Chapter 3

Next morning, Lei's alarm clock woke her up effectively as always, and with a yawn, she tried to shake off the heaviness of sleep

Wow…I really slept…she thought, but it was suddenly interrupted by a sharp, almost sickening feeling in her stomach

Oh crap…didn't have dinner last night…

With that Lei decided to head off to breakfast as soon as possible and if her memory served her correctly, her parents would've already left by now, leaving just her and Rinell in the house. Just she began to shift her body, a sharp, sore pain from her arm reminded why she was trying to avoid her parents in the first place, and, wincing, she carefully brought her bandaged arm around and positioned it away from her so it wouldn't get touched.

As soon as her arm was out of her way, Lei lifted the rest of her body up and got out of bed. Forcing her way to the kitchen, fighting the temptation to return to her warm bed, Lei managed to make herself breakfast and ate it all with just one hand.

"Yenalei!" A shrill yet softy voice called from behind Lei. Lei turned around to face her sister, her eyes still dull with the heavy residue sleep had left on her

"Hey Rinell," Lei said lazily as she stood from the table and quickly sauntered back to her room in an effort to avoid an unwanted conversation with the child.

Soon Lei had finished packing her schoolbag and getting changed into her uniform, and to her surprise, realised that she had another 15 minutes before she needed to depart for school.

Thinking that there would be no point in getting to school earlier, Lei decided to stay at home for a while and change her bandage. It had been completely untouched since Ryou had applied it, and now Lei could see dark stains of dried blood caked in the material.

I should give the handkerchief back to Ryou… Lei decided as she tried to remember where the spare bandages were kept in the house.

Soon she had finished redressing her cut, and had thrown the handkerchief into a basin of water for it to soak while she retied fresh bandages. After she had done this, she checked the time to find that she was just on time to get to school with a few minutes to spare. Taking the saturated piece of cloth out of the red water and rinsing it again a few times. After she wringed it dry, she ran out of the bathroom to grab her bag from her room

"Rinell! We're going NOW!" she called to her sister, which was soon followed by a faint, indistinguishable reply.

"I'm ready sis," Rinell told Lei responsibly as she stood proudly by the door, a tiny pink backpack harnessed to her small form

"Yes," Lei said lazily as she slipped a pair of shoes on and opening the door

"Well, hurry now," she told Rinell as she held the door open for the child before walking out of it herself and closing it behind her.

The walk to school wasn't a long one, or at least, it wouldn't be a long one, but Lei was forced to Detour to Domino primary school to drop Rinell off on days that her parents weren't there to send the two. It didn't really matter much, as the route didn't lengthen too drastically.

Finally reaching the school, Lei waved Rinell goodbye and headed her own way. It didn't take her long to reach Domino High, and as she walked into the school she wondered where she'd go first. Looking down at her watch, she noticed that she had 5 minutes until the bell would go, so she decided to use this time to search for Ryou so she could give him the handkerchief back.

Walking and weaving through crowds of students, she searched the faces of everyone she saw dressed in the pink and blue school uniform for any signs of Ryou, but found nothing. Sighing in defeat, Lei decided to go and find her other friends.

Fortunately this did not take long as Lei coincidentally spotted them at the turn of the head

"Hey everyone!" she called, careful to wave the unbandage hand as she started making her way towards her friends. Yugi was the first to turn around and wave in response

"Hey Lei!" he greeted, his actions bring the groups attention towards her

"Oh hi Lei," Tea said in her usual disgustingly happy manner. Suddenly Yugi pointed down to something, drawing everyone's attention to it. Lei stared down and, to her horror, noticed that he was pointing to her bandages wrapped around her arm

"What happened?" his soft, inquisitive voice asked, turning his round eyes up at Lei. Lei almost felt bad about the lie she was about to commit as she stared back into those orbs, yet she reminded herself that she didn't want anyone to worry about her

"Fell over…cut my arm on…a saw my dad had left out," she lied quickly, hoping that no-one realised her few split seconds of hesitation. Yugi's faced showed slight concern

"Oh…are you ok?" he asked, a trace of sympathy in his voice. Lei nodded almost immediately

"Of course! It's only a scratch!" she lied again. Even if she really did get that cut by falling on a saw, to call it a scratch was definitely nothing short of a lie. Suddenly the bell rang, ending the time for any more questions. With a sigh of relief, Lei dashed to her roll class, which was different to the others. The only one who shared the same roll call as her was Tea, but fortunately for her the brunet had others to hang around.

