Chapter 8: A Haunted House Adventure Pt I
After his talk with Matt, TK brought the empty bowl and spoon out to wash. His mom was engrossed with her work whereas his dad sat at the TV watching the news. Neither of them noticed him slip past and enter the kitchen, which was good because he didn't have to explain why he snuck food away from the table. After washing and leaving them at the rack to dry, TK wiped his hands dry and opened the refrigerator. He took out a can of Coke and popped the can. He took a gulp and sighed contentedly. As he walked back into the living room, the news caught his attention.
"There was an incident two streets away from the Academia this afternoon. A freak accident caused the explosion of several cars and the destruction of public property. The cause of the accident is unknown and authorities are looking into in as we speak. Eyewitnesses say that it was a terrorist with a flamethrower and grenades."
The screen showed images of melted asphalt, car wreckage and police sealing off the location. A disgruntled woman was interviewed about the incident.
"The terrorist disappeared after that, and it is suspected that he is part of an international terrorist group. It is advisable to be careful these few days until the criminal is caught."
TK snorted into his coke. Terrorist? They have no idea what they're dealing with, he thought. He walked to his mother's laptop and glanced at the screen. It was an article about an abandoned mansion and a missing poacher. He skimmed the lines of the paragraph, catching some words like "whispering", "weird weather" and "ghosts".
That's interesting, the blonde mused. Could it be a Digimon causing this?
TK's mother noticed her son standing behind her and looked up. She pinched the bridge of her nose wearily and said, "It's another one of those weird incidents again, TK. We seem to be getting more of them lately. No one really understands why these things happen but they just get forgotten."
"Maybe because nobody wants to remember them?" TK suggested.
Nancy shook her head. "Whatever it is, it's getting tiresome. My colleagues believe it's a restless spirit but I think this one is just a prank. Anyway, I'm going to have to submit this draft by tonight." She gave her son a tired smile. "Tomorrow's Saturday. Do you have any plans?" she asked.
TK shrugged. "Err, I'm planning on hanging out with my friends after I'm done with my homework. Probably we'll just go to the mall or the park. Some boring place as usual."
Nancy nodded. "So long as you don't go looking for ghosts in the abandoned mansion," she joked.
TK put on an innocent look. "You know me, mom. I'd never risk my safety like that."
"I'm sorry, Commander. We failed to contain the Digimon. Its signal has vanished from our radar." Thomas apologized to Sampson over the phone. He pressed the wireless earpiece to his ear, frowning at the looming mansion before him. He, Yoshi and Marcus had staked out in their car outside the mansion, waiting for a Digimon signal to appear. When they got it, they had rushed out to apprehend the rogue. They had to use flashlights because power was cut from the mansion.
The Digimon had used the darkness to play tricks on their minds and they had run around in circles. Marcus had punched Thomas because he thought the blonde was the enemy lurking behind the corner. Agumon had jumped Yoshi and Lalamon, although he claimed afterwards that the Digimon was behind them and he missed because it was dark. Then when they caught sight of their target they failed to catch it. Overall it was a disastrous mission that ended with all of them getting bruised and confused and the Digimon was nowhere in sight.
"Is that so? Do you have any information on the target?" was Sampson's curt reply. He didn't sound too pleased. Thomas felt humiliated for disappointing the commander. Richard Sampson was lenient, but he didn't tolerate constant failure. Since Thomas teamed up with Marcus, his perfect track record had been damaged quite severely. Granted the two had begun to work better but the blonde still felt irritated that the brunette's rashness was the cause of their failure.
He almost complained to the commander about Marcus' blunder but he stopped himself. Sampson would have berated him for that. After all, they were supposed to have patched things up. Instead, he told what he observed from the experience.
"The Digimon had skilful manipulation of the shadows, sir. He—I think it was a he—could melt into the darkness and disappear completely. It was like he could teleport and escape our attacks. We were fighting shadows, sir," he explained.
"I see. Any image of the Digimon?"
Thomas recalled seeing nothing but glowing red eyes. "Negative, sir. There was no clear sighting of the target other than its eyes," he said.
"Anything else you'd like to report?" Sampson asked.
Thomas felt slightly uncomfortable with what he was about to say next. "There is… a complication, sir. We found the dead body of the poacher that went missing and another three unidentified bodies inside, completely sucked dry. Apparently this Digimon has been around for some time."
Commander Sampson was silent for a while. Thomas probed, "Sir?"
