Reprise

Chapter 4: SOS







Joey lay on the mattress for what seemed like hours, looking at the ceiling. Yugi’s story about the Shadow-kin seemed entirely farfetched, but deep down, he knew it was true. He was just about to consider getting up and going back upstairs to join the others when suddenly he heard the muffled sounds of the group all talking at once echoing into the basement.



He quickly got up and sprinted towards the staircase, upon reaching the top he frantically looked around for signs of life, Ryou’s book lay open on the table, but there was no one in the dining hall. The noise was coming from the kitchen.



“Shush, Yugi, I’m trying to write down the co-ordinates.” Said the voice of Ishizu. Joey took tentative steps towards the kitchen, it was large with gleaming marble countertops, but just like the rest of the house, seemed entirely too empty to have anyone actually living here. At the far end of the room he saw Ishizu bent over, her ear next to an old radio while frantically scribbling notes into a piece of paper. The rest of the group, minus Mako, were either sitting on the countertops or leaning against a wall. Everyone seemed worried about something.



Yugi must have sensed his presence and looked behind him to spot Joey, with a wave of his hand he indicated that he should come sit next to him.



“What’s going on?” Whispered Joey.



“A distress call,” Explained Yugi, “Someone’s in trouble. It happens sometimes, people get lost or have nowhere to go after the Shadow-kin get their friends.” The thought troubled Joey, what if the same thing happened to him?



“Okay,” Said Ishizu, putting her pen down and straightening up, “We have a distress call on all frequencies. The girl claims her base was attacked by the Shadow-kin, and that she is the only survivor. She gave us her co-ordinates, so we just need to deicide whether we should help or not.”



“Why wouldn’t we send help!?” Said Joey, shocked that they would be willing to let someone die out their all alone.



“Calm down, Joey” Said Seto, uncrossing his arms and putting his hand on Ishizu’s shoulder, “Ishizu would never leave any human alone out there. However, we have to make sure she isn’t a Shadow-kin.”



“They can do that? I mean, I pictured them as…something similar to a zombie.”



“No, they are not zombies. Far from it,“ chimed Anzu, “They are just as smart as any other person, and they look perfectly normal. But never be fooled by them, they may look like our sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, but they are not human.” She spoke with such hatred in her voice, it left little doubt in Joeys mind that she had watched someone close to her get taken by them.



“So how do we make sure?” Asked Joey, looking around for signs on peoples faces that would indicate they had an answer.



“We can’t ever be completely sure.” Explained Ishizu, “Especially when we can’t see their faces. Shadow-kin lack any emotions, though some have learned to mimic them. Sometimes it shows on their faces that they are being insincere, it really is our only clue.”



“We have to come to a decision right now, Ryou, how many hours do we have before the sun sets?” Asked Seto. Ryou didn’t turn to look at Seto, instead he was intently watching his own reflection in one of the hanging pots.



“Taking into consideration the time of year and the cloud density, I would say you have close to three hours before complete darkness.”



“That should be plenty of time to get to Skyark and back, wouldn’t you say.” Said Seto. Ishizu sighed and nodded her head.



“I’ll go with you Seto!” Exclaimed Yugi.



“Thanks, Yugi. What about you, new-guy?” Seto turned to face Joey, “How do you feel about coming along? You can’t stay in here forever, and we could sure use the man power. I promise I’ll look after you, don’t worry.”



Joey quickly nodded, “Yes, I’ll go. I want to help any way I can.”



“Excellent,” said Seto, clapping his hands together. “Anzu, will you get my gun and cards, please? Yugi, go get your weapon and give Joey here a torch.”



“You got it, Seto” Said Anzu and Yugi. Yugi jumped off the counter, taking Joeys hand and dragging him back into the dining hall and down the stairs into the basement. Once they got back into Yugi’s tinkering room, Yugi started pulling out a chest that was up against one of the walls and opened it. It was empty. However, just when Joey was going to inquire as to why he had pulled out an empty chest, Yugi slid a panel on the bottom of the chest and pulled out a short, curved sword.



On its handle were carvings of half-animal, half-human creatures and at the hilt was one of the red crystals Joey had touched previously on the table in the centre of the room.



“Do you like it?” Asked Yugi, “It’s Egyptian, passed down my family for generation. The blade never dulls.” Yugi pulled the blade out of a protective sheath and gave it a swing, making Joey jump.



Yugi giggled. “You are so easy to scare. Here,” Yugi picked up a torch on the near by shelf and passed it to Joey, then put his sword back in its sheath. “Don’t lose it, torches are a precious commodity. Don’t switch it on and off either, batteries are even harder to find.”



When Yugi had pushed the chest back up against the wall, they left the room and ascended the staircase and instead of going through the door to the kitchen, proceeded towards the front hall, where he had previously been floored by Anzu.



Once they got the hall, everyone was already waiting, Ryou had now returned to his book and was reading it whilst standing up.



“Okay, here are the co-ordinates” Ishizu tucked a piece of paper into Seto’s pocket. “If the sun starts to set and you haven’t found her yet, come straight back. We can try again in the morning.”



“And Seto, Yugi…” Said Anzu, “If you see Mako while you’re out there…tell him to come home, please.”



Seto and Yugi nodded, “We will, Anzu, don’t worry.” Said Seto. Once everyone had said their goodbyes, Seto opened the door, the room filled with an eerie red glow from the tainted sky up above. Joey walked out behind Yugi and Seto, and once they and fully exited the doorway, the door closed behind them, and he heard the lock click.



A/N: Thank you guys, for all the awesome feedback. It really means a lot to me that you take the time to read AND review/comment on my story. There is nothing nicer than coming back to see another comment. So, thank you. I’m writing this for you guys, for as long as you want to read it.