Chapter Three:

On an early winter morning the sound of Ryou’s alarm woke him up from his peaceful slumber. Mumbling a few curses he turned over in his bed and shut off the annoying box. Ryou rubbed his eyes and tried to get out of bed but the cold air forced him back under the covers. Ryou wrapped himself in his thick quilt and looked outside the half opened curtains and moaned as the sun still hadn’t woken up either. Eventually the whitenette got out of bed and went to the bathroom for his daily morning routine of washing up, brushing his teeth, getting dressed and then eating something healthy for breakfast.

Ryou watched the morning news as he ate but today seemed like a slow day besides the frequent traffic jams. Dressed and ready to go Ryou grabbed his bag and took a little detour on his way to the door by walking into his father’s room where he as greeted by a cold bed that hasn’t been touched in ages, pictures hanging from the walls, mostly of Ryou’s mum and sister. Dumping the bag on the still bed Ryou looked over the pictures of his family bringing back many memories for him. The one that caught his attention the most was the frame sitting on his father’s desk, a picture with all four of them together like a portrait.

“Bye Mum, bye Amane…bye Dad I’m off to school” Ryou was so use to saying goodbye to his mum and sister every morning but now he had to add his dad’s name to the list. He truly was alone

Ryou went to put the brown bag over his shoulder but he forgot the zipper was open and his pen, pencils and everything else fell out and rolled under the bed

“Just great” Ryou mumbled kneeling down to reach under and grab all his school supplies. Ryou collecting all the bags contents, except for one fountain pen that rolled all the way to the back and up against the wall

Laying flat on his stomach Ryou pushed himself under the bed to reach the stubborn pen but as he reached for it the floor board underneath his elbow shifted “Huh?” Ryou rocked the floorboard again and noticed a few of them were loose too. Pen forgotten Ryou shifted himself so he could easily feel the floorboards for any other loose pieces of wood, one, two, three, four…the rest surrounding them were nailed in tight. Curious Ryou pulled the loose one out to see what they were hiding. With his free hand he searched through the holes of the hiding place and felt a square cover with engravements. A book?

Pulling it out Ryou sat up straight and looked over the dusty brown book. It was made of leather, the pages were yellow and tattered, while a metal lock kept the contents a secret from preying eyes. “Is this a diary?” Ryou turned the back over and saw what looked like golden letters of some language he couldn’t make out.

Ryou tried to open the ancient lock but it was still string and therefore wasn’t going to open without a key. Ryou was about to try at hit the lock against the wall to open it but was interrupted by the announcement on the TV

“Last night near a local pub at south domino cemetery a man was found dead and drained of his blood with two holes in his neck”

“The cemetery? That’s not far from here” Ryou walked into the living room listening to the broadcast lady continue

“The victim was a middle aged man exiting from a nearby pub where he was located several hours later after his death. Authorities have no leads on the murderer or the weapon used, only that the murderer has taken on the role of killing like a vampire”

“A vampire?” Ryou wondered “someone getting ready early for Halloween” Ryou joked but couldn’t help but worry that the cemetery was just a few blocks away from his house, not the mention the burial spot for his sister and mother

Looking at the clock on the corner on the screen Ryou jumped at the time “Oh god, I’m gonna be late” grabbing his backpack he chucked the diary inside and ran out the door and onto the streets towards domino school as the sun finally rose.

Later that day while Ryou was at school another white haired man wearing a black leather coat casually walked down the road towards his house glaring at anyone who dared to make eye contact with him. Stopping at the right house he knocked on the door with three sharp hits. No one answered so he shrugged his shoulders and took out a tool kit from the inside pocket of his jacket. Inside the case were many kinds of metal lock picks.

He selected one and kneeled against the door and in a few seconds he heard the click of the lock and it opened. Entering the house he set his pick aside and walked into the hallway so casually as if he owned the place

“Ryou” He called listening to his echo bounce off the walls but Ryou didn’t answer “Hmm the kid’s dad just died and he’s still insist on going to school. You’d think he’d be too unstable right now” Walking into the living room he saw the TV left on set to the news, but there was nothing interesting besides domino will be experiencing a thick fog this month. “I guess I’ll just wait” He took the remote and flipped the channels over but there was nothing that interested him, he was so use to hearing Chinese shows now a days. Deciding on the music channel he selected a random rock song and wondered about the household.

