DM: /blowing kisses/
Kaiba: She's lost it, hasn't she?
Aerith: Probably.
Kaiba: Why are you mad at me for?
DM: I had another nice person review!
Aerith: Ahh! No! /shrieking/
Kaiba: /covers ears/ Oww! Shut up!
DM: I'm dedicating this chapter to Midnightangel! Freak09 didn't review this time quick enough... :-(
Aerith and Kaiba: Yay!
DM: Shut up!
Aerith: All right, I'll do the disclaimer.
Kaiba: /bored/ DM doesn't own-
Aerith: -Yugioh or anything else.
Kaiba: except her laptop, Aerith and herself.
Aerith: And all that neat stuff in her room.
Kaiba: /raises eyebrow/ Neat? Her room is far from neat.
Aerith: I mean like her deck and stuff, ya know, she's got three BEWD and a Black Luster Soldier and-
DM: Shut up! Next chappy!
Aerith: /singing in background/ rhymes with happy... rhymes with sappy...
Chapter 3: Define Fear
The group hit the top of the stairs in record time probably and stood there for a while, breathing heavily. There was a sudden creak and the stairs gave out, falling down. Kaiba stared down at them for a while, satisfied that the woman couldn't follow them up.
"It doesn't- look like- that crazy bitch- can follow us up..." Aerith breathed, sitting on the floor a few feet back from the top of the stairs.
"What- crazy person?" Tristan asked, leaning heavily on his knees.
"We met her- in the kitchen." Kaiba answered, the run also seemed to have worn on him as well. The two quickly related their encounter in the kitchen with the woman, then the encounter in the bathroom with Joey.
"If she killed herself, how's she back an' killin' people?" Joey asked; they'd all gotten their breath back by now. Kaiba looked back down the stairs.
"I don't know. Maybe she's like Jason or something..." Aerith answered, getting to her feet, "Damn, I've got a stitch in my side..." She commented, holding it in pain.
"You didn't even run the half of the way." Kaiba sharply reminded her. She gave a half-hearted grin.
"I'm not in as good shape as I thought I was..." Aerith said and gave a deep sigh. Kaiba shook his head before glancing back down at the collapsed stairs.
"I think we better move away from here, it might give out like the stairs." He said and the group gave a murmur of agreement. They saw two ways heading from the top of the stairs, one to the right and one to the left.
"Uh... but which way?" Aerith asked, looking back and forth for a bit between the two ways. No one answered her. She shook her head before asking, "Anyone got a coin?"
"For what?" Joey asked, handing her a quarter.
"Heads we go left, tails we go right. Either way, it's probably just as dangerous." Aerith answered before flipping it. She caught it in midair and slapped it down on the back of her hand. She looked up at everyone, "Bets anyone, bets?"
"Ten bucks says we're goin' left." Joey moaned. Aerith grinned.
"I'll take that bet." Tristan answered, also grinning.
"Téa, come over here and back me up whether its heads or tails." Aerith said and Téa walked over to the taller girl. Aerith uncovered her hand and both girls looked down at it.
"Tails!" They said together.
"You owe me ten bucks Joey!" Tristan said, laughing, "I'll just add it to what you owe Yugi's grandpa!" Tristan howled in laughter and Joey took a swing at him.
"You've gotta be kiddin' me!" He said. Aerith had nearly doubled over in laughter and Kaiba wore an amused look on his face. Joey snatched the coin back from Aerith before she dropped it, his face beet red.
"You don't have- a good record- for these things- Joey!" Aerith laughed when suddenly she found herself on the floor. She looked up, confused, "Huh?"
"Why would you want to kiss the floor, Aerith?" Kaiba said sarcastically. Aerith got up and glared at him.
"All right, I know you shoved me! Go ahead and admit it so I can shove you back down to the first story!" Aerith yelled at him. He shook his head, feigning a bit of pity.
"I don't have a clue what you're talking about." Kaiba claimed but a smirk crossed his face and Aerith glared daggers at him.
"Stupid idiot." Aerith said, smirking back.
"Crazy bitch." Kaiba replied.
"Here we go again." Yugi sighed, getting tired of the two. They immediately shut up and looked towards the right hallway.
"Let's just get out of here." Kaiba said, starting up the small flight of stairs up towards the open space at the top.
