I'm sorry for the late update, all is explained in the note at the end of the story.
Title: Love in the shadows
Chapter 3: Laughing
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Pairing: Anzu x Ryou (slight pairing with other characters)
I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or any of its characters
Warning! This is rated M for a reason, do not read if you do not like swearing or sexual content. Though there may be none in this chapter, there may be in later chapters.
Anzu angrily tossed her dirty dance uniform into the basket in the changing room, dropping her dance bag with her pyjamas and change of clothes beside it. A number of bathrobes hung from the walls, supported by small hooks. Anzu glared at the wall and clenched her fists as the urge to hit something became very tempting. More than angry, she was disgusted with herself.
'How could I let him do that to me?' She shivered as she remembered the feel of Duke's hot breath on her neck.
'Why couldn't I stop him when he looked at me?' Rage took over her mind once more as she removed the rest of her clothes and grabbed a small wash towel from the pile beside the archway into the bath.
Anzu:" I should have throttled him." Her voice came out in a low venomous whisper as she walked through the arch way into the bath room.
Surprise over took her features as she examined the size of the bath. It was huge. There was only one bath, making it look more like a pool. A number of shower heads were hanging on the walls along the tiled floor, each with a small metal drain under it.
As angry as she was, Anzu couldn't help but feel impressed.
Anzu:" Wow...I wonder how long it takes to clean."
A mental image of Duke wearing a frilly pink apron with a matching handkerchief wrapped where his head band normally was and cleaning gloves scrubbing the pale blue tiles on the floor popped into her head.
Anzu covered her mouth to stop the intense laughter from escaping.
Her whole body shook as she tried to suppress the laughs that quietly fell from her mouth.
Anzu:" Pfffft!" eventually she couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into a happy laughter, holding her sides to stop herself from falling.
Slowly she stopped laughing and wiped the tears from her eyes.
Feeling a lot better Anzu headed for one of the shower heads. Turning the knob, she flinched and winced as cold water sprayed over her bare skin. Her body relaxed as the water slowly heated up.
Anzu sighed as she felt the now hot water soak her hair, turning it a darker brown. Glancing around, she noticed a few small bottles of shampoos and soaps, lined up along the wall. Dropping her wash towel into the bath, she picked up a strawberry scented shampoo and conditioner and a vanilla scented body wash.
Pouring a generous amount of shampoo onto her hand she began running it through her dark wet hair, rubbing until it was covered in a white foam. Stepping back under the spray of water, the foam slowly washed down her body in small streams.
Flicking her hair out of her face, she added the conditioner and rubbed it in, letting it sit for a few minutes before washing it out.
Turning off the faucet, Anzu picked up the body wash and retrieved her wash towel before stepping into the oversized bath.
The bath wasn't too deep and the water was just the right temperature. Sighing happily Anzu felt her muscles ease as she sat in the warm water.
'This is heaven' Anzu thought happily as she slowly raised her arms above her head and stretched, releasing the stress from her back in a quiet but satisfying cracking noise. Relaxing back down, she picked up the body wash and poured another generous amount onto the small wash towel.
Working the clear liquid into foam, she scrubbed the towel up and down her arm before swapping hands and cleaning the other arm.
She winced as she went over a bruise on her shoulder but slowly relaxed once again as she gently massaged the wounded skin.
Anzu:" Worth it" she happily whispered to herself as she moved on to her chest. She gently scrubbed her breasts before moving up to her shoulders and neck. Suddenly Anzu felt a sharp pain at the side of her neck
Anzu:" Ouch! What the-"Anzu raised her fingers up to her neck and winced as she felt another sting of pain. Gently touching where she felt the pain, she winced once more before bringing her fingers in front of her face. Anzu's eyes widened as a light red liquid covered her fingers.
'What, when did I?' Anzu remembered the events that had taken place earlier that evening and frowned. Suddenly rage took over her mind once more as she came to a realisation.
Anzu:" That creep bit me!" her voice was filled with disgust as she remembered Duke nibbling on the crook of her neck earlier.
Anzu" That un-believable creep! What kind of person does that?"
Angrily Anzu scrubbed the wound on her neck, ignoring the pain. Recalling every where he had touched, she roughly scrubbed her stomach and naval until they turned a sore red.
Slumping her shoulders she slid down into the water, with only her head and the top of her chest above water.
. Raising one of her long pale legs out of the water she ran the wash towel up and down its length. Lowering it back into the water she moved on to her other leg giving it the same treatment. Letting her leg gently submerge in the water once again, Anzu let out an angry groan as she stared up at the ceiling through the thick steam in the room
'Am I losing my mind? Why did I let some random guy touch me like that and why did I see a bunch of shadows moving around by themselves...?"
