Author's Note: Eugggggghhh! You guys won't believe how tired my hands are right now. I've just spent almost all of my time yesterday and the day before just to finished Chapter 5 of The Thing. Now I know how Yandere Dev feels when you spend all of your time on thing for the sake of everyone else's interests. It's tiring on the body! Not the brain, my body's aching from backaches and hand cramps. Ouch...
All that aside, I'm happy to introduce Chapter 2 of The Thing! Warning ahead, though, there is a scene that's completely gory and would have probably make this chapter M-Rated. So, if you're under 13 and/or haven't seen gory before (at this point, I think the teenagers of this world can handle adult stuff and a friend of mine watches series that involves gory in their time, so *shrugs*), I would suggest skipping when you see *GORE ALERT!*.
StreetRacer-Sam: Ask and you shall receive, my friend. Sorry about the errors, I can't exactly make any promises about those things.
Frost Glaive: It's nice to know that my story is interesting you. :) Thank for that advice. I'll be sure to use that in future chapters. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
: Thank you! Hope you enjoy the chapter!
charlie515: Thank you! :) The only thing that I can that isn't a spoiler is that Serena knows about the history because everyone in Kalos knows about the history. It's kind of a big thing, people getting murder by mysterious causes. You think everyone would know about it by now.
Steel Heart Alchemist: *Sighs and shakes head* What am I gonna do with you, Steel?
Enjoy the chapter everyone!
Despite the never-ending exhaustion that's been spreading through his body the entire day, Ash found himself unable to fall asleep. He let out a moan before turning to his side, hoping that would help. When it didn't, Ash sat up with a groan while rubbing his face. He couldn't understand why he couldn't go to sleep despite being extremely tired. A sudden chill crawls up his arm, sending shivers throughout his body.
Now he remembers the reason why; this place is freezing!
Ash rubs his arms pretty rapidly in hopes it could warm him up and get rid of the goosebumps that are currently invading his arms. When that didn't work, he decided to go to the fireplace back downstairs. He couldn't take this sudden coldness anymore, it's as if this Manor is trying to erase all the warmth he has left. After putting the blanket over Pikachu in hopes it can keep his buddy warm and puts on a blue robe just to gain back any warmth he's lost since this blizzard, Ash makes his way out of the room towards the grand staircase.
As he walks through the darkened hallway, Ash's mind is suddenly turned towards the story of what his friends told him about this Manor. The very thought of someone chopping an actual human being to pieces and hiding some of their body parts for no-one to find is absolutely sickening. Who in their right mind would do something like that? Somebody who lost his marbles, that's who. Ash thought with disdain.
Those thoughts have fogged up his mind, making him unaware of his surroundings. He didn't even notice that as he walks over to the couch that's near the fireplace, someone else is already occupying the couch.
Serena looks up from watching the fireplace when she heard the sounds of footfall coming towards her. Her face relaxes into a small smile when she sees it's the familiar raven-haired boy she's come to admire for years. "Hey, Ash."
Her voice was able to snap him out of his thoughts while Ash looks up to see Serena sitting on the couch, a blanket over her legs. She's wearing that new, pink nightgown that goes a little past her knees and a red robe around her. Thanks to the radiance of the fireplace, it gave Serena that glow he doesn't always see often but felt attracted to it nonetheless.
Too bad his thick head couldn't process what he's feeling when he sees Serena like that.
"Hey, Serena," He said while walking over to her. "Couldn't sleep?"
She shrugs. "The room was too cold, could barely sleep without being worried about frostbite."
"Same here." Ash points to the spot next to her. "Mind if I join ya?"
Due to his dense head, Ash failed to notice how Serena's face has gone red. "S-Sure! G-Go ahead!" Ash smiles as he took his place right beside her, pulling the blanket over his legs. Luckily, it was big enough for both of them. While he may have failed to realize how close they are, Serena did. Boy does she look like a tomato.
An uncomfortable silence washes over them, both wondering what can they say to each other in their current position. Serena seems to be the one who wants to talk the most but found her lips completely seal shut due to her embarrassment. Why did Ash have to sit so close to her?! And why does he have to be so warm?!