"I say you're the first one of us to get killed." Aerith commented, following behind. Kaiba shot a glare over his shoulder at her. Aerith smiled in return. The rest of the group sighed but still followed nonetheless. They stopped at the top of the stairs for a second and looked around. The room was pitch black; you couldn't see an inch in front of your face. A floorboard creaked and Téa screamed, grabbing onto the person next to her. Tristan gave a yelp of fright along with Yugi.
"What the hell are you doing back there?" Kaiba asked calmly, hearing all the screaming and yelling. Everyone could hear that he wasn't exactly with them; he was off to the left.
"This isn't a scream fest, although I'm sure Joey would win that." Aerith said; she also seemed to be off to the left, but closer than Kaiba probably was. Suddenly, the lights came on. Aerith and Kaiba stood at the light switch, both their hands on it. Aerith grinned, "I found it first." She claimed and Kaiba gave a snort of laughter.
"Yeah right." He replied. Suddenly, his eyes fell on the rest of the gang and he held back laughs. Aerith got a confused look on her face and turned to see what was going on. Téa had grabbed onto Yugi and he, in surprise, had grabbed a hold of Joey, and Joey, since he's easily scared by things, locked onto Tristan and fainted and Tristan had fallen from Joey's sudden weight, taking the rest of the group with him.
"I guess Joey wouldn't win after all..." Aerith said, laughing. The lights suddenly flicked off and Aerith leapt back, landing on top of Kaiba again.
"Get the hell off me Aerith!" He yelled at her.
"Why'd you turn the fucking lights off?!" She shouted back.
"I didn't!" He yelled and Aerith went quiet.
"Then who did?" She asked. The lights came back on and found the rest of the group almost up on their feet, Joey had become conscious, while Aerith had her fingers in Kaiba's collar and was proceeding to shake him. He shoved her off and got up from the floor, brushing himself off. Aerith also got up and the two glared at each other.
"Guys, please stop. This is going to get us nowhere." Yugi pleaded and the two teens exchanged looks for a second. Joey suddenly noticed the room next to them.
"Hey, isn't that one of them greenhouse thingies?" He asked and Aerith laughed.
"Yes, mutt, it's one of those greenhouse thingies." Kaiba answered sarcastically. Joey glared at him for a second before stepping towards the greenhouse. He tried to peer into one of the windows when suddenly something slammed up against the glass. He screamed and leapt back. It was a person and they banged on the glass for a second, yelling something that they couldn't hear. The rest of the group stared, amazed. The person turned and held their hands up, as if trying to ward someone away. It didn't seem to work as suddenly they had a knife through them. As they slipped to the floor, the group saw who was behind them. The crazy woman from downstairs smiled at them psychotically, yanking the knife out of her victim. The group stared for a second before taking off in two different directions. Joey, Tristan, Téa, and Yugi had took off, running back the way they'd come and Aerith and Kaiba stood still for a second before he dragged her off down the hall. They dashed into the room at the end of the hall.
"Where's Aerith and Kaiba?" Yugi asked as they ran. Joey stopped full in his tracks and turned to look. Tristan grabbed a hold of him.
"I'm sure they're fine! Aerith probably dragged him off down the hall someplace!" He shouted as they dashed past the stairs, slowed down by Joey.
"Hand me that chair!" Kaiba yelled at Aerith and she shoved the chair towards him.
"You might as well come out, you stupid little kids..." The woman called down the hall. Kaiba stuck the chair under the doorknob before looking around the room.
"You stuck us in a dead end room." Aerith told him, her voice more of a whisper than its normal. He found that it was true as he looked about the room. Aerith started again, "We're dead if she kicks that door in..." The only other door was probably to the closet but they checked anyways. Racks and racks of clothes went back through the room as far as they could see. Aerith paled and looked nervously back at the door.
"Open up, I'll get in either way..." The woman said, trying the doorknob.
"That wall over there, there's got to be some way out of here!" Kaiba hissed at Aerith. They ran around the probably king or queen sized bed and started searching the wall for anything.
"I'm going to kick the door in..." The woman said in a sing-song voice.
"There's nothing here!" Aerith said as the woman's first kick connected with the door.
"Keep looking!" Kaiba said back. Aerith suddenly tripped over something and fell. As Kaiba pulled her to her feet, a passageway opened up right in front of them. He looked at her, smirking slightly, "What'd you trip over? Or do you just weigh that much?" Aerith ignored the shot and they both quickly went through the passage before it shut again and the woman came through the door.
