue jacket that splayed out when it reached his waist.
And when he smiled slyly across at her, his pointed teeth were plainly obvious. And Te'a had to hide her face to stop staring at them, horrified.
Was he a Vampyre?
She had no idea. And she didn't particularly want to find out for sure.

"Scared are we?" he taunted, this time speaking out loud, instead of in her mind. But the voice was the same. Not anything like Ryou's. Ryou had had a softer voice, maybe with the faintest English accent that you could hardly catch unless you really listened to the way he said things.
"What do you want with me, Bakura?"
"My, my. Aren't we impatient?"
"I don't know anything about 'we' Bakura ... as far as I know, you can speak for yourself." she tried to say it tough, as if she weren't afraid, but her voice quavered, and the obvious horror in the way she was looking at him was so apparent that it was almost funny.
"Mmmmm ..." Bakura stepped into the room, now fully illuminated by the moonlight. His form gliding out of the darkness as descretely as a Vampyre. Silent and fast, his white hair now shimmering and his teeth shining whenever the moon hit them.
To Te'a, he was the worst monster she'd ever seen. The way he looked, the way he was. It sent shivers coursing down her spine and arms, worse trembles than when he'd been standing out of sight and the shadows were looming over her head as if waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce.
"Listen to me, Bakura" she tried to make herself sound at least the faintest bit brave, but she was failing at it dismally, "It doesn't have to be like this. I am useless to you."
"Useless?" his husky voice sounded amused, "Now now, I wouldn't say that ..."
He got down on one knee, and with hands that were long-fingered, pale and slightly pointed, he took her chin and lifted her face up so that his eyes met with hers directly, "Would you say you were useless, princess? I'd say that I might just need you really desperately."


She said it in her mind because her mouth was clamed shut by the fingers resting on her jaw, and she got an uncomfortable feeling that brought another lump of panic rising in her throat. What did he truly mean when he said he 'needed her very desperately'? Surely he didn't mean ... like that ... did he?
"How do you know I'm playing games?" his mouth twisted up into a mirthless smile, "I could be deadly serious."
Te'a didn't know what to say to that, now that her mind had focussed on what he could do to her. What he very well might do to her. She tried to get the thoughts out of her mind, but they kept on coming. And when she pictured that fearful thing happening to her, she felt a twinge of horror flinch through her body like a fiery snake.
Before she could protest, Bakura lifted her face toward his, and placed his lips on her own. And she felt his tongue press up against her tightly closed lips, demanding entrance.
When she didn't let him pass through, he pressed painfully onto her jaw, making her mouth pop open without being able to help it.
She felt his tongue slip over her lips and into her mouth, capturing her surprised whimpers in his throat so that the sound didn't travel very far. He pressed her face into his as his invading and unwanted tongue explored her entire mouth.
Te'a moaned louder, so that he couldn't block the whole sound,
A Vampyre has to taste what his victim is like before he quenches his thirst, no?
she asked wildly, even though she already knew the answer.

He took his mouth off of hers and smiled that power hungry smile, "You taste pretty good for a soppy girl like you"
Te'a stared at him, as if seeing an entirely new person. Under all that evil, somewhere in that body, she knew that Ryou was crying out for help. Utterly helpless against this new spirit that inhabited his body. She didn't know what to do. What possible reaction could be right? When she was out in an old dark cottage in the wilderness with someone who could possibly be a rapist? No one would hear her if she screamed, and getting angry would be exactly what he wanted her to do.
So she just stared at him. The blank look on her face was only a mask that hid her fear. Because her navy blue eyes were slightly shiny, as if she were on the verge of tears.
"Don't do it, Bakura. You aren't like this ..."
"Bakura ... Bakura is no longer here" he sneered, "That is just the name you pathetic humans seem to want to call me. And you may call me that if you wish ... though as long as you bear in mind that the real little Bakura is trapped and no amount of coaxing can get him free."
"I know that"
"Then stop the useless begging. Now."
"Fine" she pulled her chin out of his hand stubbornly, fixing her gaze on the far wall, trying to stop the awful fear from eating her whole, "Then tell me what you want with me."
"Would you care for a drink?"
"What?!"
"You look thirsty"

Now that he mentioned it. Te'a was thirsty. And a little hungry too. But still. She wanted him to answer her question, she desperately wanted to know why a pire like Bakura had chosen her. Te'a Gardner, out of all people he could have chosen. She had been his choice.
But why had she been his choice. That bit still bothered her.
Though right now, she was thirsty. And either she had to trust Bakura - at least for now - or she'd have to suffer.
So Te'a turned her face up to his, though he was still down on one knee so she didn't have to look up far, and she muttered, "Okay, I'll ... have a drink."
"What's the magic word?" he tilted his head to the side mockingly, squinting his velvet brown eyes at her.
She gritted her teeth, "Please."
Bakura gave her a curt nod, then knelt down on both knees. He reached into his shirt, and took out a silver key. Though the only reason Te'a saw it was a key was because the light blanched off it briefly as he brought it toward her cuffs that kept her chains in place, "Well, since you are a guest ... it should only be that you drink in the dining room."
"How do you know I won't attack you?"
He laughed softly as he fiddled with the handcuffs, "Attack me, princess? For one thing, you're too soft to do anything like that. And for another thing ... do you really think that you could defeat me if you tried. Face facts, for even the element of surprise won't do you much good."
"If I try to escape?"
"I have every door locked and every window barred. And I happen to be three times your speed."
She watched him get the cuffs loose and unwravel the chains. She had her chance now to strike out at him and run for her life. But she was afraid. He didn't look above hitting her back, and she wasn't particularly good with pain. So she just let him go on without a peep out of her.

"But just in case ..." he snapped the cuffs around both her wrists, then he picked her up in his arms, holding her as a groom would carry a bride over the threshold, "Just in case a miracle happens, I don't want you to get away, now do I?" he murmured, hefting himself up onto his feet, and insisting that she rest her head against his chest, ("It's not good you sitting all stiff you stupid twat. Just put your head on my chest so I can carry you!")
She felt awful, her hands tied out in front of her, and she would be helpless if someone cared to attack her ... even if it happened to be the darker and more sinister shadows that swirled around in the passageway. Almost as if they were waiting for her. The first opportunity to pounce on her and bury her, smother her, make her unable to breathe and unable to scream.
She stiffened when he took her into the horrible passageway, and she buried her face into his shirt. Her throat suddenly very sore, and her eyes watered.
"What's the matter, princess?" Bakura smirked, "You aren't afraid of the dark, are you?"
The unbearable answer was yes. Te'a was almost sent into paralized terror when it was too dark. When things seemed to rustle around her, when shadows seemed to sneer at her as if to say: We're waiting for you, Te'a. Just waiting, waiting till you are all alone. Then we will consume you and take you with us to darker places. You won't like that, will you Te'a? But we will. Your screams are music to our ears. And won't it just be so much fun Te'a?
"Turn on the light ... turn it on ..." her voice carried a pathetic tone. Even Bakura noticed it, and he looked into her pale fright-worn face with some surprise.
"You aren't afraid of the dark, are you Te'a?" he asked it more seriously this time.
"No"
"Then why do you want me to turn the light on?"

