CHAPTER 3

SEARCH

Meanwhile, in the ballroom, the lights also went out. When this happened there was a scream and chaos broke out. "What...?" Sango gasped as someone tried to push past her to the entrance. "WHAT'S GOING ON!"

Kikyo, who'd been standing near the prize table, that also had a kerosene lamp on it for affect, picked up the lamp. Lighting a match, she lit the lamp and put the glass globe thing over it. The light lit up the room slightly, causing Kikyo and everyone else to look eerie.

"All right, everyone, calm down!" she shouted to them all. "It's just a power outage. It happens all the time in old houses. There is nothing to be afraid of."

"Or it might be the ghosts of the people who died in this house!" Koga spoke up suddenly, as he stepped toward the light with Ayame clinging to his arm in fright.

"What do you mean?" Kanna asked.

Koga smiled at them all and lit a flashlight he'd found on the fireplace mantel. He turned it on and shone it in his face. "As the story goes," he began. "There was an American man named Ivo Craine who came to Japan over two hundred years ago. While he lived here he married a Japanese woman and had this house built. During that time, some people were angry at him for building the house on what they considered 'Sacred Ground'. They told him that the spirits of the people who died there would not be happy about being disturbed. The man scoffed at this and just built the house anyway."

"Soon after, his wife, her name was Shirziru, went for a walk in the forest and discovered an old shrine among the trees. She thought she saw lights glowing in there and went to investigate them. When she came back to the house she wasn't the same. Her face had gone deathly pale and her eyes had lost their fire. It was as if she were a corpse amoung the living. The husband was worried and took her to her room. While there he asked her what she had seen but she either would not or could not tell him."

"What happened then?" Kagura asked, getting into the story.

"Well her husband was so worried that he brought a doctor in to see her," he explained looking out the window at the full moon. "The doctor never found out what was wrong. Some time after that people learned that both the husband and the wife had been murdered. Nobody knew how or why. There was no way anyone could break into the house because the house was always bolted shut tight at night and the husband and the wife were the only ones ever in the house at that time. Soon after that the authorites had the house made off limits to anyone and were too afraid to tear it down."

"What happened after this?" Sango asked.

"Rumors began to circulate. Some said that the husband had killed his wife then himself and others thought it was the opposite. They said the wife had gone crazy and attacked her husband with a hatchet. Some believed it was the spirits that had died there that had done it and some believed it was the spirit of a dead Priestess who was said to haunt the shrine behind their house," he answered. "Either way the backyard and some of the front grounds was turned into a cemetary because some believed that was the only thing the ground was good for."

"You don't believe that do you, Koga?" Ayame asked him.

Koga smiled down at his girlfriend. "No, but some people say that they see the wife walking around in the bedroom upstairs or on the front lawn. They also say they see the Priestess, from the shrine in the forest, walk to this house and disappear into the house just to come out a few minutes later empty handed and wailing."

"What is she doing?" Ayame asked. "Why does she come into the house?"

"People believe she is searching for her soul which was said to be devoured by the wife's spirit the day she spotted the ghost Priestess in the forest," Koga said swinging his flashlight at his audiance, looking at one face then another. "But I don't believe that."

Suddenly the bowl of punch crashed to the floor. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Koga screamed along with the cheerleaders and Shippo.

"Don't believe it, eh?" Miroku said eyeing the wolf demon clad teenager.

"N... no, I don't," Koga said indignantly.

"Either way," Kikyo said before the two could start a fight with each other. "That doesn't explain anything. It's just a rumor anyway. Ghost stories. There is no truth in them."

Suddenly a scream pierced the air.
"What was that?" Kanna asked.

"It sounded like Rin and Kagome," Sesshourmaru said. "Rin went looking for Kagome a few minutes ago and I haven't seen them since."

"Maybe we should go look for them," Hojo said. "It wouldn't be a good idea to have them walking around in this old house by themselves."

"Okay, then we'll split up," Kikyo said walking forward with the lamp. "Koga and Ayame you take Kanna and Kagura and look outside for them. Shippo you and Onigumo take the cheerleaders and look in the basement. Hojo and I will take the rest of you and look upstairs."

"Wait a minute, Kik," Inuyasha cut in. "Who's going to look around this floor?"

"Oh," she said. "Okay then. You and your brother look down here."

"WHAT!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "I don't want to be with my brother!"

"Too late," Kikyo said. "Besides, you two need to spend some brotherly time together."

"That will be a fine, Kikyo," Sesshy said putting his around around his brother's shoulder. "It will be fun! Right, bro?"

"WHAT!"

