Author's Note: Guess who's back with another chapter? Once again, sorry with all the cliffhangers that I've been putting lately. Sadly, you're only going to see more of those cliffhangers. Also, good news for me in the real world, I got community service hours! Wahoo! That means I'm starting to get a chance to graduate! Also, I see where are all suspicious from the last chapter, but it doesn't seem like we're suspicious for the right reasons. You'll see why soon enough.

Juster of Riva: Oh, you have no idea. ;)

thor94: *Laughs nervously* Believe me, there's a good reason why I did this. Besides, it wouldn't be fun if I reveal the plot so soon would it?

UptownFunk: You'll find out in the next chapter.

Pikachu: Uh, anyone got a PokéTranslator?

OF: Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Serena didn't say anything as Ash took out a piece of white cloth and began to wrap it around her bad ankle. She watched him do with such ease and a smile on his face. The same trademark smile he always uses when he's in a good mood. The last time she's seen him smile like that was the day they arrived at the Lewis Manor, right before he was attacked in the kitchen. Even though she's seen first hand that Ash has healed from his previous experiences, she was still in denial. There was no way Ash could be back to his usual self in such a short amount of time, even if this is Ash she's talking about.

Ash had suddenly stopped tending her ankle and look up at her with slight confusion. He probably noticed her staring at him. "Are you alright, Serena?"

"I..." She trailed off. She didn't know what she could say to him. She was afraid that whatever she might say could set him off and he wouldn't be the same ever again. "Ash, what happened when you were alone? We all heard you choking from behind the door."

Ash's eyes dawned with realization before he went back to work on her ankle. "Don't worry about it, Serena," he said gently, which was a good sign of him not snapping at her. "It was just one of those ghosts tried to attack me again and the next thing I knew, I woke up all alone here before I found you."

It sounded like a likely story. She knew Ash and he wouldn't lie about something like this, and she wouldn't let that happened again. But somewhere deep in her heart, Serena still couldn't believe him. She saw how the spark in his eyes fade away the moment those horrible words escape her mouth.

Thinking about the awful thing she said made her frown. "Ash, about what I said before, in the hallway I didn't-"

"Serena, come on." Ash once again had ceased his work on her ankle to look up at her with a disappointed frown. "I told you before, I forgive you for everything that happened. Besides, I said some of my own bad things to you, too. So, we're kind of even."

She could tell he was trying to make a joke out of all that, but her guilty conscious didn't make her laugh. So instead, she looked down on the ground. "But what I said-"

"Stop it, Serena." She shut her mouth when she saw Ash staring at her with a solemn expression, something that she's not used to seeing on his face. "Look, I'll admit, it hurt. A lot. But I knew I couldn't stay mad at you forever, not when we're trapped in this crazy place," he suddenly flashes her smile. "So, turn that frown upside down! You know it's not gonna get you anywhere."

In spite of herself, Serena couldn't help but laugh a little at that. Seeing her smile made Ash do one of his trademark grins before he went back to her ankle. It was amazing how Ash could pull himself together after everything that happened to him. This only made her affection for him to increase. So, why did she still feel like Ash was lying to her?

She didn't have time to think about that for long when Ash suddenly announced, "Done!" Serena looked down at her ankle, not expecting for him to be finished so soon. She has to admit it, Ash sure did knew what he was doing. The splint was perfectly wrapped against her ankle, even if a white cloth was all that Ash had. She wondered if Ash had ever gotten a broken ankle like this because she had no idea how he makes a cast like this. She barely felt any pain when she moved it a bit.

"Wow! Thank you, Ash!" The honey-blonde gave her raven-haired friend a grateful smile. "It hardly hurts anymore!"

Ash just gives her a bashful smile. "Come on, I'm not that great. I don't even have any ice so that the pain can fully go away." He stood up and offer his hand to her, giving her his usual smile. "Need any help?"

Serena was suddenly a child again. She had gotten lost in the woods with nobody around. She fell and hurt her leg, rendering her immobile. Then came the younger Ash through the bushes seemly out of nowhere. He wrapped up her ankle and offered her his hand. This is exactly like when they were kids. The feeling of Deja vu was too strong. Slowly, she reaches for his hand.

He then grabs her hand pulls her up. Only, he was a little more forceful than intended and she ended up right on him in a sort of awkward hug.

Why did her face felt so warm?

She almost didn't want to let go but she knew had too eventually. She pulled herself away to stare at those amber orbs that always made her heart soar. But, for some reason, her heart didn't soar. Why didn't it? This was Ash. In the back of her mind, she somehow knew that something was wrong. She was staring into his eyes, but she didn't get that familiar warm feeling. This is Ash, right?