A sigh came from the other end of the line. "That is very disturbing news. Very well, report back to base and we will plan another operation." The earpiece buzzed with static and the line was cut. Thomas sighed as he turned and walked back to the car. Yoshi and Marcus were already in it, waiting for him to get in. He opened the door and slid into the back seat.
"Finished reporting to the commander?" Yoshi questioned and Thomas nodded in confirmation. She changed gears and drove back to DATS Odaiba headquarters.
After a few moments, Marcus cleared his throat and looked to the back seat where Thomas sat. The young genius was leaned against the door, gazing out at the night view of Odaiba. The newest recruit of DATS cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Hey, I'm sorry for punching you in the face. If I knew it was you then I wouldn't have done that."
Thomas looked at his colleague and touched the sore part on his jaw where Marcus' fist had struck. He could feel a bruise forming already. His lips curled and he said "Don't worry about it. You couldn't have possibly known it was me because you didn't even have your flashlight with you."
Marcus scratched his head embarrassedly. He had tripped and dropped his flashlight hard on the ground, spoiling it. Then he somehow got separated from Agumon. Finally he saw the Digimon and followed him around the corner. His first thought was to throw a punch and it landed. Right on Thomas' face. "Yeah, my bad. We really have to do something about that Digimon. I'm itching to drive my fist into that bugging fastard's face right now."
Yoshi coughed. She checked the side mirrors and let a car overtake them. "There is no need for crude language here, but Marcus is right. We need to stop that Digimon before it causes more trouble. It killed four people, and it will probably lead more unsuspecting victims to their deaths," she said worriedly.
Lalamon said from Yoshi's Data Link, "How are we going to do that? We can't fight in the dark, and we don't even know its weaknesses. We haven't even seen it yet."
Agumon's voice came from Marcus's as well. "Who cares? We'll just blast away until hit something. Surely that freak was just hiding in the shadows. I suggest we hit it hard, that is bound to do some damage," he growled.
Gaomon responded, "You'll just burn down the whole mansion and kill us. You can't use fire attacks in there, remember? You'll set something alight. I'm sure my Master has a strategy to defeat our enemy, right Master?" Marcus raised a pointed eyebrow and Yoshi glanced expectedly at him through the rear view mirror.
Thomas had his thinking face on. He said, "We have to try and see if we can get the power connected to the old mansion first. We have to take away our target's advantage of using the darkness. Then need to lure him out into the open so that GeoGreymon can fight. There should be some equipment back at base that we can use."
Marcus punched his palm. "Hell yeah, baby. We're about to become Ghostbusters."
The next day after school, Daisuke trudged down the hallway to the cafeteria with TK and Kari in tow. The boy was severely tired out by the lack of sleep due to Demiveemon's constant gigging the night before. The Digimon had a little too much energy to burn after discovering Red Bull and spent half the night on a sugar high. Finally at 3 am, Daisuke had manage to fall asleep after Demiveemon calmed down.
Unfortunately he got a meagre few hours of sleep before he had to wake up to attend school. To make things worse, he nodded off in class and got a chewing out by their teacher.
"Remind me to never let Vee near energy drinks again. My parents thought I was crazy with all the giggling," the boy groused, the bags under his eyes visible. He looked like a grouchy panda, and his slouched posture and drowsy movements only strengthened the resemblance.
Kari smiled sympathetically. Salamon had been good and quiet, thankfully. She also had Jun to help her keep the little Digimon a secret. "Well, at least Minomon wasn't part of the problem, was he?"
Daisuke shook his head and yawned. "Thankfully not. It's bad enough with Vee, I don't need two hyper Digimon in my room. Minomon helped me tie down Vee and gag him. Then we put Vee in my wardrobe."
TK raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that considered cruelty to animals?" He asked. Even he wouldn't go that far to tape Tokomon's mouth to stop the little guy from licking him. Not that he hadn't considered that option though. Still, he was glad Tokomon could control himself as well.
For a second time, Daisuke shook his head. He replied, "It didn't work. We had to take him out because the cupboard began shaking like something was trying to come out. It was scary as hell."
The trio reached the cafeteria right after. It was like a food court, housing several stalls that offered different types of food. Students lined up at the counters to get lunch. The ramen corner had the longest queue, whereas the hawker selling mixed rice stood there shooing flies away, attending to the occasional customer.
Yolei sat at a table at a quieter corner. She stirred her porridge, looking a bit bored. She perked up when she noticed Daisuke and his companions and stood up, waving them over. The burgundy haired boy slipped into his seat and slumped face-down onto the table.
Kari frowned. "The dirty table is going to do wonders to your face."
Daisuke's muffled reply came, "I don't care."
