Haunted
By Kawaii Cherry
Blossom
Notes: The
song ‘Dare You To Move’ is owned by Switchfoot and their record company.
Chapter 2
Smash
The flickering amber flames of fire sparkled as
it burned in the fireplace of the small room that Ash and Misty had rented to stay
in. It was the only hotel in town, consisting of ten very old rooms that each
had two beds, a bathroom, a fireplace, a TV and a few cooking facilities. Not
much, but it suited them alright and sheltered them from the cool air outside. A
tear trickled down Misty’s face but she quickly wiped
it away, her eyes fixed on the burning flames. Her eyes drooped slightly, but
there was no way she could go to sleep. Memories of the past flooded back into
her mind and cut at her like a knife piercing the skin. But how had that girl
known? She knew about
“Misty,
what are you still doing awake?” she heard a soft, sleepy voice say. Turning
her head around, she saw Ash standing behind her, dressed in black track pants
and a blue t-shirt. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, before moving forward to sit
down beside his female companion. They sat in silence for a few moments, the
crackling of the flames the only thing that could be heard.
“It’s
nothing, I just couldn’t sleep…” she said quietly, but the tone of her voice
wasn’t so convincing.
“Misty,
I’ve known you for what, eight years now? Do you really think I’m going to buy
such an obvious lie?” he said, his tone humourous but
he was deadly serious.
“It’s just…
I’m kind of freaked out by what that girl said…” she told him. Turning her head
for a moment, she looked into his eyes and he could see the worry in hers.
“You are?
What…do you think she was for real?”
“I don’t know…”
“What makes
you think she might be?”
“I don’t
know…”
“Do you
really not know?” he asked, and she didn’t reply as she turned and stared
straight ahead.
“Misty, is
there something you’re not telling me here?”
Misty
looked down for a moment, and a few orange strands of
hair fell out of their loose ponytail and cascaded across her cheeks.
“No,” she
replied simply.
“Really?”
“Ash, why
are you pressing this? If someone came up to you and told you that you were
going to die, wouldn’t you be a little afraid?” she said, slightly angry at him
though she knew he was only asking because he cared. There were some things,
however, that she just couldn’t share with him.
He paused
for a moment to stare at her. Was she lying? Probably.
Misty had always been incredibly good at hiding anything that pained her.
“Well…I’ll
tell you what. Since we’re in Lavender, we’ll go and do some research. I mean,
if this girl is for real then people would probably know about it, or there
would be things in newspapers. Don’t they have a huge library in town?” he
replied. Misty nodded.
“Yeah,
there is.”
“Alright,
then it’s settled. Tomorrow we’ll go and see what we can find out. Does that
make you feel better?” he asked caringly. Once again, she nodded, though she
did feel better about it.
“Good…” he
said softly.
Misty
sighed slightly then, her shoulders hunching over in tiredness as her eyes
drooped again. He glanced at her for a moment and knew for sure that there was
something more to the situation. Misty was never this serious without a reason.
“Misty,” he
said, his voice smooth like a soft breeze. She turned her head to look at him.
“Yeah?”
“I would never let anything happen to you,” he
said, and she nodded, still keeping her eyes on his. The honesty in his eyes
had always amazed her. She’d never known such a sincere person as Ash. His eyes
were like windows to his heart.
She felt
like crying then, letting her emotions pour out and telling him everything,
about
“Are you
okay?” he asked, putting a hand on her left shoulder. She paused for a moment,
and then nodded. Glancing his way, she gave him a slight smile before turning
back to the flames.
Misty looked up at the huge stone
building that was the Lavender Town Library, renowned for its huge history
collection. She was nervous, he could tell, because she was fiddling with her
silver necklace.
“I don’t
remember the last time I went in a library,” Ash said sheepishly, though he was
serious. Misty glanced at him, an eyebrow raised, but
didn’t say anything as he smirked back. Shaking her head, she walked forward
through the huge wooden doors that formed the entrance. The inside of the
library seemed just as gloomy as the whole town. The walls were grey, as was
the furniture. She could see one person reading a newspaper to the left of her,
but other than that the only people around were the ones that worked there.
“So, where
do we start?” Ash asked as he came up behind her.
“Well…maybe
we should ask someone,” she suggested as she glanced around, before spotting a
girl with a badge on. She was putting books back onto the shelf as they
approached her.
“Excuse
me,” Misty said, and the girl turned, a smile on her face. That must have been
the first smile they’d seen since they’d entered Lavender. Her badge indicated
that her name was Mandy.
“We’re looking
for information on local events and people. Do you know where we should look?”
Misty asked politely. The girl nodded, pushing a few strands of black hair off
of her face.
