The Forbidden Shadow Game
[Any L. J. Smith fans out there gimmie a w00t! This series introduced me to teen literature and the horror/romance genre-- which is now my obsession. Thank you B&N, the most wonderful store in the universe who also happens to be my supplier of manga other than the stores in the mall that are not NEARLY so full of books and-- takes deep breath ok.. Stopping now. Yes, anyway, the Forbidden Game series (along with ANYTHING else written by L. J. Smith is AWESOMELY wonderful and creepy. When I got the first book, I swear I went up in my room and read it until I finished. I even missed part of dinner because I couldn't stop. And then, recently, I started noticing many similarities between TFG series and Yu-Gi-Oh. (like the fact that Julian is a shadow man, and he brings them all to the Shadow World to play games for their lives.. More later) Weird, yes, but I'm overly obsessive. I've been planning this since before Christmas and I'm just starting typing this up now. I have a good excuse, though! I lost my binder with all my story notes and my BEST pictures that I drew on a trip... and was horribly depressed. I still have relapses. Anyway, I'm starting now!]
[Started; 07/04/04 at 12:25 AM. I will not get much more than this typed tonight, but it's a start, ne?]
[disclaimer: I want YuGiOh. I want the Shadow Realm/World. But more than anything, I want Bakura chained up in my bedroom. I don't own anything by the goddess L. J. Smith or anything from Yu Gi Oh...I guess I own nothing here...]
((BTW, I'm re-reading the books as I write this, and intend on doing the whole trilogy. And pairings are gonna be WAY screwed up in the beginning, but I'm gonna sort it all out by the end. Some female/male characters in the book are going to be played by members of the opposite sex. There will be YAOI. And I am SO screwing with the original plot, because verbatim would be annoying and predictable, and then you wouldn't have to go out and get the books. So don't hate me if "Jenny" doesn't end up with "Tom." Or, hey, if "Tom" turns out to be more than human!))
Ryou nervously glanced back over his shoulder. Those two were still following him. They were on the other side of the street, but following all the same. He knew it was his own fault- he should never have entered this part of Domino. It was known for its riot-damaged store fronts and shady characters. He really wished he wasn't alone right then, but that had been the point.
Today was his boyfriend Atemu's birthday. They had been dating for two years now, and Ryou still felt butterflies every time Atem smiled at him, although sometimes he felt that the older boy cared less than he could have. But Ryou didn't mind. He had had his share of dating over his relatively short lifetime, and after dating druggies, ravers, band members and jocks, was sure that Atem was the best he was going to get.
Ryou had low expectations of life since he was little and gave up on his dreams of having a well-rounded family when his mother died and his father threw himself into his work as an archeologist, unable to cope with the loss, leaving Ryou alone most of the time. It wasn't that he didn't love his only son- much to the contrary, but he just couldn't stand to be inactive in any way, shape, or form after the loss of his wife, and the only work he knew how to do involved too much travel to spend any time with his young son. So Ryou had been cared for by a nanny until he was 10, and then took care of himself. His only problem was his slight fear of the dark, which, when they did talk, his father assured him was just because when he was very little his grandfather had scared him once. For some reason, though, Ryou's father refused to talk about the old man.
Ryou paused in front of another dirty glass window, pretending to look inside the abandoned shop. In the reflection, he watched the two boys on the other side of the road stop short after he did. Ryou picked this moment to look them over, trying to see what he was dealing with. One was tall, with blonde spiky bangs poking out from under a red-white-and-blue bandana and a leather jacket. The other was small, and thin, and his paleish hair stood out at odd angles. ((Guess who!)) Ryou was pretty sure that if he made it to the end of the block, he could sprint to safety inside of a store, or at least find a payphone to call for help.
He started walking again, briskly, to warm himself up for his planned mad-dash once he reached the end of the street. His followers kept pace easily. When he finally reached the corner after what felt like forever he made a mad-dash down the block. He looked for anything, anywhere at all to hide. As he glanced behind him to see if they were still following him, he caught a glint of gold out of the corner of his eye. A doorknob, right in the middle of a large, darkly eye-catching mural. He grabbed it so quickly and dove in so fast he nearly missed the sign right above the door. It read: More Games.
[So, here's where the first chapter stops in the book. This was more like an introduction chapter, really, so don't hate me. I'll update next week! The next chapter's A LOT longer. I promise! 6 Pages!!! Review, Please!!!]