Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Hidden Scars ❯ Monster in the Mirror ( Chapter 1 )

Hidden Scars

By: Frazzle

Rated: R for graphic violence and language

"RYOU!!!!!! GET YOUR SCRAWNY LITTLE ASS DOWN HERE!!!!!!!" stormed a dark and evil voice throughout the premises, so loud and so terrifying that it made the walls of the home tremble and shake. But that's not the only thing this voice was capable of rattling… Upon hearing his darker half's shout, Ryou Bakura, the young, innocent delicate, light-hearted teen was now shaking to the bone with absolute fear. He winced upon hearing his dark half yell his name. And what's worse was that whenever he was called, usually a brutal beating session soon followed.

"RYOU!!! Don't make me come up there AFTER you!!!!" it came again, this time several notches louder.

Oh, but the beatings were for such small of things, or else for no reason at all. That's why Ryou had to be careful. Extremely careful. He didn't want to get on Bakura's nerves, or else there would be hell to pay, and Ryou would be the one to suffer. Sitting on his bedroom floor in his pale white pajamas, scrunched into a ball, Ryou rocked steadily back and forth not wanting to respond to this evil voice that had made itself known quite distinctly. Even though Ryou's face is a very pale color, once he heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs towards his room his face became even more pale and ghost-like.

Thinking he could stop the evil man who wanted to torture him so, Ryou quickly sprung to his bedroom door and shut it, locking all the locks present as tight and as secure as he possibly could. As he strung the last lock shut, there came a banging on the other side.

"RYOU YOU LITTLE BASTARD!!! OPEN THIS RA-DAMNED DOOR NOW!!!!!" The voice was so powerful that it could of broke the door down all on its own. Gasping with fright, fragile Ryou ran to the farthest corner of his room, and piled blankets on top of him to hide while the powerful fist of the man just outside grew more stronger by the instant, and with each pound it shook the house with multiple times the original force.

"OPEN IT UP NOW YOU LITTLE WRETCH OR I'LL BREAK THE DAMN DOOR DOWN MYSELF!!!!!" From under the many blankets, Ryou's chest was heaving up and down, trying to gasp for air while at the same time choking on his own saliva from crying. Shaking and lungs on fire, the door to the room burst open, leaving a loud bang that seemed like it could be heard from miles away. Ryou's heart now stopped in his throat, and his body went literally limp. This was the end for him.

Not even a second went by when he felt his wrists being twisted and pulled upward. Arms stinging with pain, he was pulled abruptly forward by the powerful tugging force, and out from underneath the blankets.

"You freakish bastard child…" The voice spat. "I oughtta' ring your skinny little NECK for trying to defy me!!!" Dangling by his arms, Ryou cried tears of pain and agony. Not only was it for the burning pain from his now mangled wrists that felt like they were being pulled out of his sockets, but for what was yet to come. //Just let me die now, Gods… Just let me die before I go through hell once more… Have mercy…// His painful thoughts were interrupted by a few kicks in his chest and a spit in the face. Another kick in the ribs and a cracking sound was made. A sudden bolt of immense pain dashed up to Ryou's brain as he promptly went limp once more. Ribs collapsing and large bruises already beginning to form, the thick red liquid known as blood began to quickly flow from his mouth and onto the wooden floor below, seeping into the floor board cracks and onto Bakura's feet.

Upon feeling the blood reach his own body, the darker half known as Bakura growled dangerously low and hauled Ryou up by his waist, over on his shoulders. "ASSHOLE!! You shall PAY for tainting me with your own disgusting blood!!!" he roared as his sharp teeth showed, causing Ryou to whimper helplessly, still limp and motionless from on top his yami's hard shoulders. Giving another punch to the stomach, the blood from Ryou's mouth spat out messily onto a nearby wall, covering the whole thing with its presence.

"Look what you've done!! This place is a MESS!!" Bakura stated the obvious, even though his voice was still as firm and hellish as ever. "Go downstairs and get the materials to clean this filthy place up NOW!!! Are you even LISTENING TO ME, Ryou!?!?"

All that came from the small and now bruised boy's body was a small tremble. Blood still continued to drip from his delicate lips, which were now chewed up from his teeth accidentally cutting against them from all the tugging, pulling, and beating. His eyes that were once so full of life, those brown chocolate colored eyes that showed off a world of kindness and innocence, was now tainted with red around the edges and a look of total fear. Breathing was very difficult for the boy as he lay limp like a broken china doll upon a vicious demon from Hell.