One of the shadows seemed to twitch, and Te'a flinched so badly she almost fell out of Bakura's arms, he had to keep tight hold of her to stop her from crashing to the ground.
"If you're going to be a night crawler, you're going to have to get used to the dark I'm afraid."
night crawler?!>
She pressed herself to Bakura's chest, her eyes so wide they were almost visible in the darkness,
Tsk tsk, little Te'a Bakura thought mockingly as he took a step forward, moving her form into the dreaded darkness, You really are scared of the dark. And you're what? 16 years old?

Bakura paused, as if considering. Then he shrugged, and placed her on the floor. Her hands cuffed in front of her and her head turned down to the floor so that she wasn't constantly forced to look at the shadows that seemed to watch her with intelligence and cunning, creeping around the walls, following her almost.
She began to walk faster than Bakura had, since she didn't have to carry anyone, and she wanted to get out of this darkened passageway as quickly as possible. She felt Bakura's hands on her shoulders, slowing her down. But she didn't let that preturb her, she desperately wanted to get back into comforting moonlight.
All fears of Bakura raping her were for the moment forgotten. All she cared about was getting away from the shadows that were everywhere. Making her breathe with difficulty, her breath hitching in her throat.

"Jesus Christ" Bakura cursed, shoving her forward with impatience, "I knew you were pathetic. But I didn't know just how pathetic you are."
"Stop it. I'm fine" Te'a shut her eyes and counted to ten. Trying to tell herself over and over again that the darkness and the monsters and ghosts that might be hiding in it, wasn't real. It was all in her head,
She opened her eyes, and a shadow shaped like a one eyed witch seemed to blink its single eye at her. And Te'a shrieked, blasting Bakura's ears and making him stumble backward as Te'a ran for her life and her sanity. Away from the shadows, away from her fear that kept her trapped inside her own mind.
She ran away from the restrictions she'd placed on herself from her nyctophobia. Only that stayed with her. And at every turn she took in this old cottage, more of the darkness seemed to leer at her, until at last she sank to her knees. Her panicked mind too hazed to find a light switch and end her agony.

No one but Yugi Moto knew her secret. And she knew she'd been able to trust him with it because he never laughed at anyone. Especially not her. He was the best friend she could ever ask for, and by God she wished she had him with her now. To slowly begin to calm her down. To take her out of her hysteric fit as Bakura couldn't do.
But what brought her to her senses was not Yugi Moto. But it was something so very simple that it made her wonder at it in awe years after it had happened.

What brought her out of it was the window. But not just the window, it was the snow white curtains too, fluttering next to it.
Te'a only vaguely realised that she was in another bedroom. Where everything was painted or covered a dark shade of blue. All except the curtains. They were like ... like a rose among the thorns. And if you were a Christian, she supposed to them it would be like Jesus among the sinners.
But since Te'a was not particularly religious in any way, Jesus only came to her mind as an example of how the curtain made her feel. The virgin whiteness of them, so innocent. Like it defied the rest of this evil house, and made her darkness go away and leave her in peace.
But when she tried to reach out a hand to touch it, she forgot that they were still chained together, and she fell flat on her face with her butt in the air just as Bakura entered the room. It was the most undignified position she'd ever been in. And it made her cheeks go red with shame.
But her fear had vanished. Even when she looked away from the curtains, she could stare at the darkness with only a little fear. Because suddenly the presence of Bakura actually made a difference, though usually it didn't matter to Te'a whether someone else was in the room with her. Not even Yugi.
She'd mostly convinced herself that no one could fight off the darkness, so being with someone else who couldn't protect her did nothing to soothe the terror.

But now, as she once again pulled herself into a sitting position. Her thigh high stockings slipping down past her left knee and right calf. Her brown bangs hid her expression, but Bakura guessed that at least she was mostly calm now. So he walked to the middle of the room, and grabbed her from underneath her breasts, hauling her clumsily up onto her feet, "I see you've found your room, princess" he smirked, "Not that you'll spend much time in it as a night crawler ... you'll see this room once a month if you're lucky."
"You're a Vampyre ... don't you sleep in a coffin?"
"Being a part of Ryou's body helps get rid of the terrible side effects ... like burning in the sun ... so I only use a coffin when I'm feeling melodramatic"
Te'a bowed her head, not really that interested in where Yami Bakura slept. All she knew was that she desperately wanted to be back with her friends, not that that was possible. So she just serenely followed as Bakura steered her forcefully into the dining room, trying to ignore the darkness, even though prickles of fear were begining to come back.
"Sit" Bakura pushed her into a dining room chair at the table, and she sank into it without the slightest struggle, her eyes blank and defeated. She was never going to see Yugi again.
That thought made tears begin to form in her eyes, but she kept them back. If she was going to die here, then she would go with at least some of her pride intact.

"Here" Bakura said gruffly, pouring a drink into one of his glasses that were on display in the dining room. He placed it in front of Te'a, then sat down right next to her, "You want ice?"
"No ... it's fine like this" she looked down at it with her eyebrows pulled down in a frown, then she turned to look at Bakura with those wide, innocent eyes that made amusement flare up within him, "Bakura ... are you going to rape me?"
"Rape you?" his mouth twitched up into an unmistakable smirk, "Now princess ... please ... do I look the sort to go around forcing myself apon helpless little girls, such as yourself?"
Te'a still didn't touch her drink. And the way that Bakura wasn't giving her a straight answer was scaring her far worse than anything else in the room. Even the shadows.
"You don't look like the person to chain and imprison a woman such as myself, Bakura" she said pointedly.
She heard his soft laugh as he ran his fingernails gracefully up her throat, "Now now, Te'a. Just relax. You enjoy your drink ... and I'll ..." he smiled and slowly rubbed his cold cheek against her warm, soft one, " ... I'll enjoy mine ..."
Te'a's mind froze. And the drink in front of her was all forgotten as she felt his teeth. Those awful long canines that she'd seen drooping over his lower lip earlier, brush against the side of her neck, preparing to sink in.

With a yelp, she crashed into the dining table, and fell off the chair onto the floor. And then found that she was unable to get up because her hands were tied in such a way that she had no time to pull herself up the slow way. Her hair was now falling into her eyes, obscurring the little vision that she had. But she flapped her head to the side and scrambled up against the table leg by propelling her feet frantically against the plush maroon carpet underneath her blue shoes.
"No, no Bakura - don't!" she squeaked as he got down onto his knees in front of her, that deadly smile still plastered onto his face at the helplessness of his victim.
"Don't worry, princess. I won't make you a nightcrawler ... yet ... and I won't drink enough to kill you either."
"No! Stay away! I'm warning you!" her eyes were wide now, and goosebumps were rising up along her arms. She pressed herself tightly against the leg of the table, sweat trickling down her brow. She kicked out with her foot, and caught Bakura in the chest, knocking him backward.

