Author's Note: Hello everyone! As you can see, I have posted Chapter 6 of The Thing and I'm still alive! Though, I think I made someone cry. I'm not gonna tell you what happened in Chapter 6, by the way! That'll be a complete spoiler to all of you and it'll ruin the angst feeling to the whole story. However, something tells me all you Ash fans are probably gonna kill me once you read the chapter below.

StreetRacer-Sam: As I've said in PM, interesting theory. Too bad I can't say if you're right or wrong. Thanks for the advice! I'll be sure to use them in future chapters!

thor94: I can't say it. Sorry. :)

Crestilia: Um, technically the only reason why Ash went into the kitchen and pantry is because he was hungry. So it wouldn't make a difference if he used Talonflame to warm himself. He would still get hungry. Oh, if you think Ash is scary now, wait until you see the future chapters ;) Thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Nemo: Wait, I'm confused. If my story is terrible, why would you go through the trouble to make a comment? I mean, if you don't like it, the search button is right there on your top right. Not to mention the back button is on you top left. But hey, it's your life. Don't let an author who you don't even know tell you what to do.

The morning came by longer than the kids anticipated but were glad there was a little coming out of the stained windows above them in the living room. However, they can still hear and see from the windows that the blizzard is still as strong as ever and won't be slowing down anytime soon. Thus forcing them to spend more of their time in this creepy old place. While a couple of the young Kalosians are internally freaked out that they have to continue to dwell in the Manor where many murders took place, their anxious didn't even match a certain Kantonese boy.

Ash didn't even bother to move from his spot in the bed when he woke up. Last night's events exhausted him to the point he didn't want to get up when Serena told him breakfast was ready. Though she frowned at his fatigued response, she let him be. Although he hates worrying his friends, Ash is just glad that Serena understands he needs some time alone.

So here he is, lying down on his side with his legs slightly curled up to his chest. His eyes glazed over as his mind continues to replay the horrors he saw last night. The chopped-up corpse with spilled intestines everywhere, the bloody armless woman who tried to attacked him, and how his friends thought he's beginning to suffer from cabin fever.

Despite the reassurance of he gave his friends, Ash knew for a fact that he wasn't suffering from stir craziness. No matter how bored he gets, his brain would never let him imagine something like that to prevent boredom from taking over his mind. Something did happen and it disappeared before his friends could see it. Then again, there wasn't any blood on his foot when he stepped on a piece of that corpse... Maybe he is going crazy-

He shook his head. Snap out of it, Ketchum! You know what you saw last night, something weird is going on around here. And he's very intent to find out what it is.

Ash slowly pushes himself up into a sitting position, pausing for a second to breathe. Just thinking about last night made him short of breath. After that, he moves the blanket off him, slips into his shoes - there was no way he was going to go out there without any footwear after last night - and makes his way over to the door.

Pikachu had left him a few minutes ago to go to the living room downstairs after Serena came into his room for breakfast, it was quite reluctant to do so, though. However, Ash felt a little glad that his partner didn't have to see him exploring the Manor since it also thinks he's acting a little stir crazy.

Watching his friends from the staircase, Ash still couldn't help but feel a little hurt about their assumptions last night. That was one of the only moments where he became completely vulnerable, and they mistook it for him turning a little stir crazy. Granted, they didn't see the maimed corpse or the creepy lady in the kitchen, which he can understand why. But still... Why didn't they...?

He shook his head again. He's supposed to be looking for clues to what's going on, not to dwell on his sense of doubt in his friends. He began to walk down the hall on his left, one of the many parts of this Manor that he didn't get see. The darkness of the hall seemly welcoming him as he disappears into it.

Serena brushes Braxien's tail with a small forming her lips, watching her Pokémon looking so relaxed on the sofa. Next to her is Clemont tinkering with some of his unfinished inventions, his blue eyes set on the tools in his hand. Meanwhile, Bonnie, with the addition of Dedenne and Squishy, is hanging around the fireplace. With a fire iron in hand, she begins to examine the extinguished firewood. Pikachu had left the living room a few seconds to ago, possibly going to check on Ash.

Stopping momentarily from brushing her Pokémon, Serena looks at the staircase with a small frown on her. "I wonder how's Ash doing... He didn't come down for breakfast, and he's always hungry."

Clemont temporally stops his tinkering to look at the honey-blonde with soft eyes. "Well, he's probably mentally exhausted. And from the way Ash reacted to what his mind made him imagine, it's must have been really bad. I think what he really needs right now is to rest."

