Eternal Obsession

By:

Setalina Muro

Summary: It familiarity of it all was like a dream. The sands, the moon, his crimson eyes. That taunting voice…You can't run forever…but she sure as hell could try…Screamshipping…

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any places, people and/or other things you are familiar with from the show or anything else. The plot, however, is mine.

OLD A/N: A special new try for me, and a new fiction for you on my one-year anniversary! Yes, I have been here, on FFN for one whole year! No, it may not be much to celebrate, but I will anyway!

NEW NOTE (6/20/07): I have actually gone through and edited this and will replace the second chapter as well. Mostly, it was edited for grammar as well as little things that bothered me. Seeing as how I decided to pursue interest in this story, I thought it best to start by editing the first two chapters, particularly the line that read 'reading system fro blink people'.

Part One:

'You can't run forever…'

"I can…"

'Yes then, run…But you won't escape again…I will catch up with you…I will come for you…you can't escape me…I own you…my little Shizuka…"

Kawai Shizuka leapt from her sleep, separating her body from the warm comforter as she reached for the light next to her bed. Her breathing was sharp and ragged as she placed her bare feet on the rug. Her dark red hair curtained her face as she willed the panic attack to subside. She turned the switch of the lamp, carefully placed on the table beside her for optimum vision during the night. Her eyes dilated for a moment with the sudden shock and glare of the light, but almost immediately, they returned to their original position. She was nearly blind.

Her hands scrambled as she felt blearily for her things: the pad of paper and pen she had asked her brother to place there for her, within easy reach, so that she need not disturb him during the night. Shizuka shook slightly as she picked the writing utensil up and pulled the paper closer to her face, flipping to find a blank page. When the black scribbles of her writing failed to swim in and out of view against the yellow paper, she reached under the lamp for a pair of thick glasses. She put them up to her dull, amber-colored eyes, but little swam into focus for her. Her own writing, large and quickly scrawled screamed up at her from the page opposite to the one she planned to write on now.

Shizuka's breathing had returned to its original rhythm and her heart no longer pounded so painfully in her chest. She shook everything else from her mind, concentrating on the dream as she began to write, the words spilling from her fingertips.

'Again, I come here in need of comfort. Again, I am haunted by the terrifying reoccurrence of this nightmare. It begins with a great chase, through shifting sands that bite at my feet. The whipping wind carries his voice as he calls for me. He frightens me, and I don't know why. I don't know him, and yet he knows my name. I feel as if… I've forgotten something. Something terribly important…'

She closed her eyes as she thought back, trying to remember the details of the dream that began to slip from her, dripping like water through her fingertips as they disappeared to the deepest reaches of her subconscious mind.

'And how dark his eyes were!' she wrote, the letter becoming sloppy in her haste. 'Dark and evil. They shone of blood and fire! And almost enchanting they seemed to me, but they held a broken promise, and even as the moon sank behind the horizon and the glow of dawn came, he promised it again and again. 'I will not hurt you…' but I felt in my bones that the words had been broken before.'

Shizuka shook her head, as if the action itself might bring back the details she needed to understand what was happening.

Who was he, this specter that haunted her dreams? What did he want of her?

Soon, she would wish she had never wondered such things…

"You can't run forever," he whispered in a sing-song voice, caressing the crystalline globe in front of him. The girl in the image never moved, nor did his eyes as they observed her. Dark crimson orbs flashed over the scene, taking in the crumpled body as it lay in the sand. It was broken, bloody and worn, deprived of life by his hands and blade.

But he was not satisfied.

The true glory was gone long before he had ever claimed her. She was defiant, and even as he caught her, stuck her down and killed the living flesh, the soul he had been after, the very fiber of her insolent being, fled, leaving him only a shell.

The pursuit had continued. From century to century, as they took new hosts, adopted new lives, the game of cat and mouse advanced. He would never let her escape. She just temporarily eluded him.

Now he had found her again, seventeen years after his rebirth. This was his year, he knew it. For the body he had taken was exactly the form of his old one. She, too, had been returned to her former glory.

The vision in the globe now shifted, showing a beautiful girl of fifteen, her hair pale fire against her yellow sheets. She was delicate, pink lips pursed slightly as she slept. Her skin was pale, her features sharp, yet beautiful.