Coming across some pictures on the walls he smiled seeing Ryou and Amane playing in the park, he really missed that girl she was more fun to play with than Ryou, always looking for adventure while her brother just wanted to play board games. Ryou hadn’t changed one bit, Bakura chuckled knowing he had a game room some where in the house. Moving along he smiled at the picture of him and Ryou when they were thirteen. Without Amane Ryou clung to his arm like a freighted child worried Bakura would disappear on him too. Chibi Bakura on the other hand looked very protective of Chibi Ryou glaring at the camera holder as it was scaring Ryou.

Bakura kept looking at the pictures full of memories but when he came up the cellar he looked at the white door with uncertainty. He raised an eyebrow at it feeling something dark coming from behind the barrier as if it suck all the heat around him. Bakura glared at the locked door with untrusting eyes and slowly raised his hand to touch the door handle as if it would bite him. But before he could even touch the metal a ringtone came from the pocket of his coat. Flipping it open Bakura spat out a angry hello “What?” still looking at the door feeling the same cold feeling as before. “I’m busy” He growled to the caller and grit his teeth as the person kept on talking “fine I’m on my way” He shut the phone and walked towards the door not looking over his shoulder at the strange aura coming form the cellar

Later on that night it was the moon time to dominate the sky, but the stars were all blocked out by the thick fog that fell over domino that night. Since the murder in south domino was still at large not many people dared walk about the streets that Fridays night, except for a young white haired school boy. Ryou was on his way to visit his mother and sister that afternoon but his thoughts were more on the news this morning. An actually killer in domino. The thought was scary enough especially since he was walking a few streets away from the incident. His friends Honda and Jounouchi on the other hand were making up jokes for the ‘Dracula fan’. Who goes around pretending to be a vampire anyway?

Ryou walked down the empty street still in his blue uniform. Looking over his shoulder every two minutes, he only saw the lamps that barely passed through the thickness of the fog air. As Ryou kept walking down the dangerous path his backpack rocked side to side on his shoulder while in his hands were a bunch of tulips (I luv tulips) that quivered in his nervous grip. Ryou eventually made it to a metal gate where above it read in faded letters “DOMINO CEMERTARY”

Going pass the rusty gates Ryou walked along the muddy path passing many gravestones with different names and a range of dates. Eventually he came to the middle of the grave sight where two resent stones stood in the ground with dying flowers held in a glass stand; both the stones were labelled with the last name Bakura. “Hey Amane, are you feeling alright mum” He smiled at both stones

Kneeling on the floor Ryou and plucked the aging daisies and replaced them with the purple violets he picked up that day “I know you’d lecture me about walking around late at night where a murder took place but I promised I would visit every Friday” Ryou smiled just imaging his mother’s scowling eyes but she’d smile none the less. Amane on the over hand would probably roll her eyes at him. “I’m going to life with our Uncle and cousin Bakura in China next week, so I guess this will be my last visit” He smiled but it was clear he was depressed “I just wanted to ask if you’d take good care of Dad, he’s always been a bit distant since you left. I hope he’ll start feeling better now that he’ll be able to see you again”

Ryou went on talking to the faded gravestone for a while unaware of the time and the drop in temperature as he went on. Eventually Ryou shivered in his school jacket and knew he’d been here longer than necessary. Bakura was meant to arrive today and he couldn’t keep him waiting in this weather. “I got to go now, but I’m sure Bakura won’t mind if I say one last goodbye before we leave so I’ll try to make it next week, promise” He got to his feet but they had become numb from the cold and form the lack of movement.

As Ryou left he kept tripping over his feet as they still wouldn’t wake up but he could still walk at a slow pace. Slowly speeding up Ryou checked his watched and was surprised that he’d stay a lot longer than he thought ‘I hope Bakura’s not gonna be mad I left him waiting in the cold all this time’ knowing him he’d probably be a some coffee house where it as warm so Ryou wasn’t too worried. But he should have left a key for his cousin to get in, oh well too late now.

Ryou suddenly felt a chill go down his spine but it wasn’t from the cold, it was that feeling you got when someone was watching you. Ryou swallowed but kept calm and quickening his pace into a power walk. While leaving the cemetery he tried to listen very carefully for any footsteps behind him. Ryou stiffened when heard a just noticeable of foot steps not belong to him, far behind him but getting closer

Coming up to the turn by a tree signalling the entrance to domino park Ryou slowed down his pace coming around the corner to seem natural so his follower wasn’t aware he knew his presence. Pressing himself against the wall of the park Ryou shifted over to the tree he just passed and peaked around the corner to see who the owner of the footsteps were.

