K: Hey, guys! I started playing Fatal Frame 2 and… well, let's just say I've gotten a lot of fantastically creepy scene ideas for this fic via my paranoid and hypersensitive imagination… Well, a few personal experiences, too, I suppose… Gah- I have an overactive imagination that likes freaking me out.
Oh! I did an illustration for chapter 2, btw. You can find it HERE: www (dot) deviantart (dot com) /view/36188084 (no spaces)
I've also started posting this story on Devart. That version is slightly different than this one (better, since I took out typos and added some stuff), so please read them BOTH, okay? www (dot) deviantart (dot com) /deviation/39294024/ (no spaces) Thanks!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
Dedications:
Seigyoku Kiryou
HOPPY-SAN2345
Counterspell
Daaku Kitsune
Bellebelle3 (Well, I wouldn't say PERFECTLY. There's a couple typos in this one, and overall, I like how the original is written better. It's not in my usual narrative voice… The plot is going to be completely different, since the fic is going to be yaoi/shonen ai, but the events in the first few chapters leading up to the revelation are pretty much the same.)
Dragonlady222 (Did you know 2-2-2 is supposed to be the number that shows up when ghosts are trying to talk to you? I heard that somewhere…)
Hikarigirl18 (See, see? Updating!)
Hiddenaffections (Cool name. Hope you enjoy this chapter!)
Merodi no Yami (Pokepoke. Are you dead?)
The Apparition
Encounter III: Desperation
I couldn't sleep after that. I kept thinking that if I let my guard down for even a second, he'd come back and I'd be done for. Sleep meant the possibility of never waking up again, and it was that fear that kept me awake far into the night.
I sat at my computer, my location giving me a perfect view of the entire room, watching for any strange shadows or movement that would alert me to another presence. Even though I'd turned my desk lamp on, many dark, looming shadows remained, taunting me with their ability to conceal and twist ordinary objects into horrifying monsters and apparitions before my tired eyes.
It was futile, really—keeping the light on. It wasn't as if it kept him away or protected me from him. His immunity to light had clearly been demonstrated earlier, during the incident in the bathroom, so, ultimately, it was useless to harbor any hope of it warding him off. The only thing it accomplished was slightly illuminating the room so I could at least see him before he attacked me. That was the plan, anyway.
Still, being near it did make me feel a tiny bit better…
I tensed as I heard a rustling noise come from beyond my bedroom door. As I listened, the noise seemed to grow louder, closer, and my blood seemed to freeze in my veins. I half-expected something to suddenly pass through the wood and into the room. My grip tightened around the edges of my chair, my knuckles turning white, and I breathed as slowly and quietly as I could, focusing on the sound.
It was hard, straining to hear over the frantic beating of my heart.
The rustling continued to approach, the sound of feet being dragged slowly across the floor like in one of those zombie films Americans are so crazy about. I tried not to imagine a rotted, disfigured corpse lumbering about in the hallway, and shivered as I heard the creak of a nearby door. There was a familiar click of a light switch, followed by another creak, and I slowly exhaled, relieved. There was a perfectly logical explanation for the strange noises—Grandpa was making a late-night trip to the restroom.
Sure enough, the sound of the toilet flushing echoed throughout the house a few minutes later, its familiar roar drowning out Grandpa's retreating footsteps as he returned to his own room. The small bit of normality eased my mind, assuaging my fears for at least a little while. It seemed to me that if Grandpa was just fine, then I'd be okay, too.
It was then that my bladder decided it was high time to remind me of my own bodily needs, an uncomfortable pressure building on my lower abdomen and threatening to overcome me. I hadn't used the restroom since I'd first gotten home, and that had been nearly thirteen hours ago. I stared across the room at the door to my haunted lavatory, debating whether to risk approaching.
My bladder won out in the end, and I cautiously rose and crossed the expanse, alert and ready for anything out of the ordinary. My eyes darted around the room, on the lookout for any mysterious shadows creeping up behind me, and once I was certain there was nothing else around, they settled on the bar of bright yellow light at my feet. I hadn't dared to return to flip the switch after the chilling encounter, and as such, the beams shining through the crack had cheerily beckoned me all night.