"Uh... Is something wrong, Serena?"

All this time, she didn't realize that she was staring at Ash for a long time. Once she understood it, the heat instantly rose on her face. "S-Sorry!" Why did she have to embarrass herself like this?

Ash just flashes her a smile. "Hey, don't worry about it!" He looks down at her splint. "Do ya think you can walk on it?"

Serena looks down at her ankle, turning it slightly to inspect it. It didn't hurt when she moved it, maybe she could walk. Fate didn't seem to be on her side, however, when she put pressure on it. She winces slightly when the small throb slowly made its way back up to her hip. It didn't hurt as much anymore, but she knew it wouldn't be ideal to keep putting pressure on it. "I don't think so," she mumbled, her voice straining slightly.

She could see Ash frowning at that, something that she recognizes as his thinking-mode. The only time he does that is when he's strategizing for a battle. A smile then spreads across her face as he gently puts her arm around his shoulder, giving her more leverage so that she doesn't have to keep putting all her weight on her ankle.

"There, is that better?" He asked her.

Serena moved her hurt foot for a bit. She was surprised at how dull the pain was up to the point where she could hardly feel it. "Wow, it does!"

Ash gives her his trademark smile. "See, told ya!" He adjusted his grip on her. "Come on! I'm sure the others are already worried about us."

For some reason, Serena didn't nod her head. It was weird. Serena couldn't figure out why she felt so uneasy around Ash. It was like this weird part that's telling her she shouldn't be anywhere near him and bringing him to the others might be a very bad idea on her part. However, she just mistook as her guilty conscious reminding her how Ash deserved someone better than her for the way she yelled at him.

"Yeah, let's go..."

Ash continues to smile, not noticing how uncomfortable Serena was - she should have expected this from Ash, though - and began to lead her down the dark halls of this underground cavern. In the first few seconds of their walk Serena had finally noticed how icy cold Ash's skin was against hers.

Clemont sighs as he closed yet another dead end door. He, Bonnie, and Greninja have been looking through the doors on the right side of the hallway since they have already checked all the doors on the left side on the first time they went looking for Ash. Now, the stakes are little more higher and now they have to find their three missing friends.

But so far, they had no luck. All the doors that they had previously opened in hopes of finding a stairwell that leads to a lower level of the Lewis Manor proved to be of no help and Clemont was starting to lose hope. Serena was right, this place did feel like a gigantic maze. They have no idea where to go or have a single clue to where they're going.

"Any luck, Bonnie?" Despite the feeling of hopelessness, Clemont couldn't but asked his sister - who had just open another dead end door right across from him.

Bonnie shook her head as she closed the door. "No, nothing yet," she sighs and walks over to her older brother. "Clemont, do you think they're still alive?"

Clemont didn't know how to answer that. A part of him wanted to keep his sister's hopes up and tell her that their friends are still alive somewhere in this house. But reality struck of how unlikely it would be when it came to the Lewis Manor, a place known as the caused of many deaths over the years. It was very possible for Serena and Pikachu to not survive their fall since it was long drop. Ash... He didn't even want to imagine what type of death Ash could possibly have if the thing who kidnapped him really was the murderer that caused all of these deaths.

Before he could say anything, the familiar sounds of the Ninja Pokémon caught their attention - thankfully driving the conversation away from their possibly deceased friends. They turn to the source to see Greninja running up to them with a slight panic look in his eyes. This caused instant fear to run through their veins. Only one thought that went through their minds on the reason why the Ninja Pokémon would look like that and they didn't like the outcome.

However, as Greninja came closer, the siblings realized that he was carrying two objects within his arms. One of those things that Bonnie recognized was that book she found in the fireplace back in the living room. The other, they couldn't say. They definitely could tell it was a book, bigger than the one Bonnie found. But other than that, they couldn't tell why Greninja would bring that with him.

"Hey, that's my book!" Bonnie cried once Greninja reached them, her small, dainty hands reached out for the smaller book and took it out of the frog-like Pokémon's grasp. Clemont took a step forward while adjusting his glasses to take a closer look at the other book Greninja had within his arms.

"What have you got there, Greninja?"

The Ninja Pokémon quickly realized that he was still holding the book he had found in the library along with the book Bonnie had found and shoved right into the genius's hands in an instant. "Gre, Gre!"

