Chapter 2: Mystery.
P12. The City of Liconea.
We all entered the city gates, and immediately, we grasped the attention of the werewolf residents who walked on the streets going about their lives.
"It seems we are not welcome," Esteban whispered under his breath.
Looking around he wasn't wrong.
"Just keep walking," I advised him.
We continued to walk until we reached the hotel.
"This is where we are staying!" Gastella said as she led us inside the hotel.
We followed her inside the hotel.
Inside was a receptionist behind her desk dressed in a suit and tie.
"How may I help you?" The receptionist asked kindly with a smile.
Gastella explained who we were.
"I understand. We are happy to welcome the Vampire representatives," She mentioned with a smile.
She asked us to follow her to the first floor, where we had been assigned.
"This is your floor during your visit here," The receptionist handed Gastella a set of keys.
"Thank you," Gastella grabbed the keys.
Gastella turned to face us.
"Fortunately for you, we have enough rooms for you to have your own," Gastella handed each of us a key with a room number engraved.
"Here you go," Gastella dropped a key into the palm of my hand with a smirk.
I looked at my key.
It had room number 113 on it.
"Now go to your rooms and rest. We will have dinner in three hours!" Gastella instructed.
Leyla, Cecilia, Esteban and I gathered.
"See you guys later," Cecilia spun her key around her finger.
"Rest well," I told them.
"I will," Leyla replied.
I could tell that the three of them were exhausted. A good rest is more than welcome for the three of them and the other students.
The students split up and, one by one entered their assigned rooms.
I made my way to room 113 and unlocked the door.
The room looked clean. It had a well-made bed with a closet and a nightside table with a lamp on the top of it.
I sat on the bed.
I then opened up my dimension and got a change of clothes.
"Much better," I said, wearing comfortable clothing.
I looked around the room and noticed something suspicious under the bed.
"Hmm, what do we have here?" I asked with an interested tone.
Three hours later.
I made my way to the downstairs dining hall which had been reserved for us.
On the way there, I met up with Esteban, Cecilia and Leyla, who looked much better rested.
"Did you rest well?"I asked the three of them.
"We feel much better," Leyla answered with more energy than she had before.
"That's good," I replied as we walked down the stairs.
We arrived at the entrance to the dining hall where Gastella and some of our classmates and students waited.
Gastella noticed me immediately.
"Glad to see you could join us," She said displeased.
"Well I am hungry," I said with a mockingly sarcastic tone.
As the students gathered we were led inside the dining hall.
"Woah!"
"It looks stunning!"
"The food smells delicious," The students were stunned to see the beautiful interior of the dining hall.
Almost everything was carved out of wood, like the chairs, tables, and chandeliers, combined with mildly sweet fragrant candles, creating a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere.
"It's so nice here," Leyla said with astonishment.
Cecilia's eyes were also wide open in astonishment.
"Tell me about it, these wooden sculptures look incredible," Cecilia's gazes were captured by the wooden carved sculptures which were scattered across the hall.
Leyla also had her eyes set on these beautiful sculptures.
"They must have taken hours to hand make," She said, astounded.
We sat at the tables with food in front, eager to dig in and sample these beautiful dishes.
"I hope you enjoy it!" One of the staff wished.
We picked up our cutleries and began eating this delicious feast.
"So delicious!" The students complimented.
I also found the dishes to be excellent. However, something plagued my mind, that I had to share with the three of them.
A little while had passed, and out of nowhere, the doors to the outside opened, slamming them into the walls.
It created a loud bang, which captured the attention of every one of us.
"My my what do we have here?" A voice sounded.
Between the open doors were several werewolf students most likely the teams we would be facing in the upcoming tournament.
"A bunch of Vampires eating our food," A male werewolf said with a grin.
The werewolves walked inside the dining hall, scattering across and making their way to various tables.
"We came here to greet you on behalf of our triumphant Rashal Academy," Another male werewolf said, walking around the dining hall as he owned it.
No one said a word as the situation happened too quickly before anyone knew what to say.
"What is the meaning of this?" Gastella rose from her seat and asked with a frustrated tone.
The werewolf who led the group faced her.
"The famous Lady Gastella, I had hoped to meet your King… too bad, he is too much of our coward to be here," The werewolf said mockingly.
I couldn't help but chuckle inside. I liked his description of Dracula.
"He will be here soon enough," Gastella replied calmly.
She knew that she was unable to harm them, and yet part of her wished that she could have at least given her deep loyalty to Dracula; I assumed as much.
The werewolf grinned.
"I see a bunch of weak Vampires who will know their place soon enough," He said walking around the tables.
The female werewolves began to harass our female students grabbing onto their hairs.
"You ladies look so pale,"
"I'm jealous of their skin,"
The female Vampire students weren't having any of it and began to retaliate.
"Hands off bitch!"
"Don't touch me filth!"
They said to the werewolves.
The male werewolves also mocked the Vampire males causing a huge quarrel.
The lead male werewolf looked over to our table and made his way over to us.
"What do we have here?" He asked, looking at Leyla.
Leyla was visibly uncomfortable.
"Get away from me," Leyla said firmly.
The werewolf was taken aback by Leyla's sudden, sharp tone.
"What's your problem?!" Cecilia vented in frustration.
"You are all beneath the wolven kind!" The werewolf said with pride.
The other werewolves gladly joined the mockery against us.
"That's right!"
Werewolves are superior to all!"
Leyla, although nervous, stood bravely.
"We can just get along…there is no reason to fight," Leyla expressed confidentiality.
The male werewolf who instigated this smiled, amused by what he just heard.
"How about you prove your claim and spend some time with us, beautiful," He said, addressing Leyla, creeping up toward her.
Leyla looked even more uncomfortable than she was, to begin with.
"LISTEN CREEP! I Won't let you touch her!" Cecilia stood up from her seat and placed herself between Leyla and him.
"That's enough!" Esteban said doing the same thing.
The werewolf was stunned but undeterred from approaching.
"You've got nice friends here," He said to Leyla with a disgusting grin.
He then followed up with: "I also have good friends," He said.
At that moment two male werewolves approached Cecilia and Esteban.
"Keep them busy while I have a chat with this one," He instructed.
It was important to note that magic usage was forbidden against them. If any of us used magic to defend ourselves, our school would be disqualified from the tournament.
This was why the werewolves also didn't use magic, but their actions led me to strongly believe that it was their goal to get us disqualified.
"Get away from us!" Cecilia shouted at the werewolves.
The werewolves didn't take her loud tone seriously but rather mocked her.
"Look at that,"
"The Little Vampire is angry,"
Cecilia looking furious would have been an understatement; she looked like she was about to bring the whole hotel down.
Looking around the dinner hall, many of us looked like we were about to use magic, some of the students looked uncomfortable to the point of being close to tears, and Gastella couldn't do much without disqualifying us.
Before the situation escalated further I decided that enough was enough.
I stood up from my seat.
The lead werewolf reached out to Leyla with his right arm but before he could lay his hand on her.
"ARGH!" A scream of pain could be heard.
The whole hall fell silent.
Everyone looked toward the source of the scream.
It was me squeezing his arm.
"Let go!" He demanded in pain.
I did not follow his instructions and continued squeezing his arm.
"Let's have a chat," I said calmly.