That was all she needed. Wriggling like a mouse, Te'a managed to get up onto her feet, and with a strained cry, she ran through the passageway. The shadow-fear all but forgotten - at least for now - as she threw herself into the white-curtain room, and moved under the bed, trying to control her breathing. Her heart hammering like anything in her chest.

That settled it. Te'a's fear of pain surpassed her fear of the dark, and the thought of those long, wickedly sharp teeth sinking into her exposed flesh was driving her crazy. The thought of it was so awful, that it drained every bit of colour out of her face, and made her want to weep for Yugi, and Tristan, and Joey, and all her other friends back home. Her nice, safe home.
She heard Bakura coming down the hallway. and her breath hitched in her throat. She pressed herself into the carpet and squeezed her eyes shut.

she heard Yugi's kind but firm voice mutter in her ear,
<<i>He said he wouldn't kill me!!> she shrieked,

Te'a wasn't listening, her open-mouthed, cautious inhalations were still ragged and scared as she saw Bakura's black boots enter the room. He paused at the doorway, and she could almost sense that he was smiling. She saw him lean against the doorframe, crisscrossing his boots. Te'a just prayed that he didn't know where she was.

said a firm voice that she'd sub-consciously reffered to as Seto. Because it had his kind of nature, withering, cold, and with little patience,
she'd forgotten that handy trick Vampires could do. Mind reading. And he was attracted to her warmth, he knew exactly where she was.
But still, Te'a could not bring herself to move. Terror had frozen her solid, even though she was 100% sure that Bakura knew exactly where little Te'a was hiding herself. Desperate not to feel those fangs sink into her, drawing out the blood that she didn't want to lose.
"Come now, princess, it won't be that bad."
"No." she gasped hoarsely, her eyes watering badly now that pure panic was settling into her. As the realisation of how utterly helpless she was in this situation. The inevitable was that Bakura would win, no matter how much she feebly tried to struggle against him, "Please Bakura. I'll do anything ... anything ... just don't bite me ... please."

Bakura walked up in front of the bed, and once again she heard his mocking laughter as her pleas fell on deaf ears. She saw his boots stop right in front of the bed, And she cringed, knowing that he was going to drop onto one knee, grab onto one of her arms and drag her out.
"You know, adreniline makes blood taste so much better" she heard him muse, "So you're very welcome to come out from under that bed and run. I wouldn't mind a cat and mouse game, princess. I'm giving you ten seconds ... starting now ..."

Te'a hesitated, then with a feeble whimper, she shoved herself out from under the bed, and she had to flail wildly to keep from falling off balance. She felt one of her shoes slip off onto the floor as she stumbled toward the door, her heart in her throat. Of course, she didn't bother going back for the shoe. All she knew was that she had to get out of here.
Running clumsily, because of her off-balance from her arms being cuffed together the way they were, Te'a looked left and right. Finding nothing, nowhere to run to. And then her eyes slid to the jeering shadows, which moved gracefully about the wall when she moved.
And although she knew that it didn't mean that they were alive, she found that she was standing stock still when she was supposed to be running. So her brain forced her to move. Because the survival instinct of the brain insisted that she tried, even though she knew deep down that there was no hope, she still clung to a belief that there was a chance of escaping. Especially when she visualised her room, with all her study books and posters and teddy bears. With her special necklace with a silver dragon dangling from her jewelry box. The necklace that Joey had given her for her birthday, and that she'd treasured ever since.
She'd never see Joey again. Nor Yugi. And that thought tore her breath away from her as she continued to sprint blindly into the kitchen, hoping to see a window that wasn't barred, a door that wasn't locked, or a route of escape that could take her back to that special dragon necklace back home. Where she could embrace her parents and never let go.

her brain insisted. But it floundered when Bakura was suddenly there in front of her, and Te'a went crashing into his chest. And that was no joke. For although his muscles didn't look like they were that impressive, hitting his chest was like hitting a solid wall of energy. He didn't even stumble, as he had when she'd kicked him. And although she had bigger problems on her mind as she slid off of him and landed on the floor, she still managed to think about how humiliating it was to kick someone, and realise later that they were only pretending to fall over.
"Get off! OFF me!" she shrieked as he grabbed her around the throat, making it feel as if he were crushing her windpipe, then slamming her up against the wall.
"Enough games. I'm hungry" he muttered, then he leaned forward and gave her neck an expirimental poke with the tip of his tongue, "It won't be that bad anyway" he added.
"No, not the neck, please!" she begged. And he saw her cringing away from the imposing teeth as he opened his mouth wide, displayig unnaturally red gums along with the fangs, "Not the neck, or the wrists! Anywhere else!"
"What are you talking about?" he pouted slightly, looking put-out at her rude lack of co-operation.
"Bite anywhere else, Bakura!" she moaned, shutting her eyes so tight that it made them crinkle at the corners. Her face was so pale that he could see it even in this poor light, and he felt her trembling like mad.
"I only bite on the neck or the thigh" he said, raising an eyebrow, "And since you're convinced that ol' Bakkie's gonna rape you, I thought it'd be better to stay away from the thigh."
"W-where on the thigh?"
Bakura reached down and tapped on the upper-inner part of her thigh, his white eyebrow still slightly raised, "Choose, or I'll choose for you"
"Thigh"
"You sure?"
"Not really."
"Good enough for me"

He bent down, crouching on his haunches. And placed a hand on her white stocking, slipping it right down till it was hanging past her calf. He could feel the warmth of life under his fingertips, and he pressed his fingers to it, feeling a slight twinge of envy when he thought about his own quiet body that was constantly cold.
He felt her shiver at the feel of his dead fingers, and she leant her head against the wall. Bracing herself for the pain that she truly hated so much.
Bakura rubbed the inside of her thigh till it turned pink, then he wrapped his teeth around that soft skin and slowly sank them in. Hearing her sharp intake of breath as she bit her lip to keep from screaming, but he could hear her thoughts. And he listened to them smugly as he began to suck blood out of her, burrrrrns! Oh momma, oh God>
He listened to her frantic mind with interest as he closed his eyes and continued to suck up her blood, taking it into his mouth and tasting it's lovely coppery flavour. He had to be careful, he had to be oh so very careful, for if he drank too much, Te'a might die, and he didn't want that. He needed her ... sort of.
Te'a's eyes were so tight shut that little crinkles appeared in the corners. Her teeth were clenched, and so were her fists. She looked as if she was struggling to stop herself from crying out loud. And all the colour, the tinges of pink that usually coloured her face was drained all away.
The way she was all curled up, her arms around her chest protectively, her other leg on the wall, her head bowed, she looked like a little girl again. A girl who didn't know where she was or what to do with herself. A desperate look that only humans seemed to get. Like her brain had shut down on her except for the most primitive part that demanded survival, would risk everything and everyone to survive.
When that part of one's mind was running, they would even kill someone else to keep on living.

