A Fan girl's Nightmare

Chapter One

Nightmares Gone Horribly Real

I tapped the pencil on my bottom lip as I sat deep in thought.

"Auburn!" I heard my aunt yell from downstairs.

"What?" I screamed back.

"Get down here, it's time for dinner!"

I groaned. I had no time to eat. I needed to get started on my entry for this Yu-Gi-Oh fan art contest. The deadline was next Tuesday!

I stood up and walked to my door. I opened it and shouted, "I'm not hungry, Auntie!" into the open air.

As I shut my door, I faintly heard my aunt going on about some crap about how she would save me some leftovers. I didn't care. I had work to do.

I sighed and plopped back down into my chair, trying to think of what I could do for the drawing contest, but nothing came to mind.

I glanced at the clock. Ten p.m. I could feel my eyelids growing heavy.

I tried to fight back against the sleep demon, but eventually submitted and laid my head on my desk, quickly falling asleep.

I groaned as I lifted up my head to see what time it was. It was one in the morning.

"Goddammit!" I yelled in anger. Usually, my aunt hated it when I swore, but since I was in the privacy of my own room, I was allowed to.

It was on like Donkey Kong now. I cracked my knuckles and neck before grabbing my trusty drawing pencil and grabbing a new piece of blank paper, since the piece I previously had was now covered in my drool.

And then...Nothing.

I glared at the blank paper, like I was expecting magical lines to appear to tell me what to draw.

My glare continued, and I could feel a sweat forming on my forehead.

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

The seriousness of the moment was defeated.

I sighed and opened the door. Patch, my orange and grey tabby, sat before me.

I stared down at the cat in anger, though it only tilted it's head at me in confusion.

"I hate you, Patch,"

He yawned and meowed. The stupid cat was secretly mocking me, and I knew it.

"Go to hell, cat," I grumbled as I slammed the door shut and got back to work.

I sat in my chair for about another hour without any progress.

I sighed. It would be best if I just gave up for tonight. I didn't feel like going to sleep, so I went on my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh fan site, where I was well known for my fan art and fan fiction.

As soon as I logged in, I got a pop-up window telling me that I has received a new message from Francis, a good friend of mine on the site.

His message read:

Hi Auburn, it's Frankie. Listen, you know that doujinshi you wanted me to do for your birthday? I got it done. Hope I'm not too late!

Underneath the message was a link.

I raised an eyebrow. My birthday wasn't for another month and a half! It was also really weird for Francis to refer to himself as Frankie, since he preferred being called France.

I shrugged. Maybe he just hit his head or forgot or something.

I clicked the link.

I the window that popped up was the cover for a typical doujinshi. It was a sweet hugging scene between my favorite couple, Yami Bakura and Marik. Marik seemed to be crying for some reason.

What caught my eye though was the background, which was an ominous-looking Millennium Ring. The eye in the center seemed to stare into my soul.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes. Maybe I was just too tired.

When I opened my eyes, I was met by a gruesome sight.

It seemed the picture had magically changed on it's own. Both the characters were covered in blood, and Bakura's facial expression had changed to one that looked like he was suddenly stabbed, a death face of sheer surprise. The Millennium Ring was also bloody and had a shred of Bakura's shirt hanging from it.

I wanted to scream. Now I knew this wasn't anything like Francis, he would never do something like this. Even though I tried to scream, nothing came out.

To add to my fear, the eye in the center of the ring started to glow an evil red. I tried to scream, but once again, nothing came out.

Another quick moment passed, and everything was black.

I groggily opened my eyes. The floor beneath me me felt like a cloud. Turning my head, I saw that I was laying on deep crimson-colored carpet. I was laying on a deep crimson-colored cloud.

My body wanted to go back to the peaceful rest it was having, and my eyes began to close again, until I heard the sound of wood being added to a fire.

"Hello, my darling," I heard the voice say gently.

I weakly lifted up my head. Standing over me was... Yami Bakura himself? Either that, or a really good cosplay.

"Yami?" I mumbled weakly, tired and confused.

He said nothing, closing his eyes.

Finally, he opened his eyes half-way, giving him the look of a mischievous and ominous cat.

"I prefer being called Bakura, if you don't mind," he grumbled.

"Sorry," I mumbled, sitting up. He ignored what I said, turning around and crossing his arms behind his back.

"Now, I'm quite sure that you're curious as to why you're here," he started to explain in a loud, somewhat annoyed sounding tone, "The reason, my dear Auburn, is that my Millennium Ring chose you to help me with my plans.

"Plans?" I asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yes, you don't know about my plans, forgive me! Well, I'm sure you know that meddling brat Yugi and his friends put a stop to my plans of destroying the world. But, then I discovered something nobody else knew. We weren't real, we were only characters created by Kazuki Takahashi as a way of amusing you Earth monkeys. That means everything that's happened in my world was planned, even my downfall. No matter how free we thought we were, we were actually puppets under the control of his strings, circus animals controlled by the cracks of his whip. I decided to break those strings, to bite the hand that fed me, and escape from my world to yours. At first, my plan was to just killed Kazuki, but I figured that since it was his mind that created me, I would be wiped from existence should that mind be destroyed. So, I came up with a new plan to simply just take control of your primitive little world. But, I can't do it alone, I need a pawn to help me through the stages. I've looked at many, but it seems like you're the one chosen to help me, Auburn."

