The night was eerily quiet, the wind sailing softly through the air as if out for a pleasant stroll, whilst dark waves attacked, relentlessly, the cliff face surrounding the silent island. The only light came from the ghostly silver moon, which made the forests and treetops seem almost magical under its gaze. Near the edge of the island there was a small two story building made of light brown wood, with a bright red roof, and out of its windows came a bright flickering orange light, for the inhabitants of the small dormitory were still awake and regaling each other with frightening, at least in some cases, ghost stories
The inhabited room had a light brown wooden floor, on which were a dozen of dark brown wooden desks, however only one of them was being used. The light from the room came from a single lit light bulb, which hung precariously from the rafters, atop which a light brown cat found its home, and was currently sleeping.
"So," said a spiky blue haired boy with a concerned face and a pair of glasses, which didn't seem to fit his face, "I'm walking through the woods, it's night time and there is no one around. Then suddenly I hear a voice, soft and gentle like, telling me to go towards the lake. I look around, for what feels like ages, before I spot a small, dark, lake in an empty clearing. Moving toward the lake, hesitantly, I spot a rare and powerful Duel Monsters card lying just beyond my reach. Reaching out, with a shaky hand, I try to grab the card...
"Then?" A rather large boy with black hair and beady eyes, wearing a large red and white jacket, is currently shivering and holding on tightly to one of the many beams of wood resting against the wall, supporting the whole building.
"A hand reaches out and grabs me..." the boy continued.
"Then?" the fat boy asked, seemingly more scared.
"I fell in."
"Wow Syrus," a dark grey haired boy, with eyes to match, "that was, without a doubt, the poorest excuse for a horror story I've ever heard."
"Did I mention it was dirty swamp water?"
"Yeah, like swamp water would've made a bit of difference… Chumley get down from the roof. Man, if that's what you call scary, it's no wonder you're in the Slifer Red dorm." The boy said, muttering the last part.
"You're in this dorm too, Osamu," Syrus reminded the boy.
"Not by choice," the boy spat angrily before he flipped over the top card on the deck of cards, which lay neatly stacked in the middle of the table, eyes widening when he saw it was a high level monster.
Pain shot through his body and he tried his best not to let it show, but a gasp escaped his lips, making the other boys look at him with concern.
"You all right?" Syrus asked.
"Yeah," Osamu said with a ghost thin smile, "just tired that's all," he added, before looking down at the card he got, worried and doubtful in his eyes. He agreed to tell a story, but he only had one story worthy enough for a monster that high. The question was, after all these years, would he be able to relieve his nightmare long enough to tell someone about it?
"Wow," Syrus said after looking at the card, "that's a very powerful monster. What story could you possibly tell to match it?"
"Syrus," Chumley hissed, "don't encourage him."
"It started on a normal day," Osamu began slowly, hesitantly. "With two boys sitting at a living room table playing a game of Duel Monsters. The older of the two boys was ahead in life points, had three monsters on the field, and one facedown on the field. The younger of the boys had one card in his hand, as well as two monsters on the field, and it was his turn. Drawing a high level monster, his favourite card, the boy sacrifices both his monsters in order to summon that card."
He paused for an intake of breath before continuing, aware that the two other boys were playing close attention.
"Something was different about this card, it wasn't like any other card before it. For you see, it had a mind, and spirit of its own, and at some point had decided that the younger boy should never be harmed, and anyone who tried to should be punished. No one knew why this was, not even the boy, perhaps it was a form of love, which had been so warped and twisted that it was only a mere ghost of its former self, but as I said no one could be sure. Not knowing this the boy did not know that the victory he would attain, by stopping the monsters summoning, would make the boy upset, as well as cause the victor a lifetime of pain and misery."
"This isn't so scary," Chumley said, and Syrus agreed with him.
Osamu gave a nervous laugh, before glancing down at the card accidentally, and reliving another wave of pain for his troubles.