Meanwhile, Ash did seem like he wanted to talk, but didn't know what he could say. At least he isn't a nervous wreck like Serena. When it look like Serena isn't going to be saying anything soon, Ash took this chance to look at the living room again. Like before, it still retains its decaying position when he and the others first arrived, which he would kind of suspect since this place seem as old as his mother's grandfather clock. His glaze is then turned towards the painting back on the staircase, while the railings did cover most of it, Ash could see the cold eyes staring at him.
Thoughts about what happened inside this Manor instantly enter his head again. "Ya know, I wonder who in their right mind would kill all those people like that..."
Serena looks at him in a bit of a confusion before she follows his gaze to the painting. She mentally shudders when those cold eyes meet her own. "No one really did figure it out, Ash," she admits with a small frown. "The policed decided to say that the murder was some mentally-ill person and they died by natural causes." She looks back down at her lap with a lost look in her eyes. "The only thing that's really been bothering me is what happened to the Maya, the older sister."
Ash recalls the first victims; the Lewis Siblings. "Oh, yeah... Wasn't she the first one that died?"
Serena nods. "Yeah... No one really did figure out how she died. My mom told me she died of a disease, but I read those articles. She wasn't sick at all! It always bothers me how everyone knew how her brother, their parents, and all those other people died, but no one knew about her own death. I-It's like whatever happened to her, someone wants to make sure she's erased from existent." She quickly realizes she's rambling and looks at Ash sheepishly. "S-Sorry, sometimes I get carried away about that."
Ash just flashes her his trademark smile. "It's okay, Serena!" He could understand where she's coming from, he's beginning to feel bad about the older sister too. He couldn't imagine how the little brother must have reacted when he saw his older sister suddenly dead.
The silence washes over them once again, the two studying the flames inside the fireplace with false fascination. Suddenly, Serena's eyes began to feel heavy and were about to let sleep overtake when she heard Ash's voice. "You know something, Serena, I don't think that older sister is gone."
She looks at him in confusion. "Whadda ya mean?"
"I mean, she has her little brother, right?" Ash shrugs. "I don't think she's completely gone as long as her brother loves her. I bet they're both happy that they're still together in the afterlife."
Serena could feel herself smiling. Leave it to Ash to bring the optimism back into the area.
The silence returns.
Until it was broken by a familiar rumbling sound.
Serena looks over to see Ash rubbing his messy hair sheepishly. "Guess I'm kinda hungry," he stands up and looks back at Serena. "You want anything?"
She shakes her head. "No thanks. But, Ash, I don't think you're supposed to eat before midnight. I heard it can ruin your appetite."
Ash just flashes her a grin. "Don't worry about me, Serena. My appetite will be fine." When he begins to make his way to the kitchen, he adds on, "Besides, I'm always hungry. So this really shouldn't affect me that much!"
Serena couldn't help but chuckle as Ash disappears down the dark hallway, he always knew what to say to make her laugh. Turning her gaze back to the fireplace, Serena watches the flames sway with her blue eyes, the fiery heat almost hypnotizing her. The warmth that's being produced instantly relaxes her frozen body. She could feel her eyes becoming heavy and her mind clearing up.
Her thoughts then turn back to Ash.
No matter what, she couldn't stop thinking about that raven-haired boy. His cheerful, toothy grin, his soft, but messy hair, to the little z-marks that make his adorable round cheeks stand out. Not to mention those eyes. A perfect shade of amber that is able to represent his natural positivism. Then there's his whole personality, kind, brave, selfless, and weird. She'll admit, some of the things he does are weird, but everyone's weird. Even she's weird sometimes. But all in all, though, Ash is just perfect. Perfect for her.
If only he could see her the way she sees him.
When he finally arrived at the kitchen, Ash was hoping it would look better than some of the areas he's seen in this Manor. And boy was he wrong.
Everything inside this room is colored in either black or dark-brown. Not exactly colors that he's comfortable with in a place like this. There's this black stove that's shaped weirdly with a pipe connected to the cement wall, and there's this small oven door that could probably fit a small apple pie. However, he didn't think Clemont and Serena could probably use it since the majority of it is covered in cobwebs, and something tells him that a certain genius wouldn't dare put his hands on that old thing even for all the money in the world.
