The Human Luna

The First

"What was out there?" Katie asked as Jack and I got back into the car. Her and my mum had decided to stay put whilst the rest of us went to see what might have happened. And by the looks of it, Katie had caught up on some much needed sleep whilst we were gone.

"Nothing, we must've hit an animal. It ran off before we could see how much damage we'd done," I said informatively.

Jack chuckled at me and then sighed a sarcastic sigh.

"What's his deal?" Katie said frowning.

I looked at Jack, who was still smiling in his seat, and rolled my eyes. "He believes in all this werewolf crap, and apparently we have knocked down my mate." I shook my head in such disbelief as I said it, honestly not understanding how one could even believe that werewolves existed.

"I didn't say you had, I said you might have." Jack corrected me before chuckling again.

"Yeah, yeah same thing to me," I replied.

Katie shook her head in disbelief as well, slightly smiling at Jacks childish laugh. Then within minutes she was fast asleep again, leaning against the window.

**********

I woke up from my slumber to be greeted by the sound of children laughing and screaming. It was 7:00pm in Spain, but the air blowing in from the window was still warm, as if the sun hadn't left yet.

"We're here," my mum said, pulling into a massive driveway. When we all got out the car, it took us a while to take in the beautiful view. We stood in front of a grand building that looked more like a mansion than a hotel, its exterior was coated in creamy white paint, and two large pillars were planted on either side of the edifice.

Twelve blacked out Range Rovers were parked right outside the entrance, with tinted windows and silver rims.

"What? Is there someone famous in there or something?" Jack asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He huffed at the sight of the expensive cars, probably feeling a bit intimidated that their might be someone else more dominating than him.

"I don't think so, the man on the phone didn't mention anyone important being here," my mum frowned a little at the sight of the vehicles, each car radiating some kind of power that rendered us all nervous.

"And who did you speak to on the phone exactly," my dad asked her.

"She spoke to me." A middle-aged man walked out of the large building, the glass doors closing automatically as he did so. He was dressed casually in a white summer shirt and black shorts. His olive skin was glowing vibrantly, and his welcoming smile showed a set of perfect, pearly white teeth. I was stunned at how young he looked.

"Welcome to El primero, which means in your language, The First."

"The first of what?'" Katie asked curiously.

Something in the mans face fell slightly, and the glint in his eye vanished for a split second, I must have been the only one who saw it.

"The first hotel to be situated in such a remote place like this," he explained rather hurriedly. My mum and dad smiled and nodded their heads as they took in the view.

"And the cars?" My dad gestured to the identical vehicles parked outside the entrance.

"What about them?" the man asked, his Spanish accent clearly visible in his pronunciation.

"Who are they for?"

Again, the mans expression changed very subtly, and he began to look at us all as if we were a different species, as if we should've known who the cars were for. I watched as his nostrils widened vaguely, like he was sniffing the air or something. Then he frowned, and paused for a while before he spoke again.

"They are just there for emergency use only," he began. "In case we need to evacuate the grounds, these cars are here to transport our guests to a safer place." We all nodded our heads in response, but for some reason his explanation wasn't cutting it for me. I felt like he was lying.

Or hiding something.

"Please, come in." We followed the man inside the hotel, and I was astounded by the interior of the building. A crystal chandelier hung low in the middle of the lobby, and the floor was decorated with black and white marble that glistened in the light. The walls were graced with portraits of groups of people smiling and laughing, their eyes gleaming with happiness.

The man must have realised I was staring at the photos on the walls, and so he walked over to some on the right hand side of the building, gesturing to the one in the middle. The picture was of a family, three young boys with dark resembling hair, dark eyes and tanned skin; all standing in order of height. Then a middle-aged man and a young beautiful woman standing by his side followed, their arms were wrapped around each others shoulders, their love and affection clearly explaining how they were husband and wife.

"This family owns the hotel," the man said. He coughed a little, and a whimper came from somewhere deep within his throat. "Unfortunately, our A-, the husband and wife that owned this land died seven years ago." He paused and bowed his head. "Their eldest son runs the place now."

We stood in silence, afraid to say something that might upset him or cause him to cry. He looked like he was in deep anguish, and I felt my heart clench for him.

"Please, allow me to take you to your rooms."

We followed him to the mahogany desk in the middle of the lobby, where he gave us our keycards. As we walked with our suitcases to the elevator, I couldn't help but notice the large picture of a group of wolves. There was something familiar in their facial expressions. The grin that they made, and the gleam in their eyes almost made them look...

Human?