Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ~ Albert Einstein


When he opened his eyes again, he knew he had lost.

The last thing Ryou could remember was the ring glowing, the pain and that laughter. And he knew that he had lost.

(Regardless, he still ran to the door trying to get out.)

"Let me out!" Ryou screamed, pounding against the door. "You can't do this!"

And that last part made Ryou feel worst, like a child who had a misbehaved and needed to be sent to his room. When in reality Ryou had been locked inside his own mind so that the spirit (or whatever he – it was) could steal his body.

(He stopped pounding on the door because of this.)

He was trapped. There was no denying this. Whatever that thing, that manifestation in the darkest corners of his mind (his soul to more precise) was stronger than he was. Resistance was pointless. Everything was on Yuugi's shoulders now.

(Ryou had faith, though.)

He turned away from the door after finally realizing that no, glaring on the door with all his might would not make it open.

Needless to say, Ryou was rather disappointed at the physical manifestation of his soul. His soul room.

(It was plain.)

The walls were a light blue, the color of the sky, but were coated with a thin layer of dust. A lamp was hung from the ceiling, illuminating the windowless room. There was a bed, directly in front of the door. Ryou bit his lip, it was the bed he had when he was a child, before all the moving. (And before something else, too.) It had white sheets with light blue sheets around the pillows but no blanket. There were many things hung up on the wall, all in perfectly straight rows and columns. Hesitantly, (which Ryou would later scorn himself for. This was his soul, there was nothing to be afraid of) he walked towards the right wall.

There were only pictures on this wall and they too were coated with dust. He leaned towards the frame that was placed dead center in the wall. It was grayscale, dustier than the others. His father was laughing, wrapping an arm around his mother who was giving a small smile. Below them was Ryou smiling like his mother and Amane playfully messing with his hair. Ryou inhaled sharply, and took the sleeve of his arm to wipe the dust from the picture. It didn't come off.

(So he stopped trying.)

Only a couple other pictures were grayscale (Atsushi playing monster world, his tenth grade school photo, and a picture of the desert) and only the picture of Yuugi with his friends did not have the dust the others had. Most were simply snapshots of things that had been important, but he did not see the use of them now. Ryou scanned for another second but when he saw that nothing else of interest was here he turned away.

The past was in the past and he would not (could not) dwell on it.

The left wall had frames too, all hung in that perfect order, but most frames did not hold photographs. The last column on the right had framed Monster World figurines and the first column consisted entirely of drawings Ryou made as a child. Directly in the center of this wall, was a mirror. He couldn't see his reflection though, because of the dust. Above that was the millennium ring (Ryou shivered, even if he knew that it was obviously not the real one) and to the right of that an article about the new museum exhibit. Starting from the center, Ryou could see that in some strange way everything in the frames was connected to each other. But even knowing that, there were so many oddities the frames held, Ryou simply could not believe they were all significant enough to house his soul.

He sighed and retreated to his bed. There was nothing to do now but wait. Ryou leaned his head against the pillow, but instead of something soft and fluffy his head meant a small hard chest.

Curious (and not at all frightened, he lied to himself) he pulled the chest from the pillow case. And like Pandora, he opened it to reveal hundreds of letters. Amane's letters.

(Though his heart sank like a brick in water somehow he didn't feel as alone.)

Clutching the letters, Ryou closed his eyes and lay back down on his bed wondering when the spirit would let him out.

(...)

That was odd. For a second he swore he heard an echo.

-0-

When he opened his eyes again, he realized that falling asleep had been a mistake.

Any sense of time Ryou had before was now forever lost. How long had he been sleeping for, seconds, minutes, hours?

(And of course there was that part of him that was screaming centuries, but he, like everything else, repressed it.)

Ryou stood up, suddenly overcome with that sinking dread feeling and loneliness. The world could be ending outside and he would have no idea. He was completely isolated, completely detached from the world. There was nothing he knew about the world right now. Yuugi could be dead. He could be dead.

He pressed his hand against the door and begged for it to open. Begged for it to let him out.

(Let me out, the walls echoed,please let me out.)

Ryou let out a cry of surprise, but quickly calmed himself. Those were simply his thoughts; there was nothing to be afraid of.

(Nothing to be afraid of…)

Ryou cringed. With nothing else to do, he was trapped after all, he crawled back into bed. The millennium ring frame caught his eye and his gaze traveled to the right of it.

That was odd. Why would there be an empty frame on his wall?

(Be afraid of…)

-0-

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself not to be in his apartment.

A surge of panic bolted Ryou upright but he quickly calmed himself. Why was he acting so scared? There was nothing to be afraid of. (For a split second, it sounded to Ryou like he heard an echo.) He had just moved, and combined with the fact that he could still feel the lingering dread of a nightmare (something about a boy and his puzzle and himself but not himself…) he was just overacting.

He shook his head and allowed a few more seconds in bed to really wake himself up. The feeling of dread did not pass. Something still felt wrong.

This room that he was in was not his new apartment. He was sure of this.

(Wasn't he?)

Ryou turned his attention to the walls, every inched filled with frames. One wall had all rather dusty pictures, pictures he recognized, pictures of his life (and one empty frame that strangely had less dust than the others). The other wall had frames too, but didn't have pictures.

