Nightmare
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Notes: Throughout the story, I'll use different ways of signifying flashbacks. In this chapter, I use italics, which also function as dreams. You'll be able to figure it out.
Thanks for the reviews. Obviously I can't answer such questions as "Who is it?", but I'll try to clear some things up. :P First of all, my summary is very much long-term. A lot of the things I mentioned in it won't actually happen until chapter 4 at least. Second, in that vein, this has been completely outlined for a while. The plot is entirely my own, as inspired by my own nightmare, which was probably drawn from these three books: Blue is for Nightmares, by Laurie Faria Stolarz; The Stalker, by Carol Ellis; and On the Street Where You Live, by Mary Higgins Clark. (I read all of them a while ago; the first two are sort of out of my reading level by now. But if you're a pre-teen or don't mind reading in that range, they were pretty good. On the Street Where You Live was the best, imo, but The Stalker had the most surprising villain.)
Yamiko Yakou: Sorry, just curious- when you say 'sacrifice these possibilities', you mean you don't want them to be the stalker, right? ::shudders:: I have to admit, if one of them were stalking me, I'd die. Of nausea.
Azurite: It's official. ::holds out wrists to be branded:: I'm converted. ::waves Azureshippy flag::
hobbit13: ::grins:: If you were serious… borrow away. (Just hopefully you remember the unofficial quote, since I'll be changing that part of my bio a lot. :P)
Last comment- I shouldn't play with bubble gum. I just popped a bubble all over my face. ::sighs and begins unsticking self:: Happy reading.
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Chapter 2
xXx
It was odd. She'd spent the greater portion of yesterday cuddled up on a chair next to the window, slowly plodding through her homework but really just watching the reassuring plainclothesman a few blocks away, and waiting for the comfortable and safe cop car that drove by every hour. There were no phone calls, no more pictures. She and her parents had enjoyed the first relaxed dinner in weeks, eating around the kitchen table with the windows thrown open.
But the plainclothesman had been gone as she trudged to school that morning. And now it was two hours after school had ended and not a single cop had driven by.
She dragged her pencil absently down the edge of the paper, not noticing that she was marring her math homework. She shouldn't be too worried. With the protective attitude the police had been exhibited the day before, it was highly unlikely that they would forsake her now.
But that wasn't the only thing troubling her. She'd had a very odd conversation with Seto Kaiba earlier that day, and she couldn't get it out of her mind.
"Hey- Kaiba! Wait a sec!"
The CEO's shoulders stiffened as Téa trotted down the hall after him. While the rest of the class was headed off to lunch, Kaiba had immediately taken off for who-knows-where, choosing a route through a largely empty and abandoned hallway. Wanting to know what went on the day before, she had decided to chase him.
"What do you want?" he asked, quite rudely.
Her brow crinkled and she took a step back, even though he still hadn't turned to face her. Kaiba, on the other hand, hadn't chosen to stop walking, and after a brief period of hesitation, she hurried to catch up with him again.
"I just- wanted to ask you-"
"Ask."
The could-be courteous word didn't come with an accompanying action. Kaiba kept up his swift pace. Téa ran after him, but had the thought that she would give anything to turn heel and flee back down the hall, to the warmth and comfort of her friends. She refused to acknowledge what could be weakness, however, and doggedly kept pursuing him.
"You were kind of- that is, I noticed you looking at me yesterday."
"Excuse me, Gardner? Looking at you?"
"Well, glaring at me, I guess. What's wrong? Did I do something? Or are you just being your normal asshole self?"
The last part burst out without her intending to say it, and another chill ran up and down her spine. What was wrong with her, anyway?
"I wasn't glaring at you." Finally, Kaiba stopped, at this time he really did glare at her. Directly at her.
"Well- what were you doing? It sure looked like you were glaring. Just like you are now." Nervous, but determined not to show it, she brushed a hand in his direction. Behind the cold mask of his face, something flashed. Was the professional Seto Kaiba taken aback? No, she decided, it was her imagination. Just like she was now imagining the leery cast of his face. Was she scared of everyone now?
"I was looking at- Wheeler," Kaiba finally said, his eyes narrowing in annoyance.
