Just Bad Dreams
Yusei tightly wrapped his arms around his shivering body. The brutally cold air pierced his skin with an intensity he had never experienced before. The endlessly blowing wind pushed against his face and ratted his raven hair. Yusei glanced up towards the sky, praying for the sun to appear and bestow upon him the feelings of warmth and comfort. Instead, the dark grey clouds lowered on the wasteland he called home, cloaking everything in darkness.
He had no idea where he was going or why he felt the need to continue walking in this frigid cold. Yusei looked back down towards the earth, preventing the winds from blowing directly at his flushed face. His feet and lower legs became increasingly numb with every step he took. He tried to distract himself from the cold by watching the breaths coming out from his mouth, with very little relief to the worsening situation.
Suddenly, Yusei stopped dead in his tracks, not being able to take another step forward. Cobalt blue eyes looked up at what was lying ahead of him: just a crumbling building staring back at him. It was not until he noticed someone he recognized slouching up against the structure, when Yusei realized he was not alone in this cold world after all. Yusei somehow found the energy to run up to the person, arms open wide and a half smile forming on his face.
"Crow. Crow! Thank God."
Yusei stepped up to his old friend, put a hand on Crow's shoulder and turned him so that he could see his endearing, marked face again. Unfortunately, Crow was limp to Yusei's gesture of friendship and his lifeless face meet Yusei's. Yusei lost his breath when he finally noticed what was wrong with his friend: pale skin cold to the touch, blue lips, deteriorating features, and soulless eyes.
He was still alone in the world. Yusei took a step back, not understanding, or rather not accepting, Crow's empty body was the only thing keeping him company in the cold. No family. No friends. No home. No love. Just alone and cold.
"Crow...Crow...Crow..." Yusei repeated himself, even though there was no point. "Crow...Crow!"
Yusei's eyes shot open. He turned over on his side, holding the sheets of his bed in a death grip. He immediately tried to forget what his mind had horrifically imagined. It was only a dream. It was just a nightmare.
Yusei rolled out of his bed and paced around his small bedroom until he could collect himself. After finally settling his emotions, Yusei looked to the bedroom door, wondering if he should check in on Crow, but decided not to. He climbed back into bed, wrapping the sheets around his entire body to keep warm.
Yusei's eyes were locked on the road in front of him. With the world flying by, the wind whisking against his skin and the speed of his bike only increasing with every mile driven, Yusei would have normally felt energized and excited. However, for some unknown reason, that was not the case. Dark storm clouds in the sky followed him from behind. A musky feeling enveloped the great city and thick air gave Yusei a sense that something was wrong.
Yusei persisted with his ride, despite the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that something was wrong. Driving like this made everything around him blur, until something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Yusei put the brakes on his runner, hopped off and focused on the object near the side of the road. It was a kid, a young kid. Yusei gasped and ran towards the child. He noticed a broken duel board laying only a yard away.
"Hey, kid! Are you alright?" Yusei knelt down besides the child and turned them over, finally seeing their face. He was struck with utter fear. "Luna!?"
Yusei picked up the young girl and held her close to his chest. "Luna! Luna! Say something!"
That was when Yusei noticed Luna was not breathing. He cradled the little girl in his arms, not knowing how this could have happened. The air around him began to burn and the tears forming in his eyes seared the skin of his cheeks when they rolled down his face. She was just a kid. She was just an innocent child. How could he have let this happen? Yusei was supposed to protect his friends, especially those who needed him the most. It was his fault that this burning tragedy had to happen.
"No. Luna!"
Yusei's arms and legs spazzed as the sheets covering him were quickly thrown to the floor. His heart was beating rapidly and his body was covered in a thin layer of sweat. It was another awful nightmare, the word 'awful' being a light way to put it. Yusei slowly began to calm down after telling himself it was just a dream. However, it was a bad dream that quickly followed a similar bad dream of his friends dying.
Something was wrong with him.
"I'm tired. I've been working too much. I'm stressed. I haven't been eating right." Yusei tried to reason with himself. "They are just dreams. Nothing bad happened and nothing bad will happen to my friends. It's all in my head." He sighed, closing his eyes and wondering if it was even worth it to go back to sleep. "They're just bad dreams."
Yusei was standing in a dark alleyway. The buildings around seemed to encage him. He did not like being trapped here and desperately wanted to get out. His eyes darted around, looking for a way to free himself. Yusei peered down to the end of the alleyway, seeing someone standing there. A familiar face looked back at him. "Jack."
Yusei watched, unable to move, as a drop of blood beaded down from Jack's mouth and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. "Jack! Jack, what's wrong!? Jack. Jack!" He could not take anymore of this.
"Jack!" Yusei shouted, falling out of his bed in the process.
Within a matter of seconds, the door to Yusei's room flew open. "Yusei, what's wrong?!" Jack ran into the room, wrapping his arm around his friend's shoulders. Yusei was rocking on the floor in shock. "Yusei, what happened?"
"Jack-" Yusei glanced up. "You're alright."
"Of course I'm alright. I wasn't the one screaming bloody hell. What happened?" Jack attempted to ask one more time.
"Are Crow and Luna okay?" The younger boy asked out of desperation.
"What are you talking about?" Jack paused, remembering this was not the first time he barged into Yusei's room in the middle of the night after hearing his friend's screams. "Are you having nightmares again?"
Yusei nodded slightly.
"It's going to be alright, Yusei." Jack tried to comfort his little brother. "Everyone's fine."
Outside Yusei's bedroom window, the morning sun began to rise. Beams of light shined into the room, finally putting an end to Yusei's night of terror. He took a few more deep breaths, getting a firm grasp on reality. "I'm okay, Jack."
The older boy smiled. "It's been awhile since I've had to comfort you after a nightmare, hasn't it?"
Yusei rolled his eyes at the statement. "Yea. Listen, I'll be alright. They were just bad dreams."