It had passed obsession many centuries ago. Pursuit and capture of her was his only meaning, the very peak of his existence.

"You won't escape me again," he hissed a sadistic smile working its way over his twisted features. "I own you, my little Shizuka…"

It was very early the next morning that Shizuka awoke again. She groaned as she sat up, a dull throb pulsating in her head. Yawning widely, she pulled the coke-bottle frames from her face, having had fallen asleep still trying to drag up bits of the dream. Nothing of it had come to her.

Shizuka automatically looked at the floor as she stood up, moving carefully toward her closet to open the white double doors. The inside of the closet was completely organized. The clothes were put in drawers, each clearly labeled in Japanese and below it, and small bumps were etched. The bumps were brail, a reading system for blind people. The dresses and other clothes that had to be hung up were covered in clear plastic bags, each with the brail letters on both sides of the hanger.

She sighed as she felt for the hanger that said 'School Uniform' on it. Taking it from the closet, Shizuka leaned down and ran her fingers across the drawers until she found her undergarments and white socks. Her shoes were also labeled. Her fate as a compulsive neat freak aided her organizing her life in her near blindness.

She was just finishing buttoning up her blouse when there was a knock on the door.

"Shizuka-chan," a gruff male voice called. "You awake?"

Shizuka smiled softly and walked toward her vanity. She liked the sound of his voice. It was comforting how he still talked to her normally.

"Yes, Onii-chan," she answered as she reached for her hairbrush and ran it though her hair. "And I'm almost ready."

She heard the knob turn and his heavy footsteps came across the room. His breathing was soft as he came up behind her.

"Good morning, Shizuka-chan," he said. "Breakfast is almost ready."

"Okay," she answered, putting the hairbrush down and standing up. "Do I look alright?"

She saw the vague outline of him smiling as he ran his hand over her head. "Not a hair out of place."

Shizuka smiled back. "I'll be out in a minute, Onii-chan."

He nodded and turned to leave. "You better hurry," he joked. "There might not be anything left!" his laughter faded as he moved out the door.

That was just like her Onii-chan. He was two years older than her and his name was Jounouchi Katsuya. Shizuka adored her brother. He was such an enduring person! He had grown up with their abusive, drunkard of a father while Shizuka had left with their mother. Jounouchi was funny and charming with a messy mop of blond hair and warm brown eyes. He was also one of the best duelists in the world, almost champion of a game called Duel Monsters.

Shizuka shook her head to clear her sudden daze. "Don't even think of eating all the food!" she called out, moving toward the dim and blurry outline of the door…

Half an hour later, Jounouchi hurried around their battered pickup to help Shizuka out of it. It was too early for many people to be milling around the courtyard. Jounouchi and Shizuka tended to avoid crowds for her safety.

As he led her carefully up the stairs, Shizuka caught the voices of their friends. Hotori Honda, a nice boy with pointy brown hair and a baritone voice, was the most distinctive of the group. Shizuka tended to shy away from him because of his obnoxiousness. Others were there as well. Spiky-haired, soft spoken Mouto Yuugi, dark-haired, dice-rolling Ryuji Otogi, and friendly brunette Mazaki Anzu.

As the siblings crested the top of the stairs, greetings were sent their way. Shizuka remained characteristically silent as the group began to move. They all, including Shizuka, had the same home room. It had been requested that Shizuka have her classes with Jounouchi for her protection. It also helped that Shizuka was incredibly bright.

As they entered the classroom distorted shapes came into Shizuka's vision. As usual, three girls jumped out and ambushed Otogi, earning a firm reprimand from Naoki-sensei, the teacher. (AU1)

The sharp, quick clacking of keys also came to Shizuka's ears, and she turned her damaged eyes on the vague outline of Kaiba Seto, the school's top student. A slight shudder came over her frail body. She had broken Kaiba's laptop yesterday by accident.

The group stayed in the doorway talking as other students began to make their way into the classroom. Shizuka began to feel her way to her desk. Third row in, fourth seat back. She moved the seat back and slid carefully into it.

She sat quietly, ignoring the constant, hair-raisingly cold stare Kaiba was giving her from the fifth seat in the second row, and soon, Naoki-sensei called for students to settle down.