Seeing the helpless look on Serena's face, Clemont reaches his hand over and pats her shoulder with a gentle touch. "Hey, don't worry about him. Cabin Fever can happen to anyone, I'm sure Ash can make it through it. He just needs a little rest to get his mind back together. I'll bet he'll be back to his normal self by dinner time."

This actually brings the smile back to Serena. He's right, why is she so worried? This is Ash, for Pete's sake! He's able to handle a blast of a flamethrower to his face and still stand up to help with her Pokévision videos. She should stop fussing over him, Ash will be fine!

"Bet you'll like that, huh Serena?" Of course, there's always that little blonde menace to make things embarrassing. Serena could feel her face turning into a bright tomato while Bonnie laughs from the fireplace.

That clever little girl...

Thankfully, Clemont came to the rescue. "Bonnie! I thought I told you to leave Serena alone on this!"

Wait, what?!

"Come on, Clemont!" Bonnie protests, looking at her older brother over her shoulder as she continues to poke through the ashes and firewood. "Can I really help that Serena's too much of scaredy cat to confess to Ash?"

"It's not even our business, anyway! If Serena wants to confess to Ash, then it'll be on her own terms!"

"Which that would probably take fifty years..."

Serena had her head darting back and forth between the siblings before she finally explodes. "Wait, you mean you two knew this whole time?!"

Clemont gives her a sheepish smile. "To be honest, I didn't know until last week when Bonnie pointed it out."

"You make it obvious, anyway..." Bonnie deadpan, before returning back to her task.

Serena could feel her face heating up in embarrassment. All of her friends knew, but the boy she loves doesn't?! How can that be any more humiliating than it already is? Desperate to change the topic, Serena regards Bonnie's sudden interest in the hearth. 'Uh, Bonnie? What are you doing with that fireplace?"

"Looking for clues! Duh!" Bonnie said like it was obvious, not noticing Serena's change of the subject is making her forget about the matter of Serena's feelings.

Clemont looks at her in suspicion, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses. "Uh... Looking for clues for what, exactly?"

"To the murders of Lewis Manor! I though that would be pretty obvious..." Hearing this made the two older kids sigh in exhaustion. This again?

"Bonnie, for the last time," Clemont begins, taking off his glasses to rub his tired eyes. "No one figured out who the murderer was for about a hundred and fifty years. If the police couldn't find anything, what makes you think that you could-?"

"Found something!" The two kids perked up. Did she really-? They watch as Bonnie picks something up and hurries over to them with a triumph smile on her face, Dedenne, and Squishy following behind. Bonnie launches herself in between the two before showing them the thing she found.

Apparently, it's an ancient book. They thought that because of the worn-out, brown covered cover and the yellowing pages underneath it. One possible tweak could rip most of the pages. However, Bonnie fail to realize this as she opens the book and flips through the pages at the speed of light.

"Found this underneath a brick in that pile of ashes," Bonnie begins to explain her discovery, the two humans peering in closely to take in some of the pages. "I thought it was pretty weird that something like this would be hidden like that, so I picked it up! And now I'm glad I did, take a look at this!" She stops at a page and shoves it into her brother's face.

Clemont flinches when the book suddenly shows up into his face like that, but he takes the book, nonetheless. His blue eyes scanning through the page, but then a small gasp escapes his lips once he was finished.

"What is it, Clemont?" Serena asked, noticing the jaw-dropped expression on the genius's face.

Clemont looks up at her, his shocked expression still there. "This book contains all the victims of Lewis Manor!" She didn't have time to react when Clemont already shoves the book into her hand and now she found herself reading the page.

Victims of the Lewis Manor Massacre
 In memory of those who died during the Night of the Long Knives at the Lewis Manor that lasted for 1901 to 1951. They will be deeply missed.

The rest of that page showed pictures and names of the many victims inside the Lewis Manor. Some that she instantly recognized; Maya Jane Lewis, Thomas James Lewis, James Lewis, and Jane Lewis. The others she had no recognition of but knew instantly that they are also the victims. All of them are from a variety of time periods, none of them looked the same, minus those who had the same last names so she assumes that they were related in some way. However, she notices one thing that perplexes her.

Some of these pictures are circled in a red marker, and they're all female.

Melanie Smith

Seiko Nakashima

Amanda Stone

Fleur Blanc

Sachiko Kishinuma

"I-I... I never knew so many people died here!" Serena manages out, her finger trembling at the pictures of the many people that lost their lives by one simple murderer. While she has heard about the murders, she never realized how many people died in this place. Why would someone do this?!

