Hey everyone, just getting back into the swing of things with balancing school and stories...effing APUSH!
Serpent-vampfreak:I hope you like this chapter as much as you like the last one. I can't seem to pick between Cassandra and Aggie, those two are my favs.
The poem in this story is mine.
NOTE! The BOLD "X"s are there to show the different stanzas
Standard disclaimers apply
Chapter 9
(Aggie)
It was the middle of October and everyone had settled into a comfortable rhythm at home. We had a system for cooking, washing and cleaning (it even included Joey because he spent so much time here). Every night after dishes Cassandra would disappear to go play at the arcades and wouldn't get back until about ten. Yami had a job at a restaurant Monday, Wednesday and Friday from seven to eleven and Yugi if he ever went out was back by nine. I always stayed home, the silence was wonderful.
We had been given debit cards by Mr. Moto, Yugi's and I guess our grandfather to pay for any expenses that came up, there was a special one for groceries. On the first day of every month two hundred dollars was placed in the account allotted for each card. Since I hadn't spent anything yet I had a grand total of four hundred dollars on my card.
It was ninth period Friday and I was on my way down to the library to escape from the exuberance of my younger brother who was bouncing off the walls. Cassandra had been slumped across her desk, trying to save up energy for her play practice that night and emotionally drained from having to ask Tèa about a dance school. Yami was doing his homework so he wouldn't be rushed later and I was escaping.
Walking into the computer room, which was part of the library I sat down at a computer and looked at the screen to see who the last user had been. Rbakura7953, that was Ryou Bakura, his older brother was in a few of my classes. Deleting his name I entered my own Smoto8372 and then my password. Quickly the computer logged me on as I fished out my headphones and plugged into the computer, it was one of the joys of being a senior, being allowed to use your headphones in class. With one hand I pushed the button to open the CD drive while extracting my CD from the depths of my bag. To my surprise there already was a CD in there. Tainted Blood was written on the top of it in a deep rich crimson. Interest getting the better of me I reinserted the CD and clicked 'yes' to play it.
The sound of drumsticks hitting as they counted out the beat reached my ears before the scream of an electric guitar rent the quiet. Abruptly it stopped and the dark melodious notes of a piano were heard playing softly, a dangerous edge giving it just the right texture. Next the base guitar came in adding to the insidious whisper of pain and hatred. As the drums came in and then another guitar, the first one, building up to an amazing crescendo. The music died down to a solo on the base which turned into a duet with the other guitarist with the drummer and pianist slipping in eventually. There was a drum solo and then one more crescendo before it ended.
"Awesome," I breathed pulling out the CD. "Absolutely brilliant." Hurriedly I logged out and left to go to my locker.
X-X-X-X-X
Plugged into my portable CD player I moved about the kitchenette making dinner and humming along to the song. It was such a wonderful piece of art, it made my fingers itch to write lyrics to go along with it. Yugi was sprawled on the living room floor with Joey, the two of them were going doing homework. Cassandra was on the phone and Yami was getting ready for work, so he could leave right after dinner.
As I stirred the Alfredo noodles I thought about the tone of the song. It had this sinister feel to it. I knew that it wasn't supposed to be happy, but it was supposed to invoke deep, dark buried secrets that they within you. Absently I began to write down words that came to mind from the song. Mutilated, blemishes, crimson, taint, desecration, torment, shadows. The list stopped abruptly as I bent to check on the chicken in the oven.
Straightening up the pan filled with cooked chicken in my hands I quickly cut it up before throwing it in with the Alfredo and letting it marinate a few minutes. Pulling the heavy pot off the stove I doled out generous portions on all five plates and placed the salad in the middle. Turning off my CD player I called everyone over for dinner.
"What's this?" Joey asked plopping down at his spot curiosity lacing his tone.
"Ch-chicken Alf-fredo," I stuttered quietly.
"Cool! Italian food!" Joey dug right into his food and the rest soon followed his example, though a little more cautiously. We spoke of light topics, everything superficial and nothing meaningful.
"A-are you g-going out tonight?" I asked Cassandra as she cleared the table.
"Yeah," she responded shrugging. "I'm thinking about getting a job."
"Why?" Yugi questioned from the sink where he was scrubbing dishes.
"Cuz if I want to dance, I have to be able to pay for it. The studio I talked to said I could dance there, but I'd have to pay a fee." Cassandra piled up the rest of the dishes next to the sink.
"You do know that you're not allowed to have a job, it's against school rules," Joey told her from where he was drying dishes.
"Who's to say they're going to know?" Cassandra demanded. "Your little friend Tèa has a job, doesn't she? Yami has a job, doesn't he?"
"Just saying," Joey said, holding his hands up as if to ward off a physical attack. "Lots of kids have jobs, you just gotta make sure that no one else finds out."