"What?" She blinked. "Joey? Why were you furious with him? He didn't do anything." Then again, she reasoned, neither had she. Still…
"H'whsrt gnot w'm rutr…" he mumbled.
"What?" This one really got a reaction out of her. Since when did Seto Kaiba mumble? Was he nervous? Embarrassed? Was that some kind of foreign language or saying that she was expected to know?
"Nothing," he snapped, spinning and resuming his walk down the hall at an even faster pace than before. He was almost running. She stared after him, bewildered. That hadn't made one iota of sense!
"So weird…" she sighed, glancing down at her paper. She immediately jumped up, spilling her calculator, notebook, and various loose papers all over the floor.
While she'd been thinking about Seto Kaiba, she'd absently doodled the stalker's bleeding heart onto her paper.
xXx
xXx
"Are you okay, Téa?"
She forced a smile at her mother's concern. "Fine," she said, determinedly stabbing a slice of steak and placing it in her mouth.
"That's good," her mother started saying, but she was no longer paying attention. The fluttering of the curtains had caught her attention. She glanced at the window, suddenly nervous. She wanted to close it again, and pull the curtains tight, but… she was just being silly, right?
"…gone for a week and a half," her mother continued, and she suddenly jerked back to attention.
"Wha-?"
Her mother gave her a stern, slightly amused look. "You weren't paying attention, Miss Téa. But that's okay," she said, suddenly smiling gently. "It's everything we've told you before. Eat correctly, don't stay out all night, no friends over, do the laundry mid-week, walk to school as always, see if you can get a ride if it rains… you're a big girl. You can take care of yourself."
"When?" she asked, the steak still in her mouth and suddenly very dry.
"When we go to Aruba, of course," her mother responded. "You know that, Téa. You're just being forgetful."
"But- you said-"
"What did I say?" Aimee asked, putting a hand to her heart. "Please don't tell me I've forgotten something crucial…"
"Well- yeah!" She put her fork down, upset. "You've forgotten that I'm being stalked! You said yesterday that you weren't going!"
"Téa," her father said sternly. "You know that the police are watching over you very carefully. Your mother and I haven't been away together since you were born. We've been planning this trip for months."
"The police aren't here anymore!"
"Téa, enough with the hysteria. You're being melodramatic."
"But…" She was close to tears. She glanced at Aaron. His face was set. He looked- for the first time she could remember- disappointed in her. Her mother's lips were pursed, also indicating disapproval.
Téa rose from the table, forcing herself to swallow the steak. "I'll be in my room," she choked, before whirling around and fleeing. She managed to hold back tears until she was safely in her room, restraining herself from slamming the door. She edged it closed gently and burst into sobs.
She didn't want to be selfish. She would support her parents. She didn't want to hold them back on their vacation that they'd been looking forward to so much.
She'd just thought… that she was a little more important to them, that was all.
'Stop,' she scolded herself. 'You're very important to them, but you can't be everything.'
xXx
xXx
Two days, a photograph of her entering the school, and multiple phone calls later, Téa worked up her resolve and called the police.
She'd been so distracted lately, listening in fear and turmoil as her parents discussed leaving on Monday afternoon. The very next day, in fact. She really, really wasn't looking forward to it, and that was a pathetic understatement. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of the cops lately- at all.
"May I speak to Sergeant Sacco, please?" she asked, her voice quivery.
"Who is this?"
"Téa Gardner. Sergeant Sacco said that if I called this number, I could talk to him anytime I wanted." She nervously twisted the cord of the phone between her fingers.
"Ah. Sergeant Sacco is busy right now."
She dropped the cord. "Can I please talk to him? If you tell him it's me, he'll talk to me, I'm sure."
"I'm afraid I can't interrupt the Sergeant right now, Miss Gardner. Call back in a few days- if there's still a problem."
This time, she nearly dropped the phone. "A few days?" she practically screeched. "You're the police and I have an emergency! What are you supposed to do? What am I supposed to do? I'm being stalked by a psycho! Hello?"
The line was dead. Closing her eyes, she fumbled with the cradle until she'd replaced the phone. "What am I supposed to do?" she murmured.
