Author's Note: After having a really bad today, I decided to post this chapter since I finished the other one earlier this morning. Don't ask me what my day was about. Too tired to even mention it. Just enjoy the chapter.

Juster of Rivia: I never had any of limbs amputated, if you're wondering. Eh, that's alright. I just hope you enjoy this chapter!

StreetRacer-Sam: Really? Well, I'll let you know if you called it or not. And if you have anything to say, don't be afraid to PM me. If it's possible theories or ideas, you know I'll always mix the words to hide the real meaning.

OF: Don't worry, you'll get answers in a few chapters.

G'day to you sir: I appreciate you trying to help me improve my writing and the whole story line, but I just want to point out that all the decisions that were previously made in this story leads up to the plot that I have already planned out for quite some time. I know most of what happened previously probably didn't make any sense to you, but I thought of all the reasons for those decisions and they had made sense for me. I could go on with this, but right now I want to focus on my stories and getting them done. Thank you for the advice.

Serena didn't know how long it was since they left that path and found themselves up against the door that she had found, but she didn't care at the moment. Not when she was holding a trembling and gagging Ash in her arms. He looked so vulnerable, afraid that all the horrors inside this house will come after him once again. Just feeling Ash's body shake underneath her fingers made the guilt within increase tenfold. Of course, Ash wouldn't be alright after everything that happened. He was just trying to be strong and do the right thing. This was Ash, always putting others before himself no matter what - although, she is slightly suspicious about one thing, but she will get to that later.

But then that corpse appeared and Ash couldn't keep up the brave façade anymore. Now, he's the same shivering mess when she first saw him in the hallway. Like the night when the Kitchen Incident happened. Thinking about how she didn't believe him when he was so vulnerable made her heart clenched. She wasn't going to make the same mistake. Not after what happened from the cause of that.

She patted his back when he began to cough, trying to ease some tension from his body. Goodness, is it possibly for someone to be so rigid? "It's alright, Ash," she tries to console him. "Let it all out... They're not gonna get to you again..."

After what seemed like forever, Ash's body finally relaxed. He went slack and Serena was caught nearly off guard by the sudden heavy weight. Despite his lean appearance and not eating anything since he got to this house, Serena still couldn't properly hold him. She supposed it has to be something do with Ash being physically stronger than all of them.

"You okay?" She asked him after he seemed to calm down and his eyes were open. Two amber orbs are staring off into the distance with a look that showed her that he was still in some sort of pain. Then there was this other thing. She couldn't quite describe it. But it didn't seem like him. The pain-filled eyes - no matter how awful they were to look at - was more like him. It was how she imagined Ash's overall attitude to be after everything he's gone through. But still, what did that other look mean?

She shook her head. She promised herself that would be better than that.

The raven-haired boy gave a weak sigh. "Yeah, I think I'll be..." He mumbled in a completely strained voice. It sounded like he was screaming bloody murder for about three minutes and now his throat was sore because of that. He slowly began to lift himself up, but his exhausted body prevented him from getting up at least a few inches. "Help me..."

Serena immediately wraps her arms around his shoulder and use what little strength she has left to prop his back up against the door, right next to her. She watched him take deep breaths to possibly calm his body's inner turmoil. He looked clearly focused on something, but Serena assumed he was trying to gather his bearings for her sake.

"Do you feel better now?" She asked after his breathing returned to normal.

He slowly nods, now looking at her straight in the eyes. "I think so," he suddenly gave her a bashful smile. "Guess I overdid it, huh?"

Serena tried to not let her uneasiness show as she gazed upon that didn't once remind her of the boy she loves. "Yeah... Try not to do it again, please?"

"I won't," he planted his hands on the ground and lifted himself off the ground before he stuck a hand out for her. "Need any help?"

She took his bandaged hand - trying her very best not to shiver from his cold skin - and allowed him to pull her up. She winced slightly when she put a little weight on her bad ankle so Ash put her around his shoulder to give her support. "Is that better?"

