Egads! Sory this oen took me so long. I was pelted with homework for most of the week, and I barely found any time to write. Hopefully no one's ditched me :P
CHAPTER 9
"Sadie, Rena!" Lisa cried, and broke into a sprint. When they met on the other side of the fence, she was still gasping for breath.
"What – are you guys – doing – here?" she breathed. "And did you
hear that shot?"
"Yeah!" Rena exclaimed. "This is so weird! I mean, first Sadie wakes me up in the middle of the night because she's hearing strange noises, then we hear a noise -"
"Wait." Rena seemed to be getting started in a riveting tale, but Lisa held up her hand slowly. "What kind of noise did you guys hear? What did it sound like?"
"Uh... it was sort of like... eeeeeeeep, only it was a lot deeper than that." Sadie mimicked the note as best as she could. A flash of recognition appeared in Lisa's eyes.
"That's exactly the noise I heard! My Quality Inn isn't too far from here, and I heard the exact same thing! I couldn't sleep for some reason, and then I heard the noise. So I went outside to check it out."
"There was a second noise, though," Rena cut in. "It sounded like someone scraping their nails against a chalkboard."
"Yeah, that one too! I heard it while I was walking down the street, and by that time I was really scared! I started to turn back in the direction of the hotel, and along the way, I saw you two."
The conversation eventually simmered down to a silence. Lisa's presence added an air of calm to the situation, but nevertheless, Sadie could not keep from stealing a quick glance around. Beyond the trees and buildings, she had an awful feeling that they were not alone.
Finally she asked, "What should we do now?"
Lisa shrugged. "I guess there's really nothing else to see here. We should go back inside."
"Still, what if there's a gunman here? Shouldn't we let someone know?"
"Sadie, I really don't care what's out here anymore. It's much safer inside anyway," Rena said, turning for the door.
Sadie was about to do the same, when something in the corner of her eye made her stop cold. Somewhere within the shadows, she saw a flash of red.
"Whoa whoa whoa, what was that?" she said aloud, immediately rushing back to the fence. When she turned the light was gone, the streets empty.
"What? What did you see?" Rena groaned, approaching the fence.
"There was something red... off in the distance..."
"Ugh. Where?"
"There!" Sadie pointed. She was still staring at that same spot, a larger-than-normal gap in between two office buildings. Beyond that was a large cluster of trees, where two red dots were once again visible amongst the shadows.
Upon her indication, Rena squinted and leaned forward. She turned back with a snort.
"Well? Open the door." Rena eyed Sadie expectantly.
It took a few seconds for the message to sink in. Sadie's eyes widened. "Rena, no! I am not leaving this Pokémon Center! That's like walking right into our deaths! Rena, we can't! What if... what if it's something dangerous? Really Rena, think!"
Rena shook her head. "It's okay. I slipped a couple of pokéballs into my pocket. We'll be fine."
Rena pushed her way through the gate, her grip painfully tight on Sadie's arm. She closed the gate behind them, and turned to Lisa. She had been standing by the fence the whole time, her arms folded across her chest.
"Are you coming or what?" she called.
After a few silent moments, Lisa nodded. "But I'm sending my Weezing out just in case." She began to rummage through her purse until she pulled out a pokéball. The container opened, revealing a chunky, spherical pokémon. Black smoke emanated from its pores, saturating the air around it and making Sadie's eyes water.
"All right, I'll send out mine too." Rena lifted two pokéballs out of her pocket, and tossed each of them in turn. They opened to reveal her Buneary and her Cranidos. Both pokémon staggered lazily, evidently annoyed that they had been aroused.
"Let's go. The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the sooner we can get back to sleep." With that, Rena skipped forward.
Aside from the crunch of their footsteps, the town was silent. The streets were illuminated with circles of orange light, the rest being left in the shadows. Nevertheless, there was a definite confidence in Lisa's step. The pokémon huddled by her side, grunting and squealing to each other. Rena remained at least five paces ahead of the group, swinging her arms actively.
As they walked, Sadie found herself staring up at the sky, to the point where the city skyline was well out of view. Up above was a black veil. New moon. No stars. Sadie was the only one who was shaking.