"What's wrong with him? He looks like he has been through hell and back," Yolei commented, peering at the boy.
"Well, if you consider a hyperactive Digimon causing you a night of mayhem and costing you your sleep hell then yes, he has," TK sneered. Daisuke didn't even object.
"Oh," was Yolei's understanding reply. Poromon had insisted on finding his own place to rest for the night yesterday but when Yolei's siblings had discovered him. It had turned into a struggle to touch and play with the new 'soft toy'. In the midst of the chaos, Yolei had snuck the bird into her room and they slept peacefully. She placed a hand on Daisuke's shoulder and said, "If it makes you feel better, I had a hard time keeping Poromon to myself. My siblings always get to share what's mine and only after my mom intervened did they agree that Poromon would be mine only."
The only reply she got was a soft snore. Daisuke had fallen asleep.
Kari and TK left to get food, leaving Yolei and their sleeping friend. Yolei ate some of her porridge. Sometimes she stole a couple of glances at the boy in front of her. She smiled at his peaceful sleeping face.
"Why are you grinning at Davis like that?" A soft voice startled Yolei out of her skin and she noticed Cody standing next to her. The young boy was eating a tuna sandwich and looking at her curiously.
Yolei placed a hand over her heart. "You scared me," she scolded.
Cody shrugged and took another bite. "Doesn't beat the fact that you were staring," he said and took a seat next to the girl.
Blushing slightly, Yolei busied herself with the porridge. TK and Kari soon returned to the table with their meals. TK had bought pasta and Kari had some pastries for herself. In TK's tray, there was a steaming plate of curry rice for Daisuke. Setting the food on the table, the girl nudged her sleeping classmate gently and Daisuke lifted his head off the table. He moaned, upset that his dream about curry rice had been cut short.
"Kari, I was just about to eat that steaming spoonful of curry rice…" he said groggily. Kari's mouth twitched and pointed to the plate in front of him. Daisuke's eyes widened and he sat up straight, his tiredness forgotten. "Aww, thanks! How did you know?" he picked up a spoon excitedly.
Kari beamed and winked at him. TK cleared his throat uncomfortably and said, "Actually, it was I who paid for it. Kari just chose the food. I clearly deserve some recognition too."
Daisuke rolled his eyes, saying, "Yeah, yeah. I'll pay you back later." He put a large spoonful of hot rice into his mouth and melted. "Oh sweet cheese and crackers, this is so good…" he breathed, feeling his mouth warm up.
Kari and TK sat down and began eating their lunch. The table of five shared jokes and stories merrily. Halfway through, TK casually asked, "Tomorrow is a Saturday. So what are you guys going to do tonight? Any plans?"
Yolei and Kari both shook their heads. "Nothing much, what's up?" the latter responded.
"I was thinking about exploring that old abandoned mansion at the outskirts of town. I heard that there are mysterious things happening there. It could be…" he looked around and leaned closer towards the table and said in a hushed tone, "… something related to Digimon."
That got the attention of his friends. Even Daisuke stopped eating to listen carefully. TK continued offhandedly, "I think we should go check it out. If it's really a Digimon problem then we can help solve it. If it's not, there's still nothing wrong with a little harmless adventure."
Cody frowned. "As much as I would like to come along, my parents have a really strict curfew. Besides, I have Kendo class with my grandpa tonight."
Yolei nodded. "I'm not sure whether I can come myself too. Besides, a few kids running around in the dark is quite dangerous, don't you think?"
TK groaned. He tried to make his friends see some sense. "Guys, don't be killjoys. It's going to be fun. Davis will come, won't you? He's not scared at all."
Biting his lip, Daisuke thought for a moment. His rational side told him that not going would be the sensible choice, but his adventurous side was flaring and rearing to go. Backing off would be a sign of cowardice and Daisuke was no coward. He spoke up, "TK's right. It shouldn't be anything. We'll go prepared, and maybe have a sleepover."
TK shot him a grateful grin but Kari wasn't amused. She tapped her fingers on the table worriedly. "Davis, you're not supposed to encourage him. It's not safe."
Daisuke considered pulling out. Was the risk really worth it?
Nah, it'll be fine. Vee can protect me.
"We'll be safe, since we're bringing our Digimon along. If anything happens, Vee can transform and whoop some serious butt," he said confidently. Kari still didn't look reassured, he said, "Don't worry. I promise we'll be safe."
I hope, Davis thought.
Later that day…
"We're gonna go where? We're gonna do what?"
