Author's Notes: Well, here's the second part. I'm surprised I got so many reviews on the first day. o_o; I'm not sure how regularly I'll update this, but I'll try to keep the parts short, so that'll hopefully keep me writing.
Not much happens in this chapter except a lot of stressing-out of poor Ryou. Um.. since someone asked, the cat's probably a little over than a year old. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but. o_O;
----
BRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIING!
The alarm clock tore Ryou out of sleep, and he sat up like a shot, heart hammering in his ears. He looked around wildly for a moment, before he realized he was no longer dreaming.
The alarm had startled him far more than it should have. He reached over, fumbling for the sleep function and letting out a weary sigh once it was silenced. He was still filled with an inexplicable anxiety, nearly to the point of queasiness, that just wouldn't listen to reason. He had no major tests today, he had done all his homework - what was he worried about? Maybe it was a dream he had... but all of his memories of any dreams had been shattered by the loud ring of his alarm.
He glanced at his dresser, and nearly jumped when he saw the ring sitting on it, propped up against the wall. The stylized eye was staring straight at him. And for the life of him, Ryou couldn't remember sitting it up like that, in plain view. He thought he stuffed it in some drawer...
A chilling tendril of fear slowly wound its way down his spinal column and constricted his breathing. He flung the covers off, and he was tempted to bolt out of the room - but he couldn't go to school in his pajamas. He needed clothes, and those were in his dresser.
And they were being guarded by the ring.
Ryou shook his head violently. This was nonsense. He forced himself to walk over to his dresser, but made sure to avoid 'eye contact' with the ring as he did. But even staring at the floor, he could feel its inanimate gaze boring into his forehead...
Unbidden, one of his hands suddenly shot out and smacked it off the dresser.
It fell to the floor with a chorus of jingles, the pendulums laying in a disarray around the ring once it landed. Just like any piece of jewelry. Inhaling through his teeth, Ryou stared down at it.
The eye stared right back. Its gaze had never faltered.
Ryou pulled an outfit out of his dresser drawers in record time, and headed into the bathroom across the hall. There was no way he could dress with that thing watching.
It figured, Ryou would think to himself bitterly. Not even the bullies could be bothered to acknowledge his existence.
Sometimes, he felt like a ghost...
He opened the door to his house, and was hit with an odd sensation as soon as he crossed the threshold. He paused in the doorway, blinking.
The house was silent. Usually, he left the TV on to discourage burglars, but it was more for his benefit than anything else. However, he had been in such a hurry to leave in the morning he had forgotten. He hated coming home to such a quiet, empty place.
But this time, it did not feel empty.
His blood froze. Had someone broke in? He closed the door as silently as he could, his eyes darting around. With slow, measured steps, and started inspecting every room. But not a thing was out of place, and the only other living souls in the house were Angora and a spider that lived in the pantry.
Ryou's inspection brought him to the door of his room. The presence felt strongest here. He reached out to turn the knob with a shaking hand, absolutely certain he was going to find someone on the other side of the door. With a sudden rush of adrenaline, he threw the door open.
"Who's there?!" He did his best to sound intimidating as he burst into his room, glancing around and clutching his backpack like a shield.
No one. His room was as empty and bland as it always was. His dresser drawers were still hanging open, his bed was unmade, and his half-sorted collection of Duel Monsters cards was still laid out across his desk, exactly as he had left them. Not even the haphazard pile of books on his night stand had been touched.
He was starting to feel rather foolish, when his eyes fell upon the tip of a gold pendulum that was visible beside his dresser, the rest of the ring hidden. Ryou's heart skipped a beat. He had been so feeling sorry for himself after school that he had forgotten all about the ring. He dropped his book bag and started backtracking.
And then an inhuman screech rang out directly behind him.
Letting out a yelp of his own, he tumbled back onto the floor and felt something furry shoot past his feet. Panicking, he looked around wildly for his assailant, only to see Angora sitting at the end of the hallway, looking rather miffed and trying to groom herself back to composure.
Ryou shook his head and tried to catch his breath, running his fingers through his hair. His nerves were frayed, and he felt nauseous, a highly unpleasant combination of hunger and anxiety threatening to eject the contents of his stomach.
He stumbled to his shaky feet and tried to make his way down the stairs without falling. Maybe some food and a few hours in front of the idiot box would numb his mind enough to calm him down.
He was starting to get impatient. This realm was getting more and more cramped as time went on - the very fact that he was becoming aware of the passage of time signaled that it was all coming to a head, but he didn't know the details.
His control and understanding of the world outside his prison was limited. It was like trying to grope through an unfamiliar room in the dark without any hands - only instead of rooms, they were minds. It had taken him centuries to learn how to do something as meager as reach out and manipulate emotion of the subconscious minds that brushed against his prison. He wasn't even suppose to be able to get that far.
It was frustrating. He had been able to manipulate anyone he wanted when he was alive, to get anything he wanted - and now all he could do was push a few buttons in their subconscious and hope that the emotions he triggered got them to do some semblance of what he had in mind.
Not that controlling base emotions didn't have its advantages. He had known, long before he was ever trapped here, what a wonderful tool fear could be. He employed it regularly then, and he used it now. Unfortunately, it made people act unpredictably.
And perhaps, this time, fear was the wrong approach. Afterall, it was only effective on those that had something to lose, and what brief glimpse he had gotten of this particular mind told a pitiful story of loneliness and depression. This soul had already been mostly broken before he even got here. It would make things so much simpler.
Once that mind was gone, once the soul was shattered, he would have nothing standing in his way of freedom. The challenge of what lay before him was tantalizing.
It would be the first time he stole a body.