But in Te'a's case, her brain was positive that if she moved or struggled in any way, Bakura would murder her in cold blood and chuck her body outside to fertilise the flowers. Not that he would have of course, not for something as simple as her resisting against his hunger. Because she was far more important to him than that. Only when he was hungry and she was conveniantly there, he would take advantage.
His ice cold fangs still stayed in her leg even when he stopped drinking he was so lost in thought. And when he looked back up at the girl, who had the look of someone who'd been unexpectedly slapped, he felt a pang enter him, as if he were sorry for hurting such an innocent creature.
Don't be ridiculous he told himself sternly, his smooth forehead wrinkling in a frown, I was hungry, and what I am ... I can't very well help that ... Te'a was just the closest human.
But had he really been that hungry? Or had he just wanted to bite her? To feel her alive terror sliding up against his skin. To truly be able to tell himself that she belonged to him. That she was his.

He slowly unhooked his teeth from her skin, blood dripping down his fangs and dribbling down his chin. He licked it up absent mindedly, watching as Te'a could bear it no more. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head, displaying only whites. Then she collapsed forward as she passed out.
Bakura had to jump to his feet to stop her face from colliding with the floor. And once she was in his arms, he felt that familiar jealousy creep up within him as her heartbeat sounded against his own empty chest. He felt her bosom rise and fall as she breathed slowly in and out. Her felt her ... her life. Her spirit, her blood circulating around and around her body.
Her face had the same gentleness that Yugi Moto's had. Except hers was rarely accepted. He supposed it was because she was a loud mouth, and a touch too soppy for her own good. But that didn't stop her from being innocent. Even if some people thought that she was just like a child in personality.

He could still feel her thoughts. But since she was unconscious they weren't words so much anymore, more like ... pictures. Though slightly fuzzy and hazed. It showed objects and people. And Bakura couldn't tear himself away from her happy memories. Memories that he could barely relate to, unless he concentrated to over 5000 years back to his own family. And that was so, so long ago.
There was Yugi Moto ... also blurred but undoubtedly him. He was speaking, but the words were erased. Though from a certain layer of Te'a's mind, Bakura got the impression that he was helping her with a certain fear of the dark that she had never been able to get rid of. Fear so bad it was almost crippling.
And even as she was passed out, Bakura could still feel within her the stirrings of that same old fear that had gripped her then. And something else deep in her sub-conscious. Bakura tried to grab hold of the memory. But it was deep within her, and so feared that Te'a didn't have the slightest recollection of what happened to her all those years ago when she'd been ... about 7 years old?

Bakura sank back, his back resting against the wall as he delved deeper into her mind. He was now trying to push her conscious mind into the back, trying to see what the deeper and darker part of Te'a had to say. A part of her he didn't know existed. Though this particular part of herself seemed so hidden that not even he could get it properly. Though he got a flash of a man towering over her, and then he got another image of the little 7 year old hiding behind the fridge, scared of some something unknown. Something that wanted something from her that she couldn't understand.
But when Bakura tried to get deeper, her mind totally blocked him out. And he felt her open agony seething all around him, pulling him away as hard as they could. Desperately not wanting him to get into that old memory that might make Te'a remember it herself, which might probably break everything she was, and make her nothing more than a shadow of the world.
He soon found himself struggling, his physical body sweating and straining to get into that forbidden part of Te'a's mind that refused to let him enter. Something that might destroy her innocence if it were to be recalled. That would break her down slowly until ... well until she couldn't go on anymore ... until life would become a blur of meaningless colour. And all that would exist in her mind would be that single event that ruined her when she was just a vulnerable little girl.

Rape? Bakura wondered. After all, she'd been so afraid of him even though he showed no signs of wanting anything like that.
But no, the little girl seemed to be fearing more than that. For this man brought on a kind of paralizing helplessness, and fear ... not from violation. No, he couldn't tell exactly what was going on, but the child he felt was scared for more than this. Something that made her choke on her own vomit as she leaned over the toilet bowl, that gave her nightmares even after she'd forgotten all of it, that had driven such a young child almost on the verge of insanity that long lonely night that she'd endured.
And after that ... Bakura couldn't get any further than that. It was like he was trying to squeeze into a tunnel, and the tunnel just kept on getting narrower and narrower as he went. So that if he tried to go any further, he was quite sure that he'd be stuck in the recesses of her mind for the rest of eternity. A fate he didn't relish.
But still, it was with reluctance that he turned back until he was once again with her conscious memories. Until he could just sit still on the ground and look though her surface thoughts which were so beautiful and restful. So unlike the deep dark secret that he'd nearly encountered.
He watched for awhile, getting pleasantly sleepy as he watched silly memories like Te'a hiding under a small bucket during hide-n-go-seek, while her father searched for her, pretending not to know where she was. He watched her and Yugi. Somehow her memories always seemed to be on Yugi more than on her childhood. Like he was an important aspect of her life. He saw her meeting him for the first time, he saw her talking to him with Joey and Tristan.
This damned girl also seemed to watch every single duel Yugi Moto ever did by the way it looked. Even the one that Bakura had had against him on the BattleCity Blimp that Seto had set up.

But, after a few timeless hours, Bakura looked up with a sort of daze because his skin was starting to feel a little hot and achy. And starting to burn. He was slightly surprised when he saw wisps of smoke rising from damaged and curling skin on his shoulders, arms and upper back. His dark brown eyes snapped open and he looked around him wildly to see just the pink rays of the sun coming out over the distant mountains.
He could hardly believe he'd been here the whole night, observing Te'a's thoughts. But here it was, almost morning. And this Vampyre was just lounging in the corner as the sun came up.
Get up before it comes up properly you fool!! he cursed himself, hauling Te'a up over his shoulder and making a run for it. Fleeing from the sun as it slowly rose, winking almost as if to say 'I know you're there Bakura. And one day I'll get you. But you know that - don't you?'
No, no I don't know that. You can't hurt me you stupid hunk of false hope, I wouldn't ever let you
"Bakura?"
He looked down dazedly into Te'a's face. His eyes slightly unfocussed as he threw open the basement door and flung himself inside, shutting it behind him firmly. Blocking out any sly sunlight that wanted to evaporate his bones and make him truly dead to this world. Well, Bakura hadn't lived on this Earth for five thousand years only to die here because of some foolish female.
He heard Te'a's squeak of fright, and her hands came out of nowhere (still bound in the godamned handcuffs) and she looped them cleverly around his neck, fully awake now that she realised how dark it was around her, suffocating her. The blackness flowing down her throat to try and throttle her.
"Oh God, Bakura ... take me out of here"
"In a moment" he said crossly, "I have to get Ryou awake though ... I can be in control of him during the day without burning only if he's awake in his soul room."
"Ryou's sleeping?" her voice sounded oddly blank. The tone of voice that told him that Te'a was only just bearly below a hysterical level.
"Yes, now let go of me, and I can light one of the candles ... otherwise we'll be stuck here in the dark forever."

