The two families exited the forest and reached a field. Suddenly they stopped and gasped.
They saw a huge lake right in front of them. The lake was surrounded with forest and hills. It seemed very deep although it was calm. The full moon above the lake was shiny and mysterious. The shores were rocky and steep. And above the lake's dark waters, on a ledge, there it was. A castle. A big black castle with sharp tall towers and lurid walls.
Goten and Trunks were almost going bananas of the big excitement.
"This is great!!!" Trunks jumped around. "A real haunted castle!! Wow, this is gonna be cool!"
Goten looked like he had found his one true love. "You got that right! Whoopee!! It looks like Hogwarts and the Two Towers put together! I wonder if there are any werewolves…"
Bulma looked at a wet piece of paper that used to be a map. She muttered thoughtfully: "Why should a werewolf live in a castle? Hm, now that's weird. This lake isn't on this map. And there's nothing about any historical monuments either."
Goku put his arm around Chichi's shoulders. "Who cares?" he asked. "There is a castle, or what? And I bet there's warmer than out here. C'mon, let's move it." He went towards the black silhouette pulling his wife with him and so the others followed him.
"So, who's gonna ring the bell?" Gohan asked after they had been standing in the rain for five minutes.
Bulma shuttered. "Be my guest. I w-w-w-wouldn't touch that castle's walls even for a million bucks!"
Goku examined the heavy door curiously. "I don't see the doorbell."
Vegeta stepped up. "These things go like this, Kakarot. Watch and learn." He grabbed a weird-looking knocker that was grinning in the middle of the door and slammed it.
It was quiet for a little while, then the door opened. With a creepy SQUEAK, of course.
Everyone was surprised. Trunks and Goten looked disappointed.
There was no pale vampire or hairy werewolf on the door. It wasn't even a ghost. They saw a nice old man in his middle-sixties with grey hair, big moustache and a round friendly face. He wasn't much taller than Vegeta, he wore slippers and a robe and seemed rather sleepy.
"How can I help you?" he asked.
Bulma got her courage back and stepped forward. "Sorry to wake you up," she said, "but we were camping near this place and then it started to rain. We thought that…"
The man didn't let her finish. "But of course, come on in. There's plenty of room. You must be freezing and gosh, you're so wet! Please, don't stand there in that terrible shower. Come in."
After closing the door and lighting some candles the man pulled a rope and called a servant. Then he introduced himself.
"I'm the count of Darkshore," he said. "Our family has been living in this castle for centuries. Unfortunately my wife and I are the last Darkshores left since we have no children. But we'll talk about it tomorrow. You must be very tired. There comes the butler, Andrew. Andrew, lead these people to some rooms upstairs and take care of their wet clothes. Sleep well and pleasant dreams!" With these words the man left.
Andrew was a tall, pale man with dark hair and a very serious face. "Follow me," he said, took the candlestick and went up the broad staircase. The families followed him.
Trunks looked around. He saw huge portraits, dark walls made of oak and pine, rusty armors, massive doors – everything that goes to a castle. He couldn't see the ceiling; it was too high and there wasn't enough light. The kid nudged his father: "Hey, Dad, do you think there are ghosts in here?"
Vegeta just grunted but the butler turned around and said: "There are always ghosts in old castles. Sometimes they show themselves, and sometimes they don't. You shouldn't worry about them. Usually they're not a big bother."
After learning that there were two families Andrew gave them two big rooms in the end of a dark hallway. One of them, the one for Goku's family was big, dark and spooky but pretty warm and with two huge beds. The other one looked alike but it was smaller and had a wardrobe in size of a small land cruiser in it. The butler gave them two candles and left.
"Well then, good night, you three," Goku told Vegeta's family, yawned and closed the door. Seconds later it opened again and Trunks was flown out.
"But I just wanted to have a pillow fight!" Trunks complained.
"Have it in your dreams, brat," Vegeta suggested and kicked him into their own room. He closed the door and yawned too.
After blowing out the candles everyone fell asleep.
It was a little after midnight when Goten suddenly heard something and woke up. He sat up, listened carefully and shuddered. Then he poked his brother. "Gohan, hey Gohan, wake up! I heard something. Wake up!"
Gohan mumbled, opened his eyes and looked at Goten. "What?" he asked on an irritated voice.
"I just head a strange sound," Goten explained. "It sounded like a moan or something. And there was some clanging too – chains or shackles or so. I told you this place was haunted!"
"Ah, never mind." Gohan yawned loudly and turned the other side. "Even if there are ghosts in here, they couldn't do us any harm. We're Saiyan warriors, remember? Now get back to sleep."
Goten was offended. "But I wanna see a ghost!" he grieved.
Gohan was already asleep so Goten sneaked out of the bed, left the room and crossed the hallway. After getting into the other room without any trouble he tiptoed to Trunks's bed. His buddy was already awake.
"You heard that too, didn't you?" Trunks asked.
Goten nodded. "Yeah, and Gohan said it was nothing."
"Let's go and find out what it was," Trunks suggested. Goten agreed and the two kids crept to the door.
"And just where do you think you're going?" Vegeta's voice was sharp and absolutely non-sleepy.
Goten yelped, but Trunks didn't lose his nerves. "We were just gonna get ourselves a midnight snack."
The Saiyan prince wasn't that stupid. "Yeah right. Tell it to your granny. Get back to bed, now! And you, Kakarot's little brat, get lost before I get angry."