Turning away from the stove, Ash took a look at the rest of the interior. Along the decaying walls are dull-brown, maple cabinets, which are broken in a few places. Below it is the counters where the chiefs probably use to prepare the food. In the middle of the room is a worn-out, wooden table with a few chairs placed like someone's expecting dinner, which he highly doubts since everyone who came in here before is already dead. Near the far-right corner of the room, a long, steel, black door is conveniently placed there. It didn't take long for him to figure out that's the entry to the pantry.
Finally, something that has edible food for him to eat.
He begins to walk to the door, his bare feet touching cold cement floor, possibly getting a few dust stain right on them. He probably should have brought some slippers with him when he left the room. Reaching the pantry, Ash wraps his fingers around the icy handle and gave it a small pull.
It didn't budge.
Ash frowns and tries to tug it a little harder.
The old door still didn't want to move. Then again, he probably should have figured. This place is hundreds of years old and the chances are is that some of the areas in this Manor haven't been touched in a long time, which would make sense why this door wouldn't open. This thing is rusted shut.
That didn't mean his stomach knew that.
Ash sighs as he turns away from the pantry and moves towards the door that brought him into this room. Maybe he has something in his backpack that can soothe his stomach, or maybe he can ask Serena to cook something up if she wants. Yeah... Since Ash was so caught up in his food fantasies, he failed to notice the door not moving when he pushed it and ended up walking right into it.
"Huh-?!" He looks at the door in surprise. Didn't he just walk through this thing with no problems? He tries to push the door again, but it didn't move. This time, he grabs the handles and pulls at it with all of his might.
Nothing. Not a single sign of budging. It's almost like this thing is locked from the-
The forming trepidation is instantly dispersed and is replaced with a smirk. "Oh, ha ha, very funny, Bonnie! Haunted place, trying to make me think a ghost locked me in here. You almost got me there! You can open the door now."
No response from the other side.
"Bonnie? The joke's over... You can let me out now!"
Still no response.
"C-Come on, Bonnie, you're not scaring me!" The stammer, in the beginning, says otherwise.
Nothing.
Just when he opens his mouth to shout at the little Blonde again, the words died in his throat when a chime enters his ears.
Ding.
Ding.
It's midnight.
THUMP!
Ash felt his whole body stiffen at that sound coming from behind him. It sounded like a body falling from a tremendous height before landing on the ground with a sickening thud. Despite every instinct telling him to not turn around, his curiosity got the better of him and he turns in spite of his body's protest. At first, everything looked the same and Ash was about to think he was just imagining things if he didn't notice the pantry door open slightly.
He froze. Wasn't that locked-?
His legs began to move without him noticing, and when he did, his curiosity won over his instincts. By now, he's already a few inches away from the door and his hand is reaching out to the handle. "Hello?" His fingers gently brush against the dusty handle once again as he forms a good grip on it. "Is someone there?" He pulls the door wide open with a gentle tug, revealing the pantry.
His breath instantly hitches when his eyes lock onto something within the pantry, his eyes have shrunken, his whole body shaking, and his fingers trembling. No, please, NO!
Inside the pantry is a sight someone his age should never see, but he knew he would never forget it.
*GORE ALERT!*
Right there on the ground is a corpse, but not a full corpse. The corpse must have been split in half when the man, Ash assumed it was a man due to the black trousers and the old-timey shoes, died. The section that he's right now is the lower waist and nothing else, but that didn't make it any less horrifying. Sprouting from the corpse are lumps of meat, organs, and nerves, spreading everywhere from the body to the floor in a heaping pile of bloody mess. Streams of blood came surging out the intestines and spraying at the jars on the shelves inside the pantry, coating them in fresh blood. The worst and sickening part of all of this are the nerves, or maybe veins, now that he thought about it, are still pulsing. Pulsing at the speed of a beating heart, almost meaning that the man is alive, but barely.
*END OF GORE ALERT!, I think...*
Ash felt a scream coming along but it died in his throat the moment he felt it, the only sounds he could make are a mix between gagging and whimpering sound. The sight was too much for his positive, ten-year-old mind could handle, he didn't know what to do. Not even his body knew what to do since it remains frozen right at the spot where he opened the door. Oh, how he wish he could close it and force himself to believe that it was just a bad hallucination from the murder stories his friends told him about. But reality had to be cruel to him.
