A/N: This is it, guys. This is the final chapter for The Thing. It's finally here!
Alex Ho: If you think that chapter made you cry, wait until you read this one.
Infernal Fox: It was supposed to be crude humor but I can see why it's funny.
When Ash woke up a few hours later in the day he didn't even bother to let his friends know that he was awake. They only found out by Pikachu noticing him sitting down on the grand staircase with his head resting on his knees while his eyes stare blankly ahead of him. He didn't respond when the Mouse Pokémon put his little paws on him to catch his attention.
It was afternoon by the time Ash woke up, which meant that by the time everything was over the sun had risen, bringing in the morning. To think that after staying nearly three days in the Lewis Manor they've been through a lot. While they knew of the Manor's horrible history they never thought of being the ones to survive the horrors and being the first people to solve the Lewis Siblings' deaths. It was a crazy thought that still left them speechless and unable to believe it themselves. But with the way Ash's looking right now, they knew they have to face reality.
Serena stood at the bottom of the staircase, looking up at the raven-haired boy from behind the railings. She was dressed in her winter clothes because they all agreed on leaving this place as soon as possible, for their own sanities' and Greninja's sake - the Ninja Pokémon still had a severe stab wound injury from Bonnie's prior knowledge so they need to get him to the Pokémon Center real soon. As the Lumiose siblings begin to put on their coats, Serena decided to be the one to tell Ash that they're leaving.
But here she was, standing at the bottom of the staircase with words dying in her throat.
"Pikachu?" The Electric-type's small voice was what caught her attention. She turned her head to stare at the soft black eyes staring up at her with her concern.
"I don't know what to do, Pikachu," she admits in a small voice so that Ash doesn't hear, which made Pikachu realize what they were talking about. "I mean, what should I even say to him?"
Pikachu shrugs but he gestures towards his trainer. He didn't know what she should say to his best friend after everything that happened but he did know that she should say something now instead of prolonging it further. His expression told Serena everything she needed to know.
Serena takes a deep breath before she makes her way up the stairs to Ash. For every step that she took, her mind began to think about the things she should say. Her first thought was apologizing to him, but she knew that it will take more than saying "I'm sorry" to fix things between them.
If Ash noticed her sitting down next to him, he did a pretty good job pretending because he didn't even acknowledge her presence. His blank eyes - not the same blank eyes she saw hours before, thank goodness - were still staring off into the distance, only making things more difficult for Serena. What should she say to him? What could she say? What she said to him was completely uncalled for and she had no idea on how to make up for it. So what should she say when she basically told him that he was the reason his father abandoning him-
Wait, his father abandoned him...
"Did I ever told you about my father?" She found herself saying. Ash's eyes flicker towards her direction, which was a good sign to tell her that he was listening.
"No..." His voice came out croaky, still probably not use to having it back to himself.
"Well, he was actually a really great dad," Serena begins her tale. "He used to tell me stories, played with me in the backyard, helped me bake, and he would help me steal cookies so that Mom would never know which one of us stole it. He used to have this carefree attitude about life and always taught me to be open-minded about the things around me. He was the best Dad I could ever ask for."
Ash stared at her expectantly when she suddenly hesitated. "What happened then?"
She took a deep breath. "Before I met you, he suddenly got sick. Really sick. The doctors couldn't diagnose it so they had him sent to a hospital. I was so young back then, I didn't understand what was happening. I kept asking my mom why was my dad not playing with me anymore but she would never give me a good reason. Over time, I began to think he was being unfair and I got angry. It only got even worse when he died because I was at the Summer Camp when it happened. The fact I wasn't even there when he passed made me thought he left me behind. I didn't forgive him for years."
"But now?"
Serena finally looked at him in the eyes. "I'm not mad at him anymore."
"So, what are you trying to say?" Ash really didn't see the point of why Serena was telling him this, she knew that he was still angry with his own father and yet she's telling him how she forgave her own father after being angry at him for years. Whatever she was trying to do, it wasn't working.
"What I'm trying to say that it wasn't his fault that he left me," her words made Ash stop and she knew he finally understood what she was saying. "His illness was beyond his control yet I still blamed him for abandoning me. It took me a few years to realize that his illness wasn't his fault but I still didn't forgive him. But after hearing about your father, how he abandoned you on his own free-will, it made me realize that I had no right to be angry at my own father because it wasn't his choice. But you did have a right to be angry at your own father and I took me a while to finally realize this.
"Ash, I know I can never make up for what I said and I won't blame you if you don't forgive me, I just want you to know that I was wrong and I will regret it for every day of my life. Some part of me wished that things could go back to normal after all of this but they can't; I've ruined our friendship, haven't I?"
Serena felt like crying at this point but she didn't dare let her tears fall; the only one who should really be upset was Ash, considering everything he went through tonight. To be honest, if it were her, she probably would have forced herself into a semi-coma for a long time but it was amazing that Ash was still sitting up right now. She waited for him to say something, ready for any cruel words that Ash was planning for her.
"I guess I should say sorry too."
Those were not the words she was expecting.
"What?" She asked, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Ash, you don't have anything to be sorry for!"
