"We're here!" they yelled back.
Every few feet or so one of them would yell, and wait for a reply. Before long the voice of Jessie was really faint, and James couldn't hear Tracey at all. Still, there was a lot of hall to cover...
"Hey Jess! Trace! I'm gonna go a little further, okay?!"
A pause, then Jessie's weak, "Okay! I'm going back to the main hall! See you there!!"
James nodded, even though Jessie couldn't see it. He headed down the hall, flashlight waving out in front. Suddenly, and without warning, the narrow hall widened into a balcony-like room that over-looked one of the main walkways. Below James stood Brock, Ash and Meowth, trying to decide which way to turn.
"Hey, guys!" James exclaimed, waving down from his spot. "Any luck?"
They looked up. Brock shook his head. "Nothing yet! You!?"
"All clear! Jessie went back to the main parlor. I think Tracey did too-"
A hand pushed sharply on James' back. He tumbled from the railing and fell the ten-foot fall, flat on his face, to the floor.
"Oh my God! They killed Jimmy!" Meowth yelped.
"You bastards!" Brock shouted angrily.
Ash sank to his knees, yelling to the roof. "Noooooo! WHY GOD WHY!?!?!"
Just then Jessie appeared around the corner, breathing hard. "I thought I heard James squeal-" she stopped, staring at where her partner lay. Jessie sighed. "Haha James, very funny. Quit scaring 'em and get up."
Right before the amazed eyes of Ash, Brock and Meowth, James stumbled to his feet, rubbing his back.
"Damn, that freaking hurt," he muttered.
"How did he do that?" Ash said, gaping.
"Do what?" James wondered. "As if I'm not the only guy who can fall from ten feet on my head and still survive."
"Well... aren't you?"
James never got to answer, because at that moment a piece of paper floated down from the story above them and into Meowth's open paws. Written on the scrap, in bright red...colored pencil, were the words: "I know what you did last summer."
Jessie and James blushed like crazy.
"What'd you do?" Meowth questioned curiously.
"It's not that big of a deal..."
"Nothing real important..."
The two didn't finish. Brock was backed against the wall, mouth open in a silent scream.
"Oh my God! That note's for me! The killer's after ME next!"
"What does he- or she- know?" Ash demanded. "What did you do last summer?"
Brock crumpled to the floor. "I'm next! Dammit, I'm so frickin' dead! I don't wanna die a virgin!"
"Well, let's see," Meowth started to say. "Dat woulda been back when Brock was on Valencia... oh, that."
"Yeah, that!" Brock snapped. He resumed the "frightened hedgehog" position. "I'm gonna die alone and unloved!"
Tracey walked quietly up behind everyone, asking simply. "I heard some screams so I came down from the hall I was exploring. Did I miss something?"
"Brock's gonna die a virgin," Ash explained. "Oh, yeah, and James got pushed off a balcony on his face and lived to tell about it."
"Can you feel it?" Brock questioned. "The killer's out there. He's watching us right now, waiting..."
Jessie stared up at the ceiling. "What are you waiting for, huh? You want us! Come and get us! What are you waiting for!?"
"Hey, fellas... and chick, calm down," Meowth tried to restore order. "De important ting right now is dat we keep an eye on Brock here-"
Brock nodded. "Thanks Meowth. At least someone gives a crap if I live or die."
"-So we'll be able ta see da killer when he comes," the cat finished.
"Oh, I get it!" Brock moaned. "I'm bait! Killer bait! Perfect! You all suck! You can kiss my ass, 'cause I'm getting out of this mansion... now!"
"Brock, no!" Ash stopped his friend. "I have to get this fortune or my mom'll kill me!" He put on a sad face and wiped away a tear. "She'll lose her ranch, and all her horses, and you know how momma loves her horses."
"You are so full of crap," Brock rolled his eyes. "Whoever wants to come with me can."
"Look," Ash began. "We, uh, can't. I sorta, well... lost the keys to the car. And if we try to walk home the murderer will pick us off as we get to tired to move."
"Well that's perfect!" James sighed. "We're totally screwed!"