Daisuke tossed two pairs of socks into his backpack. There was always a need for extra socks. He didn't know why but things always happened that caused him to end up with wet shoes and socks. There was one time he didn't see where he was going and stepped into a giant puddle. Then another time he slipped and fell into the lake. He also didn't understand why water pipes just had the tendency to burst right when he walked past. Not once, not twice, but seven times. He probably won't encounter such a problem in an abandoned house but he wasn't taking any chances.
"I told you, Demiveemon. We're going to go exploring at night," he answered his blue friend who was currently sitting on the table, sucking on a popsicle.
"Davis," he said, "We're aren't supposed to go out at night. Night is when scary things come out and try to eat us. It's not safe."
Daisuke rolled his eyes. He took out a flashlight from his drawer, clicked to test if it worked then chucked it into his bag. "You're starting to sound like Kari. I know it's not a walk in a park but where's the fun without a bit of risks? Also, TK and I had a bet to see who screams first."
"I don't know, Davis…"
Daisuke stopped searching for his penknife to look Demiveemon in the eyes seriously. "Vee, I need you to protect me and TK. If anything goes wrong, you have to bail us out of there. We're counting on you."
Vee stopped sucking his popsicle. There was no changing his partner's mind. He sighed, "Alright, but you owe chocolate after this."
Daisuke chuckled as he grabbed some extra batteries. "You're already draining my pocket money. A little more won't hurt, I guess."
The popsicle slid out of Demiveemon's mouth and he licked his lips. "I want ten bars."
"Oh hell no. Two bars."
"Eight"
"Four."
"Nope, too few. Six!"
"Nuh uh. Five. No more, no less."
"…Deal."
Grinning, Daisuke held out his hand and grabbed Demiveemon's stubby hand. They shook on it. "Now finish that popsicle and help me pack up!"
"Is everything ready, Yoshi?" Thomas spoke into the Bluetooth communicator in his right ear.
"All clear, Thomas. How are we doing, Marcus?" came Yoshi's reply.
Both of them heard grunting before Marcus spoke gruffly. "I'm alright. It's set. You sure this is going to work?"
Thomas looked at the equipment placed in front of him. It was planted firmly in the ground like a flag pole. Around a metre tall, it had three trumpet-like extensions pointing upwards, to the left and to the right. Ten metres to his left and right were similar devices. They were placed around the perimeter of the old house, forming some sort of fence.
"The projectors will produce a containment field that prevents Digimon from leaving or entering. Digimon are made of data particles and can thus the barrier will prevent our target from escaping. The Distruptors planted in the building will limit the movement of our target then we'll direct it outside. There should be no escape this time," Thomas said.
He checked his watch. It was 6.23pm, not sundown yet but soon. Birds chirped and flew back to their nests. The sky was a dark shade of orange. In a while, night would fall and their operation would begin. He took a deep breath and walked back to the car.
Around 8pm TK stood outside the mansion. Daisuke was not there yet, but he stared at the dark building looming before him. The mansion stood in the middle of the woods, worn by time and weathered by sun and rain. Creeper plants and moss grew all over the walls and the grass was long and wild. He shone his flashlight at rusted gate and gulped.
"Having second thoughts, TK?" Patamon said from atop his head. Tokomon had eaten so much earlier that he had evolved into Patamon. The white oversized hamster had turned into an even larger oversized hamster, expect it was orange and it could fly.
"Yeah, maybe this isn't such a good idea after all… I knew it would be scary but I didn't think it'd be this frightening. Do you think we should head back?" He glanced at the red and yellow crime scene tape across the gate. "This tape clearly indicates that we shouldn't be anywhere near it.
"Oh hell no, I just got here. We are not turning back now," TK turned around and yelped. Daisuke was shining his torchlight from below his chin, making his face shadowy and creepy. "Aha, you screamed. Does that mean I win?"
TK shoved his friend lightly. "Nice try, but we haven't gone in yet so that doesn't count. Anyway, where's Veemon?"
Daisuke shone his torch down at the small blue figure next to him. Not unlike Patamon, Demiveemon's huge consumption of food had gave him enough energy to evolve into Veemon. The blue dragon was wearing an oversized maroon hoodie, supposedly Davis'. "He's here. Anyway, shall we?
TK used his torchlight to illuminate the path before him. He pushed the gate, which made a creaking sound was it swung open, making an entrance large enough. He bent low and stepped through the tape and said, "Alright, but I won't be holding your hand if you start crying for mommy."
Daisuke and Veemon followed him through the gate and lightly tiptoed down the path. The grass on both sides of the walkway were as tall as his chest. The sounds of crickets were loud and they came from all directions. The night was windy but the full moon was bright. Daisuke froze when he saw a glowing pair of eyes in the trees but when an owl flew out he relaxed.