Finally, his body is able to move again, but not the way he would imagine. An immediate lurch forms inside his stomach, catching him off-guard, but he could feel the sour taste of bile coming from his throat and into his mouth. Just when he thought he wasn't hungry, the rising food is saying otherwise. His hands immediately threw themselves over his mouth to prevent the liquidized food from escaping.
When his body started to work again, his mind follows along. And the only thought that's swimming through his mind right now as we speak; get the heck out of there!
Ash took a few steps back, his hands still over his mouth to prevent his breakfast from leaving. M-Maybe he could-
He stops when he felt his left foot made a sickening squish. In an instant, his mind shuts down as his whole body stood still in a frozen state of horror. The thing he stepped on quickly covers his bottom foot in a thick, wet, sticky substance. The more he feels his foot keeps putting pressure on it, the more he felt the substance staining his foot as it keeps being squirted out like a sponge.
If it were only a sponge that he stepped on.
Ash couldn't move, his whole body has shut down due to the traumatizing sight he's seeing from the pantry. It didn't help that he actually stepped on a piece of that corpse, so now he really couldn't get his mind back to work. The nauseating feeling he felt before has been instantly dispersing so he felt his hands remove themselves from his mouth and are now trembling by his sides.
Why, oh why didn't he bring any slippers?!
The room then turns cold. Not the same cold he felt when he and the others first arrived at this place. No, this cold felt different. The type that feels that it wants to intentionally take away all the warmth. Funny, though, the cold seems to be coming from behind him.
"Do you know what It did?"
Ash's breath hitches to its highest point. That's a girl's voice, but it's not Serena and Bonnie. No, it had more of a shrill and echo-effect to it. Something that's far from Serena's soft-spoken and Bonnie's sassy voices.
"Do you know what It did?" The voice asked again, this time more forcefully. It's like she wants an answer, so, despite his quivering mind, Ash nod as fast as he could. He couldn't see the person, but something tells him he didn't want to find out.
"We were walking... We needed shelter..." The voice starts, probably telling a story. A story that Ash didn't want to be a part of, but his body couldn't find the will to move. It was too traumatized to move. So he stood there, listening to the voice's story. "We thought we could stay here for a while... T-Then, It, came..." Ash felt his body flinch when the voice almost turned demonic. "I-It came, and It took him... I-It took him, t-then maimed me... I-It... H-he... T-They maimed m-me. T-Took away the things that belong t-to me. T-Then, when they were done, I-It killed him..."
Finally, Ash felt his body relaxed, making him gasp in relief. He didn't even realize he was holding his breath so he took all the gulps of air he could take. Despite his mind telling him to run and get him and his friends out of here, his curiosity won over his instincts. He slowly turns by his feet, trying to ignore the substance that's still squishing underneath his feet while keeping his eyes up. He could barely handle seeing most of that corpse anyway.
When he manage to make a perfect 180-degree turn, Ash almost screams but it died in his throat. No way...
Right behind him is a woman, probably a little older than him due to her height, but he could hardly make it out since she's standing in a hunched stance. She has long, reddish-brown hair that's covering the entire area of her face so he couldn't make out her features, but he could definitely tell her skin had a grayish hue due to the old time-y, worn-out, orange dress she's wearing, which is exposing her neck. Layers of her dress and hair coated in what he hopes it won't be blood, but the dark red shade says otherwise.
What is really scaring him are the bloody stumps that are in the place where her arms are supposed to be. Apparently, this woman had her entire arms cut off, leaving behind gashes of blood dripping from the stumps that once used to be her arms. The very sight of seeing her blood dripping so flowy like a stream made Ash's stomach churn.
Who would do something like this to her?
"I-It killed him..." She continues, and if Ash weren't seeing her ghastly appearance right now, he wouldn't think that she was human due to her voice. "T-Then It took what's mine... T-They belong to me... B-But It used them, f-for I-Itself..." Finally, the woman lifted her head up in a more relaxed stance, right where he can see her bloodshot eyes from underneath her hair, blooding dripping down like tears from each socket.
