Chapter 21: The Chamber Of Lost Souls

The rest of the day held few surprises, except that a thorough search of the town turned up no witnesses, and no tourists hiding large boxes of poke balls in their rooms. Even when Laurna had arranged for a few ghosts to check the Haunted Woods for human incursion, and all the old mineshafts in the mountains were gone through, there was no sign of the missing items.

When Frank finally sat down long enough to have lunch, he did some quick research into the abilities of psychic pokemon; he was pleased to learn that even extremely talented teleporter's were limited by distance and mass. The more mass they had to move, the less the distance they could travel.

"They must still be in Lavender," he told Miranda when he'd caught up to his niece and Misty as they followed the afternoon parade up to the festival grounds, "But my people've been all over town, and Laurna's had the ghosts check all the places they can't go."

"Like the Tower?" suggested Miranda.

"Naw, we'd know by now," Frank laughed.

"Um, are they're any places that ghost's can't go?" suggested Misty over the cacophony created by the crowds and the constant array of musical selections being played in various areas.

Frank rubbed his stubbly chin thoughtfully for a moment. "None that I know of," he replied, "But I'll have my people double check a few places like the harbor. I know that the Lilcamp vessels have their hulls lined with mithril, so maybe I should have some of my people actually go see for themselves. Ah well, so much for the polite approach."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Miranda offered.

The Pokeforce Officer shook his head and smiled warily. "Naw, that's alright," he assured them, "It's only a matter of time. You two just have fun."

"Sure, but what about you?" his niece inquired with concern.

Frank chuckled and lowered the brim of his hat. "Believe it or not, kid," he said with a grin, "For me, this is fun. It's probably the only truly interesting crime that's ever going to happen here, and it'd be no fun for me if I just solved it right off."

"How's Laurna doing, though? And what about Bow?"

"Well, Laurna's off making calls," Frank explained with a shudder, "She's feeling better now, and last I checked the trainers she's contacted are taking it pretty well all things considered. No one's freaked out on her or anything. And Bow's refused to leave Laurna's side since I let her loose again. Just as well, I suppose."

"Makes me glad I don't send any of my pokemon in for storage," said Misty with a shudder, recalling the icy chill that ran through her when Miranda had explained the situation to her.

"It'll teach the youngin's not to be so greedy, I guess," said Frank with a shrug as one of his people waved him over, "Uh, look, I gotta get going. But I don't want to hear anything other than you two had a good time today, you hear me?"

"Yes, Uncle Frank," they both laughed in unison before watching him vanish in the crowd of people following the directions on a conveniently placed tombstone that proclaimed that something called the "Chamber Of Lost Souls" was now open for business.

"That any good?" inquired Misty as the crowd thinned.

Miranda chuckled. "Naw," she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand, "Last year it was just a circle of trailers strung together with some rather lame attempts at scaring people thrown in. All but one's just pitch black, and you have to follow the group or get lost. Took me three days to get the honey off my shoes from that first room the last time... And the last room just had a huge cauldron in the center. They seemed to think that boiling about a dozen pairs of used gym shorts in it would scare people. Well, the smell was pretty scary, but..."

"You know..." Misty interrupted, grabbing both of Miranda's hands and pulling her in the direction of the with a mischievous smile, "That still makes three very dark rooms that are very easy to get lost in. I think that might be a pleasant distraction, don't know?"

Miranda stammered for a moment, causing her lover to laugh. "Well, why not," she said at last, unable to think of any adequate protest, "Maybe those thieves are hiding those stolen pokeballs there and we'll find them."

"Now, now," Misty laughed as she half-dragged Miranda into the line-up, "No justifying. We both know what we'll find in there."

"Each other?" the courier asked rhetorically, her smile mischievous.

Misty then glanced around nervously, her smile betraying her embarrassment. "You know," she whispered, leaning so close that her breath was hot against Miranda's ear, "I do sorta have that little... Um..."

"Fetish?" giggled Miranda, her arms reaching around Misty's waist and holding her in place as she leaned back, bowing her head and trying to hide her smile.

"Yeah. That," Misty continued after making certain that no one was really paying any attention, "I was just thinking that maybe this could be a bit of a prelude. Give me something to think about later tonight after we head home."

"Goodness, milady!" exclaimed Miranda teasingly before speaking in a hushed tone that she tried to make sound scandalized, "Are you propositioning me?"

Misty lifted her head, refusing to let herself be embarrassed further by her own thoughts. "No," she whispered coyly, her cheeks feeling as thought they were on fire as she spoke, "I'm just going to take you aside once we're in there, and take advantage of you with all those people watching in the darkness."

"And then what?" Miranda asked teasingly as the line moved forward.

"You'll see," Misty promised, "Or rather, you won't."

"And neither will they," added Miranda, taking her lover's hand and motioning to the people who'd lined up behind them.

Misty smiled mischievously, placing her lips close to Miranda's ear once more. "But if we're not quiet, they'll hear," she said, sending a shiver down her spine at the thought, "We'll need to be extra quiet, you know. Not make any noise at all or we'll be caught. Hm... I wonder how much we can get away with?"

