Author's Note: So, back with another chapter. You know, I just realized I made the "after the storm" chapters for Chapter 3 and Chapter 6. Makes me wonder how people are gonna react to all the future and suspense stuff I'm planning. Also, sorry for uploading a little late. This is what happens when School takes up most of your time. CURSE YOU, SCHOOL!

StreetRacer-Sam: Wahoo!

Juster of Rivia: You have no idea how much it makes me excited to hear that. Thank you, and I listened to that theme with one of the chapter. You were right, it did bring an extra chill to my spine, and I already know what happens! Hope you enjoy this one!

Holy Cow: Thank you! I hope you enjoy what's in store for the future! P.S. That joke wasn't funny...

Steel Heart Alchemist: *Cringes* Sorry, Steel...

Enjoy the chapter everyone!

Darkness is not a fun place. Darkness is the place where you don't know where you're going. Where you can't find your way out of this never-ending abyss. He could remember all the times he's been in total darkness like this, and he didn't enjoy them. Not on bit. He wants to get out. He wants to be free from this darkness.

If only he could open his eyes right now.

"I think he's waking up!" A voice said.

"Is he?!" Said another voice, sounding frightened, concerned, and angry at the same time. Why is it angry?

"Serena, remember, we leave him alone on that!" The third voice spoke up in a slight lecture tone.

Serena...?

Serena!

At that, Ash opens his eyes.

Everything started out completely white at first, probably because he's just woken up. Gradually, colors began to appear, but everything is still blurry. Something told him to close his eyes again to clear his head, but in fear of being trapped inside that darkness again, he kept them open. Thankfully, the colors started to clear up and now he could make out his surroundings.

It took him a few seconds to realize he's back inside his room at the Lewis Manor, he could tell the rotting ceiling and faded blue wallpaper in the background. Right now, the faces of Pikachu, Serena, Bonnie, Clemont, Dedenne, and Squishy are currently hovering over him. Seeing that his dull, amber eyes are focusing on them, their faces instantly shone with relief.

Clemont was the first to speak. "You okay?"

Ash then realizes how exhausted his body is; his arms and legs are aching in ways he never thought they could, he didn't even have the willpower to move into a sitting position. All his body wanted to do right now is to lay against this soft mattress and disappear for a while. Suddenly, his mind registers the throbbing pain coming from his neck, almost to the point he's having a little trouble breathing.

Remembering that one of his friends just asked him a question, Ash gives him a slow nod. "Y-Yeah..." His voice came out in a croak, making him lift his aching hand to touch his throat on instinct. A wave of confusion wash over him when he didn't felt the flesh part of his skin and instead feels a soft, but ragged cloth on his neck, his fingers stinging slightly when put a bit of pressure on them. Bring both of his hands in front of his face, he was surprised to see all of his fingers wrapped in bandages.

All of his friends suddenly became sheepish when they see him looking at the bandages. "Right, you kind of cut your skin when you were pulling on that noose, so we bandaged them up for you," Clemont explains while rubbing his head awkwardly.

Noose? What is he-?

Everything starts to come back to him. Walking through the halls. Coming up to the closet. The noose being placed around his neck. His lungs suffocating while his body thrash around to get the rope off him. The memory of what happened instantly made his body stiffen. "O-Oh..."

Unable to contain herself any longer, Serena let her emotions get the better of her. "WHY THE HECK DID YOU DO THAT?!"

Her outburst made everyone snap their attention towards her, Ash even found the willpower to move his head off the pillow to stare at her with wide eyes.

"HANGING YOURSELF?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" Serena continue with her lecture, not noticing how afraid Ash seem to be of her as he uses his elbows to move away from her slightly. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WE FELT WHEN WE FOUND YOU IN THE CLOSET LIKE THAT?! WHAT HAPPENED IF PIKACHU DIDN'T FOUND YOU IN TIME?! WERE YOU EXPECTING US TO FIND YOUR BODY LIKE THAT?! YOU'RE SO STUPID! YOU'RE THE STUPIDEST PERSON ON EARTH, ASH KETCHUM!"

Ash could feel his back hitting the headboard, preventing him from going any further and to face the raging blue orbs staring into his soul. It took him a moment to make sense of what Serena's loud screaming is trying to tell him. The ache in his heart somehow overpowering his body's exhaustion. "Y... Y-You actually thought I'd-?"

