Author's Note: Wow... I just posted this two days ago and already I have 142 views, 8 followers, 6 favorites, and 2 reviews! Not only that, but this story is already in 1 community! Maybe I should post the stories I have on DeviantArt more often on !
With all that aside, I just want to say thank you for all the support I got on the first chapter. So, I wanted to award you all with the second chapter of this story! Now, just to be clear, I don't have a full schedule on this because I'm still working on the other chapters I have back on DeviantArt. The only reason I wanted to post this is because I just finished the latest chapter yesterday. So here's what I decided, I will post chapters here on after posting the latest chapters on DeviantArt.
So! Here it is, the first official chapter of The Thing. The Calm before the Storm. Hope you enjoy!
It's official. They hate the winter season, no doubt about it. It didn't even matter all the snowmen they could build or all the snowball fights they can have, they didn't want this much snow! After stopping at a Pokémon Center, they were told that there was going to be a small snow blizzard coming soon. Hearing that, they decided to get their winter clothes and continue on their way to Snowbelle City. They're beginning to think that the Weather Company got the weather wrong because this blizzard is anything but small. After their short, five-minute walk through the forest, snowflakes suddenly begin to fall at a pretty rapid pace. Soon they found themselves facing a full raging snowstorm, throwing thousands of bitter cold flakes on their faces, making them feel numb as they raise their arms in hopes to block the cold. Even though the blizzard has only started, already the group of children are trudging their way through three feet of snow.
"I can't see!" Bonnie cries from behind the group with her brother, who she's using to cover her eyes from the stinging snowflakes that are flying right into her face. Clemont has an arm wrapped around Bonnie in hopes to keep his sister warm while he had his other arm out in front of his face to stop the snow coming into his own eyes as well. Even with glasses on, the snow always finds a way to get into his eyes.
The one that's leading their little group through this disastrous weather is Ash, but even he is having trouble managing through the snow since the snow is blowing into his face full blast, the icy shards almost made tears run from his eyes if he didn't have his arm covering his face. The wind kept blowing against them as if it wanted them to stop and freeze to death. There were a few times where Ash had to stop to gather his bearings before continuing his trudge against the snow that's already freezing his feet. Pikachu was inside his backpack, doing anything it can to stop the bitter wind from slicing its fur.
In the middle of their group is Serena, who has her eyes shut tight with her mitten-covered hands in front of her face in hopes to stop the furies of snow from getting into her eyes. She couldn't take the cold anymore when she began to feel the wind pushing her back and forth against the snow. "How much longer do we have to walk through this?!" Serena screamed through the wind in hopes it reaches the person who's leading them all through this.
Even though he heard her, Ash didn't respond because he didn't even know the answer himself. The last thing he remembered, the next town was at least a two-day walk through the thick forest, and judging by the weather they're currently in, they won't even last two hours before they freeze to death.
Just before Ash could come up with something in hopes to keep everyone calm, he notices something up ahead. Despite the raging snowflakes making it difficult to see their surroundings and where they're heading too, but Ash can faintly make out the silhouette of a very large building that they're slowly coming up to. He didn't even know if it was abandoned or not, but he's going to take anything just to get out of this weather.
"Hey, I think I see a house!" Ash yells, hoping that his friends can hear him through the raging winds. Luckily they did as they look up and see the same silhouette that's faintly up ahead.
"I see it!" Bonnie cries out, looking very excited to finally be out of this horrible storm.
However, some of them didn't trust the house on the spot. And one of them is by the name of Serena as she frowns at what she's seeing right in front of her. "What's a house doing in the middle of the forest like this?!"
"I don't know and I don't care, all I care about is getting out of this awful weather!" Clemont yells after he felt the wind suddenly became stronger, almost sending him flying if he didn't dig his feet in the snow, but it only sent more shivers through him. He could feel Bonnie nodding her little head on his oversized-overcoat, and although he couldn't see it, Ash nods his head as well.
Serena's frown only deepen. For some reason, she didn't get a pleasant feeling once she first spotted the house. The strange part of all this, she feels like she seen this house somewhere before. Although she could only see the silhouette of it, Serena can feel it in her heart that she knows that house and it's anything but safe. However, seeing her friends already trudging their way to house, Serena had no choice but to the follow them.