“You should
try the computers. There’s a software program that has all of our newspaper
records stored. That would be the best place to start off,” she explained. “Our
computers are just to the right of the counter, over there,” she explained as
she pointed. “Just use ‘visitor’ as your user name and password. To get to the
records, click on the newspaper icon on the desktop.”
“Okay,
thanks,” Misty smiled slightly, and Mandy nodded, before turning back to the
shelves.
That
feeling of nervousness grew within Misty as she made her way to the computers,
Ash following behind her. In a way, she didn’t want to even attempt to find
information on this girl, but she knew she had to.
Both Ash and Misty sat down at a computer each,
and logged in.
“Mist, what
do I do?” Ash asked her, half whining as he stared at the screen blankly.
Rolling her eyes, Misty smirked as she pointed to the icon of a rolled up
newspaper.
“Double-click
on that,” she said, and he did so. She did the same on her own computer, and
was greeted with an image of the ‘
Ignoring
Ash as he banged on the keyboard, she brought up a search and typed in
‘Selicia’.
“Misty,
it’s not working!” Ash whined as pressed a few random keys.
“Misty, I
think I broke it…” he added a few moments later. “Nothing is
moving...seriously…”
“I found
something,” Misty cut him off as she stared at the headline of the newspaper
article, dated the thirteenth of March, two years ago.
“Really?”
Ash asked as he scooted his chair closer to her. “What is it?”
“Young Girl
Predicts Accident,” she read the headline. Next to it there was a photo of,
sure enough, a slightly younger looking Selicia.
“You’re
joking…” Ash said as stared at the screen.
“Witnesses
reported the teenager, later found to be 14-year-old Selicia Adams, as frantic
as she screamed for somebody to call emergency services,” Misty read, dread
seeping through her voice. “‘She was panicked, and screamed out that there was
going to be a car accident,’ a witness told The Press. Just minutes later, a
car came screeching around the corner before it slammed head-first into
another…”
Ash was
silent as Misty stopped reading, and stared straight ahead. The colour drained from her face, and her hands were shaking as
she closed the program, causing Selicia’s photo to
disappear from sight.
“That is so
weird…” Ash spoke, now feeling a sudden force of fear inside.
“Then it’s
true…”
“Misty…”
“No, Ash,
she’s right. If I go to Saffron, I’ll die,” she said, facing him. She was
panicked now, dread rising up within her as her fears became reality. He looked
into her eyes worriedly, and then placed a hand on her arm softly.
“Don’t
worry Misty, you know you’re safe with me here,” he said, but she wasn’t
reassured.
“You mean
you think we should go?” she asked, her eyes questioning him incredously.
Ash glanced
around. Their conversation seemed so loud in the silence that adorned their
surroundings.
“Let’s go
outside,” he said as he stood up. He beckoned her to follow, and she did, still
shaking and fearing that he really wanted to go to Saffron.
They walked back through the library until they
got outside. Clouds barred any light from the sky. Not that they’d expected
anything else.
“Ash, are
you seriously saying we should go?” she said, her angry
voice wavering as she stopped walking and stood on the spot.
He turned,
glancing at the ground before looking back up at her. His face was serious, he
had the sort of look that he wore when he was worried about one of his Pokémon,
or when he was thinking about a battle strategy.
“I think we
should go and talk to Sabrina,” he said.
“But she’s
in Saffron!” Misty replied, still panic-stricken.
“I know,
but she’s the only person who can help us…”
“She can’t
help us if I’m dead!”
“Misty,
don’t talk like that!”
“Ash,
you’re acting like you don’t even care that I’m in serious trouble here!” she
yelled at him, her eyes blazing with fear.
“Of course
I care! I can’t believe you’d even think that! I’m trying to help!” he
retorted.
Misty kept
her eyes on him for a few moments, before turning and walking a few steps to a
stretch of grass. Sitting down, she brought her knees up to her chin and closed
her eyes. He glanced at her worriedly, and a few moments later, went to sit
beside her.
He didn’t
say anything, but instead waited for her to tell him to get lost. A minute
later, he was surprised to find that she hadn’t.
“Misty…”
“I’m really
scared, Ash…” she cut him off, and he could tell she was on the verge of tears.
“Hey, it’s
okay...”
“No it’s
not…”
“I’m going
to protect you,” he said. “I promise. Don’t you believe me?”
She turned
her head and a tear streamed down her left cheek.
“What if
you can’t?”
“That’s not
going to happen.”
“You don’t
know that, Ash.”
He sighed
defeatedly. Deep down he knew she was right. His pride told him that he should
stand up for her, or at least try. But the risk was too great. He could never
face losing her.