"And look here!" Bonnie crawls over and puts her finger on one of the circled pictures. "Someone circled these victims, and it was just recently too!"

Hearing this made Clemont's glasses tilt awkwardly. He suddenly stampers, "W-Wait... I-If someone c-circled those pictures recently, t-then doesn't that mean s-someone else is inside this Manor with us?"

The girls gave each other looks. Before they could give him their best answers...

"PIKKKKKAAAAAA-PPPPPPIIIII!"

All those who are currently at the living room jump when they heard that scream. They instantly recognize it to be Pikachu's since they're obviously no one else who can scream like that. However, their worries only increase once they realize what Pikachu just screamed about. Pika-Pi. Pikachu's own abbreviation for Ash's name. If Pikachu is screaming about Ash, then that means...

"Braxien, return!" Serena takes out her Pokéball and recalls her starter Pokémon, then she, the Lumiose Siblings, and the two small Pokémon instantly hurried over to the staircase. Apparently, it didn't take long for them to see Pikachu about to run down the stairs to meet them but stops when he sees them.

It's safe to say that they've never seen Pikachu like this before; it has this wide, frantic look in its eyes like the whole world is about to end. Just when they reach its line of, already it begins to panicky wave its arms around in the form of a wild maniac in demented mode. Whatever Pikachu has seen has caused his fur turn a sickly pale yellow, something that's only supposed to happen when a Pikachu is sick. Not to mention the fact Pikachu is currently frantically yelling at them is only making their worry meter ready to burst.

"What is it, Pikachu? Did something happened to Ash?" Clemont decided to ask the Electric Mouse. But instead of giving him a straight answer, the Pokémon just suddenly begins to speed down the left hall, where Clemont and Bonnie's bedrooms are. Though confused by the Mouse's sudden departure, the children follow behind, nonetheless. They could only wonder what happened to Ash that made Pikachu scream like that and hope that their raven-haired friend is going to be alright.

Despite Pikachu's quick speed, it took them a while to reach the destination it wants them to go. The destination is at the end of the hall, where there is only one, black door that appears connected to the wall. Since all the doors inside the halls are horizontal, they were caught off-guard slightly by the door in front of them. However, their attention is immediately turned back to Pikachu, who is still waving his arms frantically and shouting in its Pikachu Language.

"Is Ash behind this door?" Bonnie asked, and Pikachu nods its head the fastest they've ever seen it do. What did Pikachu see that made him so scared?

Serena takes a bold step and grasps the door handle. "Ash, what's going?" She calls out loudly in hopes her crush could hear her from the other side while she pulls the door open. "Pikachu's been acting crazy. It's like it thinks you're-!"

When she opened the door, Serena never thought she would find Ash's limp body hanging a few inches off the ground by a rope around his neck inside the closet, from what she could tell by the rack of clothes behind him. But a rack of clothes is the least of her worries right now.

It's funny when you see the person you love with a noose wrap around his neck in a possible tight grip. The entire world stops all around you and you could only focus on the body hanging right in front of you. For Serena, her whole body stopped the moment she notices the noose rope.

If you were to ask Serena if this Ash's body, she would have denied it with a full heart. No way in the world that a person like Ash would actually committed something like this. The boy in front of her didn't even look at him. Never before she has seen Ash so pale to the point his skin has lost all of its entire hues, replacing his once warm mocha skin tone is a horrible slate gray that didn't even belong. Underneath his hair, which is covering his probably dead eyes, are tear stains trailing down from what she could believe was the struggle of his body trying to get the rope off? At this point, she didn't know anymore. But seeing the trails of saliva trailing down his blue lips only confirms that what she's seeing right now is true.

But she still couldn't help but deny it.

While Serena stood there in frozen horror, Clemont did the most vitalize action out of them all. Catching the sight of Ash's slack body dangling there, Clemont let out of the most deafening scream his puberty squeak voice could manage. He jumps away from the closet and fell down on his behind when he felt the wall. His legs were too weak to even bring himself back up as his eyes couldn't strain away from the body in the closet.

Only Bonnie's expression didn't seem too horrified. In fact, her entire face just shows a look of confusion. Her little mind didn't understand physics very well, so she didn't know what would happen if a person had a rope tied around their neck and have no support at the bottom of their feet. To her, Ash is just hanging there, still able to breathe, but looking like he's asleep. She looks at her brother with a weirded out expression. "Gee, Clemont, never knew Ash dangling from a rope and sleeping at the same time could freak you out..."

