I'm Back
I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or anything else anyone may have heard of before reading this, including all movies, songs, etc. Constructive criticism is accepted and very much appreciated! This is not recommended for children under the age of 13 due to some suggestive themes, language, violence, and alcohol reference. Inspired by the movie Paranormal Activity, which I don't own in any way. AU. People of the internet, you have been warned. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: The New House
"Oh, Yami, please tell me," Anzu begged, "Tell me about the house! Please, darling?" Yami, who was supposed to go on to the afterlife after the ceremonial duel, chose to stay, and remain mortal with everyone until his time came again. He and Anzu had grown close, and after dating for a few years, they were now finally engaged, and Yami even went trough the trouble of finding a beautiful new home for them to start their lives in.
"Be patient," Yami cooed while driving the car, "when we'll get there, you can take a look yourself." Anzu nodded, but her smile slowly disappeared.
"I wish everyone could see it with us," she mourned, "especially Yugi." Yami looked away and slowly nodded. Only a few months after the ceremonial duel, everyone had gone their separate ways; Jonouchi was now in collage to become a teacher, Honda worked with cars and engineering, Ryuji still worked his game shop, but what Ryo was doing as unknown to him. Unfortunately, Yugi was killed by a parasite known as the brain-eating ameba only a week after coming home from a trip to the Oklahoma Lakes less then a year ago. His grandfather was said to have suffered from depression after Yugi died, and the pain of loosing his only grandson was too much for the old man. The doctors said that he died from a heart attack, but some believe that he had perished from a broken heart.
The atmosphere was set to a happier mood once Yami pulled into the drive-in for they're new house. Anzu perked up, and immediately jumped out of the car once Yami parked.
"Oh, Yami," she exclaimed, this is amazing!"
"Only the best for my wife-to-be," Yami returned as he walked up to her. He held her in his arms, and then led the way into their new home.
When Anzu walked in, her entire body began to shiver, and her teeth were chattering, even though it was the middle of July.
"What's wrong, Anzu?" Yami asked with concern. Anzu shook her head.
"Nothing," she smiled, "it's probably just a gust from the air conditioner." Yami nodded, but he still looked concerned.
"B-but," he muttered to himself, "I haven't turned it on yet."
Yami flicked the lights of the upstairs hall light off and entered the master bedroom where Anzu was sitting on the bed and brushing her short brown hair. The movers and Yami had brought in all of the furniture last week while Anzu was setting up her new dance studio. He sat next to her and gently kissed her cheek.
"Are you ready for the first night, my darling?" he asked her. She smiled and nodded.
"Do you want me to sleep in here with you?" he offered.
"Thank you, Yami," she answered, "but I'll be fine. If I need anything, I'll get you from the room next to this one." Yami nodded and stood up. He walked through the door as he left her in the room… alone.
The next morning, Yami woke up and sat up in his bed. He reached for the ceiling, and then began scratching the sand out of his eyes. The former pharaoh yawned as he stood up on the hardwood floor. He froze.
For one second, he could have sworn that he could hear someone walking down the hall…
He relaxed. It was probably just Anzu getting an early start, as usual. She would often be down the stairs already, making coffee.
Just to make sure, he strayed into the master bedroom. To his surprise, the young woman was still fast asleep, beautifully curled up in a sea of cream sheets and one blue blanket.
When looked at her face, her eyelids were half-closed. Yami smiled, and playfully poked her, thinking it was just a little joke or something. But after several moments, Anzu took no action in slapping his finger away.
"Anzu," he whispered as he shook her shoulder, "Anzu, darling, it's time to wake up." He got nothing but silence.
"Anzu," he shouted, "Anzu, what's wrong?! Why aren't you waking up?! If this is a joke, it's not funny! Not at all!" Yami began to shake a little more forcefully.
Anzu's eyes flashed open, and as she sat up, she began gasping for air. But Yami wasn't touching her. What was wrong with her?
She grasped her own throat, as if trying to rip a hand off…
After a minute, she began to breath normally again. She let go of her throat, and looked up at Yami. His heart was overjoyed, and he began to tear as he grasped her in his arms.
"Are you okay?" he whispered in her ear. She was sobbing, but she nodded.
He led her down the stairs and into the kitchen. Anzu sat on a stool on the bar, and she rubbed the water out of her eyes as Yami made her coffee.