Maybe I really didn't think this through, he pitifully thought to himself and hurried to keep up with TK.
"I've got something on radar," Yoshi announced. Thomas and Marcus stopped their bickering and turned their attention to their female colleague. The brunette eagerly leaned forward, asking if it was their target.
Yoshi furrowed her brow. She said anxiously, "Actually, we're picking up more than just one signal. We have… four signals. That's not a good sign, isn't it?"
The young woman's Data Link beeped and Lalamon's digitized voice came from the device. "I'm sensing two humans and two Digimon, but I don't think they're the ones we're looking for."
Thomas struck his signature thinking pose. He wondered out loud, "There shouldn't be any human in contact with Digimon, much less walking together. They must be either DATS agents or civilians who befriended Digimon. Since we're the only agents on the case, that means those people are—"
"—the kids under Gennai's wing," Marcus finished for him. "But what they hell are they doing in there? Didn't they see the 'No Entry' tape we put around the place?"
Thomas got out of the car. "Whatever they're here for obviously isn't worth sacrificing the mission. Marcus, come with me. We're getting those kids out of there. Yoshi, keep your eyes on the radar and keep us updated."
Marcus grumbled as he checked his torchlight and gear. "Why the feck does he get to be the boss? I know what we need to do even without him giving orders," he muttered loud enough for Yoshi to hear him.
The brunette girl sighed and said, "Language, Damon. Technically he does have more experience than the both of us and his orders usually work out fine so why not?" Marcus snorted and got out of the car, slamming the door and causing Yoshi to flinch.
She shook her head as she watched the two young men run off towards the mansion. Sometimes she wondered why she even put up with them. Pressing her fingers to her temples, she decided that she needed a raise and a vacation.
"This place is huge," TK noted. His voice rang across the empty room, leaving a slight echo. The stale air was musty and reeked of mould. There was a thick layer of dust on the carpet, on the table and on the shelves. Cloths were draped across the furniture and dusty faded paintings hung on the walls. There was a cuckoo clock with its mechanical bird sticking out. The hands froze at 6 o'clock, 6 minutes and 6 seconds.
"Creepy. This place has been left alone for ages. It's dirtier than my room," Daisuke rubbed his itching nose, trying not to sneeze. He tripped over something and fell right on his face, creating a small dust cloud. Veemon held his breath and helped his partner up whereas TK fanned his face, trying to get the offending particles away from his nose.
Groaning, Daisuke stood up and patted his body. He shone his torch to see what he had stumbled over and yelped, falling on his bottom and scrambling backwards. It was a shrivelled hand of a corpse. It was dry to the bone and it lay sprawled across the floor in a position that looked like it was trying to crawl towards the door.
TK turned around quickly and took a step back as his eyes met the unsightly thing on the floor. His hand was shaking slightly and his heart was beating fast. He looked at Daisuke who was as pale as a sheet and asked, "Do you want to leave now?"
Daisuke took several deep breaths to calm himself and got up. He said with false bravado, "That body has obviously been around for ages if it's dried up like that. There's probably nothing wrong."
Patamon however wasn't so enthusiastic about continuing their exploration. "Can we leave already? I don't like this place. There's nothing interesting here."
Daisuke shook his head and argued, "That's why we're here. We're supposed to keep looking until find something interesting. Also we have a bet going on."
"Speaking of which, haven't you lost already when you saw that thing right there?" TK said, jerking his head at the direction of the corpse while trying not to glance at it.
"Nuh-uh. That doesn't count as a scream. Not that easy, Mr Hatter," Daisuke said as he turned and marched off. Veemon gave the corpse one last disgusted look before following his human friend.
TK snorted and made haste after his classmate with Patamon clinging onto his head. None of them saw the dead body lift its head and look back.
A/N: I'm back, my dear readers. I'm sorry that this took so long but I had been extremely busy. I have slightly more leisure time during the holiday so I'll get to working on my stories. This chapter was originally much longer but I split it into two parts because I wanted to give you something to chew on for now.
Teaser: In our next chapter, TK and Daisuke find more than they bargained for in the abandoned mansion. Teaming up with them will be DATS members Marcus and Thomas as they try to get to the bottom of the situation. Stay tuned for more, and please leave some reviews for they are really encouraging. Constructive criticism is well accepted!
See you all in my other stories. I'll be focusing on Ryo's side more, so I hope you give that story a read too.
Ultimateblack, out!