Te'a had to struggle a bit to get her arms off from around him, feeling slightly foolish. But the feeling soon passed when she felt Bakura get up and walk away from her. Leaving her alone with the merciless darkness. She could almost hear its whisper, sneaking around her and hissing in her ear, curling along her throat and up her cheek. Then down to her thigh ...
Te'a jerked and her hand went down to gingerly touch her thigh. The skin was still cut and raw, and it stung when her gently cautious fingers brushed over it. She quickly snapped her hand away, but what she felt was enough. The two holes sunk deep into her flesh, almost as if someone had stabbed her with two pencils.
She remembered Bakura making her back up against the wall. She remembered the pain, and the humiliation. But after that, she recalled nothing more. Except for waking up being carried in his arms. The arms that were burnt and shiny red, all along and twisting up to his broad shoulders and back.
She supposed that was the sun's job. Since Ryou had been asleep in his soul room, there was no human consciousness to keep the danger from peeling the skin away from the Vampyre. And it made her cringe to think how much just the pink tips of the sun beaming across could damage him this much.
She was sure it was better now, for his skin had been healing even as he carried her into the darker parts of the house before he reached the basement.

The Basement!!!
DARKNESS!
Te'a leapt to her feet and ran blindly toward Bakura, but was stopped short when she tripped over something that came up to her upper thighs. She had just enough to appreciate the fact that it was a nice polished wood, before her chin made contact with the stone floor. And there she was left, her cheeks red with embarrasment when Bakura finally found the godamned candle and lit it. Illuminating her stupid fall to the ground, and the nasty bruise that was spreading up along her chin from the hard knocking it had taken.
Her eyes were watering with pain, and she had to bring her fingers up to the sore spot to try and soothe it a bit. And the fact that Bakura was howling with laughter whilst clutching at his sides was not making her mood improve in the slightest. Her chin goddamned hurt! The least Bakura could do was to help her up, especially as it was all his fault that she'd fallen so indignantly. If her hands hadn't been bound she would have broken her fall easily. Better to have scraped hands than a chin that felt like it was about to fall off.
She sat grumpily on the insides of her legs like a frog, sprawled on the floor with her cuffed hands held out in front of her. She felt her bite-wound twinge at the pressure she was putting on it, but ignored it supremely, trying to look dignified and regain some of her wounded pride.
If only Bakura would stop laughing!
There he stood, with an old fashioned candle holder held limply in his hand, his mouth open wide, displaying the tools of her thigh-wound and those creepily blood-red gums. No, not pinkish, but blood-red gums. Highlighted by the candle, who made the awful shaodws do dances around the stone wall. Some of the spiders hanging from cobwebs on the ceiling scuttled away from the intruding light, into corner-cracks and suchlike.
Te'a shivered. She hated spiders.
she thought desperately. She couldn't very well look dignified when Bakura was leaning against the wall for support, tears leaking from his eyes. His long-fingered hand dangerously near to dropping the candle and extinguishing it. Leaving them both in the dark once more. And Te'a didn't want that.
Not that she could retrieve the candle. Even if the Vampyre let her, her hold on it would be even worse than his, what with him having a goddamned laughing fit over there. As if falling on her chin that made her feel like her brains were blasting out was a funny occurance. And since Te'a was the victim, not even infectious laughter made her feel any better.

"Stop it ... it wasn't that funny" she said blankly, still clutching onto her bruise, her navy blue eyes looking slightly hurt and ashamed that she would be such an idiot as to go skimming through a blackened room without so much as putting her arms in front of her to make sure she didn't run into any obstacles.
"Jesus, Te'a. You should have seen your face!" Bakura smirked, wiping away a stray tear and seeming to get a hold of himself. He placed the candle down on the floor, where it flickered slightly. Making Te'a scared that the movement would put it out. But it stayed alight, and for that at least she was grateful. She held up her hands to Bakura as he walked toward her, pleading with her eyes that he would unlock her.
"Oh, alright. I guess you have to get ready for school anyway" he muttered, reaching into his jeans pocket and withdrawing a single silver key.
"School?"
"Yes, you are to go to school for the rest of the week. I'm sure you want to spend some quality with your friends ... a word of warning however ..." he bent over and inserted the key into the lock of the cuff, twisting it to unlock it, " ... if you breathe a word to anyone, and I mean anyone about how you belong to me ... I will change my mind, and I will kill you, princess. Bear it in mind."
"Yes" her voice was barely a whisper, but she watched with a half detatchment as Bakura uncuffed her other wrist.
She looked at her wrists sceptically, rubbing the raw weals that the handcuffs had made. It seemed that in the few hours she'd been with this demented Vampyre, she'd managed to get herself constantly hurt. From handcuff weals, to a ripped thigh, to a bruised chin. Te'a wasn't feeling all that great. But for some reason, she was feeling more comfortable with the siuation. Especially now that she knew she'd at least be able to see her friends one last time. To hug them all to her and appreciate them as she never had before.

"I see you tripped over my melodramatic bed." Bakura said with a smile, and Te'a turned to look at the only piece of furniture in the entire room. It was coffin - duh. And it was beautiful, the wood was smoothed and polished to a perfect finish, and when Te'a walked up to it to run her finger along the top, not one splinter embedded itself into her skin. She looked back over at Bakura, who grinned even more.
"Don't open it just yet, sweetheart. It's about time you got ready for school ... and about time I woke up my light half."

Yes, the whole story on Ryou, being the light human side of Yami Bakura was a long one. But Te'a mulled it over in her mind as Bakura pushed her toward the large oak door that seemed to lead to another part of the basement.
See, Bakura was really two people. He was Ryou, and he was himself - Bakura. Although Ryou had been the original owner of this body, Bakura had taken control over him. Made him do unspeakable things. Making Ryou a crushed and small version of what he once was on the rare occasions that Te'a had the chance to see him.
Bakura was the Yami. The Dark. And Ryou was the Hikari. The Light.
And together they were one, but at the same time two different people. Ryou was human, Bakura was not.
And their minds were divided into two parts, it seemed to Te'a anyway. They each had their own seperate "soul room" which was where Ryou spent most of his time.

