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“Well, it's November now, so technically, our vacation has ended! Anyway, we received an invitation to come explore, and to help rid a hotel of some problems it’s facing. But not just any hotel…the Soarta Mare Hotel!” he boomed dramatically as he waved his hands.
Instead of reacting with excitement as they should, everyone just stared blankly… Well, Cormac and Turney were staring with narrowed eyes, but otherwise blank expressions—okay, they may have been pained expressions…
“Are we…supposed to know what that means?” Min-ji slowly asked.
Scarlett sighed deeply. “He thinks we should, but we don’t. So, my guess is, he is about to pout because we didn’t respond.”
Octavius gasped. “I was not!” He totally had been about to, but now he wouldn’t because he refused to be predictable! “Hmph! Well, since you don’t know, I’ll explain. The Soarta Mare is a hotel built by the infamous Romanian mass murderer Alexandru Dobrin. It is believed to have been completed by the late 1860s, and is located on the edge of the Hoia Forest in Romania. In one record it states that Alexandru built the monstrous estate without help. But honestly, most historians just assume he killed off the construction crew. The hotel itself is one of hidden rooms, torture chambers, cages, and more!”
“That sounds like…not my idea of fun,” Theo said hesitantly.
Turney snorted. “You’ll find Octavius’ idea of fun can be rather twisted.”
“I feel like you are all bullying me right now.” Octavius sniffled, lips pressing into a pout.
Was it so wrong to be excited about mayhem?! And like, going to a cool, spooky hotel right after Halloween… What’s not fun about that?!
Cormac chuckled before wincing and grabbing his head with a groan.
Turney leaned over and kissed Octavius on the cheek. “We’re sorry, Octavius. Please, tell us all about the hotel and this new case.”
He sniffed. “So, as I was saying, it’s a hotel of murder! Before his execution in 1885, it was believed that Alexandru had successfully lured hundreds to their deaths there. They uncovered many bodies, but at one point, Alexandru started burning the remains, so the total count is unknown. I suppose burning was easier than having to dig so much. Anyway, the sordid history of the property doesn’t stop there, as for many decades after, people would continue to disappear, or be found dead in the hotel or on its grounds. These odd occurrences continued well into the late 1960s. But in 1967, the deaths and the disappearances suddenly stopped. They stopped on the very day the hotel was abandoned. And that brings us to now. There is a new owner, and well, what does one do with a hotel with such a tainted history, one may ask? They turn it into a haunted spooky year-round attraction, of course! Which is what the current owner wants to do. But he has a problem. Ghosts!” He yelled out the last part. “Hundreds of very angry, unpleasant ghosts!” Octavius pulled the brochure out of the box and spread it open on the table. “Look! Look at the pictures. The map, the old décor, the secret chambers, just look at it all!”
Turney watched as Octavius slowly ramped himself up again, excitement shining in his eyes as he went over all the details in the attraction brochure he’d slapped on the table. He eyed the hotel in the pictures. The structure looked looming in the black and white photos. The architecture was gothic, making it look like a giant cathedral with its pointed arches, flying buttresses, and perched gargoyles. There looked to be many, many floors, and a section of the building extended well up past the rest of the arches.
“Cool...ghosts,” Cormac said with a yawn, looking bored.
There was a soft chuckle from Henry at that.
Octavius looked to be moments away from pouting again at how unenthusiastic they all were about the hotel. “Octavius, I feel I should mention, the last time we went into a place with what we thought were ghosts. I almost ended up dead, and there was a crazy witch who sacrificed some humans… Remember that? So, not that I want to rain on your happiness, but how real is this person inviting us, and can they be trusted?”
Octavius grimaced. “Yeah, that was an unfortunate incident, wasn’t it? But it’s different this time because I know them, as do Scarlett and Henry.”
Turney blinked. “You know them?”
Henry cleared his throat. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Master Octavius. Would it happen to be Godric? It sounds like one of his ventures.”
“You are correct! It is my dear friend, Godric Dae! I’m so happy you’ll get a chance to meet him, Turney.” The vampire beamed. “You see, he has a thing for buying old creepy properties with horrible histories and setting them up as year-round or seasonal horror house getaways. Which is fun, right?!”
Turney grunted. “Yeah…fun. If he is a friend, why wasn’t he at the party?”
“He had work, or something,” Octavius said with a sigh. “Stupid, I know… Who would work during Halloween?!”
The way Octavius said the last part sounded like he thought doing such a thing was blasphemy. “Octavius…all the workers here were working during Halloween…”
“Yes, but they were doing fun Halloween stuff! I just know Godric was probably doing something stupid like paperwork!”
Turney stared, but Octavius stared back, eyes wide and waiting for some sort of a response. He cleared his throat. “Ah, yes. How awful…”
“Right!” the vampire huffed.
“I had forgotten Godric had started to do that,” Scarlett drawled. “Then again, I have no interest in such things, so after a while, he stopped telling me about each new purchase. Any time I speak to him, we tend to talk about the dozen or so other things he is currently obsessing about.”
“This man is a friend of yours, Scarlett?” Min-ji asked as she eyed the other woman.
“More than just a friend,” Octavius said with a laugh. “He is the zombie who helped train her.”
Scarlett nodded. “He did. For all intents and purposes, he is my sire, in all but blood. As eccentric as he is, I will always be grateful for him taking on a role he didn’t have to.” She smiled at Turney. “With everything going on, I have yet to tell him about you, Turney. He will be excited to find that I have finally become a sire myself. He has no children and no other neophytes, so prepare to be no doubt stared at with too much interest.”