"You're hurting me, dear," chuckled Miranda, causing Misty to look down and quickly apologize, not realizing that her free hand was anxiously clutching Miranda's arm quite so tightly, "But I guess we'll see, eh?"

Misty nodded; pleased to see how fast the line was going as they quickly neared the circle of four long structures, decorated with every Halloween clich≠ the proprietors could think of. The one at the forefront was made to resemble the "standard" haunted house, with a wooden wall attached to the roof to falsely provide a second level, and a wide front veranda that served as both a place for the ticket collector to stand, as well as a place for the animatronic zombie pokemon to flail their limbs and snap their jaws ineffectually at the crowd.

Through the painted on windows of the foremost building there were images meant to put those in line into the right mood. One window depicted an ethereal looking woman in Victorian looking clothes who was holding her head in both hands, glaring down at the crowd imperiously. Another had a skeleton hanging out the widow brandishing a bloodied knife, his eye sockets filled by a pair of googly looking eyes that had been physically attached to the mural's face, making it seem more amusing than threatening. Still others depicted sinister looking zubats flying free of the broken, often cobweb filled windows, the sightless creatures made to look hungry for human vitae as they fled the horrors within.

The other building that was visible from their vantage point, was painted to resemble a dark cave, with stalactites and stalagmites blocking most of their view of the characters painted upon it. They supposed that the heroic looking, burly man in ripped clothes fending off some tentacled monstrosity with a shot gun and a chainsaw was supposed to be one of the "Chamber Of Lost Souls" visitors. But as Miranda knew all too well, such attractions were usually more laughable than actually frightening.

As the two drew nearer, the now commonplace pre-recorded sounds of howling wind, creaking gates, and quiet screaming reached their ears. Just above the noise, however, the proprietor who was dressed in a dusty undertaker's outfit was regaling the crowd with tales of the horrors they'd encounter within. About how just yesterday five people had mysteriously vanished in the third chamber known as "The Sinister Laboratory Of The Nefarious Professor Ziffle."

"Should I scream in terror now, or wait until I see how much this'll cost me?" commented Miranda drolly as they moved to near the front of the line.

"Might as well get it out of your system now," replied Misty with a smirk as the proprietor ushered in a small group of people before closing and locking the flimsy wooden door behind them.

"Oooh, two credits a person," the courier chuckled as she glanced at the sign and reached into her back pocket, "That IS scary!"

"Oh. Looks like we're next," said Misty, as the man on the veranda stepped forward and started counting heads.

"You five," he called out with a sinister toothy grin, "You're next!"

"I just said that," muttered Misty with a chuckle as she followed Miranda up the wooden steps and stood near the door as the man collected money from the group.

"Wraith beat both of you to it," added Miranda, handing off the credits and giving Misty's hand a reassuring squeeze, "The day I caught him, he'd changed all the screensavers on all the computers in a Sylph Co computer lab to say 'You're Next'."

"What'd he mean by it?"

"Oh, nothing," the courier assured, "He was just being silly and trying to scare people."

"Did it work?" inquired Misty with a smirk.

"Well, maybe a little," Miranda admitted as the undertaker-garbed man unbolted the door and ushered them inside.

"Now don't stray from the path," he warned, "I can't be responsible for what happens if you do!"

Miranda glanced at Misty and they both laughed as they walked into the first chamber. "Dang," commented Misty as they followed the worn carpet through the room, "It's not pitch black in here."

"No, but it does have a certain charm," her lover teased as they wandered through what appeared to be a conglomeration of four rooms that had been rather abruptly joined and cordoned off a velvet rope.

The first was a small living room containing a bookshelf and fireplace complete with papier-m∞ch≠ fire. Before it was the dark shape of a plushy houndour who stood glaring at the passers by with glowing red eyes as its master, a skeleton in tacky looking tweed suit, sat in a large leather chair reading the paper and smoking a pipe.

"Doesn't Joshua have one of those?" inquired Misty, indicating the dark furred canine whose exposed bony ridges didn't look quite right.

"Yeah, sorta," replied Miranda with a shudder, "His name's 'Zule.' But he's evolved since then apparently."

The second area was a kitchen, with a mannequin dressed to resemble a motherly looking woman in a flowered dress and an apron, merrily cleaving up her husband, a second mannequin who'd been securely bound to the kitchen table, her animatronic arm working ceaselessly.

"I've seen her around Christmas time at the Celadon Department Store," chuckled Miranda, "They have her cutting up fruitcake."

"Fruitcake, you say? Now that IS scary," laughed Misty as they moved on.

The third small section held a canopy bed that was covered in cobwebs. Lying upon it was a second skeleton, although this one was wearing an ornate wedding dress, and her head turned as the group passed by.

"Waiting for the perfect man, I guess," sighed Misty ruefully.

"Or a bus on Sundays," pondered Miranda, "One of the two."

They had to pass through fourth area to exit the first room. The area looked like a bathroom, complete with an enormous tub supported by clawed feet that was filled with a dark red substance, and toilet that had a large plushy raticate bursting threateningly from it.

"You know," commented Miranda, glancing disapprovingly at the stuffed rodent, "Even if something that large COULD crawl up through the pipes in your bathroom from the sewers, raticates can't hold their breath for that long."

