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Hotel Emperador

Chapter 4 - Mr. Viennomante

By Whitepython

Xaduardo didn't care about what the owner and manager of Hotel Emperador, Haonel Viennomante, had to say. All he cared about was to buy enough time for Alroc. The wolf was sneaking into the small security room behind Viennomante's office through the run-down warehouse on the lobby on the west wing.

Both demon hunters had a speckle of hope to find a clue in the video feed of the hotel during that same night when McRue disappeared. They had zero tolerance for failure this time. If the camera had no records or if the lupine was caught in the act, they would never see McRue again.

The Raptor had to keep the manager busy until he received a text message from Alroc confirming that he was out.

Viennomante wouldn't allow anyone to check the surveillance. McRue recorded the refusal of the owner to share those videos in his logbook.

"No wonder why he stopped to show up. I thought that he gave up and left. He looked like a sharp man and focused on his mission. I feel like it's my fault that he's gone..."

Viennomante was a White Siberian Tiger who spoke with a bit of regret in his tone of voice. His face looked frozen in a serious mood thanks to his lips which remained squeezed tight in his muzzle along with his eyebrows and forehead that looked stuck in a permanent frown. He appeared to be in his late forties. He wore a black suit with a white shirt and a thin black tie just like all of the employees at the hotel did. At the moment, his jacket suit was folded over the back of his chair. He had a small gut protruding from his belly.

Viennomante was sitting down on an executive chair right in front of a wooden desk that would have been considered a luxury one hundred years ago. Today it looked more like an outdated piece of furniture that would suit a museum more than an office.

It was a small room with dark granite floor and four walls covered in wooden planks of several shades of brown in vertical along the lower half. The upper half and the ceiling were white cement walls with molding plaster texture of flowers and leafs around the corners and around the ancient looking ceiling lamp that illuminated the room at 7 A.M.

Behind Viennomante there was a small door to the left. To his right there was several black and white framed pictures of former managers of the hotel and their staff.

On the left and right walls hung framed pictures of famous guests that the hotel has received during its existence. Behind the raptor, there was a pair of large bookshelves that covered almost all of the wall except for the left side which had the access door to the office and the reception desk of the hotel.

"I talked to him in this same office like three times." The feline placed his hands cupped under his muzzle and his elbows relaxed over his desk with a telephone to his left and a computer on his right.

"We demon hunters understand that there are risks with our line of work," Xaduardo spoke. Today he wore once again his mustard colored trench coat. Under it, he wore some black jeans and a white, long-sleeved shirt. He was sitting down on the left chair in front of the desk. "Rest assure that we are going to help you. I am here to resume with the investigation where McRue left off."

"Maybe I should let the hotel to do its thing and resign myself to suffer the same fate as my ancestors."

"There is no need for that sir. This will have a fix sooner or later."

"I don't want cops, reporters nor more demon loving people bringing negative attention to my hotel. That's the reason why I asked to have this place cleansed on first place. But this backfired big time..." Viennomante still sounded filled with regret.

"My immediate superior has asked me to be silent about this. Nobody has been informed that McRue is missing." The raptor decided to hide the fact that the police were informed and already looking for the lion.

"Well... at least that's good news. I don't want my staff nor anyone else outside this hotel knowing that I requested a cleansing. If my employees knew that I fell for 'dumb tales' they would lose all the respect they have for me."

"I understand sir. That's why for everything to remain quiet, I need to find McRue before he's missing for too long and other people begin to ask questions. This means that we need you to help us."

Xaduardo looked at the door behind Viennomante on the far left side of the wall. Alroc must be extracting the data from the video surveillance system at this moment.

If he hasn't run into any unexpected obstacle...

"So well..." Viennomante spoke "is there anything else that you need help with? I have a busy schedule today. I need to prepare the surveillance server for the maintenance people. I don't like people poking their snout in those records so I want to dispatch them soon."

The tiger rose to his feet with his hand stretched towards the small door where Alroc was stealing the information they needed. If Viennomante opened that door, everything would be over.

Xaduardo had to act now.

"I... wait!" The raptor strutted for a second. The confused feline looked at the saurian. "I need a bit more information that you might have about all the demonic activities that have happened in here. I need to understand in depth what are we dealing with here."

The Tiger released a deep sigh as he remained frozen in place and with his left arm stretched. "I went through this with the lion guy already. I'll be concise and brief."

The raptor looked at the tiger whose hand was a few centimeters from the silvery stick like doorknob. It was a stare uncomfortable enough to bring the manager of the hotel back to his seat without touching the door "I am sorry. I just don't want to forget to prepare everything for the tech guys."