Ash felt his heart drop when those blood-stained eyes start to glare at him, forcing their way into his very soul. Why is she looking at him like that?
"N-Now, t-there's one thing left..." Suddenly the woman's hair begins to sway from an invisible wind force, giving her that creepy apparition feeling. It didn't help that each time she spoke, her words became louder and making them bounce off the walls, hurting his ears. "T-The one thing that I-It wants... I-It's here, in this place... W-With that, I-It will win..." Her hair begins to sway faster. "I-I... I WON'T LET IT WIN!"
She then came charging towards him at the speed of a torpedo.
If it weren't for his instincts kicking back in, Ash probably would have been facing some woman's wrath. He immediately dives to the side, landing on the dusty ground with a small thud. He quickly looks behind him to see the apparition of the woman fly straight into the pantry. Right where that corpse is...
Shaking his head to get rid of that horrible image, Ash sprung up to his feet and made a beeline straight towards the door. With ever strength he could muster, he slams the pantry door shut and made sure it's bolted that way. He then grabs a nearby chair and stuck right under the handle. Just as he did that, the door gave a violent jerk, making him back away a few steps. Thankfully, he didn't step on that, but he probably didn't seem to notice since he's so focused on the pounding door in front of him.
Finally, his mind took over again, making him turn tail and run as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't care if his left foot kept on slipping from the red substance on it, or the fact he barges through the kitchen door and is now running through the dark halls, not even noticed that the door was previously locked before. No, the only thing that he could think about is getting as far away from the kitchen as possible.
"SERENA! PIKACHU CLEMONT!" Ash screamed at the top of his lungs, not caring if they were burning from the marathon-like run he's doing. But he still didn't care. He has to get away from that place.
Ash?!
"Pika-Pi!"
Hearing the familiar voices of his friends fills him with instant relief. His friends are here, they can get out of here together!
He could see Serena, Bonnie, and Pikachu running out from the darkness straight towards him. Each of their faces is etched with concern as they make their way over to him. He couldn't see where Clemont is, though, but his terrified mind didn't care at the moment.
"Ash, what happened?" Serena asks when they reached him. "We heard you screaming from the halls, we thought something bad had happened!" Ash didn't give her straight answer, he just quickly hid behind her, gripping her shoulders tightly as he stares at the dark hallway that leads to the Kitchen of Horrors with frightening eyes.
The two girls and Pokemon all stare at their raven-haired in confusion. What happened during the time he was alone that made him so terrified? Before they could ask Ash any more questions, a familiar lemon-haired genius has made his appearance.
"WHERE IS HE?!" Everyone currently present yelp when Clemont came rushing at them in a middle of a scream, a lug nut wrench in hand with a position that he's ready to hit someone with it. "WHERE'S THE MURDER?!"
Realizing that it's one of Clemont's weird moments, they immediately relaxed. Well, Ash didn't relax, he still kept his tight grip on Serena while continuing to stare down the hall with wide eyes.
"Did you really carried that around just so something happens and you can use it?" Bonnie asked with a bored face, pointing her small finger at the wrench.
Clemont lowers the wrench to give it a quick glance before looking at his little sister. "You can't expect me to not defend myself when we're in a place like the Lewis Manor, Bonnie!"
"Big brother, for the last time, those last murders happened-"
"Guys!" The two siblings stop their squabbling to see Serena trying to comfort a shaken Ash. "Can't this wait until later? Something's wrong with Ash!"
Clemont and Bonnie immediately turn their attention to Ash, who is making whimpering sounds as he stares at the hall that leads to the kitchen. They were caught-off-guard at how terrified Ash looked, he's not usually scared, and especially not like this!
"Ash, what happened?" Clemont asked his friend, who didn't turn his gaze away. "You look like you saw a ghost!"
"S-Someone was t-there," Ash begins, his stuttering messing him up a few of his words. "I-I w-went t-to the k-kitchen, t-then the door l-locked a-and the p-pantry-" For some reason, Ash stopped in mid-sentence, as if continuing only hurts. He had let go of Serena to grip his hair tightly while he made noises in the back of this throat in the form of small whimpers. Okay, now they know something is wrong. Otherwise, Ash wouldn't be acting the way he is.
