The First Night At The Dinner Table

The nephew gets escorted to the dining hall, meeting a few more residents. When he goes back to his room...

Lei took another glance at Fienne and assumed that he should dress for the occasion like she had. "Oh, don't worry," she shook her head with a smile. "I always dress like this. Our dinners are very casual. Wear whatever you like." The young man wanted to do that, but Lei thought of his uncle. To his knowledge, he was not a welcomed resident. What would the Uncle Revya think of his nephew if Lei refused to not dress fashionably when it was his first time at the mansion's dinner table? "Really now," the tall lady walked up to young Revya and put her right hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing to be afraid of. He's not that kind of person."

The thought wouldn't budge. "I don't think I can risk it." Lei grabbed a few things from the closet he had put together twenty minutes ago... or was it hours ago? "I'm sorry for having you wait. Please hold on for me." Young Revya walked into the full sized bathroom in the northeast corner of his room and shut the door. He replaced the flannel shirt and dark denim jeans he had worn at the beginning of the day with a suit, maroon tie, tanned slacks, and a white shirt underneath.

Fienne's beryl eyes widened for a second when Lei opened and walked out of the bathroom fully dressed. "That's a little much, isn't it? Oh well," the woman shrugged. "If you're going to wear that, you'll make the other feels guilty. We might be a little late, now." She giggled and began to blush as the two held arms walking down the hallway towards the lobby. Indeed, they may be late. Immediately, Lei realized that Adenine was no longer at her desk. The mess that was on top of her table earlier had turned into three sets of neatly stacked papers while all of the miscellaneous pens in the ceramic cup all faced down. The computer monitor's on switch was lit orange. Perhaps she had forgotten to turn it off? "Pay attention," Fienne lightly elbowed Lei on the side of his chest, "we're taking a small shortcut."

Instead of walking down the flight of stairs that would have brought the couple to the first floor lobby, Fienne prompted that they take a different route. The proceeding corridor lay on the opposite end from the hallway leading to Lei's room. However, the way the two hallways' decor and structure made them near identical and black haired youth crossed his fingers wishing nothing unusual to happen yet. It was only half way when they went downstairs and turned to their immediate left. In the distance was a very tall and wide ornate door. "A dining hall?" Lei thought. "This is more like the entrance to a ballroom." They didn't take a wrong turn, did they?

Fienne turned her head towards the young man. "Lei. After going through all of that trouble, you're not going to disappoint this fair lady now, are you?" Her lips smuggled a laugh and she let go of Lei's arm. It took him a second to figure out what it was that she wanted.

He opened the door and let Fienne enter the dining hall first. Lei's brown eyes got lost. A pair of extremely long, rectangular tables sat parallel in the room. Each was set with a ivory table cloth adorned with dark gray damask. About every twenty feet or so a silver stand rested at the center of the tables. Each stand held five carefully placed candles all lit recently. There was a painted mural on the curved ceiling detailed only with tree branches and their leaves being blown by the wind. To Lei, it looked a little boring and out of place. Why would anyone want that kind of picture in the dining hall? Like the rest of the mansion, the windows were about a feet or two too high.

Lei had to suck up the environment within ten seconds, because a new person walked right in front of his face. "You guys are kind of late," said the slender man. Definitely not American; he had a light accent that one might find from native French speakers. His eyes were similar to Lei's, but had a more amber hue. The six foot six man examined Lei using his distinct, long face, almost pointy nose, and small, skinny sideburns. He put his hand over his modest, rusted brown beard and pleasantly spoke, "You're the new guy. Lei, right? Weird how I couldn't find you at the front door this morning."

Fienne's foxy smile brimmed as she listened to the man's woe. "Too bad, Moe."

"Moe?" A burst of laughter escaped from Lei's mouth. "Like, that Moe?"

Moe frowned and sighed heavily."Fienne, that's an evil nickname. Why would you call me that? I liked John more." Lei felt belittled when the tall man pat him on the pat like a parent would their own children. "Don't listen to her. She's just being mean since we've never met before. My name is Johan Moreau."