"Eggnog or White Chocolate Raspberry?" he asked as he opened the refrigerator to grab one of the creamers.
"White Chocolate," she mumbled back. Yami nodded and grabbed the cool creamer, and he pushed the silver French doors of the refrigerator. He set it on the counter, and poured the crushed coffee beans and water into the coffee maker.
Anzu watched him with a tired and blank look in her eyes. Yami thought that he saw a hint of worry or fright in her eyes, but he wasn't sure. He walked over and leaned in on the other side of the marble bar, and Anzu looked deep into the pharaoh's ancient purple eyes.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Yami finally asked. Maybe that's what the cause of this morning's scare was; a bad dream. Or maybe she was just nervous because it was their first night in the new house.
"I…I guess so," Anzu answered unsurely, "It was about… um… Yugi…" Yami looked away. Just the mention of his little hikari's name made him wish that he was the one who had died.
"And," Anzu went on, "And, Ryo was there! He was dressed all in black, and he was standing in front of Yugi's headstone, but he wasn't crying… at least, not from where I could tell. I was standing a few meters behind him. And the ground… it was black, and the moon was HUGE, Yami! It looked like it was rising up from Yugi's grave, and it was red. At about this time, Ryo was turning around to face me." She shuddered, and then looked into Yami's eyes.
"When he turned around," she continued, "his shirt was soaked in blood! And there was this huge slit across his throat, and blood was still pouring out from it and his mouth. He had cuts all over him, and it looked like he was crying tears of blood! But that's not the scariest part." She bit her lip.
"Tell me," Yami pressed. Anzu sighed before going on.
"His expression," she whispered, "it changed from calm to insane! I mean, at first, he just had a blank look on his face, and then, he smiled. But the creepiest part was when he was laughing and coughing up blood at the same time, and there was a trail of blood drops as he kept walking closer to me, and that's when I woke up, and I couldn't breathe, and I saw you." They jumped when they heard beeping. Yami spun around, and he saw that he didn't shut the refrigerator all the way. He grumbled with annoyance, and Anzu smiled. She turned her head at the clock, and she jumped off the stool.
"Damn it," she yelled, "I'm going to be late to the dance studio!" Yami quickly poured some coffee and creamer into a to-go cup and handed it to Anzu. She grabbed a red apple out of the fruit basket and reached for the cup. She said goodbye and hurried out of the front door.
After he heard the small car drive away, Yami thought that he could hear the footsteps again…
Yami walked into the living room to unpack a few boxes. He approached a medium-sized cardboard box, and he pulled the packaging tape off of the top. He flipped the flaps over, opening the packaging cube, and he pushed the packaging peanuts aside. He reached in and pulled out a rectangular object covered in bubble wrap. He lifted the slip of tape that kept the blown-up plastic together, and he revealed a simple picture frame. Yami smiled.
It was a photo of him, Anzu, and their friends at the air port before they left Egypt a few years ago. Yami was in the middle with Malik to his right and Yugi to his left. Ishizu was next to her brother and Odion was behind her. Anzu was smiling on Yugi's left side making the peace sign with her fingers, and Honda and Jonouchi were giving each other bunny ears. Ryo wasn't in the picture because the boy was kind enough to volunteer to stand behind the camera.
Yami's heart sank as he set the frame on the small square table next to the sofa. Why couldn't they all be together and happy like that again? And why did his dear hikari have to die so soon? The former pharaoh kept repeating the questions over and over in his head as unpacked more and more boxes, and uncovered many more pictures.
After a few hours, Anzu came home from the dance studio. She was delighted to see at least some of the boxes unpacked, and after she closed the front door, she looked over at the end table to see that Yami finally found one of her favorite pictures; the day at the air port right before their departure from Egypt. She gave a weak smile as her mind began to flood with both wonderful and painful memories all at once. Wouldn't be nice to see everyone again? Everyone…
Yami walked into the room. "Hello Anzu." He greeted. Now out of her self-enchanted trance, she returned his greeting.
"Do we have any plans?" she randomly asked. Yami looked at her with a confused look, as if she had just spoken in some foreign language that he had never heard before.
"Well," he thought, "Other then unpacking and cleaning the house, no. why do you ask? Was there something you wanted to do?"
