Chapter Nine

When they woke up, they spent most of their time just playing games together and relaxing while they are waiting for it to be time to interrogate Weilan for what would hopefully be the final time. Hopefully, after this, everything would come together all at one and they would be able to put this case to rest. Once it did become time to interrogate Weilan, things proceeded similarly to before. Mavis took Dennis to his school while Winnie shadowed behind them. The only difference is that Wally tagged along for the trip, it as probably best if Winnie kept an eye on him, anyway. She once again waited for it to recess, though with Wally to keep her company the wait was a little more bearable. They even managed to chase away the dreaded squirrel menace from the nearby area while they waited.

When recess finally came, Dennis, Winnie, and Wally made their way over to Weilan who was, as usual, sitting by himself on the swings.

Weilan looked like he dreaded seeing them at first, but when he noticed Wally was a part of their group a sense of smugness started to wash over him. "Well, 'Detective' Winnie, did you love the answers you found?" He said with a smirk on his face.

To her credit, Winnie didn't seem all too fazed by that comment, or at least she didn't show it. She simply let out an exasperated sigh.

Dennis then began to interrogate him, though he was a little more forceful than he was the last time. "Weilan, I know you planned to vandalize the Hotel. I know you wrote the message. I know you were trying to frame me for it. Why did you do it?" He demanded.

Weilan was silent for a moment before he finally responded. "I did it because I wanted to." He said. "I wanted to see if I could get away with it. I wanted to see if I could frame you for it. I wanted to see if I could ruin your life."

"But why? What did I ever do to you?" Dennis asked, genuinely confused.

"Have you ever looked at the world around you?" Weilan asked derisively.

"What?" Dennis asked, even more confused than before.

"You're the grandson of THE Dracula. You're royalty, dude! You have the attention of everyone in this school. Everybody wants to be your friend, everybody wants to play games with you, there's not a single monster I know that hasn't been to the Hotel at least once in their life!" Weilan replied bitterly.

"So you were jealous?" Dennis asked.

"Who wouldn't be?" Weilan said. "I have to sit at lunch eating school lunches by myself. No friends in the class. You have everything that I don't."

"I see…" Dennis said, finally understanding the situation. "I'm sorry that you feel that way."

"Yeah, whatever." Weilan said, clearly not interested in anything Dennis had to say.

"Look, Weilan. I get that you're jealous of me. I get that you want what I have. But you can't just go around vandalizing places and framing people for it. That's not going to make you happy, it's just going to make you more alone." Dennis said.

"I don't care." Weilan said. "I'm going to do whatever I want."

"No, you're not." Dennis said.

"And what are you going to about it?" Weilan asked.

"I'll befriend you so you no longer have an excuse to be bad!" Dennis proclaimed, catching everyone, but especially Weilan, off-guard.

Weilan was silent for a moment, before finally responding. "I don't need your pity, Dennis." He said. "I don't want to be your friend."

"Why not?" Dennis asked.

"I don't need friends." Weilan said.

"I'm perfectly happy by myself."

"I don't believe you." Dennis said. "I think you're just scared."

"Scared of what?" Weilan asked.

"Of being hurt." Dennis said. "You're afraid that if you let people in, they're just going to hurt you. You're afraid that if you make friends, they're just going to leave you. But that's not how it works, Weilan. Friends are supposed to support you, they're supposed to be there for you. They're supposed to care about you. And I care about you, Weilan. I want to be your friend."

Winnie then chimed in as well. "Weilan, I'm sorry." She said, catching Weilan completely off-guard. "I'm sorry for accusing you of being the culprit, I'm sorry for tackling you, I'm sorry for breaking your Nintenboy, I'm sorry for all of it. I'm hoping we can put all this aside and be friends, too."

Wally was completely silent during this until Winnie elbow'd him in the arm, which made his realize this would be his cue. "I'll be your friend too!" He said.

Weilan was silent for a few moments, before finally responding. "I...I don't know what to say." He said, clearly taken off-guard by this sudden turn of events.

"Just say yes." Dennis said.

Weilan looked off to the side. "It was never meant to escalate this much…It was meant to just be a prank at first." He said. "I'm sorry for trying to vandalize the Hotel, I'm sorry for trying to frame you, and I'm sorry for everything."

Their eyes widened in surprise. They never expected him to apologize too. "Does that mean you'll be our friend?" Dennis asked.

He then looked back at Dennis, Winnie, and Wally. "I don't know…" He said, before finally sighing. "Fine. I'll be your friend."

Just then, a group of boys approached Dennis and the group. "Hey Dennis!" One of the boys said. "We were going to play some b-ball but we're short a player. Wanna join?" They asked.

"Yeah, sure!" He responded. "But, can I include some friends of mine?" He asked as he wrapped one of his arms around Weilan.

"Uhh…Sure! Whatever you want, Dennis!" They responded.

The four of them then hung out together for the rest of recess, and they quickly became friends. It was a little strange at first, getting used to the idea of Weilan being friends with them, but they quickly got used to it. The rest of the day passed without much incident. Weilan ended up joining Dennis and his friends for lunch, which made him feel a lot better. He even managed to make a few friends of his own. It was a stark contrast to how things used to be, and it was clear that Weilan was a lot happier now. All in all, it was a good day.

The trio then returned back to the Hotel with a sense of accomplishment, though unsure what to do now. "So, what now?" Wally asked.

"We solved the case and made a new friend along the way." Dennis said. "I say we party." And with that, he searched around in his closet for a music player, eventually finding an old boombox and a few cassette tapes. The cassette tapes belonged to Johnny, who LOVED collecting them, before eventually passing down his collection to his son in what was a very emotional moment for him at the time. Dennis chose a tape at random and inserted it into the boombox, it happened to be "D.A.N.C.E." by the band Justice. And with that they danced to the rhythm as this case, with all its twist, turns, and conundrums, came to an end.

Hey guys, I am SO sorry for this late release. I was very busy today and it had completely slipped my mind, but better late than never, eh?