We've had creepy crawlies, now we have vermin!


Chapter 2.

Spiders vs Rats.

Following the trauma of thinking she had bugs all over her, Anzu could still feel her skin crawling with bugs. She needed to wash the crawling feeling away.

Not wanting to be on her own right now, she showered with Yugi.

"I feel like I'm covered in bites," she told him, as he held the mixer shower over her so that she could rinse off.

"You don't have any bites," he said, admiring her soft, silky skin. "It's your imagination playing tricks on you."

"I don't care what you say, Yugi, didn't imagine those bugs," she said, huffing irritably.

Yugi tried to be diplomatic. "I didn't say you did. What I said was…." Anzu cut him off mid sentence.

"I know what you said, Yugi. You think I'm crazy," she retorted. "Hand me my towel."

Doing as he was told, Yugi frowned. "I don't think you're crazy," he implored, shutting off the water and reaching for his own towel.

They dried off in silence. He tried offering her a hug, which she rebuffed by turning her back on him and marching into the bedroom to put her night clothes on.

Trying to explain his reasoning, Yugi followed her. "When I walked into the kitchen you were dancing about like you were possessed, shouting for me to get them off you. And I honestly couldn't see anything."

Anzu pouted at him. "Believe me Yugi, they were real, I know they were."

"Will it help if I say I believe you?" he said, smiling apologetically – he did not want then to end the day on a sour note.

Anzu offered him a wan smile in return and began drying her hair.

After they had both dried their hair, they went back downstairs to the kitchen. It was quiet and peaceful and there was nothing untoward. Yugi picked up the plastic zip-lock bag, in which he had put the handful of dead bugs they had found in the cupboard, and studied it. Dead. Very dead. "I just don't understand how they came back to life!" he exclaimed, shaking the bag, making Anzu shudder.

"Just throw them in the bin, Yugi! Please?"

"Sorry," he said, dropping the bag in the kitchen bin.

Anzu poured herself a glass of water. "I'm going up to bed," she said wearily.

Instinctively, Yugi yawned. "Me, too," he said around his yawn.

Anzu poured him a glass of water and handed it to him with a rather worn out, fed up expression on her face.

Turning off the kitchen light, he followed her up the stairs. This was supposed to be their happy, forever home, yet it was their first night together and there was a bad atmosphere between them.

In the darkness behind him, a pair of exotic crimson eyes glowed in the darkness.

The shadow had not intended to up the ante with the illusions quite this quickly, but using those dead bugs in the cupboard as inspiration to create one was more than any self respecting ghost haunting a house could resist! And the reaction people gave when they believed they were covered in creepy crawlies was always so satisfying.

As the shadowy figure drifted up the stairs, at an undetectable distance behind Yugi, the spirit could not help noticing how Yugi's profile matched his own. Was it a coincidence? Or did it mean something more? Part of him was eager to know. But whatever his feelings, the shadowy spirit was not about to let sentiment into his abandoned, vengeful soul. Sentimentality did not sit quite right in the non-beating heart of any ghost worth its reputation, so the shadow forced the feeling down the feeling, burying it as deeply as he could.

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Snuggling down in bed, Yugi offered Anzu a sincere apology. Not wanting to go to sleep in a bad mood she accepted.

"I didn't mean to accuse you of making it up," he said. "I know I couldn't see what you were seeing, but I do believe you saw something strange."

"I definitely wasn't making it up," Anzu reiterated. She sighed, pecking him lightly on the lips and then reaching up to turn off the lamp above their futon. "Must be the stress of moving house," she decided, snuggling down.

"They say moving house is one of the most stressful things there is," he said, snaking his arms around her. "But I have ways of easing your stress, he said softly, kissing her with a little more desire than she had just kissed him with.

At first, Anzu responded, but after a few moments she pulled away. "I think we both need a good night's sleep."

"Does that mean 'no'?" he said, a little disappointed that he was not able to get her in the mood.

"Yes. It means No," Anzu said assertively. "But I would like you to cuddle me." After the insect experience she was afraid to fall asleep without Yugi's comforting arms around her.

"Of course," he said, willingly obliging.