"In any case," Viennomante said after returning to his seat. "My family founded this hotel in 1576. It wasn't the first hotel in town, but it is the oldest. This brought fame for my ancestors. And wealth came with the reputation. I don't know the exact year, but the problem started around 200 years ago. Back then, rich and aristocrat people in town were bored and had nothing better to do. They sponsored a demonic cult to keep themselves amused. Among those people, there was one of my forefathers who was more than happy to lend the luxurious west wing to his group of bored friends.

"This cult was led by someone that nobody knew his real name, but he claimed that he was in contact with a demoness that shared forbidden knowledge. This demoness gave him the name 'Tenabochi' to mark him as her favorite mortal. Tenabochi promised to share the knowledge and the good favor of the demoness with his followers.

"Their little cult kept on luring people with promises of meeting the demoness in person and to be taken to an alternate dimension where the demoness resided so she could bestow her knowledge and power to the members, but all they received were promises."

"When this went for too long, part of the cult grew tired and revolted against their leader and the cult fractioned in two.

"The first group defected even if Tenabochi promised an immediate gateway to the demoness and gave them a specific date and place for the event. The second group remained faithful. Tenabochi didn't like the idea to have people leaving his group. He commanded the faithful ones to murder the traitors because 'that was the will of the demoness.'

"In the following days, most of the rogue members were killed. A few ones managed to survive. The survivors decided to strike back to avenge the death of the fallen ones on the night of the final ritual.

"That night when Tenabochi along with his faithful ones, my forefather included, chose the royal suite at the top of the west wing to gain access to the demoness. But they were attacked by the surviving rebels. Everything ended with a fire that killed everybody and damaged the top floor.

Xaduardo nodded "Tragic tale. But expected. Dealing with demons guarantees that kind of mess."

"And that should be the end of the story" Viennomante shook his head and placed his hands over his head "but no. There's the urban legend that not everyone died and Tenabochi along with a fistful of followers managed to reach their destination and escaped the flames.

"After that night our disgrace began. We have had all kinds of nasty things happening. Even more on the west wing. I am sure you are familiar with this because it's an urban legend in this town. This hotel has been a popular place to commit suicide, an attractive hideout for serial murderers, and a dark temple for demonic cults to practice their nasty rituals."

Viennomante got quiet, and Xaduardo nodded again. The saurian wondered if the wolf was already doing his part. Alroc claimed that he was familiar with the security system because it was the same system they used at the hideout of the Ascended Suns.

Viennomante finished his explanation. It was time to ask something else. Something that would consume more time. Alroc needed every single second he could get.

"My superiors told me that you had another cult around here trying to make a mess."

"Yes," Viennomante rose his tone of voice. "They are the reason why I called your people. We have caught an increasing number of people attempting to sneak into the west wing. Some have been carrying ceremonial blades and ritualistic items. The worst was when we got a couple that brought organs inside bottles. I don't want that mess in here!"

Viennomante increased the anxiety in his voice "If these people pull something funny, it would send me to bankruptcy for sure. The police refuses to track the cult. All they do is to arrest the ones we catch trying to sneak into the west wing and letting them go after they pay their fine. I want the source of whatever is attracting these people gone. And gone forever! I don't want my children nor my grandchildren inheriting this mess."

"Why haven't you sold this place to someone else if this is getting on your nerves?" Xaduardo asked in an attempt to extend the conversation. Some strange, but subtle sounds came from the room behind Viennomante. The tiger directed his attention to the locked door, but he returned his thoughts towards the raptor.

"I tried already. Several times, but none is willing to buy this place with all the bad reputation. The few who do are offering me pennies. I am not throwing the legacy of my family away for a bag of peanuts."

The raptor noticed in the fisted hands of the Tiger and his exposed fangs that this conversation wasn't going to be a good one for the owner of the hotel. He better change it to something else before things get too uncomfortable and the Tiger decides to kill this meeting.

But what could the Raptor ask? He already enquired about both cults, and that's what he pretended to be here to do...

"Anything else I can help you with?" The tiger asked with a blunt attitude as he eyed the door where Alroc was before returning his eyes on the reptile.

"I... What do you know about the spirit known as 'The Operator'?" Xaduardo spoke the very first thing that came to his mind. He hoped that this would earn him a bit more of time. "My superiors are asking me to follow that investigation line. We believe that this Operator is responsible for what happened to McRue."

Xaduardo asked before digging his clawed fingers on the armrest of his chair. He wished that with his mere thoughts he could force the wolf to speed up right away.

"To be honest with you I don't know much." Xaduardo skipped a heartbeat as he remained silent. The uncomfortable speechlessness of the reptile pushed the Tiger to explain himself better.

"My grandfather stopped all the mess that was affecting this place when he divided both wings. But before that, 'The Operator' was like the main attraction for the crazy people. What I know is what I heard my father say to his friends to keep them amused.

"Rumor goes that he is the special emissary of the demoness. He is some sort of guardian and the only entity with the power to take people into the dimension where the demoness lives.

