From: BBD127 (bbd127@aol.com) Subject: [PW!] Shadows in the Dark Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2000/05/13 OOC: Well, this was my first attempt at an 'emotional' story for Procyon. I think I made it a little too mushy, but I guess my readers are the judge of that. :-) Darkness. Procyon was totally surrounded by darkness. He opened his eyes and that helped some, but not much. He was standing as easily as if there were a tile floor below him, but there was nothing. Like being out in space, but without the stars. Procyon shook his head. "This is a dream," he told himself. A voice behind him cackled. "Of course it's a dream," it said. Procyon whirled around to face a deep purple, almost black, Haunter. It was grinning. "But what does that matter?" it continued. "I'm still very capable of driving you quite... totally... mad." "Dreams can't hurt you. They're not real." This drew another laugh from the Haunter. "Can't hurt you? Well, I suppose we'll see about that, now won't we?" He continued grinning at Procyon and sat there for so long with that absurd expression that Procyon began to grow impatient. "Well, if you're going to drive me mad, get on with it," he said. "I haven't got all night." The Haunter laughed yet again. "All right. My name is Nova, by the way." "Pleased to meet you," growled Procyon. "Indeed. Time to begin, I suppose. Not that tormenting Taron isn't fun, but... well, I like a little variety. Now, I wonder what skeletons we can find in your closet?" He paused dramatically. "Does the name of Katie mean anything to you?" "Katie? I don't think so..." "Don't lie. I can tell when you're lying, you know." Procyon glared at him, then shrugged. "All right, so I knew a girl named Katie once. I've known several. Katie is a common name." The Haunter nodded. "But you know which Katie I'm talking about, don't you?" A sigh. "Yes, I do. And I don't know what you hope to gain by mentioning her name. That was years ago, and I've put it behind me." "Have you?" The Haunter gave an annoying chuckle, then went on. "I see. Well, then. You loved her, didn't you?" "She was only nine at the time, Nova, and I was just eight. I don't think we were really-" "You loved her, didn't you?" Another sigh, and a pause. "Yes. I did." Procyon looked up. "So what? Do you intend to drive me mad by naming every girl I've ever loved? Even I would admit that the list is a short one." "Perhaps. Do you happen to remember just what happened on that day, about six years ago? When you invited her to your house for the first time?" Procyon shrugged, trying to act casual, but a hint of shakiness entered his voice for the first time as he said, "Yes, I remember." "Ah. And what happened on that day, six years ago, when you invited her to your house for the first time?" "I... well, she came over like we planned. We had a lot of fun. Played around, did things that eight and nine year olds did. She was beautiful, even then." "And then what happened?" "Well, she had to go eventually, of course. So I offered to let her ride my Doduo back home. I had trained him myself, and I knew he could carry people. She accepted and rode Bulletwing home..." "And then what happened?" He cleared his throat. "She had climbed up onto his back and was just getting out of our driveway, when Bulletwing decided that running was too boring for him. He started flying. She thought it was great fun. I was just happy that she was happy, I didn't think about anything else. "And then what happened?" A very long pause this time. He shut his eyes tight and answered with a voice as cold as stone, but strained, as if he were trying to show the Haunter that what he was doing wouldn't work. "Then he started flying higher. She still loved it. She hung on tight to his left neck, screaming with happiness. They kept flying and flying until..." "Until what?" He glared at the Haunter. "You know what happened then. Why do you need me to tell you?" "Tell me." Procyon sighed softly and his voice dropped. "Then she fell off. It wasn't that far, only fifteen feet or so, but they were going fast and she landed right on her head. She snapped some bones in her neck. I ran over to her as quick as I could, but by that time she was already unconscious." "Did you get help?" "No. I didn't think... I didn't know.. look, I was only eight. I was scared. I didn't know what to do." "And so you let her die." He gave Procyon a piercing stare, dripping with disapproval, with mockery. "If you'd trained your Pokemon better... if you'd gotten help sooner... if you hadn't had her over... any of a million things you could have done to keep her from dying." He pointed a claw at Procyon. "Her death is your fault." Procyon shook his head. "This isn't working. Don't you think I said to myself everything you're saying now over and over, a hundred, a thousand, a million times? Don't you think that's all I thought about for a whole month afterward? Don't you think I *knew* that the girl I loved was dead because of me? Don't you think my entire life swirled around that one single event for weeks after the event? I grieved, Nova. Of course I grieved. Of course I thought about it. Of course I was sad! But things move on. LIFE, moves on." He focused his gaze completely on the Haunter. "You won't defeat me just by telling me what I already know." The Haunter