Ch. 2

A.N//  I cannot tell you who the pure one is!  That would ruin the suspicion.  Um… *ahem*  I vowed no secret spilling.  ^_~  gomen.

They ran off to find their rooms, opening a door and gaping at the beauty within.  It was like opening a present- you never really know what's inside.  Sure, there's always a dresser, a mirror, a bed, a bathroom, and so on, but each room was special in its own unique way.  Some had their own style and some had their own color coordination and some even had certain 'moods'.  It was like there was a room perfect for everyone.

Misty entered that perfect room of her own: the first door she opened.  It was so glorious with beauty, that it took the cake before there ever was one.

"Wow…"  Was all she could say, greatly admiring the decorations inside.  The room was ebbing with a tranquility only suitable for the godly.

To her right, drapes flew across the room in the breeze from an open terrace with grace, dragging across the carpet with ease.  The bed in the center of the room cloaked in a thick, black comforter that looked soft to the touch.  A quilt of ebony feathers lay draped over the side of the bed.

Misty noticed with curiosity, that the ceiling above the bed was made of trellis, but only above the bed.  For a second, she wondered why, but thought no further of it.

Suddenly, a soft sound came from the side of her room and she froze in panic.  It was a strange voice coming from the inside of her wall...  From her mirror.  The air would suddenly feel chillier than usual.  She felt that feeling deep down in the pit of her stomach- the kind of feeling that made her feel so alone in the room, …but not so alone.

Boldly summoning every drop of courage she could muster, she made her way to the mirror to listen to the voice inside it.  She put her ear up to it, waiting… 

Then, she was attacked.

"AHH!!"

Then, she heard laughing.  Ash's laughing.  It took her a while to notice that Ash was standing above her grinning while she lay on the floor, once cowering in fear below him.  Angrily, she stood and pushed him back through the secret door that he had jumped out of.  "Ash Ketchum!  How dare you scare me like that!  I already thought I was going to die earlier today, do you have to give me a heart attack to finish me off??"

Ash chuckled.  "A secret passageway is only good if you use it to scare people…hey, is this your room?"

Misty looked at him suspiciously, slowly answering, "Yeah…"

He grinned, "Cool.  I guess we share the same bathroom."  He pointed to the door to her left.

She glanced at him nervously, "Your room is next to mine?"  Not the she cared…

"Oh, I wouldn't chose another over that beautiful haven."  He said happily, "You have a terrace.  My room doesn't even have a window."

Suddenly, they heard Brock scream and, without any hesitation, rushed out Misty's door.  Brock came stomping out of a room, shutting the door behind him.  "There's no way I am sharing a bathroom with Pikachu."  He said, "The little rat jumped out of some secret passageway and latched onto my face before I knew what it was.  It scared the hell out of me!"

Pikachu ran merrily out of Brock's room snickering maliciously.  Ash laughed and high-fived his buddy.  "Nice one, Pik!"

"Pika!"

**

"You have done well."

Vahna smiled and clipped the rose's head from its stem.  Blood trickled down the stem.  She grinned and lightly rubbed the healthy rose petals onto the cut on her arm while the stem shriveled and melted into its own little puddle of blood on the ground  beneath her.  "What is your plan for the pure one?  …but his friend-"

"His friends are beneath me!"

The rose petals wilted in her hands, burning into the blood on her skin and she smirked while coldly watching the rose's head shrivel and die in the palm of her hands.

**

Eight o'clock.  Dinner.

"Mist…  Misty, wake up, or you'll miss dinner."

Misty had fallen asleep earlier from being awake since the break of dawn and worrying sick about Togepi.  She lay curled up on top of her bed while Ash, having the advantage of the secret passageway, had snuck into her room to wake her up.  She mumbled something incoherent and rolled to her side to face him.  Her hair had stuck to her face most likely from drool or sweat.

She sat up and the lamp clicked as it flashed into life beside her bed.  "Ash?  What are you doing here?"

"You're late for dinner."

"Oh…"  She said quietly, still drunk on the aftereffects of sleeping, and looked around her room only to conclude that she was on her bed.  "I fell asleep?"

Ash sweatdropped, "Most likely."  He said, wiping away some of the hair that stuck to her cheeks.  "And from the looks of it, you're a drooler."  He laughed.

Misty waved his hand away with an annoyed shrug.  "You drool, too."

"I don't think it's too uncommon for people to drool."  Ash said.  "Now, get up.  I'm hungry and I wanna go eat."

Misty sighed, still tired, and fell back down on her bed.  "I'm too tiiiiired…."  She yawned.  "'I'll just skip dinner."

"You can't leave me to eat by myself in that big, scary dining room!  I'll drag you down there and you can fall asleep on your food."

Misty groaned into her pillow.  She slipped beneath the covers.  "Why can't you go eat with Brock?"

Ash frowned.  "Hm… I don't think he wants to be disturbed.  You see, there's this 'do not disturb' sign that was provided and…  Well, I just don't think he's hungry right now."

"I don't want to be disturbed right now, either, but that doesn't stop you."

Misty shrieked as the cold air suddenly hit her like a crashing ocean wave and noticed that Ash had flipped the warm comforter off of her, and he had actually picked her up. 

"What are you doing??"  She asked, bewildered in his arms.

It was quite a awkward position…  She can't even remember how long it's been since someone had 'cradled' her like that.

"I told you I'd drag you down there.  What, did you think I was kidding?"