As they continue their trudge, Serena's feeling of dread slowly rose as the house soon becomes slightly clearer from the thick snow falling. It wasn't even a house to begin with, it was too gigantic. Instead, Serena could see that the building they're heading to is a manor. An ancient one, that's for sure. Along the pale-gray walls that appeared to be somewhat holding this entire building together are small layers of cracks that appear on of the edges or just in the middle of the decaying walls. For some strange reason, there appear to be no snow on the manor, which, unfortunately, showed the ripped and decaying tiles of the roof that are ebony black. Serena found herself completely startle that she's able to see the windows through the thick fog created by the snow. They're horrible stained, having a slight tint of the worse shade of green she has ever seen, and Serena thinks that some of them are broken. It's pretty clear that this manor has been around for a long time and no one has even bother to take care of it, if there was someone even there.
But it wasn't just the manor that bothered her anymore, it was their surroundings that made Serena feel even more uneasy. By the looks of things, all the rushing snowflakes absolutely refuses to even touch the manor, they always seem to blowing in any other direction that's not the manor. What was it about this place that's making even nature to refuse its presents? Not only that, she's beginning to notice that as they continue to trudge through the heavy layer of snow, she can no longer see the faint silhouettes of the trees in the forest. Now it looks like they're walking through a endless oblivion of white and bitter cold alone. That thought sent shivers down her spine, and it wasn't from the weather that they're currently in.
Serena wanted to express her concern to her friends, but kept her mouth shut. Maybe she's being paranoid again. Besides, all those the other old places they've been too weren't so bad (Well, there was that time with that old man, but she's still convinced it was a dream). Not only that, but they are already at the pastel-brown, wooden steps that appear to be broken in a few places. They all climb the steps, ignoring all the horrible creaks that were made from their steps. Once they reach the old wooden porch, they all notice the blistering wind that they felt before is no longer blowing in their faces. Turning around in confusion, they could see that the storm is raging, but it's nowhere near this manor.
"That's strange..." Clemont murmurs while adjusting his glasses, but didn't press it any further. The rest of them decided to leave it that way as they turn towards the doors that are the entrance to the building. The doors basically tower over them, making them feel inferior and slightly nervous. It didn't help that the entire black door seemed to be cover in stains they couldn't even recognize. Despite that every part of them is telling them to leave this place, they knew they won't last another second outside this dreadful weather and need to take what they can get for now until the storm is over.
Being the daring one, Ash took a step forward and knock on the doors loud enough in case there's someone inside the building. "Hello? Hey! Is anyone in there?"
No answer.
Shooting his friends a quickly confused look, Ash turns back to the door and knocks on it again. "Uh, we need shelter until the storm blows over!"
Still nothing.
Frowning at the lack of answers, Ash was about to grab onto the handle to pull the doors open when just as his fingers brush against the old handle, he jumped a bit when he heard an unlocking sound coming from the inside the manor. With a slow creak that sent shivers up his spine, the door slowly opens, revealing an endless abyss of darkness. Not in the actual sense, though, they literally couldn't see anything in there.
Although slightly creeped out that the doors have somehow open by themselves with nobody inside the building, they didn't dwell on it for long as they enter into the darkness that has been awaiting them. If they have been paying attention, they would have noticed that they left the door open and some mysterious force slowly closes the door, locking it once it's tight shut.
Darkness. That's all that Ash could see. Complete darkness. There's no light, just an endless black pit. For some reason, it felt colder inside than it was out. Seeing the blackout and feeling the bitter cold made Ash feel uncomfortable. He couldn't even see his friends, which is what really scared him. "Does anybody have a flashlight?" He calls out, hoping he didn't get separated from his friends.
Silence meet him. Ash now felt his heart beating out of his chest, he didn't know why, but being inside this dark and cold building made him feel frighten, an emotion that he's not used too. Before he could call out again, his worries are instantly washed away when he finally got a response from Clemont. "I do!"
Next thing he knew, a bright light is suddenly shining right into his eyes that it began to hurt the second he looked right at it. He put his arm over his eyes and shouts out in an annoyed tone. "Okay, okay! I can see you!"
Realizing what he's doing, Clemont quickly shines the flashlight out of his friends. "Sorry!" He apologizes quickly with a sweat drop. Then he begins to shine the flashlight at the area around them. Thanks to the flashlight, they can definitely tell that they're in a hallway of some sort with a wooden floorboard that's broken in a few places that make it look like, or probably really shows, holes that appear to be heading to another endless pit. It didn't exactly make them feel comfortable since the floor keeps squeaking underneath their feet, almost like it's ready to collapse under their weight. Along the floor that almost reminded them of a path is faded-purple carpet that seems to lead into a room they couldn't exactly see do to the flashlight reaching its limit in the darkness.
