Title: The Other Jesse
Genre: romance, hurt/comfort, horror
Rating: T for language and mild violence
Pairing: JesseXJaden (spiritshipping)
Summary: Based on the 2009 movie "Coraline". While wandering around Duel Academy, Jaden stumbles into a world that is almost a mirror image of his own. There, he meets the mirror versions of his friends, and a man who looks exactly like his boyfriend Jesse Andersen, only he has dark black buttons for eyes! The Other Jesse, as he calls himself, insists that Jaden stays in the Other World with them, but Jaden refuses, saying that he can't leave the real Jesse. The Other Jesse doesn't like that, and captures the real Jesse, forcing Jaden to play a game to the death with the monster wearing his boyfriend's appearance. But is the Other Jesse exactly who he says he is?
Me: All right! Chapter one of "The Other Jesse"!
Lucy: Jaden is already sort of aware of the fact that someone is watching him, and I am sure that we all know who is watching Jesse and Jaden, since it's in the title.
Me: So, we hope you will all enjoy this story!
Lucy: Please enjoy!
Chapter One: The Doorway
Duel Academy held yet another bright and sunny day. Not a care in the world. Totally perfect. The sun was shining, it was warm out, and the sky was clear of any clouds. The floral scents of the trees and flowers around the whole island were carried by the gentle wind, and it was an amazement that the scents of so few flowers could be carried so far and produce such a strong scent.
Such a lovely day, and yet, it would be the last time that a day like today would bring pleasant memories of a young brunette and his bluenette boyfriend.
"Hey, Jay?" Jesse Andersen called to his boyfriend.
Jaden glanced up from his hand of Duel Monsters cards, curiosity in his brown eyes. "Yeah, Jess?" he asked.
He and Jesse had been dating for a long time, and since Jesse was now enrolled in Duel Academy, they didn't have to fear being separated from one another any longer than needed. Jesse and Jaden were so in love with each other that they would do anything for one another. They had been through so much in the past two years, that there was almost nothing that could keep them apart from each other.
"Do you think you could run to the dorm and grab my deck?" Jesse asked. "I left it there, and I have a duel with Syrus in a little bit. I'd go and grab it myself, but I have to help Jim out with something. I think it's making a bed for Shirley."
"Sure, Jess," Jaden smiled. "Be back in a flash."
He quickly pressed his lips against his boyfriend's cheek and then dashed for the dorms. He and Jesse lived in the same dorm, the Obelisk dorms, since they were a bit better than those of the Slifer dorms.
When Jaden approached the dorms, he couldn't help but be overwhelmed at how big they were. He looked up with a smile and rushed up the stairs, to the room that he and Jesse shared with each other.
He pulled out his key and unlocked the door, stepping inside.
Personally, he liked the Obelisk dorms. They were roomy, spacious, and had at least three rooms to them. There was the main room, where the bed was, a bathroom, and a small kitchen. The walls were all a deep blue, the color of the Obelisk uniforms. The carpets were a slightly lighter shade, and the walls were trimmed with white. The bed was in the back of the room, and it was a king sized bed, big enough for two people, which was why Jesse had no problems sharing it with Jaden (not that he would if the bed was a much smaller version). It was a nice dorm, and the kitchen held a tiny stove, a small kitchen, and a few counters.
Jaden 'hmm'ed to himself and looked around with a curious blink.
"Now, if I were Jesse, where would I keep my deck?" he murmured aloud.
He glanced around the room and spotted the black deck holder that Jesse clipped to his belt whenever he wasn't using his deck laying atop the wooden dresser, slightly pulled from the wall. Jaden's face lit up with a genuine smile.
"There you are!" he chimed in.
The brunette waltzed over to the deck box and picked it up. The deck box slipped from his hand and fell behind the dresser, hitting the ground below with a dull thump.
"Damn!" Jaden snapped, mentally scolding himself.
He dropped to his knees and pushed the dresser out a bit further so that he could reach his hand in and grab the deck box. He stuck his hand in, through a few cobwebs, and felt around for the deck box. His fingers brushed over the wall, and when he moved down, he brushed what felt like a rusty old bolt, a door-hinge.
"Huh?" Jaden looked down and grabbed the dresser, moving it a bit further.
He moved the dresser and moved his hand so that he could feel the hinge. His fingers traced what appeared to be the outline of a small door, and when Jaden moved the dresser far enough for him to sit between, he could see the outline of a tiny door half his height, tall enough and wide enough for Jaden to crawl through.
"A door?" Jaden murmured to himself.
