“Danny, where are you? Mom, daddy, Danny, Liza?” A little girl around eight years old 
walked down an empty hall. Her baby blue dress swiftly dancing in the air as well as her 
chestnut hair, she carried in her small hands a lit candle which was her only means of 
light in that dark hallway. The floor was covered by an old rug that was almost close to 
the color of her hair, the walls decorated with old paintings of old relatives.

“Where did everyone go?” The little girl asked as her eyes became clouded by tears. She 
did not know where her family was nor did she like being left alone especially in that big 
mansion. She never did like it. And hearing from its previous owner several tales about it 
she became less and less comfortable in that house. The little girl kept walking down the 
hall hoping that anyone would jump out and her family’s disappearance was nothing 
short of a joke.

At the very end of the hall there was an old wooden door which led to the attic. The little 
girl froze in fear since she always heard strange noises in the attic at night. A feeling of 
overwhelming fear engulfed her. Ghosts, goblins, demons, devils, she’d heard it all and 
she feared it all. So many stories, fairytales and legends involving these beings of a dark 
nature and every single one of them scared the little girl. With the rumors running amuck 
about the very mansion she was living in she lived in constant fear that she too would 
become the mansion’s next masterpiece.

Putting all thoughts aside she crept up to the door and looked at it in both curiosity and 
wonder. Why would her entire family be up in the basement? She would expect Danny 
and Liza to do so in order to scare her so they could have a good time watching their 
youngest sister run to her room and hide under the bed. 

Her small hand slowly stretched to grip the doorknob. Sweat forming in the middle of her 
palm and on her forehead. The noises. They were heard from behind this very door she 
was about to open. Her mind had broken in half. She so desperately wanted to find where 
her family was but she did not want to open that door.

Nevertheless her hand finally reached the doorknob and without a second thought turned 
it. To her surprise the door opened easily and a creaking sound emitted from it causing 
the young girl to take a few steps back.

Darkness.

The light from the candle could only light up a few mere inches from the young girl’s 
feet. The rest was nothing more than a blanket of blackness. She stared into blackness as 
her heart began to pound in her chest. Every beat felt like it was an hour apart and her 
palms became slippery with her own sweat. Her breath now erratic and reeking of fear. 
Her entire body was trembling with horror and fear and just about every emotion known 
to man kind. 

The small girl holds her candle out and sees some old wooden stairs leading up towards 
the attic. She swallows hard and gathers just enough courage to start walking up the 
stairs. Slowly step by step and heartbeat by heartbeat she disappears into the blackness of 
the attic and suddenly the old door shuts and a blood curling scream is heard through out 
the entire mansion.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

“Bet you can’t catch me!”

“Hey, no fair! You had a head start!” Max and Ash ran through the snow as both of them 
raced each other to see who would reach Toa Village first. Ash had begun to run and after 
he was a few inches ahead he challenged and baited Max into the race. Max of course 
could not resist and both began the race. Brock had mentioned earlier that they were only 
just a few feet from the village.

Max tried his best to reach Ash but as he tried to reach him he tripped on a tree root and 
fell flat on his face. Max quickly grabbed his knee and yelled out in pain. Ash heard him 
and thought he had been seriously hurt so he turned around and went to Max’s aid. Brock 
and May saw Max on the floor and ran towards him as well.

When Ash was standing over Max he reached his hand to Max to help him up as he said, 
“Max, are you okay?”
A sudden smile splashed over Max’s face as he grabbed Ash’s hand and pulled as hard as 
he could; as a result Ash fell over and was on his face deep in the snow.

“Gotcha!!”

Max took off as Brock and May stopped in front of Ash who was getting up as he spat 
out some snow. Ash looked back at Max who was all ready reaching the village and 
glared as he once again stood back up and ran. Brock and May looked at each other and 
shrugged as they kept walking in the same direction Ash and Max ran in.

Once in Toa Village Max and Ash stopped and leaned and rested their hands on their 
aching knees as they tried their best to catch their breath. Ash Rose up and looked 
around. The village was surely small but it was not a pleasant site. The roads were of dirt, 
in this case, snow, there were dead trees everywhere and the buildings were all 
deteriorated from the weather conditions they had to endure.

Ash looked around and groaned at the sight. After days in the woods he had hoped to 
come across a place where he felt comfortable. The people outside of their houses and 
stores had tired looks on their faces, some were shy-like but others did not look as feeble 
or friendly. Ahs took a step back but then looked at Max who was looking around and 
from the look on his face he was thinking the same thing Ash was thinking.

“Well, aren’t you gonna walk on?” May had snuck up behind Ash and gently placed her 
hand on Ash’s right shoulder causing him to jump up and turn around quickly since he 
had not heard when May and Brock reached the village.

“Well, this is it…Toa Village!” Brock said as he put away the map and looked around. 
His smile soon turned into a frown as he laid eyes upon the village that lay before them. 
He groaned as May also did when she saw a group of people looking strangely at them.