Clemont stared at Greninja with a dumbfounded expression. Never before had he seen the Ninja Pokémon looking so terrified. He always thought of Greninja to be generally fearless and strongest amongst them all. Then again, he thought the same thing with Ash. The boy who always smiles and is very determined to reach his dreams. But after seeing his raven-haired breakdown during their stay at this place, Clemont realized that Ash is just as human as him. Which means he has limits. And this place went beyond those limits.

Shaking himself out of those thoughts, Clemont looked down at the front cover as to find the reason why Greninja would bring this to him when his eyes froze once he read the title. His skin instantly turned pale as his eyes became clouded with fear. "O-Oh my goodness..."

"What is it, Clemont?" Bonnie asked, startled by the sudden look of fear in her brother's eyes. Clemont didn't say anything but he showed her the cover so that she could read it. Bonnie had to go on her tippy toes to get a better look. Her blue eyes then widen in fear once she realized what she was reading:

The Guide to Amputation

"Clemont..." Bonnie felt her words died in her throat. Her young mind couldn't fully process this. Thankfully, Clemont seemed to understood as he opened the book and began to flip through a few pages.

"It's like a whole manual on how to amputate a human body," he mumbles after a few pages, his eyes glue to the pictures of a bloody knife being pressed down on a badly infected leg or someone using a chainsaw to saw off a premature arm. "Guess this murderer wanted to make sure they knew what they were doing so when they did the amputation illegally, the body part wouldn't be badly infected right away."

Bonnie shuddered. "Please don't tell me that the murderer has this weird body fetish or something."

"Even if they did, it wouldn't have explained Maya and Thomas Lewis's deaths." Clemont points out, trying to keep his face natural to not explode on his sister and demanding her on where she heard that word from. He flips through a few more pages before stopping when he noticed shredded edges of paper sticking out.

"Huh, that's weird..."

"What is?" Bonnie asked, once again on her tippy toes to see what her brother is looking at.

"A few of these pages were ripped out," Clemont showed her the section before he turned it back to himself. "I wonder," he suddenly flipped back a few pages before he was on the first page. "Aha!"

Sensing his sister's confused expression, Clemont explains, "I was hoping that despite this Lewis Manor's old age, there will be a Table of Contents since this technically counts as an educational book and I was right! If I could look at the pages that were in between the ones that were ripped out, then we'll know what-"

He stopped abruptly. Bonnie was surprised at how Clemont instantly cut his own voice off like that. But the rising fear in his eyes worried her. His own hands were trembling so much that Bonnie thought the book would've ripped from all that pressure. Thankfully, it didn't. Still, Bonnie was wondering what could make Clemont look like he just saw Death in the face.

"Clemont? What does it say?"

When he still didn't answer her and stood still like a statue, she knew that she had to take this into her own hands. Going back on her tippy toes, Bonnie tries to look on the page where Clemont is staring death in the face. Her little blue eyes slowly widen in shock once she realized why her brother was staring at Death in the face.

Table of Contents

Infections caused by Amputation

How to Mend Amputated Body Parts Together

Best Tools for Amputation

Serena did her best to show that she wasn't uncomfortable around Ash as the two continue to go down the underground cavern. While most people would suspect her uneasiness was the caused of her affection for the raven-haired boy and how embarrassingly close the two of them were would caused heat to rise in her cheeks. Normally, that would've been the case - if Serena was honest with herself - but it wasn't like that. At least, not for right now.

She didn't know why but for some reason the warning flags are going off in her head. Get away from him, is what that tiny little voice kept telling her over and over again. A part of her wanted to do it, but she couldn't. She couldn't figure out why she felt this way about Ash. Really, this was Ash for Pete's sake. He's the only person in the world that she knew would never hurt someone intentionally.

But feeling his cold skin against hers instantly told her that something was wrong. She knew that Ash's skin was supposed to be warm, like the type of warmth that someone would feel in a fireplace on a cold day - she may have watched him in his sleep sometimes and may have grabbed his hand a couple of times. Now, though, his skin was no longer warm. No, it was cold. A horrible, stinging feeling of bitter cold that could cause her frostbite if it was possible. It was like the blizzard from outside had taken a corporal form, which just so happened to be Ash.

Then again, maybe it was just her guilty conscious talking again. Telling her that she shouldn't be anywhere near him because of the horrible thing she had done. Yeah, maybe that's it. Her conscious just telling her that Ash doesn't deserve someone like her.

"Hey, Ash," to get her mind out of those guilty thoughts and hopefully stop the uncomfortable silence between them, Serena decided to bring up an important subject that she had almost forgotten about. "Did you, by any chance, see Pikachu down here before you found me?"

