Sloth: You there, reader! Yes, you. I have some things to clear before I can let you start reading this failed attempt of mine. First off, this is a rated M fanfic. Do you know why? If you didn't paid attention to the summary, there is a character death(s) in the story. I have warned you so don't be surprised if I ignore your flames against me. Also, this is a horror fanfic. As a naturally morbid person, I tend to write things to dark and almost too graphic that even I get sick from my own twisted mind, so that's another warning. Be ready for any disturbing scenes that include blood, violence, death, psychological effects, and whatever the sloth (me) decides to do. You have been warned.
Okay. I was so conflicted whether to give up on this or not before I even began since I was struggling a lot on settings and sources, and truthfully, I was ready to tear up my outline... I'm glad I didn't. I had fun writing the first chapter. Thank you KaiFudo16 for telling me not to give up and for helping me try to find a suitable setting. Thanks. Thank you also HippyWhippy for listening to my rants to this idea. Thank you. I'm going to do my best to upload every other 2-3 days in order to pull off all 9 chapters in this fanfic, so please bear with me throughout the month of October (it's an October fanfic by the way).
One last warning. There will be a lot of French throughout this story. Enough me talking. You may read.
Title: House of 9
Chapter one: Beginning
Dans ma maison il y a…
Dans ma maison
Il y a une fleur
Qui s'appelle
Biss' carabiss' caraboss' soldat
Si tu n'arrives pas à le répéter
Tu seras éliminé(e)
Biss' carabiss' caraboss' soldat
Tu as gagné.
Dans ma piscine
Il y a un poisson
Qui s'appelle
Poissi poissi poissirène
Si tu n'arrives pas à le répéter
Tu seras éliminé(e)
Poissi poissi poissirène
Tu as gagné.
She wasn't sure why she decided to come after all. Alone in the night, she was standing in front of a grand, silver gate that separated her from entering the tremendous, white mansion. Wait, she thought as she examined a near-white envelope in her hand, pulling out the translucent invitation. It's not a mansion. It's a chateau... chateau... sounds French. She sighed as she glanced at the French country house.
It had numerous windows, and she assumed that there were at least five floors from where she stood. The roof, from what she observed, needed a touch up since some of the shingles were obviously missing, and more than likely, the full moon's lustrous light was penetrating through the roof. Overall, the chateau seemed almost... haunting underneath the full moon and the gentle breeze sailing through the air.
The teenage girl reread her invite. It read:
Ah! Mon invité belle
I invite you, Izayoi Akiza, to a spectacular, amusing duel tournament that I am hosting on the following full moon. In this tournament, only nine guests, including you, are invited to this rare occasion. Because of the limited guests I have chosen, I warn you not to bring uninvited guests with you since they will not be warmly welcomed. I also request that you do not speak of this upcoming tournament to any soul until you arrive that evening. If you do choose to talk, however, you could be placed in mortal danger.
I highly encourage you to take part of this tourney. Only nine guests are invited, and it is vital all should attend in order for it to balance out correctly. This is a tournament full of enjoyment and should not be missed.
I will wait for your arrival on the day of the full moon, four hours before midnight at the chateau that stands alone in a field that casts no shadows.
Akiza frowned as she replaced the invite into the envelope, tucking it into her pocket. It was a wonder that she didn't decline the invitation, especially one where it seemed really suspicious. The requests were strange in her opinion. Yes, Akiza understood the request of not bringing anyone with her, but the request of not talking about it beforehand was something she couldn't comprehend. As soon as she received the invite in the mail, Aki had the strongest urge to talk about it with the dark, raven boy she harbored feelings for, but the consequences frightened her.
Danger... what danger? Aki pondered as she scanned the surrounding field for anything threatening. She saw nothing that could be used against her outside and inside the gates. "No danger here," Aki said to herself.
If there were no warning for any sort of danger, she would have talked about the tournament with Yusei. She might have declined it if Yusei recommended it since they didn't have time to be distracted from preparing for the WRGP. Aki would have asked his personal opinion on the invitation, but she knew she shouldn't if she didn't want any danger to fall on anyone. It would be horrible if she brought problems when Yusei was engrossed in his preparations.
"I hope he's here," Aki whispered, smiling softly at the end. It would truly make her happy if Yusei was invited as well, and as Aki thought about him, she blushed lightly. Perhaps she wouldn't feel lonely if she saw him inside. She could vision Yusei smiling and greeting her before the tournament would begin, and maybe after the whole tourney, Akiza would finally confessed her feelings to him.
SKREE!