"W-well," she gulped, "I just… I… I kind of wanted to see our friends again. You think we could call the old gang and see if they want to do something to night, for something like dinner?" Yami looked at her with a doubtful look, but he nodded anyway. Anzu sighed with relief. Maybe this'll calm me down a bit…
Yami sat next to Anzu in the waiting area at the Olive Garden while waiting for their friends to arrive. He looked at his watch as more people came in to wait to be seated. The wait was a good 15 to 20 minute wait, plenty of time for the others to arrive.
When he looked up, two familiar young men and a woman came walking through the glass doors of the Italian restaurant. Anzu stoop up, and began waving to catch their attention. The red-head girl tugged on the blonde guy's sleeve, and then pointed towards Yami and Anzu.
"Jonouchi! Shizuka! Honda!" Anzu called. The trio walked over to them, and then exchanged greetings.
Before they could begin trading stories, Yami's name was called, and a waitress was waiting for them by the check-in desk.
She smiled. "Please follow me." She began walking, and they all followed her towards their table.
When they arrived at their table, Yami pulled out a chair for Anzu, and then one for himself next to her. Shizuka sat on the other side in between Honda and her brother.
"Your waiter or waitress will arrive in a moment." The hostess announced when everyone was seated.
"It sure has been a while since we spent time like this together, y'know?" Honda started.
"Yeah," Jonouchi answered, "thanks for inviten' us, Yami!"
"It was Anzu's idea," the pharaoh explained. His fiancé blushed.
"Well," she said, "Yami and I have recently bought a new house, and I thought that we've distanced ourselves from each other a little too much, and I wanted to see you guys again."
Shizuka smiled. "That was very sweet of you!"
"So what has everyone been up to lately?" Honda asked.
"Well," Jonouchi started, "so far I've survived the jungle known as collage for a while, but with all of these exams and pop quizzes randomly attacking me, I don't know how much longer I'll last!" Everyone burst out laughing, and then it was Shizuka's turn.
"I've been going to the same school as Big Brother," she explained, "but I want to become a writer instead of a teacher. I've already got so many different ideas for stories, I don't think I can wait 'til I graduate!"
"I've opened up a dance studio down town," Anzu explained.
"I'm currently working at the small auto repair shop," Honda frowned, "nothing very exciting ever happens."
"Wait," Anzu thought, "you mean Zeal's Car Shop? My studio is right across the street!"
Honda perked up. "Yeah," he answered, "I've never seen you. We'll have to keep an eye out for each other next time!" Anzu nodded eagerly. Yami smiled. He could tell that she was having a wonderful time with their friends.
He found himself drifting away from the conversation. He began to look around the rest of the restaurant. That's a nice piece of pottery… what an interesting black and white photograph… a customer with white hair… how do they get the vines to grow like that indoors…?
Yami paused. White hair? He looked behind Jonouchi and saw a young man, probably no older then the others, sitting alone in a booth… and he had white hair. He was wearing denim jeans and a black jacket with a white undershirt, as well as a pair of tennis shoes. He had his fork in his food, but he wasn't really eating it. His were closed as his head was just barely bobbing, and Yami could see black cords coming from his ears covered by white locks streaming down, revealing a small black electronic in his right hand.
"Ryo…?" the pharaoh mumbled.
"No, I haven't heard from him in a long time," Jonouchi said. Yami remembered that he was sitting at a different table then Ryo with other people.
"I heard a rumor that he's moved out of the country and is living in England again." Shizuka mentioned.
"Why's that?" Honda asked. Anzu had a grim look on her face.
"Maybe it's because this place served too much of a reminder…" she trailed off.
"But why would he leave without letting us know…?" Honda asked. Yami began tune out again as he watched the person they were talking about fidget with his iPod until he found the song he was looking for. The hikari paused, and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He flipped it open, and frowned. He typed a few keys, and he got a waitress' attention as he slipped it back into his pocket.
"I'm going to go ahead and pay," he explained, "may I get a to-go box?" his voice was deeper then before, and sounded a lot like his yami's only there was no hint of evil or sadistic thoughts. The waitress nodded, and handed him his check.
"I'll be right back with a box," she mentioned.
Ryo smiled. "Thank you." His smile most defiantly hasn't changed. However, it disappeared when the waitress left.
"Damn it," the young man mumbled, "they interrupt my dinner, and for what? Chances are, it'll probably be mice or something else like that." Mice? What was he talking about? Did he work as some kind of exterminator or something?