It's Bonnie's complete cluelessness to the situation helped Serena cut through her veto. The boy dangling in front of her isn't just some stranger who couldn't handle his life anymore and decided to end it all in hopes that no one could find him. No, this is not a stranger. This is Ash.

And he's hanging there with a noose around his neck, not showing any sign of life.

At the moment, her entire world collapsed on her.

"A-A... A-Ash..." The words escape her lips before she even realizes what it. They came out as such a soft, trembling whisper that she almost didn't acknowledge it.

Then her hands flew to her hair, gripping the honey locks in the tightest that she could form so that it hurt.

She screams.

No matter how many times Bonnie keeps asking her "What's wrong", it didn't stop the never-ending tear that's ripping through her heart as we speak. Her voice didn't even crack when her screams kept going on. They seem to be reflecting on what her heart his feeling, and they sure are good at reflecting on them.

"AAAAAASSSHHH! WHY?! WWWHHHHHYYYY?!" Is what she kept screaming over and over again. No matter what's going to happen next, nothing will let her mind stray away from the corpse of her loved one.

..Except maybe said "corpse's" hands suddenly flying up to the rope on his neck and the sounds of retching escaping from his mouth full of spit.

Seeing their friend showing life again immediately caught all of their attention. The two siblings made their way right next to Serena, who let go of her hair and is now seeing the struggling body of Ash gripping the rope with his fingers tightly.

"A-Ash...?" She whispers, unsure if what she's seeing is actually true. First, she sees his corpse dangling in front of her and she tries to deny it, then she accepts it and goes into a mental breakdown, and now she sees the body of Ash gagging in front of her while he desperately trying to get the rope off him.

"He's still alive!" Clemont hollers the words that brought hope back into her heart. Ash is still alive. They can still save him!

"Wait, you mean he's dying?!" Bonnie's surprised response made the older children jump. They forgot that Bonnie is too young to understand being stringed up, she shouldn't be looking at this!

"H...H-He...H-H-He..."

Hearing the sounds of their friend trying to communicate to with them forced them to forget about Bonnie's obviousness to physics and turn their attention back to their friend. His eyes were now visible for them to see underneath his raven bangs, and they can see his amber eyes shrunken down and have turned completely bloodshot from the strain to his neck. Rows of spit came pouring out of his mouth while his throat kept making guttural sounds, possibly trying to speak but can't due to the lack of air in his lungs.

Finally, they heard the full message, despite the mispronunciations.

"H-He...lp...m-me...H-Help...m...Hel...ee..."

At that moment, they went hysterical. Just seeing the friend begging like this in the situation he's currently in has made them reach the end of their limits.

"Ash, hang on!" Serena cries, being the first to rush into the closet and wrap her arms around the boy's body.

Only to accidently pull Ash down, forcing him to make a croaking yelp when the rope suddenly went tighter on his neck.

She admittedly dropped her arms when she realized what she's done. "Sorry!" Despite knowing he couldn't answer her, she still couldn't help but apologize. And she was right, the only response that he made are continuous gagging sounds. He even began to thrash around, kicking his feet with all the strength he could muster while his fingers try to loosen the rope.

Clemont then hurries into the closet, a scared Bonnie following not so far behind. "We need to get that rope off him!" He shouts over the thrashing sounds coming from his best friend, he couldn't even bare to look at his suffocating body.

Serena nods. "Right!" She and Clemont immediately hurry over to their friend's thrashing figure, their hands reaching for the rope. Luckily, Ash wasn't that high off the ground, just enough for him to suffocate from the rope, so the two are able to reach the rope from within their arms' lengths. However, just when they firmly grasp the old thing, Ash makes the most painful noise when the rope once again tightens around his neck.

They quickly lower their hands with horrified faces. "No matter what we do, the rope keeps digging into his neck!" Serena screams, her hands once again flying to her short hair to tug at them. "W-What are we going to do?!"

Bonnie takes a step forward. "He's choking because he's not standing on anything, right? So, why don't we just find something for him to stand on?!"

"Even if we do that, we don't know how long Ash has been dangling there!" Clemont, unintentionally, shouts at her. "If we go look for something now, it might be too late!"

"Then why don't we just lift him up?!"

Hearing this made Serena remove her hands from her head, realization dawning in her eyes. "Ah! We can lift him up! Clemont, you lift him up so I can untie the rope!"

"Serena, you know I can't even lift weights! What makes you think I can lift Ash?!" He snaps at her, but she couldn't blame him. Seeing their friend on the brink of death is stressing them out. They're not professionals so they didn't know how to handle situations like this. It didn't help that they couldn't figure out why Ash would even do something like this.