"I had an extra bathroom built in here ... " Bakura muttered, interrupting her thoughts and turning her attention to the oak door she was walking. And when she looked up at him with just a hint of a raised eyebrow, he flipped back his long white hair and gave her his special manical grin, "Is there a problem?"
"No ... just ... what are we going to do in the bathroom?"
A white eyebrow shot up, "I told you ... you're going to get ready for school ... what did you think? That I was going to rape you?"
She nodded mutely, a pink flush creeping up into her cheeks.
"Listen, princess. If I was going to rape you, I assure you I'd've done it by now. And not on the goddamned bathroom floor either."
Te'a nodded silently, not being able to sneak a glance under Bakura's arm at the beatifully crafted coffin that lay behind her. Knowing that Yami Bakura had slept in that, when he was feeling "overly dramatic". She imagined him lying there, his arms folded over his bare chest. His pale hair spilling over the red satin "pillow", his eyes closed. Wearing nothing but a think white, silk sheet over his torso.
For some reason, Te'a found this image alluring. Strange when she was supposed to hate this Vampyre.

But the picture of herself leaning over his sleeping form in the coffin was not going away, so with very little reluctance, but with a nervous glance at Bakura in case he happened to be reading her mind, she let the lazy daydream carry on. Involving her lips carressing over his cold ones.
the practical-sensible Seto part of her mind screamed at her,




Bakura's thin hand reached out and grabbed onto the brass doorhandle, pulling the door open and shoving her rudely inside. So that her belly met the rim of the enourmous bathtub and she almost went toppling inside.
And so there was Te'a Gardner, hanging over the rim of a bathtub, blushing all over, and yet with no energy to pull herself up. She just drummed her fingers on the side, rolling her eyes and very much wishing she could get to school and out of this nightmare.
Bakura brought the candle inside, setting it down on the floor and allowing its light to flicker majestically around the white tile wall, and over the potrait of the sea that hung over the basin. Te'a looked at the bathtub she was now lying on top of.
It was enourmous. Huge. So big that both she and Bakura could lie down in it with plenty of comfy room to spare. It was all white inside, with brass fittings and a showerhead installed above her onto the shiny wall.
And when Te'a finally decided to sink to her knees, she noticed that the legs of the bathtub were also brass and shaped into old fashioned lion's feet.
She ran her finger along the rim. It was smooth and cool.

It was a charming piece and probably cost a fortune. Maybe a bit morbid to some, especially when seen only in candlelight, but to Te'a it was magnificent. Why, she could take baths in this thing all day long if she was allowed to.
"Like it, princess?"
She nodded, not looking behind her at Bakura until the last possible moment. And when she did, she regretted it, for he looked far worse than any of her girl-eating shadows. The light that swirled across his face made the pale skin look as if it were melting, his hair seemed to be alive. As if he'd borrowed it from that snake-lady, Medusa.
When he grinned, his fangs glittered, taking on an orange glow so that it looked as if he were eating fire. And the shiny leather trench-coat he had on seemed to writhe and squirm in the light. Making everything about him seem so alive, when in reality he was ... cold, dead ...
She shivered.

Bakura sat down on the toilet seat and looked under his fingernails, "Well, get a move on or you'll be late for school ..."
She looked at him expectantly.
He looked blandly back at her, "Yes?"
"Ummm ... aren't you gonna leave? I mean ... if I'm gonna have a bath?"
Bakura snorted, "Oh, that is human nonsense ... besides ..." he tilted his head to the side, "You have razor blades to use ... wouldn't want you using them in the ... wrong way ..."
Red coloured her face, showing off her embarrasment, "Well, can't you turn around while I'm getting in?"
He snorted disdainfully at her, "What is it with humans and this whole embarrasment with being naked? For godsakes, it's like you were programmed to be humiliated or something ..."
She hesitated, but then when she saw the fiery look in his eye that told her that he was getting impatient, she turned hurriedly to turn the taps of the tub on.
It was going to take a long time to fill, it seemed, and Bakura didn't seem to mind if she filled the whole thing. After all, they did have time. Day time had only just approached, so it must be about 5:30. More or less.

So, Te'a, trying desperately to delay the moment when she'd have to strip in front of the guy who'd virtually kidnapped her ... so she bounded almost eagerly to the large basin and picked up a toothbrush that was still in it's wrappings. She turned to look at Bakura questioningly, "Mine?"
"Yes ... I don't really have much use for those things ... ash works better."

It took perhaps five minutes to brush her teeth, since she was dawdling. And since Bakura didn't really know how long it took for humans to brush their teeth, he made no comment. He just sat silently with his arms folded and his slitted brown eyes fixed on her face with half fascination as she frothed toothpaste all down her chin and lips. And when she could bear the taste no more, she spat it out into the basin and dried her face off with the towel, glancing back at the bath, which was about half-full.
her brain searched for any other chore she could do to postpone the "moment", but washing her face would be pointless - even to Bakura - if she was going to take a bath. And getting dressed could only happen once the moment and the bath were over.

Bakura stared at her, "Te'a ... stop being a prat and get in that god forsaken bath before I lose my patience."
"Umukum" her mouth wasn't working properly, she had meant to say, "Oh, okay" but the roof of her mouth was so very very dry, and her throat felt like someone had scraped it with sandpaper, so her words didn't seem to want to do what her brain wanted.
Te'a turned her back on him, pulling off the remaining blue shoe. Since the other one seemed to be wherever she'd lost it.
Her knee-stockings were grubby by this time, so she disposed of them with almost relief, piling them both on top of the single shoe. She felt her heart pounding, knowing that Bakura was watching her, and resenting it. But if she didn't do this ....
She brushed the bite on her thigh and trembled at the hot, searing pain that shot through her. She didn't want that to happen again ... not even from Bakura. Te'a didn't deal with pain that well.
Next, she slipped off her multicolour bangles as slowly as possible, keeping her back turned on Bakura and wishing that there were some bubble bath to put in the tub to conceal her at least somewhat.

With the speed worthy of a snake, Te'a wriggled out of her shorts and underpants, practically ripped open her pale-green top and pounced into the tub.
Admittedly, tripping on her way there and landing on her back at the bottom with her feet in the air wasn't what she had been planning. But she was satisfied that Bakura would only have caught a glimpse of her before her ungraceful leap into the bath.
When she came up for air, she ould hear Bakura clutching his knees as laughter bubbled from his lips. And her face - which had already been red - was now a deep shade of maroon. She wrapped her arms indignantly around her chest and peered cautiously over the rim, to where Bakura was cackling like a loon and trying to stop. Only to remember her fall again and burst forth into a fresh tide of laughter.
"You humans are so ... goddamned ... amusing!" he choked, wiping more tears off his eyes, "I've never met one to trip over everything she meets. I thought you wanted to be a dancer."
She pouted, her dark blue eyes were the only things he could see, along with her smooth forehead and her dark brown fringe that fell across her eyes in a wet clump.
"Oh, shut up" she said, pride now seeming to be seeping away from her faster than food disappeared when Joey was present.