“Umm…well…let’s get going and find a Pokémon Center.” Max said unsurely. He 
would have preferred to keep walking than to stay in that village.

“There ain’t no Pokémon Center ‘round here.”

The group of kids turned around as they saw an old man walking past them. The old man 
looked like he was 200 years old, saggy eyes looked like they had seen enough during 
their life time, his skin looked almost like they were hanging off his bones and his old 
tattered clothes were so filthy they looked like fungus had settled in some spots.

“There are no hotels, no pharmacy, no gyms, no contests, no police and no hospitals. Just 
us country folk. And a modest little bakery over yonder.”

The old man lifted his trembling arm to point out to the small bakery in front of the 
group. The four kids looked at each other unsure of what to do. They would surely prefer 
the harsh winter conditions than stay in that little village of horror. Ash leaned to his side 
to where May was standing and said in a low whisper, “It’s just like Children of the Corn 
only grown up---”

Max hit Ash in the stomach with his elbow for the crude comment. Despite the fact that 
the village looked somewhat disturbing Ash admitted to himself that he was hungry and 
surely everyone else was, not to mention that Brock said after breakfast that they needed 
to stock up on supply.

Ash and Brock being older looked at each other and Brock said, “We don’t have any 
other choice. We need supply.”

“I know…I know…” Ash looked around and said in an unsure nature, “Let’s just make 
this quick. I want out!”

Brock agreed and the kids set out to head on towards the bakery.

As they walked towards the bakery they noticed the line of old stores neatly placed next 
to each other. They were all worn down and looked like they would fall into a dozen 
pieces if something heavy leaned on them. The only edifice that looked decent was the 
bakery. Its pink paint had signs of harsh weather conditions and the small garden of 
flowers underneath the filthy front window proved to have given up a long time ago. 
Next to the window was the front door and As Ash gently pushed it open it made a 
terrible creaking sound.

Once in the bakery the only comfort they had was that it was warm inside. Inside was just 
as bad as outside. Some tiles on the floor were badly chipped; the wallpaper on the walls 
was torn and very old. Ash, Max and May looked around with wide eyes studying the 
building from within which in Ash’s mind, looked far more welcoming from the outside.

“Well…get whatever you can get…” Ash stated as he walked away from the group and 
sat on a table followed by Max and Pikachu. May and Brock looked at each other and 
decided to head towards the counter.

Once at the counter Brock had the comfort of finding everything neatly put and very 
clean. The napkin box looked clean, the pastries and other edibles were locked in the 
usual crystal counter, and behind it was a wooden panel at the same height with a coffee 
machine and large grill right next to a screen door. May looked around at the pastries as 
she tried her best to decide which one she wanted.

Despite the place’s questionable health code and conduct the pastries looked rather tasty 
and edible. Right next to Brock was a silver bell and seeing as how there was no one 
around he gently tapped it twice. No answer. Brock tapped it again and this time a 
woman’s voice was heard from behind the screen door next to the grill.

“Coming dear.” The voice gently answered. Seconds later an old woman walked through 
the screen door and in her hands was a tray full of brownies. The smell captivated Brock 
and May completely and away at the table Pikachu picked up the smell and ran towards 
the counter. It knew the smell was coming from behind the counter so it jumped up and 
landed on Brock’s shoulder.

Brock smiled at Pikachu and it returned the smile. Its deep black eyes were then captured 
by the brownies the old woman had on the tray. She was humming a song and as soon as 
she looked up and saw Pikachu on Brock’s shoulder she was completely captivated by its 
cuteness resulting in a blurt of comments.

“My, what a handsome looking Pikachu. Look at that fur coat, it is gorgeous!” The old 
woman said as she placed both wrinkled hands on her also wrinkled cheeks. Her eyes 
solidly placed on Pikachu. The little mouse’s cheeks turned even redder as it placed one 
of its paws behind its head.

“Pi…pikachu!”

“What a lovely creature. Is it yours, young man?” The old lady turned to Brock obviously 
asking him the question.

“No ma’am. It belongs to my friend. He’s right over there.” Brock slightly turned and 
pointed to Ash who was laying his head on the table, obviously tired from all the walking 
they had been doing, had been hearing every word of the conversation between Brock 
and the old woman. He simply lifted his hand in a greeting gesture.

The old woman smiled as she turned to Pikachu and said, “I’ll tell you what, you, my 
little bright friend can pick anything from here and you can have it.”

“Pi?” Without a second thought Pikachu looked around and laid its eyes on one of the 
brownies the old woman had just brought out. It pointed at it and the old woman smiled 
as she understood Pikachu wanted one of them.

“When I was but a wee girl I had a very small Pikachu of my own.” The old woman said 
as she took a napkin and placed a brownie on it and handed it to Pikachu who delightfully 
sank its small teeth into it.