"If that's it, I think we'd better get searching," Kikyo said. "Do you all remember where you have to look?" everyone did. "Okay then, let's go."

Everyone split up leaving Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru in the ballroom all alone. "Well, little bro," Sesshoumaru said smiling at Inuyasha. "I think we'd better get started."

"I can't wait," Inuyasha grumbled.

As soon as the lights had gone out Kagome and Rin had begun screaming. They screamed for about five minutes without stopping. Rin was the first to get a grip on her panic. She shook Kagome lightly to get her to stop.

"We can't lose our heads," the girl said. "It was just a power outage. Nothing to worry about."

"Bu... Bu... But... th...that..." Kagome stuttered.

"That what?" Rin asked.

Kagome didn't answer. She'd finally gotten ahold of herself and was thinking rationally and objectively. "Okay," she said straightening her witch skirt. "I agree. The lights will be fixed soon and we can continue with our party."

"That's the spirit," Rin said. "Now let's try to get downstairs with the others."

"Kay."

Just as the two girls started to feel their way down the hall they head a scream. "What was that?" Kagome asked grasping Rin's arm.

"I don't know," the other girl said. "It sounded like it came from the bedroom we just left."

"But... there was nobody in there..." Kagome said her teeth beginning to chatter. "If there had been we would have seen them..."

"Nobody we could see anyway," Rin said in a totally creepy voice that didn't fit her usual cheerful personallity.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked.

"Haven't you heard the stories about this place?"

"Yes... but they are just stories."

"Not all of them," Rin said turning to face Kagome just as a shaft of moonlight came in from a nearby window and lit up half of her face, making it look eerie. "The story of the husband and wife's mysterious deaths is real... Nobody knows how they died either. They believe the spirits of the people who died on this property killed them..."

"Ghosts?" Kagome asked clutching the handle of her broomstick. "But there are no ghosts."

"Are you sure about that?" Rin asked her voice getting low and haunting. "There could be... just like in the past..."

Suddenly there was a crash from the direction they had come from. Rin jumped and Kagome let out a little shriek. "What was that?" she asked.

"I don't know," the Tokyo Mew Mew clad girl said looking down the dark hallway. "But it came from over there."

Kagome turned around. Through the darkness she saw the glowing red eyes from before. A loud growl filled the air.

That did it. Though Rin had only been trying to scare Kagome, she'd done such a good job she'd scared herself. "Let's get out of here!" she screamed.

Shrieking in fright, the two girls ran down the dark hall until a wall stopped them in their tracks. (Namely they ran right into a wall)

"Why did Kikyo have to chose us to be the ones to look outside," Ayame asked, as she held onto Koga's arm, as her eyes scanned the graveyard that took up the entire backyard. "It's so creepy out here."

"It's not that creepy," Koga said looking around the graveyard. "It's just a bunch of marble rocks sticking out of the ground."

"But there are people buried below our feet," Ayame protested. "What if they don't want people walking all over them?"

"Oh, Ayame, you worry too much," Kagura said annoyed. "The people are buried six feet under us. So technically we aren't walking all over them."

"I see something," Kanna said suddenly in her totally calm voice.

"What?" Koga asked looking at the white haired girl. "Where?"

"There!" she said pointing toward a clump of trees. "I see someone moving around over there."

Everyone looked down Kanna's finger and into the woods at the other end of the cemetary. A small shaft of moonlight illuminated part of wooden stairs.

"It looks like a little house," Kagura said. "Like a shrine or something."

"Wasn't there a shrine mentioned in the story you told us, Koga?" Ayame asked looking up at her boyfriend.

"Yes..," he said. "But I don't think Rin and Kagome will be there."

"I think we should look anyway," Kanna said. "They could be there," She started walking forward without anyone following her.

The others hung back. "Koga," Ayame said. "We can't let her go there by herself."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," he told his girlfriend. He didn't want to be near that shrine but he'd never admit it to Ayame. "Kanna's a very brave girl for her age..."

Ayame stared at him. "Are you afraid?" she asked.

"No," he lied.

"Then why are you hanging back?"

"I don't want anything bad to happen to you and Kagura," he replied.

"Chicken."

"WHAT DID YOU ALL ME!"

"You heard me. I called you a-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kagura shrieked, dancing around as if she were trying to fling something off her leg. "Something came out of the ground and grabbed my ankle!"

Well that turned everybody chicken. "KANNA! WAIT FOR US!" they screamed running after the shorter girl who was still walking fearlessly toward the shrine.

"So you decided to come with me after all," she said when the others caught up with her. "That is good. It shows you have no fear."

"Yeah. That's us," Koga said grinning nervously. "Fearless to the end."