"The true horror begins when the boy falls into a sudden coma, for which no cause can be found. All he is aware of is a glowing red eye surrounded by blackness. He couldn't move, he couldn't talk. All he could do was look on in horror and his body was scared by a purple claw, which soon became painted a crimson red colour. All the while girlish laughter echoed about him, as a voice kept saying the same phrase over and over again.
"What was it?" Both boys asked, in a hushed whisper.
"I will have my revenge."
Before the chill of fear could set into everyone sitting round the table someone else spoke up, in an interested, and somewhat, excited voice.
"Oh, are you telling horror stories?"
"Ah," Osamu said in slight surprise, an action mirrored by both the other two boys. "Professor Banner, we didn't know you were listening. You scared us."
"Oh, so very sorry," the man identified as Banner said, then he noted the deck of cards on the table, and with a raised eyebrow, asked the obvious question.
"Mind if I have a go?"
Professor Lyman Banner was a tall man, with a head of black hair, tied back into a ponytail, and his face was fitted with a pair of square glasses, which protected a pair of eyes that, if you asked any student, seemed never to open. He wore a plain white shirt, and black pants as well as a black neck tie, which hung loosely round his neck.
Osamu shrugged. "Sure, why not. All you have to do is flip over the top card, and the higher the level of the card, the scarier the story has to be."
"What happens if you get a magic or trap card?"
"Put it to the side and draw again," Syrus said, shrugging his shoulders. Evidently they hadn't gotten a magic or trap card before.
Drawing a card from the deck, to the surprise of everyone, Banner picked up a trap card. So placing it to the side he picked up another card, and was rewarded with a magic card, which was shortly followed by another, before finally he picked a relatively high level monster from the deck.
Looking at the card, thoughtfully, for a few seconds, he smiled to himself.
Noting the level Syrus spoke up. "I think I'll be leaving now."
"What's wrong? Don't you want to hear about the Abandoned Dorm at the end of the island?" Professor Banner asked, before laughing.
"Not really," Syrus said, whimpering slightly.
Osamu however was intrigued. "Abandoned Dorm? "
"Yes, no one talks about it now, but there was once a dorm set at the edge of the forest, which was shut down after several students mysteriously went missing, and rumour has it the disappearances had something to do something known as Shadow Games."
"Shadow Games." Osamu muttered. "where have I heard that before?"
"They were supposedly games played in ancient times by mages of great power," Banner said, "of course that is just speculation and most think it's nothing more than a myth."
"What do you think?" Syrus asked, in a voice that almost couldn't be heard.
"Well children," Banner said, "all stories must come from somewhere..."
With that Banner made his leave, before he could be asked further questions, saying that he was tired and he had to teach in the morning. He also advised Osamu, Syrus and Chumley to get some sleep, for they also had class in the morning.
"He's right, you know." Osamu said, before stifling a yawn.
"You know I did see an old, and creepy, looking building in the forest the other day," Syrus said, without realising the implications doing so would have.
"Great," Osamu said, before getting up and walking to the door. "You can lead the way tomorrow night," and with that he was gone.
Meanwhile…
Haru stood in the middle of a dark room, looking at the markings and symbols lining the stone walls around him, and a serious, yet somehow wondrous, expression, on his tired face.
"I don't feel anything, Yubel." He said softly.
"I am positive there's something here," Yubel insisted, "I can feel it."
"Maybe you're just imagining it," Haru offered, stifling a yawn. It had been a very long day, and classes, no matter how idiotic and boring they seemed, had taken their toll upon him.
He needed sleep.
"We'll come back tomorrow," he said, before he turned to leave the chamber, and make his way back through the dark and narrower stone corridor with its twists and turns, back up the old, creaky, and in some places, broken, wooden steps, to the entrance of the old stone, moss covered building.
However Yubel couldn't help but wonder why, when they were down in the basement of the old dormitory, she had felt the pull of a powerful force, and she couldn't shake the feeling that it seemed familiar.
As Osamu had said, Syrus led them to the old and mysterious building when night fell the next day. The journey was made in silence, but both Syrus and Chumley had protested before they had set off.