Yugi and the rest of the gang ran through the doorway opposite the stairs up towards the greenhouse. There was no door to close them in and they looked around the room for a way out. What they saw defied their explanation.
"Are those ghosts?" Tristan asked as they started towards their right, still looking for a way out.
"Yeah I think so..." Yugi answered.
"What do you think happened to Aerith and Kaiba?" Téa asked, nervously looking back at the door for any sign of the woman.
"Like I said before, Aerith probably dragged him off down the hall the other way. We'll meet up with them sooner or later." Tristan said, bringing his eyes back to the walls.
"As long as she's not 'urt." Joey said, glancing back at the door over his shoulder.
"Why are we scared of that crazy lady again?" Aerith asked as the two teens ran down the hall.
"Number one, because she's crazy." Kaiba said a tone of sarcasm in his voice.
"I've got that." Aerith replied.
"Reason two, she's got a machete." He continued.
"I never would've figured." Aerith said, rolling her eyes.
"And she's undead more than likely, is the third reason." Kaiba finished.
"Ah, now I understand." Aerith said sarcastically.
"There's also the fact that your name's Aerith and the guy who broke her heart's name was Aaron. That might be why she's chasing us and not the others." Kaiba said as the end of the passage came into sight.
"That's a good fact." Aerith replied as they reached the end of the passageway. The door at the end opened and they ran out into the room on the other side. They blinked for a second thanks to the bright lights in the room.
"Aerith! Kaiba!" Someone yelled and they looked over to see the rest of the group running towards them. Suddenly they saw what was in the middle of the room.
"Those are dancing ghosts, right?" Aerith asked Kaiba.
"Looks like it to me... but how can they dance when they go straight through things?" Kaiba answered and Aerith raised an eyebrow.
"Kaiba?" She asked.
"Hm?"
"Sometimes I wonder about you." Aerith said, shaking her head as the others ran up.
"I'm not even going to reply to that." He replied.
"What happened to you guys?" Tristan asked, looking them up and down.
"Let's see..." Aerith said sarcastically, "We ran down the hall and the stupid idiot beside me led us into a dead end room."
"It was not a dead end." Kaiba snapped back. Aerith rolled her eyes again.
"The woman nearly bashed the door in and I tripped over something that opened some cliché secret passage." Aerith continued.
"Which we never would have found had I not suggested seeing if there was one!" Kaiba defended. Aerith smirked.
"Not to forget that I tripped over it, not you." Aerith said and Kaiba clamped his mouth shut, glaring at Aerith. She kept going, "Ran down the hall and ended up here. Joey do anything stupid while we were gone?"
"Other than trying to go back after you, no." Tristan answered while Joey gave a growl.
"That was not stupid, I just care about her!" Joey argued back.
"Going up against a crazy lady with a machete and you're weaponless sounds pretty... uh-oh..." Aerith stopped, looking towards the doorway, going pale. Everyone looked and saw the woman at the door, stalking along the sides of the room, looking for them.
"Uh-oh is right..." Kaiba said, even he looked a little pale.
"She's gonna see us if we make a break for it!" Aerith said, looking from the door to the woman a couple of times.
"Come on!" Aerith heard someone say and was suddenly whisked away onto the midst of the dancing ghosts. She looked up, confused. She found herself looking up into Kaiba's face.
"What the hell?" She said quietly.
"Play along, we'll get to the door." He answered, trying to keep his eyes on Aerith but couldn't help looking about the room.
"I- don't know- how to dance..." Aerith admitted.
"It doesn't matter as long as she doesn't pick us out from the ghosts." He answered. Suddenly, all the ghosts were leaning over and kissing their partners. He went slightly paler but still managed to place a kiss on Aerith's cheek. She blushed slightly but quickly managed to drive it away. The two of them managed to get out of the door, unnoticed by the woman. Aerith held back a laugh from the danger of the whole situation. Suddenly Téa and Yugi appeared out of the door and stood next to them.
"She almost caught us, I had to turn quickly enough so that she didn't see how tall my 'dancing' partner was." Téa sighed. Aerith and Kaiba exchanged glances before snickering. Téa raised an eyebrow, "What's so funny?" She asked.
"Joey and Tristan had to dance across together..." Aerith managed out.