"Hey, I found a light switch!" Bonnie's high voice suddenly breaks through the awful silence that's been plaguing them for a bit. The older kids then heard the sound of tiny feet moving away from them on the unstable floor.
Clemont couldn't help but feel himself sigh from his little sister's antics. "Bonnie, this place looks like it's been here for hundreds of years. I doubt that the electricity would even be-" Suddenly the area was no longer in complete darkness. In complete bafflement, Clemont looks up to see small lamps attached to the walls in a neat, but distance order. The shades look like they were once white, but the lack of care made them fade into a hideous shade of brown. While the lighting is somewhat dim, which was to be expected from the old electricity, they can definitely see the area around them.
"Well, look at that, the electricity here does work." Ash and Serena shot the blonde boy dry looks at the obvious statement before they and the siblings begin to walk down the worn-out carpet, hoping they can find a place inside this strange household to sleep and stay until the snowstorm outside finally relinquish.
They all stop once they reach what appeared to be both the living room and the grand staircase. The grand staircase appeared to be made out of wood, only this time it's a dirty white. The old carpet appears to stop right at the staircase before continuing it on upwards by the staircase. The staircase is gigantic in width, probably a carriage can run down the lower parts of it if it wanted too. At the top the staircase appears to be a small section of a hallway that appears to be a bridge of two other paths that lead to different hallways that they couldn't quite see due to the walls, which has a ripped-up and faded violet wall (they're beginning to notice that cold colors are a common theme in this household). At the tops of the stairs is a black desk, on top of it appears to be a vase of wilted roses. On the wall above it was something that they should have probably noticed first is a gigantic portrait of two people.
"Well, that looks like one unhappy couple..." Bonnie remarks playfully, making Serena almost burst into a fit of chuckles while the boys just give her faint smiles, not fully understanding the joke.
While Bonnie was only joking, her words unfortunately ring true. The man and woman in the portrait definitely don't look like a "happy couple." They didn't have one hint of happiness on their faces. Instead, they had stone-cold glares on their faces that almost sent a shiver up Clemont's spine while the man's brown eyes and the woman's dark blue eyes are nothing but dull, lifeless orbs starting back at them like stone statutes. Judging by the black clothing they're wearing, they appeared to be from the 1900s era when they were both alive. That, and also they can tell that those fake, white wigs and that horrible, pale makeup aren't around anymore, thank goodness. However, what confused and, somewhat, disturbed them is the lower part of the portrait. Up to the woman's waist that entire part was completely burned off. While they do understand that the portrait must be as old as this manor, they couldn't understand why the lower part of it was burned.
"I guess somebody didn't like those people..." Ash mumbles, coming up with a simple idea on why that portrait looks the way it is, although, hatred isn't usually the first thing that pops into his mind, he's not dense when it came to the harsh reality back then.
"Yeah, maybe..." Clemont said with a small adjustment to his glasses. He didn't exactly felt comfortable about the relationships married couples had back then, that thought always found a way to repulse him and always ruin his cheerful mood.
"Glad to know that we're not the only ones who think they're a match made in the junk yard." Then there's always his sister to cheer him up. The older children couldn't help but let out small chuckles from that. For a moment, they have forgotten the small feeling of dread they felt when they first enter this mansion and feel comfortable at last...
...Until Serena suddenly scream.
Everyone whip their heads towards their honey-blonde friend in a panic, wondering what caused her to scream like that. Seeing her right now they can tell something had obviously frightened her; Serena's eyes are wide like saucers, her pupils completely shrunken, her knees currently buckle together as they tremble rapidly, Serena's own hands are gripping each other tightly, trembling just like her knees, not to mention she looks completely pale.
"Serena?" Ash calls out to the frighten girl, trying to get her attention. When her gaze didn't move from the portrait, he tries again by putting his hand on her shoulder. "Serena, what's wrong?"
"I know where we are!" Ash flinches when Serena screamed in mid-panic. Not the answer he was hoping for, but he's going to take it since he got a response from her.
"W-Where, exactly, a-are we then?" Due to Serena's sudden scream, Clemont found himself frighten at the atmosphere around him. Something must have scared Serena to scream like that, and he's not looking forward to knowing what that is. Bonnie, however, looks calmer than her brother and is staring at her best female-friend with curiosity in her eyes as to wonder why she screamed.
