The scariest part to any story is the sliver of truth you hide in the horror. Sometimes its not about the axe wielding murder, but the fact that he's lurking somewhere in your basement.
Rob Mammuel
Amazing how a good night's sleep could make wonders for someone.
Ben certainly felt like that, as he woke up feeling better in the morning, having practically forgot everything that had happened in the previous night.
In fact, he forgot it so deeply that he felt confused for waking up and not finding himself on his own room, with Slizz and Zass sleeping coiled up in a pile near his bed. He took nearly two minutes to remember where he was and why he was in there instead of his own bedroom.
As he got up, he yawned and scratched his back. He had changed from his costume to a clothing that would be more suitable for sleeping. He was wearing a pair of blue and white stripped pajamas, button shirt and pants.
As Ben rose from his bed, he felt his stomach grumbling. He was already feeling like he should look for some food for his breakfast. For a moment, Ben wondered if he should change to something better, but he ended up deciding that there was no need.
The cheetah walked out of his room, and went down stairs.
The sun clearly was already rising, but it seemed that Ben had been the first one to wake up. At least, he didn't saw anyone else on his way down to the first floor, where he would immediately go looking for the kitchen.
Ben found it as usually as he did in the previous night, and he met someone in there. Luckily, it was not Carolyn like last time, just two mammals in white. Probably the cooks, once it seemed they were working on the breakfast. They looked at the cheetah as he walked inside.
"Uhhh. Good morning?" Ben said, and the two mammals nodded back at him. "I-I'm sorry for interrupt, I... I was just going to grab some bite."
The two mammals looked at him, and then at each other.
"So... would you like us to get you some food?" One of them, the llama, asked.
"I don't want to cause trouble." Ben said, and the other one, the sheep, said:
"You are one of Chandler's guests, aren't you?" He asked, looking at Benjamin. "Benjamin Clawhauser, right? Yes, Chandler speaks a lot about you. It is no problem at all. Breakfast will be ready shortly, but if you would like something to eat while you wait, it will be no problem at all."
The sheep was very receptive of him, while the llama looked at him differently, almost as if he was a little wary of the predator's presence. Still, both of them were very helpful to Ben, and really didn't seemed to mind into preparing something for him. Chandler must have told them both how Benjamin liked his coffee, for they had prepared it just the way that he enjoyed.
Just a few minutes later, Benjamin was on the dinner table, eating his morning coffee with those fine toasts while he waited for the others to come down for breakfast.
"It will be ready shortly. Please, have a little patience." Was what said a butler who had helped Benjamin to the table with his coffee and toast, and left him there respectfully, as he went to take care of other duties.
Ben, meanwhile, was happy in there, eating by himself in that big table, which just on the previous night hosted a big dinner for him and all of the other guests and to the Manechester family. Ben caught himself wondering if there would be other lunches and dinners like that in the following days as they played the game.
Suddenly, Ben stopped when he was midway in eating one more toast. His eyes were a bit wide, and his tail was stiff. All of sudden, Ben had the feeling that he was not alone anymore.
Slowly, the cheetah turned his head to see who was standing behind him, and he saw that it was a female horse.
Once more, thankfully, it was not Carolyn. Instead, it was Euphemia standing behind the cheetah. She was wearing a lavender-colored robe, the kind that people often wore on the morning, tied by a sash of the same color around her waist, and it looked to be all made of pure silk. She was looking at him from behind in silence. Ben looked back at her for a few moments, and then Ben broke the silence.
"Uhhh, morning?" He said, she looked back at him, and Ben noticed that she was alone.
"Where is Charles?" The cheetah asked, and he had the impression that this question made the female get a bit salty.
"He left yesterday night when it was near midnight. Said he had to take care of a thing." She said, looking at him, "Haven't come back yet."
"Oh..." Ben said, and he wanted to ask more, like what kind of "thing" it was, or if she was worried with him. However, he had the vivid impression that doing so would probably upset the mare even more.
"So... want some toast?" He asked, showing his plate to her, and she looked back at him for a few moments. It almost felt like she was evaluating him.
"You are always very positive about things, aren't you?" She asked, and Ben said nothing in return, but he pondered.