Serena gave him a nod but didn't say anything else before she remembered the door she had found before she reunited with Ash. "Hey, Ash, I forgot to mention that I found something in this hallway."

Ash looked over, his eyes shone with curiosity. "What did ya find?"

"A door. The one that we were leaning against, actually."

Ash didn't seem to realized that they were leaning against a door instead of a wall since he whipped his head behind to look at the black door that's towering over them. "Oh..."

Serena was surprised when she looked upon Ash's eyes. Once again, it looked like it was split between two sides. One side seemed like it didn't want to go through that door - she probably had an idea after everything he's seen inside this house - while the other... She couldn't quite identify it. It looked like he was struggling with something, but the reason was something that she couldn't figure. She almost didn't notice Ash's grip on her arm suddenly tightens to the point of a vice grip until the last second.

Before she could comment on it, Ash blinked and his grip loosened. "I guess it's our ticket out of here, huh?" He gave her his signature grin, but it didn't warm her heart like it usually did. It's so strange that she couldn't act normal - or, at least, her version of normal - around him. She knew the reason for Ash's sudden positive attitude, she shouldn't be suspicious of him anymore.

Or do I? she thought, but she let it slide as she gave him a smile. "Yeah, I guess so."

Ash hold his smile for a moment before he reached his free hand out to the door handle. He gave it a small tug and it opened without a single thought.

It wasn't a gateway to a stairwell, much to Serena's disappointment. Instead, they were inside a gigantic room. Serena would've mistaken it for a simple infirmary if she didn't notice the torture table known as the Rack in front of her.

She had never seen a rack up close. She remembered reading about it in a picture book that explains the Middle Ages. After reading about how the rack would cause joints to dislocate, she immediately closed that book and decided she would never read it again. But now she was completely glad for that book providing her that information, otherwise, she wouldn't know how to react when she saw the blood all over the wood.

"I think we just discovered where that murderer liked to torture their victims before killing them," she mumbled mostly to herself, but Ash heard her.

He shuddered. "Oh, jeez..."

Moving her eyes away from the table, Serena tried to look for a more peaceful sight in this room. Sadly, it looked like hope wasn't on her side when saw jars full of eyes and tongues on a few shelves. There were also a few drawers up against the walls, but other than that, there wasn't really anything else. Except for that door across from the, who's path is being blocked by that Rack.

"Where are we, anyway?" Serena asked as Ash let her go and move a few steps further. She was glad that her ankle wasn't hurting that much anywhere because she would have to be by Ash's side the whole time. And for once in her life ever since their time in Camp, Serena didn't want that.

"Some sort of lab?" Ash guessed, but something told Serena that he knew more than he's letting on. She didn't say anything as she took the chance to look around at the right side of the room. Ash's footsteps could be heard in this strange room so she could hear him going off to the left side.

Serena took this chance to look at the drawer that's closest to her. Maybe she could find some more clues to the ghosts inside this house and why they were torturing Ash. She opened the first drawer and was immediately caught off guard at what she saw within. There was a row of pieces of hair, all braided up and curled around. Serena assumed that these were from the Marked Girls and the murderer must've chopped off pieces of their hairs as a sort of prize.

"This guy sure did like to collect when he was murdering people," she mumbled as she closed the drawer before turning over to Ash, who was looking at a drawer from his side. "Did you find anything, Ash?"

"Just a bunch of rusty old weapons," hearing that made Serena's heart drop - oh, no - but she didn't dare say anything on that. "Whoever that murderer was, they seemed pretty OCD on making sure they got everything they need to kill someone."

Serena stood up wordlessly and continue her small journey around the room. If she didn't say anything, then she won't give herself away and Ash - or whoever this is - won't be suspicious. She tried to open the door that she saw earlier but found it locked. Well, there goes one escape plan.