“Life was a
lot better when it was simpler, wasn’t it?” he said, his voice soft.
She didn’t
reply, but he went on anyway.
“When we
were kids, all we had to worry about was Team Rocket stealing our Pokémon. And
even that wasn’t anything to stress about.”
Misty
stopped herself from sighing. She wished her childhood had been that simple. If
only Ash knew…
He paused
for a few moments, taking a moment to reflect on his past memories as he looked
up at the looming, grey sky.
“Come on,
let’s go,” he said moments later as he stood up. Looking down at Misty, he
offered her a hand.
“Where?”
“I have a
plan,” he said with a slight smile. His eyes told the truth as usual, and she
found herself taking his hand and letting him pull her up.
“Alright,
let’s hear it,” she said as they started walking away from the Library.
“Well,
since it’s too dangerous for us to go to Saffron, why don’t I ask Sabrina to
come here?”
“Do you
think she’d have time? I mean, she’s a busy gym leader.”
“I’m sure
she could squeeze us in. And it’s not like she has travel time to worry about
really,” he replied with a smirk.
“I guess… Do
you really think she can help?”
“Sure. She
knows everything about psychic abilities and telepathy, after all.”
Misty
glanced down at the ground, thinking. This could really work. And if she stayed
away from Saffron, she wouldn’t be in any danger. Glancing back up at him, she
nodded.
“Alright,
let’s see what happens then…”
He gave her
a smile, glad that she agreed, when suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks. A
look of terror crossed her face as she whipped around, looking sharply into the
distance.
“Misty,
what’s wrong?” he asked, confused.
“Do you
feel that?”
“Feel
what?”
No reply
came as she continued to glance around, but a sigh soon followed as she let
down her defenses a few moments later.
“I guess it
was nothing,” she said as she turned back around. “I just felt like someone was
watching us.”
“Are you
alright?” he asked, worried.
“Yeah,
fine,” she lied, and she could tell he didn’t buy it. “Let’s go…”
Misty was relieved to arrive back at their
cabin. Sure, it was as dull as the rest of the town but at least it had a TV to
project a bit of colour into all the grey. Misty sat
on the edge of her bed and turned the TV on. MTV erupted onto the screen in a colourful daze one second later. Satisfied, she sat back
against her pillow.
Ash walked
over and sat on the edge of the bed with two glasses of water, before handing
her one.
“Thanks,”
she said as she took it. “So when are we gonna call Sabrina?”
“Well
actually…I’m going to call Sabrina,
right now…”
“How? We
don’t have a phone in here.”
“I’m going
to go down to the Pokémon Centre and use their video phone,” he replied.
“Okay, I’ll
come with you…” she proceeded to sit up.
“No,” he
cut her off. Pausing, she glanced up at his serious face.
“I think
you should stay here, where you’ll be safe. I’ll go and be back in fifteen
minutes tops, hopefully with Sabrina.”
“Oh,
alright…” she replied, nodding. He studied her face for a moment then, trying
to figure out how she was feeling about the situation, but not surprisingly, he
couldn’t tell.
“Just stay
inside, and don’t open the door if anyone knocks,” he told her, and she nodded.
“Sure.”
“Okay,
well…I’ll see you soon,” he said and then made his way to the door. Putting his
hand on the knob, he went to turn it but paused, as if he wanted to say
something. And he did, but logic told him that he shouldn’t. No, he shouldn’t.
Ash turned
the knob and stepped outside, before closing the door. A feeling of edginess
was welling up within him, but he put it down to concern. Misty was safe in the
room, so he didn’t have to worry about that. All he had to do now was convince
Sabrina to come…
The Lavender Town Pokémon Centre was
small, and like all of the other buildings in town, a grey stone building. He
walked through the doors and up to the counter, and sure enough, he was greeted
by a Nurse Joy.
“Welcome to
the Lavender Town Pokémon Centre,” she said chirpily, and Ash wondered how she
could be so happy all the time when she worked in a place like this.
“Hi,” Ash
said. “Can I please use your phone?”
“Sure,” she
replied and pointed to the right. “It’s just in the corner over there.”
He nodded
and walked over to it. It was an old video phone, like the type they had when
he was a kid, but it would do. Pulling his small leather address book out of
his pocket, he flipped through the pages until he found the number for the
“This is the Saffron City Gym, how may I help
you?” a young girl with dark purple hair appeared on the screen two rings
later.
“Hi, may I
please speak to Sabrina?” he asked politely.
“Sabrina’s
very busy at the moment…”
“Please,
it’s an emergency,” he told her, a desperate look in his eyes. “She’s an old
friend of mine; just tell her it’s Ash Ketchum.”