"I've got an idea," Jessie proposed. "What if we just go back to the main room and wait until morning? Stay together so no one gets hurt, and keep our eyes out for the killer."
"But I'll get a knife it my back..." Brock whimpered.
"We'll form a circle, you in the middle, if it'll get you to shut up," Jessie practically ordered. "Chop chop people, before a giant hook swings through the air and murders us all."
The idea was a good one, so Ash&Co. moved back to the parlor where the entire ordeal had begun and sat down, Brock in the center.
"Hey Jessie, can I ask you a question?" Brock wondered timidly.
"No, Brock, I'm not going to help you so you don't die a virgin."
"Oh. Okay. Um, James?"
"I don't swing that way, idiot!"
"Right. Me neither, I just... I'm so scared right now!"
A few moments of awkward, tension-filling silence, then, "I'm bored." That came from Ash. "Is there anything we can do?"
"Hmm... Tracey, gimme your sketchbook. We can check out the pictures to pass the time," Brock suggested.
"Oh, there's nothing really here..."
"You've been drawing since we started out on this trip," Brock snapped. "Quit being modest and hand it over."
The artist obediently gave the sketchpad to Brock, flipping it back to page one.
"Okay..." Brock looked at the page. A weird look came over his face, then he flipped to the next page. Then the next. And the next. The look was quickly turning to terror. "Oh shit..."
Jessie snatched the book from Brock, holding it so that she, James, Meowth and Ash could see it. They gasped, staring up at Tracey. On every page, from top to bottom, was written the same phrase over and over.
In Tracey's hand was a single red colored pencil. In the other a sharpened pencil with splatters of blood on it.
"The murder weapon!" Ash exclaimed (well, duh). "T-Tracey, you're-"
He nodded. "Boo."
Everyone screamed (like girls, I may add) and dashed off in different directions. Jessie and James together, Brock and Meowth together, and Ash by himself. Naturally, Tracey followed a terrified Ash.
He found the kid backing up the stairwell, a stick in one hand.
"G-get away," Ash stuttered. "D-don't come any closer!"
Tracey followed, staying our of distance of the pathetic weapon. "Ash, buddy, best friend I ever had. I'm not gonna hurt ya... I'm just gonna bash your brains in! Right the freak in!"
"No! G-get away!"
"Ash, gimme the stick. Gimme the stick Ash," Tracey persuaded. "Ash! Gimme the friggin' stick!"
Ash swung. Tracey caught it, snapping it in half. "Oh, someone should find a better killing tool." He jammed the drugged pencil into Ash's arm. "Nightie night, pal."
In moments Ash was out, collapsed on the floor. Tracey grabbed the cell phone Jessie had given Ash, and turned, a deranged look in his eye, back to where Brock and Meowth had gone.
The kid and Pokémon, after a breathless run, met up with Jessie and James in one of the side hallways.
"Where... where's Tracey?" Brock wondered. "And Ash?"
"I dunno," Jessie panted. "Ash went off... I think Tracey followed him."
"Oh guys!"
Everyone jumped. It was Tracey.
"Come out come out wherever you are!"
"We've gotta get out of here!" Meowth whispered, eyes searching for an escape route. "There! A side door!"
They headed towards it, when suddenly James' cell phone rang.
"Don't answer it!" Jessie advised.
James pulled the phone out shakily. Despite his partner's warning... he pushed the "send" button. "Hello?"
"Hey James... what's your favorite scary movie?"
"Eeee!" James shrieked, dropping the phone and dashing for the door. As he swung it open, rain swept in to the house and engulfed the kids. A flash of lightning lit the hall for a minute, portraying an insane Tracey at the end of it.
"Heeere's Johnny!" he called.
"Go, go!" Brock yelped, pushing James out the door and followed soon by Meowth and Jessie.
They ran around to the front of the house, where the van was sitting.
"What now?" Meowth wondered.
Jessie ran for the car. "If we can open the door, I might be able to hot-wire it. Let's pray we didn't lock the door."
To their amazing luck, the door was indeed unlocked, and the four piled into the van, locking the doors behind them.
