Author's Notes: As with any new writer, this happens to be my first story. All reviews are accepted, however no "flames" or anything else of the sorts. Constructive criticism is always helpful as it can help me as a writer develop and build my, er, skill. Aaanywaay, I hope you enjoy reading. Since this is the first time on here, things will be a bit shaky. But bear with me, please. Have fun.

Haunted Pokémon Mansion.

"Haha, alright, so! Welcome, all of you, to drinkers anonymous."

There were eight people, all gathered in a circle, all in their mid teens, some in their early teens. One of them, calls out. "Hey, what if someone walks by us and thinks this is an actual drinkers thing... Can you imagine their face?" Seven of them then laughed, while the last one just kept quiet. The one who introduced it stops laughing and continues. "Yeah, yeah, very funny, very funny... Okay, so one by one, we'll introduce ourselves and then proceed to judge them to no end."

They were looking around the circle, trying to predict who would go first. One of them raised his hand, acknowledging the attention, he then brought it to point at another one. "I nominate David to go first." David, then reached out for him, has a 'friendly' way of saying: screw you. Crude, but it's what these people are like. They've known each other for quite some time.

"Alright, fine, I guess I have no choice now." David gave in, knowing he couldn't really do anything in protest, and with a somewhat agitated sigh, he introduced himself. "My name is David... and I'm an alco- what? What's that? I don't know, but anyway, I am a person. Yeah. That's it." The others were nodding their head in some sort of fake interest. Then they all said in unison, "Hi David." The 'head' of the circle then spoke. "We'll go in a circle, so the person to the right of David shall go next." There was a moment of silence, when he spoke again. "Go on, don't be shy." Again, some hesitation. "Alright, since you refuse to speak whenever you hang with us, I'll introduce you myself. Everyone? This is Sam." Once again with the unison of: "Hi Sam" He just raised his hand a little bit, like a small wave. "Next!" They all looked to the next teen, apart from Sam, who just stared ahead at nothing. "Hello, my name is Rick." Yet again... "Hi Rick." Next one along. "Hi, my name is Michael, but my friends call me Mike. Since you are my friends. Duh." A little bit of laughter before the usual. "Hi Mike." Again, one along. "Hello, my name is Mark." You know the drill. "Hi Mark." Next one along... "Hey, I'm Will." Do I really? "Hi Will." Drinkers anonymous meetings are hard to transition. "Hi, I'm Jack." Again! "Hi Jack." Phew... "Alright, so that's everyone apart from myself. My name is Ryan." For the last time... "Hi Ryan."

So, you're probably wondering why these eight teens are gathered in some sort of fake drinkers anonymous meeting. Well. "You all know why we're here, right?" Jack raised his hand. "Are we up all night to get lucky?" Ryan just stared, a mixture of disappointment and urge to both facepalm and punch him. "Jack, please... no... We, are all here, because we have learned of a 'haunted' mansion." He even used air quotes. "So, us, being the investigators we are, must stay the night to see if it is truly haunted, or just some weird guy's hallucinations." He looked around, everyone seemed to be in agreement, although, Sam was still staring ahead. "Alright, so it's 8pm as of now, so by the time we get there, it will be later, and therefore dark. So let's go, shall we?" With that, they all nodded, save for you know who, got up and made their way as a group towards the mansion. Along the way...

[The following are Sam's thoughts. Heard by no one, apart from you, of course.] On our way to a haunted mansion, eh... Sounds like a good place to look around if you ask me. Once I can find a suitable opportunity, I'll get away from them and explore it. See what it holds. Let's hurry. I want to beat them there. Ah, this will do. Haha, they just realised I'm gone, but they still go on. I'll be waiting for them anyway. [Fast forward to Sam arriving at the mansion.] Well, here we are. I'll just wait on these steps for them. Huh? What was that? At the corner of my eye... Eh, must be the mind playing tricks, it is the night after all. I'm used to it too. Oh, here they come. Back to silence. [End thoughts.]

