Pokemon: The Haunted Lodge (2/4)
#8 of Pokemon
The lobby contained all the amenities of a pokemon center in cozy surroundings, even the healing machine framed in shiny mahogany. Wood carved into intricate antlers set on the walls cradling lamps, the light glowing warmly on polished pine architecture. At the other side of the room, a long feasthall style table sat in front of a burning fireplace with a few trainers enjoying meals or coffee, or conducting other business. A glass clinked and a laugh bounced across the room, briefly cutting through the constant hum of conversation.
After a stop to heal her pokemon, the innkeeper's counter was next. A plump, pleasant middle aged woman stood there with her face beaming beyond a large quantity of freckled cleavage. She slid Penny's room key. Thanking her, Penny moved on with a nod.
The warmth and excitement of the gathering hall quickly dropped off as she moved down a tall hallway. She spotted a wood carved figure of a noctowl watching from an alcove. Elsewhere the ticking of a grandfather clock.
Penny was soon settled into her room. Relieved of her gear and after a nice shower and change of clothes, the foul mood she was in lifted somewhat. Relaxation soaked right down to the bones as she lay back on the bed.
-
All the sudden, Penny was back in high school. 10th grade, a five whole years prior. The scene was tinged somewhat by a very light purple mist. The teacher wasn't present, though she somehow knew he had been called elsewhere leaving the class to chatter amongst themselves.
Somebody strode toward the front of the class on black platform boots. Jeans and a black hoodie, black lipstick. Shiny pentagrams dangling from her ears. Blaire smiled at the front of the class.
"Hey guys! Want to see my impression of Penny's dad?"
Crossing her hands over her chest, she cocked her head to one side and stuck her tongue out.
"Bleeegh!"
Face cloaked in a dark shadow, Penny simply stood up to collect her books and backpack, striding out of the room. A mix of shocked and amused sounds was muffled and distorted somewhere behind her.
The dream paused as three glowing points examined Blaire. Meanwhile the purple fog intensified. Until the scene went black as the dream was eaten.
-
Penny awoke in the light of early morning. She yawned, sitting up on the bed. One of those odd dreams that disappeared as soon as she returned to the waking world. Whatever it was, she slept pretty good.
Aside from the bed and a closet, the room was furnished with a desk. Penny set up her laptop on it, pulling a canned coffee out to crack open. It was then that she stopped to look at the scenery outside of her window. It faced up the mountain and the thick wall of pines where the forest started. Stumps and sticks crowded in between the trees, over fields of tall grass which reached right up to the bottom of the window. She stepped up to the glass to get a full view of the outside.
A sharp noise from the other side of the room pulled her attention away. A floorboard creaking loud and harshly. Nobody could be seen from the peep hole and she tested the floor with her fluffy sock-covered feet but the sound didn't repeat itself. Shrugging, she took a seat at her computer.
Highpine weather forecast...sunny but gusty. Pokemon rates...no bugs, but she could still fit in a good grind session. No other attractions to speak of. Last, curiosity got the better of her. She pulled up Trainer Tube and searched for Blaire. The title of her latest video was all Penny had to see.
Vacay in HAUNTED lodge (MY RIVAL SHOWS UP?!?!?)
The video opened with Penny walking across the lobby to the tune of tuba music. She clicked off it in disgust. Well, hopefully that nitwit would just get bored or something. Penny was up here to work and wasn't about to let her of all people interfere. She chugged the last of her coffee and went to get dressed.
-
Wind gusted down the mountain and whistled through rocky passages. Subtle creaks and the occasional rattling of a window as the cool air passed outside. It was one of those days when the shadows stirred in empty rooms while people and their attention were elsewhere. Timeless and muted spaces without a consensus on reality.
Blaire moved down one of the hallways up on the fourth floor, sweeping her pokegear at the surroundings. At the end of the hallway was a large square of darkness, a room standing open. It appeared to be an office but clearly wasn't being used from the layer of dust on everything.
The desk contained a couple of pinecones and an old weathered notebook. Nothing was written inside, but several dozen yellowed pages were filled with very detailed maps- nothing recognizable but they noted streams, clearings and mountain peaks.
Sighing, Blaire closed her pokegear, "It's a little creepy up here, but I think it'd be better at night,"
Suddenly she felt something strange gripping at her. Not hands or claws, but some force which gave a firm tug. A pair of blue striped panties slid down, just enough to uncover her butt under the skirt. Gasping, she bent slightly to pull them up and then cast around the room in search of the trickery. No culprit to be seen.
"Um...I'll keep this place in mind," She muttered while quickly vacating the room.
-
Overall it was a productive day for Penny. Up the slopes and with low flying clouds obscuring the tree tops, her pokemon were in top form. She spotted one of the local berry plants- the soft fruit was surrounded by wispy white buds that scattered as she plucked the fruit off the stem.
The seeds were whipped swiftly off by the wind, though it was then that Penny noticed something. Lining the hill she was on but disguised by snowfall and foliage, were some of those cylindrical markers found ubiquitously along many routes.
A branch creaked as the wind died down then. Grass was moving, as if someone were walking through it. Penny looked around but didn't spot anything Human, Pokemon or otherwise. The sound halted abruptly leaving the mountainside in absolute silence for a moment until the wind picked up once more. Out of curiosity she followed the old route markers, gaze bouncing to the other side of the path and the tall grass there often. They began to taper out, cracked and crumbling as they led around a spire of rock. She halted as she rounded the bend.
Down a steep slope, there had been a clearing at one point- now carpeted heavily in grass and flowers, with a few tree stumps. In the middle, an old decrepit cottage. It was two stories tall, the breeze whistling through open windows as a pair of shutters banged.
"Yeah..Not walking into that horror movie,"
Back at the lodge, the place was glowing as dusk fell. But the lobby was a much different place now- empty, with a low fire burning in the hearth and shockingly quiet. The dark windows reflected a mixture of the setting sun and the lamp light, presenting dark shapes under fiery skies. Outside, off in the distance was the scatter of the forest. Sticks, branches and other sharp limbs outstretched in the shadows. It was easy to imagine an army of the dead crowding the spaces between the trees, stiffly waiting under a blanket of snow for the time they would thaw.
Penny was brought suddenly out of her daydream by the innskeeper's pleasant "Good evening!"
"Oh hi," Penny laughed the awkwardness away, "Sorry. Long day,"
The woman nodded, "I can tell. You look like Rudolph the red nosed stantler. Can I get you anything for dinner?"
She had the special of the day- a chunky, deliciously meaty soup. But the dessert was the real star of the show. A criscrossing lattice of cinnamon dusted crust and scoop of vanilla icecream, melting down to mingle with the gooey filling and soft apple slices.
The first bite was halfway to her mouth when a flash came from above. Blaire was looming over her, snapping a picture.
"Can I help you with something?" Penny asked, "Something curable anyway?"
"I was just taking some pics for the 'tube. That looks good,"
"Maybe get your own?" Penny suggested pointedly.
Blaire retreated, striding across the room, "I'm not going to eat that. I've got to watch my figure,"
Penny was watching her departure with irritation when the piece of pie fell off the fork and plopped down into her cleavage.
"Maybe sleeping in that old shack wouldn't be so bad after all..." Penny grumbled.