Yeah, he did considered himself positive. At least, that was what some of the mammals who were the closest to him often told him. That he was positive, jolly and a bit goofy.
"You are never afraid of being who you are, and of saying what is in your mind. Except when you are afraid of causing trouble to someone." She said, and Ben looked at her.
Ben was doing it again. He was picking up vibrations from someone near him again.
He didn't wanted to. It was like when you are hearing to someone else's private conversation. You know you are not supposed to hear, but you can't help when they speak so loud. You knew what the talk was about, even though you were not making heads and tails of what they were saying.
"Effie." Ben said, causing the mare, who had been looking down, to look up at him. "Do you... want to ask me something?"
The mare looked at him for a few moments, and she looked as if she was debating with herself if she should say something or not. However, this was interrupt as someone came into the room.
Chandler was wearing a blue robe as he walked into the dining room, apparently in a good mood and ready for breakfast. He greeted both his best friend and his sister with enthusiasm.
"Where is Charles?" Chandler asked, to which Effie asked that he had left last night and still hasn't returned.
"It is the third time this week, isn't it?" Chandler asked his sister, "Just where does he goes?"
Effie shrugged to this, saying that she didn't knew, and that he probably went to take care of his new businesses. However, in that moment, Ben once more felt the vibrations of her aura without meaning to. Enough to know that Effie didn't believed in what she had just said.
Immediately, Ben started to actively suppress himself, like he hadn't had to do in a long time. For some reason, today he felt particularly sensitive to other mammals' vibrations. He really hoped that this wouldn't be one of those days...
Soon, others were joining them at the dining table, with Nick and Judy arriving soon after. The fox and bunny both were wearing robes, which seemed to be right their size.
"These are cool, where did you guys bought them?" Ben asked.
"Oh, we didn't." Nick said, looking at the cheetah, as he adjusted the edges of his green robe. "These robes are actually part of the Manechester hospitality package. They were in the closets with a note attached that we could use them as we liked, and that we could even take them home as souvenirs."
"Really?" Ben asked, and Judy looked at him.
"What, you didn't got one on your closet too?" Judy asked to the cheetah.
Truth was; Ben had not even looked at his closet yet. He still had the clothes that he brought on his suitcase, and they would most likely stay in there until the cheetah felt like he needed them. He didn't thought that he should take them off and place them in the closet.
"The Manechesters are known for being good hosts." Chandler said, "It is only normal for us to offer the best of the hospitality to who comes to visit."
Soon more of the guests were coming for breakfast. Gazelle and Tyson both were coming down for breakfast. The popstar was wearing a luxurious robe of silk with intricate and beautiful patterns in it, which the cops weren't sure if was something that was left for her by the Manechesters or if it was something that she brought with herself. Tyson didn't had a robe, and he was wearing simply a white shirt and a pair of long pants, probably the same clothes that he slept in.
Next came Horne and Ogami. Both were wearing robes, and the wolf was yawning as he blinked his eyes, but he looked nearly like a zombie as he dragged his feet to the table. Apparently, that wolf was not much of a morning mammal. Meanwhile, everyone looked at the Gazelle, and they saw that he was still wearing the same gasmask from the previous day.
He didn't slept with that, did he? That was the thought on the minds of a few of the mammals on the table, as they watched the masked gazelle sit by the side of the sleepy-looking wolf. Soon, Mr. Blackson was also coming, and he was dressed more formally than the others apparently, he had already got up and bathed, and now he was ready to start a day. It seemed clear that the blackbuck was really a morning mammal.
The next mammals that joined them were Hannah, Marcy and Josh. Hannah was wearing a beautiful silk robe of pink color. Chandler greeted her dreamingly as she sat by his side. Marcy was on more regular clothing, as she also wore pajamas to sleep, and she was stretching herself and giving good morning for everyone, along with Josh.
Josh was definitely the one who called the more attention.
He was not wearing a robe, or pajamas, by that matter.
He was only wearing a pair of boxers as he walked down, and he seemed to have little to no problem into being in the middle of so many mammals only on his underwear, as he seemed not phased in the slightest, by the looks that others were giving him, as a matter of fact...
"Enjoying the view, guys?" The muscular cheetah said, smirking at them with a toothy grin. "Well, feast your eyes, because it is beautiful and it's free."