“Oh,
alright then…” the girl looked unsure. “Just hold the line, I’ll put you
through.”
“Thank you
so much,” he said, and she nodded, giving him a smile.
“No
problem.”
The screen
went black for a few seconds as the phone rang through. A few seconds later, a
stressed looking Sabrina appeared. She looked much the same, with her dark
green hair and deep purple eyes. Her black jacket made them appear even more
intense.
“Hello…oh,
hi Ash!” she said, looking very surprised.
“Hey
Sabrina, it’s been a while…” he replied. “How are you?”
“Right now,
don’t ask, there’s so much going on over here,” she said with a slight laugh.
“Oh…”
“What about
you? What have you been up to? And how come you’re calling?” she finally asked,
and he sighed.
“Well,
actually, we’re in a bit of trouble, and I was wondering if you could help… But
if you’re too busy…”
“Ash, you
practically saved my life all those years ago,” she cut him off. “So what’s
wrong? How can I help you?”
He smiled
at her gratefully, relief rushing through him as he heard the words.
“Well…have
you heard of a girl called Selicia Adams?” he asked, and didn’t like the look
on her face when she heard him.
“Yes, I
have… Why?”
“The other
day, we met her, and she said something that freaked us out…” he said slowly. “She
told us that if Misty goes to
Sabrina
gasped, much to Ash’s dismay.
“Where are
you now, Ash?” she asked hurriedly.
“The
Lavender Town Pokémon Centre,” he replied. “Our next stop is
Nodding,
Sabrina looked worried.
“Alright,
hang up the phone and I’ll be right there.”
He nodded
and did so.
Less than
thirty seconds later, she appeared in front of him.
“You have no idea how much it means
that you could come,” Ash said as he and Sabrina walked quickly back to the
hotel.
“As I said,
Ash, I owe you,” she replied with a slight smile, as if she were remembering
the day when he’d freed her from the hold that her psychic powers had over her.
“So how do
you know Selicia?” Ash asked seriously.
“Her father
brought her to me a few years back, asking whether I could help her to control
her powers. As you suspected, she does have the power to predict the future,”
she explained. “Tell me, did Misty touch the girl at all?”
“Actually…she
did,” Ash replied after a moment of thought. “Selicia seemed really hesitant,
like she wouldn’t come near us. But Misty leant down to touch her hand and
that’s when she went all weird.”
“Right,
Selicia gets visions of people’s futures when she’s touched by that person.”
“So that’s
why she didn’t want to come near us…” Ash realised,
and Sabrina nodded.
“What do
you think we should do?” Ash asked.
“We have to
take Misty to Selicia and get Selicia to look into her future again,” she said.
“Her future could have changed, or it might be the same. If it is the same,
Selicia will be able to tell us exactly what she sees. That way, we might be
able to figure out who is after her. We may then have a chance of turning the
events around.”
“Alright,
that sounds like a plan.”
As they
came up to the hotel, Ash took the key out of his jeans pocket.
“Well, here
we are.”
He could
hear the music still coming from inside.
“Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone’s here
Everyone’s here
Everybody’s watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next?
What happens next?”
After
turning the key in the lock, he pushed through the door into the room.
Expecting to see Misty still sitting on the bed, he was surprised when she
wasn’t there.
“Misty?” he
called out, thinking she might be in the bathroom.
But no, the
door to the bathroom was open.
Dread
washed over him, shocking him like freezing cold water.
“Misty?!”
he called once again as he tore through the room and into the bathroom. Sure
enough, it was empty. He walked back out, and noticed Sabrina staring at the
window.
“Ash…” she
pointed at it, fear in her voice.
The glass
was cracked, the hole big enough for someone to fit through.
“I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before.”
“Oh God…”
Ash moaned. “Someone’s come in here…” he ran over to inspect the window. A
brick lay outside, obviously having been used to smash through it. Shards of
glass both inside and outside, and as he was glancing down, something shiny
caught his eye.
He leant
down to pick it up, feeling as if the shards of glass on the ground were
slicing through his sole.
In his
hand, he held the silver necklace he’d given Misty for her eighteenth birthday.
Squeezing it into his hand, he put it into his pocket and stalked over to the
door.
“We have to
go.”
“Wait,
where?” Sabrina asked. He put his hand on the door.
“To find
her!” he yelled, anxiety falling out of his voice like a waterfall.
“Wait,
Ash…”
“No, we
can’t wait!” he turned, and his eyes burned with panic. “I promised Misty that
I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I gave her my word! She could be hurt or
in danger or…” he stopped then, breathing heavily as he faced the brick wall
that was reality.
“We have to
go, now…” he said, and walked out of the door.
“I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened before…”
To be continued…