I stared at the sadistically grinning man in shock. This couldn't be happened. I must have fallen asleep and be dreaming all of this. I pinched myself, but didn't wake up. Like it or not, I wasn't dreaming. A character had managed to escape his own world and planned to basically take over the world he was meant to entertain, probably spilling blood along the way. I apparently had been chosen by his ring, by the Egyptian gods, to be his right hand lackey.

"What in hell's wrong with you? I would never agree to helping you with such plans, even if I was chosen to do so." I yelled at the insane bastard.

He grinned wildly at me, chuckling. "Follow me, then. I'll show you a reason that will make you agree." He then headed toward a door I had not seen there before. Scared out of my wits, I followed.

We walked down a depressing and dark hallway, passing many matching doors.

We stopped at a door that vividly stood out. It was painted a fresh, clean white and had a shiny brass doorknob. He approached the odd-looking door and opened it.

Inside, to my horror, was a blood-stained wall with multiple bodies up against it, many missing limbs. Some were around the same age as me, some looked younger, some older.

Bakura could hardly stop himself from giggling, amused at my shock.

To add more disturbing drama to this already hellish nightmare, I saw that one of the bodies was actually alive, shaking in fear amongst the corpses. The shaking body had platinum blond hair and blue-violet eyes. It was Francis.

I stepped toward him, crying, "Francis!", but he held out one hand, palm showing, screaming, "No, stay back! Please, stay back!" The look in his eyes and the tone of his voice indicated that he had been driven to insanity, the poor thing. I also saw that the right sleeve of his shirt was torn and bloodied, with no arm sticking out. It had been torn off.

"You see that, Auburn?" asked Bakura in-between giggle fits, "That will be you if you don't comply. But nonetheless, the choice is still yours. I don't really mind spilling more blood and adding another body to that pile over there."

I hung my head in defeat as he laughed. I had no choice but to give in.

"Fine, I'll do it," I murmured in submission.

"Good girl," he chuckled, patting my red locks before turning around and exiting the room.

I gave one last sympathetic look at Francis, who just looked at me with huge eyes, the eyes of a trapped animal. "I'm sorry, Francis," I mumbled loud enough for him to hear before following Bakura, closing the door behind me.

We continued down the corridor until we reached the end of it. The last door was huge compared to the others, but still mixed in with the rest, save for the white door that hid the blood bath. It had the eye-shaped symbol that adorned each Millennium item carved into the door, though it was hard to see in the dark.

After a moment of absorbing the door's appearance, we entered the room.

It was surprisingly empty for a large room. All that was inside it that I could see was a small candle flickering on the floor, offering what little light it could, and the Millennium Ring hanging on a hook.

"Go up to it, I want it to mark you."

"Why?"

"For my own purposes. Now shut up and do it." he commanded harshly.

Nervously, I complied. My hand seemed to be drawn to the ring. The moment I touched it, it began to glow. My eyes widened. What was going to happen? I wanted to know, but at the same time, I was afraid of what would happen. My answer was a bright flash and then darkness once more.

I awoke sitting at my desk. I slowly and nervously lifted my head to peer out the window on the wall next to me. The sky outside was dyed a pinkish-orange. Was it morning already?

"Maybe it was just a dream after all. A really bad dream," I chuckled to myself.

I got up and went to my full length mirror to check how I looked. I was already wearing my school uniform of a white sweater and dark brown slacks. Well, slacks were part of the boys' uniform, but I preferred it over a skirt. They were what kept me warm at night, since my aunt couldn't afford heating. I usually got up with just brushing my hair.

Looking into the mirror, I was met by cruel proof that the nightmare I had just awoken from was indeed real. Seemingly burned into my forehead was the eye-shaped symbol. It stared it's horrifying dead stare into the mirror, right back at me.

I twirled away from the mirror so that I wouldn't have to look into the scar's stare. I seemed to lack the ability to suddenly spin at the moment, so I lost my balance. I tried to grab at the edge of the table to catch myself, but I still fell to my knees. I wasn't worried about that, though. I felt a piece of paper under my hand that had not been there before.

I grabbed at the paper and pulled it toward me, hoping my animalistic behavior wouldn't destroy it. It was a note from Bakura, written with effeminate cursive on a piece of fancy and expensive-looking stationary. It read:

Auburn,

I had tried to wake you up after the Ring put it's mark on you, but you were knocked out cold by the force. So, I sneaked you back into your room. I left the instructions for your first task underneath this note. I expect you not to disappoint me.

Now, don't you dare even try thinking about finding a way to escape. I can read your every thought, I can feel every emotion you experience, and I can basically watch over you. You have no way of escaping. You are my puppet, my slave.

And if you're still thinking about disobeying me, I'd thought I'd let you know that by the time you read this, your friend will be sitting right next to me, bound and gagged with a knife to his throat. If you disobey me, he will pay the price.

I stared at the note, confused and scared. Was he telling the truth? Was he really watching over me, waiting for me to screw up so that he could harm Francis? I wanted out of this twisted chess game, but I sadly had been permanently locked in as a player. I remembered seeing the bodies, seeing the blood. I knew what Bakura had said wasn't a petty threat. It was a promise.

I stood up. Just as he had said in his note, a piece of folded yellow paper laying where the note perviously had been. I wanted to look at it now, but I didn't have the time. I grabbed the piece of paper and gingerly put it in my pocket.

I went back to the mirror with a brush in my hand. I carefully and quickly brushed my hair to perfection. I then quickly re-arranged my bangs so that the scar was covered.

Everything was ready. I grabbed my backpack and bravely headed out the door.

As I walked down the stairs and out the door, the same realization played through my head.

Auburn, today's the day you become an official unwilling pawn in the end of the world.