"Dear god." Simon said, looking away.
"Well, I guess that we should feel glad that you are wearing something in the morning, at least." Marcy said, and this caused the others to look at her.
"He likes to sleep naked." She explained, as Josh sat on the table by her side.
Soon, the mammals on the table were starting to talk to each other, they were able to distract themselves from the half-naked beefcake cheetah at the table, and they seemed to have many subjects to talk with each other.
The Clawhauser/Foxgrove siblings were happily talking to each other, while Gazelle was engaging with some conversation with Euphemia, and Chandler was gladly having a good conversation with his girlfriend.
It seemed that everyone was happy for gathering in that dinner table on that cold, but lovely, autumn morning.
It was briefly interrupt by the coming of a butler, who announced that breakfast would be serve in under ten minutes, before making his way out. At the same time, Adrian Manechester walked into the room.
The horse was wearing a crimson robe, with a stylized golden M printed on the right breast, and he looked like he was quite angry as he came inside. So much, in fact, that some of the presents were a bit worried.
The horse seemed to be in quite a hurry. However, once he noticed that all eyes were on him, his demeanor changed nearly immediately.
He walked calmly into the dining room, looking at all of the guests. His eyes stopped in one or the other. In particular, his eyes stopped in Josh, who was shirtless. The cheetah looked back at him, and smile.
"Good morning, Mr. Manechester." Josh said, getting up to greet him, revealing that he was wearing only his underwear.
Adrian looked at him, and both his left eye and ear twitched.
"Morning..." Adrian said, before he turned his attention back to the other guests. "So, I believe that everyone has had a good night?"
The mammals on the table nodded, as they confirmed that the night had been good. Adrian seemed satisfied with this.
"Good, that's very good." Adrian said, and he added, "You will be happy to know that we have increased security ever since last night, in case some friend of those two would come to try and help them. After all, in a world like that, one can never be too careful."
"Or too paranoid." Marcy said, and Adrian gave her one look. For a moment, both Josh and Ben could clearly feel the hostility that the horse had towards their sister, and it made them both more than a little uncomfortable.
"Anyway, we have increased security. In part with the help of Misters Ogami and Horne." Adrian said.
"No need to thank us." Horne said.
"Yes, they have implemented a few security measures ever since last night." Adrian said, "As a matter of fact, I'd like to speak to both of you about those measures you set. Now, if possible."
The masked gazelle and the wolf both shared a look, and they soon were getting up and walking to the horse. Soon, they were all leaving the room.
Judy and Nick shared a look of their own. Each one knew that the other also noticed something strange going on, and the look that was in Ben's face told them the he noticed it too. Soon, the three cops were excusing themselves from the table. Nick said he wanted to use the toilet, and Judy said something similar, while Ben said that he had already eaten and wanted to take a look around the house.
As they left, they were soon to meet the three mammals on the room next doors, and they could easily hear the angry voice of the horse.
"Why am I even paying you two incompetents!?" The horse demanded, and the cops continued to move in their direction. Adrian's back was turned to them as they approached; as he was too busy talking with the two mages. Legoshi flinched as the horse spoke with anger, while Melon just stood in there with his arms crossed over his chest.
"T-to keep everyone in here safe?" Legoshi said, and Adrian gave him a glare that was definitely poisonous, making the wolf whimper.
"What, ain't that why you are paying us?" Melon said, causing the horse to look up from the wolf and into the gazelle. As he switched his attention, his anger seemed to dwindle, however, not by much. He felt annoyed by the fact that the gazelle was wearing that mask and not looking him directly in the eye.
"Yes." The horse said. "I pay you two for protection. And I also pay you to make sure that there will be no more vandalisms like those in my house."
"And aren't we doing this job?" The gazelle asked, to which the horse answered:
"Well, if you are, you are doing it poorly." The horse said to them. "Someone placed graffiti on the walls of the mansion yesterday night!"
The cops who were approaching heard that, and they shared looks among themselves.
"They did?" Ben asked, causing the horse to immediately turn around and look at them. They were all looking back at the horse, who looked at all of them, in particular, he looked right at Benjamin, and this made the cheetah more than just a little uneasy.