"Serena! Outside. Now!" Clemont came to Ash's rescue by suddenly grabbing Serena's arm and drags her over to the door. He stops for a moment to look at his little sister, "Bonnie, please keep Ash company!" Without waiting for a reply, Clemont shuts the door, leaving him and the honey-blonde girl alone in the halls.

Serena wrenches her arm free, giving the lemon-haired boy a glare. "What was that for?!"

"I thought I told you we'd leave him alone on that whole thing!" Clemont retorted. While he understands Serena's feelings for Ash, he would have thought she would know Ash better than that.

"He nearly killed himself, Clemont!" Serena's patience is wearing thin. Didn't he realize how serious that is? "We have every right to know why he did that!"

"That's the thing, Serena, Ash didn't hang himself!"

Now that caught Serena off-guard. "W-What?" So Ash didn't hang himself? Then why was there a noose around his neck in the first place?

Clemont seemed to be reading her mind as he explains himself, "Look, I took a study course of the Regions' cultures back at the Academy that I use to go too. While I was taking that course, I've learned something about the people of Kanto who want to-" He stops himself to draw his thumb across his neck. The word was just too terrifying for him to say it. "When someone from the Kanto region wants to kill themselves, they removed their shoes before they commit it."

Now she's completely speechless. "Ash is from Kanto..."

"Right." Clemont nods. "And when we saw him in that closet, did he had his shoes off?" Serena shook her head. She remembers taking his shoes off when they brought him to his bed. "See? While I'll admit, Ash isn't like everyone else, he's still from Kanto. If he were to kill himself, he would have taken off his shoes before putting that noose around his neck."

"But his shoes were still on..." That came out as a whisper. Guilt began to eat her heart, what had she been thinking?! This is Ash she's talking about!

Seeing how distressed she looks, Clemont gently places a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I thought the same thing before I remember that little detail. Ash wouldn't just throw his life away like that. He cares about us too much to do that."

"Not to mention he's the one that's always smiling..." Serena adds. A smile forming in admiration as she remembers all the times where Ash kept on smiling and how he always encourage them to their best. What was she thinking? She should have known Ash would never do something like this if someone made him do it.

Wait...

"Clemont, if Ash didn't hang himself then who did?" Hearing that question made Clemont freeze. The one thing he forgot about when he tried to explain about the Kanto culture to the girls. While he did want to put the blame on Team Rocket, Clemont knew that this is very far for Team Rocket to do something like this to Ash. Even they don't hate him that much.

"I don't know Serena," he decided to give her his most honest answer, his gaze flickering towards the darkness inside the hall. Serena follows her gaze with a slightly frightened look. "But there's one thing for sure, we're not alone in this place..."

"So you can really die from having a rope around your neck?" Came the surprised voice of Bonnie, looking at Ash in complete awe. The young girl had set herself down on the bed with Ash, who is now lying against the pillows that are on the headboard in a sitting position. Pikachu is resting by his size, dozing off after that whole experience. Meanwhile, Dedenne and Squishy were playing ball on the floor, the events leaving their minds.

Ash nods with little strength he has left. Never before had he felt so exhausted, his body didn't feel like moving at all. His limbs ached to the point he didn't want to move then as his arms lay down on his stomach. Even now, he could still feel the soreness of this throat and the small stinging feeling in his fingers are still there. His whole body slacked against the pillows, almost disappearing into it like he wanted previously.

"Y-Yeah... That's how gravity works." His voice still had that croak tone to it. He probably should have guessed after going through all that strain with his neck. Maybe he should get some water later.

Bonnie's face suddenly frowns upon hearing that while she leans her body back while crossing her arms. "There goes that idea of scaring Daddy and Clemont on Halloween by dressing up as a hanging skeleton..."

This is one of those times where Ash didn't want to know what goes through that little girl's mind.

He just chuckles lightly before breaking into a small coughing fit. Why did throats have to be so sensitive after that whole mess?

"Gee... Your throat got it real bad, huh?" Bonnie remarks as she watches the young boy rubs his throat in hopes to soothe it. Then a thought makes its way into her mind. "Hey, how did you get into the closet like that?"