Locating the room, Lei walked in and searched every face that was connected to a pink and blue uniform for signs of Ryou, but, to her disappointment, found nothing. Sighing, she took an empty and rather isolated seat at the back of the classroom, not wanting to attract any attention.

Suddenly, just as Lei was about to drift off into thought, a familiar voice caught her attention from behind

"Hello Lei," it said, and Lei turned to look at who it was.

"Ryou!" she greeted, smiling as she turned around. Suddenly Lei's smile faded from her face as she saw Ryou standing in front of her, dressed the a smart blue jacket –the boys school uniform

"Ryou…why are you wearing the bo-" Suddenly Lei's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened dramatically as she realised the mistake she had made

"Oh my…you're…you're!" Lei stuttered with a hand trailing weakly over her mouth, her conscience trying hard to holding her back from humiliating herself and Ryou. Ryou tilted his head to a side

"Huh? What is it? Is there something wrong?" he asked, his expression emphasising his gooey eyes

"N-no!" Lei stuttered, moving her hand up to scratch the side of her head innocently as she felt herself start to go red, "Um…you just…look a hell of a lot different when you're wearing your school uniform!" with that she gave a hearty laugh, hoping that Ryou would believe what she had said

Oh hell! I can't believe I thought he was a girl! Lei thought as stared at Ryou's face, analysing it for what it was. Now that she looked at him properly, he did seem to be a guy, and Lei couldn't think how she could have mistaken him for a girl. Perhaps it was too dark, or she was in too much panic to think straight

"So…how have you been?" she asked in an attempt to cover up her awkwardness. Ryou smiled

"Not bad…not bad. You? How's the arm? Did anyone notice?" he asked sweetly. Lei held her newly bandaged arm

"It's getting better. Doesn't hurt as much. I checked out the wound last night, it wasn't as deep as I thought," Lei put her arm back down, "And only my sister noticed, but she's only 6 so it wouldn't really matter to her what I told her,"

"Well…" Ryou asked in his soft English accent, "What did you end up telling her?".

Lei's lips parted in a sly smile

"…That if she said anything to my parents, the darkness would consume her soul," she said simply, following it with a small laugh. Suddenly she remembered why she wanted to talk to him

"Oh! Right! Ryou…" Lei dipped her hand into her pocket and drew out the handkerchief

"Your handkerchief…" she said, handing it to him. Ryou smiled as he took the cloth in his hands

"Well…thanks Lei!" he said, his face beaming. Lei, still highly embarrassed by her mistake, smiled and nodded. There wasn't much more to it, and that was the only major time in that day Lei managed to talk to Ryou. The rest of the day was spent with her other friends, who where completely oblivious of everything that had happened, which was a good thing, for Lei had a feeling they'd interfere with something if they did.

The final minutes of the school day were ticking down, and Lei found herself in maths, her nose stuck in a thick textbook that she was forced to read. It wasn't the most enlightening thing of the day, but, as Lei had learnt, maths was too much of a bad subject, for the teacher in charge was a lenient, apathetic old bloke whose number one rule was 'if you don't pay attention and fall behind, that's your problem', so bludging was tolerated.

Fiddling with the lid of her pen, Lei watched the seconds tick by and waited for the bell to ring. Soon enough it did, and, with a smile, Lei pushed all the numbers and formulas out of her head and packed her things away.

Soon she bid her friends goodbye and made her way out of the school, daydreaming about whatever her imagination fed her until a voice interrupted her thoughts

"Lei!" she heard a voice cry from behind her again. Turning around, she saw Ryou waving at her. At this she stopped walking and waited for the boy to catch up with her

"Can I walk with you today? I figured we basically take the same route," he requested, sounding just the slightest bit breathless

"Oh sure!" Lei replied, feeling quite glad that she wouldn't have to face the way home alone, especially after the last incident, "I'm going to have to take my sister back from her friends house though," Lei replied

"No problem," Ryou responded, starting up a steady pace beside her.

On they walked, along their identically route, talking about various random topics as they strode.

Suddenly, as they approached the alleyway where they had first met in that grim situation, Lei stopped and froze. The alleyway was dark. Perhaps a little too dark.

"Let…what's wrong?" Ryou asked curiously as he immediately noticed Lei's sudden change in mood.