smiled back at him. He ignored the comment and began again. "What do you think she'd look like if she were alive today?" The question was totally unexpected, and Procyon blinked. "I don't know. How should I know?" "Do you think she would look something like... this?" With that he waved his claws dramatically and the universe flashed blue for a moment. Then the blue went away and in its place stood a girl. She was about six inches shorter than Procyon and had blond hair that hung freely around her neck. From her looks she appeared to be about fifteen. Her eyes were sapphire blue and she was wearing a pristine white dress that reached down to her ankles. She wore golden earrings in the shape of crescent moons, and a gold necklace with a white diamond on it that sparkled when she moved. She smiled at him. "Hello." Procyon stared at her for a minute, then looked up. The Haunter was gone, but its voice echoed in his mind. "There she is," it said. "There's the person you killed. Not the nine year old girl who came over to your house to play, but her potential. The person she would have become." "Nova! Come back here!!" he cried. "You can't do this to me!" There was no answer. "NOVA!!" Katie stared at him curiously. "Who are you talking to?" she asked. He jumped back. "You're... you're alive?!" The voice in his head cackled. "Only in this world," it said. "Only to show you just exactly what you killed. Only for the purposes of driving you mad by dangling before your eyes the most precious jewel in the universe, the one thing you cannot ever have; the thing you cannot have because of what YOU did to her, six years ago." He stared at her. There was no denying her beauty, or the lovely personality that danced just behind her eyes. It was just like her. It WAS her. In response to his exclamation, she laughed, and the sound was like a glass bell being rung with care, not shaken too hard lest its delicate shape be shattered. "Of course I'm alive," she said, and laughed again. "How could I not be, standing here, talking to you?" She smiled and took a step closer to him. "I'm glad you could come. I've wanted to talk to you for a long time." Tears formed around his eyes, but inwardly he swore not to let them out. Not to let her see that he was sad, or know that he was the cause of her death. He forced a smile, and unwillingly it came. She looked at him curiously. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy to see me?" "I... Katie, I..." How could she possibly expect him to answer a question like that? With trembling hands he reached out for her cheek. He brushed it lightly with the back of his hand, and felt the warmth of it. For a long moment he held it there, and she reached up to touch it with her own hand. He jerked his hand back as if it had been burned. "Procyon, what's wrong? Are you afraid of me?" She smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you. I wouldn't ever do anything to hurt you." "I..." He stopped again, and the tears flowed freely this time. He blinked them away furiously and stared at her again, not knowing what to say. Then without warning he threw his arms around her neck, holding her in a tight embrace, his head on her shoulder as his tears stained her dress. He held her body tightly against his own, never letting go, hardly daring to breathe lest this moment, this fantasy, be lost and he would be alone again. He let the sobs rack his body as he pressed her head against his chest, taking what comfort he could from the warmth of her body, the softness of her hair. The only words he could manage to choke out were, "I'm sorry." He kept sobbing, kept repeating those words over and over again. "I'm sorry, Katie, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry." Awkwardly she allowed her own arms wrap around his body for a moment, a weak gesture of comfort, then let them drop again. Gently - why did she have to be so gentle? - gently she pushed him away from her. "I know you're sad. But I have to go now. I can't stay anymore." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and stepped back. "What? Katie, wait! Katie! Come back!" "Goodbye." she whispered, taking his hand in hers for a moment and then releasing it. For just a split second he could swear that she had tears in her own eyes, that she knew as well as he did what their parting meant. Then the feeling was gone again, and she simply smiled at him as she faded into the swirling tendrils of darkness around her. "Goodbye..." Procyon dropped to his knees, not caring anymore what Nova said or whether he laughed at his crying. "Katie!! Come back!!!" He buried his face in his hands. "Katie..." Nova reappeared, smiling once more. "Well," he said, "how was that? Am I getting closer? Am I succeeding in driving you mad?" He laughed and did a backflip in the air. "This is so much fun!" Procyon stared at him, acid on his lips as he opened his mouth to yell at the ghost. Then, slowly, he released it, and a sigh came out instead. This time it was a sigh not of grief or annoyance but of simple weariness, of longing for real sleep and no dreams. "Isn't it about time for me to wake up?" "Wake up?" The Haunter laughed, a long and cruel laugh. "Wake up? Why, we're just getting started. We have all night!" Procyon collapsed in agony as the Haunter's laughter echoed across the void... TBC