Title: Love in the shadows
Chapter 1: Like a bad horror movie
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Pairing: Anzu x Ryou (slight pairing with other characters)
I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or any of its characters
Warning! This is rated M for a reason, do not read if you do not like swearing or sexual content. Though there may be none in this chapter, there may be in later chapters.
Anzu shifted her neck on the uncomfortably hard head rest.
She leaned her head forward and groaned as the bus moved awkwardly around the turns on the trail occasionally bumping upwards and sending her stomach flip-flopping. Bus rides never sat too well with her stomach and the noise of chattering voices were giving her a very painful headache.
The other girls on the bus seemed just fine as they chatted and laughed to each other, occasionally looking at Anzu, only to turn back and begin snickering to each other about how her appearance . Anzu didn't care, in fact she almost felt like laughing at herself too.
From head to toe Anzu looked like she had just crawled out of a gutter; her normally silky chestnut hair was a mess of tangles and dead leaves, her skin a dark swollen red in places, her dancing outfit was covered in large patches of dried dirt, her feet bare and somewhat bruised caked with more dried dirt and her hands bruised and covered in small scraps and cuts.
She smirked to herself.
'Let them laugh. I'm glad I did what I did and I'll be damned if I let them get to me!' She smiled inwardly, proud of herself as she rubbed her hands together, trying to numb the pain in them.
Suddenly the bus jumped causing most of the girls to shriek as it landed.
Anzu watched curiously as the bus ground to a halt, their dance instructor and the driver stepped off the bus, talking to each other in whispers. The other girls began talking to each other in panicked fashion, watching from the window as the driver pointed out the flat tire to their instructor. Anzu watched the men talking before turning her eyes to their surroundings and sighing inwardly.
They were in a forest. 'A fairly thick forest' Anzu judged by the amount of trees that towered above the bus window. The sky was growing dark as rain clouds slowly approached the stranded vehicle from the horizon. It was very unlikely the driver could change the tire on such an unstable road and the nearest town was a good two miles away.
Reaching into her bag, Anzu pulled out her phone and checked the reception. No bars. She sighed to herself again. This was turning out like a very bad horror movie opening and it seemed she wasn't the only one to think so as the other girls began to talk rather loudly
Girl 1:"Oh my god! What if there's zombies!"
Girl 2:"Or wolfs!"
Girl 3:"OR RATS!" The bus erupted into a number of huge screams. Anzu put her hand on her forehead and groaned. This was not helping her headache in the slightest.
She couldn't figure out what sounded more ridiculous, the fact they thought zombies would be in the forest or that a rat would be more frightening!
Their instructor got back on the bus and whistled to get their attention as he often did in class. The girls fell silent as he began to speak.
Instructor: "Alright ladies. We have a small problem, but there's no need to panic. The driver's gone to look for help and should be back shortly." The girls exchanged nervous glances to one another" So let's all stay calm and wait till he gets back to panic alright?"
The instructor had said the last part jokingly but it seemed to just make the girls worry more.
Anzu leaned back into her chair. She noticed some of the girls trying their phones as well, but no one could get a reception. Looking out the window she watched the trees slowly sway, not really thinking about anything. Sure, she didn't want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with a group of girls who; she learned pretty quickly when meeting them; did not like her very much but it was unlikely that there would be any sort of danger on a marked road.
Something caught Anzu's eye as she gazed out the window. A large black shape stuck out from one of the trees. Squinting her eyes, the black mass seemed to take the form of a person
'What is that?' The harder Anzu stared at it, the more she saw the outline of a person. Unfortunately the need to blink outweighed her curiosity and when she opened her eyes once more the figure was gone.
Scanning the tree up and down, she couldn't see the strange black mass anywhere. She shrugged and turned back into her seat dismissing it as paranoia.
Their instructor had now realized there was no reception as he checked his own phone. Nervously he turned back to the girls.
Instructor: "Can anyone get any bars on their phones?" .The tension seemed to rise in the bus as no one could raise their hands.
The sound of something hitting the roof of the bus caused all but Anzu and the instructor to shriek at the top of their lungs. Covering her ears Anzu stared out the window as the first few droplets of rain began to fall, hitting the bus hard as a strong wind began blowing.
The instructor had begun calming the girls when the driver returned to the bus. The two men whispered to each other as the girls frantically spoke in their little groups`.
Some were nervously laughing for over reacting while others were on the brink of tears; Anzu however was watching the conversation going on at the top of the bus. The driver looked calm as he spoke but their instructor had an uncertain look on his face and spoke rather quickly.
Unable to hear their words Anzu briefly wondered if the driver had found a place they could stay 'Like a creepy old haunted mansion with an old butler slowly beckoning them with one finger'. Anzu laughed at the thought 'Then it really would be a bad horror movie!'
Anzu was shook from her thoughts as she heard the familiar sound of their instructor's whistle. He didn't look very happy with whatever decision they had come upon.
Instructor: "Alright ladies, there's an old house a little up the road from here. The owner has very generously offered us a place to stay while the driver calls for some maintenance. Now I don't want to force anyone to come into an unknown place their not comfortable with, so if anyone has any objections I'd like to hear them now".
The girls on the bus nervously glanced at each other. No one in their right mind would want to go into a stranger's home, but staying on the bus didn't seem like the greatest idea either. The girls remained silent as they weighed their options. Anzu thought for a moment 'Doesn't look like anyone's going to object. I don't really want to but the last thing I need is being the one person who goes against the others'. Anzu remained silent.
