Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Hunted ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Malik woke up to see that he was in a strange room. He got up off the pile of blankets to look around. He noticed that Ryou was next to him. He sighed, relieved that he was able to keep his friend near him. Then he noticed a figure lying on the only couch in the room. He dashed over and realized that it was Yugi.

 

Yugi didn't look too good. Malik woke Ryou and told him that Yugi was in the room with them. Ryou went over to the couch and checked Yugi, “He's really sick, Malik. I don't think they've been feeding him properly.”

 

Malik growled, waking Yugi. “Wha?” Yugi whimpered.

 

Malik looked at Yugi's eyes, which were dimmer than usual. He growled again and went to the gate, “Someone get down here and tend to my friend! Please, he's really sick.”

 

 

Tristan heard the shouts from the basement and went down there to shut the vampire up. “You'd better zip it down there,” he yelled down the stairs. “Otherwise, you'll go without your meal.”

 

The blonde replied, “I don't care so long as my friend is tended to.”

 

“Vamps don't have friends,” Tristan scoffed. “They only form temporary alliances to get what they want and then all bets are off.”

 

The white haired one decided to try to convince him that Yugi was ill. “Please sir,” he pleaded, “Our friend is ill. You must have a way of helping him.”

 

“You two aren't going to fool me,” Tristan called back just before shutting the door.

 

Atem walked into the library just then, “May I inquire as to why you just shut the basement door?”

 

“Those vamps that you captured tried to trick me into opening the gate,” Tristan snorted. “They were saying something about the first one being their friend and that he was ill.”

 

Atem pulled out the flyer, “They were, and are still, friends, Tristan. Why else would those to have been hunting together before we caught them last night?”

 

Before Tristan could reply, Atem had headed down to the basement to observe the three vampires. The two newest ones were kneeling on the floor near Yugi. The white-haired one was crying while the blonde one just stared at the small vampire.

 

Atem sighed, “I'll help Yugi, but only if you two stay on the other side of the room.” Both boys nodded and headed to the pile of blankets that they had found themselves on earlier. “Thank you, Ryou and Malik. I'm going to take Yugi upstairs for now. I'll nave something brought down for you in a few hours.”

 

“How do you know our names,” the white-haired boy asked him.

 

“I found an old flyer with your picture on it. It listed your names and the dates you three went missing,” Atem replied. “Malik, your sister has been looking for you for ten years. Last night she was relieved to have found you.”

 

Malik looked at Atem, “Where is my sister? And what is your name?”

 

“My name is Atem. And as for the location of Ishizu, she has been here for almost five years,” he replied.

 

Atem picked Yugi up and took him back upstairs. The small boy didn't even move. Atem laid him on the table again and sighed. He knew that this was his fault because he should have fed the boy after he woke up the first time. He went to the storeroom and retrieved another vial and took it over to the weak boy. He repeated the process from the night before, but the boy's response took longer. Yugi couldn't even hold the bag without aid.

 

After barely finishing a fourth of the contents off, Yugi fell asleep. Atem sighed, `Looks like I'm going to have to call the Council and let them know about the captures and register the three of them.'

 

He went to the phone and dialed the Center's number. “This had better be good,” a male voice answered.

 

“Seto,” Atem began, “We've captured three vampires within two nights of Hunting. I need to get them registered.”

 

“You had better have a good reason for this,” Seto warned, “because you know that most captured vamps are to be turned over for extermination.”

 

“I do. These three are different than most of the ones we've captured,” Atem replied.

He could hear the smugness in Seto's voice, “How so?”

 

“They haven't fed off of people, only stray animals, and they shared the same territory,” he reported.

 

“You expect me to accept that for an answer,” Seto scoffed.

 

Atem smirked, though Seto couldn't see it, “By the way the missing children's case from ten years ago? The one involving the disappearance of Ishizu's younger brother and his two friends? You can consider it closed. They are in our custody.”

 

“What are you saying, Atem,” Seto questioned.

 

Atem looked at the figure on the table, “They are the vampires I want registered.”

 

“Fine, but they are your responsibility now, Atem,” Seto snapped. “I'll fax their forms over now.”

 

Atem hung up the phone and tried to get Yugi to drink again but the boy wouldn't wake. He sighed and placed the boy in specially designed cell in the lab. He grabbed two bags and went to give them to the other two in the basement.

 

Ishizu found him as he was getting ready to go downstairs, “Seto has faxed the papers and his demands that the vampires be Marked. May I accompany you to see the boys?”

 

Atem nodded and opened the door. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, two figures darted to the pile of blankets. Atem couldn't help but smile at this as he unlocked the door. Ryou spoke up, “Is Yugi ok, Atem?”

