Part 1

"WHAT?!" Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia cringed in unison at the sound of Lina's angered cry. Loud murmurings came from all corners of the inn as the occupants stared at the enraged sorceress.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE ANY ROOMS LEFT?!" she shrieked.

The poor clerk at the desk cowered and flinched. "I-I'm sorry miss, but they're all taken."

"THEN KICK SOMEONE OUT! I DON'T CARE, JUST GET ME A ROOM!"

The clerk flinched again and said in a small voice, "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Maybe another inn will have room…?"

This attempt at placating the red haired sorceress back fired horribly. You could almost the steam shooting out of her ears. Many patrons made a hasty getaway for the safety of their rooms as her renewed shrieks of fury shook the inn walls.

Gourry sighed. "I'd better go stop her before she kills the poor guy." Amelia and Zelgadis watched him make his way across the room like hero going of to die on some hopeless suicide mission.

The swordsmen tapped Lina on the shoulder.

"Not now Gourry, I'm busy," she grunted. "Busy" in this case apparently meant holding the unfortunate desk clerk in a headlock. Said clerk was already planning a new job search.

"Come on Lina, it's not his fault all the inns are completely booked." Lina ignored him. Gourry changed tactics. "Besides, sleeping outside won't be that bad." In a flash, he suddenly found himself having traded places with desk clerk.

"NOT THAT BAD?!?!" Lina screeched. "THE WORST STORM IN NEARLY HALF A CENTURY IS COMING TONIGHT AND YOU SAY IT'LL BE 'NOT THAT BAD'?!?!"

"-Gack- Can't! Breathe!"

"5 silver pieces says she kills him," a mousy haired young boy in the corner whispered to his friend.

"Who, the blond or the clerk?"

"Both."

"Deal."

Zelgadis grumbled and rubbed his temples. How did they get into these kinds of situations?

Amelia sweat dropped. "Umm… don't you think we should stop her Mr. Zelgadis?"

"I choose life" was the flat reply. She couldn't argue with that.

Later…

After much painful persuasion (emphasis on the painful part), the three of them finally managed to get Lina to calm down.

"Calm" being a relative term in this case.

"I don't believe it! How can every inn in this whole stinking town be completely full?!" she ranted angrily as they walked down Main Street.

"People are probably trying to find shelter for night, just like we are," Amelia pointed out. "They just beat us to it."

Lina shot her a glare. "I know that! I'm just trying to vent some steam here!"

"We're still left with the problem of finding somewhere to stay," said Zelgadis. "Personally, I don't care to spend the night outside either."

Lina the fountain in the town square, cursing life in general.

"Erm… excuse me…" Lina felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around to see an elderly woman standing behind her. The woman coughed.

"Excuse me Miss, but I heard that you people have been looking for a place to stay, am I right?"

Lina blinked. "Yeah, we were."

"I realize that the inns are all full," the woman continued, "But there's an abandoned mansion just outside the town. Perhaps you coul spend the night-"

"NO!" all four of them said at once. The old woman looked taken aback by their outburst.

"What's wrong-?"

"We've..." Lina paused, "had bad experiences with abandoned mansions." That much was true. It was only a few weeks ago that they'd just barely managed to escape L's mansion alive. None of them was eager to repeat the experience.

The woman gave her a puzzled look. "If you say so…"

"Please ma'am, do you know of any other place we could stay?" Amelia asked, her eyes pleading.

The old woman looked troubled. "Well….. There's another inn, not far from here, but I really don't think-"

"Another inn?!" Lina grabbed the woman by the shoulders, a slightly crazed looked in her eye. "Where is it?! Where?! Where?!" The woman fidgeted uncomfortably. "Tell us!"

"It's just a couple miles north of here, but-"

"ALRIGHT!" Lina and Gourry jumped up and down joyfully and did a little dance. "No sleeping on the wet ground for us!" Lina cheered, pumping her fist.

"And good food too!" Gourry added happily. Amelia, Zelgadis, and the old woman collectively sweatdropped as the two off them started to do a happy little jig.

"Hey lady!" Lina suddenly jabbed a finger at the old woman, who jumped. "You're gonna show us exactly where this place is!"

"Is that it?!" Lina pointed at the old building in front of them. "Huh?! Huh?! Is it?!?!"

