Hauntings

Chapter Two- The House

The next morning, while everyone else was at breakfast, Lin and Tigress snuck away to Shifu's room. The old master was still there, meditating. Tigress didn't want to disturb him, but Lin had insisted.

"Can I help you?" Shifu asked as Tigress and Lin entered.

"Master, Lin and I wanted to show you something." Tigress said. Shifu broke out of his meditation and listened. Tigress handed Shifu a scroll. When Shifu opened it, the prophecy Lin had said was on it.

"What about the prophecy?" Shifu asked.

"Baba, the first line says, 'Eight shall go to the house of ghosts.'" Lin said. "The Five, the Dragon Warrior, you, and I are going to a house said to be haunted. Eight people, one house." Shifu got the message.

"So you think the prophecy is coming true?" he asked.

"Precisely." Tigress said.

"Then we'll have to be extra careful." Shifu said. Tigress and Lin nodded and left to join the others. Shifu looked down and read thru the prophecy.

"Eight shall go to the house of ghosts,

One shall face the terrible host.

Beware of the traps that lie within,

One will be confronted by his sins.

To defeat the evil that will show,

The heroes must be aided by their foe.

One will perish to save his friends,

Should the ghosts be released, it will all end.

Sadness and grief shall follow the end to danger,

But joy shall come from a powerful stranger."

Shifu sighed. He had so many questions. Who was this 'terrible host'? What traps? What foe? One will be confronted and one shall perish. What did that mean? Shifu was afraid to find out. And who on earth was the powerful stranger?

Shifu shook his head and walked off to join his students.

*****

After breakfast, Shifu led his students and Lin to the house at the edge of the village. Po was almost scared stiff by the sight of the dark house. It seemed to glow with darkness, despite the fact that it was a clear and bright day. As they all ventured up the stairs, the wood creaked beneath them. Shifu walked up and knocked on the door with the brass door knocker. The knocker was a brass lion's head with a ring in his mouth.

"This estate is closed for the day." A voice called from inside. "Go away and don't come back!"

"What kind of jerk talks like that to someone?" Viper said in disgust. Crane walked up and tried door knocker again.

"Leave now!" the voice yelled again. "Or pay the price!"

"How rude." Lin said. Crane was about to try again when Po stopped him.

"Dude, he just said we'd pay the price." Po said, trembling.

"Po, really, what could possible happen by knocking on the door?" Crane asked. Crane knocked.

And a trapdoor opened beneath everyone's feet. The eight of them fell into darkness, yelling. They hit a slide and slid down thru many underground tunnels before landing in weird places.

Monkey, Mantis, and Crane fell into the basement, headfirst into a giant pile of soot from the fireplace.

Viper and Tigress landed into a fireplace in the dining room.

Shifu, Lin, and Po slammed into a wall after falling into a dungeon.

"Apparently, that's what can happen by knocking." Po groaned.

*****

Viper and Tigress picked themselves up and brushed off the ashes on their bodies.

"Well that was pleasant." Tigress said sarcastically.

"What are we doing here?" Viper asked as she slithered into the dining room. The room was huge, made completely of stone. The table was set, but no food was out. The table itself was big enough to seat about a hundred people. The candles were full, almost brand new. But when Tigress looked at them closely, she noticed that the wicks were black from being used. Wet wax was dripping down the candle.

"This house hasn't been abandoned." Tigress said. "Someone's been here, and very recently."

"Well, what do we do?" Viper asked.

"Let's get out of here." Tigress said. Suddenly, they heard noises. They ran off and hid back in the fireplace. When they looked out, they were horrified at the sight before them.

*****

Monkey, Mantis, and Crane clambered out of the soot pile, shaking themselves like dogs to get the stuff off.

"Man, I looked like a gorilla." Monkey said.

"I looked like some mutant crow." Crane complained.

"Who cares?" Mantis asked. "Let's get out of here." They agreed and walked off, finding a door at the top of some stairs. Crane tried the door.

"It's locked." He said.

"Not for long." Monkey said. With a swift punch, there was a hole where the door knob was. The boys walked thru and found themselves in a small room full of cooking stuff and food. Walking thru, they found another door and found a kitchen behind it.

"Geez." Mantis said. "What a dump."

"Hey, check out this photo." Crane said. Monkey and Mantis came over and looked. On the wall above a wooden countertop was a picture of a bunch of animals in aprons and holding cooking stuff.

"I guess they were the chefs here." Monkey said.

"Yeah." Mantis said. "hey, check this out." Crane and Monkey looked over and saw many large bags of flour up on a shelf.

"That's weird." Mantis said, looking in. "This stuff is fresh."

"But I thought the house was abandoned." Crane said.

"It was." Mantis said. "Nobody's been here in years."

"Maybe they moved back in." Monkey suggested.

"If they moved back, what's with all the dust and dirt?" Crane asked, running a feather over the counter. A bunch of dust covered his feather. Mantis jumped down to Monkey.

"Sure is weird." He said.

"Maybe we should find Master Shifu." Monkey said.

"Yeah, this place is starting to freak me out." Crane agreed. They started walking.

Suddenly, their vision was clouded with white.

*****

"Panda!" Shifu yelled. "Get off my tail!"

"Sorry." Po said, standing.

"Man." Lin groaned, rubbing her head. "What a fall. Where are the others?"

"They must've fallen elsewhere." Shifu said, brushing himself off. He checked out the lock on the door of their cell.

"Why would somebody put a dungeon in their house?" Po wondered.

"Who knows?" Lin said.

"Then again," Shifu said, stepping back. "This house is rumored to be five hundred years old. Lin, can you slip thru the bars?" Lin tried and eventually slipped thru. "Good, now try to pick the lock with your claw." Lin obeyed. It took a while, but they managed to get thru.

"Now what?" Po asked.

"Let's get out of here." Lin said. Shifu nodded and started walking thru. They only walked for a little while before they came to a large wooden door. Shifu pushed, then tried to pull it open.

"it's stuck." He said.

"I'll get it!" Lin cried, leaping up. With a somersault and a great kick, the door fell apart.

"Well, that's one way to open it." Po said. Shifu chuckled and followed the little dragon thru. Beyond the door was many stairs. They started climbing, but only got up ten steps before Po stopped.

"Can't we take a break?" he panted.

"Po, come on." Shifu said. Po sighed and followed his master and Lin. They climbed for a little while before coming to another door. This opened with ease, but Shifu peeked out cautiously to make sure nothing was going to jump out. Lin zipped out.

"Lin, stay close." Shifu called.

"Why?" Po asked.

"I don't like this place." Shifu said. Po followed his master into the room. Suddenly, the door behind them slammed shut. Shifu and Po jumped. Shifu struck a battle stance. His ears swiveled around, listening.

Suddenly, Po yelled.

A/N: The door knocker thing, I got it from Scooby-Doo. Read and Review!