"Gozaimasu, class," he said when they were all seated. "We have a treat today." Pulling up the world map, where several letter were written on the chalk boards beneath it, caused a multitude of groans from the class.

"It's a quiz, Shizuka-chan," Yuugi whispered to her. Shizuka smiled vaguely.

"Joy," she replied, and the teacher began to pass out the test.

He paused in front of Shizuka. Leaning down, he said in a low voice. "I've found a system to print the tests in brail for you, Kawai-san." He set the test in front of her and continued passing the rest out.

Returning to the front of the room, Naoki-sensei looked around. "Kaiba-san, please put your computer away. This is history class, after all." Kaiba scowled, but put the computer away with no more complaint. "You may begin."

The room was full of scribbling and clinking as the test began. Shizuka ran her fingertips back and forth across the paper, her eyes closed as she carefully marked her answers. Naoki-sensei was one of the few teachers at the poor, run-down school who put in an effort to help his students. He was the only one who went out of his way to help Shizuka.

She finished the test quickly. It had not been difficult and the brail letters made everything much simpler. As Naoki-sensei gathered the tests up again, there came a soft knock at the door, and the mutterings of the class filtered away to curious bubbling as it opened. A figure in blue walked across the room slowly, footsteps making a soft clack on the vinyl floor.

The class watched with silent interest as the new student paused by the teacher's desk and had a series of hushed whispers, a small slip of pink paper exchanging hands.

Naoki-sensei stood and moved to the front of the room. Shizuka shook her head, watching as her teacher smiled faintly at the class. His green eyes cast a glance around the room. He looked happy, and Shizuka could help but wonder why someone as young looking as he was could want to spend his life teaching in this dump. She glanced at the clock. Maybe he was happy because there were only fifteen minutes left in the class.

There was a bizarre feeling floating through Shizuka's mind as she snapped back to attention. Naoki-sensei had begun introducing the young man next to him. Yes, Shizuka saw clearly now that it was a striking young man…

Her eyes widened slightly as she took in his details. But it wasn't that he had a pale face draped in silvery hair and kind brown eyes, it was that she could clearly see the pale face draped in the silvery hair and the brown eyes. The shock of vision she hadn't enjoyed since she was six years old was slowly registering.

She was staring now, a sharp constriction cutting her breath short. This wasn't right! This wasn't natural! The boy was watching her now, all else fading back into darkness, save him. A smooth smirk wound across his face. His eyes narrowed, almost gleefully, a red glint coming to them. His mouth opened and an unnaturally dark voice came from the smirking demon as he stood in a black void alone with her.

"Hello, my little Shizuka," he whispered and she screamed.

A rushing wind was sweeping her back; the darkness was receding. A dim flickering light was above her. She was till screaming, her voice unnaturally loud. She was grabbing her face; a terrible burning sensation flooded her eyes. The floor was cold on her back; a blind panic had overwhelmed her as she rolled back and forth on the vinyl.

"Onii-chan!" she cried between sobs. "ONII-CHAN!"

Shizuka felt two arms close around her, forcing her off the floor. She stumbled against him as he begged her to stand. She couldn't understand the words coming from his mouth as he half dragged her out of the classroom. She didn't open her eyes. A violent spasm broke out over her body. The pain in her eyes was still evident. A moment later, her brain shut down, and she passed out completely…

To Be Continued...

Translation section:

Onii-chan – an enduring term used for an older brother. This is what Shizuka calls Jounouchi.

Sensei – the respectful suffix used to show respect to an educator.

Gozaimasu – 'Good morning'

Au 1: Naoki, meaning 'honest'. Yes, the same name I used in 'Blood Canvas'. I decided that I liked it and it would work here. I tend to do that a lot in my stories. Anyone pick up the use of Draga in both 'TCHS' (a minor OC used as Bakura's grandmother in later chapters and mainly for people who read the earlier version. She showed up in chapter nine) and 'FML'(the kindly old woman who cared for Cyndia and her child until her transformation)? yeah.
Old A/N: Okay! There you have it. My first real twisted Screamshipping fiction. Please R&R.

NEW NOTE (6/20/07): The second chapter has been edited as well and the third chapter is finally underway.