Haunted

By Kawaii Cherry Blossom

Chapter Three

Rain

Ash’s veins pumped as he ran, the scenery flying past him. He wasn’t quite sure where he was going, or what he was going to do. All he knew was that he had to find her, had to see her safe. He tried to make himself believe that somehow, she’d gotten away and was hiding out somewhere. But something inside him, instinct maybe, told him otherwise.

“Ash!” he heard Sabrina call out once again. And once again, he ignored her.

A moment later, she appeared in front of him. As though slamming on the breaks, he jolted to a stop, an angry look crossing his face.

“What do you think you’re doing? We can’t afford to waste any time!”

“Ash, just listen to me for a second!” she pleaded, obviously becoming frustrated.

Finally, he stopped fighting, instead resorting to sighing impatiently.

“We can’t just go running around town. We don’t even know if she’s in Lavender anymore, whoever has her could’ve taken her anywhere.”

She wasn’t helping the anxiety rippling through his veins.

“Then what do you propose we do?” he asked, his patience running thinner.

“We have to find Selicia,” she replied simply, in her same monotoned voice.

“Why? What can she do?”

“If she predicted this, then she should be able to give us more information,” she explained. “For example, if she concentrates, she might be able to see the surroundings that were in her prediction.”

“So she could tell us where they are…” Ash nodded, making sense of what she was saying.

“It would be a lot quicker than running around aimlessly,” she added, and Ash nodded.

“Where do you think Selicia could be?” he asked.

“I can try to pick up her energy signal…” Sabrina said hesitantly.

“But?” he asked knowingly.

“I’ve only just started learning how to do it, so I’m not sure if it’ll work.”

“It’s worth a try though,” Ash said hurriedly, growing impatient once again. He wanted to get moving, he hated sitting around when someone was in trouble.

OoOoOoOoO

Sabrina nodded, and a moment later closed her eyes. A light blue aura surrounded her as she concentrated hard on picking up the girl’s energy signal. She was lucky that she already knew her; otherwise this wouldn’t have been possible. A minute passed and still, she couldn’t find anything. She could sense Ash was becoming more anxious. Suddenly though, something ticked over in her brain. There she was.

“She’s still in Lavender,” Sabrina said, and Ash’s head snapped to look at her.

“You’re sure?” he asked, hope filling his eyes.

“Yes.”

“Let’s go,” he said, and they took off, Sabrina leading him in the direction that the girls’ energy had come from.

OoOoOoOoO

It took them just over ten minutes to reach their destination, and sure enough, when they did, Selicia was there. She stood leaning against the wall of another small, grey building, which he guessed must have been her house. Her black hair glistened in what remained of the sunlight, which was quickly disappearing behind threatening grey clouds. When they approached her, her eyes were closed, but they could tell that she knew they were there. Ash muttered a few grateful thank you’s underneath his breath when he saw her.

“Selicia,” he stated her name simply as he moved forward, his arm outstretched and a desperate look on his face.

Her eyes snapped open and she looked afraid. Pushing away from the wall, she put her foot back and stepped carefully away from them.

“No, don’t go, please,” Ash pleaded, his eyes still desperate and his voice tangled in distress. A lump developed in his throat, and the familiar sting of tears threatened his eyes. “We need your help, please…” he continued, keeping himself together. With every second that ticked by he became more anxious, countless images of Misty in danger playing through his head like movies on a television with no ‘off’ button.

Selicia hesitated, panic still present in her eyes.

“I told you not to go there…” she murmured, her voice trembling as she shook her head.

“But we didn’t!” he quickly replied, hoping to catch her attention before she tried to run away. And he did.

“What…?”

“We were in the Lavender Hotel, I went out for a few minutes, and now she’s gone,” he explained, trying to stay calm.

“It…changed…?” she began to breathe heavily, closing her eyes as if in pain.

“Selicia,” Sabrina stepped forward as she spoke, commanding attention with her voice. Opening her eyes again, Selicia looked tired and drained of energy.

“We need you to describe the situation and the surroundings that you saw when Misty touched you,” Sabrina explained.

“I don’t…I don’t remember…”

“Yes you do. Just think back,” Sabrina’s words told her that she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

Selicia was trembling as she closed her eyes in concentration, and Ash felt sorry for her, but was so desperate to find out what she knew that he didn’t interrupt. Sabrina knew what she was doing, after all.

A few moments later, Selicia opened her eyes as a shocked look crossed her face.

“It really has changed…”

“What did you see?” Ash pleaded desperately.

Once again, Selicia hesitated, but gave in when she met Ash’s stare, and closed her eyes to watch the scene playing in her head.

“A bridge, and…a storm… He’s holding her over the edge… The sea is vicious and the waves are huge…”

Ash gasped in horror, feeling sicker with every word she spoke.

“It’s raining hard and she can’t get away, and then…” she opened her eyes as she stopped, not wanting to continue but knowing she’d be forced to.

“What? What is it?!” he hadn’t meant to yell at her, but somehow he couldn’t contain his apprehension. He just needed to know, and now. He was scared, but some part of him believed that perhaps there was some hope left, that what Selicia saw wasn’t a bad thing, and the whole situation had changed for the better.