The green dressed lady made a hearty laugh. "Too complicated. So I call him John Moe. Come on, let's sit over there. We're supposed to have sat down already." Fienne pointed at the corner of the right table closest to a wide hallway leading someplace. The delicious aroma of food grew stronger as the trio sat down. There were two guests that were waiting for them. One of them was someone Lei had already run into: Adenine.

The other guest was the one Lei was amazed and frightened to sit next to. It looked like a person, but it looked like a beast. His physique was bulky; it had to be a guy. He was covered in dusty black fur. There was a thick, brown leather collar tight around its neck. As for what it specifically looked like, the words may not exist. In Lei's mind, it was a cross between a buffalo's body and a rat's tail that got smashed together with a tiger's or a lion's head mixed with a monkey's arms. It can't have been right, because that would look too awkward. This thing looked natural and even though it appeared beastly, it was pretty handsome in its own way. Lei turned towards Johan then Fienne. They thought absolutely nothing of this. The young man's eyes went towards Adenine who replied with a facial expression wondering why he was looking at her. He didn't want to be rude, but... was he supposed to treat it like a person? It was sitting patiently at the table, too.

"It looks too real to be a costume or a robot," was all Lei could think of.

The creature snarled. It stared back at Lei with a pair of fearsome brown eyes. Words came from its snout and it barked with a gruff voice, "You've never seen a werebeast before?"

---

"No." It was plain and simple: Werebeast? Werepeople don't exist. At least... they shouldn't. The young man shook his head, disappointed. He took another glimpse at the faces of the three people he knew, then looked at the creature again. "Really, guys? I know that I'm the new guy, but this a bad joke." Lei had heard of Werewolf Syndrome, before. This had to be that. The rest had to be a costume. Cosplayers always loved props.

The creature covered in black fur slammed both of his fists on the table. The plates and utensils echoed his anger. He stood up, agitated and not caring for what may have became of the innocent wooden chair he sat on a few seconds ago. Well over Lei's height, the beast clenched both hands and cast his monstrous face down on the human in front of him. Johan scratched his nose and Fienne hid her satisfied glare. Young Revya didn't care whether or not the thing was bigger than him; he wasn't going to let something so fake scare him away. If it was a real werebeast, Lei figured that the creature would have killed everyone in the mansion, already.

A small hand touched the werebeast on his right side. After Adenine had gotten the dark creature's attention, the lady's face and her golden glasses shook left and right repeatedly. Her face was different from what Lei had seen from the brunette earlier. Nothing cynical this time; her slightly rosy cheeks were relaxed and sincere. She almost looked sad. The creature looked at the black haired youth once again, no longer trying to intimidate Lei. "Whatever," he said as he turned around. "I'll eat later," the creature snapped, its strange tail whipped around and brushed the table before the black furred beast walked away in paws.

Everyone waited until the werebeast was out of sight. "Good thing I was here," Adenine destroyed the silence. "Marrok usually doesn't let other people stand up to him."

"You did very well, there." Johan held a wide grin as he took his seat next to Adenine. The same one that the werebeast had left a minute before. "I'm impressed. You know how to make lasting impressions, that's for sure."

Fienne took her seat as she glanced towards Adenine. "I agree."

"I don't know what you guys are doing," a voice said. His voice was soft and light. He appeared in a chef's uniform and black, steel toe shoes. The blue eyed man walked from the hallway leading to the kitchen with a few others following him. In the flat and steady palms of their hands were plates with polished, silver covers over them. A few of his dark brown bangs hanged from below the toque tightly placed around his head."I heard some noise coming from the dining hall and I thought you guys were getting restless. But it looks like it was Morrok getting angry again."

"He does that often?" Lei wondered. Rhetorical question perhaps, but more than anything, the young man would be concerned if the guy liked 'dressing' up like that.

