I usually try to keep things light and airy when writing my intros, but a lot has happened to me in the past year. I've been constantly struggling with having enough motivation to do anything besides going to work. I've felt that my life has been painfully stagnant ever since I graduated high school three years ago. I haven't had the will to do much of anything for a long time. I never truly forgot about this story, in fact, I've been slowly rewriting it for the past year. I was never really happy with the quality of my writing.

Back in middle school, every year I would write a composition notebook worth of writing. Front to back. Both sides of the paper. I want that drive back. I want to recapture apart of myself I haven't seen in a long, long time. Thankfully, I've seized this quarantine opportunity to speed the process along.

I elected to delete my old commentary, mostly because I wanted to consolidate the chapters so they were longer. So yeah, here's the first revised chapter.

Yuugi slouched in the front passenger seat, gazing absent-mindedly out the window. The fewer houses he saw, the greater his anxiety grew. He stole a glance at his grandfather. He never thought Solomon would sell the game shop, and yet, here they were. Gallivanting off to Oregon so he could once again pursue the field of archaeology.

Yuugi's eyes shifted back to the window. He had one year left of high school-one. And instead of waiting till he had graduated, his grandfather decided it best to uproot everything. Sure, he may have been bullied. And ya know, he only had one friend-but she was a good one! Quality over quantity and what not.

Complaints aside, he understood why they'd moved. He knew the game shop didn't get as many customers as it used to. He saw his grandfather near to tears every time he had opened up the mailbox and been confronted with bills, adding to the already mountainous stack...

A honk sounded and his grandfather floored the gas, just grazing past the front end of the moving truck pulling in from the other side of the dusty driveway. He hit the breaks roughly and threw the car into park.

Yuugi gazed tiredly up at the home. He could imagine it at one point being the envy of all, but looking at the bi-level home painted in Pepto-Bismol pink…he couldn't help but feel sorry for the original owners.

He exited the car and opened the trunk, grabbing their luggage. Yuugi trailed up to the front porch, waiting in nervous anticipation for his grandfather to open the front door.

Solomon slid the key in the rusty lock and gave the ancient knob a turn. The door opened in one fluid motion, presenting the unremarkable contents within.

Yuugi noticed a mirror at the end of the long hallway. Walking in further, he could see a rather large sitting room to his left and an even larger living room to his right. There were a few other rooms to be explored, but he was only interested in one. His bedroom.

Yuugi climbed the stairs with the baggage in tow. He discovered there were four bedrooms. Three of which were five times larger than his old room. After giving them a good look, he decided upon the smallest of them. He placed his luggage down in a corner of his new room as not to disturb the movers. He set his grandfather's luggage near the stairwell, figuring Solomon would want to choose his own room.

It was early evening when the two finished unpacking…the upstairs.

Yuugi hopped down the stairs, his grandfather trailing behind.

"Sooooo how about we order pizza?" Yuugi eagerly suggested.

"A nice idea, but there isn't a single pizza place that will deliver this far out," Solomon sighed.

"Why would you move us to a house that doesn't have pizza delivery!?" Yuugi exclaimed, dramatically throwing a hand over his forehead. His grandfather chuckled.

"Alright, alright." His grandfather chuckled, "I'll make a quick stop at the supermarket, we'll have a late dinner." He grabbed the car keys from their spot on the entry table and made his way to the door.

Yuugi strolled into the living room. "Be back soon!" he called, the front door creaking shut not a second later. He opened a random box on the ground. This one seemed to be filled with Ancient Egyptian artifacts from his grandfather's explorations.

Digging through the crumpled newspaper, he found a miniature sarcophagus. He didn't remember seeing this artifact in his grandfather's collection...Inspecting it further, he noticed the lid was loose and pulled it off, revealing a stuffed doll with ebony hair and lightning shooting up to tips framed by the same deep crimson as its eyes.

He was surprised, to say the least. It looked remarkably like himself. Ya know, minus the dark skin and ancient Egyptian getup. It was kinda...creepy. He replaced the lid and placed the mini sarcophagus on the mantle. He'd have to ask his grandfather about it later.

"So Yuugi, how do you like the house?" Solomon questioned, handing him a newly-washed plate.

"It's really nice." He replied idly drying the dish with a towel "I do wish we had a few more neighbors though."

His grandfather looked down at the sudsy sink. "Yes well, I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends at school."

Yuugi placed the rest of the dry dinnerware in the cabinet, "Yeah…"

Solomon stepped away from the counter and stretched. "We'd better get to bed. We've got a full day of unpacking ahead of us."

Yuugi nodded, trailing up the stairs behind his grandfather.

"Goodnight Grandpa." He said, padding down the hallway.

"Goodnight Yuugi," Solomon replied shuffling into his room.

After changing into his pajamas, he snuggled under the covers and fell into a peaceful sleep.