Instructor:" There's no reason to be shy. If you don't want to go it's perfectly alright". The girls remained silent.
Instructor: "Well alright then. Let's go."
Slowly the girls followed their instructor off the bus. Anzu waited for all the girls seated behind her to go first before eventually grabbing her bag and getting off as well. As she stepped out of the bus she was bombarded with lashings of hard rain and gale force wind.
Mentally cursing the light fabric of her outfit, she quickly followed the others to the side of the bus. As they quickly collected their belongings from the luggage compartment, shivering and whining at the cold wind that seemed to pierce their clothing; the driver locked the bus and led the way.
They walked for what felt like an eternity, which in actuality was only ten minutes at most in the freezing rain before finally coming to two huge black gates camouflaged in the dark greenery surrounding it. Anzu stared at the house in front of her and secretly believed she was a physic.
The house was in fact an old mansion and aside from the beckoning butler it most definitely looked haunted.
As they made their way up the path way to the mansion, Anzu felt a chill go down her spine at its appearance. It looked well kept, with all its windows intact and all the ceiling tiles neatly in place. Not that you could see the roof as you got closer, the mansion was a good four stories high with the roof beginning at the fourth level.
'An attic maybe?' Anzu's thoughts were cut short as they reached to large iron doors. Both intricately designed with floral and vine patterns that met in the middle of the doors, where a large rose shaped knocker seemed to act as a lock for the two doors.
As the driver lifted and dropped the knocker against the door, the girls were squashing together under the porch, desperate to get out of the cold and cruel weather.
After two knocks the door was opened.
None of the girls taught twice before entering the possibly dangerous mansion, all simply wanting shelter, Anzu herself only hesitated a moment before entering.
Once inside Anzu heard a number of girls gasp as she did when she saw the one who had opened the door, and who was currently closing it after their instructor finally entered.
Never in her life had Anzu seen such a beautiful man.
His eyes were emerald green with slanted pupils and a small line of black traced down his cheek from one eye; his hair was black and spiked with a red and black head band keeping it out of his face. He was wearing a long black robe but from the way it hung off his shoulders it was obvious he had a slim figure. A single dice ear ring hung from one of his ears.
He turned to face the group and smirked, causing most of them to squeal and blush and the sound of his voice wasn't going to help.
"Welcome to my humble home. My name is Duke Devlin, but you beautiful young ladies can call me Duke."
Anzu could swear that the squeals the girls in her dance class emitted were high pitched enough to shatter glass. Almost immediately, all the worries and fears the girls had had about going into the mansion disappeared now replaced with excited giggles and heart shaped eyes.
Anzu looked away from the group that had now surrounded their host and sighed
'Great, he's a playboy. Typical.'
Scanning the room they were in, as their instructor spoke with Duke and the girls fawned over his every word, Anzu was mildly impressed. The room was large, possibly fitting about a hundred people without cramping.
The walls were a type of dark wood with small dim lights placed along it and the floor was covered with decorated tiles, which formed what looked like a multi coloured rose in the centre of the room. A large stair way with a dark red carpet led to the higher levels of the house and the room was furnished with a number of dark wood book cases and seats with the same dark red material as the stairs.
The seats looked like the kind you would find in an old English house, long with the dark wood framing the red material and the book cases were packed with many different sized books and different coloured spines.
The roof of the room confused her. Despite the levels above the room, the roof seemed to curve at the top. The light didn't seem to reach too high as the roof was covered in shadows.
Anzu let her eyes linger on the shadows.
Something was strange about them.
It was like the shadow in the forest, like there was a shape to the shadows. A few shapes actually and the more she stared the more see believed something was staring back.
'It looks likes there are several people sticking out of the ceiling... or sticking to the ceiling.'
Anzu was wrenched from her thoughts as the driver began speaking to their instructor.
Driver:" Well I rang, but it doesn't look like they'll be able to get the repair trucks out in this storm" the driver nodded to the window, the rain battered against the glass with such force it looked like it would shatter and the wind howled like a rabid animal.
Instructor:" I'll have to contact the girl's parents but I'm not sure about keeping them on the bus overnight..." he was cut off by a chuckle from Duke.
Duke:" I'd be more than happy to let you and your students stay the night. I have plenty of spare rooms" his voice took on a sadden tone "and it would break my heart knowing such beautiful young ladies were sleeping on a cold bus in the middle of a storm".
While the others burst into a fit of embarrassed squeals, Anzu rolled her eyes
'Oh yes, because that doesn't sound creepy at all!'
Their instructor looked serious in thought.
Instructor:" Exactly who lives in this house?"
Duke smiled
Duke:" Just me actually. Truth be told, this place is meant to be turned into a bed and breakfast soon, so the rooms are all clean and freshly furnished. There's a large bathing area through that door" he pointed to a door on the left wall "and there's a kitchen and dining room down the hall." He turned to the girls, still smiling
" It would actually be a great help if you could give me a report about the quality of the place and it would be a great honour having such cute first guests".
Anzu was expecting the squeals this time and quickly covered her ears to save herself from another headache. Their instructor still didn't look to sure but the girls had already begun asking him where the rooms were. As they began following Duke up the stairs, Anzu gave one last look at the dark forms hidden in the shadows
'I must be seriously tired...but still, I'll have to make sure later.'
Please R&R