The forest through which the boys now walked was never ending. The dark green trees towered above their heads, blocking out the pale glow of moonlight. It was a lucky thing the boys had brought a torch, supplied by a surprisingly eager Professor Banner, with them.
After what felt like hours of walking, and according to Chumley was, they stood in front of a very old building made out of grey stone. Its door was broken, and almost off its hinges, but still made a deafening creak when pushed. The windows had long since been smashed, allowing the trio to see the dust covered dark purple room that awaited them.
However the thing that caught Osamu's eye was the shadow of someone moving inside. Squinting slightly he saw it was a boy his age, wearing a yellow jacket. Without telling the others he quickly made his way up the cobbled path and into the deserted building. However by the time he got inside the boy had already gone.
"Hey, Osamu." Syrus and Chumley both shouted, "wait up," both running, to Chumley's dismay, after him.
"What's up?" Syrus asked, after catching his breath.
"Did we really have to run?" Chumley moaned, as he panted heavily.
"That'll teach you not to indulge in grilled cheese so much," Syrus shot back, an angry look crossing his face.
"I thought I saw someone in here," Osamu said quietly.
"Well there's only one way they could have gone," Chumley said before pointing with the torch to a dark and narrow corridor, which when they looked at it closer seemed to carry on down into nothingness. "Of course we don't have to go down there," Chumley added hastily, as an afterthought.
Too late. Osamu had already snatched the torch out of Chumley's hand and raced off down the corridor, and Syrus and Chumley could do nothing but follow their friend down into the darkness that awaited them.
Eventually the trio's walk came to an end, and they found themselves in a strange room made out of old grey stone, strange and unknown symbols carved into the walls. In the middle of the room there was a strange sun circle carved into the floor, with tall smaller circles at either side of it.
In the middle of the circle stood a boy with a head of red hair wearing a yellow jacket, his back was turned to them, he hadn't seen them yet. The strangest thing was the boy was talking out loud. Yet except the three boys that had just entered there was no one else in the room.
So, the question on both Syrus's and Chumley's mind was a rather simple one.
Who, or what, was the boy talking to?
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, Osamu seemed to know the answer to this question. For he spoke up, however his voice lacked the confidence it usually held. This time he spoke, and his voice was filled with fear, and hatred.
The boy stopped talking, and slowly turned round, surveying the other three boys with a cold hard glare, though as it passed over Osamu his eyes widened slightly, but only for a second.
"What are you doing down here?" Syrus asked Haru, all the while Chumley looked confused. Who was this kid?
"None of your business," Haru said, before his eyes returned to Osamu. "Never thought I'd see you again." He said in a
voice filled with so much loathing the very ground he stood on seemed to quake in fear.
"You'll pay for what you did to me," Osamu suddenly growled, activating his duel disk, anger flashing in his eyes.
Haru sighed, shaking his head in… was that pity?
"I see you haven't changed, still a bully I assume? For what you did to me, to every other kid, you should have been punished." Haru said, "But," he continued, a sad expression crossing his face, "you shouldn't have been hurt like you were. No one should."
"Seven years," the boy hissed, "because of you I missed seven years of my life."
"It's what you get for trying to separate us," Haru muttered softly.
"For God's sake man she's just a card." Osamu snapped, all the while the other two boys looked on in confusion.
However neither of them failed to notice the rage that had suddenly appeared in the Ra Yellow's eyes, or the fact his face had darkened.
"SHE IS NOT!" Haru roared, before he stepped back to the other side of the room, duel disk activated. "I tried to explain to you, to everyone, that she wasn't just a card, but none of you listened. It's your fault my parents tried to send her away. Your fault I had no other friends growing up, and for all the pain and misery you caused me I'll make you pay."
"Duel," the two boys called out, and all the while, from the back of Haru's mind Yubel watched.
She'd been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time, and she would make sure Osamu paid dearly for what he did to Haru all those years ago.
For she had vowed long ago that no one would ever cause Haru pain, and as long as she remained, no one ever would.