Suddenly Ash opened his eyes quickly and as the light penetrated into his pupils he closed his eyes from the burning sensation from the light bulbs on the roof. As soon as his eyes were accustomed to the light he looked around and saw he was in a hospital room. He sat up and looked around in confusion. Ash was going to get up from the bed but a young woman walked in and said. "No, no. You must rest before you go anywhere, young man." A young woman in her middle twenties walked into the room. She was somewhat short, her eyes were an easy light blue, her hair was a soft hazel color, and it was curly and reached her chin. She was wearing a nurse's uniform and had a clipboard grasped in her hands. Her voice had sounded soothing, like that of a mother's voice when comforting a child when hurt or lost. And even though Ash was a tad dazed he could tell she had an accent of some sort although he could not tell.
"Welcome back to the land of the living." Ash looked away and after a few seconds reacted to the nurse's joke but could still not really comprehend what she had said so he reacted in the only manner he could. "Huh?" The nurse laughed and said while smiling. "It was a joke. We usually say it to patients who have been out for so long."
"How long was I out?"
"Three days." Ash's eyes widened when he heard he had been unconscious for three whole days. He tried to remember the last thing that happened but he couldn't recall anything at all. The last real detail he had buried deep within his mind was looking at Pikachu while they stood somewhere. He studied the image and the environment seemed like that of a valley. Then he remembered Pikachu, Brock, May and Max and asked the nurse about them as she was folding some blankets. "Oh, they're downstairs having dinner. I'll tell them you woke up as soon as I see them."
"Thanks." The nurse walked away and before the door to his room could close completely she held it open and said. "Oh and if you need anything my name is Tanya." Ash nodded and Tanya walked away to tend to other patients. Ash looked around the room. There was a CTG machine in the left hand corner of the room, a TV with cable above him, he looked to his right and saw the remote for the TV. He looked towards the window and saw the park. He could see families and children playing around. He also spotted several kids with some Pokémon and what looked like Trainers as well. He sighed deeply and wished he did not have to be in the hospital room.
As he stared at the kids in the park he was suddenly distracted by a hissing sound that came from the closet in front of him. He quickly turned his head towards it and looked at the closet door. The door and the frame had about two inches of a distance but the closet itself was dark inside and he could not see what was inside. He figured the hissing sound he supposedly heard was just his imagination. That or the plumbing in the hospital was terrible. He turned his attention to the window once more and looked at the lucky kids playing around with their Pokémon. He got out of the bed and walked towards the window and looked down at the park. He noticed a strange statue in the middle of the park. He couldn't make out all the details but he could see it was some sort of creature. It looked almost reptilian and he could see it had massive wings and a long tail.
Suddenly he remembered seeing a creature of that nature somewhere. He searched the back of his mind, knowing he had seen something similar to it somewhere. It wasn't a Pokémon he had ever seen before but he knew he had seen it before. He lowered his gaze as he searched his mind but came up with nothing. He looked at the statue once more and saw someone in a white hooded cloak standing in front of the statue looking directly at him. He backed away from the window but kept looking at the figure, he noticed that the figure was slowly lifting its right arm and was pointing towards a huge Cathedral. He looked at the Cathedral, it had an old age design and like most buildings done in the early 1800s it had a gothic design to it. He looked back at the statue but the figure was gone. Ash looked all over the park but couldn't find anything at all. He was beginning to think he was going crazy, perhaps no one else even saw that figure in the park, whoever it was looked too creepy to not have been noticed by anyone, yet no one came forward or was even bothered by the sight.
He slowly turned around and looked at the closet and saw two yellow eyes glowing from within the closet. He gasped loudly and backed up against the wall. He kept looking at the eyes and did not remove his sight from the closet for a single second. The eyes eventually faded away but he was still frightened by their disturbing presence. Then some 10 minutes later Brock, May, Max and Pikachu walked in and found him staring blankly into the closet. Brock looked at him and traced his eyes to where Ash was staring into and saw he was looking into the closet. Brock reached his hand over to the door's handle and slowly began to open it but Ash yelled out. "No! There's something in there!"