"But I yelled at you," he protested. "I said you were a horrible friend and how I wished you weren't my friend. I never really meant them, Serena, but I was just sick and tired of everything I didn't realize what I said until it was too late. I probably deserved what you said."
"No you didn't, Ash!" Now it was her turn to protest. "Like you said; you were exhausted. You were traumatized by the things you saw and the only thing you could think about doing at the time was to lash out at the nearest thing. I was just the unlucky one who faced it. I should have reacted better and realized that you were traumatized by something, I guess I really was a horrible friend."
Ash shook his head. "But that didn't mean it stopped you from trying to help. Here I was, finding the willpower to save Pikachu, Clemont, and Bonnie's lives but when I saw you... With the scissors in my hand, I didn't even do anything. I saw you in trouble but yet I didn't even try to help you when you could have lost your life. What kind of friend lets his emotions hold him back from protecting his friend?! I should have done something instead of not doing anything! You probably would have been dead if it weren't for Pikachu!"
He sobbed into his knees after that. Serena wanted to hug him right there and then but she thought against it so she just rubbed his back in small circles to comfort him.
It was sort of nice to see him turning back into the old Ash she knew; the one who would never bring himself to hurt any of his friends intentionally but if did, he would beat himself over it countless and countless of times again. To see that kind of person come back to Ash brought her little hope that he will make it through this.
"It's okay, Ash," she told him softly. "I can understand why you were angry at me. If someone said something like that to me, I would be angry at them too."
"It wasn't just what you said that I was mad at..."
Serena looked at him with confusion in her eyes. "What are you-? Well, what else were you mad at?"
"The fact that you were the one that said it," now it was Serena's turn to freeze. "We meet in camp when we were little kids then we found each other again years later and we began to travel together. You were so different from anybody that I'd ever traveled with and, it made me feel funny. It was actually a good funny. I like hanging around you and it everything was so much fun. You always supported me so I knew I could always count on you. But, when you said I'm the reason my father left me, bringing all that pain I've been trying to put down for years, I couldn't actually believe it. I didn't want to be mad at you. That's the other reason why I was so upset, I was mad because I was mad at you."
In a way, Serena could understand what he meant; she was technically his best friend - maybe a little more, the back part of her mind tried to supplied, but she ignored it for Ash's sake - and this was Ash she was talking, he always had a hard time staying mad at his friends. It must have been extremely frustrating for him to stay mad at her when he had every right to be.
She didn't even realize Ash was crying once again until she heard him sobbing. Unable to help herself any longer, she reached over and pulled him into a hug. To her complete surprise, he didn't even hesitate to return it as he sobs into her shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Serena," he whispers brokenly.
"I'm sorry too, Ash," she says back without hesitation. She rubbed his back gently, sort of relieve things were slowly getting to normal between them.
She was well-aware of the two pairs of arms wrapping themselves around her and the trembling Ash, knowing that the siblings must have heard some of the conversation and were doing their best to comfort them. This whole incident had left a mark on each of them, leaving them affected for the rest of their lives. They all felt closer to each other since they all experienced the same horror that was brought by the Lewis Manor. They can all heal with each other.
They were going to be alright together.
The blizzard was over by the time Clemont pushed open the doors and they were met with outside world in what seemed like forever to them. Their eyes squinted in the bright light the snow produced from the sun, their eyes had already adjusted to the darkness in the Lewis Manor so the concept of bright light was foreign to their eyes now.
But they remember the familiar scent of fresh air in the cold winter breeze. The smell that would tell them that they can travel to anywhere they wanted to without anything trying to stop them.
They were all finally free.
They began to trudge through the snow, going the back the path where they came from since that's where the closest Pokémon Center was. They were only a few feet away from the Manor when one of them stop.
Ash couldn't help but turn to look back at the Manor that caused them all pain. Some part of him couldn't believe that they all made it and how it couldn't have been that easy. He was at least expecting one of the ghosts that were left in the house would come out and attack them due to their unstable minds. But they all left that house in one piece. Was it really over?
"Ash?" The raven-haired boy turned to see his friends have stopped when they notice that he wasn't following them. It was Serena that spoke, "Come on, Ash, let's get out of here..."
He finally relented and made his way back to his friends. Together, they trudge through the snow in order to put the horrors of the Lewis Manor behind them.
Back at the Lewis Manor, thousands of soulless screams could be heard within the decaying walls that were holding that old place together. While two spirits were able to move on from the horrors within, others still continue to be trapped in their hellhole. Their rage and insanity will continue throughout the years. No longer were they humans that had their lives ripped away unfairly but empty rotten shells of their former selves. Righteous thoughts no longer plague their mind and were replaced by pain and anger. All they knew was they didn't deserve this fate and they will make sure others will know of their suffering.
The killer may be gone, but the horror still remains.
That's it guys! I want to thank everyone who's supported me through my first horror story and I'm sorry for the very long delays. It's what happens when you work on multiple stories at one time, and the fact most of your time is taken up by school. But it's almost summer vacation so I can have more time to write before I go away for vacation.
Also, to any one of my viewer that are big fans of my Scooby-Doo/Pokémon crossover series, I have a special surprise for you guys in the Summer. Be sure to check out my DeviantArt page for updates.
Goodbye everyone!