Akiza jumped. She spun around to see what made the creaking iron noise and found that she was now in the courtyard between the gates and the chateau. "How did I get to the other side?" she faltered. Aki bit her bottom lip subconsciously out of fear, but she put on a brave face. "No, Aki. This is no time to be scared. It's time to go inside," Aki announced, walking briskly to the large, wooden doors.
She knocked on the doors loudly enough that she could hear it echo through the wood and waited for an answer. In a few seconds, the two doors opened without anyone behind them, and Akiza entered the strong-lighted room. The doors slammed vehemently behind her, causing her to jump a little again. "This keeps getting weird..." she breathed deeply.
"Akiza?"
Aki subconsciously smiled when she heard the familiar voice and felt relieved. Standing before her was none other than Yusei Fudo who was also wearing a smile on his lips. Akiza asked, "Did you get an invite too, Yusei?"
Yusei nodded. "We're not the only ones here, Aki." He pointed behind the burgundy-haired girl, and Aki followed his finger to see Jack Atlas and Crow Hogan (bickering about something she couldn't hear clearly) across the room, Ruka and Rua examining the acrylic paintings on the white walls, Kiryu Kyosuke, one of Yusei's friends, leaning against the grand staircase's rails, and Bruno sitting on the stair's steps.
"Who's the ninth guest then?" Aki wondered, glancing at each corner of the vast, decorative main room to find the last guest.
As if on cue, the two large doors opened again without anyone opening them. In stepped inside a tall, green-eyed blonde girl. Akiza, realizing that it was Sherry LeBlanc who was the ninth guest, felt a wave of disturbance against her body. The feeling numbed her legs and pierced her throat like sharp knives. Something felt wrong when the French girl stepped inside the chateau, and Aki, as form of defense, wrapped her arms around her body.
Yusei noticed her action, and concerned, he asked, "What's wrong?"
"I don't know, but something seems off about Sherry," she tried to explain. "I have a bad feeling about this tournament, Yusei."
"I agree. It is strange that we weren't allowed to tell our friends about this. It's amazing how Jack, Crow, Bruno, nor I said a word about the tournament."
"I wanted to talk about it with you as soon as I read it. I wasn't sure whether if I should go or not with all of our preparations of the Grand Prix, and -"
"It's fine. The race can wait, Aki," Yusei cut her off.
Gaping to his words, Aki stared incredulously at him. "What do you mean 'it can wait'?"
Before the raven could explain, the light in the grand room dimmed, and out called a debonair, thick voice, "Welcome, my nine guests."
All eyes of the nine guests met with the dark, insensitive ones that belonged to the tall, sallow thin man who was slowly climbing down the steps of the staircase. With a cane in his hand, he limped as his feet finally reached the reflecting, marble floor. His hair was the night sky of a new moon, and his faded moustache connected cleanly with his diminishing beard on his face. With his black tuxedo over his thin body, the man almost looked like as though he was trying to show off his riches to make up for his poor physical features.
The man extended his arms to the audience and continued, "It is truly a great pleasure to see that all I had invited are here. It brings me the most joyous content that neither of you had turned down this fun event."
"Why would we?" Jack, who was standing next to Yusei and Akiza, smiled. "Any invite to a duel tournament is worth going to."
The thin man laughed heartily to his comment. "I am pleased to hear that you feel commoved about this. Now the tournament that I'm hosting tonight is one unlike any of you nine had ever participated before."
"What do you mean?" Ruka asked curiously.
"Yeah! Like is it really going to be super fun?!" Her twin, Rua, jumped up and down in excitement.
Grinning broadly, the host bent over and answered the small boy, "But of course it will be! I promise." Pulling away, he smirked sinisterly.
Aki caught the smirk, and becoming unease, she whispered into Yusei's ear, "Yusei, I really have a bad feeling to everything right now."
"So are there any special rules to this tournament of yours? Care to explain any details?" Crow expected.
Climbing up the steps, the man replied, "The rules... the rules are simple. Yes. They are very... very simple, my dear guests." He chuckled darkly, which sent a disturbance of emotions to the guests.
Kiryu stood upward and met his golden orbs with the soulless eyes of the man. "This isn't really a duel tournament, is it?"
"Oh, but it is," the man insisted. He gazed over the blunette mechanic who was now at his feet. "It is a tournament. It is. It is only a tournament with interesting rules however.
"First rule," he pointed his cane at Akiza and Yusei, "is that all nine guests must know each other. Must have a connection, you see. If they do not, the other rules cannot work. Second rule- all nine guests must be willing to perform beyond their best to win." His face fell miserably before he continued, "Alas, my guests, before the tournament even had begun, two of you have broken my request."