"I wonder where Sam went off to." Ryan wondered out loud, which didn't take too long to get a reply. From David, in fact. "He probably ran away, scared." It sounded true to them, so they laughed. Mike pointed out. "Hey, there's the mansion. Who's that there?" Up ahead, there was a figure sitting on the steps of the mansion. "Oh, that's Sam. How did he get here before us?" Rick asked. "Well I got no clue, but it's not like we'll get an answer, knowing him... Oh yeah, I meant to ask, what was with that lady back there? She looked a little sick." Mark said. They had encountered a lady who wore a somewhat medieval dress, which was ripped and ruined. She simply said, 'Turn back', then walked off. No one really said anything, they didn't know what it was. But up ahead...

"Hey! Sam!" Rick shouted over, which got Sam to look over, and he stood up, waiting for them. Ryan stopped the group and stood just ahead of them. "We're here, as you can see. Sam beat us to it, somehow... But anyway, we will go in, find some nice place to sit, or lie down, and we'll stay the night and prove that these are just rumours and nothing more. Got it?" Like an answer to a question, everyone said in unison. "Got it." Sam took his own initiative and opened the ruined wooden doors. By the looks of things, this place had been abandoned for years and years. They opened with a loud creak, the noise reverberating throughout the mansion. He then walked inside, signalling for the other seven to follow him inside. They all did, and when they all entered, Sam shut the still creaking door. He then looked around at his immediate surroundings before trailing his view back to the group. "Well, we're here... Follow me, I'll find a suitable spot." Ryan said, and they all followed. Soon enough, they found the main hall, with a long table down the middle. It all looked rotten, the table itself littered with rusty silver plates, the wood old and decrepit. The walls were lined with paintings, ripped and ruined. The walls themselves weren't looking good too. Worn down by the years, there were pieces of the wall that had fallen off and now layed on the ruined 'fancy' carpet that ran across the whole floor. "Well. This is probably better than anywhere else, so... let's stay here." So they all looked around the room, looking for their own spots to set up their beds that they brought with them. Little camping beds. Those things. However, while the others were busy setting up their beds and whatnot, Sam took this opportunity to explore. "Oh good, Sam's off again." Ryan noticed that he was gone. "Well, he's gonna be back so let's just stay here and let him do his thing." David suggested, to which they all agreed. Meanwhile...

[Sam's thoughts again.] This place is more run down than I thought. Every wall has been ruined and corroded by time, the decorative paintings now just a mix of colours that make no sense, and the doors are falling apart... This place really let itself go. As of the rumours, people say that this place is haunted, but I guess I'll have to see it for myself to believe that. [And now end.]

Ryan looked around the hall they were in, everyone still setting their beds up and whatnot. He sighed, quietly, and got up. "I'm gonna go look for Sam, I'll be back soon." Everyone then looked to him, either giving an 'OK', a nod, or just some form of acknowledgement. To his own word, Ryan walked out of the hall and went to look around the mansion. It was bigger than he thought, every corridor leading to another, every door seemed to loop in a circle. "Wow, didn't think this place would be so big." His movement was halted by the sound of something creaking in the inky darkness ahead. "Hey, is that you, Sam?" He walked forward again, and he saw that the room he was in lead off in 4 directions, each looking endless. "Strange..." He thought to himself. He decided to take the direct path ahead and walked on.

After about five minutes, he could see the end of the hallway, which only brought him to the start again. "What the hell..?" He looked around him, bewildered. His muddled thoughts were then interrupted by another creak, sounding closer this time. "Come on, Sam, great joke and all but you're starting to creep me out." He kept turning, facing each direction, expecting to find someone. Or something... His thoughts were cut off by a pair of red eyes staring through the darkness. He was frozen. He didn't know if it was out of fear, or by something else. He couldn't even talk. The red eyes got closer, walking towards his ridged body. He saw something glinting in the darkness, as well as the red eyes. The shadowy figure leaped forward, it's sharp claws racing towards him. There was a loud slicing noise, and a heavy sound of something hitting the floor. Ryan now lay in a flowing pool of his own blood, a huge gash across his face, chest and stomach. The figure simply vanished, as if carried away by the non-existent wind. The darkness that surrounded the hallways closed in on Ryan, and engulfed him. There was nothing but silence. A silence so loud.