He pursued his lips, and despite every inclination of his body, walked towards this wall. Were those figurines from that Monster World game he had just order? And that one, right above the mirror, was the millennium ring his father had given not too long ago.

Surely this must be his apartment. There were no other possibilities. He obviously must not have gotten a good night's sleep and that's why the room looks so unfamiliar. Shaking his head and scolding himself for such a stupid reaction, Ryou tried to open the door.

It didn't budge.

(Ryou's palms began to sweat.)

"Hello! Can anyone hear me?" he cried out, hoping that his new apartment complexes' walls were thin and somebody would hear him. "I'm trapped!"

"Could someone please let me out!"

(Please let me out…)

Ryou let out a gasped as the light blue walls of this prison began to vibrate.

(Please, please let me out…)

Ryou's breathing became uneven and he struggled to keep himself from tears. This is not happening he assured himself, this is a dream. Wake up! Wake up!

(Please, please let me out, please, please let me out…)

"Who are you?" He shouted at the door, tears pushing out from his eyes. "Leave me alone!"

(Alone, alone, alone…)

Ryou jerked the door open with all his might, trying to get away from that voice. That horrible, horrible voice. It seemed to be getting closer, like the room itself was getting smaller. Closing in on him, soon it would devour him!

(Let me out…)

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" he covered his ears, but still that voice, a twisted version of his own made it through.

(Please, please let me out…)

No, he had to get out! He screamed and the sound echoed through the walls, even though Ryou did not open his mouth. The boy charged at the walls, trying to force them to stop talking, trying to get out of the room. He clawed at the wall; peeling away it's light blue paint and dust. He clawed at the wall; peeling away the skin from his finger tips.

(Let me out, let me out, let me out…)

Ryou shrieked– it was high pitched, gurgled and completely undignified. He fell to the floor in a dead faint a few seconds later.

(Please, please let me out, please, please let me out, please, please let me out…)

-0-

When he opened his eyes again, he did not know where he was. Ryou was on the ground, which was weird because it was always Amane that didn't want to sleep in her bed not him. (He was always a good boy.)

He stood up, slowly feeling extremely uncomfortable with his body. Ryou looked at his arms, they were so long. Did he grow overnight? His mother said that this would happen, he would wake up one day and be big but she said it wouldn't be until he was much older.

Ryou scratched his head, confused about what he was doing in such a strange room. The walls had scattered frames on them and lots of dust imprints like someone had just taken some pictures down. He knew some of them, like that bright and colorful picture of his family in the center of the wall. So he must know this room…

There was a bed too, his bed. But it wasn't his room. He walked closer, curious and not the least bit frightened, and saw a bunch of letters all of the bed. Delicately, he picked one up.

Dear Amane, it read but the date was all wrong. It was almost ten years from now!

Unless…

Ryou looked down at his arms; they weren't just longer but older too. There was a name for this, he remembered his father talking about it. Was it amnesica? Amnesia? Anlesia? Something like that. His father said it was when you lose your memories.

(Ryou looked at the mostly empty walls, wondering how much he had forgotten.)

He took a step for the door; he was going to have to go straight to an adult for help.

But the door didn't open.

Ryou pouted. "Hello? Could someone please let me out?"

(Let me out…)

Ryou's eyes widened. The walls talked.

The walls talked.

That was so awesome!

He placed a hand to the walls, right over some small red streaks on the light blue paint.

"Hello, my name's Bakura Ryou! I think I'm trapped. Could you please let me out?"

(Let me out, the walls rumbled.)

Suddenly, Ryou was uneasy and he dropped his hands from the walls.

"Yes," he said, trying to remain assertive like the way his father had taught him when he was dealing with someone mean, "I can't get out,"

(Can't…please, please let me out…nothing to be afraid…)

The last of the frames on the wall disappeared and Ryou let out a startled cry.

(Can't get out…)

The walls were moving. Crawling, inching toward him. With each breath he took the walls swelled and with each breath he let out they stayed in place. (Ryou began to cry.)

The bed had melted into the floor and it too was crawling towards him. Each breath he let out the bed goo would creep up his leg and with each breath he took the goo would solidify. (Ryou began to die.)

(Can't get out…)

And then everything was upon him.

-0-

When he opened his eyes, he knew he was lost.

The boy arose from the middle of the unknown floor of an empty room. Where was he? He tried to remember what he had last been doing, but found nothing but haze and fog. Oh gosh, he couldn't remember anything, not even his own name.

The room was not bringing up any memories either. It was completely empty, save a small light on the ceiling. The walls were light blue like a child's room. Is that where he was, a child's room?

Oh, thank goodness! There was a door right there now all he had to do was get out of this room and find someone who would help – .

The door did not open, didn't even budge.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" he called out with trace of desperation, "I'm trapped. Can someone please let me out?"

(Please let me out, the walls answered back, let me out.)

"Hello! Who's there?" Panic consumed the boy's heart, but he quickly calmed himself. Surely everything seemed worst because he couldn't remember anything, his mind was playing tricks on him. He hadn't heard a voice. Really, there was nothing to be afraid of.

(Be afraid of…)


A/N That has to be the longest thing I've ever written. If you liked it, review! Because you all know how much I love reviews!