Seven Days of Terror

Author's Note: Man, still no reviews? Tch... Anyway, this is a short one. Expect the next chapter in a few days.

Seven Days of Terror

by Perfect Purity

Chapter Four: Suspicion Rising

"Someone else? You can't be serious," Jessie said, arms crossed.

"Dead serious," James said, bolting out of the room and back up the stairs, wishing he hadn't chosen those particular words. Upon reaching the main room, he stopped and listened for any signs that his buddy was in trouble. As he looked down the long hall to the double doors that led towards the dining room, James found himself wishing he'd brought some sort of weapon to protect himself. He stepped slowly, cautiously, as if the polished wood floor would cave in at the slightest misstep. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him, slowly approaching. "Sneaking up behind me, is he? Come on, I know you're there..." James thought, his steps slowing. He could feel the other person's presence near him. It was now or never. Kill or be killed. He turned around, and swung a fist.

It was promptly blocked. "Figured you might try something stupid like that," Jessie said with a chuckle.

"Jessie, that's not funny! I could have really hurt you!"

She laughed. "Don't be ridiculous, James. Cute little ol' me stopped your attack all by myself... what do you plan on doing to that big bad intruder who has Meowth?"

"So you do believe me."

She laughed again. "Of course not. I just couldn't resist having a little fun myself."

"Please, Jessie, be serious, would you? Stay here. I don't want you to get hurt. If anything happens to me, call the boss and get help," James pleaded.

"Okay, okay, Mr. Hero, I'll humor you just this once," Jessie gave in. She laid herself on the couch and closed her eyes. "I'll be waiting for you right here," she yawned.

There, that was settled. James continued down the hall, a little faster this time, realizing he'd wasted valuable time arguing with his partner. He stood in front of the door, contemplating his next action. "Do I just barge in? Man, I shouldn't have wasted so much time fighting with Jessie. If Meowth dies, I'll never forgive myself. That's it. I have to get in there. Ready, James? One, two..."

He burst through the doors, ready for whatever - or whoever - was on the other side. Well... half-ready. And on that other side, as James suspected, was Meowth, sitting on the table and very much alive, from what James could tell. He was being spoon-fed something by a woman that could not have been Jessie. She was tall, a few inches taller than James, with long curly red hair that reached to the small of her back. She was a slender woman, and wore a blue bandana with an insignia on it James did not recognize. She stared at James with emerald-colored eyes. James, however, was not looking at this beauty, but rather at the spoon she was holding inches from her friend's mouth, or more specifically, the spoon's contents. Not immediately recognizing what it was, he lunged at the spoon, knocking it from the girl's hand. He turned to her and threw a punch; completely off guard, she fell from her chair to the tile floor. She didn't move after that.

"Meowth!" James said, bringing his friend into an embrace, feeling both glad his friend was saved and justified that his suspicions were indeed correct. "Are you okay? How are you feeling? Did you eat any of that?" He got no response. He set his friend back on the table. "What? What's wrong?"

Meowth, eyes shut, teeth clenched, simply extended the claws on one hand and delivered a single Slash attack to James's face. "You idiot!" He exclaimed. He jumped to the floor to tend to the woman. "What's your deal, huh??" he shouted to the male human. James, clutching his face, didn't answer. Meowth turned to the woman. "Hey, wake up," he pleaded. "Are you okay?"

After a moment, she began to stir. "Oh... that was a cheap shot," she said, sitting up, holding her head in the place where James had hit her. "Meowth, what did you do that for..."

Meowth shook his head. "It wasn't me. That dumb oaf over there is the one that hit ya." Meowth glared death at his old friend.

The woman stood up and brushed herself off. "Oh, yeah..." she said, looking back at James, who was still holding his injury. She looked him over, then turned to Meowth. "Well, from the looks of him, I can't say I'm impressed." She looked back at James. "Hitting a poor, defenseless girl...what kind of man are you?"

"Shut up. Defenseless my ass. What was that you were trying to poison Meowth with?" James demanded, subconsciously trying to find something else he could attack this intruder with if needed.

"Well, aren't we bossy?" the mysterious woman said, never moving her emerald gaze from Jame's. "If you really must know," she said, turning to pick up a bowl on the table and holding it out for James to inspect, "it's gelatin. Perfectly safe."

"And perfectly yummy, too!" Meowth chimed in, jumping back on the table. "Shelly made it yesterday and was kind enough ta share it with a starving Meowth, and I'm sure she woulda given you two some too if you would have just said, 'Oh, hi, I'm James, and you?' and not CRASH through the door, SLAP with the spoon, POW right in the kisser, SQUEEZE to the Meowth!" he fumed, claws still bared.

James closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then exhaled. When he opened his eyes, he extended a hand. "I'm sorry," he began. "I overreacted. My name is James. Pleased to meet you."

"Shelly," the woman replied, shaking the young man's hand. "Needless to say, I was surprised to find anyone at all here besides me, let alone a talking Meowth! How cool is that? Your Meowth is so cute! I love feeding him."