Thankfully, it was Bonnie who shook them all out of their hassle. "I'll help you pick him up, Clemont!"

In spite of their doubt that a girl Bonnie's size could lift someone Ash's height, it was their only option left to save him. So, the Lumiose siblings immediately went to work; Clemont wraps his arms around the boy's waist while Bonnie took the legs. Together, they hoist him up. Regardless of Bonnie's size, she affords an enormous help to Clemont, who would've collapsed underneath the Kantonese boy's weight without her help.

Thanks to the sudden leverage, it gave the rope enough slack for Ash to breath. Once that closing feeling in his throat finally left, Ash took huge large amounts of air. His lungs greedily taking all the oxygen he could take like he would lose them all again in a flash.

Seeing that their leverage is working and Ash is getting air back into his lungs, Serena immediately set herself to work. She reaches over to the rope and begins to untie it. Thankfully, Ash didn't yelp or gag like last time when she and Clemont touched the rope the last time, so that means it's loose enough for her to touch it without suffocating Ash further.

This went on for minutes. The only sounds that could be heard in these empty halls are Ash's heavy gasping to get the air he lost back into his lungs and the straining sounds coming from Clemont and Bonnie since their arms seem ready to give out. However, they still kept strong since they knew that their friend's life is depending on them.

But that didn't mean their arms are in the same mindset as them.

Just when they thought their arms were about to give out, they heard the words that brought instant relief to them; "I got it!"

And like that, Ash's body tilted forward. He was free from the rope.

Quickly helping the two siblings, Serena places her own arms around the boy's waist, she and the other two gentle setting the boy down the ground so he could lay on his side. They remove their arms from him as they watch Ash coughing and wheezing. His two, bloody hands - he probably cut his hands from the old fibers inside the rope - gripping his scarred neck while he does everything he could to keep his throat from closing again.

Seeing this, Serena softly pats his back to give him some comfort. "It's okay, Ash! Just breath!"

After a few seconds, his breaths finally slowed down. He then relaxes against the floor, his face completely at eased now.

They all sign in relief. He's going to be alright.

Suddenly, Serena's face shone in an unspeakable rage. "Ash, WHY THE HECK WOULD YOU DO THAT TO YOURSELF?!" She grips his shoulders and shook him around. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE TO US WITH YOU GONE?! DID YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THAT, HUH?!"

Instead of seeing him snapping his head up in rebound like they would suspect him too after going through all of that and how he's so reactive to loud noises, he just lays his head back due to the lack of support to his head. They could only hear the soft sounds of him breathing, indicating that he passed out after that whole thing.

Completely out of breath, Clemont gently pats her shoulder. "I think we should let him rest," he tells her. "He's been through enough, anyway.."

Regardless of her need to want answers, Serena nods her head. She would imagine all the strain Ash must have been going through from that whole thing. But that still didn't soothe that never-ending question that's flowing through her mind.

"...Why would he even do this?"

Hearing that made Clemont freeze. Bonnie didn't have much of a reaction since she didn't understand the idea of suicide, she just stares at Ash with a concerned look. The very thought of Ash doing something like this is complete blasphemy. Ash, the one who's always smiling and never giving up, somehow deciding to end his own life just like that... His mind couldn't process it. It doesn't take science to know that Ash's mental health, no matter how terrified it must have been from his cabin fever episode, would never let him go this far.

But after seeing all of that...

He ran his hand over his face. They're all tired; they've just gone through a terrible blizzard to find shelter, Ash seemly had a stir crazy period last night, and they see him what looked like to be him hanging himself. Everything is out of control and they have no idea what to do but at least the biggest thing they should worry about for now is their raven-haired friend.

Clemont couldn't help but look at the noose hanging from the clothes racks like it's almost taunting him on how he almost lost his best friend. The very thought made him shudder. He looks back down at Ash with-

Wait a minute...

While he may not have studied a lot of the other Regions' cultures, there is one thing Clemont knows about the Kanto region. If someone were to end their own life, they would take their shoes off before self-slaughtering themselves. Despite being disturbed that he had to learn about something like that, he has never thought that the very information would be extremely helpful to this day.

Looking at him now, Clemont knew at that very moment, Ash wasn't going to commit suicide...

...Because his shoes are still on...

*Straps on construction helmet*

I can already hear you Ash fans charging at me. I'm not gonna go back into my bomb shelter because Chapter 6 isn't out yet.