Well, no reviews so far. Oh well. Guess I'll just keep on writing, and wait for them to come.

Oh yeah, and I've noticed that I put the age of Paul in the intro to the first chapter. That's because I was at first going to have him in the story, but then decided not to. But, I suppose since I had his age there, I could put him back in. Yeah, okay! I'll do that!
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Chapter 2

"So, Niles, is there some sort of story behind the Manson Mansion?" Misty asked later that day when she, Niles, Dawn, and Ash were all hanging out in the park.

"Not much of one," Niles said. "David Manson lived in there, he was really rich, and then one day he was found dead-neck slit open. The murder weapon was left too, and the fingerprints were his own, so it must have been a suicide."

"How long has it been since Mr. Manson died?" Ash asked.

"Around three years," said Niles.

"…And you said that sixteen people have gone up there?"

Niles nodded. "People stopped going up around a year ago-everybody's afraid of that place now."

"Have the police ever gone up there to check things out?" Misty asked.

"Well, of course," Niles said. "Seven of those sixteen were police officers."

"Wow…" Ash said. "Sixteen people…and no bodies ever turned up?"

Niles shook his head. "Most people think everyone who went up there is dead, but some think a few of them may still be alive."

"So, tell me again why you want to go up there?" Ash asked.

"Niles is a science nerd," Dawn said.

"Geek!" Niles exclaimed. "I told you, I am a science geek! Not nerd! Nerd implies that I have no friends and spend all day reading comic books and playing Call of Duty."

"Anyway," Dawn continued, "he wants to find a 'scientific explanation' for all the disappearances up in that house. He doesn't believe in ghosts or spirits or the afterlife, so he wants to figure out what's really going on up there."

"Exactly," Niles said. "There has to be some logical reason for all this, and I want to figure out what it is! I mean, it's easy to make houses seem haunted! There was an entire episode of The Mentalist about that!"

"I don't know…" Misty said. "I'm starting to take Dawn's side here. If sixteen people have disappeared up there…"

"Misty, if everybody keeps on thinking like that, nobody will ever go back up to the Manson Mansion ever again, and we'll never figure out what's really happening!"

"But Niles," Dawn said, "what if what people think is happening is what's really happening?"

"Dawn, please," Niles said, "this has happened before. People say 'Oh, this place is haunted, because we heard weird noises coming from it,' when all the time it's just a family of squirrels."

"Yeah, but Niles," Dawn said, "squirrels don't cause sixteen people to disappear."

"Well, I'm going," Misty said, "but only for the same reason as Dawn-I'm worried for you two."

"Well, then, I'm going too!" Ash said. "For that exact same reason!"

"Okay! Great!" Niles said, grinning. "I don't care what your reason is-as long as you're coming, I'm happy! The more the merrier."

Niles stopped, looking over Ash's shoulder at something. "Speaking of which…" He stood up and jogged over to a familiar blue-haired trainer.

"Oh no," Ash said.

"Is that the guy who-?" Misty said.

"Yes."

"Oh, well," Dawn said, raising her eyebrows, "I don't really care if he comes. He deserves to be trapped in a haunted house."

"Ditto," Ash said.

"You guys!" Misty, who had not met Paul and was therefore shocked by Ash and Dawn's apparent lack of concern, exclaimed.

After a few minutes of talking to Paul, Niles walked back over to the others, leaving Paul looking rather irritated.

"Well, we've got another team member!" He exclaimed cheerfully.

"No way," Dawn said in awe.

"You actually got him to come?" Ash said. "How?"

"Oh, it didn't take much. I just said that if he didn't, I would make chicken sounds every single time he was around. If there's one thing that guy can't stand, it's humiliation."

"Wow," Ash said thoughtfully. "I wonder if I could get him to kick a sleeping Arcanine that way…"

"Okay, fine," Dawn said. "So Paul and all of us are going into the Manson Mansion. I still think we should at least wait until morning to do it."

"Why?" Niles said. "I don't want to have to wait that long!"

"It's only an extra night," Misty said. "And besides, Dawn's right. Everything bad always seems to happen at nighttime."

"Whatever," Niles said. "But I don't want any of you wimping out, or else I'll make chicken sounds every time you're around."