"Uh huh."

A few seconds later the four were walking up the creeky stairs of the shrine. "This place looks like it hasn't been used in years," Kagura commented, looking around the porch and the doors that swung inward at their passing. "A good wind could blow this place over."

"Actually this place is pretty sturdy," Kanna said also looking the small building over. "It was built to be sturdy." She took Koga's flashlight and shone it inside the shrine. "But, yes, it looks as though nothing living has entered this place in over a centery."

"So Rin and Kagome aren't in here?" Koga asked looking around nervously. "That's good. Let's go now." he started to walk back outside.

"No," Kanna said, grabbing his arm to stop him. "Let us continue. They might be in here but hiding. Maybe they are doing what you call a prank to scare us."

Koga was about to say something but suddenly there was a strange sound, like a wailing noise from deep within the shrine.

"What was that?" Kagura asked looking around.

"I don't know," Ayame said clutching Koga's arm. "It sounded like someone crying."

"Let's go," Kanna said walking forward. "We should see who it is. It might be Rin or Kagome. Maybe one of them or both are hurt."

That suggestion seemed logical. The four started farther into the shrine. They didn't get very far. Suddenly a glowing robed figure appeared in the other room and came toward them.

"What is that?" Ayame asked her eyes getting big at the sight of the glowing figure.

"I don't know," Koga said staring at the thing in horror. "But I'm not going to stay here and find out! Let's get out of here!"

Kagura, Koga, and Ayame hi tailed it out of there, leaving Kanna standing alone in the shrine. The girl started at the ghost, it looked like a long dead Priestess with black hair, brown eyes and a white and red outfit, a moment then smiled and walked toward it.

"Where should we look first?" Inuyasha asked his brother Sesshoumaru who was staring at something on the wall.

"Hmm," was the only responce he got.

"Are you listening to me?" Inuyasha asked annoyed at his older brother.

"Look at that, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said, pointing a flashlight at the wall above the fire place.

"What?" Inuyasha asked looking up at the wall.

That's when he saw it too. A portraid of a beautiful woman. She had raven black hair, sparkling brown eyes, and pale peaches and cream colored skin. She wore a pink flowered kimono and in her one hand was a paper fan covered in cherry blossoms and little birds.

"That must be the wife mentioned in the story," Inuyasha said looking at his brother. "So?"

"Didn't you notice she looks a lot like Kikyo and Kagome?" Sesshoumaru asked staring at the portraide. "Like she could be their sister or something."

"But Kikyo and Kagome aren't even related to the people who lived here," Inuyasha pointed out.

"Did you know," Sessy went on as if his brother hadn't spoken. "Kikyo was born June 8th and Kagome was also born June 8th a year later?"

"Yeah. So?"

"This woman was also said to be born on June 8th."

"So?"

"Don't you think it's weird?" he asked. "I also did some research on the Priestess who used to work at the shrine behind their house. She was also born on June 8th over five hundred years ago. She was said to have protected something important until she died at an early age. When she died, that item was said to be buried with her. Even so, her soul refused to rest. It wondered for over fifty years after she died then eventually came to rest. But then this house was built..." Sesshoumaru stopped there. "I wonder if the woman who lived here had some kind of connection with the Priestess who died."

"Maybe," Inuyasha said staring at the picture. "It could be-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off when the lights began to flicker. "What is that?" Sesshoumaru asked looking around the light and dark ballroom.

Inuyasha, who was still staring at the picture, gasped. "LOOK!" he exclaimed pointing at the picture.

Sesshoumaru looked back at the picture. His eyes grew huge at what he saw. Something dark red and foul smelling was dripping from the very top of the picture down over the woman and onto the fire place. "Blood!" he gasped recognzing the horrible red liquid right away.

"Where is it coming from?" his brother asked staring in horror at the portraid of Shirziru Craine.

"It seems to be coming from- " suddenly the clock stuck midnight. When this happened the window shutters began to slam against the window frames and the windows started opening and closing all by themselves.

"What's going on?" Inuyasha exclaimed feeling fear creep up his spine.

Sesshoumaru couldn't answer, Instead he grabbed his brother's arm and ran out of the room. His destination was the second floor but he took a wrong turn and ended up in the living room. Suddenly there was no floor under the two brothers. With startled yelps they went plummetting down.

A/N

This story is so fun! Hehehe. I enjoy scaring characters once in awhile. I hope that ghost story was okay I have never written a ghost story before. The man in the story is in some way related to the character Ichibod Craine from The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. Anyway, this fic might end up being a bit longer than I thought. I hope you all don't mind. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to update again as soon as I can.