"WE'RE INSIDE THE LEWIS MANOR!" Serena once again screams in her high-pitched voice as she whips her head to face her friends.
She got mixed reactions to that sentence.
One of those reactions was terror on Clemont's part; he then screams just as loud as Serena's first one before he begins to run around the room in circles, waving his arms around like a chicken trying to flap its useless wings to fly. Then again, the screams that the young genius is making do sound like a mix of his own puberty-squeak voice and a chicken's torturous croaking. Ash's reaction was one of confusion; he didn't know what the Lewis Mansion is and how this old place can scare Serena and Clemont like this. Bonnie's reaction was the most positive so far; she has this excited gleam in her blue-eyes while the young girl bounces on the balls of her feet.
"That's awesome!" She says eagerly before the young blonde stops her bouncing and her cheerful expression immediately turns into a frown as Bonnie regards her older brother, who is still running around the room like a chicken. "Clemont, do you really have to be doing that? The Lewis Manor isn't so bad."
Clemont suddenly stops his small frenzy to glare at his sister. "What the- Bonnie! You know as well as I do I have a very good reason to panic, same goes for Serena and you too!"
"Clemont, that happened a long time ago," Bonnie says blandly as she puts her little hands on her hips. "I doubt the same thing could happen to us."
"And you also know that it wasn't just that one incident that night is what's making me nervous!" He shots back.
"Like I said, it won't always happen-"
"Okay, time out!" The two siblings stop their mini-squabble to see Ash, who was previously comforting the still-shaken Serena before having enough of the sibling's dispute and unanswered questions, his hands in the "timeout-gesture" as he stares at the two with a scolding expression. "Alright, what's going on? Why are you guys acting so weird? I mean, what's so bad about this place?"
"Oh, right! You're from Kanto, Ash!" Bonnie was quick to realize. "You don't know about the stories of the Lewis Manor because Kalos blocks it from all the regions so they wouldn't find out."
"So, what happened here, then?" Ash asked, now looking genuinely curious.
"Well, the story isn't exactly settling, Ash," Clemont remarks nervously but begins the tale anyway. "See, about a hundred and fifteen years ago, two siblings were found dead inside this mansion. The younger brother was said to have died from a knife-wound to the chest a-and, they found the same knife that kill him in his hands. T-That's not even the worst part, either! No one could figure out how the older sister died, they found her body with no wounds, internal damage, or even diseases! It was like her heart just stopped right there all of a sudden, even now, everyone in Kalos still can't figure out how she died!"
"So, the reason why you guys are acting weird is because a long time ago two kids died in this house?" Ash asked slowly, hoping that his words didn't sound rude. While he is horrified at the fact someone would kill two innocent children, he tries to mask his horror by keeping the topic back on his sort-of unanswered question.
"I-It wasn't just that, Ash..." A small voice speaks up. The three turn their heads around to see Serena, although still visibly shaken she looks more calmer than she was before. "Two days after those two died, their parents were found chopped-up into pieces. It took the police nearly a whole month just to find all of their body parts inside this house. And that wasn't just it! Five years after those deaths, someone went into this mansion but suddenly went missing. W-When they found her, a-all of her body parts were c-chopped-up like those people in the painting, a-and only her feet are still missing. N-Now, whenever someone enters this manor, t-they're always ended up in p-pieces, w-with a few pieces going missing sometimes." At this she lets out a small shriek. "W-What if, what if that happens to us?! We could be chopped-up to pieces and be stuck here FOREVER!"
"AAAAAHHHHHH!"
After hearing that gruesome story, Clemont quickly dives underneath the, surprisingly well-standing, coffee table that's on the left side of the grand staircase where the rest of the living room arrangements are like a Meowth that's been frightened by a loud noise. Which, by the way, is how he's acting right now with him chattering his teeth and his body shaking like an earthquake is taking place.
However, Clemont was the least of Ash's worries since he knows that Clemont tends to overreact over everything, and he knows that Bonnie will take care of him. Instead, he turns his attention back to Serena, who is now covering her face with her trembling hands as she gives out the most unsettling whimpers he has ever heard from her. Seizing her by her shoulder, Ash tries to look at Serena in the eyes. "Serena, calm down! I'm a hundred percent sure that won't happen to us!"
"Besides, the last murder was fifty years ago," Bonnie speaks up, seemly helping Ash to calm the two down. "There's hasn't been anyone going missing and found in pieces for a long time, so the police thought the murder finally died." Her face suddenly turns into a frown as she turns her head to see her older brother still cowering underneath the coffee table. "And will you get out of there, Clemont?!"