“He drops her.”

That shred of hope disappeared, like a fire being extinguished by water. He froze, unsure of what to do or how to react. He knew he had to go, but didn’t know where or how. He heard thunder crack in the distance, and another wave of fear washed over him, soaking him in its dread.

OoOoOoOoO

The next thing he remembered was running, and running hard. His mind was ticking in fast forward as one hundred thoughts swarmed through at a time, attacking him like bee stings.

A bridge

The nearest one to here is the one that leads to Sunny Town

The storm is coming from that direction

Please let her be okay

Please don’t let her be hurt or…

Suddenly, he heard the screech of tires behind him, and whipped around to see a dark blue car pulling over beside him. He began to panic, but calmed when the window was winded down to reveal Sabrina.

“Get in,” she said seriously, and he did so.

Mindlessly, he closed the door and put on his seatbelt as she put the car in drive and sped off. He didn’t even ask where she’d got the car from, didn’t care. Thick drops of rain beat down on the windshield, obscuring Sabrina’s vision as she drove. The sky was blackening with every second, only lit up by the sparks of lightning that danced across the horizon sporadically.

There was no conversation between them. Ash guessed that she’d read his mind and knew where it was he wanted to go. He would have been freaked out by that but right now he could care less. There was just one person on his mind, and that was Misty. He felt immense guilt at the fact that he’d left her alone. He should have stayed with her, should have known better than to be so careless. Though he knew that Misty could take care of herself, he also knew that fate could get in the way of that. He was afraid for her, and couldn’t face the possibility that she was hurt. So, he tried not to think about it, instead concentrating on the scenery whipping past them like a video in fast forward.

OoOoOoOoO

Misty creaked her eyes open. They felt so heavy that the simple task of opening them became that much harder. She was confused, and right away, she panicked. First because her mouth was covered with some kind of material, then because she was tied up, and then because she had no idea where she was. Groaning, she glanced around. She was inside some kind of wherehouse. Wooden crates lay around her, and she sat leaning against one, her arms and feet tied together tightly. All she could see were boxes and empty space, this looked like a storage room more than anything else, but…

What is this… Where am I…?

A crack of thunder and the sound of rain told her that there was storm outside. To the left of her was a window, and as she glanced outside, she noticed it was dark. The only thing lighting up the sky was a flash of lightning, that flashed like a light, on and off, a moment later.

Wait… If it’s dark, how long have I been here? Where is Ash…? Why am I tied up?

Panicked, she searched through her memories to find an answer, but she couldn’t. Until a few moments later, when it all came flooding back to her.

A smash through the window

She didn’t recognise the man, it had all happened too quickly

He’d jumped through and pinned her down, and pressed something against her mouth

But that was all she remembered.

Her eyes filled with tears at the uncertainty of the situation. Who had brought her here? She guessed it had something to do with Selicia’s prediction, but she had told them that something would happen when they got to Saffron. And she’d also told them that she was going to die…

Wriggling, she attempted to find a way to rid herself of the ropes that binded her, and tried to make a sound through the bind over her mouth. But it was no use, she could neither move or make a sound.

“You’re awake,” she heard a deep voice, and her head snapped up in fear. Her heart was beating fast, and her breaths were sharp, as she looked up into the eyes of...

What…?

“Hello, Miss Waterflower,” he said, his voice full of malice and his eyes full of hate.

Slowly, he walked forward and bent down in front of her. It was definitely him, she knew it for sure. He’d gotten older but he still looked the same, he still had eyes like she’d had, a brilliant blue. But his were dark now, their former brightness replaced.

“You’ve grown into a beautiful woman,” he commented, his voice staying low and his expression the same. “Just like she would have been…”

Misty stared up at him, terror in her eyes. She wriggled her hands and looked at him pleadingly, but he just laughed wickedly.

“It’s your fault it happened,” he said a moment later, his voice cold, like ice. “It’s your fault she’s dead. She could have done so much with her life, but thanks to you that won’t happen!” he was getting louder as he kept talking, growing angrier with every word he spoke.

Misty’s eyes filled with tears as her mind filled with memories. It had happened so long ago, but she could remember it so vividly in her mind. Every feeling, every emotion, it was always there, inside of her. She hadn’t ever properly helped herself to dispel all that was bottled up inside. She’d never talked to anyone about it, just kept it there, lying dormant.

‘But it wasn’t my fault…’ she wanted to say. ‘There was nothing I could do to save her…’

“Don’t cry,” he said, standing up and taking a step back. “I’m going to help you. I’m going to help you to repent for what you did, what you caused. I’ll help…”

He walked away then, leaving Misty to cry tears of fear, helplessness, horror. She was facing death, she knew. She was trembling violently, and though she knew it was useless, she tried to scream once again.

But the only sound she heard was the pounding of the increasingly heavy rain, beating down on the roof.

To be continued…

Sorry! I know that’s a terrible place to stop (for you anyway :P). I really hope you’re liking it so far! I’ve said before that I don’t usually write in this genre so I hope it’s working...heh.

Review if you have any comments! I really appreciate them, good or bad. :)

Love and light,

Sarah.