"Oh that... Joey was glaring daggers at you, Kaiba, for dragging Aerith out there." Téa shook her head, "Have you even noticed he's got a crush on you, Aerith?" Aerith nodded.
"Should I give a damn?" Kaiba asked, Joey and Tristan suddenly appeared in the doorway and ran off down the hall.
"What's their problem?" Aerith asked.
"I think she saw us!" Tristan hissed back at them. The rest of them took off running and Aerith and Kaiba quickly ended up at the front. Aerith glanced back over her shoulder and saw that everyone had stopped.
"What the fuck!" She said and Kaiba stopped. Aerith waved wildly to get their attention but failed. She looked over at Kaiba who had suddenly gone to staring at something behind her. Aerith paled, "There's something really scary behind me, isn't there?" She whispered. Kaiba nodded and Aerith whirled around. She took a step back and kept staring. She asked all of a sudden, "Please don't tell me that's like a demon or something..."
"Then I won't ruin your hopes..." Kaiba answered as the others came up.
"That's der, right?" Joey asked, pointing towards the creature floating above the collapsed stairs.
"I really don't wanna find out." Tristan answered and they left Aerith and Kaiba standing there for a second before they also took off running, behind everyone else. They ran into the room at the end of the hall and slammed the doors shut behind them.
"Do you think it saw us?" Yugi asked, obviously afraid, looking at Aerith and Kaiba who had ran into the room last and slammed the doors shut. The two were now leaning against the heavy oak doors, breathing heavily again.
"I hope not..." Aerith said, looking around the room and eyeing the stairs that went up to a third floor, "Why are there no stairs down in this place?" She asked.
"Because the people who built this place were stupid idiots..." Kaiba replied.
"Ah..." Aerith said, acting as if she got it.
"I'm gonna find you!" Rang through the house. Aerith shivered slightly. Kaiba was already looking about the room, trying to see if there was something they could stick in front of the door so she wouldn't get in.
"How about we shove something in front of the door?" He asked.
"Like what?" Tristan asked, looking around.
"Anything!" Kaiba shouted back.
"All right, all right!" Tristan yelled. He noticed the sitting area off to the side of the bookcases and ran over for a second. He was silent for a second before he said, "A little help, anyone?" Aerith nodded towards Kaiba and he glared at her for a second before running off with Joey to help Tristan.
"Téa, Yugi, help me with the door, she might get here before-" Aerith started but didn't finish.
"I know you're in there..." The woman's voice echoed down the hall. Aerith paled again and placed her full weight against the door. Yugi and Téa quickly joined her. Footsteps were heard down the hall and someone threw themselves against the door.
"Hurry up with whatever you've got!" Aerith yelled at the three boys as they scrambled to shove the door back into place.
"It's too heavy for these two weak idiots and me to carry!" She heard Kaiba yell back. Aerith glanced at Yugi and Téa. Yugi nodded at her and she ran off to help the boys.
"Please let her be strong enough..." Téa prayed over and over again. The four of them came into view, Aerith and Tristan on one side, Kaiba and Joey on the other. It looked like a sofa or something. They then noticed that there was concrete on the bottom of it. Téa kept praying until they got close enough. The woman hit the door again and Téa and Yugi managed to keep the doors shut.
"Move!" Aerith roared at them and they quickly dashed out of the way.
Aerith: still singing rhymes with zappy... rhymes with chappy...
Kaiba: Who gave her sugar?
DM: Wasn't me!
Kaiba: /rolls eyes/ Yeah, right...
Aerith: /singing still/ rhymes with... uh... appy!
DM: /sweetly/ Aerith? Little OC...
Aerith: Huh?
Kaiba: /copying/ DM Tell the nice people what to do.
Aerith: Oh yeah right! /grins/ Hit the shiny review button over there and please give DM a nice review... /looks at DM/ Is that it?
Kaiba: Tell them not to flame.
Aerith: Don't flame or else I'll get to torture someone, probably Kaiba.
DM: That's it, I think....
Kaiba: Yep, that's it.
Aerith: What rhymes with it?
DM and Kaiba: Shut up!
Aerith: That doesn't rhyme with it.
DM: /deep sigh/
Kaiba: /sweatdrop/
DM: Just review and we'll make Aerith not sugar-high.
Kaiba: /begging/ Please!