They entered the alley. The grass was more frequent here, and tickled Sadie's bare ankles as she walked. Up ahead was a large clearing that formed the boundary between city and forest. Rena took the first step, followed by Lisa, and finally Sadie. Her gaze immediately went to the circle of trees that loomed in the center of the area. From the safety of the Pokémon Center, they seemed so tiny, so innocent. Now, as they approached, Sadie felt a sense of danger. A low growl rumbled in Cranidos's throat. Buneary began to shift its position, her large ears perking at a sound Sadie could not hear.
"Maybe... maybe we should go back..." she whispered, pressing her fingertips to her lips. Her hands were ice cold. The trees surrounded her in a wide arc, closing off all means of escape.
Rena did not respond, her gaze locked on the patch of trees. Over the steady whistle of the wind, Sadie could make out a low rumble.
"What is that?" Lisa hissed, instantly drawing closer to her Weezing. Her body had begun to shake as well.
"It's the noise again..." Rena said. Her tone was surprisingly calm.
The wind began to howl. The branches writhed and twisted, until they opened wide enough to give them a view of what lay within. Sadie could see the beginnings of a large, angular silhouette perched somewhere within their depths. She traced the contours of a large arm, neck, back, and sloping tail. Sadie stiffened. The creature was almost as large as the tree itself.
A wide, purple head slowly separated itself from the shadows, to look at them with a pair of angled eyes. A bloody red hue spilled out from where the whites should have been. Sadie clamped her hands over her mouth.
In the blink of an eye, the pokémon had uncoiled itself from the tree trunk. It drew itself up to its fullest height, nearly as tall as the trees themselves. It arched its neck in a snakelike motion, and lunged forward.
Sadie jumped aside just as Drapion's jaws struck the ground. In that second, she had documented each razor-sharp point in the Drapion's mouth, the awful stench of decaying flesh that reeked from its mouth, and most of all, the pure, unadulterated hatred in its eyes. This pokémon was fighting to kill.
Sadie was scrambling to her feet just as Lisa appeared beside her.
"Weezing, use Sludge Bomb!" she cried, her voice shaking. Weezing drifted forward, and launched a jet of purple matter at the Drapion's face.
The pokémon staggered under the volume of liquid, giving them time to turn for the alley. But the Drapion regained its balance quickly, and with a single swipe of its tail, struck down a tree. A scream of despair sprang from Sadie's lips as the trunk crashed in front of her, cutting off the view of the alley.
"We're trapped! We're dead!" she yelled, throat searing with pain. Beside her, Lisa was on the verge of tears.
"No!" Rena groaned, throwing her arms into the air. "No! We're not gonna die here! Who does that Drapion think he is anyway? I'll tell you what! I'm gonna kick his a
ss! Cranidos, Buneary, come on!" Without pausing to hear Sadie's protests, Rena charged towards the Drapion, her two pokémon by her side.
At her command they sprang forward, proceeding to circle the Drapion's feet in a blur of color. At first the Drapion was unaffected, but it was soon swallowed in a whirlpool of dirt, grass, and leaves. Sadie watched all the while, her back pressed against the tree.
"Brilliant..." Lisa muttered, almost inaudibly. Squaring her shoulders, the teen stepped forward.
"All right Weezing, let's help them out! Use Sludge Bomb!"
A jet of purple sludge shot from Weezing's open mouth to meet the Drapion full in the face. The pokémon staggered, but regained its balance. With a single screech, it sent a twisting Shadow Ball hurling towards Weezing.
"Watch out!" Sadie called, almost by impulse. But her warning was not needed, for Weezing had dodged the attack with perfect form. It sent another stream of mucus for the Drapion's face.
Lisa emitted a triumphant yell when the Drapion staggered. The effort Rena's pokémon were making was just enough to send the Drapion spinning. Its neck twisted and craned over to the land below as it tried to locate its target. Sadie caught a glimpse of Rena, watching her pokémon from the sidelines. She was staring up at the Drapion intently, as if trying to decipher a difficult problem. Her arms hung loose at her sides.