The leader of the line put his platter down first in front of Lei, just a little beyond the young man's plate. From so close, the young Revya could make out the faint wrinkles on the chef's face. "Don't take his threats too seriously. He does it frequently. Especially to guys if he's never seen them before. He's never told me, but I believe he does it to size them up." The white coated people who came from the kitchen with him followed suite, handing the remaining plates onto the table. "Strange, though. I don't ever remember him leaving first. Especially before dinner. What am I supposed to do with his Brunswick roast, now?"

"Don't worry, Darren." Adenine held the shiny fork on her plate using her left hand and moistened her rose lips. "He'll come back later."

Something else was strange. Lei wanted to know. "Where is everyone else?" The only ones there were there were the kitchen crew that just arrived, Adenine, Fienne, and Johan. The dining hall was huge, possibly fitting fifty people. More specifically, a very important person was missing from the room. Young Revya had anticipated his uncle to be very punctual. "And my uncle isn't here. Doesn't it not feel right to start without him?"

Darren readjusted his toque as the words came out of the young man's mouth. The man's blue eyes peered out into the dining hall. There was a separate table and a chair sitting dead center on the south side of the long room. That table was covered by extravagant, white lace. The wooden chair with a dark finish had a velvet blanket sitting on the seat with a small amount draped onto the floor. It was double the size of the rest, complete with a reclining spine and arm rests. Definitely features not found in the rest of the boring and not-as-comfortable chairs. "Let me tell you this now," he said frowning. "Master Revya never comes."

"But-" Interrupted by Fienne.

"But Tasha always sets his table and puts away the fancy stuff on it after wards." The tall woman comfortably adjusted her beryl dress, resting her hands on the table and their fingers loosely laced together. "Three times everyday all of her hard work amounts to nothing. Always in hopes that one day he'll feel like coming down to seat himself in his own dining hall."

"For how long?" The question was begging to be asked.

The chef took both hands and took the toque blanche, unvieling his slightly long and messy hair. He held it by two of its one hundred and one folds. "Tasha's been around for a year or so and the Master has never come down, even though I know that he knows she does it for him. I've been here for awhile, now. Still never." He shook his head and closed his eyes. "I don't remember how many times I've cooked for him thinking that he'll at least try what we make. But nope."

"You gave up?"

Darren's eyes opened wide and he looked Lei. "Yeah, naturally. I've told Natasha a few times to quit it, since the number of absents the Master has is off the charts, but she's stubborn like that." The man's sad face showed the glint of a smile. "He hasn't kicked me or any of the kitchen staff out yet, so we must be doing something right."

"I'm not waiting anymore," Johan blurted the words out. He had been sitting quietly, staring at buffet in front of him, tortured by the lengthy conversation.

The executive chef laughed as he put his distinct hat back on. "I'm sorry. You know me. I like to ramble. Please eat." Darren elbowed the young Revya. "Really, though. I'm happy that you're here, Lei. If the Master will never come down to eat, then serving someone related to him is close to the dream come true." Then he and the crew Darren walked in with disappeared into the kitchen once more.

---

The lovely Fienne insisted that she escort their newest resident back to his room. The green dressed lady was very elated and she let it show by holding the young Revya's hand very passionately. Lei was a bit surprised when Adenine decided to not come with them. At the same time-- and the young man only realizing it now that it was close to bed time-- he did not know where any of the others' bedrooms were. The waves in his mind kept growing. There were an innumerable amount of doors in the mansion. No one else showed up for dinner. Is the mansion that empty, despite its enormous size? The two walked up the stairs they took earlier and returned to a familiar hallway.

Fienne froze mid-step right as they hit the wooden floor of the second floor . The young man's entire body jerked as he walked forward, his hand tied to a statue and his heart skipping a beat. He looked at the woman that held his hand. The happiness from her face vanished and had been ominously replaced with a blank stare. "What?"