"Oh, and I think the tub's full of Kool-Aid," added Misty with a chuckle, "I guess they ran out of red dye and baking soda."

"This time of year?" chuckled Miranda as they crossed the threshold into the second chamber, "Definitely! Around here we sell out of fake blood by August!"

The second room was done up like a lab. The velvet ropes guided the group along a winding path through what was obviously "The Sinister Laboratory Of The Nefarious Professor Ziffle." Aside from the standard electrified Jacob's ladder, the wall of twisting glass tubing that emptied liquids of varying colours in to test tubes, beakers, and graduated cylinders, and the always popular dormant flesh-golem strapped securely to a slab, there was also a small section where failed experiments were "imprisoned."

Each cell was made to resemble a small stone room, infested with plushy rattata's and other vermin, and all but one had a securely locked door made up of bars made from empty paper-towel rolls duct-taped together and painted black.

The first held a male mannequin wearing a black Armani suit and fedora with a pair of dark glasses manacled to wall. Upon closer examination, though, they could see that one of his hands was metal, and part of his face had been peeled away to reveal metal underneath as well. As they passed, sparks flew up from the left knee, and the pant leg fell away, revealing exposed circuitry.

The second, though, was slightly more in theme. Chained to the wall by spiked silver manacles was what appeared to be some kind of werewolf. The impressive piece of papier-m∞ch≠ work had enormous hairless, bat-like ears, and network of spiraling scars across its chest. The beast's mouth was open to reveal its huge sharp teeth with a long forked tongue, and the dry ice placed upon each of its wrists beneath the manacles sent up white smoke to add credence to the prerecorded sound of pained howling.

The third room held a mannequin who sat upon his knees, staring down in horror at his hands. Enormous red lobster claws had replaced them and stuffed rodents around him seemed to be preparing a huge pot of boiling water with spices and a pound of butter.

The fourth and final room, however, had no bared door. It was open to laboratory in an attempt to make its contents seem more frightening. With its confines stood three figures. Two stood opposite one another, facing each other. They wore purple and gold robes and held blood red candles as the hidden speakers made it seem as though they were chanting some arcane ritual. "Mangero Es Josephus... Mangero Es Josephus..." they chanted as the third figure screamed, roared and ranted angrily.

It appeared to be an enormous, muscular gargoyle trapped within the confines of a complex looking mystic circle that he seemed unable to leave so long as the robed figures continued their chant.

"I think I saw this movie," commented Misty as they moved on to the next chamber.

"Yeah," added Miranda thoughtfully, "But didn't it involve vampires in some way?"

As they passed through the swinging wooden door, Misty suddenly gasped and quickly covered her mouth to hide her excitement. The room was so dark that it swallowed what little light passed through into it from the previous one as several others crossed the threshold. From somewhere in the darkness, hidden speakers emitted the sounds of a typical swampy bog. Above the sounds of crickets chirping, amphibians croaking, and occasional call of a nocturnal avian, came a quiet gurgling of stagnant water, coupled with the noise of oozing mud and of the wind blowing through long dead trees.

"Quickly, this way," whispered Miranda, trying not to laugh as she lead Misty by the hand to about the middle of the room, the entire time feeling the touch of the strands of fabric someone had hung from the ceiling to scare those who passed through the room. However, once they had reached their destination, the two hopped over the rope that was there to both guide and keep people from doing exactly what they were doing.

"Sounds like a relaxation tape for jynxes," commented Misty under her breath with a chuckle.

"My hair's not that bad," chuckled Miranda, reaching out with her free hand and finding the far wall after a short walk. "Ah, here we go," she whispered, almost to herself before sliding offer her glasses that would be of no use and turning to face Misty.

"Hey," her lover giggled in reply, reaching out with nervously shaking fingers to touch Miranda's face and move the courier's hair back, "you know I like this way."

Miranda smiled, and quickly placed a finger upon Misty's lips as the others who'd followed them in entered the dark room with their own set of comments. As the group laughed and shrieked merrily at the soft touch of the simulated tendrils that hung from the ceiling, Miranda pressed her lips tightly against Misty's ear.

"They're watching us, you know," she whispered as quietly as she could, each word barely audible even at that distance as she tried not to laugh, yet still sending shivers through her lover's body, "They don't know it, but their eyes pass over us even now. They are not consciously aware of our presence, but on a instinctual level they know that we're here."

Misty's body shivered once again, and she dropped her hands to Miranda's shoulders, clutching them tightly as she pressed her lips against the courier's. All the while, she listened to the passage of the others, their heavy sounding footsteps across the wooden floorboards, and their laughing voices as they made noises to scare one another.

'She's right, ' Misty mused inwardly, tilting her head and trying to contain herself as she felt Miranda's hands brush aside her open Fall jacket and slide up her stomach, 'They can see us... They just don't know it! If we make just one sound they will, though. Goodness this is just too much!'

As the group passed through the second door, and their voices became less echoing and more muffled, Misty pulled her lips away from Miranda's, only to have the courier kiss her teasingly as she stood panting for a moment.