"Mr. Manechester, has been more vandalism?" Judy asked, and the horse looked at her.
"Just some graffiti." He said, looking back at the bunny. "Nothing to worry about."
"But doesn't it means that there is someone managing to sneak into here, even with the extra security measures?" Judy asked, "In this case that would mean-"
"EVERYTHING." Adrian said, cutting the bunny, "Is under control. It is just a small lapse that has happened, and that will be corrected." He looked over his shoulder, at the two mammals standing behind him.
The way that he looked at them, was almost as if he was saying:
"Or else..."
It made the wolf whimper a bit more.
The room was silent for a few moments, and then Judy spoke:
"Mr. Manechester, you must let us see the place where they made the graffiti."
"There is no need, Officer Hopps."
"But they may have left some evidence behind." Judy insisted, but the horse was showing to be adamant.
"The graffiti is being cleaned as we speak." He said, looking at the bunny, and Judy didn't seemed very happy for hearing this.
"Mr. Manechester, you could be compromising a crime scene!"
"There is no crime scene." The horse said, "There is nothing more than a few words painted on the wall of my house by someone who had too much free time on their hooves."
"Someone who managed to pass through tight security." Judy said, looking at the horse as she tried to make her point. "It could be the very same mammal who has been breaking into the house. If they can still do things like that even with the security as it is, then-"
"There is no need for worry." Adrian reassured, once more not letting the bunny finish her thought. Judy was getting more than a little annoyed, as I was possible to see by the way that her foot was thumping into the ground.
The tension between the two was palpable. Nick noticed that, and he was about to get in the middle and say something that would distract these two and prevent them from going at each other's necks. However, someone beat him to it.
"So, there is no need for you to be rude to us, right?" Melon said, causing the horse to look at him over his shoulder. "You can apologize to us at any moment for yelling at us without reason."
For a moment, Nick thought that Adrian was going to leap at that gazelle's neck. However, the horse instead simply calmly turned to him. His expression serious and composed.
"Without reason?" Adrian asked, his voice dangerously low. "Oh, I don't think it was without reason."
He looked at the masked gazelle, as if he was trying to bore holes through his lenses with his glare so he could reach his eyes.
"After all, you two were hired in order to ensure the safety of my house, and to prevent things like that graffiti from happening again." Adrian said, looking at the gazelle as he stepped closer. "The fact that this kind of thing has happened again, after you two have assured me that it would not happen again, is the kind of thing that makes me uneasy. Even though I am sure that this event was a one-time thing, and the result of some short of momentary mistake that can easily be fixed."
Nick had a raised eyebrow as he heard that, and he had the feeling that the horse was said that more to the cops than to the mages.
"After all, considering the amount of money that I am paying both of you, I can only assume that you two really are professionals, and that you are competent in doing your job, even though you are not above making the occasional mistake." He said, looking at both of them.
"I would hate to have to think that I am mistaken, and that you two are not competent enough to do the job I am paying you to do."
More silence followed these words, and Legoshi was the one to speak.
"W-we will fix the problem and we won't let something like that happen again, Manechester-sama." The wolf said, looking down. Adrian looked at the wolf with an evaluating gaze.
"I am sure you won't." Adrian said, he turned to the cops and, once more, was speaking to them.
"So, as you can see, everything is under control." The horse said; seeming perfectly composed as he said that. "There has not been an invasion, and neither there will be. The house has a lot of protection, and the safety of everyone inside is top priority. You don't have to worry about anything."
Judy was about to protest, but she was stopped by the paw of her friend Nick landing on her shoulder. She looked at him, and saw that the fox was giving her a look.
She had gotten good at readying what Nick often wanted to tell her with his looks. That look, in particular, was the one that he often gave her when he was saying that she should drop the matter.
One look back at the horse let her know that she was not getting anything out of this. The horse already showed that he was not changing his mind, and that he definitely was not willing to let them take charge of anything.
Judy relaxed, but just a little. She still didn't liked it one bit, but she could knew that there was no reasoning with that horse, at least not at the moment.
Well, maybe there was not much that they could do anyway. They already started to clean the graffiti and, for sure, contaminate the crime scene.