"A-Are you sure?" Came the meek voice of Serena, who let Ash remove her shaky hands from her eyes so he can look at her frighten blue orbs. Meanwhile, Bonnie was able to get her brother out from under the table by yanking his arm with all of her little strength. After Clemont dusts the remaining dust off his jumper, he and Bonnie walk over to the two.
The raven-haired boy just flashes her a smile that always made Serena's heart melt (she wouldn't dare tell him that to his face, though) and says, "Of course, Serena! Besides, if anything bad does happen, I'll protect ya!" Now Serena really felt her heart melt to the bone just from hearing those words. For a moment, the honey-blonde girl wanted to tell Ash her feelings right there and then. She just couldn't imagine the world without Ash.
However, she just gives him a small smile. "Thanks, Ash..." Serena whispers to him, ignoring the clenching she felt in her heart. She couldn't tell him, not now.
"No problem!" Ash said, before turning back to the painting with a slight frown on his face. "I wonder who would do something like that to all of those people..."
This creates a silence amongst the children, even Bonnie wouldn't dare speak up despite her pervious excitement. Hearing about those horrific deaths made them completely horrified at thought of someone actually doing to those human-beings. While just seeing the couple gave them the idea that they were not good people, they still didn't deserve those kinds of deaths along with any other unfortunate souls who lost their lives in this house.
"We... We should probably go find where we're going to sleep until the storm blows over..." Clemont speaks up, breaking through the moment of silence that has confounded them for a few moments. With the rest nodding meekly, they begin their ascend to the grand staircase so they can reach the second floor.
The stairs sound just as broken as the floor they were previously on. With each step they took the wood creaks underneath their weights, giving them idea that the staircase could collapse at any moment. Luckily, they finally reach the top of the staircase, making them sigh in relief once they've realized that they're safe, for now.
Seeing that are two different paths from left to right, Clemont speaks up. "I think me and Bonnie will look for our rooms on this side." He points to the left side with his thumb.
"Sure," Ash said before he and Serena head down the right path.
"I call the King-sized bed if we find one!" Bonnie announces suddenly before breaking off into a run down the left path. Stammering once he realized that his little sister just left him alone in this creepy place, Clemont quickly runs after her, trying with all of his might to keep up with her.
Ash and Serena couldn't help but feel uneasy as open a few doors in hopes to find a place where they could sleep. However, the darkened hallway made it difficult for them to focus on finding their bedrooms. For some reason, they feel like they're being watched by something. While they do know that the murders were a long time ago and that the murderer is probably dead now, it didn't shake the feeling that something else could be watching them.
Turning the knob of another door, Ash opens it to the room, earning a small creak from the old thing. The room itself didn't look too bad. Granted, there are a few cobwebs here and there and the faded-blue wall paper looks ready to be torn off, but there is a queen-sized bed in perfect condition with layers of blankets and top being a navy-blue color. There is also a large window right by the bed's side. Even though the glass is dark, Ash can still see the raging snowstorm outside. All in all, though, the room didn't that bad for something that's as old as this manor.
"Hey, Serena!" The raven-haired boy pokes his head out from the doorway to see his female friend looking into a room across and two doors down from the one he's at. "I found my room!"
"Me too!" She calls back. "You want to call it in for the night?"
"Sure, night Serena!"
"Night, Ash!"
With that being said, Serena walks right into her bedroom before softly closing the door behind her. Ash followed suit with his own bedroom. Once the door was shut, Ash places his backpack down on the ground next to it so that Pikachu (who was still inside the backpack when they have arrived at the manor) can walk out of there, before flopping down onto the soft mattress of the bed back-first, staring up at the dark glass of his window where he can see the raging storm.
"Guess we're going to be staying here for a while, huh Pikachu?" Ash remarks to the Electric Mouse, who had jumped onto the bed and is now laying by his raven-haired trainer's side.
"Pika..." Pikachu nods his head after taking a peek of the storm. Sighing, Ash turns to his side while closing his eyes, hoping to get a few winks of shut-eye in this freezing-cold household.
If only Ash had kept his gaze on the window for a few more seconds, he would have noticed two, golden orbs staring at him from the dark glass. Those orbs narrow at the sight of him, as if deciding whatever or not it should do to him. The answer will have to wait once the clock strikes tonight.