"What about... Ash!" Brock exclaimed, looking towards the front door of the house.
"We'll worry about him later," Jessie grunted, trying to pull out the correct wires.
"No!" Brock pointed. "I mean, there he is!"
Sure enough, a staggering Ash was coming out the front of the mansion, peering towards the van. Another flash of lightning, and on the other side of the house stood Tracey, now equipped with a new weapon- a fire poker.
"He's not gonna make it to the car in time," Meowth said, referring to Ash. "Tracey's gonna kill 'em dead!"
"That's what he thinks," Brock told them, opening the door. "I'll be back in a second... just keep trying to turn that car on."
He ran towards Ash, whispering something in his ear and facing Tracey.
"You want me, you deranged bastard!?" Brock challenged. "Here I am! Come and take me!"
Tracey, rather than going for Ash and Brock, turned to Jessie, James and Meowth. When Brock tried to attack him, the teen shouted a phrase loud enough for everyone to hear: "Professor Ivy!"
Brock fell to the ground, a quivering mass of goo.
"Jessie, hurry up!" James snapped.
"I'm trying!" she shouted angrily. Suddenly- the sound of an engine starting up. "Yes! Success!"
"Aaaaah!" James shrieked, as Tracey came to the side of the van . Brock's door, which hadn't been closed in the confusion, was a perfect place for Tracey to launch himself into the van and stab at James wildly with the pencil. He fell forward on the dashboard, unconcious.
Meowth scratched Tracey, forcing him to back off for a moment. But the crazy-kid was back in a moment, this time aimed for Jessie.
SCREEEECH! Jessie slammed the van in reverse, making Tracey lose his balance and fall out of the car. Before he could regain his balance, Jessie had driven the car over him. She backed up again, to see if he was indeed dead. Slowly, Tracey stood. Jessie drove over him again.
"Just. Flucking. Die," she growled, until finally sure that he wasn't getting up.
Jessie then turned the vehicle towards where Brock was still curled up on the ground. "Hey. Come on. It's cool now."
Brock stood up, brushing mud off his vest. "I, uh, would've gotten him, you know, if he hadn't have said that..."
"Quit trying to act macho, kid. Let's get Ash and get the hell out of this place."
But Ash had already staggered to the door of the van, and was soon seated next to Brock and Meowth in the back seat.
"All I wanna do is go home and sleep," Ash sighed.
"I'm so there," Brock and the others agreed.
"Hey, Jess, you have a license, right?" Brock wondered.
She nodded, grabbing James by the hair and forcing the still passed-out teenager into an upright position. "You may wanna buckle up, though- I'm used to police chases, not normal speeds and normal cars."
Everyone followed her advice- Meowth even got James' seatbelt on him. Soon they were bumping along down the hill and away from the hellhole of a mansion forever.
At the bottom of the long, narrow path, Ash voiced his thoughts. "You know, I keep feeling like we're forgetting something."
"Really? Me too," Brock mused.
Jessie shrugged. "Oh well. Probably just our imaginations." She slapped James, hard, making him wake up. "Right James?"
"Huh? Oh, um, yeah, right. Too much, er, pressure and excitement," he agreed, blinking steadily. "Is Tracey dead yet?"
"Yes, James, and we're never going back there either, so don't worry about it," Jessie assured him, turning on to the main highway and heading back to Pallet Town. "You couldn't pay me to go back. Not all the gold in China..."
Meanwhile, back up on a hillside, in the middle of a steady sheet of rain, and amidst flashes of lightning, a young girl stood, trying to get her bearings.
"Ash! Brock! Jessie! James! Meowth! Tracey! What's going on!? Where's the van!? Anybody!"
A boy staggered out of the house. "Hey Misty, any sign of 'em?"
She shook her head. "I just can't figure it out, Todd. It's like they disappeared. Just, just up and vanished..."
Todd pointed to a limp form lying on the ground amid tire tracks. "Well, then who- or what- is that?"
Misty walked over to the lump, leaned down to identify it, and-
"Holy crap!"
Fell over backwards, unconcious.