Anzu shut her eyes tightly as she thought of the shadows 'I definitely saw them moving, but how?'
Anzu quietly pondered until she heard a splash.
Startled she sat up and scanned the bath. The room was filled with a thick steam making it difficult to see the other side.
Anzu stood up, clutching the wash towel close to her body and looked for any signs of another person in the room but found none.
Anzu:" Anyone there?" No response came. Feeling a bit silly for asking Anzu began to sit back into the water but stopped when she heard it.
Laughing.
Soft dark laughter echoing throughout the room.
Standing up straight, Anzu's eyes darted around the room, but could only see the hot steam in front of her. She shuddered as she felt her stomach knot and a new found fear over take her mind. The laughing continued, sending chills down Anzu's spine as she spoke.
Anzu:" Who's there?" she had tried to sound confident but the fear was obvious in her voice.
A different soft laughter was her only reply.
Anzu's breath hitched as she listened to the two different voices softly laughing.
'Two people? But who?'
The two different laughs continued, sometimes stopping for a moment only to start up again.
'Is it Duke? Or are the girls messing with me? No, I would have heard them come in, so who?"
Anzu's body shook with fear as she realised who was in the room with her, softly laughing at her.
Swallowing a lump of fear in her throat Anzu put on her bravest face and stood up straight as she spoke
Anzu:" You're those weird shadow people, aren't you?"
The laughing stopped.
Anzu stood there in silence as fear eloped her entire body and her heart began to beat rapidly. The sudden lack of noise was scaring her almost as much as the laughing did.
Trying to calm herself she slowly started moving through the water towards the archway, carefully watching for any kind of movement in the steam.
Suddenly Anzu could only see darkness.
The far off sound of the girls screaming and the sudden lack of light caused her to stop moving. Frozen in fear.
'Is it a power outage?' Anzu's question was answered as the faraway screams slowly died down, leaving her once more in silence. Unfortunately she could barely think when she realised her current situation.
She was nude, with only a small towel as cover in a pitch black room with what she hoped, was only two strange shadow figures.
Anzu rarely swore but she felt this situation called for it.
Anzu:" Shit"
The laughing started again, but this time it was closer.
Anzu's whole body shook in fear; her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest. A wave of nausea came over her and she could almost feel the bile rising in her throat.
She was scared, more scared then she had ever felt before.
She was completely exposed and the shadows knew it.
'Calm down...just calm down and think' unfortunately Anzu couldn't think, not with the laughter growing closer and closer to her. Anzu began to panic
Anzu:" L, LEAVE ME ALONE!" Anzu's voice shook with every word.
This seemed to amuse the shadows as their dark laughing grew louder, echoing off the walls, surrounding her with the terrifying sound.
Anzu was practically hysterical. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she found it harder and harder to breath.
Anzu's breathing completely stopped when she felt it.
Long, cold fingers slowly running through her wet hair.
Anzu inhaled a shaky breath as the fingers pulled away from the ends of her hair, only to touch the top of her scalp and begin again.
Anzu wanted nothing more than to run, to get away from this unknown thing slowly stroking her hair but fear kept her still, slowly breathing uncertain breaths. Hot air covered the side of her face as the laughing quieted down to low chuckles beside her ear.
The fingers continued their petting as something cold slid onto Anzu's shoulder, sending shivers down her spine.
Another set of cold fingers were gently gripping her shoulder, keeping her perfectly still. Anzu's eyes were wide as she swallowed another lump in her throat. Slowly the hand on her shoulder slid towards her chest, sending goose bumps across her skin at the cold touch.
'No I can't let this happen!' Anzu's mind was in frenzy as she desperately tried to figure out how to escape this disturbing situation. Slowly the hand reached her breast, cupping and squeezing the soft flesh slightly in its cold embrace.
Anzu flushed. She was about to scream when she felt a pair of cold hands slide onto her hips, catching her voice in a gasp.
'The second voice!' Anzu strained her eyes to try and identify the figure in front of her but to her despair the blackout robbed her of everything but darkness, the cold feeling of the figure's hands and the sound of their quiet harmonised laughter.
The hand that had been stroking her hair slid to her cheek, gently rubbing what Anzu assumed was its thumb across her skin, wiping away a few fallen tears. The second pair of icy hands slid to her thighs gently caressing her skin.
Anzu wanted to scream, but fear kept her silent, she wanted to escape but cold fingers kept her trapped.
The hand on her breast began massaging the soft mound, pinching her nipple with the tips of its frozen fingers.