Serena places her hands on his shoulder and gives him a little shake. "Ash, look at me!" He did, and Serena became caught off-guard at how terrified he look. But she shook her head and continue with her question. "What happened in the pantry?"
His eyes became side-glanced like his mind is replaying the horrific imagine he saw inside the pantry room. Which it probably was since Ash shivered afterward. He then spoke softly, "I-I s-saw a b-body in there..."
It only took a few seconds for the gravity of his words to sink in.
Clemont gulps as the wrench shake in his grip. "A-A body...?"
"You mean like," Bonnie slid a finger across her throat.
Ash nods, barely even looking at anything. "T-The door was locked, s-so I c-couldn't get o-out. T-Then I-I heard s-something from the p-pantry, a-and w-when I o-opened it... T-The body was t-there... All c-cut u-up l-like s-somebody used a k-knife on h-him..." Realizing the graphic image Ash must have seen, Clemont quickly covers Bonnie's ears so she didn't have to listen to that part. "T-Then a-a woman came... S-She w-was all b-bloody a-and n-no a-arms... S-She s-started t-to t-talk about s-some w-weird s-stuff, t-then she c-came at m-me a-and..."
Thoughts and images of the corpse and the woman came swimming through his mind like a movie screen, replaying the horrific experience in his mind over and over again the more he talked about it. Finally, it became too much for him that he let out a sob and put his hands over his eyes. "NO MORE! I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT! DON'T MAKE ME!"
His outburst startled them all. It's obviously that whatever happened in the kitchen traumatized him, to the point he can't talk even about it. A part of them wanted to march in that kitchen and give that so-called woman a piece of their own mind for mortifying their best friend like that. Still, there's the matter of the corpse...
"Bonnie, stay here with Ash, me and Serena are gonna go look in the kitchen and see who's in there..." Clemont eventually says, adjusting the wrench in his grip.
The young girl looks up at her brother in confusion. "What? But why do I have to be the to stay behind?" The disappointment was clearly evident, but Clemont still stuck with his decision.
"Bonnie, you know we can't leave Ash alone. Not when he's like this." He gestured to the whimpering Ash, who hasn't removed his hands yet. "You can keep him company while Serena and I go check out the kitchen." He didn't want to reveal the real reason why Bonnie had to stay behind since she would keep protesting to join them. This is the only way he can make sure his sister doesn't get traumatized like Ash.
Bonnie looks down, clearly upset that she's going to be left behind. She nods her head, nonetheless. Even with her adventurous mindset, she wasn't selfish that she would leave a friend behind if their current state of mind isn't right. "Alright, I'll stay..."
Clemont gives his sister smile for understanding. He then looks back at Serena with a nervous look in his blue-eyes. "W-Well, off we go to find a possible lunatic in the kitchen..." Serena nods her head with a small whimper before they made their way down the hall, leaving the little girl and Electric Mouse alone with quivering ten-year-old, who is rubbing his arms quite rapidly. Like he's just gone out in the blizzard that's outside and came back a few minutes later.
Bonnie frowns at the sight of him like this, she's not used to her energetic partner-in-crime being so broken. Obviously, something happened and she's not allowed to see it, but she still couldn't help but feel envious for Ash getting the chance to see something that she can't. "Gee, you don't have to overreact, Ash, I'm sure seeing a dead body isn't that bad."
If you saw someone chopped in half you would understand how bad it was if your head isn't always in the dang clouds! A voice in the back of his mind wanted to shout at Bonnie for her blunt prattle, but he bit his lip to hold it back. He couldn't say something like to Bonnie! She doesn't know any better! And where the heck did that thought even come from?!
For the last few minutes, Ash kept on whimpering as the thoughts of that corpse and the armless woman continue to plague his mind. Bonnie and Pikachu did their best to comfort him by rubbing his arm or leg, but it hardly did anything. They could only watch as the raven-haired boy continue to sob from the horror he just saw.
Finally, Clemont and Serena came back from the darkness within the hall. However, they didn't have the same horrified looks that they all saw in Ash when he came from the kitchen. No, instead, they had this distant gaze in their eyes. Their minds trying to comprehend on Ash's words and what they just saw.