She was surprised when Ash shudders. "I-I don't want to talk about it, Bonnie... P-Please, drop it..." He wraps his arms around himself, it almost looked like he was trying to make himself smaller. To curl himself up until all his problems went away. He look so vulnerable, and the only time she's ever seen him like this was last night near the kitchen. And she didn't like that look on him. Maybe there was a way to-?

Wait!

"Hey Ash!" Her cheerful voice made Ash snap out of his frail thoughts to look up at her with curious eyes. She flashes him a smile. "You wouldn't believe what I found in the fireplace!" She reaches into her satchel and pulls out the book she had previously found before handing it to Ash. "It has all the pictures of everyone that died in this place, so I can tell it must be connected to the murder!"

"R-Really?" Ash couldn't help but asked, flipping through the book until he noticed the said pictures of the victims.

"Yep!" She then points to one of the red-circled pictures on the page. "And look! All these girls were circled. Not to mention the marker looks brand new compare to this old thing, so that means we're not alone in this house!"

He already knew that they weren't alone this place, but Ash didn't have the heart to tell her what type of people they are. If they're even people to begin with.

Sighing, Ash took a look back at the page. The first thing he thought of when he looked at marked pictures is what makes them so different from all those who died. Then he noticed two out of the five pictures.

His eyes practically grew out of their sockets while he throws the book across the bed without any warning, catching Bonnie off-guard. She looks at her raven-haired in confusion but was surprised when she sees him trying to get as much distant from the book as possible. However, since he was already at the headboard, he couldn't go that much farther from the book as it was at the footboard. So the only distant he could make is by pressing his back and arms against the headboard while curling up his feet as far as he could, his large amber eyes staring at the book like it's going to attack him.

"Gee, Ash, I knew you were dense, but I had no idea you were afraid of girls too..." Fortunately for him, Bonnie mistaken his sudden panic is from the sight of pretty girls. But Ash knew why he was so afraid, yet he couldn't tell Bonnie the reason. His memories from last night made him warily of what he says around his friends. The paranoia that's been eating him since they arrived is warning him that if he kept on telling them all the gruesome things he's been seeing, they will only think that he's gonna go insane.

So instead of replying to the girl, Ash just kept his position against the headboard. His eyes never trailing from that open page where the pictures of those who's been haunting him since he got here in fear.

Amanda Stone and Seiko Nakashima

He'd managed to get the book back from Bonnie after giving her an excuse that he still hadn't gotten all the oxygen back into his brain yet, so he ended up hallucinating that the pictures came to life and were about to attack him. She believed him, thankfully, due to her imagination and let him have the book.

Apparently he was out-cold for most of the afternoon as it is already nighttime and the storm continues to rage on outside. Serena and Clemont have already made dinner for all of them, including their Pokémon, to eat in the living room. Ash declined, however, saying that he wasn't hungry. This brought a surprise reaction out of them all, knowing how much he loves food. Thankfully, Ash was able to give them an excuse that he wanted to think for a while. Realizing he's talking about what happened, they left him alone. They would imagine something like that happening to him would left a traumatizing effect, so they could understand. But that didn't stop them from worrying.

The only ones who didn't fall for that lie were Pikachu and Greninja. The Mouse Pokémon was pretty firm about never leaving his best friend's side after seeing him in that traumatizing position. While he is grateful for his buddy's loyalty, Ash couldn't help but feel annoyed that he couldn't find someway to be alone for a while. He decided to take drastic measures; he took out the ketchup bottle from his backpack.

At that, Pikachu completely forgotten about the horror he just went through and went off to the living room. The Pokémon happily licking away the delicious red substance. Ash did his best not to shudder since the ketchup is just as red as the thing from the pantry last night.

Then there was Greninja.

The very moment Greninja was released from his Pokéball, he knew something was wrong with his trainer. Due to the Bond Phenomenon, Greninja was able to tell what Ash is currently feeling right now. Fear. Confusion. Stress. Paranoid. Dread. All of those emotions weren't something that is usually found in Ash, so Greninja had asked him what was going on. For a moment, Ash wanted to tell him what he's been seeing and going through when-

He'll just be like the others. He's going to think you're crazy when you tell him...

That thought made him shut his mouth. He had no idea where that thought came from, but he listened to it, nonetheless.

It's fine, Greninja, he had told the Ninja Pokémon. I just want to be alone for a while to figure things out.