"You don't have to carry me!"  She blushed furiously.

Ash glanced down at her face for a second… and continued walking.  She began to struggle and eventually he let her stand, laughing.

"I will never turn my back on you again."  She said spitefully while straightening out her shirt. 

"Oh, come on, Mist.  I was just kidding."

"But you said you weren't kidding."

"Eh- yeah, I was just kidding about that, too."

She stared at him disbelievingly for a moment.  She hated how his mind worked, sometimes.  But then again…  no-  She shook her head trying to cool her flushing cheeks.  Nervously, she stared at the ground.  "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Pick me up?"

"Oh…"  Ash shrugged, "Actually, I didn't think I could at first.  But after I summed up how scrawny you are and compared it to how long I've been training at the country's finest-"

"I am not scrawny!"  She scowled and looked down at herself.  "I…  -But what about you?  You aren't really Mister Macho Man, either."

"I never said that being scrawny was a bad thing!"  Ash said defensively, "You look good scrawny.  That's just you."

Misty shook her head in disbelief at Ash's comment, still facing the floor.  She muttered something below his range of hearing with a sigh.

"What?"

She made eye contact with him, and sighed, "Nothing."

As Misty began to leave the room, since she was no longer tired due to such a rude and disturbing awakening, Ash tagged along behind her, "What'd you say?"

"I didn't say anything!"

"You did, I heard you!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did!"

Instead of the normal bickering and screeching at each other, their accusations seemed as if they were attempted  to sound childish, which only led to laughter among the arguers, calling an unspoken truce as they raced each other to the dining room.

**

A bead of sweat glistened in the dim light as it trailed down the side of Brock's face.  He coughed behind the red scarf that tied his head to the bed post, winding around his mouth with a knot on the backside.  Twisted around his hands and feet were thick, black vines with thorns that threatened to sheathe his skin like a razor's blade.  His eyes caught the little black rose slowly snaking down the bed post, clinging to it's thin, thorn-coated stem, and it brushed against his cheeks.  He cringed at the ambient of the evil presence before him.

"Where," The vaporous entity asked, "is the pure one?"

Brock struggled to break free.  To run from this haunt and avoid any old hotels, provided a safe future.  He tried to say something, but it came out muffled.  The poisonous glare that the villain shot him had struck him right between the eyes- a glare that strung a fear into the very pit of his soul.  His sweaty hands shook against each other.

"Cat got your tongue?" 

The dark veil of vapor subsided revealing…

"Brock!"

"F-Mph-A-MPF!!"

Brock shot up in bed.  Evidently, he had fallen asleep.  And he screamed at the sight of Vahna standing in his doorway-

"Brock?"  She asked, "You missed dinner."

With a clenched jaw, Brock shakily removed the covers.  "I'm sorry."   Brock looked to his window to see if it had been left open while he was asleep.  It wasn't.  So why was it so cold in here?

"It's alright."  She said with a soft smile, "I saved you a plate."  The smile suddenly vanished and she cleared her throat.  She bowed.  When she stood, she was frowning as usual.  "Eat it before it gets cold."  Then, she left.

The cold disappeared when the door shut…

"Must've been a draft."

He walked to the door, but as he was just about to exit, he gasped.  There was a red scarf tied to the bed stand.

**

"I wonder what was with the black rose in my dream.  Why do I feel it's important?"

Brock bumped into Ash on his way to the dining room, shattering his thought in the instant.  He apologized.  "Good night, Ash."

"'Night, Brock!"  He said, walking down the hallway towards the staircase.  He grinned, "Tell Misty to hurry up in there."

Brock nodded and pushed the double doors open.  The dim and gentle light welcomed him warmly.  Misty was sitting at one end of the table slowly eating her food, bit by bit.  On the other end of the table was what looked like a piglet could wallow happily in.  "Ash says to-"

"I am taking my time."  She interrupted, "I can't just scarf down my food, or else I feel sick before bed."  She placed down her fork and pointed to a covered plate beside her.  "This is your food."

Brock nodded and sat beside her.  The dining room was very large, and he bet that it could produce a booming echo.  "How's your room?"

She smiled up at him.  "Great.  It's… okay.  Actually, I have to share a bathroom with a mankey."

"A mankey??"  Brock chuckled, "Well good luck with that.  At least you're not alone and have someone to run to if you get scared-"

"Scared?  Me?  Ha!"  She laughed, 'But come to think of it...  Ash is getting kind of strong.  Maybe he could pr—'  She shook her head and stopped herself.  'Can't be thinking of things like that.'  She yawned.

"Tired?"

"Yep.  I don't know why, though.  I just took a nap." 

"Me too,"  That reminded him, "Hey, do you know anything about black roses?"

"I… know that they symbolized death, I think."  She glanced at his food, "Aren't you going to eat?"

"Oh.  Yeah."  Brock lifted the top to his dinner.

"AAHH!!"

Misty jumped from her chair when Brock tossed the cover of his plate across the room.  She stared confusedly at his food, then at his pale, terrified face.  He was panting with fear.  "What happened??"  She asked worriedly.

"N-nothing…"  He managed to say before fleeing from the room.  Misty pushed her food aside. 

She went to investigate what he had been so terribly terrified about and as she lifted the plate…  There was the roast beef, the potatoes, greens…  'Okaaay…'  She thought, 'Maybe he doesn't like meat, anymore.'  She shrugged.  Brock was acting strange.