Lei didn't quite know what it was either. The very look of the alleyway reminded her of the events just the day before…the fear, the pain, the hopelessness…just being at the threshold of the alleyway made her remember the life-like feelings. Lei shook her head

"Nothing Ryou," she said frankly, forcing herself to go ahead. But a few steps into her stride, her legs stopped again. There was something wrong…but Lei couldn't pinpoint what,

Don't go in there…a voice suddenly sprang up in her head, so abrupt that it almost made Lei jump

Don't go…it'll only happen to you again…it said warningly. Lei's eyebrows involuntarily slanted up in worry

What…what is it? She asked, her heart now beginning to pick up a steady, fast pace

They want you destroyed…everyone wants you destroyed Lei…they all hate you…it replied, the haunting words seeming to have an icy edge to them. Ryou continued to fix a worried glance at Lei

"Are you sure Lei? You seem awfully pale all of a sudden…" he commented, not trying at all to hide his concern. Lei quickly pushed the words of the voice back; it was not the first time she had been misled by it.

I don't believe you! She quickly snapped in reply to the voice, before turning to Ryou with a fabricated smile

"I'm fine!" she embellished her act by producing a light laugh, "Just getting a little cold…that's all,"

You'll regret it…they're out to get you the voice replied as soon as she finished. Lei pushed the voice back; she was use to it trying to brainwash her and drive her into the depths of paranoia. Not this time.

Drawing in a deep breath, Lei followed Ryou into the shadows of the alleyway. It seemed a lot darker than it had been yesterday, but only because it was now a little later than it had been. At least, that's what Lei told herself. As much as she kept on telling herself that there was nothing wrong, something within her remained restless. It was almost like they weren't the only ones in the alleyway…

Lei stared at the ground as she walked, for there was nothing much better to stare at, and noticed a large stain on the ground. Though it was almost too dark to even see it altogether, Lei could have sworn it was red. The pool of her own blood from the day before must have dried, and Lei apathetically wondered how long it would stay there before it would go away. Probably a while, for the alleyway looked neglected and abandoned and it would be a wonder if anyone would actually notice it, let alone bother cleaning it off the dull, dirt-stained concrete.

"Sure is getting chilly," Ryou said suddenly, breaking the silence. Lei merely nodded in agreement

"Don't worry, we're almost there," He added, seeing Lei's tenseness. Lei looked ahead of her, checking to see if Ryou was right. A jolt of relief shot through her as she saw that they were indeed, almost out of the alleyway. At least now if some psycho knifeman ambushed them, they could run out in no time.

As soon as Lei allowed a lungful of chilly air into her body it celebrate her relief, a hissing sound slipped through the air behind her, as if the alleyway had read her thoughts and had decided to go against her.

Lei's heart skipped a beat, and her eyes froze wide. Was that real, or was she hearing things? Focusing her ears, she tried to hear it again. Sure enough, it was real. A low, hissing sound like air escaping a puffy cushion surrounded them, followed by a faint sound of footsteps.

Without a delay, Lei grabbed onto Ryou's arm

"Ryou!" She suddenly gasped, before she realised what she was doing. Ryou whipped his head around instantly

"What is it Lei?" he asked tensely, sensing her fear. It took a while for the words to get to Lei's mouth

"T-that noise!" she gasped, not daring herself to turn around and see what it was. Ryou must have just then heard it too, for he seemed to flinch and freeze. His chocolate eyes froze in a wide, frightened stare as he slowly and reluctantly turned his head to look behind Lei's shoulder. For a moment there was no reaction as he stared out into the darkness, but suddenly Ryou's face contorted in fear

"L-Lei!" He barely managed to gasp

"What?" Lei quickly replied, feeling her skin become clammy and numb. She was too afraid to turn around and see for herself, so she picked up her pace a little and focused on the end of the alleyway.

Ryou said nothing, but took her by the shoulders and turned her around. Lei wanted to shut her eyes immediately as she felt herself swing around, but she forced herself to stay strong. For a moment Lei saw nothing, but soon as her eyes grew to the darkness, a strange shadowy figure emerged and became defined enough for Lei to see roughly what it was.

To her part relief, part horror, it was a woman clad in a dark cloak with what looked like a black gown underneath. Though it was hard to see, to Lei it seemed that she was potentially harmless, but the only thing the worried Lei was why a woman dressed so uniquely would be doing out in an abandoned alleyway. Almost as soon as she concluded this though, the woman effectively disproved her theory by letting out an icy, crackling laugh that made Lei's flesh tinge and her heart jolt into a fit of thunderous pounding

"Who are you?" she found herself snapping, trying to sound brave and failing rather miserably. The woman made no movement

"I am Serradise," was all that she said. Her voice, echoing around the alleyway, was surprisingly calm and mellow, after the laugh she gave. Lei hesitated

"W-what do you want?" she said again, this time her voice much softer and more open in her fear. By now Lei and Ryou had forgotten about walking out of the alleyway, and stood rooted to the spot.