Not like she could make it that far anyway. Her ankle was still broken. If she were to suddenly start moving all of sudden she could make her ankle worse and have no chance of escaping at all. Everything was so confusing ever since they went inside the Lewis Manor and she didn't know what to do anymore.

Tap. Tap.

Serena froze in her small steps and stares down at the rack with wide eyes. Did she just heard-?

Tap. Tap.

There it was again. After making sure Ash was still occupied with the drawer, Serena went down on her knees so that she was facing the dark cloth that's covering the bottom half of the Rack. With trembling hands, she lifted the cloth up straightaway.

She didn't suspect to find Pikachu trapped inside some sort of display case on the other side.

"Pikachu?!" Serena did her very best to lower her voice to above a whisper. If her thoughts on Ash were true, then she couldn't let him know about Pikachu for the mouse's safety.

The electric type never looked so happy to see her before. He placed his paws on the glass and was mouthing something, but she couldn't quite hear it. She assumed that the case was sound proof from the outside, so no one could hear his cries of help from a mile away.

"Pikachu, what happened? Who put you in here?" She decided to ask the most important question.

To her uttermost shock, Pikachu put his ears together to form some sort of bangs. There was only one person that she knew would have bangs like that, and he's currently looking over a drawer that's full of weapons.

She immediately unlocked the hatch that was keeping the display closed, but she didn't open it. Pikachu looked at her with curious eyes before he reaches his paw out to open the case himself.

"Don't open it yet," she told him quietly, and the Mouse Pokémon stopped. "I'll give you the signal when you can get out. I just need to check on something."

Pikachu stared at her for a moment. He finally nodded after a few seconds.

"Hey, Serena?"

Startled, Serena immediately threw the cloth back down and stood up - ignoring the way her ankle flared up at the sudden movement - to see a curious Ash looking at her from the other side of the Ash.

"What were you doing over there?" He asked as Serena slowly moved away from that position, silently hoping that Ash didn't know that she was talking to Pikachu.

"No reason," she said that a little quickly but she still kept up the appearance. "I thought I found something, but it turned out to be nothing." She tried to not let the way Ash narrowed his eyes get to her. If she didn't keep up her own appearance, then he will know that something's up.

Thankfully, he seemed to have let it go. "Uh, okay?" He shrugged his shoulders for a bit. "Anyway, I guess I could say the same for me - I couldn't find anything. Think we should start looking somewhere else?"

Serena couldn't will herself to speak so she just nods. She didn't even take Ash's offering hand as she walked past him, saying that her ankle doesn't hurt that much anymore. He dropped his hand limply as he followed her out of the room, his eyes fixed on her.

As soon as they were back out in the dark hallway, Serena began to think. She needed an escape route. If her thoughts were true, then she will need to find a way to run without damaging her ankle further. She tried looking around while making sure that Ash wasn't looking, hoping that there could be something that can help her and Pikachu escape.

A flicker of gold caught her eyes.

Slowly, Serena turned her head to the right and found something that sent relief down her veins.

It was an old elevator. She assumed servants must have used it to go between floors the fastest way if they couldn't find the stairs in time. The old thing still shined with gold, but Serena didn't care about that. Behind those rusted gates is her ticket out of here.

All she need to do is to make sure that her idea was right.

"Hey, Ash?" She asked, her voice cut through the awkward silence between them.

Ash turned to her, wondering what was going on when he saw that her eyes were fixed on the floor in front of her. "What is it, Serena?"

"Do you, remember what I said in the hallway? When we were fighting?" Those words were hard to say because they brought back the hateful memories and the horrible feeling of guilt, but she knew that she had to do this. If not for her sake, but for everyone's sake. Even Ash's, if some part of her intuition was correct.

Ash's eyes narrowed at those words. "This again?" He mumbled himself in exasperation before he addressed the girl in front of him. "Serena, for the last time, I told you I-"

"I'm asking you if you remember what I said or not," she cut him off sharply, her words making him reel back in slight shock. "Do you remember what I said to you?"