This makes Ash stop and turn to look at her with confusion written across his face. "No. I thought he was with the others upstairs?"

Serena shook her head. "He fell down the hole with me. When I woke up, he wasn't anywhere near me. I thought that he might've found you and you sent him off to find the others before you found me."

"Serena, you were the only person I saw when I woke up in this weird place. I think I would be pretty sure if I knew Pikachu was down here with us." Ash told her in a slightly stern tone but with a hint of confusion to where his best buddy could've gone.

Then a horrible though suddenly entered their heads. Since Pikachu fell down the floorboards with Serena, he would've stayed with her if he had woke up before her and watched over her until she woke up herself. But he wasn't there. Despite his natural creature curiosity, Pikachu wouldn't dare leave Serena alone in this horrible house of horrors. So if Pikachu didn't go on his own, then that would mean...

"We need to find him. Right now." Serena said in the most deadly serious tone she has ever used in her life.

"No need to tell me twice!" Ash quickly adjusted his grip on her and they were off once again. Only they were a little faster this time around. They had to keep a careful watch on Serena's ankle, though, since it hasn't fully recovered and caused more strain on it could lessen the speed recovery.

They thought that they would keep going into an endless hallway with nothing but darkness in their paths if they didn't noticed the fork in the road up ahead. In an instant, they knew that they reached a whole new level in this dusty place. The walls were no longer dirt that came from the results of digging through here. Right before them are black brick walls. While it may have cause more darkness to fill their vision, it gave them a bit a hope. This meant that they were at a certain level of the cellar where they could find stairs that can lead them to the upper level.

The only problem that they currently have right now is to find out which path could lead them straight to Pikachu and a couple of stairs instead of a slow, painful death at the hands of the angry spirits inside the Lewis Manor.

"Oh man, which way do we go?" Ash complained once he realized that they have to make a choice that could possibly determine their lives.

Serena sighs. Despite knowing it wouldn't be the best of ideas because of all the horror movies she and the others watched at the Pokémon Center, it was the only idea she had that could speed up their survival progress while possibly avoiding the spirits in time. Besides, it would finally put her mind to rest knowing that she was going to leave Ash's side for a bit.

"Ash, I think we should split up."

She didn't realize how fast he whipped his head towards her in utter bewilderment when she had almost lost her balance. Thankfully, Ash's grip on her prevented her from falling over on her bag leg.

"What?! Serena, are you sure that's a good idea?" Ash asked, bewilderment still evident in his voice but he was still polite about it. She didn't know if she should feel flattered for him not acting all overprotective on her and not fully disagreeing on her plan, or feel a little suspicious since he could possibly be acting.

Did she really have so little faith in him?

"Look, Ash, I know it probably isn't a good idea considering where we are," Serena acknowledged with a slight shudder. "But what choice do we have? We don't know the house well enough and we have to find Pikachu before someone else - that aren't alive, by the way - does. Splitting up is probably the best idea we have so far."

She looked at his face to see what his reaction was. He wasn't really looking at her, though. His eyes were gazed over, obviously thinking this over. Then why is his right eye twitching like he's in pain? And why is his grip on her suddenly tightening?

After a few seconds, he gave out a sigh as his grip on her loosens a bit. "Okay, I guess that's a good idea considering," he didn't finish his sentence, but Serena could already guess what he was inferring.

She didn't say anything as she slowly removes her arm from Ash's shoulders. However, she didn't suspect to be unbalanced the moment she no longer had any support. If it weren't for Ash quickly grabbing her arm, she probably would've fallen to the ground on her left side. Not her bad ankle, but it would hurt since she would've moved in unsuspectedly.

"Wait, Serena, what about your ankle? You know you're not supposed to put pressure on it." Ash told her, and she agreed. But she didn't have a cane on her and Ash left that wooden beam back where they found each other, and who knows how long they were walking for? She looked over to the right path. Seeing that there was a wall in between the two paths, a thought enters her mind.

"Ash, can you get me over to the right path? Near the wall?" She asked. Though he looked confused by this, Ash helped her anyway to the wall. Once she was close enough, she let go of Ash and leaned her good side against it.

She smiled once she felt no pain in her ankle and turned back to Ash. "See? I can just use the wall as my own support. You don't have to worry about me, Ash."

There was a flicker of doubt in his eyes, along with something else. Was that... Annoyance? But it was gone before she could fully progress it. "Alright... I guess that could work."