<<i>Joey ....> her mind thought almost mournfully. And she ducked under the rim to stop herself from thinking anymore, grabbed a bottle of shampoo and spread it massagingly over her scalp.
"You're not usually as clumsy as now - are you?"
She didn't answer him, her eyes were focused on the painting above the basin. For she just noticed a new feature ... there was a woman standing there, with her feet in the waves. Wearing one of those old fashioned frilly dresses that was held by long white hands, above the water. The woman had her back turned to the artist who'd been painting her, she had shoulder length brown hair ... just like Te'a's.
The wind seemed to be ruffling her hair, and she was in the act of prancing into the waves, along with their white horses.
"Who's that?" Te'a pointed at the woman, peeking shyly over the edge of the tub once more.
"Get washed and hurry up!" he snapped, "We're not in this bloody bathroom for leisure time!"

Te'a didn't argue. But leaned back, looking at the painted blue ceiling and feeling very alone in this. God knew why Bakura wanted her. In fact, she didn't want to know why he'd chosen her, but she was happy that it wasn't one of her friends who was suffering like this. But rather herself, although to think of her friends brought a lump to her throat.
Don't be soppy. Just hurry up, otherwise you won't get to school at all


With a fluffy white towel wrapped carefully around herself, Te'a stepped out of the basement bathroom and into the virtually empty room, except for that excellently made coffin right in the center.
"Open it, your bag's inside" Bakura said gruffly. And Te'a thought it might be her imagination, but she was sure he glanced over his shoulder at the painting above the sink.
She made no comment. Since her spirits were considerably higher now that the prospect of being with her friends ... even if it was only for one week ... cheered her slightly.
"I have to wake the runt up now, princess. Don't go running ... I'll just chase you ... and catch you ..."
She nodded, and lifted the coffin lid, taking out her carefully placed backpack and withdrawing her school uniform. She hated it, horrible uncomfotable thing. But she usually bore it with good grace. Even if it had a huge blue bow perching under her chin, and a skirt that looked like something out of the eighties. Pleats and so forth.

And the jacket ... that was pink. Te'a liked pink, but the jacket itself was itchy and too short for her arms. Her shoes were leather, and her socks were knee-length and butt ugly.
Still, what did it matter? She was going to be able to see Joey and Yugi one last time. She practically bounced off the walls at the thought, her heart much lighter than it had been the whole of yesterday.
"Thank you, Bakura!" she said ecstatically, her neatly folded uniform hung over her arm. She managed to squeeze the Vampyre to her chest briefly with one arms, before carelessly pulling her school shirt over her head.
Bakura looked slightly shocked, as if he'd never been hugged before - and maybe he hadn't, come to think about it - but Te'a didn't notice. She was pulling on her school skirt and humming under her breath, her long thin hands fumbling with the button on the side of it as anticipation of seeing her friends once more.
She knew that unbearable gloom would settle down on her shoulders, crushing her and making her sob like a lost child. But she refused to think about that. In future times, she wanted to remember her friends with happiness. Not to see herself sunken into a deep depression, the knowledge of never seeing her precious friends after the short week she had left to spend with them.
No, no she didn't want to look back on this last week of her old life. She wanted to look at this as ... as her precious time left with her friends. She may never see them again after this.

She heard Bakura start the showerhead in the bath in the bathroom. She knew that there was no time for him to have a full bath because of how big it was.
she mused as she straightened her socks and reached in her bag for her comb. Her eyes roamed around the empty and slightly sad room as she ran it through her hair. She got the feeling that this room was a very despairing place. Maybe where Bakura had sat, huddled in the corner, sobbing his heart out.
Te'a didn't know where the image came from, but as her eyes slid to the shadowy corner, she could picture Bakura leaning his back against the stone basement wall, his arms wrapped around his knees and his face buried in his arms. She could clearly see his shoulders heaving, his white hair spilling down in waves.
She could see him lifting his face up to the ceiling, as if to look up at God and say 'Look what you've done to me, you wretch'. His face was pale and tear-streaked. Slightly shocked, with deep down fear of himself and of the life he was going to lead.
"Look what you've done to him" she murmured, kneeling down into a crouch, dropping the comb with a clatter to the floor as she reached out tentative fingers to lightly touch the wall. The very wall she could so fully imagine Yami Bakura sitting in, his eyes red rimmed and shaking all over from despair ... despair and rage. Rage.

Just crouching here in the corner, Te'a was sure she could feel that terrible fury. The lost helplessness of a boy who didn't know where he was or what to do with himself, except hate. She could also feel pure hatred coursing through her, although it didn't seem a part of her at all. And as she leant her forehead against the cool stone of the wall. She felt the terrible sadness of a stranger wash over her.
So many emotions. So much suffering. She could sense it all, and she resented it.
She hated thinking of Yami Bakura as a being who had feelings as deep as this. Even though she tried to tell herself that she was acting crazy. That she couldn't possibly sense the bleakness of the loss of hope in this room. The person who had sat here, thought hope was the biggest lie of them all ... and the best.

Tears shone in her own eyes as she looked down. She wanted to reach out to whoever had sat here and hug them to her breast and tell them that everything was going to be okay. That she would protect them from this terrible hurt ever reaching them again. From this pounding nothingness that this person felt. They were all alone, no one they could reach out to and hug. No one to share this pain with.
The rage was bubbling. And not just from whoever had sat here. But from within Te'a too now. She wanted to start screaming and crack the walls with her bare fists. To fight against what she felt until she collapsed in the middle of this room, exhausted and unable to move anymore. Till her buzzing and overlapping thoughts jammed together in a crashing explosion of anger and lonliness, despair and horror.
Her rage was black. Pure molten black. She felt that if there were someone else in the room with her now, she'd turn on them and kill them without feeling anything until that all-consuming fury was gone. Her eyes would be like chips of ice when she destroyed them. Even if it were Yugi.

The thought of Yugi snapped her out of it. And Te'a practically stumbled away from the corner in a blind panic. Sitting absent mindedly on Bakura's coffin with a loud plonk of butt on wood.
Bakura's voice echoed in her mind,
"Melodramatic ..." her own voice said faintly back. She brought a hand up to her forehead. And it was boiling hot under her fingertips.
Something about this room ... familiar ... oh so familiar now that ... now that ... she took the chance to look at it properly.
And yet, as she stared blankly out at the Sad Corner. She got a terrible weighty feeling that it wasn't Bakura who'd sat there sobbing his heart out. But herself.

But that wasn't possible. She'd never been in this place before. How could it possibly be her who'd stayed in this melancholy room, mourning for whatever she'd lost. Raging at whoever had hurt her or was going to hurt her.
???
She heard Bakura's enquiry in her mind. And it wasn't an exact question. But she got the impression that it was a definate feeling of puzzlement. And she could find no words to describe what she was feeling to send him back. She was frightened of something other than Bakura or the darkness that wasn't even here that much anymore. But she'd be damned if she knew what she was scared of.
She mentally sent him a shrug, and ruffled through her bag. Sorting yesterday's clothing into a neat pile at the bottom. Placing her school books carefully on top of them.

