Author's Note - Hello and welcome to another story! You must all hate me now since I haven't been working on my stories, but one of my best friends died recently, and I didn't feel like writing then. So, now I have another horror story (not Halloween), let's begin!

Disclaimer - I OWN NOTHING

"Truth is always strange."

- Lord Byron

Sokka asked himself what he was doing in such a stinking place in the middle of nowhere like this 'Calmere'. The rain pelted on the Gaang, and thunder clapped in the distance. The dirt path was quickly forming into mud, making their feet sink into the ground with every step.

"Ugh, are we there yet, Snoozles?" Toph shouted, taking another step in the mud.

"Actually, yes. It's right up ahead!" Sokka exclaimed, rolling up his now soaked map and nearly falling into a puddle of mud.

The town wasn't a cheerful place, covered with vines and moss, shadows coating most of the place, and looked particularly empty. The Gaang stepped onto the paved road and Aang's ear twitched. He turned to the river and gasped, grabbing Sokka's arm. "Look at that!"

Bobbing up and down in the river was a short bald man, with snow white skin and dark brown robes. "C'mon, we got to go help him!" Aang exclaimed, and began to make an ice bridge. Sokka sighed, and Katara said, "Toph and I will head for the inn. We'll see you in a minute." And walked into the town.

Sokka then turned to Aang, who was walking on the bridge calling, "Sir? Sir?" He followed and caught up with the Avatar, and at the same time the man climbed onto the river bank and walked away from them. "Hey, wait!"

Sokka and Aang ran after him into the forest, and suddenly an explosion filled their ears. Sokka exclaimed, "What was THAT?" Aang made a worried expression, ran farther, and gasped. Where the man was, was now a small crater. Sokka just blinked and said, "Well, nothing we can do now. Let's go."

The two entered the inn and a terrible stench entered their noses, smelling like something between rotting fish and feces'. Toph was sitting in one of the chairs, covering her nose and holding her stomach as if she was about to puke, and Katara was complaining about the stench to the innkeeper. As Sokka got closer, he assumed the place had about a hundred residents with only three last names. The man looked very disturbing: his wide mouth, flat nose, snow white skin, and large eyes all looked abnormal to him. After Katara's complaints were done, the strange man grunted with slight lisp:

"Eh, I haven't seen an outsider enter this place for some time, now."

Aang replied, "We're just here to see my friend's friend, Bato, for just a few nights maximum."

"Ah, the...schoolteacher, right?"

Katara chimed in, "That's right, he should be living nearby, right?"

"Well, it's just up the stairs in the upper town, but I'm not sure if your allowed there."

"Why not?"

"Well, we here don't trust strangers very much, and thus you may not be allowed in the upper town at all."

"Well, that's a pity!" Toph said sarcastically, but the innkeeper ignored her, and handed Sokka a key.

"Here's your room key. It's the only room, so you can't miss it."

"Thank you!" Aang said, and started up the stairs.

Once they walked up the stairs, the stench hit all of them like a sledgehammer, and they covered their noses. Toph asked, "What the heck is that?" Sokka, covering his nose, looked around and saw a ladder. He began to climb it, and the others followed. It was pitch black in the room, until Sokka bumped into some metal thing. He placed his hand on it, and the metal thing, a lantern, flickered to life.

"Oh, spirits!" Aang yelled in alarm, and everybody gasped. At the end of the room was a wooden coffin, with slime oozing around the edges. Something was scribbled on the wall with blood. That explained the horrible stench! Sokka took a few steps forward, and opened the coffin slowly, and Katara yelled, "Sokka! What the heck are you doing?"

"OH MY GOD! Guys, look inside!" Sokka screamed, falling back. Toph asked, "What? What is in there?"

Aang and Katara walked forward, and Toph stood back, looking a little green. They peered inside, and gasped. Inside, were some bones along with rotting meat. It was hard to say if any part of the pile of guts were human...