"Hello, Téa!"
She spun to face the staircase. Her parents were coming down the stairs, each lugging a suitcase. "Téa, help your mother drag that out to the car, will you?" Aaron requested. Her mother was puffing, red-faced but looking happy.
"I think I'm okay, honey, but thanks."
"Well, I just don't want you to strain your back…"
"That's very sweet of you."
Chatting happily, they moved out into the garage. The door banged closed and Téa stood alone, shocked.
"Hey!"
She dashed into the garage just as Aaron heaved the first suitcase in the back of the station wagon. "Téa, you wanna come with us to the airport?"
"But you're not leaving until Monday!"
"Change of plans, sweetie, we managed to get ourselves on an earlier flight," Aimee said, beaming. "Isn't it exciting? We'll be totally refreshed and ready to hit the beach by tomorrow!"
"Oh," she whispered, suddenly deflated.
"Did you say you wanted to come to the airport?" Aaron asked, sticking his head out from behind the car and grabbing the second suitcase.
"…sure, I guess I will." She wanted equally desperately not to be alone in the house, and not to be away from her parents. Téa climbed despondently into the backseat of the car as Aaron pulled out of the garage.
"Good-bye, house!" Aimee chirped as they drove slowly away. She waved, being silly. "Téa will take good care of you!"
"So you'll just take a bus home from the airport?" Aaron asked, glancing in the rearview mirror. Téa hesitated. The busses wouldn't drop her off directly at the house, just a few blocks away…
"Oh, no, that's not safe at night," Aimee said, as if echoing her daughter's thoughts. "I'll give you money for a taxi, Téa."
"Thanks," she murmured, thinking that only two months ago she would have insisted that taxis were too expensive.
Her parents chattered excitedly on the ride to the airport; Téa made only a half-hearted effort to join the conversation. Her imagination was too busy producing all the horrible things that could possibly happen to her in a week and a half.
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He'd trailed Téa from the house to the airport. Everything was perfect, perfect… he smirked as the brunette dejectedly hugged her parents goodbye, and craned her neck as they passed through the gate and beyond her sight of view. Hidden from her sight, he snickered a little. He couldn't help it, when he caught sight of her big, blue, sorrow-filled eyes.
As if hearing him, Téa whipped around, searching the airport frantically. She couldn't see him, of course, but his laughter stilled a moment before starting silently up again.
She knew he was there. She could sense him. She knew he wanted her.
And deep down, she knew that she wanted him too.
Soon, he vowed- soon they would be together. His nails traced the bleeding heart on his own flesh.
xXx
xXx
She gave the driver a huge tip, because even though he didn't know it he'd made her feel momentarily protected from a psychotic stalker. She was sorely tempted to explain all this to him, just to keep him there longer since it was growing dark, but her common sense held her back. The driver's name badge read "Steve". Steve was middle-aged and bore a golden wedding band, and she guessed he had children. She wondered wistfully how they looked, and fervently hoped that they were safe. The trials of the last few weeks had opened her eyes to the… 'less bright' things of the world.
Steve tipping his hat at her and pulling away briskly snapped her out of her reverie. She started on the walkway up to the house, fishing absently in her purse for the keys, when the hairs on the back of her neck abruptly started to prickle. Her shoulders tensed, and she resisted the urge to spin around. It would probably only please the stalker more. Who knew how such a twisted mind worked? But she couldn't stop, and didn't want to try to stop, her fingers from scrabbling frantically as she quickened her step up the walk. She bounded up the stairs and pressed against the door. She couldn't find her keys, she couldn't find her keys…
She suddenly noticed how very dark it was. Shadows were looming all around her. Her jaw clenched shut; was that a shadow of a man hovering behind her, silhouetted on the door? The wind suddenly howled past her ear, sending a freezing blast through her whole body. She clamped a hand quickly to her mouth, then resumed her frantic digging for the keys. A horrible laugh started to echo…
There. She shoved the key into the lock, grappled with it for a few desperate seconds, expecting to feel a hand clap on her shoulder at any moment, then flew through the door as soon as it was open enough for her to squeeze through. She clawed at the bolts from the inside, got it secure, and fell to the ground, burying her head in her arms and breaking into tears.
