Haunted
By Kawaii Cherry Blossom
For the people reading on fanfiction.net – I’m sorry
about the paragraphing. For some reason it always gets cut out when I post
anything. I’ve put in OoOoO breaks between parts but
the paragraphs will seem close together. I’m sorry!!
Chapter Four
Face the
Nightmare
Throughout his entire life, Ash could not remember a
time when he had been this afraid. He had encountered endless terrors on his
journeys, from huge, threatening Pokémon to extreme weather, but nothing greeted
him with as much horror as was pent up within him at that moment. This time, it
was personal. This time, the life of his best friend, the person he loved most
in the world, was in his hands.
At that thought, he glanced down at his hands. They
were trembling, just another reminder of how terrified he was. Gulping, he
tried to slow his breaths and calm himself down. He could face this, he told
himself. Misty would be fine, he was
going to save her. He was going to
see her again.
A fresh gust of rain pelted down upon the windscreen
of the car. Sabrina pushed turned the lever to the left of the steering wheel,
causing the wipers to dash back and forth across the screen frantically. Each
swipe seemed to increase Ash’s anxiousness, the sound seeming to become louder
and louder with each movement. Or maybe he was just imagining things.
“How are you holding up, Ash?” Sabrina had obviously
sensed his discomfort.
“I…I’m fine, just worried about Misty…” he stammered a
reply, not sounding very confident.
“Do you have a plan?”
“I don’t even know what to expect.”
She didn’t reply, but instead concentrated on keeping
the car on its belly as they rounded a sharp corner. The tires screeched and
the passenger side lifted into the air before it finally hit the ground,
bouncing as Sabrina put her foot on the pedal harder and the car steamed forward.
“We’re almost there, just another few minutes,” she
told him, and he felt both relieved and more nervous.
oOoOoO
Misty’s anxious sobs were muffled
through the cloth that covered her mouth. Her head spun with fear. She had no
idea of what was about to happen to her. The storm didn’t seem to be slowing,
not helping the situation. She could hear rain pelting down upon the room of
the van she had been thrown into the back of. Still tied up, she was helpless
and could barely move, except for being thrown across the cabin as her captor
drove speedily and very carelessly. They had stopped now, but she had no idea
where they were. There was no window to see out of, only darkness met her
desperate, pleading gaze.
I didn’t
mean for her to get hurt… It couldn’t save her, it was impossible… But…I didn’t even try… What
kind of friend am I?
Her small breaths were raspy, her throat dry. Even if
her mouth wasn’t covered, she doubted she would be able to scream. And who
would hear her?
Her mind kept drifting to all of the things she would
miss out on if he were to kill her. She had her whole life ahead of her, and so
many plans and dreams. She would never see her friends or her family again, her
sisters, Brock, Ash…
Ash... Why hadn’t she ever told him that she like, no,
loved him? Love. It was a powerful word, she knew, but
she had no doubt in her mind that the feelings she had towards her best friend
were just that. She longed for him to be beside her, holding her tightly and
promising that she would never have to fear anything again. Closing her eyes,
she tried to imagine him there, but couldn’t escape the reality that she was
tied to. Emptiness filled her heart, and she felt alone. Her worst fear…was to
be alone.
oOoOoO
A light. Ash’s heart leapt at the
slightly familiar setting of a small room, sitting on the side of the road just
before the bridge leading to
“Please, is there somebody in there?!” Ash called
desperately. Each second that he heard or saw no response
shattered and beat his already broken soul. Finally, though, a man in a
blue uniform came to the window.
Looking both surprised and suspicious to see anyone
there, he narrowed his eyebrows at Ash as he opened the window a few centimetres.
“What are you doing here, kid? You’re getting
drenched!”
Ash had barely noticed.
“Please, can you open the gate? I need to get on the
bridge, you have to hurry,” he pleaded.
“Sorry kid, no can do. The bridge was just closed off because
of the storm. You can’t go through.”
“No, you don’t understand!” he was yelling now; his
tears mixed with the rain as they poured down his cheeks, soaking his face. “My
friend is in danger, I have to get on the bridge!”
Complete devastation invaded Ash, then, as the guard
shook his head and muttered an apology. Ash guessed that he was about to offer
some sort of alternative solution, but he didn’t bother to hear him out, and
instead raced back to the car.