They walked downstairs, in shock, and into their new room. It had four beds along with a bookshelf, an empty chest, and a table with a few unlit candles, a freshly cooked steaks and pork chops. But all of them weren't hungry. There was also a letter and map on the table, and Sokka picked them up as Toph plopped onto her bed. "What does it say?" She asked, putting her hands behind her head. Sokka blinked, then read aloud:

"Dear Katara, Sokka, and friends,

I have been in this town for some time now and I can say for sure that something is very wrong with this place. Aside from teaching at the local school I have been studying the local history and folklore for a while. What I have discovered so far is very strange, and I think I'll need your help to figure what is going on here!

I would really appreciate it if you can as soon as possible, as the locals are not exactly pleased with me going through their books at the library and with questions I have dared to ask. They are only letting me stay here as they know the Earth King would send someone to investigate this place if they heard about the level of their educational system...

From,

Bato of the Southern Water Tribe."

"So," Katara said. "Should we go see him now?"

Toph yawned loudly, and replied, "Sugar Queen, we've been traveling all day. I thin we should get some shut-eye before checking this place out, it's really creepy."

"Very well..." Yet Sokka could tell Katara was worried.

"Snoozles? HEY, SNOOZLES?" Toph yelled into Sokka's ear. He bolted awake, falling out of the bed in the process. He looked up to see a grinning Toph looking down at him. Aang and Katara were at the other side of the room eating, discussing what they're going to do today.

"Geez, thanks for waking me," Sokka grumbled, getting up. Katara noticed him and said, "About time you woke up, come on, let's get moving."

"Can't I eat first?" Sokka whined, and Katara just tossed him a dry steak and walked out the door, Aang and Toph following. Sokka chewed on the meat, trying to ignore the smell from the attic, and ran after his friends and sister.

The sun shone bright in the sky, and a light breeze blew past them. The mud had disappeared, and the town seemed a little less creepy. But still, that strange atmosphere coated the town like a blanket, and Sokka got a chill up his spine after he swallowed the last bite of steak.

As they approached the stairs, a man on top of the hill shouted to them:

"Halt! You ain't from around here, so stay out of the upper town, got it? You can also forget about going to the church or town center, alright?"

"Well, if you say so." Aang said.

"That's right!"

They walked back down the stairs to the inn, but Toph stopped them and whispered, "How about if we just sneak through town?"

"What? That guard would kill us! He's like, seventeen feet tall!" Sokka whined, but Katara said, "Oh come on Sokka, don't you want to see Bato?" And Aang nodded.

Sokka sighed, being outnumbered, and replied, "Ok, just stay in the shadows, got it?"

Katara and Aang nodded, while Toph coughed. Sokka looked at her and remembered, "Oh yeah... Toph, just stay close to me." Then the blind Earthbender nodded.

"So, where's this guy Bato's house?" Toph asked, and Katara pointed to the house only a few feet away, "That one over there."

Then Sokka face palmed.

Walking into the house, Toph said, "So, we snuck around, by snuck around we just travelled, five yards, and it was here?"

"Yep, that sums it up." Sokka said, and then noticed Bato wasn't there. However, there was another note for them. He picked it up and read aloud:

"I'm sorry that I couldn't wait for you, but this is really urgent, I can't wait any longer. I think I'm really onto something here. I'm heading for my office at the school. Check the map as the building looks nothing like a schoolhouse, I have no idea what it could be used as. Anyways, I have to check a few of my notes and hopefully I'll see you really soon.

I have a few candles and some leather jackets in the chest upstairs, take them, because this place can be really hostile."

"So, to the school?" Aang asked, and Sokka nodded. Katara walked down the stairs, with four leather jackets and a bunch of candles in her arms. Each of them took one, while Sokka placed all of the candles in his large pockets. He said, "Remember, don't be seen."

They walked outside and dashed behind the houses, stopping whenever Toph detected person. After a few minutes, they reached the school. Or, at least, what it said on the sign attached to the building. The building itself had a large iron door, thick stone walls, with moss growing up the sides. There were absolutely no windows, so you couldn't see indie. Toph placed her hand on one of the walls and said, "It's empty."

"Are you sure he's not in there?" Sokka asked, disappointed. Katara said, "Let's just look inside, before someone catches us."

They walked in, and it was darker than outside, but they could faintly see some wooden desk around the room, along with a large one in front. Sokka turned to see a staircase, a few painting, and a bookshelf. He gulped, and walked to the stairs, not knowing what he was getting involved with.

END OF PART ONE