When the waitress returned, he traded his check and money for the box, and began scrapping his uneaten food into the white container. He closed the lid and stood up from the booth.
As Ryo walked past Yami's table, he was murmuring the lyrics to Cinema Bizzarre's song, Dysfunctional Family:
"I'm a bit suicidal; I'm my own worst rival, Train wreck, white trash, freak maniac, psycho…" his voice trailed away as he made his way out of the building.
"Hey, Yami," Anzu asked, "Darling, what's wrong? You've been dozing out like that for a while now. You didn't even notice the waitress when she came to get our drink order!" Yami looked at her.
"Sorry," he mumbled, "I guess I'm just a bit tired. So, what did you order me?"
"A Diet." Yami nodded as he tried to listen to the conversation, but the fact that Bakura's host was right behind their party made him uneasy. He felt a pang of guilt. He shouldn't blame Ryo for what his sadistic yami did. In fact, he should be grateful that the hikari stood by their side. It must have been hard; having to deal with Bakura every day, every hour, every minute, even every second of his life. And he never knew when his yami would decide to take over his body…
"Did that really happen?" Jonouchi asked Anzu. Great, it seems like I zoned out again…
She nodded. "It was really scary!"
"Anzu," Shizuka pointed out, "Maybe you should call a paranormal investigator."
"A para-what?" her brother asked.
"A paranormal investigator," Shizuka repeated, "they're kind of like real-life Ghost Busters, only they use more settle techniques and equipment."
"When there's something strange, in the neighborhood," Honda began singing, "Who ya gonna call?"
"Ghost Busters!" Jonouchi sang along. Yami laughed, but Shizuka and Anzu didn't join in on the fun.
"This is serious," Anzu said, "Yami, maybe we should take her advice."
Yami frowned. "Why? Just because you had one nightmare in a new house, you automatically assume it's haunted?" Then he remembered hearing the footsteps, but he wasn't going to tell that to Anzu. He didn't want her to freak out even more… or win this little argument.
Anzu shrugged. "It won't hurt to have them come out and check it out." But before Yami could answer, Shizuka had already handed Anzu the phone number on a small slip of paper.
"Hey, guys, the food's here!" Jonouchi happily announced. Yami turned his head to see their orders on two large, plastic trays, and, for a time, they forgot about their troubles with the new house.
Anzu jumped out of the car and walked up to the front door of the house. For some reason, she was having an unusual sense of dread, as if walking through the doors would be like falling into the black emptiness of a bottomless hole…
"Did you have a nice time?" Yami asked as he walked up to her. She pushed her thoughts away and nodded.
"Thank you she much, Yami!" she smiled. Yami nodded with a happy grin, and he unlocked the door with his key.
As he walked in, she heard a crunch, and they both froze. Anzu slowly turned around to see what was inside the house, and she gasped.
Right in the middle of the floor, was a pile of all of the picture frames and books, even the ones that were once still hidden in the many brown boxes throughout the house. It looked as if someone had carelessly tossed them there, and Yami had stepped on the picture of them in the air port.
"Who could've done this?" she whispered. Yami's body was shaking, and he shook his head.
"Everything was all locked up," he shook, "I know. I double-checked everything before we left!"
When the entered the house, Yami picked up the frame he stepped on as Anzu shut the door.
"I'm sorry," he apologized.
"It's okay," she returned, "you didn't know, and we can get a…" she trailed away when she thought she heard someone walking around upstairs…
She froze and looked at Yami. He was sheet white. She grabbed his hand, and they slowly made their way to the stairs. They sneaked up the staircase, and the footsteps soon became louder. They stopped by the door to the master bedroom… and where the footsteps were coming from.
Yami took in a deep breath, and he kicked the door open. They peered in, expecting to see someone in the room. But they saw something even more horrifying: no one. The footsteps had faded, but they were frightened anyway.
"Alright, Anzu," Yami shook, "You win. We'll call these paranormal investigators tomorrow morning."
A/N: And it's just the beginning. So no one yells at me, I don't own Olive Garden, Cinema Bizzare or their songs, or Ghost Busters. The Cinema Bizzare reference is dedicated to my friend who's completely absesed with them. And if you don't know who they are, look them up! When I was writing the footsteps scene when they got back, my mom burst into my room. I almost jumped out of my chair! And they wonder why I'm never down stairs with them… *SIGHS* Please leave a comment!