This was a mess. Téa's whole body wracked with sobs. Her parents had left her all alone for a week and a half, the police were completely ignoring her, and she was being torn up from the inside. Why her? Why did someone choose to follow her, to stalk her, to make her life miserable? "Why?" she choked out aloud.
"Tééééaaaa…"
Her head snapped up and her breath caught in her throat. In fact, she forgot to breathe altogether. She had heard that voice. This time, she had actually heard it, with her ears, and not as some horrid manifestation in her mind.
Was he in the house at this very moment? Somehow, she doubted it. But her entire body tensed up nonetheless.
Worst of all; she'd recognized that voice. Somewhere, at sometime, she had heard that voice and, most likely, seen its owner.
xXx
xXx
She sighed, sinking deeply into the steaming water. Every window in the house had been locked. She'd checked twice. The doors were securely bolted, and all of them had a chair pulled up and wedged underneath the handle. Téa had opened the refrigerator, felt the nausea rising fast, and bolted upstairs. Ten minutes of running water and about half a bottle of bubble bath had filled the generous sized bathtub and she was in it in a flash.
The water helped, at least on the outside. Téa scooped up a handful of thick bubbles and absently mashed them around between her hands. She was tempted never to leave here- at least, not as long as the water remained warm. Her overly vigorous use of the bubble bath had created a foot-high protective wall. Her eyes closed and she battled with sleep for the next few minutes.
Finally, when the water began to cool, Téa cracked her lids and checked the clock. She'd been in the tub for over half an hour. A wistful smile began to tug on her lips; she was pleasantly drowsy and the warmth was definitely relaxing her. So, too, was the soft smell of apricots; her scent of choice in baths. She nudged the hot-water tap with her foot, adding just enough to re-warm the water. When she checked her fingers and saw how shriveled they'd become, she went for the shampoo bottle. Enough was enough, after all. She couldn't stay in there forever.
She ducked under the water, massaging it into her scalp. She was still underneath the surface when a funny noise started reverberating through the water. She felt mostly the vibrations. Confused, she pushed her face to the surface, breaking through what bubbles lingered.
Despite the hot water she'd just added, her blood instantly froze and her entire body stiffened. It was laughter she was hearing. The same creepy laughter as before.
Clutching her hands around her body, trying desperately to shield herself, she bolted from the bathtub, paused only to grab a towel, and charged straight into her room. Although the rest of the night was deathly quiet, she stayed huddled under the blankets there. Only a few strands of auburn hair peeked out from under the covers. She found it near impossible to fall asleep; when she did doze off, her dreams were full of darkness.
xXx
xXx
She was running as fast as she could, but she wasn't getting anywhere. He was right behind her. She knew he was there, and she could feel his breath on her neck and his fingers stretching out for her, but she couldn't bring herself to look. She forced her long dancer's legs ahead of her, plowing over the ground faster than she'd ever run in her life. An amused murmur echoed in her ear. He was pleased, oh God, he was enjoying this-
Rough hands grabbed her from behind and she went tumbling to the ground. She fell and hit her head, and felt the stalker climb atop her. Then pain, icy pain coursing through her veins-
He was carving something onto her flesh-
The bleeding heart-
Before her vision completely blacked out, she forced her eyes open. His cruel, grinning face hovered in a sea of red-
She knew who it was, and she couldn't place his face-
And then Téa Gardner woke up with only a sense of chilling fear and a vague memory of a person she should have known.
xXx
xXx
"God, Téa!" her friend Shiara exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
Téa slowly turned her head. Shiara, not one for tact, plowed ahead. "You look awful. You look like you haven't slept in weeks! And you're so skinny. Too skinny, I mean. And- what happened to your hair? Then there's the dark circles under your eyes. Téa, you're not anorexic, are you?"
"No," she said weakly, feeling that it would be useless to elaborate further. What could she say? She'd barely slept or eaten in weeks because she'd been so freaked-out by the stalker. And she had only realized what a mess her hair was this morning, because she hadn't rinsed all the shampoo out. But she didn't have time to dunk it under water; she barely had time to brush it, because she'd overslept after half a night of insomnia.
