The Landlord

Arrival and Lodging Arrangements

It was a cold frost bitten night when the train pulled up to the train station in WolfBlood. Mr. Daniel Smith stepped off onto the platform bundled up in a wool jumper, a cotton sweater, and a leather coat. He wore the same material for his legs. The train pulled away with the shriek of the whistle and a puff of smoke it was off. Mr. Smith stood there on the deserted platform until he saw the train light vanish. He looked around and spotted a figure shimmering through the light of the moon, he looked away and looked back and the figure was gone. "What the-" he was cut short by a sudden blast of wind and what felt like a hand brushing his shoulder. Through the wool, cotton, and leather clothes he shivered as though he wasn't wearing them at all. Mr. Smith whirled around only to be greeted by his steamy breath against the cold winters breeze. He starts walking toward the other end of the platform and peers around, faintly in the distance he spots a small light that appears to be a street lamp. A town! Mr. Smith was so relieved to finally be able to get away from this blustery cold. He started walking quickly down the narrow dirt path. The light seems to be getting dimmer the closer he gets to it. "Well this is quite odd." he mutters to himself feeling very uneasy about the new place. He begins to question the reasoning to go to such a strange place. "Oi! What the devil are you doing in such weather boy?" a voice in the fog a few yards behind him booms through the darkness scaring Mr. Daniel Smith to his wits end. "Who's there?" Mr. Daniel shouted looking around frantically to try to find the source of the voice.

"Want a ride into town?" the voice was now right behind him. He turned around quickly to see a very pale man riding on what appears to be a very old, and a beautiful wagon pulled by two jet black horses with matted manes and wild eyes that seemed to be looking all over the place but never on one specific thing. "Well that's a nice offer but-" he was cut off by a wolf howl only about a few hundred yards away. "On second thought, that's a great idea." he said nervously getting in the wagon. Inside were plush velvety cushioned benches and had perfectly polished oak walls that had a waxy shine in the moonlight. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get such fine material?" Mr. Smith asked suspiciously. The old man turned slowly giving Mr. Daniel a puzzled look, "Why do you ask?" The old man raised an eyebrow. "Well, there are no major cities, fine fabric stores or woodcarvers that could do this fine of a job in over 800 miles of this place." Mr. Daniel stated still stroking the red upholstery on which he was sitting not paying any attention to the scenery before him. "We're here, Mr. Daniel Smith." The man said jumping off the drivers seat and handing Mr. Daniel his bag and quickly getting on his drivers seat and speeding off into the night.

Mr. Daniel watched until the wagon disappeared completely, turning on his heel he gasped at the sight in front of him. An old hotel like building with ivy crawling all along the walls and an eerie feeling came over Mr. Smith so suddenly it sent shivers down his spine. He walked up to the giant wooden gate and shook it a bit. "Hello? Is anyone here?" he yelled into the night only to be greeted by an echo of his own speech. "Hello, what are you doing out so far from town?" Mr. Smith froze, dropping his bag. "Y-Yes sir well I uh, you see the thing is-" Daniel stuttered turning around slowly. "It's perfectly alright, I have plenty of rooms for you to choose from. Come, let me show you around" Mr. Smith cautiously followed this stranger in the gate which caused Mr. Smith to jump when it slammed shut. "This way sir." the strange man beckoned. "Well actually I was given a ride by someone who told me they'd take me to town and this is just an old hotel. No offence." Mr. Smith said choosing his words carefully in fear of having to sleep outside. "That's alright he probably saw it was getting late and thought it'd be best for you to find somewhere to rest until morning. By the way my name is deVile, Jeffery deVile." he said heading up a flight of stairs that seemed to go on forever. Daniel realized he didn't have his luggage. "I uh left my bag outside." Mr. Smith said turning around. "No you didn't sir. I've got it right here." Jeffery said smugly. "Uh thanks." Daniel said but it sounded like more of a question than a statement. "You're very welcome." Jeffery said with a wicked smirk. "Please follow me, I'll show you to your room." Daniel followed Jeffery up the stairs and down a few hallways until they arrived at his new room. "I'll leave you to uh 'explore' your new temporary home." Jeffery said and left. "This place is just like the people. Spooky." Daniel muttered. He walked into his room and shut the door, locking it behind him. "I don't need any strange visitors tonight. Or any night for that matter." he said to himself. His stomach growled loudly. " I hope the food is better than the service. I have got to report this place to the Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD), Department of Homeland Security(DHS)," he walked into the bathroom and flicked on the light which flickered causing roaches to crawl up the walls then the light burned out "Office of Health Affairs(OHA), and Pest control." he wrote everything down on his notepad. He walked over to the dust covered bed and decided he'd rather sleep in the chair. And that he did.