"Does that mean I have to silence you?" Cassandra asked sinisterly as she fingered a knife that she had just picked up. "I mean, family is one thing, but you…you might tell." She raised her eyebrows and Joey gulped for air.
"N-no! I won't tell!" He backed away from Cassandra slowly.
"I'm kidding, geeze, you people seriously need to get a sense of humor." Cassandra tossed the blade into the sink. "Well, I'll talk you all later." She snagged her coat and sauntered out the door.
"I'm g-going to my room." I told them before I snatched up my portable CD player and high tailed it out of there. In the sanctuary of my room I placed the CD in the boom box that Yugi had given Cassandra and me to use. Turning it on, I placed the CD on repeat and jacked up the volume.
X-X-X-X-X
"You haven't found it yet?" I froze as I heard someone growl this nearby. I was on my way to the library to put the finishing touches on the lyrics I had started about a week ago.
"No Bakura, I have tried and tried, but no one has seen or heard of them!" Another person replied. "I'm sorry!"
"Dammit Ryou!" Bakura snarled. "If we want a chance at getting into that contest we have to have the song in by next Friday! And we can't re-record because we don't have any money left!" Feeling lower than dirt I slunk into the open and around them hoping that they would pay me no mind. Thankfully they did and I scurried into the library and found a seat at a secluded table. Cautiously I pulled out my lyrics and looked them over.
There was something missing, there was a section of music left that needed to be filled and the lyrics need closure. The all of words I had come up with were all scratched out, indicating that I had used them all. Sighing softly I tapped my pencil against the desk as I pondered this dilemma. I needed to end it. Carelessly I skimmed over the paper, reading some of my favorite lines. Then it hit me! All I needed to do was to take one line from each of the choruses, there were three and then stick the last line in and voila, it's done!
"Hey!" Sada popped up in front of me. I let out a shrill, high-pitched squeak of terror as I quickly grabbed my paper off the table. "Nice to see you to."
"N-nothing p-personal," I stuttered as I gave her a weak smile. "Y-you j-j-just s-startled me."
"Can I sit with you?" She questioned holding up her books. Sada was a nice girl in my grade who had black hair and pale blue eyes; she was a bit of a geek, but in a good way. Her lowest mark ever received was in the mid-nineties and she was a computer and electronics whiz.
"S-sada?" I whispered as an idea hit me.
"Yeah?" She replied distractedly.
"D-do you kn-know a p-place where I c-could make a recording?"
"Yeah, I have the equipment at my house, why?"
(Bakura)
Slumped over my desk in my study hall I half-listened to the announcements and silently counted down the seconds until I could leave school. I had only 2,400 left, about forty minutes.
"Bakura," Ryou hissed at me. "They called you down to the office!" Nodding at him I pulled myself up and shagged my duff down to the main office and slouched over to the desk where the lady sat.
"Bakura," I told her and she handed me a brown paper bag with my name on it. Without a word of thanks I took it off her hands. Out in the hall I pulled the two items out and let the bag fall to the floor, unheeded. They were two CDs in two different jewel cases. One I recognized as my band's demo CD and the other was a mystery to me with It's All Your Fault scrawled across it in messy handwriting.
"Guess what dork?" I demanded of my brother as I entered the study hall room.
"What?" He asked vaguely as he worked on his homework.
"I got our demo CD and it's going in tomorrow." I smacked him on the head as I slid into the seat directly behind him. From my backpack I withdrew my portable CD player and inserted the disc. Since I wasn't sure what I would be hearing I braced myself for anything.
Drumsticks hitting each other counted out a very familiar beat before a guitar screamed. It was our song! But something was different. Someone was screaming along with the instrument. Ryou's part on the keyboard began and a sensuous female voice sang with it.
Crimson anguish pours from my soul
My heart has been flailed open by deceit
Scars long healed are torn apart
I'm haunted by the taint in my core
X
Mutilated love you forced on me
Perverted fantasies you acted upon
Transformed me into what I am
It's all your fault
X
Pitch black despair smothers my spirit
Blemishes of your adoration mar my skin
Shadows of your presence darken my life
The abyss of torment has devoured me
X
Lust you gave into desecrated my being
Violation of the sanctuary of my mind
You caused my metamorphosis
It's all your fault
X
The cloak of demise about my shoulders is yours
My psyche is shattered leaving me bereft
Light from outside cannot penetrate
Your detrimental ways have destroyed me
X
Rainbows of bruises you gave me
All my will you took away
Mutated me into this monster
It's all your fault
X
Mutilated love you forced on me
Violation of the sanctuary of my mind
Rainbows of bruises you gave me
It's all your fault
"Holy hell," I breathed as the song finished. I had two questions on my mind: Who the hell sang that song and who wrote those lyrics? Though I did know one thing, I was going to find out.
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