Safe to say that this was not going to be her best day.
Shiara was still talking, looking at her anxiously. "You know what you need, Téa? A five-hour shop-till-you-drop marathon. What do you say, girl? You and me, after school today? We can round up Miho and Nora and go on a spurge."
"No, thanks," she responded wearily, feeling a stab of guilt. But there was no way she could go to the mall with them. For one, she simply didn't have the energy. Plus, she was sure that all her girlfriends would converge on her, trying to pry what it was that was bothering Téa out of the brunette. And she simply couldn't tell them. She couldn't tell anyone. She didn't want to make it anyone else's problem, and possibly put them in danger too.
Especially not them, she thought as her eyes fell on her best friends across the room. She bade Shiara a polite good-bye and assured her she didn't have to worry; that she was fine. She made her way over to where Joey was holding court. Especially not Yugi. He would guess right away that whoever was stalking her maybe had something to do with their connection. And she knew Yugi; that would tear him apart. He was too sensitive, he'd take it to heart, he'd feel too guilty. For the first time, she felt an urge to protect him.
"It's great that you've been spending time with Serenity," Tristan said, stroking his chin. "So, uhhh… when can I come over?"
Joey glowered at Tristan and continued speaking, directing his conversation mostly toward an interested Yugi. "Yeah, Mom gave her permission to come over every other day after school. Then Mom picks her up at night. Sometimes the three of us will even go out to dinner together."
"That's great news for you, Joey," Yugi said earnestly. Joey beamed.
"It's fantastic that you can bond with your sister like that," Téa chimed in, coming up over his shoulder.
"Hey, Téa," Joey said, twisting around just as Yugi gladly chirped, "Téa!"
"You look awful again," Tristan said bluntly.
Joey glared at his friend. "Excuse me, Mr Watch-what-you-say-to-a-lady!"
Tristan had the grace to blush. Unfortunately, so did Téa. The redness stood out starkly on her pale cheeks. "Now what's wrong?" Yugi asked in concern.
"Nothing, guys," she muttered, ducking her head away. "It's okay. I mean, I'm fine."
" 'It's okay'?" Joey repeated suspiciously. "What's okay?"
"Everything," she lied. They didn't stop looking at her; she fumbled for excuses. "I'm just caught up in schoolwork- a little tired-" she hit upon it- "My parents are in Aruba for the next few days, and I guess I just miss them…"
Immediate sympathetic looks. "Téa, you never told us!" Yugi gently chided. "Are you okay? You're staying alone?" She gave a tiny nod. "If you ever need a place to stay, Téa, you know you can come stay with Grandpa and me. We have an extra room and you'd definitely be welcome."
She was touched by the gesture, even if she knew she could never accept it. "Thanks, Yugi," she said, smiling wanly. "That's really sweet. I'll keep you in mind, but I'm okay."
"Yeah," Joey said, shrugging. "Or you could come stay at my joint. I could use company anyways."
"Or mine," Tristan chimed in. "You know my mom loves you."
"Thanks, guys," she said, finding herself getting really choked up. "You're all the best-" Somehow, as her gaze traveled from Yugi's blushing face to Joey's grinning one, her eyes got pulled to a spot in between them. Sitting a little farther away was Ryou Bakura. The pale boy was sitting sideways in his seat, regarding her thoughtfully. His face looked a little puzzled, like something he didn't quite understand was bothering him. She tilted her head and gave him a half-smile, but he didn't react. He just stared blankly ahead, seeming to stare through her.
Confused, she swept the room with her eyes, wondering if she was missing something. Then she saw him.
This time, there could be no doubt that Seto Kaiba was staring at her. At least he wasn't glaring this time. Well, not really. His eyes were a little narrowed and his face was a little twisted, but he looked more interested than angry. She quickly glanced away; for some reason, he was making her nervous.