Clambering in, he kneeled on the passenger seat,
soaking it with the water that he was drenched in. He was panicky now,
trembling with both fear and determination, though his eyes were desperate.
“He won’t open the bridge,” he stated, his words
clambering over one another as he tried to speak faster than he could. Then, he
backed out of the car, standing up outside as the rain washed over him.
“Ash!” Sabrina called. “Don’t
even think about it! You can’t go alone!”
“I can’t wait. If something happens to her I’ll die,”
he had to yell over the rain and rumble of thunder that cracked through the
sky. “Call the police, tell them to get here as quick as they can! Please, understand, I can’t sit here and wait!”
Though she looked reluctant to let him go, Sabrina
knew that she was beaten, and that nothing was going to stop him from running
off.
“Be careful,” she told him calmly as she nodded, and
he nodded back in understanding.
One second later, he was off, heading towards the
bridge with a speed that could only have been driven by his longing to see
Misty safe.
“Hey, you!” the guard called out, and busted through
the door of the small room.
Sabrina turned her head towards him. Her eyes glowed
blue as he was lifted into the air and sent back into the cabin.
oOoOoO
“Please, let me go!” Misty shrieked, tears gathering
in her eyes, as he removed the bind around her mouth.
“There’s no use in screaming, no one can hear you in
this storm,” the man warned, his twisted smile baring
down on her as she struggled.
Letting out a sob, Misty tried to control herself and
pull her emotions together. She barely had a chance, though, as he pulled her
up forcefully and tugged her, like a rag doll, out of the back of the van.
Again, she tried to struggle, but her attempts were
feeble and pointless, as he dragged her to the side of the road, to the rails
of the bridge. Instantly, she wondered why someone hadn’t made those rails
higher.
He had a tight grip on her thin arm, and she felt like
he was going to snap it as he waved her around carelessly, before holding her
still, over the rail.
Misty glanced down in horror at the scene below. Waves
rose up and crashed down with mighty force, pulling the ocean’s water in the
direction they traveled. Sharp rocks protruded up from the seabed, looming
dangerously below. She was sure to die, if not by the rocks then by the ocean,
which the storm had turned into a deathbed capable of killing the strongest
swimmer. Not even the Pokemon in the ocean could save
her, for they would all be hibernating, waiting for the storm to pass so that
they could live in safety.
It was ironic, really, that she was about to be killed
by the one thing that she had always felt most empowered by. The ocean had
always been her friend, something that she could relate to, but now it was
about to end her life.
Barely able to breathe, Misty couldn’t scream anymore.
Her throat was dry and her eyes the very picture of terror, her pupils frozen
as she glanced down at the hell that awaited her.
“Please…” she choked out feebly.
She was greeted by laughter, maniacal laughter, as the
man roughly grabbed hold of her other arm and spun her so that they were facing
each other.
“Don’t say you didn’t deserve this,” he hissed
viciously, as if he were trying to kill her with his words. “
oOoOoO
Ash cursed the fact that he didn’t
have any of his Pokémon with him, having left them at the Pokémon Centre before
Misty was kidnapped. He wasn’t at all certain on his plan to get her back,
another burden of fear that encompassed him with its pressure. He wished that
the rain would back off, but instead it seemed to be getting heavier. Each gust
of wind blew it into his face and body, each drop carrying the pain and force
of a single ice beam. It was dark on the bridge, the
lights appeared to be either not on or not working.
Trying not to think about it, but
instead focus on his goal, he pressed ahead, trying to see through the darkness
and the sheets of rain bucketing down, obscuring his vision.
Suddenly, he noticed a black van
parked on the side of the road. It was almost invisible in the darkness, but it
certainly looked suspicious. The back cabin had been left open, and after he’d
carefully wandered over to it, he discovered it to be empty. He struggled to
hear any sort of sound through the wind and rain echoing around him, and gasped
in horror when he heard a scream ring out through the air.
Misty
Poking his head out from behind
the door of the van, he saw them. A man dressed completely in black was holding
Misty over the edge of the bridge, trying to push her over the railing. She was
tied up and barely able to struggle, helpless in the hands of a maniac.