"No, he's not mine. He actually belongs to my boss. He was assigned to my partner and I. The three of us work as a team as a part of Team Rocket." James paused for a moment before asking the one question he should have asked in the first place. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a treasure hunter. I've been watching this place carefully over the past few months, noticing who goes in and who goes out, and I've spent the last week or so trying to figure out how to get inside and, well, take whatever I can find. I love this place. I got in a couple days ago, and I've spent them eating the food here, and learning the lay of the land. I'll be taking off after I've had my fill of the stuff of whoever belongs here..." Shelly trailed off, picking up another spoon. She ate some of the gelatin she held. "Mmm. It's really good. You want some?" she asked, offering James a spoonful.

"No thanks, I'm allergic," James lied, still not completely trusting this girl.

"Well, that's too bad. I guess it's all yours then, Meowth," Shelly said, putting the bowl and spoon in front of the cat, who wasted no time in stuffing his face with the food. "So, I've told you my story... what's yours?"

"This house you're looting also belongs to my boss - Giovanni of Team Rocket. We've fallen out of his favor, and were sent here as punishment."

"Your boss sends you here for punishment?" Shelly asked, wide-eyed. "Wow. I wanna work for you guys. So you're with Team Rocket, huh? Can't say I've heard of you... is the pay nice?"

James ignored her question and continued. "Ever been downstairs? We were locked down there, but we busted out. Now we're just living the good life until our sentence is over... and the pay isn't that bad. It's not minimum wage, but it's not really exceptional either. It's enough to get by. My partner is in the other room. I'll introduce you to her, if you follow me this way." He extended his arm and gave a smile.

"Well, a gentleman now, are we?" Shelly half-asked, eyebrow raised, linking her arm with James's. James was glad the lady was so accepting. While it was true his inner gentleman was showing himself, the reality was James wanted some kind of control over her so she could not try to harm Jessie... at least not this second.

The two walked arm-in-arm down the hall to the main room, where Jessie was still on the couch, unmoving. The pair moved in front of the couch, where it appeared the magenta-haired woman had fallen asleep. James made a gesture towards a nearby chair. "Won't you sit down? I'm terribly sorry, my partner seems to have fallen asleep..." Shelly sat in the chair while James pulled Jessie into a sitting position. "Jessie, wake up." He put his arm around her and shook her a little. She stirred, but it wasn't much. He tried again. "Come on, what are you doing sleeping at a time like this? Time to get up!"

"What... are the twerps here already..." Jessie yawned and stretched her arms and tried to bring her eyes into focus. She leaned into James and shut her eyes again. "I don't know why..." she yawned again. "...I'm so tired... I guess I didn't sleep enough last night..."

James rocked his partner. Jessie was something of a cruel mistress when she was awake and alert, but James didn't mind it when she was sleepy - calm, and cuddly, like a kitten. "Do you remember when I said that someone else was in the house, Jessie?"

"Mm..." she said, half-asleep, fully enjoying the familiar motions James was doing.

"She's sitting here across from you. She's one of Meowth's friends. Won't you say hello?"

Jessie let out a moan and sat up. She blinked a few times at this new person, who just sat there and smiled. The redhead extended a hand. "Hi, I'm Shelly."

"And I am not interested," Jessie said, laying herself into James's arms.

"Sorry," James apologized. "This really isn't like her at all. Normally, she's much more... well, mean. But I guess she's not going to budge... I'll put her to bed. Where are the bedrooms?"

"Oh, well, I guess they're upstairs. I haven't really finished mapping this place out. I see you found my map," Shelly said, picking up the paper on the table. "The only bedroom I can confirm is the one I use, which is what appears to be the master bedroom. It's right up the stairs, directly at the top of the stairs. I'd appreciate it if you didn't use it... there have to be other bedrooms in a place like this."

"Sure, not a problem," James replied, standing up. "Come on, Jessie, let's go find us a room, huh?" He picked her up and carefully made his way towards the stairs. "I won't be too long," James said, turning towards his new acquaintance.

"Take your time," Shelly said, waving a hand. "I'll be with Meowth."

As James made his way up the stairs, he began to have a few thoughts about this mysterious woman, but kept them to himself until he had a chance to talk to his partners in crime regarding the situation. Upon reaching the second floor, James looked to either side and found they looked surprisingly similar, almost identical. Doors lined each wall on both sides, each hall leading to a window. James opened a door nearest the one Shelly had claimed as her own, and found a second bedroom. To say the room was decorated would be an overstatement; the room contained but a single bed. "I wonder if all the rooms are this barren," James thought to himself as he set his partner down onto one side of the bed. He looked briefly at her before going back downstairs. "Guess they're still in the kitchen... I'll leave them be. I've got a lot on my mind... I have to write..." He went over to their suitcase, still messed up on the floor, and took his notebook from the pile. He took a seat in the nearby chair, removed the pencil from the binding, and opened up to a new page to write about the day's experiences.

It came pretty easy. In seven days, he would be faced with the biggest challenge of his life.

- End of Chapter Four -