A/N: AH! You guys would not believe the struggle I had with the second-to-last chapter! I exit the chapter so I can get to my editor, but then I realized it didn't save all the progress I had so I had to rewrite it all back! The next thing was that when I was about to publish it. For some reason, my main computer is having a problem with DeviantArt and I couldn't publish the darn thing. So, that was my day today. But good news, one more chapter left for me to do and I'm going to be posting the rest of the chapters on Saturday after the epilogue! Wahoo!

thor94: Don't worry, you'll get to see Ash being torture in the next chapter. That's a promise.

Alex Ho: Thank you! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Ritsu: Oh, thank you very much! I guess I can understand your point because I can't help but see the traits you described in some of the fanfiction I read and that's not how I exactly view Serena. She's not the type of person who I imagined to be expressive on being upset that she didn't get what she wanted, mostly because I know she truly does love Ash and that she admires and respect him very much so to put his own needs before her. Besides, that's how I view someone's love to another; they be willing to give everything up for the person you love. And who said Bonnie was out of the danger zone? ;)

Sapphiria: XD Well, if I ever do make an announcement on the series, you'll be the first to know. ;) Um, I don't really think so. Mostly because of two reasons; I never actually imagined Serena to be someone that gets possessed. The reason why I had Ash be the unlucky person because its easier to imagine him to be possessed, you can blame Hoopa and Pokélantis for imprinting that in my mind. The second reason was when I first started with the concept of The Thing, I never imagined it to be a connected story. Mostly because its horror and most of the elements that I wanted for my first horror are already there so... *Shrugs*

Serena walked down the grand staircase, doing her best just to focus on the way her feet moved and not on the sound of Ash screaming behind her. No matter how bad she wanted to stay and help him, she knew that the best way she can help him was finding Maya Lewis and have her convince Tommy to leave Ash and let them free from this horrid house. But she decided to tell the others of what her plan was - she knows enough from horror movies that she should never stray far from the group when there's ghost in the house.

When she arrived at the living room she was greeted by the sight of Clemont comforting a shaken Bonnie.

"Now, Bonnie, it's going to be okay," the older sibling said softly.

"He's suffering, Clemont!" Bonnie cried, looking more like a little girl that the older kids have ever seen. "We didn't believe him and now he's suffering because of us! He probably hates us for everything we've done to him!"

"Bonnie, you know that's not true!" Clemont told her sternly. "No matter what, Ash would never bring himself to hate anybody. Besides, you said he saved you right?"

She sniffed. "Y-Yeah..."

"So that means he doesn't hate you, Bonnie! If he really did blame you for everything that happened why would he want to help you?"

"B-Because he still cares..."

"That's right! If he were here right now, I bet he would tell you himself that he doesn't blame you for everything that's happening to him."

Although those words were meant to make Bonnie feel better about the whole situation, it only made Serena feel worse about herself because she knew that Ash did blame her for what's happening to him; she drove Ash passed his sanity line and he became vulnerable to possession. She wondered if Ash was silently blaming her for the pain he's going through right now.

"Serena, we didn't see you there," she looked up when the siblings finally noticed her. "How's Ash?" Clemont asked.

She shrugs helplessly. "Well, he was awake. But then, Tommy came back and he wasn't really the person I wanted to talk to." She decided to leave out the fact that Ash was currently fighting for control as they speak, they already have enough on their plates for right now and there wasn't much they could do for Ash right now until she tells them her plan.

Her words brought Bonnie's mood down. "So, is there really nothing we can do for him?"

This gave Serena the chance she was looking for. "Actually, I think I know a way we can help."

So she explained everything regarding Maya Lewis; like how her own spirit could possibly be roaming the house just like any other spirits that were trapped within the household and how she may be the only person that Tommy would be willing to listen to because she's the reason he's doing all of this in the first place. Her words were enough to make Clemont rub his chin in thought.

"I'll admit, that does sound like a good idea," he said after a while. "However, I do see some flaws in your plan; how do we know Maya would be willing to help? You saw what happened with Ash when he encountered all the other spirits and it has been a long time - from what I could see - since Maya wrote that diary. How can we be sure if she hasn't been corrupted since then? Not to mention we don't even know where to look for her since this place is like a gigantic maze!"

Hearing all of this made Serena's own mood deflate; those were the exact same words that Ash told her when she first gave out her plan. Some part of her thought that if she had other people to agree with her plan then she would have the "okay" to go through with it. But if other people think it's too risky then she knew she shouldn't do it without risking the lives of her friends.

Clemont must have sensed her mood and leaned closer to whisper, "I really do think it's a good idea but Bonnie's already scared enough as it is. What if Maya turned into those ghosts that Ash encountered? You saw what happened to him, imagine what Bonnie would be like if she encounters one of those spirits."