Facing his nightmare, Ash froze
for a second, his eyes glued to the horror in front of his eyes. It wasn’t as
terribly shocking as he’d imagined it to be. It was worse.
Then, without another moments hesitation, he ran out from behind the truck. A
crash of thunder sounded as he dashed towards Misty, praying desperately for
the time to reach her.
“I couldn’t do anything to save
her!” he heard her shriek.
“Misty!” Ash screamed, stopping a
few metres from the man, who looked like he was about
to let go of her.
“Ash! Oh, Ash…”
she cried as she caught sight of him.
“How the hell?” the man muttered,
not moving from his place. “Not another step or she’s a goner!” he called out,
and Ash held out his hands, taking a deep breath to calm his thudding heart.
“Please,” Ash called to him
desperately. “Let her go, I beg you. I’ll give you anything you want, just let
her go!”
“You can’t give me my daughter
back! You can’t bring her back to me!” he yelled back gruffly, confusing Ash.
“Ash, be careful, please!” Misty
cried. He glanced up quickly, meeting her eyes for a moment.
“She has to die, just like my
daughter, she has to suffer too!” he yelled out angrily, and leant further over
the railing, leaving Misty to dangle from his grasp. All he had to do was let
go and…
“No, please!” Ash pleaded, and for
a second he thought he saw resistance in the man’s eyes.
Just for a second.
And then the second was gone.
With a final shudder of movement,
he sent his arm out further over the railing. Time seemed to slow as he
loosened the grip his hand had on Misty’s arm.
Ash dashed towards the railing,
his heart beating rapidly as he screamed for the man to stop.
Too late.
Misty was left to fall as the man
let go of her, before rushing in the direction of his car. Ash arrived at the
railing a second later.
“Misty?!” he screamed into the
darkness. He felt his world collapse; his nightmares win the battle over this
bravery and plunge a sword through his heart.
The darkness prevented him from
seeing anything but the crashing waves below. He was about to climb over and
jump in after her, when suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot across the sky.
That’s when he saw her.
Dangling from a small handle of
metal below, Misty clung helplessly to life. Her face was contorted in fear as
she held on for dear life, the ropes tied around her wrists making that
extremely difficult.
“Misty, hold on, don’t let go!” he
called to her, but could barely see her anymore as darkness overtook the sky
once again.
“It’s too slippery I can’t!” she
called back, and his face drained of any colour.
“You can, just don’t give up!”
“Ash, listen to me!”
“I’m gonna get you up!” he cried,
searching around frantically with his eyes for a solution.
“Ash, I love you!” she called, her
voice was hysteric, but she didn’t stop. He could only just hear her over the
wails of the harsh wind. “I never told you because I was afraid, but I do, I
love you and I always did! You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, the
best thing…” she was crying now, as her hands slipped down further. The metal
bar wasn’t much longer, and she could see the rocks below her, waiting to take
her into their painful reality.
“No!” tears blurred his vision but
it hardly fazed him as he took hold of the railing with one hand, and sent
himself hurtling over the edge.
Ash almost lost his grip as he
bounded over the side, but managed to keep hold of the bar.
Reaching down, he stretched his
arm as far as he could. Misty looked up at him in horror as he hung above her,
threatening his own life to save hers.
“Keep holding on, Mist, you have
to!” he called. “You can do it!”
His fingers were wrapped around
the bar so tightly that he could barely feel them. Struggling, he reached for Misty’s hands, but was just a few centimetres
short.
Come on…
Bending down as far as he could,
his fingers almost slipped loose of the bar, before he reached swiftly and
grabbed hold of one of Misty’s hands.
Just as he did so, her fingers
slipped and she was forced to let go of her own lifegrip,
leaving her to dangle like a puppet from Ash’s feeble grip.
“Ash, let me go, I’m too heavy!”
she called desperately.
“I’m not letting you die! No way!”
he replied, gritting his teeth as he attempted to tighten his grip around the
fence. His arms were the only link between their life and death, and their
strength was failing rapidly under their weight. The beating rain and gushes of
wind didn’t help.
I can’t fall, please don’t let me fall…
Ash tensed his muscles and tried to
pull them up once again. But once again, it was no use.
“Misty?” he called.
“Yeah?”