Brock opened the door all the way but no one saw anything, just towels, blankets and some medical equipment. They looked into the closet and then back at Ash who refused to take another step towards the closet. Pikachu ran over to Ash and jumped on his shoulder and hugged him. Ash returned the hug but kept looking into the closet. Brock walked over to him and said. "Hey, are you sure you're all right?" May and Max walked forward as well and Max said. "Yeah, you been acting weird lately." Ash drew his attention away from the closet and looked at them and said. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right." Pikachu squealed in delight and then jumped on the bed as Ash sat on it.
"How long do I have to stay here?" Ash was hoping that he would hear an answer he would like but deep inside he knew he would have to face the fact that he might have to stay for a couple of more days. May and Max sat on the bed as well and Brock sat on a chair that was behind a drawer and said. "Well, the good news is that they didn't find anything wrong with you." He paused for a few minutes as if letting Ash get ready to hear some bad news and then he said. "The bad news is you have to stay until Friday." Ash groaned loudly and Max and Pikachu giggled and he looked at them rather annoyed.
"Friday? But why?"
"Well, you just passed out when we were in Northbridge Valley and as we walked into town you collapsed right on the side walk. I'm no doctor but that does seem pretty strange."
Ash crossed his arms and said. "Well, I'm fine. I feel all right." Brock shook his head and said. "You may look and perhaps feel fine but we don't know why you passed out for no reason at all. They're just gonna run some tests and see if you really are okay." Ash looked away more annoyed than before and said. "Fine!" The others smiled and Max said after letting out a huge yawn.
"Well, I donnu 'bout the rest of you but I'm dead tired and sleepy."
Pikachu yawned followed by May and both agreed after yawning in that manner. Brock nodded and said it was getting late. It was after 12:00 midnight after all and they were going to get up early to come back to check up on Ash. After they said their goodbyes the three kids and the small Pikachu headed out of the room and closed the door behind them. After they had gone a sudden feeling of boredom overwhelmed him. The dull interior of the hospital room felt entrapping and the thought of escape ran through his mind more than once. For a few minutes he had actually stopped to consider that escaping would be a good idea. He had seen he was only on the third floor and when Brock had opened the closet door he saw more than enough blankets to make a rope to climb down from.
He shook that thought away. He knew the more he thought of it the more he would be driven to actually escape from the hospital. There was no problem with him, the only problem would be Brock, May and Max dragging him back to the hospital saying a ridiculous comment such as "It's for your own good." The mere thought of such cruel fate only sank him into a deep uncomforted feeling. He lay on the bed and tossed the blanket over him and faced the window and saw the night sky. Never before had he ever seen the night sky so clear and peaceful, never had he seen the stars shine so brightly, it was almost ethereal. Slowly his eyes began to close and as he drifted off to sleep he heard a low hissing sound.
He sat up quickly and looked around the room. There was no one standing there, his eyes quickly flowed towards the closet but it was closed. Still, he needed to know where that sound had come from, so he got out of the bed and slowly walked towards the closet. Time felt like it had slowed down drastically, his breathing had been altered, he wouldn't blink once and his heart raced faster as his hand reached the door's handle. He slowly reached the handle and once it was in his grip he held it tightly as if not sure if he should open the door. Ash wondered what he would find behind the door, he wondered if he would find anything at all. He exhaled and slowly began to open the door. He had gotten the door away from the frame by just an inch or perhaps two when the room's door swung open and Tanya walked in.
Tanya turned on the lights and found Ash opening the closet door. She lifted an eyebrow in question and assumed he was looking for another blanket. "You know, you can turn the AC down if you want." Ash let go of the handle and walked back to the bed. He felt strange and rather worried. There was a question dwelling in his mind that he badly wanted to ask but he dared not for it was a question sure to make him seem somewhat childish. As Tanya checked several contents in the drawer next to the bed Ash wondered if he should ask the question or not. In the end he decided to ask, after all, that question would fester in his mind if he did not ask it and he would not be able to avoid it until Friday.