The dust cloud began to settle as Cranidos and Buneary slowed. Their punches and kicks grew less frequent, and soon stopped altogether. They were reduced to the point of mindless, ceaseless jogging. Their defenses were low, and their breathing was labored. With a single swipe of its armored tail, the Drapion struck them upon the ground, where they lay twitching and convulsing. A jolt of pain, and Sadie realized she had been biting her lip through the entire time.
"We can't let it win!" Lisa said. "Weezing, use smokescreen to block that Drapion's vision!"
"Weez Weez!" the chunky pokémon huffed in approval. Sadie watched as a cloud of black smoke spewed from Weezing's pores, invading the air around them. Sadie's surroundings were entirely obscured by smoke, though the sounds were as clear as ever. Her coughs were drowned out by the Drapion's agonized wails, and Weezing's deep bellows. The volume was so great that Sadie found herself on her knees, palms pressed against the sides of her throbbing head. Hot tears streamed from her eyes, and her tongue was dry and sticky in her mouth.
And just like that, it stopped.
The screams had vanished without warning, as had the sounds of attacks and roaring wind. The ringing silence was all that remained; that cold, dreadful silence that follows a bloody battle. Sadie slowly opened her eyes.
Without warning, she felt a body collide with hers. Sadie fell on her side, stomach paining and head spinning. A few feet away, Sadie saw the silhouette of the Drapion's tail, which had missed her by a few feet.
Beside her, Lisa's outline was barely visible. Slowly, she raised a finger to her lips. For a few terrible, silent moments, they sat against the tree. The Drapion's form became visible occasionally, accompanied by the rustle of grass and foliage.
It's only a matter of time before it finds us... The very thought made her shiver. Would it hurt to die?
The Drapion's footsteps grew softer over time. Its form faded off into the distance. All of a sudden, Sadie heard a piercing screech.
BANG!
The familiar sound seared through the silence, drowning out the Drapion's screams. Someone had fired a gun. The shot was followed by a groan and snapping wood. And then, silence.
Sadie risked a whisper. "What the hell just happened?" Beside her, Lisa shrugged.
They slowly rose to their feet. Sadie's heart was thumping furiously, to the point where it almost hurt.
"Who's there?" said a voice. It was definitely male.
"W-we're right here!" Sadie called out, her voice hoarse. There was no answer, but a rush of heavy footsteps. Out of the haze, a rough outline of a person was nearing them. The form became clearer and clearer until Sadie locked eyes with a tall man, looking to be in his late twenties. He wore a soldier's uniform, which stained from hours in the dirt. A beat-up rifle was clutched in his hands.
"Who are you?" Lisa asked.
"My name is Dalton Rogers," the man said. "I stay at the Pokémon Center not too far from here. I heard a noise, and came out to see this huge Drapion lurking around the edges of town. I missed it with my gun though, and it escaped. I hunted it for a few minutes, and it led me here. And the next thing I know, I enter this meadow and see you two being mauled."
"Wait." Sadie said slowly. "You said two. There were three of us. Me, Lisa, and Rena."
Dalton raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I only saw you two. And a Weezing."
"But where's Rena?" Sadie said, taking a quick glance around. "And Cranidos? Buneary?"
"I don't know..." Lisa said. Sadie scanned the area. The grass was flattened from where the two pokémon had ran, and there were two distinct skid marks where she guessed they had fallen. yet, there was no sign of them anywhere.
"Oh my God! Sadie!" She jerked at Lisa's sudden outburst. Sadie turned to see Lisa standing before a particular spot in the meadow, not too far from the Drapion's body. One arm was pointing to a spot on the ground, and the other was clamped over her mouth. Sadie hurried to her side and saw a trail of footsteps in the dirt. She recognized the shoe mark at once - Rena's favorite pair of sneakers, which she had received for her birthday a few months ago. The trail continued to the edge of the meadow, where it was unexpectedly cut off.
"Rena's... Rena's... gone..." the words felt strange on her tongue. Their weight was let down upon her slowly, gradually. The first tears began to fall.
"Who is Rena?" there was a trace of impatience in Dalton's voice. "What happened to her?"
"She disappeared!" Sadie blurted. "She was running towards the Drapion with her pokémon, and there was so much smoke from Weezing's attack that I... that I couldn't see what was happening! And she's gone!"