As soon as my fingertips brushed over the door handle, an eerie tingling spread throughout my body. My breath caught, and my gaze instantly returned to the beam of light, expecting to see a shadow. Nothing was there. Regardless, I still felt as if there was something waiting there on the other side, ready to ambush me when my back was turned. Well, I wasn't going to fall for it.
Withdrawing my hand, I slowly backed away from the door, intent on using the bathroom down the hall. My bladder, however, demanded that it couldn't wait that long. I cringed as a particularly painful twinge shot through my abdomen, then quickly rushed through the door and to the toilet, too distracted to worry about any ghosts. I sighed in relief as I took care of business, then tensed again when I realized where I was. As my eyes darted around the room, I noted the bathtub's curtains were drawn, hiding the tub from view. I stared at it warily. Any number of things could be hiding behind it.
Using my free hand, I gripped the end of the curtains, swiftly opening them in an attempt to surprise whatever was there. The empty tub gleamed innocently back at me, everything in its place and no monsters to be found. I kept my eye on it while I composed myself after finishing up, still under the impression I would be attacked at any moment. I racked my brain for all the places a ghost could hide, assuming they weren't invisible, and jerked my head up to check the ceiling just in case.
I moved over to the sink, washing my hands as I looked all around the room, and discovered that I was drenched in a cold, nervous sweat. I figured things were quiet enough for me to ease up a little, so I leaned down over the basin, splashing my face with cool, refreshing water. Wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I was suddenly struck with a horrible thought- what if they had been waiting for me to let down my guard like this? What if there was something standing behind me right now, while my eyes were closed? Or what if I opened my eyes and those creepy red ones were staring back at me through the mirror again?
My breath quickened, on the verge of a panic attack. If that was the case, I was almost certainly done for. If not…
Swallowing my fear, I opened my eyes and faced my reflection.
There was no ghost… no demon lurking behind me... I checked the mirror- no big changes… no crimson orbs peering into my soul. All I found were the frightened violet eyes I recognized as my own. I sighed, my breathing slowly returning to normal, and thanked every God I knew of that I'd survived.
I returned to my post, leaving the door open so I had a clear view of what was inside it, and slumped tiredly in my micro-suede swivel chair. My vision swam in and out, making my surroundings fuzzy, and I pinched the bridge of my nose, squeezing my eyes shut and blinking repeatedly to clear the haze of exhaustion. I yawned widely, stretching my aching limbs, and shook my head to ward off sleep.
//Can't do it- they'll get me. Must… stay… awake…//
My eyelids began to feel extremely heavy, drooping down lower and lower of their own accord. Slowly, I felt my mind begin to numb, along with the rest of my body, and a warm, welcoming darkness greeted me as I began to succumb to fatigue.
//Well, maybe I could just… rest my eyes… a little…//
My eyes snapped open, staring into the darkness as my other senses strained to catch whatever it was that had awoken me. Silvery moonlight filtered in through the thin slats in my blinds, illuminating the otherwise black room. I slowly lifted my head from its position on my desk, sitting up and pushing off the polished wood with my hands. I rolled back a short distance from the desk, turning my head to look around the grayed room with an inexplicable feeling of dread.
Something was off.
A small, frightened voice nagged at the back of my mind, whispering words of caution, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember whatever it was trying to warn me about. I frowned at the icy lump that had formed in the pit of my stomach, wondering why I felt so ill at ease, and silently wracked my brain for any clues as to what was wrong. Then something dawned on me- the lights had been on before I slept, and now every one of them had been extinguished.
The knowledge of the past few hours came flooding back to me, a rush of adrenaline pumping steadily through my veins and mixing with the fear that had settled there. A thousand bells went off in my head, ringing and clanging in alarm as panic shot through me, seizing my pounding heart in its icy, skeletal claws. I felt the blood slowly drain from my face, my body going numb at the shocking realization- I had fallen asleep, and now they were here.
All at once, a throaty, guttural voice sounded somewhere in the vicinity of my feet. A shiver raced up and down my spine as the harsh, yet quiet sound slowly intensified in volume, causing the hair on my arms and neck to stand on end. I shakily moved to peer under the desk, but found that my body was frozen. I tried desperately to shake myself free of whatever was keeping me there, but it felt as if some invisible force was pressing down on me, keeping me rooted to the spot. It seemed the only things that were allowed to move freely were my eyes.