"Is this place haunted?"
Tanya dropped everything she was doing and looked at him rather puzzled. The color from Ash's face drained as he saw her looking at him in a questionable way. The subject of ghosts was one no one could determine whether it was credible or not. She sat on the bed's edge and smiled sweetly as she said. "Haunted? Aren't you a little too old to still believe in the boogeyman?" Her question was not mean to be an insult but it felt that way for him, as he lowered his gaze in embarrassment he looked over at the closet. She looked to where he was looking and realized he was looking at the closet. She smiled once again as she remembered what it was like to be a kid and be afraid of the closet she ruffled his hair up and said.
"You know. Our town has had a rather disturbing past. Talk of hauntings and apparitions. Someone must have said something to scare you when you first arrived."
"I never spoke to anyone. Soon as I walked into town I collapsed."
"Oh, that's right. Well, there's nothing to worry about. I'll let you in on a little secret. The plumbing here totally sucks. If it rains too much, the water turns to mud." Both laughed at the comment and as she rose up to get back to work he said. "Two figures that look identical in everything. One dressed in a black hooded cloak and the other in a white hooded cloak. Who are they?" Tanya froze in utter fear as soon as he described those two figures. She kept facing the door as if not letting him see the look of sheer terror on her face. By that simple reaction of not reacting at all Ash knew she knew something about them but he remained absolutely quiet and awaited her to make a move.
Tanya inhaled and turned around to look at him right in the eyes. He looked back in an emotionless way. She studied the look in his eyes but did not find what she was looking for. Tanya calmed down a bit and said in stammering words. "Well, I—I don't know. Who are you talking about?" He shook his head and said. "Nothin'. Never mind." With that he lay back on the bed and crossed his hands behind his head. The way she asked that question assured what he was questioning all along. He was not as dumb or naïve or as stupid as some people thought him to be. He was sure there was something strange going on in that town.
Eventually after an hour of staring into the roof he fell asleep but around 3:19 in the morning he woke up. He sat up and looked around and then looked out the window. Ash remained frozen for several minutes and then heard a noise. It was not a hissing sound and it did not come from the closet. This sound seemed to be coming from outside of his room and it was more of a voice than a hissing sound. Although it was very faint, he could hear it very clearly and it sounded very vivid. He got up from his bed and decided to check it out, unconsciously he opened the closet door and gathered his belongings, after he sat on the bed and began to get dressed he noticed he had just opened the closet door but he was not bothered or even scared of it.
After he had gotten dressed he opened the door a little to take a look outside and see if there was anyone out in the hallway. The coast was clear so he crept along the wall and followed the sound. As he walked on it became clearer and louder yet no one else seemed to be hearing it. He headed towards the last door of the hallway and there he realized the sound was a girl's voice which had been saying something. He could hear every word very clearly and repeated after it as if he knew the words perfectly well. "Blood of my blood, you spirits of love, come from below and from above…"
Ash crept along the wall and followed the sound of the voice and kept repeating that poem or whatever it was. He reached the last door and surprisingly it was the stairs. He opened the door and looked up and saw it led all the way to the roof. He was not sure why, but he had to go to the roof. Something within him told him to run to the roof, what would he find? Perhaps someone in trouble, perhaps something that might explain those two figures or perhaps even nothing. Perhaps when he collapsed he hit his head too hard on the sidewalk but he did not care. He just had to kill the ambition of needing to head to the roof. He quickly ran up the stairs, he jogged floor after floor. He was on the 5th floor when his legs were starting to give in but that feeling of need to get up to the roof was too much to ignore. Finally on the last floor the door leading into the hospital opened up and several doctors walked in.
