Dreadful New Guests

It has been a while since I felt myself breathing in my body. Days have been passing like minutes, and my problems kept on piling up. But now, as I wandered by the lake edging the hotel's foundation, I felt at ease with myself.

"Ophelia, accepted my offer to hire the girls, but now what comes next?" Sitting over the sand, I lay down to watch the night sky. Distanced from the lights of civilization, the stars shimmered brightly, and the moon cast its light on the lake illuminating the place with a glistering silver glow. "I wanted a family, maybe I have already? So, what comes after except this thirst for vengeance that shouldn't be mine in the first place?"

The sound of rustling leaves made me straight up in an instant. Following the sound with my gaze, I noticed a pair of bushes moving around in the woods. Grabbing a load of sand in my hand, I slowly picked myself off the ground.

'Is it an animal?' Inching away from the bushes, I tried not to make any sounds. 'Damn, I didn't think we'd have to deal with animals too!'

Although trying to be careful while backing away, my feet crunched on some leaves that must've drifted from the trees to the lake's clearing. Horrified, I looked back for a second, but the growing sound of the rustling made me instantly turn back again. Astounded, I stood frozen in place as a woman and a young kid emerged from the forest.

Carrying a hefty bag on her shoulders, the woman was holding the kid's hand. Covered in bloody cuts, the two looked utterly disheveled. The dust in their hair and mud across their faces only made the sight more peculiar.

"T-thank god…" Panted the woman, slowly walking in my direction.

Clinging onto her leg, the little girl followed her as well.

"We've been lost in the forest for so long!" Brushing her dusty dark hair to the sides, she kept walking closer with a weak smile riding across her lips.

Letting go of the sand in my fingers, I quickly dusted my hands and waited for her in place. Stumbling closer, she tried to reach out to me, but her hand fell down limp.

"H-help us please…" She said, her eyes growing ever so drowsy.

"Were you two lost in there?" Moving closer, I took the bag off of her shoulders. "And what were you doing out here anyways?"

"W-we got lost on our trail to a cabin my husband built nearby," with the weight lifted off her shoulders, the woman's face already lightened up. Without wasting any time, she leaned and picked her daughter up in her hands. "I'm sorry you had to walk so much."

"Follow me to the hotel, you can rest there," putting the bag on my shoulders, I moved in front to lead them to the hotel.

Nodding back with a crumbling smile, she appeared to be on the verge of tears. Holding them back for the sake of her kid, however, she followed right behind me without shedding a single tear.

The moment I stepped into the hotel with her, Senya was there waiting for me. Glaring us all down with folded hands, her eyes squinted in bewilderment.

"Who is that?" She asked.

"Margarine, and this is my daughter, Hayley," the woman answered.

Glancing at the duo before turning her gaze back to me, Senya still seemed a bit doubtful about the situation for some reason. Her instincts haven't been wrong yet, but I felt like her demonic nature was making her far too suspect against a battered woman and her child.

'You trust them?' Relaying that message through her eyes, she patiently awaited an answer. Simply nodding back at her, I began moving forward.

"Get Maiko or Rin at least one of them should be able to heal Margarine and her daughter," giving out that order, I led the duo up the stairs.

Picking out the first empty guestroom, I opened the door for them and motioned them to get inside. Once the two were in, I stepped inside to put the bag away. Laying it by the bed, I turned to the mother before leaving them alone for now.

"Hang tight, I'll send some food and clean clothes for you in a minute," as I turned to leave, I finally realized why Senya was so cautious of the two. Stopping in my path, I had a conflicting decision to make. "Uhm…Good night."

Taking the easy path, I decided to leave before doing anything.

'Neither of them was scared of Senya when they saw her—Why?' My heart sank the moment I came to that realization. They either knew what this place was and expected to see monsters or worse. 'They're monsters as well? Shapeshifter maybe? Doppelganger?! Skinwalker?!'

Stumbling into wandering monsters in a secluded location shouldn't have surprised me, but having gotten used to being around monsters, I had let down my guard far too carelessly. The worst part? I invited them in, and since there were so many people in the hotel right now, they could easily fool us by turning into another person.

'They've only seen me and Senya, I have to make sure they can't see how anyone else looks!' The sound of approaching footsteps from down the stairs pulled me right out of my thoughts. Making sure the door behind me was locked, I rushed off to meet whoever was coming climbing up the stairs.

Upon getting to the edge of the stairs, I noticed both Maiko and Rin making their way to the current floor I was on.

"What's happening?" As if reading my thoughts, Rin was already alerted that something was wrong.

"Senya said you brought some injured woman in, where is she?" Maiko asked, oblivious to the worry on my face.

Moving down from between the two, I grabbed their arms to lead them back down. With the room already locked, the last thing we needed was to show off more faces to those girls.

"What?!" Maiko squealed.

"Where are we going?!" Rin asked with a yelp.

"Away from here!" I responded.

'Let's just hope I'm right and it's actually some poor mother and daughter.' Either way, I had to be cautious.