The teacher started class then; an excruciatingly boring history lesson followed by an equally dull trigonometry course. Normally, Téa would have been slightly irritated, and tried to keep Joey and Tristan from slipping into comas, but this time she was grateful and found herself dozing right along with them. The only real disruption she had was when they had to shuffle from one room to the other. While she'd picked up a little information in history class, she abandoned all pretenses in trig and let herself fall asleep in class, something she'd never done.
The clatter of Yugi spilling his pencil case jerked her out of her sleep. Trig was over. Drowsily, she stretched; she had nothing to clean up as she hadn't bothered to take anything out. Yugi scooped up his pencils quickly and hurried out the door, shouting, "Joey! Tristan!" The two boys were always the first one to leave trigonometry, as they had lunch next.
In fact, most everyone dashed out of the classroom, and that included the teacher (who was probably really just dying for a cigarette break). She was the only one left; her and Seto Kaiba. He pointedly took his time in between classes, signifying that the great Seto Kaiba did not let his life be dictated by the bell.
She hadn't intended to bring this up with him, but they were alone in the classroom and she figured it couldn't do much harm. Before the logical part of her brain could stop her, she brazenly blurted, "This time, Kaiba, you were definitely staring at me."
He didn't even bother to look at her as he rose from his seat. "Back in history? You look like hell, Gardner. I think everyone was staring at you at one point or the other."
With that, he walked calmly out of the classroom, leaving her standing alone and gaping at the door. Gathering her senses, she grabbed her backpack, slightly paranoid and irritated, and stomped out.
Yugi and Tristan were waiting for her in the hall, sighing at Joey. The blonde had assumed a fighting pose, one fist shaking after the fast-receding back of Seto Kaiba. "Yeah, well, the same goes for you, moneybags!" he shouted, spit flying from his mouth in anger. "That jerk…" he muttered, turning back to his friends.
"Hey, guys," Téa said, choosing to ignore Joey's outburst. A warm glow had formed in her stomach. "You didn't have to wait for me." They usually just met up in the cafeteria, where Téa and Yugi practiced not being grossed out by the massive amounts of food Joey and Tristan were capable of consuming.
"I know," Joey said, finally turning away from Kaiba and winking at her. "But we wanted to." He loped one arm around Téa's neck and gave Tristan a head-noogie with the other. "Ready to go to lunch?"
"And we promised each other we'd make you eat something," Yugi said shyly, sidling up. "You're too skinny, Téa."
For the second or third time that day, she blushed. "Eh-heh…" she murmured, trying not to acknowledge the comment.
"Sooo, we're buying out the cafeteria, hitting the vending machines, and getting double desserts!" Tristan announced, punching his fist in the air. Téa giggled.
Her friends were great. They were always the ones she could trust on, no matter how weird everyone else in the school was acting. But an odd thing happened… as they were walking down the hallway, Joey and Tristan vowing that they were each the hot-dog eating champ, she happened to glance over at Yugi. His eyes were glazed over and thoughtful, and for a split second, something bright and crimson flashed across them. She shuddered, but luckily Joey (who still had an arm draped over her shoulder) didn't notice.
Since when had the spirit scared her? She'd always liked Yugi's other half. She'd always felt safe around Yami.
'I'm just being paranoid', she sternly scolded herself. She shot a peek at Yugi, he seemed normal again. 'Normal- that's not the right word. That's horrible.'
Still, something funny was turning around in her stomach that didn't abide when they reached the cafeteria. Kaiba had somehow beat them down there by an alternate route, and was huddled in a familiar corner of the cafeteria, typing away at his laptop with an intensity that Téa could only compare to Yugi in a duel. But he'd always had a knack for sensing when a mutt entered the room, and he glanced up when Joey barged through the door, half-dragging Téa in an effort to beat Tristan to the lunch line. He fixed Joey with a long, harsh Death Glare that only Téa noticed. Finally, Kaiba's eyes shifted from Joey to the hapless girl the blonde still had an arm slung casually around. The cerulean eyes opened a fraction of an inch in surprise, then narrowed again to fix Téa with a scathing look. She rolled her eyes to the ceiling, feeling suddenly secure surrounded by her friends. She didn't know what Kaiba's problem was, but she wasn't going to let it intimidate her.