Ash knew if he were to get caught he'd be in some trouble so he ran back down to the 6th floor and opened the door. Right in front of him was a door with bold, red letters on the crystal which read X RAYS. He reached for the doorknob and to his surprise it was open. He ran in and hid amongst some brown boxes that were on the floor half way opened indicating that new equipment had been brought in. After several minutes he was going to get up but the door opened and the lights were turned on. He let out a quiet gasp. He thought for sure he would get caught but surprisingly no one checked the boxes. As he stayed glued to the cold wall he could see through some of the boxes a man and a woman.
A better observation let him see the woman's face and he was shocked to see it was Tanya. The man she was speaking to was a lot older than her. He had white hair with several gray streaks on his sides. His eyes were light blue just like Tanya's, in fact; they resembled Tanya's eyes a little too much. The man looked a little like her but he paid little attention to that; he just listened in on the conversation they were having.
"He said he saw two figures one in black the other in white. I'm sure of it!"
"Calm down, dear. I'm sure it's one of the kids playing a joke. You know how teens can be, especially now a days."
"I donnu. He just sounded so sure about it."
The old man sighed and placed his right hand on her left shoulder. Ash noticed a strange ring on the man's index finger. The ring was silver and it had a circle on the middle of it and in the circle was an eye split in half. The left side of the eye was blood red and the right side was yellow. As he looked at it the man said. "When the boy feels better we'll have a talk with him, all right?" The man's voice was calming and tranquil which indicated that he was a doctor, that and the white coat he was wearing gave it away for sure. Tanya wasn't exactly satisfied with the resolution but she did have the comfort that the boy was still in the hospital under close watch so she agreed and both of them went out.
After some 10 minutes Ash was sure they wouldn't even be on the same floor. He got up and took a step forward not realizing that a cable from one of the machines had gotten tangled on his foot. As he set his foot down some of the equipment came down on the floor in a thundering loud crashing sound, sure to get the attention of anyone in the area. Tanya was still in the same floor and only a few feet away from the room Ash was hiding in. She heard a loud noise and looked towards the room but Ash hid before she could see him. She raised a brow and walked over to the room to investigate the situation.
Ash tried as much as he could to sort some of the stuff back in place but he was just too nervous so he hid amongst the boxes once more. Right after he hid Tanya walked in and turned the lights on. She looked around and saw some boxes on the floor and several test tubes scattered about on the floor. Ash kept very silent and had his legs crouched up against his body. After she picked the things off the floor she placed her hand on the light switch but before turning it off she glanced once more at the room and thought to herself. "Things don't just fall for any reason…"
Finally after what felt like 3 centuries for Ash, Tanya turned the lights off and left. Ash exhaled deeply and just let go of his legs in relief. He waited another few minutes and then took a peek outside to see if there was anyone else on the floor. Once again the coast was clear and he quietly snuck to the stairs. One thing that puzzled him was that while hiding and Tanya and the old man talking Ash could still hear the voice loud and clear but they didn't seem to hear it at all. That was beginning to worry him, it also scared him that he heard the voices but they didn't seem to even notice it at all. He began to run up the stairs and couldn't help but repeat after the voice once more. "Entities loving who wish me well come to this circle when I sound the bell…"
He finally reached the roof and once up there he looked around. He didn't know what or who he was looking for; he just knew there was something up on the roof. After 5 tiring minutes of frantically looking around he heard a clapping sound, as soon as he turned around he saw someone hiding behind one of the generators. The person immerged from the darkness the generator provided giving that the moon shun down in the opposite direction.
To his surprise a young girl, about his age, walked up to him while clapping. She had long black smooth hair that reflected the moon's light, her skin as pale as the snow in winter, her eyes burned with a bloody red color. Her clothing consisted of a black short dress and a black overcoat which reached her ankles and high heeled black boots which reached her knees. He also noticed a small sphere tied around her neck by a silver string, the sphere looked just like the one he found. He hadn't remembered about it until he laid eyes on the one this young girl had.