"Understood," Ash said.

"Say, Niles…" Misty said.

"I know what you're wondering," Niles said. "Don't worry, I don't mind at all if you ask. You want to know why I'm missing two fingers, don't you?" Niles held up his three-fingered right hand. Misty nodded.

"Well, that," Niles said, "is a very strange story."

"That it is," Dawn said. "You see, it all happened around three years ago. A few days before Mr. Manson died. Niles and I were playing with each other one day…"

……………………..

"Alright, alright!" Niles said, stopping in the middle of the street, leaning on his knees and gasping for breath. "I give up!"

"Yeah!" Dawn said, stopping behind him, also gasping to fill her empty lungs with fresh air. "Me too!"

"What were you chasing me for again?" Niles asked.

"Um…" Dawn said. "I forget."

"Oh," Niles said. "Well, I'm sure it'll come back to one of us."

"It's not safe to play in the streets, you know."

Both Niles and Dawn turned to see a 13-year-old boy standing in the middle of the road. He was wearing a grey T-shirt, blue jeans, and dark blue sneakers, with slightly long, messy brown hair. He was looking at them with a slightly frightening expression, his thick eyebrows tilting just centimeters toward each other.

"People could get…hurt."

All three children just stood there for about a minute, and then all of the sudden, as if they had been sliced by a dagger, two of Niles' fingers fell off. He grabbed his own wrist and let out a huge yell of pain..

"Niles!" Dawn yelled, running up beside Niles, eyes wide with fear and concern, Nile's hand now spilling out a small puddle of blood.

And then the boy spoke again, except that his voice was different this time. It was not the voice of a 13-year-old boy. It was deeper, and more gravely.

"…Like that."

End of flashback

"…and then he was gone," Dawn said. "Niles got rushed the emergency room, but we never saw that boy again."

Niles nodded. "Dawn has wondered before if that event may be connected to Mr. Manson's death, but I don't think so. I mean, the guy committed suicide. How could that have anything to do with what happened then?"

"Yeah, but Niles," Dawn said, "what if it wasn't suicide? What if the house was haunted before he died?"

"Dawn, the fingerprints on the knife belonged to him."

"Yes, I know, Niles. But you'd be surprised the kind of stuff ghosts are supposed to be able to do."

"Ghosts." Niles gave Dawn a "You've-got-to-be-kidding-me" look.

"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but what if ghosts really do exist?"

"Then we'll find out tomorrow," Niles said, in a tone of finality that showed he was ending this argument.
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Ash and Misty slept in a motel that night. Unfortunately, there was only one bed, so they one of them had to sleep on the couch. They flipped for the bed, and Ash didn't call heads until the coin had already landed on it. Then Misty reminded him that the way they always did it, the loser got what they were flipping for. Ash grumpily set up a pillow and blanket on the couch, Misty laying comfortably on her bed watching, and then they realized that it was only 7:03, and therefore too early to go to bed.

So they played a couple board games, and now it was Ash's turn to smirk. Misty was absolutely horrible at board games. Ash suggested that this was why she hated them so much, and Misty replied that the reason she hated board games so much was that she just didn't get the same satisfaction out of pummeling chess pieces after they captured her queen, and preferred to beat people up in real life. Ash merely replied with "Whatever", and continued playing.

After what seemed like only 15 minutes, it was 9:32, and Ash and Misty headed for bed. Misty fell asleep almost instantly, but Ash found something keeping him awake. Something about the boy that Dawn had described seemed familiar, but he couldn't figure out why. Where had he seen someone like that before?

Right at that moment, the phone rang. Misty didn't even move, being a very heavy sleeper. So Ash just rolled off the couch and answered it.

"Hello?"

"So, you're coming to my place tomorrow, huh?"

Ash almost dropped the phone in a mix of shock and fear (mostly fear).

"Who is this?"

"That, my good boy, is not something that you really need to know. As I was saying, you're coming to my place tomorrow."

"Only if this call is coming from the Manson Mansion."

"So you are! Fantastic! I'll be sure to give you a very…special welcome.

"Sweet dreams."
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And that's the end of the chapter! Now, I know that there are at least two people reading this now, so please! REVIEW!