“How sweet.” May said as she smiled at Pikachu eating the brownie almost in hopes that 
the small Pokémon would give a thumps up or down on the brownie but by the look on 
its face May knew it was delicious.

“May I ask what became of it?” Brock inquired in a curious nature.

“An illness took her away from me…” The old woman’s happiness seemed to perish and 
Brock leaned his head back regretting he had ever brought up sad memories. “But I know 
she’s in a better place now. It’s the good times you get to keep and the hope that your 
friend is better off.” The happiness returned to the old woman’s face once more and she 
smiled at the kids before her.

“Pi Pikachu pikapika!” Pikachu had just finished the brownie and it jumped on the old 
woman’s shoulder and smiled as a thank you.

“So where are you kids headed to?” The old woman said as she reached for her cup of 
coffee that was placed a few inches from her. The kids had all picked out treats they 
wanted and gathered it in a big tray and the old woman had joined them for a snack as 
well and for the simple pleasure of having other people to talk to besides her daily 
neighbors.

“Trying to get to the next town—”

“Next contest—”

“And next gym!”

Brock’s explanation was interrupted by May and then her explanation was interrupted by 
Ash’s. The old woman smiled at the kids’ enthusiasm. She took a gulp of her coffee and 
as she set it down she turned around as the old television behind her was turned up by an 
old man who had been watching the news.

They all listened in carefully but were devastated by the news they were hearing. 
According to the weather man a devastating snow storm was headed right for the area in 
which Toa Village was located in. It seemed the storm was one to last several hours and it 
had suggested that all people in the area remain indoors until further notice.

“Oh man!”

“Not again, it’s the fourth time this month alone!”

People in the bakery were beginning to complain as they heard the news about the snow 
storm. Ash and the others groaned loudly as their plans to arrive at the next town soon 
had just been drastically changed. Brock then thought of something no one else had 
apparently thought of.

“Guys, we don’t have anywhere to stay.”

“That’s right! What are we going to do?” May asked as she and Max looked at Ash and 
Brock who had been out on the road longer than they had been in. They had hopped they 
could think of something but both Ash and Brock had nothing in mind. They looked at 
each other uneasily but then their silent worries were soothed when the old woman spoke.

“Thorn Manor. There is an old mansion just up this path right here. It has water, plenty of 
rooms and a heater. It’s fairly clean since travelers use it as a place to stay the night. You 
kids can stay there until the storm leaves.”

Relived to have found a place to stay the kids smiled. “Hey, that’s great! Thank you so 
much!” Brock said as he smiled.

“No problem. The original owners suddenly moved years ago. No one knows why but 
they just up and left and in a rush too. Guess some people can’t keep still.” The old 
woman got up from her seat and headed towards the counter. She looked around the 
drawers a bit and some minutes later she returned to the table and handed Brock a huge 
metal ring with four keys.

The keys seemed very, very old and they had a peculiar style to them as well. Brock gave 
it no other thought and put the keys in his pockets. Fearing the storm would be at their 
doorstep soon Ash suggested they get a move on so after gathering several supply they 
were headed out the door to head on over to the mansion.

Just as Ash stepped out the door the old woman remembered a small fact that they should 
have been told about the mansion so she rushed as fast as she could and grabbed Ash’s 
arm as she placed a small box in his hands and said “Oh, before I forget. The lights don’t 
work. One of the fuses burnt down just this past week so you’ll need these candles.”

“Hey, maybe we could try and fix it for you.” Brock said as he smiled and Ash and Max 
both agreed.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to.”

“Hey, it’s the least we could do.” Ash said as he looked at the old woman. She smiled 
and thanked them for the kind gesture and watched as they headed for the old Thorn 
Manor.

According to the old woman the manor was just in the outskirts of the village, it was a 
thirty minute walk through the woods. The old woman had told them to follow a dirt path 
which would have been covered in snow except that the local people always kept it 
shoveled in case travelers needed a place to stay. 

After a short walk Ash, Brock, May, Max and Pikachu came upon a huge old mansion. 
The mansion was not painted, all they saw on the surface was the raw cold cement but 
nonetheless it looked all right, it was part of the design. The front door which was made 
of metal had bolts adorning the edge of it. Ash looked around and saw a trail of bushes 
cuddling at the foot of the mansion. As he looked up he noticed there were three floors to 
the mansion and aligned perfectly under each other was a set of windows engulfed in 
filth.

Brock looked at the keys the old woman had given her and looked at the front door. All 
the keys were alike in every way so he grabbed the first one and tried to open the door. 
He inserted the key and to his surprise it fit in just fine. He turned the key to the left and 
heard as the locking system made a sound. Brock remained frozen for several seconds 
and with his other hand reached for the cold doorknob. To his surprise Brock had turned 
the doorknob and the door opened with an awful deep creaking sound which shook 
everyone in its presence.