“I feel the same way, you know,”
he said, and wished he could look into her beautiful azure eyes as he was
saying this. “I was too afraid, so I didn’t say anything, but…” he trailed off,
trying to keep from screaming out in pain as his arms stung. “I love you…”
Ash’s emotional confession was
interrupted when something caught his eye. Normally he would’ve been annoyed by
the interruption, but when he saw the rope ladder that was now dangling over
the edge of the bridge, all he felt was relief.
“This is Officer Jenny!” they
heard a familiar voice call through the wind. “Grab hold of the ladder and
we’ll pull you up! Be very careful!”
“Misty is tied up!” Ash called
back.
“Okay, someone’s gonna come down
and pull you up!” they heard her a few moments later. “Just hold on!”
A man in a police uniform appeared
over the railing thirty seconds later, holding on tightly to the rope ladder.
He looked middle-aged and had a medium build, but he looked strong. Though the
wind was forcing the ladder to sway, he managed to climb down to their level.
“Take Misty, hurry,” Ash
instructed him, and the man glanced down, before nodding. He climbed down
further until he was beside Misty.
“Hi, Misty,” he greeted her. “Now,
stay calm, I’m going to get you back up to safety.”
She nodded, taking a deep breath
and fighting her tears away.
“Okay.”
The officer reached over with one
of his arms and put it around her waist. His grip was strong and Misty felt
secure, but didn’t let go of her tight grip on Ash’s hand.
“Alright, you can let go of your
friend now,” the officer instructed. Misty hesitated.
“It’s alright Misty, let go,” Ash
offered her his support.
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine, just go with the
officer!” he called.
After a few moments of indecision,
she finally let go of his hand. Ash pulled his now free hand up as Misty and
the officer swayed on the rope bridge.
“Pull us up, Jenny!” he called,
and the ladder was pulled higher and higher until it reached the top. Ash
welcomed a sigh of relief as he saw Misty being pulled over the top, finally
safe.
The officer stayed on the ladder,
and instructed Jenny to lower it once more. Just as he did so, an onslaught of
rain poured down.
Ash’s grip on the railing was
loosening, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold on.
Hurry…
“I’ve almost got you!” the officer
had sensed his weakness, and was lowering down with the ladder as quickly as he
could.
But suddenly, he seemed to be
coming really slowly, and tiredness and fatigue were catching up to Ash.
Hurry…
“Hold on, kid!”
Hurry…
“I’m almost there!”
Too late…
Ash felt himself let go of the
bar, fear crashing through him as he realised that
this was to be his end.
A moment later, he was breathing a
sigh of relief, as the officer, having grabbed frantically onto his hand, was
pulling him up.
Ash tumbled over the side of the
rail, into the strong grip of Officer Jenny. Her blue hair was matted to her
face, but genuine concern shone from her eyes.
“Are you alright?” she asked
kindly, her hands on his shoulders, holding him up, and he nodded.
He was soaked to the bone and
trembling with shock, but he quickly ducked away from her, glancing around
furiously.
A moment later, he spotted her.
She was curled up in a ball on the ground, a few metres
from him, shaking violently. The male officer who had saved them rushed over
with blankets, but Ash took no notice.
“Misty…” he hurried to her side
and kneeled down beside her. Tears sprung to his eyes and he placed his hands
on her arms tenderly, reassuring her through his gaze.
The officer handed him a blanket
and Ash took it gratefully. Without a word, he placed it around Misty’s trembling frame, before moving his hands back to
grip her shoulders.
She looked lost inside a
nightmare, like she was being tortured by monsters and she couldn’t break free.
It took less than thirty seconds
for the tears to come, and as she subsided in hysterical sobs, Ash took her
into his arms protectively. Her cries poured out like a waterfall, echoing
through the rain as she broke down in his arms.
“It’s alright…” he comforted her,
keeping his voice calm and steady. “I’m here, you’re safe, nobody’s
going to hurt you…”
To be
continued…
Whoa! That was sure challenging, but I hope you were
on edge throughout the chapter! You’ll definitely find out what happened with
Misty in her past in the next chapter, if you haven’t figured it out already…
^_^ I hope I wasn’t too obvious, lol.
Thank you to all who are reading, please leave me a
review if you have any comments or criticism. :) Love you all!
Love and light,
Sarah.