The beautiful and tall mannequin holding Lei's hand blinked. Then she looked at Lei and tilted her head with a bit of confusion. "Is something wrong?" she said, inadvertent to her own reaction. Her face wandered, observing the situation. The green eyes saw her feet were stubbornly planted onto the floor, then faced the man in front of her whom wore a fearful and worried face. "Oh, dear. I'm terribly sorry, Lei." her smiled had returned and her fierce grip let go of Lei's hand."I just forgot that I have to do something before I go to bed. I'm afraid that we will part ways from here. Remember to take a left as you go down the hallway. Your room is right across this hall when you get back to the lobby."

He already knew, but Lei appreciated her concern for him. "Yeah, I remember. Thanks."

The pair separated and waved good bye to one another. Lei watched Fienne take a turn as she walked to the right of the hallway, disappearing into the majority of the mansion that Lei was not aware of. This day was long, however. So many strange things had already happened. The young man was ready to settle in with a well deserved sleep. Now he just had to stop himself from collapsing on the way to his room. The young man eventually walked into the lobby and instinctively, Lei's head turned towards Adenine's computer desk. She was not there. The desk was now very clean; not a single sheet of paper in sight. He smiled, rest assured that the secretary must have also gone to bed. Young Revya returned to the hallway leading up to the door he would become well acquainted with in the future. Before touching the doorknob, Lei felt something odd. He squinted, wondering if he was imagining things. The door was slightly open. He walked into his room and quickly took off his clothes, replacing them with long sleeve pajamas. Right now, he just wanted to sleep and fell onto his bed.

Lei's mind began to wander; it was the easy way of falling asleep. It donned on him too late.

Didn't I close the door...?

A large claw reached out and pinned Lei to the bed. He was unable to do anything. "Too late," a deep voice said. "Way too late." A tall and furry figure arose from the darkness of the room. It was only reminiscent of one person Lei had already met. Morrok snickered as the young man didn't attempt to struggle out of his bed. There was no point; he was out of reach of anything that could help him, save his mother's photo. "For a Revya, you suck."

Lei winced at the pain due to the pressure on his chest. If he was going to die, the young Revya told himself that he would at least go remembered by something he said. "Says you, the one attacking people before they go to sleep. That's pathetic on your part."

The grin on the creature muted and he gave a menacing growl. The dark furred creature lowered his head. The ice, cold air he breathed offered Lei a terrifying embrace. "Don't get the wrong idea, little punk."

"So, what?" The young Revya expressed his disappointment, even if he wasn't in the position to say so. "I embarrassed you and now you're threatening me now that we're alone?"

"They were expecting you to die," the creature licked his lips. A tinge of saliva ran down its chin. "I should have bitten your head off. The only reason why I didn't is because we have a secret to keep. Not because I care about you."

A secret?

"That puny girl saved you this time. Next time you won't be so lucky." The beast showed Lei an evil, grotesque smile. From this close, the young man could see the dark creature's carnivorous teeth. There were way too many for it to be a costume, anymore. A nasty and intoxicating, salty, metallic smell was coming from the depths of its mouth. It was nauseating, just like his words, "I heard what he said at the front door."

The young Revya replied with a blank stare, thinking. The one thing that Lei had thought had only been kept to his Uncle, the limousine driver-- who never seemed to talk anyway, and himself was known by someone who could easily take advantage of it. And who knows if Morrok had told anyone else. The beast took his mighty paw off of Lei and quickly retreated into the darkness of the room. Not even a creak to be heard as the creature stepped back. "Be a good boy and I'll think about letting you off the hook a bit longer."

The figure disappeared as the black haired youth heard the door to his room open, then close tight. He breathed a heavy sigh. How was Lei supposed to go to sleep peacefully, now? He decided he needed to be more careful in the future. It felt early to judge, but Lei assumed the worst. It was pretty bad to acquire an enemy the day of moving in. And the person happens to be a vicious werebeast with 'indescribable' being the only word to describe it. That stench was undeniable; it was blood. Adenine had assured everyone that Morrok would return later the same evening for dinner, but it looks like he caught something for himself. What if Morrok came to his room every night, just to torture him with words? Not something the young man would grow very fond of. This was clearly harassment, but the problem was if anyone else in the mansion cared enough to help Lei.