He was quiet after that. He seemed to be struggling with something, but she couldn't understand what. "I do..." Ash finally said.

"What did I say?"

"Serena, what is this about-?"

"What. Did. I. Say?"

Now he didn't say anything for a while. He looked like some part of him didn't want to talk about this, but she still kept her stern gaze fixed on him. The more he seemed like he wanted to stop talking about this, the more her suspicions were beginning to rise. She knew that her intuition was right, she just needs to get him to admit it and stop with the whole act.

"You told me I was the reason my father left me and Mom..." The way it came out was so small. It made him sound like a little boy waiting for his father to come home. Only he never did for ten whole years. If Serena wasn't so sure about her intuition, she would've stopped the whole conversation at that.

"Do you forgive me for saying that?" She decided to ask the most important question. The one question that could prove her theory right.

"Serena, I already told you-"

She went a bit closer to him, making him back up slightly when he saw the intensity in her eyes. "Look at me in the eyes and tell me that you forgive me for that horrible thing."

He was looking at her in the eyes. This strange blank look in his eyes. She knew that this wasn't the boy she fell in love with just by looking at his eyes. She knew that his next answer won't prove her otherwise.

But she still waited for him to answer.

He finally did. "I forgive you. But, Serena, what are you-?"

That was all the answer she needed.

She took a few steps back, trying to put some distance between the two of them when Ash tried to walk closer to her. "You're not Ash." She put it as simply as that.

Ash's eyes widen in shock when he heard that and he stopped any movements of coming toward her. She could've sworn one of his eyes were going off to the side without the other but she assumed she was just imagining things and kept her gaze fixed on the boy in front of her, waiting for him to respond to her statement.

Suddenly, he broke into a nervous grin. A small laugh escapes his lips as he reached out for her. "Ha, Serena, that's really funny-"

"Don't touch me!" She quickly shook his hands away, making him reel back in slight shock as his grin left his face. Serena glared at him, trying to get the message across to this person in front of her. "Stop trying to pretend that you're Ash! You may be good at playing his positive attitude, but I know you're not him!"

The Ash in front of her kept a straight face the whole time. "How do you know?" His voice was completely emotionless, probably trying to hide what he's feeling within.

"You told me that you forgive me for saying that you were the reason why your father left your family," she begins, her eyes never leaving him. "But I know Ash! He blames himself for his father leaving, even when it wasn't his fault," the look on his face as she thought about that time in the hallway came back in her mind, but she couldn't let it consume her, she will not show weakness in front of this imposter. "Him believing that was one thing, but to actually say that to his face is a whole other thing. He wouldn't forgive the person who said that, not so easily - at least! H-He wouldn't even forgive them that quickly even if they were his friends..."

He probably won't forgive you for years, a voice in the back of her mind spoke, but she ignored it.

"But you, you didn't even hesitate. If you were Ash, then you should've held back a bit! Because I know Ash would only say that he forgives you because that's just him, but he would never truly mean it with all pain he's going through. So stop pretending and tell me what have you done with the real Ash!"

A wave of silence washed over them. Serena kept her eyes on this imposter in front of her, waiting for him to either keep insisting that he's Ash or to reveal himself. But as the silence continues and his face remains emotionless, doubt began to make its way into her mind. What if this really was Ash? What if she was really talking to the boy she fell in love with and the only reason his eyes seemed different was because he was still angry at her? And now she might've just ruined any chances she has with him.

Then it happened.

His eyes rolled back into his head.

It wasn't like any other eye-rolling that people do to show the whites of their eyes. Normally, a person would have both of their eyes roll back in an upward position. However, with Ash, one eye did roll back in an upward position. But the other went off to the side, completely out of sync with the other as they both disappeared into his head through different places.

Serena took a step back in horror. Despite her intuition being right, she didn't suspect this to happen!

Before she fully comprehend it, Ash lunged at her.