Despite giving him a suspicious glance, Greninja had unintentionally heard that thought and didn't like how it didn't sound like his trainer at all, Greninja left him alone and went to eat with the other Pokémon.

Ash felt horrible lying to Greninja, he's been lying to everyone in general, but that paranoid part of him made him dropped. They wouldn't believe him, anyway. Guess he has to figure out what's going on with this house himself.

So here he is, sitting down in an old wooden chair while reading the book Bonnie found on a desk inside the library he conveniently found. The library itself is big in general; the entire room had ginormous bookshelves that almost seem to stretch for miles thanks to the poor lighting here. When he first walked into the library and went looking for a place to sit, Ash felt like he was walking through a hedge maze. Everything seem to go in multiple directions and he thought he might have lost his way to the exit. Thankfully, he manages to find a desk and chair for him to sit at and read the book.

His blank stare never seem to trail from the marked pictures of the victims, two of the five keeping his attention focused out of them all. He felt a little thankful for the small lamp giving him some light so he can read the information about these girls' properly.

Amanda Stone
 (1899-1915)
 Caused of Death: Blood loss from having her arms removed

She's the girl that attacked me in the kitchen, Ash thought with a grimaced. He then turns his attention to the other girl.

Seiko Nakashima
(1927-1946)
Caused of Death: Stab wound to the chest by scissors. Her tongue was found missing when the investigators discovered her corpse.

The speechless girl. He remembers encountering her in the hallway, right before... He shook his head, he didn't want to think about. After reading that she's tongue-less, it made him realized why all the words that came out her mouth were guttural and inaudible. She couldn't talk without her tongue, rendering her speechless. Literally.

He sighs. Despite feeling bad for all these girls, two of them did attack him for something and he didn't know why. How long would it be before one of those other girls decides to appear and attack him? Why are they even attacking him in the first place?

"What did I ever do to you?" His croaked voice whispers out, conveying all emotions he's feeling into that tiny whisper. He ran a hand through his face, why did all of this have to happen to him? He's so tired. Why is it always him? He wants to go home...

The light from the lamp suddenly flickers.

Ash looks up when he noticed the sudden blackout for a moment. Did that lamp just-?

The lamp flickers again before it turned off altogether. Thus, leaving Ash alone inside this gigantic place in the dark.

Ash could feel his fear coursing through his body all over again. Why did the light turn off without him doing anything? Getting out of his chair, he looks underneath the desk to find that the wire for the lamp is still plug-in. So if that means the power's out...

He shook his head. Get a grip, Ash! Maybe it's just a power outage. Yeah, that's it! But, if it was a power outage, then why couldn't hear his friends crying out from in here? Has he gone too far deep into this place that he couldn't hear anything outside? Maybe... Or what if-?

Thump!

His whole body freezes upon hearing that sound. He remembers hearing that sickening noise last night, that time in the pantry where he found that corpse. It sounded like a body came flying from a thousand miles before landing on the ground with a stomach-churning crunch. That's what he heard before exploring the pantry and discovering the mangled corpse. Now, he's hearing that same sound again behind him just a few seconds ago.

But instead of getting the heck out of there like his mind told him, Ash could feel his body resisting his mind's wishes and is slowly turning around. Even when he really didn't want to do it, his body continues to ignore and he's almost fully turned around. Maybe it's because of his curiosity. That uncontrollable curiosity that everyone his age has. So no matter what type of situation he's in, his curiosity will always win him over in the end because of his never-ending desire to understand every situation.

It didn't mean he always likes his curiosity winning.

So when Ash did a full 180 degree, he mentally prepared himself to stare upon a corpse that's worse than the one in the pantry. His imagination fully expected him to gaze upon something that probably wasn't even human, something guts and organs splattered over the ground with spots of the blood right beside it. Or maybe even see heads split in half with gallons of blood pooling the floor as he stares at the dead eyes of those who were once alive.

Maybe he is going insane if he's thinking these gruesome thoughts.

When he finally set his eyes on that area, every part of him became surprised when he realized there was nothing ghastly behind him.

Despite his curiosity making him wondering what was that all about, Ash could feel himself sighing in pure relief. Finally, he got a break inside this twisted place.

That was what he though before a pair of deathly cold hands are wrapped around his aching neck the moment he turned around.