She lifed her head up when she heard Bakura singing in the shower. And no, there was nothing comical or funny about the way he sang. His voice was enchanting, lilting and echoing off the walls of the basement bathroom.
Te'a found herself sitting on the coffin, with her pink backpack placed on her lap. Listening to the mournful lyrics to a slow song she'd never heard before. And she could see him in her mind's eye. Face turned up to the spray from the shower, his hands sudsing the soap into lather over his chest and broad shoulders. His white hair would now be damp and springing across his shoulders as he moved. The song lifting from his lips and into the air, where it would float toward Te'a almost dreamily.

"We have left behind happiness as we fought for survival
We had an imaginary dance with hypocritical moves
At the end of the scene, we see with our eyes closed
Find your smile ...
Your sparkly face is in my memory
We have travelled through the dream we embraced
That's right, since when was the sweet memory
Once again ... in my grasp?"

Te'a stopped listening to the words after that. She bit her lip, hugging the backpack to her chest. The tips of her toes balancing her so that she didn't fall over the edge of the coffin.
What kind of awful pain had Bakura gone through?
Why was he like he was?
She didn't like to think about it. The very thought made her want to hug him to her and squash out whatever past he had still haunting him. But she couldn't do that. For she knew that Yami Bakura would just laugh and shove her away from him. Making her feel even more ungainly and ungraceful than before. A humiliation she did not wish to suffer.
But still ...
bit you.>

She looked down to the ragged pencil-point shaped holes that were imbedded on the inside of her legs and far too high up for any comfort.
Scabs were starting to form over the wounded flesh, but still Te'a found herself touching the seared skin. Brushing the ball of her thumb across it. Remembering that that was where he'd sunk those canines into her, pulling her blood into his mouth. Drinking it. Her blood.
Which brought her to an entirely new question that he had yet to give her a good answer to. Why had he chosen her in the first place? She wasn't special. She wasn't extra intelligent or strong. She could dance, but she didn't think that a valid reason to pick her out of the millions of choices that he must have.


You know why I wanted you, Te'a? came his voice, sneering in her mind. And she realised distantly that he was still managing to sing as if he hadn't spoken in her mind at all.

There was a lengthy pause, as if he were debating whether to tell her at all, then she heard a breathy whisper in her head, Two reasons actually, little Te'a

I want to smash your innocence. Those who are gentle are the most fun to destroy ... I can teach you what life is really about, and you will lose your naivity. And with that you will lose that precious innocence that you should have lost long ago. It glows about you like a second aura ... and it is irrisistable ...
Her breath hitched in her throat at these words. But in her mind, she tried to keep cool and serene. To dismiss the impact of the statement that he'd just thrown on her head. She fiddled with her thumbs in her lap, her eyebrows drawn in a frown,
This time there was a definite lengthy pause, and she heard his singing falter, and then die out completely. Like an ambulance siren, running out of juice. She heard the water stop.
Thumping sounds of feet, then the rustling of him rummaging through all his towels. Still, she waited patiently for an answer, her navy blue eyes seemed to dim slightly even as she stared at the stone floor that he leather school shoes were resting casually apon. Then those same eyes slid out of focus, and gazed dreamily at the basement bathroom door, waiting for him to emerge.

When he did finally open the door, a bluish-grey towel draped casually around his hips, another white towel was being used to dry off his hair. And as she stared absently at him, she wondered vaguely how one could tell the difference between his hair and the towel from far off.
He stared at you with those dark brown eyes, like those of a doe. They looked gentle enough at the moment, but she'd seen those eyes before, pulled into an expression of rage, of withering disdain, in wicked amusement. But there was no denying that the eyes he owned made him look like butter couldn't melt in his mouth.
He smiled, and his fangs ... no words could tell how much they changed his face. And she didn't really want to find them. All she could say was that the difference was startling.
"I can't tell you" he said, still smiling, "For the moment, be content with the first reason ... the second will come in time."
She winced, but nodded slowly, turning her face away from the boy she thought she'd known.


"Yes, and little Ryou will have to get off his fat, lazy arse and control this body ... at least till we get to school."
She looked up with such suddenness, and with such fierce delight, that Yami Bakura took a step backward. "You're going to let Ryou out?"
He nodded, that insane smile still stretching his lips.
Then he dropped his towel.
Te'a fell off the coffin.

"Oh Jesus" she gasped, her head pounding, "At least warn me before you do something like that."
"Get used to it"
"I'm okay with it, but a warning would be nice ... it's a Monday morning, Bakura. I don't want something like that shoved under my nose all of a sudden."
She hid her eyes with her fingers, but peeked through them slightly just to see if Bakura had pulled the towel back into place.
He hadn't.
Her face went bright red, and she hurriedly pulled her own towel up over her head, and tried to think happy thoughts. Which were failing. All the pictures of her and her firend's laughing all seemed to morph into a monstrously huge and naked Bakura towering above her with his hands on his hips.
"See what I mean by innocent?" he commented, pulling on his blue school pants.
"UNDERPANTS!" Te'a shrieked.
"Excuse me?" he looked quite shocked.
"YOU HAVE TO WEAR UNDERPANTS!"

Bakura's smirk found its way back to his face, and he casually buttoned up his shirt, "What was that you said, my dear?"
Te'a fixed him with a stony glare, "You forgot to put on your underpants ... that's very unhealthy ..."
Bakura pranced around the room as if to show off, "But it feels so free! So bouncy!" and the smirk widened as the girl put her face in her palms, her cheeks now so red you could have fried your entire breakfast on them. He watched this with amusement twinkling in his eyes, slipping on his matching blue school jacket over his shirt. Then sinking down onto the coffin, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up beside him.
"Don't be a complete dwaz, Te'a, princess. I'm just putting on some socks for Christ sake's! It's not like I'm ..."
Te'a put her finger to his lips before he could complete that thought, squinting her eyes in a wince, "Don't" she said.
"My my, we are sensitive this morning, aren't we?"

He amiably shoved his feet into socks and picked Te'a up in his arms before she even comprehended what he was doing, and padded to the basement door. He grabbed his Millennium Ring on the way and slipped it over his head and around his neck. "Ryou's awake at last, the lazy arse." he muttered, "And I guess you'll be enjoying some of his company once we reach school."
"Muh- my bag ..." she told him, her head whirling.
Sighing, Bakura reached out his hand and the backpack zoomed into it with the mere flex of his mind, "You mean this thing? I mean really Te'a ... why would you need it when you're only staying for a week."
"I don't want to be shouted at"
"Ahhhh ..." he slipped his own two feet into shoes on the way up the stairs, and grabbed his bag, "You all ready, sweeheart? This day should be a good learning experience for you, after all ..."

She didn't want to know what he was talking about, so she just nodded agreeably and braced herself for whatever secrets this Monday was about to throw on her head, "Let's go, Bakura-kun."