' ' Haunted ' '

School with Ryou Bakura had been…interesting… to say the least

School with Ryou Bakura had been…interesting… to say the least. Whispered rumors and far-fetched speculations haunted the halls in his wake. He couldn't glance upwards without there being some sort of buzz on it, or a freshman girl ranting off to her poor diary about it. He was a sort of akward celebrity at the shcool; he had never wanted he attention.

Anzu's faith in people was unshakeable, yet she couldn't help but notice that indeed whenever Ryou Bakura was near, things always turned down an eerie route.

He had entered the lives of the students of Domino High as an exchange student, around the middle of her freshman year. It had been about right after semester break. Soft spoken, sweet, and impossibly shy, Ryou had no trouble charming the entire school faculty. Compared to the rowdy roughnecks trademark to his grade, he was a treasured rarity. His quaint courtesy had drawn girls to him like flies to honey.

Anzu assumed that so sweet a boy would naturally fall as prey to the social Darwinism of high school. Surprisingly, any creditable thug avoided him like sin. Oddest of oddities, one could often find Ryou Bakura eating his lunch alone, at some remote bench eons away from the hubbub of the lunch hour, save for a few first years eyeing him coyly from a few seats away. But never next to him. Bakura tended to keep to himself; trying earnestly to not gain familiarity with his fellow students. She couldn't ever recall him being a part of a school function, and she most certainly didn't remember him ever having a romantic interest. On the contrary, he preferred to limit all his relationships to nothing further than mere acquaintances. The people she would say he was closest to, as eerie as it was, would be her own cozy clique of down-to-earth misfits, and they hardly ever saw him as far as that stood.

She could only remember one instance where someone had the gall to pick on poor, defenseless little Ryou. It was back in her sophomore year, the very beginning. The guy had cornered him at the end of a hall and fired some snarky remark, and gathered a crowd around them. Anzu was debating whether to defend him or simply walk away and let him fight his own battles when he did something very intesting. Ryou Bakura had smiled. Yes, smiled.

And the strange thing was: it had chilled her to the bone. He had frozen dead in his tracks, perfectly silent, and it seemed as though the entire crowd held its breath. She had felt the nigh tangible tension practically buzzing in the air between the two boys. Suddenly, he glanced over his shoulder. For a heartbeat, she could have sworn she saw a wild, dangerous glint in his eye. She remembered her heart had hitched in her chest; she had been scared beyond words. And she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

Yet as soon as it had come, it had gone, and the saintly cherub glided along his humble way, leaving the crowd frozen in his wake. It had been a strange spectacle, really.

The next day, the boy was gone.

No one had heard from him. His parents called the police station crying, claiming he'd never come home. His friends reported that he had set for home not too long after basketball practice. What happened in between…. Well…

She had an inkling a certain someone knew. And that's when she'd took to keeping herself as far from him as the width of the school grounds and Yugi's hyperactive need for friendship would permit.

And that's when it began, devouring the school like wildfire. People began to fear him. Stark, unadulterated fear. Quite apparently bizarre, seeing the angel he seemed to be, but fear him they did; and they still feared him, stiffening at the sheer mention of his name; claiming the innocent charm of his sparkling brown eyes could instantly be lost within the remorseless hatred of his glare.

His fan girls, of course, waved these half-brained theories off as steams of jealousy. Clearly, they argued, the fact that he was unable to ask to borrow a pencil without trembling was evidence enough.

So yet he remained a heartthrob with the girls and a seraph to the elders.

But there were tales that haunted the halls.

Chilling tales of those who lived to tell them.

They swear on their lives, that they've seen him, pale as a ghost, lurking in the shadows in the deadest hours of the night.

Those poor souls cursed to cross paths with him on a day upon which his dangerous temper was unleashed lay under the flowerbeds today.

….Or so they said.

Now Anzu agreed that for some reason, he made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end whenever he entered a room, but she still kept her wits about her.

According to her crew, a particularly strange group, strange but happy, residing deep within the outlandish, gaudy, tasteless gold bauble he wore strung around his neck, was a dark entity burning with murderous intent.

Yami Bakura.

He exploited poor Ryou, abusing him as a vessel through which to execute his dirty deeds. He would posses him when he chose, where he chose, and would not be questioned about it.

Anzu thought it incredulous. She told Yugi it broke all the laws of their very world and could not possibly be. Maybe Yugi housed a reincarnated Pharaoh, maybe. But some random evil spirit that corrupted little boys?!

Yet she couldn't help but to cringe at the thought of him.

There was such an unnerving air about him; cold and heartless; like an icy winter wind whipping at her cheeks...

He had trapped her one day. The very last day of her senior year. On the second story balcony, after the bell had chimed, and everyone had exchanged farewells, ad hugs, and tears…

He had murmured something; and before she could even comprehend-- he had vanished without a trace. She had scoured the grounds after overcoming the her shock, her fear, of encountering him alone, but he was gone.

And what he said, those words-- indecipherable!! Absolute rubbish, when she thought about it. Yet she felt instinctively they held some hidden meaning… They rang in her ears, clawing at the back of her mind to be unlocked, decrypted, cracked open….

What had he meant?! What did he want with her!?

Anzu shook the morbid musings from her head; trim, auburn locks whirling around her.

It was over.

The Pharaoh was gone, and they had all gone their separate ways.

There was no more to the eerie path she had once been walking on. It was a dead end.

No more.

She would focus on her life. Do all those things she made lists about but nevr quite got to doing. She'd explore her interests, call up some old friends, maybe hit some parties, live it up a little. She'd milk this summer for all it was worth.

And when she left for dance camp in a few weeks; everything would go back to normal.

As normal as normal would get.

For her.

' ' xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxox ' '

XDDD Yeah, you can probably tell I've had a lot of fun with the bold and underline functions...

I have a lot of ideas for where I'm gong with this story. I actually was inspired by a book, so I have a solid outline. just expect Anzu to be slightly more mature, and less gullible. I mean she's eight-friggin-teen by this time, so she'll be prepared for YB.

Or won't she?

Heh!! R&R please! Constructive crit.'s always appreciated.