"Of course to get him to take you there it is said to be a complicated process. Don't ask me which one because I am not one of those crazies. Some people believed that you needed to lure him into a particular room. He would visit you there and take you into the elevator, and from there into the alternate dimension.

"I know the elevator is essential in the process. That's how he got his nickname as 'The Operator' because he operates the elevator to the other dimension.

"Some people offered the blood of innocent victims in their rooms with the hopes to catch his attention. That's why so many murderers used to hide the bodies of their victims in the hotel. Others committed suicide and hoped that their blood would lure the spirit that would take them to the demoness in soul."

"This hotel has witnessed all kind of gruesome acts happening here after that night with the fire, but my grandfather was the one who put an end to all of this.

"He first increased the prices on the west wing. That drove away serious customers away, and the crazy people found a way to pay or they registered on the north side and sneaked into the west wing. In the worst cases they executed their crazy rituals on the north wing."

"He also tried to change the numbers of all the rooms, but the crazies somehow ended up at room 715; the room with the heaviest paranormal activity in the west wing. He never knew how they managed to find it."

"He gave up and sealed off the west wing from the rest of the hotel by building a wall. But since then, the wall has always been hard to keep well-maintained."

"With the west wing shut down and no longer open to public, the crazy people stopped to visit. We have been running this place with some stability. Even if the customers who stay on the north wing still reports footsteps, whispers in the dark, things inside their rooms changing places and shadows stalking them at the halls.

"But this stability is in danger with this crazy new cult trying to resume all the mess my grandfather stopped."

The Raptor remembered that Alroc had already mentioned something like this at the temple two days ago. In any case, Xaduardo had to stretch his limits and come up with something else to ask because...

"You look quite tensed since you arrived. Are you sure you can handle this? I wonder why they send you." The Tiger spoke, interrupting the raptor on his thoughts. "I was hoping that the Bird guy would also come. He was my initial contact after all. He has a lot of knowledge about this matter. Even more than myself."

"He actually showed up?" the raptor asked in shock for he remembered that Alroc had accused Rantego that he had abandoned McRue in the investigation.

"Several times. Both he and the lion came here to investigate together, but the lion began to show up alone for a couple of days before he disappeared."

"I understand..."

But as a matter of fact, Xaduardo couldn't understand why Alroc had lied about that. Rantego left McRue alone at the end.

The telephone on the Tiger's desk rang, and he picked it up right away. The raptor felt tensed. The wolf hasn't sent the message confirming that he completed the task. There was nothing more he could bring up.

"Thank You, Cad. Tell them to come in."

With that, The Tiger hung the phone and rose to his feet "In any case, I am afraid I have spent more time than intended with you. I apologize if I am rude finishing like this. I'd love to give you all the information you need, but that's all I know, and the maintenance people are here and I must attend this."

This was bad for the saurian and for the wolf. Xaduardo saw the Tiger walking towards the door where Alroc was working.

Everything would be over for McRue, Alroc and himself in a few seconds.

When the Tiger opened the door, the raptor noticed it was a small room, about the size of a hotel bathroom with a bookshelf right in front of the open door. He wasn't able to see anything from where he was sitting down. He rose to his sickle-like clawed feet and begged to God that the wolf was already gone.

God -almost- failed to deliver.

The raptor saw in the air duct next to the bookshelf at the top of the wall several strands of gray fur poking out between the ventilation grilles before they disappeared.

Next to the ventilation duct, there was a tall mainframe rack computer with countless blue cables poking out of it and getting lost in a hole on the wall near the floor.

"What a weird thing. I didn't leave this up and running..." Viennomante spoke in a confused voice as he stood next to a large computer monitor mounted on the wall on the far right side of the room. The screen displayed twelve different overviews of relevant sections in the hotel.

"This place is getting on my nerves..." the Tiger spoke "In any case. We will talk later. When you need access to the west wing just let me know."

The raptor turned around and spotted a tall, brown and white horse along with a black bear of the same height. Both wore blue overalls as they walked into the backroom. Xaduardo slipped out of the small room. They seemed to be already familiar with the procedures as they disappeared into the security room in the back and greeted the Tiger.

The reptile took a deep breath and left the small office and the reception. He hoped that the wolf had caught something or else McRue would live in their memories for the rest of their lives.

* * * * * * *

"I believe we got something Xadu..." the wolf informed the raptor after the reptile struggled with his cell phone 20 minutes attempting to contact the lupine without results. "But we need to talk in person. What I saw, just... this is too serious to talk on the phone..." the voice of the wolf sounded serious and cold "I'll meet you at the coffee shop as soon as my evening shift ends." Xaduardo remained silent as the suspense kept him on edge.

"You know what?" Alroc corrected himself "...be there 15 minutes before my shift ends."