Another laugh followed Lei's question, this one more human and haunting

"Don't really want anything, little girl," she commented. Lei scowled internally at this remark, yet didn't have the courage to show it on the outside

"At least…not yet," she added, taking a few steps towards the two. Lei and Ryou instinctively took a step back for everyone she took forward, but somehow it seemed as if they were walking chest-deep in water, for she seemed to manage to advance onto them faster then they had hoped.

Lei's whole body trembled as she watched. Surely, this woman could not want just nothing, the devious grin on her face told her what quite well

"Who are you?" Lei asked again, oblivious to the fact that she had already asked the same question. The woman folded her arms

"I have told you…I am Serradise…a mere wanderer who seeks companionship…" she said, the words running from her lips like poison.

Lies…Lei thought to herself

"There's no way you can just be a mere wanderer! Tell us! Who are you really?!" Lei demanded, her words strong yet shaking with every syllable. To her surprise, and annoyance, the woman ignored her question and turned her attention to Ryou. She smiled wickedly at him, before drawing closer

"Never have I ever seen such a…beautiful boy…" she mumbled, a inch of synthetic peace in her voice

"Shame that your beauty goes to waste. But perhaps I can change that…"

Lei and Ryou stared at her in confusion, both wondering what the mysterious woman was talking about. Suddenly, before there was any time to think deeply about it, Serradise grabbed Ryou by the head, her palm resting on his forehead and her fingers draped around on top of his hair.

Lei gasped

"What are you doing?" she found herself screaming, nerves preventing her from taking further action against the woman, who had now dipped her free hand into her cloak. She then, Lei's surprise, drew out a magnificent golden sceptre that had somehow remained hidden in her black cloak. The sceptre was barely the length of her arm, bejewelled with a golden orb adorned with an eye, its glassy surface shining with what light the dim alleyway could hold. Lei heard Ryou gasp

"That eye-" he began, but quickly became silenced as Serradise pointed the mysterious sceptre at his face

"Enjoy you new life," she hissed, her lips burling into a wicked smile. Ryou tried to look away from her gaze in fear, but Serradise held onto his head strongly. With a long, graceful wave of the sceptre, an eerie light from the eye speared through the darkness, and Lei, completely rooted to the spot in fear, saw Ryou shut his eyes, also to scared to move.

Lei couldn't do anything but shut her eyes, expecting the worse. Who the hell was that woman? What did she want with them? What was she doing to Ryou?!

Suddenly, the aura of the alleyway grew dull and lifeless again. Even though Lei's eyes were closed, she knew that something had happened. Mustering all her courage, Lei peeled her eyes opened and braced herself for the worse.

Trusting her head in Ryou's direction, Lei let out a sigh of relief as she saw Ryou was still standing, a little shaken, but otherwise ok

"Ryou!" she couldn't help herself yelling as she ran a few steps towards him

"You're ok!" she gasped, hoping that she didn't just speak too soon. Ryou turned to her, his chocolate eyes laden with fear

"What…" he began, but words failed him. It didn't matter; Lei understood

"I don't know," she said, her voice trembling, as was the rest of her body

"She…she just disappeared!"

Ryou stared towards the exit of the alleyway

"I know…" he said softly, "What could've happened? I'm sure she would've done something to us…but she just left,"

"Yes…something about that isn't right," Lei responded, also allowing her eyes to drift longingly towards the dimming light of the exit

"Something about that really isn't right," Lei mumbled subconsciously, as a sudden jolt back to reality told her that the way out of this haunted alleyway that she longer for so much was only a few steps away

"…but let's be glad that we made it first!" she said, quickly starting a pace towards the exit. Ryou nodded before following her

"Yeah…" he agreed as soon as he caught up to Lei "Let's not question why and consider ourselves lucky,"

Lei nodded, too tired to speak. Her legs felt like the blood within them had turned to stone and the muscles to jelly, but she still maintained a constant gait.

I told you so… the voice suddenly reprimanded Lei as she walked, her heart pounding. She sighed, she was use to hearing voices from nowhere; it didn't surprise her anymore.

I'm never walking down that alleyway again… Lei throught sternly to herself. Not taking the alleyway home meant going through the streets, which only took a fair 15 minutes longer, something she could live with. Either way, Rinell would be happy that she'd get to spend more time at her friend's house.

Suddenly, the voice spoke again to Lei, so cold and sudden that she almost yelped

…but they'll still get you.

A:N/ Yay, another chapter done! Well, sorry it took so long…but I guess it's not really my fault…hehehe…

Anyway…

Random thing of the day:

YAMU!!