"Sadie... calm down. I don't think Rena's dead. If she was, then there would be a body, right?" Lisa's voice was quiet, reassuring. "She probably went deeper into the forest to hide. The worst that could have happened was that she got lost. We'll go to the police station first thing tomorrow and look for her, okay?"
Through her tears, Sadie saw Lisa's face, contorted to show her sympathy.
The words of Rena echoed through Sadie's mind. It had been nearly three years since she had spoken them, yet their truth had a lasting effect upon her mind. She could almost picture her friend's scowling face as she said
'Sadie, you're so dramatic! Can't you just think before you yell like that?' Sadie felt a wave of shame.
"All right..." she sniffed loudly.
"Listen... if there's anything I can do, I'll do it. I'll help you find your friend if you want," Dalton said. Sadie nodded in thanks.
They stood in silence for a moment. Without thinking, Sadie turned to look at the Drapion. Slowly she approached it, listening to the disturbance made by her every step. The grass around the area was entirely flattened from where Cranidos and Buneary had ran. Their blows had left a number of scars and bruises on its legs. Dark blood seeped through several bullet wounds in its abdomen, which Sadie guessed must have killed it. Sadie continued along its length, her eyes sweeping over the heavy damage the pokémon had taken. Its chest was sandwiched in between two fallen trees, partially crushed by the weight. Blood oozed down its arms. Despite its obvious evil intentions, she could not help but feel pity for the Drapion.
Lisa and Dalton joined her in the silent inspection. No one uttered a single word, whether it was from fear or amazement. All of a sudden, Lisa emitted a gasp.
"Look!"
Sadie turned just in time to see a murky black cloud evaporating from the Drapion's head. The entity passed through the tree leaves and branches, and eventually vanished somewhere in the sky. At that moment, Sadie felt a great weight lifted from her shoulders. Deep inside her mind, she felt something shift.
"What is that?" she whispered.
"It looked like steam!" Lisa exclaimed.
Dalton remained silent. He stared at the Drapion's face for several long moments.
"Something's not right," he said. "I saw a Starly with the exact same eye color a few days ago..."
"Really?" Sadie said, her eyes widening. "How is that possible?"
"I don't know. But there's something weird going on here. I'm getting the feeling that this attack wasn't an accident."
"How do you know?"
"Just a feeling. I've been having this feeling for quite a while now. Look, I can help you find your friend. But I need your help too."
Dalton slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a mysterious, shining object. It was paper thin, and was molded into a crescent shape.
"What is that?" Lisa said.
"I haven't told you this yet, but I'm a soldier for the Sinnoh Armed Forces. My squad was ambushed by Darkrai in Route 203, and I'm the only survivor. I woke up in the hospital to find this in my pocket. It's called the Lunar Wing. And there's been an awful lot of strange things happening since I got it. I saw a red-eyed Starly near the hospital window, and now I see this red-eyed Drapion. It's weird. But I want to get to the bottom of this."
"You mean that there might be more of these ravenous red-eyes monsters out there?" Sadie asked, her voice rising.
Dalton nodded.
"Then we need to do something about it! We can't just let another mauling happen!" Lisa said. "I for one want to get to the root of this. There has to be some scientific explanation for those... things..."
"Well, I guess it sounds like a plan... only wait," Dalton paused. "Where's your family?"
"Mine's in another region," Lisa declared.
"My mom's in the hospital..." was all Sadie could say.
Dalton sighed. "Great. A couple of orphans. You're lucky I'm over eighteen. Anyways, like I said before, I'm staying at the Pokémon Center. You do whatever you want, but we'll meet in front of the building at nine o'clock. Deal?"
"Deal," the girls said simultaneously.
...
When Sadie reached her room in the Pokémon Center, she found it exactly the same as she had left it. Rena's blanket was still on the floor from when she had tossed it off, and her things were untouched. The alarm clock was slightly askew from when Sadie had reached out to check the time. Her backpack was in its usual spot beside her bed. She bent down beside it and took out her pokéballs, lost in thought.
If I had my pokémon with me... would things have been different? Would I have been any help?
The silence was deafening. After a quick shower, Sadie pulled the covers over her body. She closed her eyes, wishing she had never opened them.