I gazed down to the best of my ability, my eyes widening as the space below my desk grew darker, the source of the eerie voice still hidden somewhere in the shadows. I felt something curl around the base of my feet, clinging desperately to my pale, bruised legs, and screamed. Instead of the loud, piercing cry I had expected to come from my open mouth, it simply hung open, silent. I knew I was screaming- I could feel it in my lungs and throat- and yet no sound came forth. It was as if the strange force had not only taken away my ability to move, but my voice, as well. The only way I could hear myself was in my thoughts.
//Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God… Oh, please don't let it take me! Don't let it get me! PLEASE, God, PLEASE!!//
I watched, terrified, as a white, rotten hand made its way up to my knee, followed by another hand that grasped the opposite thigh with a wet, sickening noise. A heavy weight forced its way onto my legs as the creature hauled itself up from the floor, and I squeezed my eyes shut as a head of black, wiry hair began to emerge from under the desk. The voice was right in front of me now, blaring in my ears until I thought my head was going to burst.
//Oh, God. Oh, God…PLEASE, go away! Just go away…! Go away…! GO AWAY!!//
My eyes flew open as I jumped, banging my legs violently on the underside of the desk and causing my swivel chair to fall backward with a muffled crash onto the tan carpet. I panted heavily, covered in sweat, and clutched my head painfully as my jumbled mind tried to make sense of what was going on. Recalling the creature was still there, I leapt away from the furniture that held up my computer, landing a few feet behind the fallen chair. I crouched down, peering wildly at the empty space beneath my desk, and upon finding nothing, let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding.
I rose, scanning the room for any sign of the rotted corpse, my heart still hammering away at the inside of my ribcage. Once I was certain I was alone, I sank to my knees, exhausted. What on Earth had happened?
I ran through the night's events in my head, willing myself to calm down, and as my head began to clear, pieces of the puzzle began falling into place. I had been in such a frightened state of mind when I had fallen asleep, the feeling must have carried over into my dreams, giving birth to that hellish nightmare I had just woken up from. Yeah, that must be it. Just a dream…
Glancing around, I noticed that everything was as it had been before, with the exception of the harsh gray light now visible through the window. It was dawn, and I would normally be waking up to go to school soon. Sighing, I ran a hand through my damp, greasy hair, and decided to forget about sleep and just take a hot, relaxing shower.
Gathering some fresh clothes from my dresser, I padded across the carpet and entered the bathroom, tossing them onto the counter. I then turned the water on, pulling the tab to switch it to shower before pulling the curtains shut. Making sure there were dry towels on the rack before anything else, I proceeded to strip down and used the toilet as I waited for the water to heat up. Once finished, I pulled back the curtain, stepping in as the toilet gurgled noisily after flushing.
The warm water soothed my aching body, spilling out of the showerhead in a steady rain that washed away my troubles as it went. Massaging the back of my neck and along my spine, I made a mental note to never sleep at my desk again- the sore muscles and bruised legs simply weren't worth it. Grabbing the soap, I worked up a good lather in my lufa-towel and rubbed myself down, making sure to scrub lightly whenever I got to a particularly large bruise.
That done, I rinsed off, relishing the hot, steamy water after a night of numbing cold, then picked up the shampoo bottle and squeezed a dollop the size of a half-dollar into my open palm. Snapping the top closed, I gently worked the shampoo into my hair, the scent of mandarin oranges wafting through the muggy air. Closing my eyes, I stepped back into the stream of water, allowing the suds to roll off without my help. I rinsed my hands off, then shivered as a strange feeling came over me.
It felt like I was being watched.
Frowning, I quickly wiped my eyes and looked around, wondering why a ghost would even bother spying on me in the shower. I checked everywhere in the room just in case, popping my head out through the curtains before shrugging and resuming my activities. Putting that weird suspicion out of my mind, I finished washing and turned the water off. Wringing my hair free of most of the water, I pulled the shower curtains back and grabbed a towel to dry off with. I pat myself down, then wrapped the towel around my waist before reaching for a second one to dry my hair.
…and froze.
Turning my gaze to the fogged mirror, my eyes widened at the message that had been scrawled there.
-OMOTE, I FOUND YOU.-
And then, the world went black.