She did her best to be completely obvious at his sudden mood change that only lasted not even a second. "So, I go down this path and you could go down the other?"

"Yeah, okay," he said, though he sounded a bit doubtful and anxious.

"We'll meet back here if we find Pikachu or anything, okay?"

"Okay," with that, he went down the path. He was out of her sights.

And some part of her felt relieved by that.

Serena didn't know what to think as she made her way down the dark hall, her right arm up against the wall so that can hop on one leg with no problems. Why did she feel so uneasy around Ash? She, at first, thought it was because of her guilty conscious reminding her of what she done to him. But now, she realized there was something more going on. Her warning flags only pop up if her life was in danger. Maybe Ash was lying when he said he'd forgiven her and that he was secretly trying to find a way to get revenge on her.

She shook her head. This was Ash, for Pete's sake!

But then, was that really Ash?

There was some part of her that was saying that the Ash she was just with wasn't the Ash that she fell in love with. His skin was too cold to even be him. It was the skin of a dead person. But Ash couldn't be dead, right?

She tried not to dwell on that thought for long. She refused to believe that Ash could be dead. Not him. Anybody but him.

Thankfully, she didn't have to think about it for long because she saw a sight up ahead that brought instant relief for the first time since she discovered the horrors of the Lewis Manor.

Right in front of her on the wall that she was leaning against was a door. The door was black, like the cement walls, so she almost didn't see it unless she really looked at it. It stood over her by a couple of feet, indicating that whatever was behind that door could lead her to a stairwell or to a room. Whatever the case, she was willing to take the chance.

There was a flicker of gold across the door, but Serena didn't pay attention to it. Instead, she turned on her good heel and made a hopping dash back to where she had come from. Thoughts of escaping this dreadful place and reuniting with the others made her joyful.

Then there was the matter with Ash.

She decided that she's going to find Ash, get him to the others, and decide what they will do with him from then on. There was clearly something wrong with him and she intends to find out what that is. But she was afraid to go at it alone. If this really wasn't Ash, then it was possible that he could hurt her. Strength in numbers, her mother once told her.

"Hey, Ash?" She called out once she reached the fork in the path. "Ash, can you hear me?" She hoped that the path he went down was as long as hers. Besides, they weren't separated for that long. She suspected he could probably still hear her if she raises her voice loud enough.

"Ash, I think I found something-!"

She cut herself off when she heard a noise in the left path. It sounded like someone was trying to vomit but they can't and only have to do horrible retching sounds because their stomach's contents refused to leave. If Serena and her friends were the only humans alive inside the Lewis Manor and the Lumiose siblings were back upstairs, then that would only the person who could be gagging was...

"Ash?" Serena called out. When the only response she got was another heaving retch, Serena quickly hopped down the left path. All thoughts of how strange her raven-haired crush has been acting instantly left her mind. "Ash?!"

She was kind of surprised at how her search for her friend was so short. But she didn't dwell on it for long once her cerulean blue eyes lay upon the boy she loves, who is on his knees with his hands keeping him up. His voice was still coming out as these horrible gagging sounds as he tries to empty his stomach's contents but his body won't let him.

"Ash!"

His whole body stiffens once he heard her voice. His whole body was trembling and his shoulders were terribly hunched. It was like he was in some internal, agonizing pain and she didn't know what to do. She couldn't figure out how to comfort him after the horrible thing she had said and now she didn't know how to comfort him when he's seem to be going through a pain that's within his body.

"S-Serena?" His voice came out strained. It brought memories of how he was nearly hanged to death earlier this morning and how she accused of him doing something like that.

Serena quickly dropped down beside him - ignoring how her ankle flared up since she accidently landed on it - and wrap her arms around his trembling form. Feeling him shake like there's an earthquake going on inside him made her tighten her grip on him.

"Ash, what is it? Talk to me, Ash! What's wrong?" She partially begged him. His eyes were clear in her vision and she was surprised to see a hint of fear in them.

Then he said something that completely caught her off guard.

"...h-help..."

Serena furrowed her eyebrows. What did he mean by that? Her question was then answered when she saw something up ahead of them. Something that made her cover her mouth in horror.

It was a corpse. A corpse that's currently being eaten away by maggots.

She gripped the trembling boy tighter. "Ash, I think we need to get out of here."

"H-Help me..." He whispered and she helped him stand up with him supporting her. They quickly hurried down the hall, away from the decaying corpse.

If Serena had looked back, she would've noticed the corpse disappearing into thin air.