It had been a hectic, busy day, and cuddled together it did not take long for them to both fall asleep.

Melded into the ceiling above the bed, the shadow watched them sleep. They looked so peaceful and cute lying together, breathing softly.

It would be a shame to wake them, wouldn't it? The shadow smirked to himself. He could make a series of bumps, make doors rattle, make gusts of wind blow through the house.

Instead, for some inexplicable reason, he decided to call it a night, melting away into the darkness of the shadows.

::::::::::::

Waking to a faint stream of sunlight coming in through a gap in the ill-fitting curtains, Anzu yawned. She lay there for several moments, gazing at the particles of dust dancing in the steam of sunlight, before turning to look at Yugi.

During the night they had unfurled their bodies from one another and moved to their respective side of the bed. He was laying with his back to her and still appeared to be fast asleep.

Anzu felt much better for a good sleep, and would have enjoyed a well deserved lie in, but they still had boxes of essentials to unpack, groceries to buy, cleaning to be done and decorating to be planned – it was a good job that they both had the day off work!

Slipping out of bed, Anzu tiptoed to the bathroom. When she returned a few minutes later, Yugi was awake.

"What time is it?" he asked, with a stifled yawn.

Since they had yet to set up the alarm clock radio, Anzu reached down for her phone on the floor next to her side of the bed. "Eight, nearly. Where's your watch?"

"Hmm," he answered, sitting up. "I left it in the bathroom, I think." He got up and trotted to the bathroom.

"Do you want tea or coffee?" Anzu called out.

"Don't mind. Whatever you're having," he called back, the bathroom door closing behind him.

Since they had yet to unpack the coffee machine and Anzu found instant coffee gross, she decided to make green tea.

In the bathroom, Yugi splashed his face with cold water to wake himself up a bit more. He then looked for his watch, but there was no sign of it. He could have sworn he took it off when he showered last night. He distinctly remembered putting it on the plastic shelf underneath the bathroom cabinet.

He opened the cabinet door, to make sure it was not inside, and promptly shut it again – it was grimy, with traces of mould.

Rubbing his hand over his chin, he looked at his face in the mirror. He needed a shave.

Blinking, he startled at his reflection. The cabinet mirror was old and a bit scratched, but he could see clearly enough to notice that his reflection was not quite right. It was his, but not his. The eyes narrower, more intense. The hair; he had bed hair, but even so…..

He raised his hand to rake his fingers through his untidy mop, but his reflection did not move. He gasped!

The temperature had dropped sharply and a shiver ran down his spine.

Suddenly feeling as if eyes were boring into the back of his head, Yugi spun round, but there was no one there.

He looked down at his shaking hands and shivered again, but not from the cold this time – the temperature actually felt normal again.

Turning back to look in the mirror, Yugi saw that his reflection was normal once more.

Feeling a bit shaken, he went into the bedroom, grabbed his dressing gown and went down to the kitchen, where Anzu had finished making tea and was now sorting through the few grocery items that they had brought with them, looking for something to eat for breakfast.

She looked up at him. "Your watch is on the dining table," she said, pointing. "I'm making a shopping list."

"Oh!" he said, scratching his head in confusion –he definitely did not take it off at the table, of that he was certain.

With furrowed brows, he went over to the table to retrieve his watch. It was a chunky Casio watch. The battery usually lasted well, but he noticed that the screen was completely blank. He was certain that it had been almost fully charged.

"Earth calling Yugi?" Anzu called out. He startled slightly, looking at her in bewilderment.

"Huh?!"

She rolled her eyes. "What do you want for breakfast? We don't have much."

"Oh." He held up his watch. "Have you seen the charger?"

"I put the chargers in that drawer," she said, pointing. "And, I asked you what you wanted for breakfast?"

"What about cold pizza?" he suggested opening the drawer and finding the chargers.

Anzu shrugged. "I was gonna save it for lunch."

"Oh. Okay. What else do we have?" he said, plugging in his watch charger and putting it on to charge.

Smirking, Anzu held up a box of cereal and shook it. "Yu-Gi-Oh's!" she said, knowing how he would react.

He pulled a yuk face. "What made you buy those?" Although he had been paid to advertise them, he thought they tasted like sweetened polystyrene. Anzu knew that he did not like them.

