Once saw this anime called "Shiki" something or other. When my friend told me it was about vampires, I more or less did a raspberry in her face and flounced off. Lucky for me she tracked me down and made me watched the first episode or two. That was some brilliant horror, right there. Sent all my writer nerd nerves haywire. Freaking terrifying.

I hope to incorporate some of that same horror into this story. But I don't got my hopes up too high since I already revealed the monster. Number one rule of horror: revealing the monster means game over.

Chapter 1

"Boobs boobs boobs boobs,"

Yugi sighed and rolled her eyes at the tall blond currently hugging her breasts and bouncing them as she watched the zombies on the screen. As she sang on to her new bouncy breasts, Yugi shot down the horde to clear the way to the fire embossed door.

"You're cute," Yugi said, looking through the inventory on the screen for the red key.

"Correction. I is sexy! Two months of scrounging plastic bottles and the old man's beer was totally worth it. It's like I got a freaking boob job!"

Yugi smiled, though had become preoccupied with the screen as the door opened to an uncomfortably calm room. The light from the moon brought an old portrait over the mantle into stark relief, and the dark eyes and high cheek bones unnerved her.

Joey must have sensed the oncoming horror, for she begun to bounce her boobs faster.

"Protect me, my blessed jiggly friends," she murmured. "Evil is at hand."

"Seriously, I won't be offended if you want to play a different game," said Yugi.

"Nah, I ain't—HOLY CRAP WHAT WAS THAT!"

"It's just a crow. Man, there isn't even any creepy music or anything."

Yugi maneuvered her character about the room, examining the coffee table between the two settees and the bookshelf. As the camera switched view, another painting came into view, situated between two mirrors.

"Again with the mirrors," muttered Joey. "Reminds me of that 'Hollows' game where you—"

An eyeless, howling face smacked against one of the mirrors. Boob bouncing ceased as Joey screamed bloody murder and Yugi started a deluge of bullets into the glass.

After a good full minute of screams, the door slammed open and Yugi's black haired mother appeared.

"What in the—Josephine Wheeler!"

"It's gonna kill meeeee!"

"I thought I told you no more scary video games? Yugi, do you have it out for your friend—pause your game!"

Yugi jabbed start mid lead spray. "Yeah Mom?"

The mama beast narrowed her eyes and slapped a hand to her waist and a finger towards the console. "Off. Now."

"Alright! Alright! Sorry, I didn't think she'd…sorry Mom."

With a few more child frying glares and some coerced promises from the teen girls that they'd keep the screaming to a 'not at all,' she finally left, her shoes clicking down the stairs as she went.

Yugi gave Joey a look.

Joey threw her hands in the air. "I'm sorry! I thought I had it this time!"

Yugi sighed and hung her hands off her crossed legs. "It's my fault. I thought you were caught up enough in your new bra to, you know…whatever."

"I thought I was too." Joey gave her breasts a tentative prod. "Lordie, they're like perfect globes of jello goodness."

"Try not to fawn over your breasts while you're on your date with Duke, yeah?"

"Pfft. I won't have room to. That guy's eyes will be taking it all up."

Yugi wrinkled her nose, but grinned nonetheless. "Didn't think you'd be the type to give a guy invitation to be a perv."

"Since I have no interest in the bloke," she puffed out her chest. It conceded to one humble jiggly.

"And you're still going with him why…?"

"Cuz I ain't get no romanc'n and I want something to puff myself up with the next time Tristan starts singing his "Like a Man" song to Madonna's Virgin crap. Besides, should prove interesting. Free food's always good."

"Hazah to free food." Yugi pulled over her case of video games and fingered through titles. She passed over the horrors with only a twinge of regret, and finally settled on an old multi-player RPG she hadn't touched in weeks. She showed it to Joey for her opinion, but got a shaggy shake of the blonde's head.

"My legs are getting all stuffy. Why don't we go get a milkshake or something?"

Yugi glanced at the clock. "It's almost ten."

"Micky D's is open twenty-four seven and I still got five dollars left over from the boobie fund. Come on, your mom won't mind."

Yugi didn't know if that was necessarily a good thing, but since McDonalds was only three blocks away, it wasn't like she had much to worry about. Still…

She pushed her videogames back beneath her little TV.

"You're buying."

They left Yugi's mom a shout on where they were going and headed off into the night. Slow traffic buzzed by, throwing the shadows of dead lamp posts and their legs onto the brick buildings they passed. A pizza place across the street that had been there since the dawn of time watched them with one lone light glowing from its windows. A used book store didn't look at all, too cramped between two apartment buildings for emergency lights.

Once the two had obtained their milkshakes, Joey chocolate and Yugi strawberry, they headed back through the orange lit night. Yugi looked up at the stars as she waited for the next car to pass. Strawberry coated the roof of her mouth. The air was warm, just right for ice cream.

It was one of those summer nights. The kind she knew she'd drift back to when she needed to remember what peace felt like.

"What's that?"

Joey's forced calm sent a cold shiver up Yugi's spine. She dropped her head, following Joey's finger to a dark, short alley they were passing, mostly filled with a dumpster.

Something, or someone, hunched in the darkness. The light from the nearest working streetlamp was enough to see the edges of a long black trench coat and the shape of wild hair. Even as Yugi watched, the tips of their hair seemed to tremble.

"Probably someone who wants to be left alone," said Yugi quietly, pushing at her frozen friend. "Honestly, no more horror games for you."

At the sound of her voice, the person in the alley looked up, and Yugi found herself staring into a pair of impossibly red, glowing eyes.

For the space of a breath, Yugi felt her muscles seize up under that gaze, suspended in blank surprise and the calm before the flight.

Joey was the first to react. She let out one of her famous piercing shrieks and split, long legs serving her well.

Yugi, however, found herself unable to move, stunned with an overwhelming pressure of something imminent, something dangerous, tinged with an unproductive amount of disbelief. This had to be a joke, after all. No one had glowing red eyes. How hokey could you get?

Slowly, the figure stood, unblinking.

Strawberry milkshake splattered over her feet. Ice cream sunk around the plastic strap of her flip-flops, in between her toes.

"Aren't you going to run after your friend?"

If the cold of her lost treat had been enough to unstick her, the low, smooth voice had been enough to refreeze her.

"I'm g-g-getting to that," she heard herself squeak.

The red eyes finally blinked.

Then the night air rumbled with a break of unmistakable laughter. The rolling peels sent pleasant prickles over her shoulders. The idea that this was a joke became a little stronger, blurring the terror.

"I-Is this some kind of joke?" she asked, trying not to sound offensive. "I mean, you have to be a pro if it is. It's got to cost some money to make your eyes glow like that. Do you just wait here for anyone to look in?"

The laughter hitched and lowered to a closed mouth chuckle. Her eyes had adjusted a bit more by now, and she thought she could make out a smooth face and proud shoulders. Now that she was calming down, she noticed he wasn't all that tall for a boy. Definitely taller than her (everything was taller than her), but nothing that should have intimidated Joey, street fighter extraordinaire.

"Something like that," he said, and she found she liked listening to his voice. "Best you scurry off. Got to prepare for my next scare, eh?"

But Yugi found herself cocking her head to the side as she tried to covertly shake the milkshake from her toes.

"Is this, like, a hobby of yours?" she asked. "How did you get your eyes to glow?"

"Magician's secret. You should head along."

She nodded, set down her sticky foot, and smiled. "I'll see you around, then."

It wasn't till she stepped into the bright light of her bathroom to clean off her feet to the sound's of Joey's raving that she noticed that her hands were still shaking.