Amicus Curiae (Ace Attorney Fanfiction)

Chapter 3: Turnabout Saviour (Part 1)

April 6-11:30 AM
O'Wisp Beach-William's Cave

We entered the cave. It would have been extremely dark if we didn't have our torches, and although I wasn't scared, I was glad to have a whistle around my neck in case I got lost. After we'd walked for a few minutes, I heard footsteps and muffled voices. They were coming from a dark passage ahead. A kid who must've been about six or seven years old yelped and stuttered, "I-i-is that the g-ghost?"
"No," chuckled Guy, "that's just Gill's group. He's running the eleven o'clock tour. Nothing to be afraid of, er..." He trailed off, probably asking for the boy's name.
"Avery," the boy's mother answered.
"Nothing to be scared of, Avery. Stick close to your parents and you'll be fine," Guy reassured him. He looked relieved. A few other kids were muttering things to themselves. One girl turned to another and said, "oh, just another group. Of course. Ha ha."

A while later we found an open area in the cave. There were stalagmites and stalactites (Guy had taught us which was which) around, and Guy told us that we could take a break. A lot of the other kids sighed; they must have been tired. I was a little tired but I figured I'd be fine after the rest. Guy told us to stay in the open area so we didn't get lost, then he took his backpack off and got a sandwich out. I sat down against the cave wall, while my parents went to talk to some of the other families.

A couple of minutes into the break, I heard some weird noises. Thumps, a metallic noise, and more thumps. "I-I'T'S THE GHOST!" Avery yelled. Some other kids cried out or screamed as well.
"No it isn't," I said. I was near Avery, and so I shuffled over to where he was sitting. "Ghosts aren't real, Avery. It's probably that other tour group. Maybe somebody dropped their torch or something," I tried to reassure him. Although, the sounds I heard didn't really sound like someone dropping a torch. That was just the most likely source of the noise.
One of the girls in the group came over to us. "I dunno, that did not sound like it came from the other group. It didn't sound like a dropped torch either."
The girl's mother told her off. "Stacey! You're not helping; that boy is really scared."
Some other kids came up to us and we discussed the noises. A lot of them were sure that the noises were caused by William O'Wisp's ghost, but I tried to tell them that ghosts weren't real. "Maybe it's a trick they set up to make the tour more scary and exciting," I said calmly.
"Definitely scary...not so exciting though," said Stacey. "I mean, that sounded totally fake."
"Hey, didn't you think it was the ghost earlier, sis?" A boy next to her said.
"I...no...well yeah, but after I thought about it I realised it had to be fake!" She protested.

Guy finished his sandwich and said, "Right, everybody. Break's almost over, so pick up your torches and get ready to go." Unfortunately, Stacey and her brother had started fighting about whether Stacey really was scared. I got up and went over to my parents. "Are you having fun, Cornelia?" Dad asked.
"Yeah, this is really exciting! Apparently there might be some glow worms up ahead, did you know that?"
"Yeah, that would be great to see," Dad replied. He and Mum got up. I looked over to where Avery, Stacey and her brother had been fighting, but they weren't there anymore. I hadn't noticed the fight stop, but I assumed they'd gone back to their parents until I heard Avery's mum call, "Avery! Where are you? AVERY!"

We all searched for Avery but he was nowhere to be seen. Not only that, but Stacey and her brother, whose name was Zachary, were gone as well. We figured they must've gone down one of the passageways going deeper into the cave, or back the way we came. We assumed they'd  gone back because Avery had been so scared. We didn't hear their whistles or see any torch flashes though. Guy decided that we should all head back to the entrance. After leaving the cave, he would call for a search party. He apologised for having to cut the tour short, then we all picked up our torches and began the walk to the mouth of the cave.

When we were halfway there, we took another break so that Guy could contact the tour company and organise a search party, as well as look for signs that the kids had come through here. Unfortunately there were no clues. I sat down next to my parents, and suddenly remembered my camera in my pocket. I'd taken some pictures during the tour, but I didn't take one of the area we'd been in when Avery and the others disappeared. Bother, I thought. A photo of the scene of an incident could be valuable evidence in court, even if it showed no trace of an actual crime being committed there. As I wanted to be a prosecutor when I grew up, I should've remembered that while we were still there; my parents could've taken the photo to the police. It was too late now, I thought as I leant against a wall. Suddenly the wall gave out from behind me, and I was pushed by another wall from in front of me! The last thing I felt was a hit on the head, and pain, as everything went black.