Down the path was a man dressed all in black with wild blonde hair, brown skin and hollow lilac eyes that made Ryou’s blood run cold. Worse, his pace increased to catch up with the white haired boy so he didn’t escape him. Ryou choked but quickly spun around running ran into the park and through the trees to escape his follower. Ryou had no idea who the blonde was, for all he knew it was someone going in the same direction as him, but when he heard another set of running feet Ryou panicked and ran faster. Suddenly he heard the patter of feet stop in their tracks and Ryou seemed to relax slightly but not enough to stop running, he wasn’t gonna stop until he got home safely to his older cousin. Hearing a dark chuckle Ryou held his breath shivering from the coldness of that voice. Things got worse as Ryou could hear rustling of trees coming from behind him. Ryou nearly cried out on terror as it sounded like the person was jumping from tree to tree after him

“Stop being ridiculous Ryou” He scowled “It’s just the wind picking up” His logical thinking didn’t ease his worried so he ran faster nearly tripping over twice from stones and roots coming out of the ground

This time Ryou did scream as a shadow jumped out of the covers of the bushes and stood right in his path. Ryou ran right into the person a fell flat on his back from the force of impact. “What do you want?” Ryou stared up at his cloaked pursuer in fear, hoping it wasn’t the murderer turning into a serial killer

“Ryou?” His stalker stepped into the light and Ryou sighed in relieve as it was his cousin

“Bakura?” He took Bakura’s hand and was pulled to his feet and slowed down is breathing “It just you”

“Just me? That’s the thanks I get for travelling all the way to Japan on a last minute flight” He raise an eyebrow at the younger one

“I did mean it like that” He smiled and hugged Bakura tightly

His cousin noticed his flushed face, heavy breathing and shaking hands, so Bakura pulled him in tightly “Ryou what happened?”

“Someone was following me out of the cemetery so I ran through the park trying to lose him” Ryou explained not letting Bakura go 2then I ran into you, then he just disappeared”

Looking around Bakura didn’t see or hear anyone else around “well they’re gone now” He patted Ryou’s head in reassurance and asking the kid to let go

“What are you doing out here anyway?” Ryou asked confused

Ryou looked suspiciously as Bakura’s eyes shifted from side to side hesitant upon answering “Just walking around the woods since you decided not to come home”

“Oh I’m sorry, how long have you been here?” He asked letting his cousin out of his death grip

“If you mean domino, since nine a clock this morning” Ryou’s eyes widened

“Why didn’t you tell me? If I’d known you’d be here so early I would have stayed home so you weren’t locked out”

“I wasn’t locked out” Bakura grinned but quickly changed the subject “Listen Ryou I have errands my Dad asked me to do up north while I was in domino so I won’t be in until morning, but I’ll walk you home first if you want”

“You don’t have to” Ryou mumbled not wanting to be a burden but after that experience he didn’t feel like walking home alone “If its important I’ll be just fine” He smiled but Bakura could still see his shaking fingers gripping his school jacket

“I’ll walk you home, come on” Bakura walked off and Ryou had no choice but to follow but still kept looking over his shoulder just to check if his pursuer was still waiting in the shadows

Once home Bakura made sure Ryou was safely in the house before walking back towards the park, he needed to check around the cemetery and the surrounding area before the sun rose “That sure was close, Ryou always had a knack for being at the wrong place at the wrong time”. He pushed his hands into his pockets and continued down the road but couldn’t get his thoughts off the person Ryou was running away from “could it have been” He shook his head thinking it was unlikely who he was thinking of “I’ll talk to him about it later”

Ryou meanwhile sat at home for hours working on his lead figurines for the Monster World board game. It was merely an attempt to get today’s thoughts out of his head and he was failing miserably. Was it a stalker, someone wanting his wallet or worse that killer, he knew it was a stupid idea to go off in that part of town at night but he had to keep his promise to Mum and Amane “Because pretty soon I won’t be able to talk to them for much longer” He set his unfinished elf and warrior aside and went back into the living room

“Maybe Bakura will come home early” He thought out loud “I wonder what he’s doing anyway, he’s always been secretive. Come to think of it I don’t even know what he’s studying at college” Ryou pondered over his thoughts of his cousin’s distant attitude, but let them drop and watch some TV before going to bed. “Nothing on, well I might as well look at the news; maybe they caught the ‘vampire’”

Unluckily for Ryou though nothing about the incident was on at the moment so he settled for watching a documentary on Otogi’s Dungeon dice monster’s becoming world wide. Ryou just hoped he didn’t let it go to his head. Trying one more time Ryou switched to the news and he was lucky to just catch the beginning

“Report show that only an hour ago another victim drained of their blood and left in the woods next to domino Park”

Ryou’s eyes widened in fear and his body shook in freight, it couldn’t have been the blonde with the empty eyes could it?