"Aww… does the poor little baby need help getting downstairs?" Bakura mocked, snickering as he walked out of the bedroom and stood tall at the top of the stairs. "Then I shall have to help you! After all, I AM your yami…"

A brief thought of relief washed over the young boy's body, but was quickly diminished when the feeling of Bakura's tight arms left him. He was floating on air. No… not floating. Falling. Faster and faster he was falling downward. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion. The stairs were slowly approaching him from underneath. A sudden thud and his right shoulder cracked once it hit the first stair, then a tumble as his legs hit the nearby wall and twisted. This process kept on occurring, as each step passed him until finally his body came to an abrupt halt at the bottom. Face smashed into the floor and not being able to feel any part of his body, Ryou was surprised he was still conscious. Skull feeling like it was cleavaged, he managed to partially open his left swollen eye and peer above him to see nothing but a smirking Bakura standing next to him.

"How does it feel to be lower than dirt?" the tall white-haired demon spat. "Now GET UP or I'll toss you again!!!" A sudden kick in the side was made, and Ryou winced once more, curling up slightly like a slowly recoiling snake. A slight stirring from his nerves erupted and he suddenly felt all the pain that was given to him wash over his body like one huge engulfing title wave. When Ryou made no signs of movement, he felt being picked up again, but instead, being dragged into a nearby room.

The kitchen.

//Oh no, please, Gods, not here…!!// was all he could manage to think as he was thrown to the side.

A rustling of the kitchen drawers drew his attention upward. Metal clashing against more metal rung through his ears as he recognized it as the sound of a type of silverware.

"Ready for your lesson?" Bakura spoke with a mischievous voice, so low it brought more fear than being thrown from the top of a staircase. The clanging noise had now stopped. Bakura must have something in his hands, Ryou thought. But what…

As the frightened boy peered up above him and to the face of his yami, he noticed his sharp fang-like teeth were once again showing. This could only mean more beatings. But his heart abruptly stopped once more as he glanced to what Bakura was wavering around in his left hand.

A foot-long knife.

"You've been a bad boy, Ryou…" he said cooingly, so out-of-character that it was the ultimate fear the teen had faced all day. "And now, I'm afraid, being your Master and all…" he said as he licked the knife up and down the blade, sadistically, "…I'm going to have to punish you. Now, now, my light. I promise it won't hurt…." He suddenly stopped licking the metal and peered down into his aibou's face with red, devilish eyes. "Much."

The teen's eyes widened to an incredible size as his darker half bent over him and chuckled with more sadistic pleasure. A sudden meeting with knife and skin clashed over the boy's stomach as blue blood began to pour uncontrollably. A shouting, mangled cry escaped from the bloody lips of Ryou as he saw red behind his eyelids when the pain and despair from the wound reached him. Deeper and deeper the knife seemed to go until it felt as if it would reach the other side, but it never did. Slashing and carving and poking and cutting went the blade into the white, delicate skin of the once perfect body until the point of the blade reached his neck. Breathing heavily the teen tried to beg mercy, but failed as his voice had seemed to leave him.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't slash your neck off and feed it to the wolves." Bakura growled, knife ready to strike at any instant. The teeth of the blade were already making a firm cut into the front of the boy's neck. Slowly but surely it would cut all the way through. It was only a matter of time.

Loud whimpers befell on Bakura's ears as the boy shut his eyes and prepared to die. //I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me for whatever I did wrong to my yami. All I ever wanted was to please him. I'm so evil… I must be if I'm being punished this way… Please Gods, forgive me for making him upset. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…//

All of a sudden, the front door of the home opened and a cheerful voice rang throughout the house. "Ryou, are you home? I just happened to get off work early today, I hope you don't mind!"

//Father…//

Bakura's ears twitched in the direction the older man's voice was coming from. In a haze of white fog he vanished into thin air, growling slightly in annoyance, knife falling to the floor and slicing a part of Ryou's neck skin off. The knife then slid off his body and onto the floor with a loud clinking noise.

//Father…. Help….me….// was the very last thought Ryou had to give, before the world around him eventually gave out. Ryou's father walked casually into the kitchen to see what all the racket was about, when a scream shattered the household.

"Ryou I-…RYOU!!!!!!!!" the middle-aged man hollered, running over to his fallen son. "OH GODS!!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?!? RYOU, RYOU CAN YOU HEAR ME?!?!?! RYOU!!!!!!!"

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Body slowly coming to reality, the teen named Ryou Bakura slowly and painfully opened his swollen eyelids and gazed around at his surroundings. He was now back in his bedroom covered in the warm blankets of his bed, bandaged up tightly and treated with great care. But his body still felt like it was chopped up into little pieces of deli meat. Thinking it was all over with, and remembering his father's peaceful voice when entering the house, it was enough to sooth Ryou over and to put him into a comfortable sleep for the time being. But unfortunately right before he shut his eyes to go off into a world of slumber, a dark shadow with silver-white hair and fangs for teeth stood above him with a not-too-satisfied face. However, there was nothing the boy could do, as the world around him became black once more.