Kuri Kuri

Yuugi moaned and burrowed deeper into the sheets.

Kuri Kuri

He opened his eyes and sat up in search of the offending noise. Looking down he noticed a fluffy brown...something on the floor. Curiosity getting the better of him, he removed himself from the warm covers and stood. It skittered across the room and into the hallway. He started after it, down the stairs and into the living room. It scurried behind a palate leaning against the wall.

Believing he'd caught the creature, Yuugi pushed the palate aside to reveal a small door, barely large enough to fit a child. It cracked open, revealing an illuminated tunnel. Mesmerized by the sight, he crawled through and found a room much like the one he'd left.

He didn't understand, how could a straight tunnel lead him back to where he came from? Looking closer in the dimly lit room, he noticed inconsistencies. His grandfathers' ancient pottery, for instance, looked as though they had been given a coat of fresh glaze, instead of their usual earthy matte, And the flowers in the wallpaper looked as though they were...spinning?

He's asleep. That had to be it. The move was getting to him. He should go back upstairs to have a better dream in his dream bed. Yup. Perfect sense.

He made his way into the hallway and tiptoed up the steps.

"You're not retiring so early, are you?"

Yuugi froze at the unfamiliar voice.

"We haven't even had dinner yet."

He slowly turned toward the voice standing in the hallway. The stranger had spiky crimson tips filled in with ebony, accompanied by blond bolts shooting up and framing his face.

"Hello Little One, I've been expecting you."

"M-Me?" He slowly backed his way up the stairs.

The stranger nodded.

Yuugi turned on his heel.

He sprinted up the stairs and down the hallway towards his room. If he could lock himself in and reach his cell phone...

He jerked on the knob. But nothing happened! He tried his grandfather's room across the way. and it refused to open too! The stranger calmly strolled down the hall, the whites of his eyes brightly glowing in the darkness. Yuugi backed himself into the corner, slid down the wall and waited for whatever gruesome end fate had in store. The stranger approached and extended his hand towards him.

"Come little one, your food is getting cold."

The man ushered him into the dining room, which was covered by plate after plate of food. "I made a feast for your arrival, I hope it's to your liking." He said, seating him.

"I...have so many questions..." Yuugi stuttered, gazing around the room.

"Of course little one. But first, please, help yourself." The man gestured to the impressive banquet, taking his own seat across the table.

He eyed the platters of food and looked back to the stranger. The look he gave told Yuugi he wouldn't get a word out until he ate. Sighing, He spooned a helping onto his plate. Digging in, he thought for a moment.

"Well, my first question is; what is this place? It looks just like my new home.". There was a glint in the stranger's eye.

"This place is where your dreams come true.".

"So... anything I want will be real? But how does that explain you?"

"Anything you say may go, but I am the executor of your desires."

Yuugi shifted in his seat, something about the stranger's smirk didn't sit well with him.

"Oh how rude of me, I've forgotten to introduce myself properly. You may call me Yami little one, I am at your beck and call."

Yuugi looked around the room nervously.

"L-look, I appreciate the consideration, b-but I don't really need all this..."

Yami's smirk fell.

"Well, what do you want then?" He stood, eyeing him.

"U-um. I want to get to bed. It-It's really late so-"

"But of course little one! Your room is all made up." Yami gestured toward the stairwell. "Shall we?"

Yuugi gazed at the impressive decor of 'his' room. Pale blue walls with white trim and the seating on the bay window was upholstered with starry silk fabric. The sheets were painted with varying shades of blues and whites, and atop the sheets laid the softest looking pillows he'd ever seen! Not to mention the various cuddly-oddly sentient-stuffed animals that greeted him.

"Hello Yuugi!" they cheered. He could only manage a small smile and a shy wave in response. Clothespin dragonflies soared passed his head in linear formation, chanting in unison. "Hello Hello, Yuugi!"

"I hope this room is to your liking," Yami spoke his breath ghosting over his ear.

"It's...nice," Yuugi responded, meekly stepping out of Yamis way. "But I'm perfectly fine with how the house was before." He inched towards the door. "So, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back. I'm sure my Grandfather is worried about me."

When Yami made no move to stop him, he walked as fast as possible through the hallway and down the stairs till he made it to the living room. He glanced over his shoulder, just for good measure, before crawling back through the little door.

If he'd bothered to look back through the passage before closing it up tight, he would've seen the crouched form of Yami, glaring back.

WOOP WOOP! Done! It's still not perfect, but If I have to stare at this chapter any longer I'm going to explode. I hope you guys like the improved version! I've changed things up a little bit because I have a clearer vision of what I want to do with the story now, Please R&R!

ALSO because of all the cop instigated violence happening at the protests here in the US, I would like to take a moment to say Black Lives Matter. Know it. Say it. Live it.