"Man, Ryan's been away for some time now. You'd think it wouldn't take that long to find someone in here." Mark was talking out loud to everyone, not that all were listening. "Hey, this is Sam we're talking about here. He's the best at sneaking away and hiding in front of faces. He's like a freaking ghost." Mike countered. Then they looked like they were thinking to themselves, trying to figure out what's taking Ryan so long to return. "Hey, maybe he found an ancient labyrinth and can't find the exit." Rick's implausible idea was ignored, as the others were somewhat deep in their own thought. So Rick decided to go to Mark, to snap him out of his pseudo-stupor. "Maaaaaark. ...Hello? Are you in there?" Mark was just staring blankly. "Okay then." Rick looked around, everyone was like that. "What is going on..." Then, at the corner of his eye, a flicker of blue appeared, and vanished as quickly as it appeared. He squinted his eyes, as if he was tired. He felt tired too. "Why do I suddenly feel so tired..?" He thought to himself. His vision was starting to blur, his balance off slightly. The blue light he seen appeared again, longer this time. It was as if the light was beckoning him to follow. Lacking balance and coordination, he sauntered over to the flickering light in the shadows. When he got closer, it got further away. The light then travelled up a hallway, to which Rick followed. However, before he did, he looked back to the hall, where everyone was still staring ahead, blankly. Just empty stares into nothing. He turned back around and followed the light that now waited for him at the end of the hallway.

Along the way, the surrounding darkness seemed to be watching him. Or was it just his paranoia invading his senses, warping his thoughts and shifting his perception. He reached the hallway's end, looking back, he saw nothing but a void of pure black. Looking forwards again, the light had disappeared. He lookd around, trying to find it, when he saw it down another hallway. Again, he followed. He didn't know what he was doing, he just blindly walked down the hall. The light then flickered away once more, when he froze. He couldn't move. His body felt paralysed, his vision blurring again, and he suddenly felt heavy. It was difficult to stand. Abruptly, the entire hall was alight with bright, blue flames. The fire burning from them was getting more and more intense, despite his paralysation and now numbness, he could feel the heat and soon the hall was set alight. The flames were gaining ground on Rick, the walls melting, the floor collapsing and falling into an eternal pit of darkness. The blue fire had consumed everything, burning it all up leaving nothing left, and then it enveloped Rick, burning him to nothing. Screams were heard throughout the hall, to which no one heard. Screams of no reply.

"Okay, it's been hours since Ryan, Sam or Rick has returned, I'm starting to worry." It was strange. Rick got up from his bed and just wandered off, not replying to any of his very confused friends. They haven't seen him since. Mark, getting up, announced to the others. "Well, what are we gonna do, huh?" Will replied to him. "Look, Mark, they're probably just playing a prank on us to freak us out." Jack nodded in agreement. "Yeah, man, no need to be worried." Mark just sighed. "I guess you're right."

After about five minutes of silence, the sound of very light footsteps could be heard getting closer. No one said anything, they just stared towards the origin, waiting for who it was. The footsteps were getting a little louder, however they were still quite silent. In walked Sam. Mark stood up, going over to him. "Have you seen Ryan or Rick anywhere?" He just shook his head. Mark looked perplexed. "Where could they have gone..." He put his hand to his chin, contemplating, trying to figure out where they both went off to. Numerous conclusions jumped to his mind, many sounding quite ridiculous. In the end, he just gave up trying to think, and... "I guess we'll just wait until later to see if they turn up." Mike looked a little frantic in a way now, and rose from his spot. "Look, if you won't look, I will. I'll be back soon." He walked out of the hall, leaving only five left.