Akiza froze while the others either gasped or chattered among themselves. "Two of us?" she reluctantly asked.
Sherry, who had said nothing earlier, scowled, "I suppose the 'danger' you spoke of now rests on their shoulders?"
"Precisely," the man leered and pointed his cane down at Bruno. "You have spoken about it. You thought you would be safe and I would not catch you, did you not?"
Bruno puled, "I didn't mean to talk. It slipped out of my mouth!"
The cane then landed towards Rua's direction. "And you, my boy- instead of denying the tournament, you allowed a conversation to grow. And for that, both are to be punished."
Yusei challenged the man, setting one foot on the steps, "If they did talked about it, it shouldn't matter. No punishment is necessary when you can just disqualify them."
"Yusei..." Rua whimpered. His twin wrapped her arms around him in hopes of keeping him safe even if it couldn't in reality.
"I wouldn't mind being disqualified," Bruno agreed. "If it would bring no danger, I wouldn't mind."
Listening to all of their comments, the man laughed menacingly, "No. If I did that, the game would end and never begin. Third rule- at least one guest must break any request in order for the game to be played."
"So it isn't a duel tournament after all," Kiryu growled.
Crow hissed, "What idea are you trying to pull off?"
"'Idea'? I say a fun, marvelous game!" The tall, thin host cackled sourly.
"Well- where the hell is this game of yours?!" Jack demanded.
All of a sudden, the lights went out completely, and a cacophony of bodies being struck resonate the room. Akiza, unaware of what was going on, heard the others fall to the ground. Panicking, she cried out, "What's happening?!"
CRACK!
With one blow on the back of her head, Akiza fell unconscious before she hit the ground.
Akiza couldn't remember exactly how she regained her conscious. She couldn't remember what happened after she finally stood up from the cold, unfamiliar floor. Her mind foggy and head throbbing in pain, Aki clumsily walked through the black-pitched room she was inside. Groping the dark, her hand felt a familiar figure on the floor- Bruno's figure. Wanting to know what had happened, she ran her hands through his soft hair and spoke loudly in hopes he was conscious. "Bruno... Bruno, what happened?"
"Akiza! Akiza, where are you?!" Akiza heard Yusei's frightened voice across the room.
"I'm over here!" She screamed, "I'm next to Bruno!"
At once, a bright light from above lit the room, and Aki covered her eyes to adjust to the sudden light changes. After she adjusted, she bent over and examined Bruno's face. What she was expecting to see was only for him to be unconscious that it was no surprise that she shrieked when she saw his eyes wide opened and blood resting on his mouth. As a reflex out of fear, Aki backed away from Bruno and saw that his upper torso was seeping out blood.
"Akiza!"
"Yusei! Bruno! He's... he's..." she choked on her words and couldn't bring herself to finish.
The others at last found her standing next to the bloody corpse. At first they were relieved to see Akiza was safe but horror struck their hearts when they spot the mechanic lying still on the floor, red crimson pool underneath him.
In shock, Yusei walked over to the corpse and fell to his knees. Without a doubt, Yusei crumbled as he pulled Bruno into his arms. "Bruno, no! This can't be happening!"
Akiza's heart broke having to witness him fall apart as it broke everyone else's. The only one who wasn't grieving for the death or horribly distraught was Ruka. Instead, she was panicking for her own reasons.
"Where's Rua?!" she anxiously panicked.
"Just what is going on?!" Akiza screamed.
"A game," echoed the host's voice. "Let me now explain the rest of the tournament. Will that suit you all?"
Sloth: Be honest with me- how was it? No seriously reader, what's your opinion on it?
The first section of the chapter is a French nursery rhyme known as "In My House, There is a..." in the English translation. I loved researching for French nursery rhymes and grew fond of them... I believe I will use some others along the way.
Forgive me if I made Akiza sound weak. I really didn't mean that to happen if that's how she came out. Also, I wasn't too fond of killing off Bruno. It's always the cute ones who die first, isn't it?
It's odd how I got the idea to write this. In English, a month ago I believe, one of my guy friends spoke about his family of nine living in a big house and his daily troubles in the house. The way he said "house of nine" off his tongue caught me off guard, and the more he said it, the more I fell in love with that term. I kept repeating it in my head, "house of nine, house of nine, house of nine...". Then, out of somewhere, this idea came to me. I thanked my friend for saying those three words, and at once I began to outline the story.
I think that's all I have to say.
Until next time (that is if you actually want to be tossed into a world of hurt).
To those who are morbid as I, give a review. It might save a life (ouch).
-Sloth