 

“I won't know until he wakes up,” he replied.

 

Ishizu entered the room, “Malik?” The boy looked at her. “Oh, Malik. I knew that you hadn't left this world.”

 

“Who are you,” Malik asked in confusion.

 

She replied, “It's me, Ishizu.”

 

“Sister,” the boy's eyes brightened. He looked at Atem, who nodded. Malik got up to hug his sister for the first time in ten years.

 

Atem handed Ryou and Malik the bags, “You two may come upstairs. You will have this privilege for as long as you are deemed `safe'. However, you are not allowed to go outside without permission and at least two of us are with you.”

 

Ryou and Malik nodded. Atem led them out of the basement and into the library. “Just avoid anyone for now, and if they have a problem with my decision, they are to come see me. I want to see you two later for your Marks. Oh, and another thing, don't get any blood on the furniture,” Atem told them.

 

He left the room and headed to his lab to check on the sick vampire. Yugi still hadn't moved. Atem tried to repeat the process and again failed. “Come on, little one. You've got to drink,” he pleaded. Yugi's eyes cracked open; there was barely any life in them. Atem looked at them and realized that the boy was worse than he had assumed. What did he do that could have affected the teen so badly. Then it hit him. The sedative! It was meant for stronger vamps and he had given it to an unclassified one!

 

Atem was angry with himself as he ran to the library where he had left Ishizu. “I need your help in the lab, Ishizu,” he told her as he ran back. “Come on, little one. Stay with me,” he pleaded.

 

Ishizu entered the lab, “What's the matter with Yugi?”

 

“It's the sedative I gave him the night we brought him in here,” Atem replied. “It was designed for normal, adult vamps and I gave it to him without realizing it. It's killing him!”

 

She looked at him, “There may be a way to save the young one's life, but we'll have to work fast.” He nodded. “We'll need to remove as much of his blood as possible without killing him and then replace it quickly. But we cannot ask Ryou and Malik to do this because it would likely poison them as well.”

 

Atem brightened, “We have that unidentified vamp in the holding cell. We could use him, but have Ryou and Malik there to grab Yugi before the vamp drains him completely.”

 

Atem grabbed Yugi from the table and ran to the holding cell while Ishizu fetched the other two for help. “I hope you're hungry, Vamp,” Atem smirked.

 

“Famished,” the vampire replied. “Why, do you have someone for me to feed on?”

 

Atem placed Yugi on the floor and waited for the other two to enter the cell. They had already been told what to do. Atem backed out as the inner-cell opened. The vamp looked at the two boys and then to the still figure on the floor. He grabbed Yugi and started feeding. After a few moments, Ryou and Malik grabbed their friend from the vamp. The vamp got the message and wobbled back into his cell.

 

Atem took Yugi's body and laid it on the stretcher, placing an IV into his arm, “I hope this works.”

 

The vamp looked at the scene, “You poisoned the runt, didn't you. Pheh and through him, you've done gone and poisoned me as well. Typical Hunters.”

 

Ryou looked at Atem, “Is this true, that you've poisoned Yugi?”

 

“Unintentionally, yes,” Atem replied. “I gave him a sedative that was too strong for him. This is why I'm trying everything I can to help him.”

 

They took Yugi back to Atem's lab for observation. Tea came in after she had found out that the vampires had been identified and were to be Marked later. “How is this one doing, Atem,” she asked him.

 

“Yugi's still very weak. I should have used the lower, weaker dosage,” Atem stated. “I almost killed the boy. I had to use the vamp in the holding cell to drain off most of his blood so that I could get rid of the tranquilizer faster. So far, he's gone through four bags.”

 

Tea looked at the still figure on the bed. Suddenly Yugi's hand twitched. Atem looked at the boy as his eyes opened. They were brighter than they were earlier. Atem quickly took the IV out and stepped back as Yugi woke up. He tried to sit up, but fell back into the pillows. Atem stepped into Yugi's line of sight, “Take it easy, Yugi. You need to rest.”

 

Yugi tried to nod, but barely had the energy. Atem and Tea left the room to talk. But before leaving, Atem closed the door to the specially designed cell.

 

“I need to find someone willing to take responsibility for Ryou and Malik,” Atem told Tea.

 

“What about the sick vamp in the lab,” Tea pointed out.

 

He sighed, “Yugi's condition is my fault, so he will be my responsibility. Ishizu cannot take full responsibility for Malik because they are siblings.”

 

“I never knew that Ishizu had a brother,” Tea admitted. “In fact, he looks more like Marik and Ryou looks like Bakura.”

 

Atem brightened, “That's it! I'll ask Bakura and Marik to take the other two. Thanks Tea.”