The Hotel: Rise of the Werecat

Chapter 5 - Demon

Chapter 5 - Demon

Zara placed the child carefully between her parents.

John's magic cast a soft light over their peaceful faces. They had been so scared mere minutes ago now were forcefully lulled into a peaceful sleep by magic. Magic and werecat hardly mixed well but Zara could see the usefulness of John. She turned to him and he gave a careful smile, she sensed some worry in it. John might have been in over his head but at least he had herself and Devil, who was snooping around the basement. The basement had only one lightbulb that swung from a cable and didn't work, so magic or torches were the go down there. Devil found an old rug and pulled it out in a hurry. Dust permeated the air and Zara's sensitive nostrils. She sneezed and covered her nose.

"Ugh Devil," her voice was muffled but she sneezed again.

"What?" Devil asked as she lay the rug over the family as a makeshift blanket, "Looks comfy."

John coughed a little, "Well they won't be as cold, they might find it a bit weird waking up down here."

He placed a torch next to them. There was only one skinny little window at the top of the basement through which Zara could only see a handful of stars.

"They will be safer down here," She said and stood, her nose a little red.

She wiped at it hoping to make it clearer somehow but only ended up sneezing again. How was she supposed to track like this? Shifting wouldn't help, unfortunately.

"Are you ok?' John asked.

"My nose is really stuffy," Zara sniffled.

"Well, you better get that nose fixed because we've got a demon to track," Devil stated matter of factly and stomped up the stairs, kicking up even more dust.

Zara sneezed again.

"This there some kind of werecat thing you can do to fix it?" John asked softly as he lead Zara out of the dusty basement.

"Nope, is there some kind of magic you can use?" Zara asked hopefully.

John rubbed the back of his neck, "Ehhh I can try, Noses are complicated though. Healing magic I find a little difficult, I can close up wounds and stop blending."

"Damn," Zara mumbled, "Some fresh air ought to help."

They followed Devil outside where Devil stood with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Zara expected her to say sorry for stirring up the dust but none such apology came, her friend stayed silent and stared at the trees, maybe hoping to catch a glimpse of the monster. Zara sniffled again but Devil kept silent in her brooding.

John could feel the tension in the group, Zara wanting Devil to say something. A fight between them was not going help right now. He looked around for something to help him and he was in luck. Gum trees with low hanging leaves were in the trampled garden, John walked over and picked some of the leaves. Zara watched him curiously as he watched back over breaking and crushing the leaves in his hands. The scent of eucalyptus hit his nose.

"This should help to clear your nose," he offered his hands to Zara.

Zara brought her nose to his hands and breathed deeply. The strong scent of eucalyptus was nauseatingly strong, but it cleared her sinuses. A few more deep breaths and she was somewhat back to normal despite her nose burning and irritated. The scent of the demon was noticeable once more.

She smiled, "That worked really well actually."

John returned her smile, "Cool."

"Let's go then," Devil glanced at them before walking into the garden.