“Strangely the second victim had no connections the first nor was there a pattern to the killer’s choice of victims. The recent victim was a young woman of 18 walking alone through the forest until her friends noticed she went missing. There was however no sign of sexual assault. For increasing murders, police have authorised an early curfew for residents in the local area to stay inside after sundown”

Ryou shut the TV off and stared at his lap in worry, that could have been him an hour ago. Ryou wasn’t sure if he lost his attacker, if he got bored and looked for an easier victim or ran away because he was with Bakura. Either way Ryou was grateful to be alive but still terrified of what could happen if the police didn’t catch him soon. Looking out his window Ryou hoped Bakura came home soon, the south of domino may be safe but there’s still a chance he could go north to get rid of the police’s trail.

“Maybe I should just go to bed” Ryou knew he wouldn’t be able to go to sleep but he needed something to do. Locking all the doors in the house and shut all the windows. Bakura could get in any time he wanted with his spare key, Ryou thought that was how he managed to get in the first time. Packing his lead figurines away he went to go upstairs but stopped when he saw a metal tool sitting on the table next to the sofa. A pick lock? “I don’t believe it” Ryou whispered but giggled all the same, Bakura’s rebellion habits certainly hadn’t changed. Picking it up he walked into his bedroom

Changing clothes Ryou sat on his bed in his pyjamas and looked through his school bag for the Maximum ride book he as currently reading (Luv that too). Except what he actually pulled out was the diary he found from this morning. Looking over the lock Ryou examined the pick lock in his other hand and tried to remember how it works. Bakura taught Ryou lots of tricks when they were younger, one of them being how to pick locks but he never saw it as a useful skill. How he wished he listened back then

“Here goes nothing” Ryou mumbled and tried to open the lock. After several minutes Ryou hadn’t succeeded in opening the diary, if anything he might have just been locking it more. After fifteen minutes of useless attempts Ryou just considered himself lucky for not breaking the pick lock all together “that’s it I give up” He sighed but snapped his head up at a clicked. The lock fell and the book was opened “Yes” He grinned

Opening the pages Ryou saw pages of writing that was just readable, dated back more than hundreds of years ago. Ryou was even more surprised that the dairy’s owner said Akefia Bakura (the name is not important, so don’t think the thief king is part of the plot. I just lack the imagination to think of a name myself). Ryou flipped through the pages surprised the diary ended half way through the book, flipping some more Ryou saw on the back cover was a folded envelop labelled “Only for when they return”

“When what returns?” Ryou asked himself. Opening the pouch Ryou pulled out a small silver key engraved with two initials “V and H” Ryou mused. He didn’t know what the key was for and he didn’t have time to find out, it was late and Ryou had plenty of time to read through the pages tomorrow. Hiding the book and key underneath his mattress he settled down into his quilt and was about the shut the curtains when outside he saw a shadow.

Ryou snapped the curtains fully open he looked around the neighbouring houses and blocks. The lights outside lit the streets but not one person was walking outside at this hour. Ryou checked his surrounding one more time, positive he saw a cloaked person sitting on one of the roofs. He shuddered and shut the curtains tightly and forced himself to lie down under his blanket.

“Just a trick of the mind” He repeated for reassurance but Ryou wasn’t able to fall to sleep right away, like scared children looking about their rooms encase a monster jumped out of the closet. It didn’t matter as the events of today tired him out and he fell into restless sleep

Unaware to the teen, sitting above his own roof was a cloaked person with blonde hair and dark skin. He leaned against the roof top and his legs swung about over the building, directly above Ryou’s window. Waiting patiently his sensitive ears finally picked up the slow breathing of someone falling asleep. Sliding off the side he jumped down onto the window ledge outside the boy’s bedroom and lifted his hand up into the centre of the glass square. Sliding his hand back the green curtain followed his hand as if being pulled by an invisible force so he could see inside. He pushed the over curtain aside with the same magic and watched the sleeping whitenette. The child turned over in his sleep facing the blonde and he smirked at what he saw, a pure child with delicate looks and desirable innocents.

“Curious” Marik purred watching the peaceful youth, but he was more excited when the pale one was terrified of his presence, running for his life. He could have had him too if the other boy hadn’t appear into the scene. He couldn’t have witnesses escaping his grasp, that’s way he only caught people who were naïve enough to travel alone.

Marik chuckled one more time at Ryou’s peaceful dreams, looking foreword to the next time when he would crush them. Jumping off the ledge he landed onto the cold cement floor and casually walked down the empty streets, back to his hiding place before the sun would rise again. Maybe first he could get some fun from those clueless Vampire Hunters