"I got them because they've got your face on," she replied, giggling, pretending to fan-girl.

Yugi pouted at her. "Well, if there's nothing else," he said, huffing.

They sat down to eat, with Yugi pulling funny faces as he ate the branded cereal carrying his name. Anzu rolled her eyes at him and tutted.

"They're not that bad Yugi!" she scolded.

Obscured by the shadows, the ghostly shadow watched on.

Yugi's smiling face on the box of cereal made him chuckle – someone had to be pretty popular to get their face on something in order to increase its sales!

Hearing a low, strange chuckle, Anzu looked at Yugi. "Did you…" she trailed off, her eyes darting from him to the corner, where the kitchen door cast a shadow on the wall.

"Did I.. what?" he mumbled, with a mouth full cereal. Frowning, he swallowed his mouthful and turned his head to see what she was looking at. "What is it?"

Anzu felt sure she had seen a shadow expand and then fade into the wall. "I don't know," she said, shaking her head, a shudder running down her spine. "I definitely heard laughter, then I thought I saw…" she trailed off.

"Are you okay?" Yugi asked, concern in his voice.

Anzu nodded. "Yeah. Fine. So much to do, I don't know what to do first." Laughing awkwardly, she scooped a mouthful of cereal.

They both jumped, when the box of cereal on the counter suddenly fell on its side, the contents spilling onto the floor, before appearing to upend and topple off the kitchen work-top onto the floor, emptying most of the contents of the box.

They looked at each other. Anzu spluttered, wiping her chin when milk dribbled from the corners of her mouth. "I didn't leave it on the edge, if that's what you're thinking," she said defensively.

"I didn't say you did. I actually saw it slide and then fall," he replied shakily. Behind him, a gust of wind blew the kitchen door shut. They both jumped.

They stared at each other, open mouthed.

"That was…." Yugi wanted to say weird, but Anzu looked unnerved enough already. "Did you open any windows?" he asked instead.

"I did open the bedroom window to let some air in. It must have been a gust of wind," Anzu said shakily. They both knew that it was not windy outside today.

"I'll clear the cereal up," said Yugi, getting up from his chair. "Is there a dustpan and brush anywhere?"

"Under the sink," Anzu replied. She had used it yesterday to sweep dirt off the kitchen floor.

Nodding, Yugi crouched down and opened the cupboard door underneath the sink. As soon as he did, he let out a scream and fell backwards, landing on his backside.

Anzu instinctively startled in response.

He looked up at her like he was about to throw up.

"What is it, Yugi?!" Feeling curious, she got up to go and peer into the cupboard.

"You really don't want to," he said, trying to stop her. But curiosity had already got the better of her.

"Ugh!" she said, turning green and putting her hand over her mouth at the sight of the maggot infested dead rat and the vile smell it omitted. The stench was permeating the whole kitchen. "Where did it come from?! It wasn't there yesterday!" she said.

Yugi kicked the door shut with his foot. "Must have died overnight," he assumed. "I'll get rid of it." He put on a pair of rubber gloves. Steadying himself he opened the door.

Remembering the insects from last night, Anzu shrieked when he stood up holding it by the tail, quickly dropping it into a bag while trying not to retch.

He went outside and dropped the bag into the dustbin. Peeling the gloves off, he dropped those into the bin as well. He knew he should probably bury the rat but they did not have a shovel.

When he went back into the kitchen, Anzu had flung open the widows and was spraying air freshener.

"I feel disgusting after that," he said. "I'm going up for a shower."

"Wile you're showering I'm going to phone pest control," said Anzu.

"Good idea," agreed Yugi.

Having phoned the council's pest control department, Anzu went upstairs to wash and dress. And once they were both ready the couple decided to go out and buy groceries.

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Watching Yugi reverse the car off the driveway, the shadow wondered if simultaneous stunts with the cereal box and the rat had been a little too excessive. The cereal box had been for a bit of fun. However, having stood empty for so long the house did have a problem with rats coming in. Alerting them to this problem by placing a dead rat in the cupboard had been the right thing to do, the shadow told himself.


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