He felt the smooth surface of the tiny door and moved his fingers over the rusty hinges. He couldn't find a door handle, but there seemed to be enough space between the door and the wall for Jaden to slip his fingers in between.
He hooked his nail into the small space and pried. With a forceful yank, the door in the wall popped open with a 'click'. Jaden pulled it back and peered inside.
Before he knew what had happened, a harsh wind seemed to suck him into the doorway.
Jaden cried out as he was tugged through what looked like an endless vortex. The walls of the vortex looked like they were made of cotton, or silk from a spider's web. It was a mixture of purples, blues, pinks, and reds, and the colors seemed to constantly shift, flashing brightly in certain areas that it almost made Jaden go blind.
He could feel like he wasn't getting enough oxygen. He was suffocating as he was pulled, and he had no idea where he was going. He tried to stay conscious as the wind tugged him, like an invisible hand.
Before Jaden knew it, his world had gone black, and he was void of any feeling.
When Jaden came to, he found himself with a pounding headache. His vision was blurred, but came into focus rather quickly. He found himself staring up at the ceiling of his and Jesse's dorm in the Obelisk dorms.
"Nngh..." Jaden groaned, forcing himself into a seated position. His hand flew to his temple, where his headache was the worst. "Ooh, my head's killing me. What on Earth happened?"
Jaden glanced around and saw that the room was exactly the same. The dresser had been moved back, out of the position it was in before Jaden was dragged through the little doorway he had found. His gaze shifted, until he caught the sound of what appeared to be a knife clacking off a cutting board.
Jaden glanced over and peered into the small kitchen on the other side of the room.
He saw Jesse standing with his back to him, and he seemed to be busy cutting something up. Jaden couldn't see what he was cutting up, but by the clacks the knife was making, it must have been a vegetable of some kind.
Jaden pushed himself off the bed and stumbled to the kitchen's doorway. He peered through the door and just stared at Jesse for what seemed like countless hours.
Jesse either hadn't heard Jaden, or was ignoring him, because he didn't turn around to face him. He just stood with his back to the brunette, focused deep on cutting up the food he was to make. Jaden eyed him for a long time, waiting for Jesse to notice him, but when the bluenette didn't turn around, Jaden decided to make himself known.
"Jesse?" Jaden called softly. "What'cha doing?"
Jesse must have heard Jaden this time, because he stopped in mid-cut and released his grip on the knife. He moved slightly to the side, and Jaden could see that he was hacking up a potato.
The bluenette looked over his shoulder, but Jaden noticed that the bluenette's bangs were covering his eyes from sight. Jaden couldn't help but feel uneasy. Jesse seemed so... mysterious right now, that it was creeping Jaden out. Jesse clapped his hands together and seemed to wipe them off before turning slightly more.
"I've been waiting a long time to meet you, Jay," Jesse said.
Jaden gulped and took a small step back. The voice was definitely the same Southern accent that Jesse had, and it was definitely Jesse's voice, but the tone he used, the way that he made his words, was slightly different. Most people wouldn't have noticed the difference, but most people didn't know Jesse like Jaden did.
"W-waiting to meet me?" Jaden echoed. "What do you mean, Jess?"
Jesse turned around so that he was fully facing Jaden, his hands gripping the counter, as if to support himself while he leaned against it. "No," he whispered softly. "Not Jesse. Not Jesse at all," he murmured again.
The bluenette lifted up his head so that he could lock eyes with Jaden.
Jaden was expecting to see his boyfriend's emerald eyes when he glanced up, but instead, he got a real shock.
Brown eyes met soulless black.
Jesse no longer had bright emerald green eyes, the color that Jaden had fallen in love with. Hell, it looked like the bluenette didn't even have eyes anymore!
They were glossy black buttons, soulless, like a hand-made doll would possess. They shone in the lights from the kitchen, and Jaden couldn't tear his eyes away, even though he was shaking.
T-that's not...
Jaden gulped and tried to back up, but those soulless black eyes just seemed to hold him in place. He was aware of his trembling knees, and he felt like he was going to collapse any moment.
That's not Jesse!
Me: Okay! Chapter one, and already, Jaden has stumbled into the Other World.
Lucy: And he's seen who we think might be...
Me: Who do you all think it is? Though that one is pretty self-explanatory, so there really isn't any need to wonder about who it could be! Anyway, we shall update our other stories this evening and tomorrow, hopefully, so please have no worries. We have not forgotten about them!
Lucy: Please review nicely, and we shall update ASAP, as well as with our other stories!