The old woman sighed, looking resigned. "Yes, that's it."

"Woohoo!" Gourry and Lina cheered, charging through the door. Their companions slowly moved to follow them.

"Something wrong Amelia?" Zelgadis asked, noticing her troubled expression.

"Hmm? Oh, I was just getting weird feeling about this place." She shook her head. "It's probably just my imagination."

The old woman watched them go with an expression both troubled and pensive. "Good luck to you," she said softly, shaking her head. "Cepheid knows you'll need it if the legends are true."

Lina cupped her hands to her mouth. "Hellllllllllllooooooooo? Anybody home?" she hollered. There was no response.

"This place looks pretty abandoned," Gourry observed. Cobwebs were everywhere. There were no lights other than the light spell Lina had cast when they first came in.

"This place gives me the creeps," Amelia shivered and unconsciously took a step towards Zelgadis.

"Do you think the woman was lying?" he asked.

"Now that you mention it, she was acting kind of strange," Gourry added.

"Yeah, but why would she lie to us?" Lina asked. "Besides, I got more of the impression that she just didn't wanna tell us about this place."

Gourry frowned. "Why would she not wanna tell us about this place?"

Lina shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe she was the owner of a rival inn or something. But honestly, who cares? The important thing is, now we've got somewhere to stay." She grinned.

"Oh? So you wish to stay at this inn?" a raspy voice queried. Right next to Lina's ear.

"WAAAUGH!" Startled, Lina jumped backwards, crashing into Gourry. "Ow..." all of them stared. The voice's owner was an elderly man, older than anyone they had ever seen before. His thin, bony frame and gaunt, pinched face gave him an eerie resemblance to an animated corpse.

"So you wish to stay at the inn?" he rasped again.

"Wha-? Oh, er, yeah, we do," Lina stuttered.

The corpse-man nodded. "Very well then." He beckoned them over to a counter. "My fees are quite reasonable," he added, pulling out an ancient looking leather bound book and a box that made a jingling noise when he set it down on the counter.

Lina knew better than to take his words at face value. Businessmen of all trades often said that but rarely meant it. She was surprised to discover the costs were much less than she expected.

After paying, the man led them upstairs to their rooms. When he finally went back downstairs, Gourry let out a deep breath.

"Phew! That guy sure is creepy."

Amelia nodded vigorously. "I know! He looks like one of the living dead!"

"That storm had better clear up by tomorrow morning," Lina grumbled. "If I spend too long in this place it would drive me insane." Maybe I can get some extra bandit hunting in before nightfall? she thought. She glanced out the window. Already the sky had turned dark, though the sun wouldn't set for another few hours. Ok, maybe not.

"From what I've heard," said Zelgadis, "It's supposed to clear up sometime early next morning. We should be able to get back on the road then."

"Good," Lina grinned. Only one night in this creepy place! Awesome! "Right then, I've got a few things I need to do, so I'll be seeing you guys later for dinner." She went into her room.

"Same here," Zelgadis added vaguely

"I think I'm going to take a bath," Amelia added to no one in particular, before making her way to the bathroom.

Gourry looked around somewhat bemusedly, before shrugging and going downstairs for something to eat.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I still haven't died, so stop worrying about me. I'm fine.

That was how she always started her letters to home. Sprawled on the bed on the stomach, Lina sucked on her quill, wondering what to write next. She'd never been very good at writing letters. When she'd first started traveling, her letters to home had been sporadic at best. It wasn't long before Lina received a message from her mother bluntly stating that if they didn't hear from her at least once a month they would send Luna out looking for her.

Needless to say, the message had prompted (terrified) her into writing monthly letters to assure her parents she was still ok. The last thing she wanted was a pissed off Luna coming after her.

We're staying at an inn in Lyzeille, waiting out a storm. It had better clear up soon. This place is like something out of those cliché ghost stories Uncle Liam used to tell. The innkeeper looks like a zombie.

How're you? How's Luna? Blah, blah, blah, usual questions. I-

Lina paused mid-sentence as someone entered the room. "Hey Lina!" Gourry said cheerfully, "They've got great food downst-!" He was interrupted by her boot colliding with his face.

"Jellyfish brain! Don't you know you're s'posed to knock?! What if I'd been changing!"