Oh... What in the world was she thinking? She should have known that it would be a bad idea to encounter a ghost - even if it was Maya Lewis - after seeing what it put Ash through moments before he was possessed. She tried to imagine Bonnie in Ash's place and was immediately disgusted with herself. She couldn't risk Bonnie's well-being for Ash's freedom, Ash wouldn't want her too.

"So, there really is no way we can help Ash?" Serena couldn't help but ask herself even though the others heard it, her hopeless attitude made her miss the uncomfortable look in Clemont's eyes.

"Actually, I do have one possible solution to this problem," his words brought suspicious attention from the girls.

"Hey, since when were you have been an expert on ghosts?" Bonnie asked accusingly. She knew her brother was far from a believer, often telling her to not let her head "get into the clouds" when she mentions ghosts, so what made him change his mind?

Her questions were answered when she saw Clemont pull out a familiar book that she hasn't seen in a long while.

Her eyes narrow. "Hey! Isn't that the book about ghosts dad was supposed to get me for my birthday?"

"I may or may not have snuck it away from him before he could put in the box," Clemont admits sheepishly but immediately become defensive when he saw the look his sister was giving him. "Don't look at me like that, Bonnie! How was I suppose to know ghosts were real and dad's support on your fascination for the supernatural was going a little too far for my liking?!"

"Why you-!"

"Guys!" The two siblings put their feud on hold when Serena's voice broke through it. "Can't this wait after we free Ash from the evil spirit?"

Bonnie relented, though she was pouting while crossing her little arms - in a strange way, it was refreshing to know that Bonnie's sassy attitude was slowly returning from all the terror she's been through tonight.

Serena turned back to Clemont. "You were saying?"

He nodded before he opened the book and skimmed through a few pages before he got to the one he wanted. "After I confiscated this from dad, I'll admit, I did some reading on it just out of curiosity but I never imagine it to be extremely helpful until I saw Ash being the way that he was. I guess I owe dad an apology when I see him again..."

"Is there anything that can help us get Tommy out of Ash?" Serena asked as she took a step closer to look at the book more closely.

"Well, no," Clemont admits. "But I think I found a way to get rid of Tommy once and for all. The book says that if we were to find the body of Tommy Lewis, throw salt all over his bones and burn it, Tommy's spirit will be able to pass over and Ash will finally be release from him."

"Salt?" Serena asked. "I think I got some in my bag for cooking."

"That'll do, I also think I got a lighter in my backpack for lighting a fire at camp," Clemont's face then turns into a frown. "Although, I'm not sure if this plan will work since we have no idea if Tommy's body is even in the house and we can't exactly leave it either. But even if it is here, we've already been through almost the entirety of the house and we haven't seen a single body that looks like Tommy."

Serena would have agreed with him if her mind didn't turn to the locked door back in that torture room. At first, she thought it was just a supply closet full of weapons for Tommy to use as a way to kill his victims. However, some part or was curious about what was behind that door since Ash looked very uncomfortable going into the torture room before but at the time she thought it was because of the possibility of her finding Pikachu in the room. Maybe Ash was more worried about her finding something else in there?

"Actually, there's one place we haven't check yet," seeing the sibling's confused looks she continues. "Back in the room where we found you, Bonnie, there was this door in the back that I noticed when I was with Ash looking for Pikachu. It was locked so I couldn't figure out what was behind it. But Ash did seem pretty nervous about going into the room so I bet you Tommy's body must be behind that door."

Clemont took a moment to think through that. "The possibility of that being true is very likely, that I'll say." He admits before finally nodding. "Alright, I'll go with your idea, Serena."

"Me too!" Bonnie cried with her voice full of confidence. Something that made Serena smile herself once it began to fill her bloodstream.

Because she knows that one way or another, they're going to save Ash.

She saw them formulate their plan, it was sort of nice to see such fresh minds holding onto the hope that they can save their friend from him. Maybe if she had the same hope fifty years ago, she would have stopped this whole mess from happening to these children like it did with the others.

But she didn't.

Because she was a coward.

She was so afraid of confronting the person that she didn't recognize that she let the fact of her not being able to show herself physically take over. She let herself hid while he continues to kill anyone that he thought could help him. Why did she let herself do this to both of them?

Maybe it was because she didn't see him but the person who started all of this in the first place.

What did he have to be so trusting?

She was about to walk away from them when she heard it.

A scream.

Coming from the boy who's going through the worst of all of this.

She has seen the hosts fight back every now and then, but it never lasts and the host will eventually disappear, their bodies becoming empty shells of their former selves.

But this boy was still fighting back as hard as he could just to protect his friends but not without submitting himself to an endless amount of torture. She has never seen someone so willing to go through an agonizing experience even after everything he's been through. It made her admire the kid but hearing him scream like this made her draw the line in the sand.

She didn't care if she was going to face a monster that she's been hiding from for a long time, she was tired of being afraid.

But first, she needs to make a quick visit downstairs.