Bonnie looks up when she heard their footsteps came closer to them. She leaves Ash's side for a moment to run up to her brother and her best friend eagerly. "So how did it go with the crazy lady? Did you get to see the dead body?"
Clemont looks at his sister with a solemn expression. "We would have said 'yes' if there was even a dead body or crazy lady, to begin with."
Hearing those words manage to snap Ash out of his distressed state of mind to look at his two friends in astonishment. "W-Wha..."
The lemon-haired genius looks over his little sister's head to give the raven-haired boy a sympathetic expression. "We're sorry Ash, we know you wouldn't act like without a reason. But, Serena and I didn't see a body or a woman inside the pantry. The entire area is free from any blood, so we really couldn't find any evidence of a corpse or the bloody, armless woman you claim to have seen."
Hearing all that made Ash stumble with his words. How could have they not seen all of that? That corpse was spraying blood everywhere, how could they have not noticed the blood covered jars when the blood hits them? Or better yet, what about that crazy armless lady? She's probably angry at him for locking her up in the pantry where her, supposedly, companion's corpse is. So, clearly, there are suppose to be bumps on the door from all the force she used to possibly break it down. But the fact that his friends are saying that they didn't see any evidence...
"B-But..."
Serena takes a step forward and gently places her hand on his shoulder. "Maybe, you're imagination is reacting to what we told you about the history of this place. Not to mention we are isolated from everybody, you're probably suffering from the first stages of cabin fever."
A part of Ash's mind, the one that wanted to yell at Bonnie a few moments ago, wanted to yell at Serena for thinking that he's going crazy. Why on earth would he imagine something as horrific as that?! But, the more he thought about it, it would make sense. He did felt bored while he was inside this Manor and now he could feel his heart-racing. Maybe this is his brain using its very cruel idea of keeping him entertained. Besides, there is no way his friends would lie to him like this.
He slowly nods his head, despite his mind's protest. "Y-Yeah... M-Maybe..."
Clemont then steps forward puts his hand on Ash's other shoulder. "We should probably get you to bed. You've had enough excitement for tonight, anyway." Not even bothering to protest against them, Ash let his friends lead him away from the kitchen. Behind him, he could hear Bonnie mumbling, "I didn't even get to see a dead body..."
As they continue to walk down the dark corridor, a thought suddenly strikes in Ash's mind. Didn't he step on a piece of that corpse? He could remember the sticky substance staining his foot, giving him the coldest shivers he ever felt in his entire life. Despite his gruesome thoughts, the stain is still there, right? Maybe if he could show it to his friends then they will believe him and they can get the heck out of here.
He looks down at his left foot, expecting it to be covered in that red liquid...
Only to find not a single trace of blood on it.
It narrows its golden orbs at the scene in the kitchen. One of the very cons of doing the things It does is the spirits of the ones who refused to fade away. Even after all these years, their hatred keeps growing and growing as the seasons keep changing, making it difficult for bringing more outsiders in here. Then again, the more outsiders It brings, the more angry spirits are created. While that is very difficult to manage, It's willing to pay that price. Especially when It is so close.
After watching the Armless One attack the young boy, It quickly stepped in the moment the boy ran out and made the woman and her beloved's corpse vanish. Out of all the angry spirits inside this house, she's the one that is most unstable if she had no problem scaring a ten-year-old like that. Now It had to deal with the consequences of the Armless One. The boy is now obviously frightened by this place, and it won't be long before he convinces the others to get out of this place. Not yet, not until It decides what to do with them.
Listening to the Armless One's words, It became confused. The last thing It needed? Here? Inside the Manor? What did she mean by that? Was she talking about the boy? No, he didn't have the thing It needed. But It is willing to admit that he did look like- No! Don't bring it up! It would only bring up the memory of her.
It watches the young boy reunite with his three human friends and his Pokémon and how he tries to explain to them what he saw in the kitchen. Looking at three children, It can obviously tell that the blonde boy is not what It's looking. It turns Its attention to girls and... Wait... That girl...
She's the one that It needs. She's the last piece.
...Maybe It should let the Violent Spirits play with that boy the more he stays in this house. After all, It might need him.