.
Anzu felt her body growing hot. She had never felt these sensations before and even though she felt a small amount of pleasure from these actions, the fear of what was causing them deprived her of any comfort. 'N,No I...I don't want this...someone, anyone... please help me'
Anzu clenched her eyes shut as a quiet whimper escaped her lips.
The voices stopped laughing and halted in their actions for a moment.
Suddenly the laughter returned but it was louder, ringing in Anzu's ears as it echoed throughout the room. The laughter filled Anzu's mind, vibrating around inside of her skull, swallowing her mind in its mocking and insane sound. Slowly the fear in Anzu was changing, morphing from the noise into something else.
Rage.
Shaking, Anzu slowly opened her eyes, a hint of anger gleaming in them behind a few unshed tears. 'Why? Why are they doing this to me?' She was tired of hearing that laughter, disgusted at herself for being so helpless and afraid and extremely pissed off at these perverted shadows.
Anzu's eyes narrowed as the new found rage overwhelmed her fear. Once more she felt the cold hands moving along her hips as the other figure fondled her breast and stroked her cheek in a mock sort of comfort.
Anzu recalled her earlier rage from her weakness against Duke's similar actions, the disgust she felt at letting him play with her .
'And what am I doing now? Being just as pathetic as before!" Anzu glared at the unseen predators, her eyes narrowing into slits as she found the will to speak
Anzu:"Shut up" Anzu's voice was shaking, not from fear but from rage. Even though her voice was barely above a whisper the shadows seemed to hear it. The laughter didn't stop, causing Anzu's mind to elope in rage 'How dare they... How dare they do this to me!"
Anzu:"Shut up, shut up, shut up" Anzu's voice began to get louder as anger overtook every fibre of her being. The laughing continued as if mocking her sudden show of defiance.
Clenching her eyes shut, her voice grew into a high pitched shrill scream "Shut up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!"
Anzu voice over took the sound of the laughter as it echoed loudly off the walls. Suddenly she couldn't feel the cold hands on her anymore or anything at all for that matter.
'W, What?' A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over Anzu's body as she heard the sound of something smashing into the walls in front and behind her.
Anzu felt her mind shut down and all the strength in her body quickly disappear.
Without the cold hand to hold her steady, Anzu's knees buckled as she collapsed into the water.
The force of hitting into the warm water was like a slap to the face, forcing her mind back into conciseness. Eyes wide Anzu snapped her head back up, quickly in-taking a sharp breath of air as her heart pumped furiously .
Light momentarily blinded her as she re-surfaced. The lights above her were once more shining and the darkness of the blackout was gone. Blinking quickly the room became less blurry and the different colours became clearer, taking on the form of the walls and floor tiles.
A number of tiles on the wall in front of her had been smashed, revealing part of the grey cement holding them in place but whatever had smashed them was nowhere in sight.
Only one thought was on Anzu's mind
'Run'
Following her instincts Anzu sprinted through the water towards the archway, eyes fixed on her target escape route. Her breath was erratic as blood rushed to her head, the only sound she could hear was the thumping of her heart and the sound of her splashing out of the bath.
Anzu gasped as she almost slipped on the tiled floor. Stumbling she collided harshly with the wall, inches away from the archway.
Hissing and clenching her eyes shut at the sharp pain that ran through the whole front of her body, Anzu blindly stumbled into the changing room, her lungs aching and her body in pain.
Opening her eyes she grabbed one of the bath robes hanging on a hook beside the basket with her dirty clothing in it and dance bag beside it. Wrapping the robe around herself, Anzu felt slightly less vulnerable and took a moment to catch her breath, her eyes darting around the archway for any movement.
Taking long breaths, Anzu felt her lungs begin to slow their pace and her mind begin to calm down. Never taking her eyes off the archway, Anzu grabbed her bag and clothes and quickly headed for the door to the main room.
Dashing into the main room, Anzu was relieved to see no one was there, not wasting a second she quickly ran up the stairs to the bedrooms, her bag in one hand the other holding her robe closed.
Faith seemed to be giving Anzu a break as the first door she tried was an unoccupied bedroom. Throwing her bag inside the room, Anzu flicked on the lights and shut the door.
Finally Anzu's heart returned to normal as she slumped against the door, her body tired and her mind worn out
Taking in deep breaths Anzu thought of something she had realized the moment she entered the strange mansion.
'There is something wrong with this place'
Note: Currently I am very busy with school and so I won't be able to update as fast as I'd like to. I would greatly appreciate any feedback or reviews as it helps me know if the story is worth writing. I'll try to add chapters as soon as I can so please bear with me.
R&R