Author's Notes: This is just a little thing I had in my head for a while. I might continue it, or I might not. Don't hold your breath.
Summary: Kaiba's life takes a turn for the worse one fine evening.
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Through the Night
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Kaiba didn't believe in Fate. Events happened, no matter how outlandish, because something had brought them about. Cause and Effect. You controlled the direction your life would take and thus you made your own destiny. That was how the world worked, according to Kaiba Seto.
So if he was going to die at the hands of what he assumed was a crazed, bloodthirsty drug addict, Kaiba mused, it was his own damned fault for wandering around the streets of Domino alone in the middle of the night. He had picked tonight of all nights to walk the rest of the way home to clear his head after a particularly stressful day.
Still, it didn't make any sense. He should have heard him coming even though he'd been busy writing in his organizer. Years of martial arts training should have made him able to break out of the inhumanly strong grip, or at the very least the hand clasped over his mouth to stop his yells. Really, he, Kaiba Seto, should have been able to do more than drop his belongings and struggle feebly as the man dragged him into an alley and tore at his neck with undoubtedly unhygienic, bacteria-ridden teeth.
His own fault. He'd never live this down. Hell, at this rate, he wouldn't live this down.
The pain hit him first. Not unexpected, but definitely... unpleasant, to put it mildly. He tried to jerk away, in vain. The single arm pinning him to his attacker's chest tightened even further and the hand gripping his mouth and jaw forced his head to one side with ridiculous ease. The man's strength was phenomenal.
Kaiba could do little more than shiver as he then felt a disturbing amount of blood, his blood, pulse down his neck, as his inner collar became damp with the red liquid and the scent of blood permeated the night air. He felt what was unmistakably a tongue trace the screaming injury.
And then the man started... sucking. Great, violent pulls against his skin, drawing out his blood through the wounds in his neck even as he fought with his considerable, but rapidly diminishing, strength.
The obviously drug-crazed bastard - because, really, what else could he be? - made happy little noises as he slurped, his grip relaxing as his victim weakened. Kaiba grimaced against the slackening hand. Disgusting. Painful and disgusting. The man was clearly enjoying it very much; Kaiba could feel the evidence of it grinding against his struggling body. It sickened him as the restraining arm travelled down his torso to wrap around his waist, caressing him in a mockery of tenderness.
But it was an excellent opportunity.
He jerked his head away and bit down viciously on the nearby hand with enough force to break the delicate finger bones. The sudden cracks echoed in the still night as cold (cold?), coppery blood gushed into his mouth, but he ignored it in favour of more pressing matters. Startled at the pain, the other man pulled back with a snarl. Kaiba stumbled away with far less grace than he was accustomed to, dizzy from pain and blood loss. He spat out as much of the tainted blood as he could, but his stomach cramped as some of it trickled down his throat anyway. He quickly moved into a defensive position.
The man who had dared attack him recovered with remarkable speed and stalked towards his prey with playful cruelty in his eyes. Eyes that lit with sudden recognition. "My, my, my," he purred, "if it isn't the famous Kaiba Seto." He slowly circled him, completely at ease, hand barely hurt.
Odd. I must not have injured him as badly as I thought. Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "Indeed. Since you now know who I am, I suggest that you make things easier for yourself by surrendering to the authorities. If you do so," he continued coldly, "I'll consider letting you live." His voice was still steady despite the increasingly urgent throbbing in his neck. Good. He couldn't show weakness.
The man laughed, and Kaiba inwardly cringed at the harsh, mocking sound. His assailant was pale, middle-aged and balding, but he moved with an unnatural grace, one born from a lifetime of practice. He moved like a predator. But his most striking feature, Kaiba suddenly realized, was his crazed grin. A crazed, open-mouthed grin that revealed two abnormally long, bloodstained, canine teeth.
Vampire...
No, of course not. Only blithering idiots like Jounouchi believed in vampires, and Kaiba was no idiot, blithering or otherwise. It was drugs and orthodontic surgery, obviously. The man must have taken some new, exotic, teeth-growing, steroid-laced drug. Whatever it was, it didn't matter. He quickly put it out of his mind.
The vam- no, man, continued to circle him, moving closer and closer. "How about we make a deal, hmm?"
He was obviously toying with him, but Kaiba decided to play along for now. "What kind of deal?" He quickly scanned his surroundings for anything, anything that could help him.
"Let's see..." He pretended to be deep in thought. "You bleed for me..."
"Oh?" Anything that could be used as a half-decent weapon, something sharp, something pointy- there! It wasn't much, but still... He began to slowly back towards it.
"And," said the man with carefully calculated malevolence, "...I'll make it quick for your little brother." He studied Kaiba's face, pleased with the hastily hidden reaction he had provoked. He licked his bloodstained lips. "Tell me, Kaiba... do you think he'll taste as good as you?"
Mokuba... He ran for it, trying to ignore the sudden rage, panic Mokuba the way the world tilted with every step and multi-coloured spots filled his vision. No distractions, he couldn't afford to be dis-
The bastard gave chase.
Kaiba lunged to the side-
Too slow.
His attacker bore him down to the hard pavement like a mad leopard, hungry, enraged, and there was an explosion of pain as sharp teeth embedded themselves deep into his throat and tore. It was a mortal wound, Kaiba knew. His world filled with red. Red, red, being drawn out with such ferocity that he knew, he just knew...
He groped around blindly, desperately, for the object he had been running for. Every second was a struggle, every moment on the edge of death...
The drug-crazed maniac slowed his feasting, slowed until it was an excruciating pull with each heartbeat, sensing the end, teasing.
Kaiba's fingers brushed it, grabbed it, now, it had to be now, no time...
The man that was definitely not a vampire let the last few pulses of blood fill his mouth. Savouring.
With the last of his ebbing strength, Kaiba stabbed his weapon through his enemy's shirt, past skin and muscle, and into his heart, as far as it would go.
It was surprisingly easy, considering what he had to work with. Perhaps it was simply the desperation of a dying man.
The other man released him and staggered back in shock, a look of stupid surprise etched into his face as he clawed frantically at the rubber-tipped yellow cylinder protruding from his chest. He pulled out the offending object, but the damage was already done. "...No..." he gasped out. He fell to his knees, then collapsed on the cold ground, motionless. The bloodied pencil slipped out of his hand and clattered against the cement. It was over.
Kaiba lay unmoving on his back, a smirk of triumph on his face despite his pain and graying vision. Nobody crosses Kaiba Seto and lives to tell about it.
He frowned as a cloud of dust burst across his vision and drifted onto his bloodstained skin. It made his face itchy, but he couldn't summon the strength to brush the irritating particles away. In fact, he could barely feel his limbs at all.
The city cleanup crews must be slacking off, he concluded fuzzily. I'll have someone deal with it tomorrow...
Ha. Tomorrow. No, he knew that that would be quite unlikely, even if he were to be rushed off to the best hospital money can buy right this moment.
But at least that bloodsucking bastard was dead. He wouldn't be dragging any more people into dark alleys.
He would never touch Mokuba.
As the bone-deep aching cold crept steadily over his body and stilled his breathing, as his heart slowed, and finally stopped, Kaiba smiled.
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TBC?