He rubbed the boot shaped mark on his face. "Ow… That hurt."

Lina hmphed. "Serves you right." Suddenly the light went out, leaving them in pitch darkness.

"H-hey! Lina, what'd you do?! I'm sorry already!"

"It wasn't me Gourry!" Lina cursed loudly as she stubbed her toe against the bedpost. "Sonuva… Lighting!" The room was illuminated once more.

"What happened?"

"Dunno. I guess the lamp must've gone out or something." Lina moved to relight said lamp, and frowned at what she saw. "That's weird…"

"What is it Lina?" Gourry looked over shoulder.

"Look at this," Lina gestured at the lamp. "Notice anything out of the ordinary?" He scrutinized it.

"No, not really." She slapped her forehead.

"Jellyfish brains! The fricken candle's gone!"

"Yeah, I know," he replied, still looking nonplussed. "So what?"

Lina seethed at him. "Whaddaya mean 'so what?'?! Candles don't just disappear into thin air by them selves!"

He still looked confused. "But how do you know it was ever there in the first place?"

Lina resisted the urge to strangle him. "It was what was lighting the room you moron! That's how I know it was actually here in the first place!"

"Oh…"

Lina muttered darkly under her breath. Forget the creep factor, I'm gonna go nuts from cabin fever if I stay here too long. With a sigh, she gestured towards the lamp, causing the light spell to sit where the absent candle once stood.

"So Lina, what were you doing when I came in?" Gourry asked.

"Hmm? Oh, just writing another letter home."

"Huh." Gourry glanced at the letter. There was silence for a moment. Lina was still puzzled by the candle's mysterious disappearance. The only way it could have possibly vanished into thin air like that was if someone put it into an Astral Rift. Astral Rifts were pockets of the Astral Plane sorcerers could use to store physical objects. It was a very handy spell for travelers.

The thing was, objects didn't go into Astral Rifts unless someone deliberately sent them there. She and Gourry were the only people in the room. If someone else been there, one of them would've noticed their presence. Besides, who would go to all that trouble just steal a candle? Especially one that's barely more than a stub?

"Hey Lina," Gourry broke off her train of thought. "Maybe the ghost of a dead chicken stole it."

Lina looked completely baffled. "What?!" Where had that come from?!

"I said: 'Maybe the ghost of a dead chicken stole it.'"

She gave him a withering look. "I heard what you said," she snapped. "What in the world makes you think a chicken's ghost stole the candle?"

"Well," Gourry explained, "When I was little, my grandpa told me all these stories about ghosts who moved stuff around for fun." His eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "What were they called again…?" Lina almost laughed in spite of herself at Gourry's face as he tried to think. "Oh yeah!" he snapped his fingers. "Poultryghosts! That's it!" He looked very pleased with himself.

Lina slapped her forehead. "I think you mean 'poltergeist,'" she groaned. "And they have nothing to do with chickens. Although," she admitted, "You do raise a good point." She gave him a congratulatory whack on the back. "Not bad for a jellyfish brain."

Gourry rubbed his back and winced. "Thanks… I think." He paused. "So what now?"

"Well," Lina thought it over, "Poltergeists are pretty uncommon, so it's kind of improbable that we'd find one here." She shrugged. "But on the other hand, it's the only plausible theory we have so far. I'll have Amelia check it out. These things are more her area of expertise than mine." Suddenly there was a growling noise. Lina laughed sheepishly.

"Heh, all this thinking has made me hungry. Let's get something to eat."

A/N: Well, here it is folks! The sequel to "The Mystery of Kanzaka Manor"! You probably weren't expecting a sequel, and to be honest, neither was I. Kanzaka Manor was originally supposed to be just a short, fun little fic that would help me improve my writing. But I wanted to write another ghost story, and than I got the idea to make a sequel. And this is the result (fyi, this is the fic I mentioned in my last author's note for Journeys). The next chapter will probably be up some time next week.

Lina's letter home were inspired by the first time I went on an overnight school trip without my parents. The teachers made us check in with our parents via cell phone at least twice a day to let them know we were alright. My messages were usually something along the lines of: "I haven't died, nothing's exploded." Although the exploded part wouldn't have worked too well with Lina. Hope it wasn't too OOC for her.

Please R&R!