Chapter 2: Opened Doors
~Dawn~
Raindrops started to fall gradually as the sky turned from pastel to a dreary grey and Dawn couldn't help but find it fitting. At this point she would be sleeping with the mightyena and caterpies If the old man wouldn't let her in. This was all her mother's fault. Although she loved her mother to death, she wasn't ashamed to say that her mother was selfish. It was probably the only thing that both of her parent's really had in common. She knew her mother loved her, but her motives weren't the clearest sometimes, she had a lot of pride and it had taken her nine years after her divorce to stop depending on her ex-husband for support.
Breaking out of her thoughts she checked her phone and realized she had been outside for almost three hours and she was starting to get really hungry. She hung her head in shame feeling defeated. Stubbornness really ran in the family she thought, they were both fighting here to see who would cave first. Stubborn old man. At this point in time the rain started to get heavier soaking her clothes and making her hair cling to her face.
"Ohhh… My Hair…" Dawn whimpered getting up quickly and moving further inside the porch.
She heard the door behind her open, and she snapped her head to see him standing behind her, the door wide open and his face looking void of any emotion.
"Get inside." He said
Dawn smiled widely picking up her bags, squeezing past him and into his was much larger than she had imagined it to be. Looking around she saw that his home was filled with plenty of books and different artifacts and paintings. His floors were made of a dark rustic wood that seemed to fit the house's aesthetic that made it feel a lot more lonely she didn't know how he could live in such a large house all by himself.
"This is a lovely home, Mr. Oak." Dawn complimented, looking around in awe.
"Please, take off your shoes." He barked making Dawn comply rather quickly. She dropped her sneakers near the door awkwardly as Gary watched her with calculating eyes.
"Since you show no signs of leaving anytime soon, I'll allow you to stay in one of my spare rooms." He said walking away quickly.
Dawn picked up her bags and hurriedly followed him upstairs. He stopped in front of a door at the end of the hall and led her in.
"This will be your room." He mumbled leading her in. She placed her bags down and looked around the room. Really there wasn't anything special about the room with its bare cream colored walls and the single window, but nevertheless she was grateful.
"Um thank you, really!" She said now facing him. "I know this must really be a burden on you, taking in someone you don't know, but I really want you to know how grateful I am.
Rather than showing any emotion, he just grunted his acknowledgement and turned off to leave, shutting the door behind him, "Get some sleep." Was all that Dawn heard and her smiled widened. It was a start.
After a bit of tossing and turning that night Dawn decided that she couldn't sleep. The light of the moon had illuminated her room at 2am. She rolled over to grab her phone from the bedside table, still no messages from her mother. She was getting restless and this room wasn't really helping her out that much. Pushing the sheets off of her body, she jumped out of bed and tiptoed towards the door peeking out at the dark hallway. Absolute silence filled the house. It was like no one lived here. Turning on the flashlight from her phone she ventured off into the hall taking slow steps, careful not to make a sound and wake the old man. The house was huge, though it was a little scary at night. Fear crawled up her neck the more she explored as her thoughts got the best of her curious little mind and was startled when she came across a stuffed Ururang looking ready to pounce.
'What exactly does the old man do.' She thought, examining the statue briefly before moving along.
Walking further down the hallway, Dawn noticed that there were many doors lined along the hall, seven to be exact, most of which were spread apart and were mainly empty bedrooms or closets. At the end of the hall was a hidden alcove leading to another floor. Slowly making her way up she was met by a single door at the very top of the steps and was shocked to find It locked. What if this is where he kept his money? Or what if he kept other things up there? Pulling out a bobby pin, she started to fiddle with the locks and after a few minutes was able to successfully open up the room with a loud creek. Stepping inside she felt along the walls for the light switch but found nothing instead opting to use her flashlight to search her surroundings. Shutting the door behind her she saw multiple boxes and scattered along the floor as well as old wooden furniture. Walking towards the window, the front driveway came into view. So this was the attic.
'He has so much stuff up here.'
Dawn walked towards the middle of the room, coming into contact with a cold touch on her forehead. Jumping back she concealed a small scream as she looked up to see a silver string connected to a single lightbulb.
Light filled up the room and she could see all the dust that had accumulated on every flat surface. Excitement coursed through her body as she opened up her first box. Inside filled will old lab equipment that was quite outdated, and large textbooks with information on Pokémon evolutions, and old newspapers. Setting the box aside she noticed a piece of paper fly out and bent down to pick it up.
Examining it she saw it was a photo of a young woman with long dark brown hair and sapphire blue eyes. She was tall and slender with a shy yet playful smile gracing her lips as she posed for the camera. With one hand she held her hair down from the breeze that blew her hair around and with the other she was holding her a white sunhat. She was dressed simply in a plain sleeveless sundress, but she looked stunning. She knew it wasn't her Great Grandma Daisy from the pictures she had seen when she was younger. Her grandmother's hair was more of a sandy almost blonde shade of brown, while this girl's was darker in shade. The eyes were different two she remembered Grandma Rosie talking about her mother's beautiful blue eyes from her younger days before old age had gotten her and turned her vibrant blue eyes grey due to cataracts, this girl had more of a hazel/green hue to them. Could they have had another sibling? There was just so much to know about the Oak family, her family rarely ever mentioned their family and she was way far down the family tree to find any of this information relevant but it still interested her to no end. What secrets was the old man hiding? Looking back down at the picture she let the question hang in the air.
"Who is she?"