Soon enough, Mike was wandering the desolate halls, occasionally calling for his 2 friends, who unbeknownst to him, were now dead. After some time walking, the darkness around him seemed to have gotten heavier. He ceased his movement when he heard fluttering of wings farther ahead. But he thought it must of been a Murkrow, flying around the mansion, being the Pokémon it is. So he moved onwards. His presumption was true, as he seen a Murkrow flying from lamp to lamp, shelf to shelf, place to place. Although, it seemed to be watching him, following him rather than just flying around carelessly, the simple curiosity to which Mike thought brought it here. He began watching the movement of the Pokémon, as if he was hoping to find some sort of pattern to it's seemingly random flight. Out of sheer boredom induced from the leaden halls that held no life, he watched the bird fly around. A long flight, a short flight, and again then a rest. Another two short flights, one more rest and a short flight. It then repeated endlessly. So it was a pattern... His guess was correct again, the pattern continued, the Murkrow eyeing his movement every time. But then a different thought came to mind. He's been walking down this corridor for a while now, yet there seemed to be no end. He stopped moving again, the echo of his last footstep throwing itself throughout the corridor, rebounding against the ruined walls. The Murkrow stopped too, now perched on the object it had landed on. He heard another flutter of wings, from behind, and there was another Murkrow. Then, another one... and another, and another. There were so many now, all eyeing him carefully, waiting, watching. He seemed to be frozen in fear, the Murkrow piercing his mind with their sharp stare. The first one, rasied a wing, let out a cry and they all flew towards him. Pecking at him with their razor-sharp beaks, not stopping. Mike fell to the ground, covering his head in an attempt to protect himself, but to no avail. More and more joined the attack, and Mike could no longer protect himself, the pain now unbearable. A few of them started tugging at his arms, tearing off the flesh, rupturing veins, and shredding the muscles inside. His screams were somewhat muffled by the sheer amount of them, and he screamed until he could no more, blacking out from the pain, the Murkrow now ripping him apart. Soon, there was almost nothing left, and the Murkrow disappeared, leaving only one.

"Hey, you don't think this place truly is haunted... and Ryan, Rick and Mike have been killed or something?" Will, Mark, Jack, Sam and David were now in the hall, in a circle once more, discussing what they would do. David was the most worried, fallen to a delusion that they had been killed. "I say we head out and explore as a group, that way we can look in multiple directions and find them easier." Jack suggested. It was the best thing they had heard all night. So they got up, and started walking towards where the other three went.

Sam found himself ahead of them, as if he was leading the group, but he didn't mind. Suddenly, Sam stopped walking, he looked alert. He raised his hand, a signal for the rest to stop moving too. They complied, to which Sam looked forward, listening closely. He could hear footsteps in the distance. It got closer with every passing second. Soon, the origin of the echoing footsteps came into view. From first appearance, it looked like another human. However, when it got closer, it's face was brightened by the hanging chandeliers. There was three huge slices through it, one on the face, one on it's chest and one more trailing from it's stomach. It seemed to be dragging itself along, no life at all. Just empty eyes, a mangled body, holding nothing within. "Why are you here?" it demanded, it's voice broken. Mark, Will, Jack and David began backing off, whereas Sam was staring into it's bloody eyes. "A better question would be why you are here." There was a minor shock, as that was the first time they heard Sam speak. "I didn't choose to be here, they did." The thing spoke again, answering Sam's question. "Who are they?" He asked. "The ones who left us here, to rot, to be forgotten, to never see the light of day again. They left with haste, but made sure we were trapped inside. We couldn't leave, and we still cannot. This place, our grave, is still our home. You came here out of rumours of a haunting. That was a mistake. Your last mistake." Sam still held his guard. "So you killed my friends without any prior warning?" The four behind him were now frozen, combined with this thing and that they now knew their friends were dead. "We did warn you, but you ignored it. You are all stubborn, you ignore what is wrong and create a false truth to deal with it, and it will be your downfall. Your friends payed the price for their ignorance. Now they'll rot here with us. But I'll give you one more chance. You can leave and never return, and you'll be alive. If you stay, this mansion will be your grave for all eternity." Sam simply nodded. "Turn around."

They did as instructed, and they were back at the entrance. When they turned back, the thing was gone. "Ca-Can we get out now? It gave us a chance to leave, let's just go!" Will was being frantic, Jack too. "This way." Sam instructed, to which they followed, their eyes darting everywhere, paranoid of the darkness. Sam stopped and turned around. "Hey, wait, Mark? Are you coming?" Mark had his back to them, not moving at all. A sudden ominous wind blew, nothing but a cold breeze, yet only Sam could feel it. He looked towards the direction of it. Eyes. Staring. Darkness. A void. No end. Only suffering. He looked back to Mark, who was now facing them, the shadows concealing his face.

"There is no escape."

AN: Thank you for reading. Be sure to review for me, eh? And if you have a request for a story, PM me. Bye bye.