"Fine." Judy said, and she looked at the horse. "But, just for the record, can we know what was it that they placed on the wall?" She was looking at Adrian as she asked that, Adrian looked at her for a few moments, before he spoke:
"They left a phrase written." The horse said, and Judy looked at it.
"Was it a threat?" She asked, and Adrian looked at her, before his gaze shifted to another mammal that was present at the room.
"It were just five words." He said, looking intently at this mammal.
"They wrote: 'I still love you Benji'."
Judy blinked as she looked at the horse, and soon, her eyes, like those of everyone else, were turning to the same mammal at whom Adrian was looking: Benjamin Clawhauser.
Ben looked back at the horse, who looked at him with a serious expression. For a moment, Ben nearly felt like the horse was accusing him of having done something.
Soon, the horse looked back at Judy, and asked:
"Anything else, Officer Hopps?"
Judy looked back at him, and said nothing. Adrian seemed to take this as all of the answer that he needed.
"Good, then I assume that this little meeting can be ended."
He was about to leave, when he heard Benjamin speak:
"Wait." He said, and this caused the horse to stop and look at him. Ben shrunk a little bit under that glare, but he continued to talk.
"I-I was... Uhh, I was wondering." Ben said, and he notice that everyone was now looking at him. This made him more nervous than he already was.
"I-I have been wondering... since yesterday that maybe... Well, maybe we could tell Marcy and Josh about what is going on."
Adrian's ear twitched as he heard that, and Ben continued.
"I mean, they are both experienced with this kind of thing. They've been to many places and saw many things. Maybe they could help us with this, if we just explained everything to them."
"There is no need to let anyone of the guests into this." Adrian said immediately. "The last thing we need is to have them panicking now."
"But they won't panic." Ben said, "Josh is an enforcer and Marcy is a really good freelancer. They won't be scared of anything."
"Even so, I see no reason to involve them in this business when we have everything under control." The horse said, back, arms cross as he looked at the cheetah, however, Ben continued to insist.
"But maybe they could help." Benjamin said, looking at the horse. "They both have a lot of experience, and maybe they could give us some good advice or-"
"We won't involve anyone else." The horse said firmly, and this caused the cheetah to flinch. Benjamin then looked down, as Adrian approached him, and started to say to him, in a low voice:
"I have accepted you here very reluctantly, and that was only in name of the safety of the guests. Otherwise, believe me when I say that you wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near my property after the problem you have caused." The horse said to the cheetah, who flinched and kept looking down. "I already have you being part of this, I'll not let you bring your siblings into this as well. Now, you better lower your head and know your place in here. Is that clear?"
Adrian's voice was nearly a whisper, meant only for Benjamin to hear, however, Judy could hear that loud and clear. Rabbits and their big and sensitive ears.
Benjamin remained silent after this, and he only gave a weak nod. It seemed to be enough for Adrian, as he moved back and limited himself look at the cheetah.
Suddenly, the sound of the doors opening called everyone's attention, and everyone turned to see that it was Charles.
The horse was not wearing robes or pajamas like the other guests, being instead dressed as if he was ready to get out or, as it seemed more likely, just coming back. His clothes and mane were slightly disheveled, as if he had just returned to the mansion in a bit of a hurry, and he looked surprised at the mammals in the room, as he seemed to be clearly surprised for seeing them in there. It seemed that he had expected them to be at the table eating breakfast, instead of being in there.
"Charles." Adrian said, looking at the other horse, who looked back at him as if he had been caught with his hoof on the cookie pot.
"O-oh..." He said, "H-hello. Good morning."
"Morning, Charles-sama." Legoshi said, looking at the horse. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Going?" Melon said, looking at him as well. "By the looks of it, I'd say that he has just came back."
"Hey, mind your own business!" Charles said to the wolf. Adrian was looking at him.
"Charles, where have you been?" The horse said, Charles looked back at him, and he, for a moment, looked like he was trying to come up with an answer.
"I... I was... Well, I was... I was... Going to a meeting with a possible investor for one of my businesses." The horse said, looking at Adrian as if he was the only person on that room that mattered. "Yes, I got a call last night saying that there was a possible investor for a business that wanted a meeting to discuss a possible deal. It was really late, so I had to get out in a rush to meet up with him after everyone was already asleep."
Adrian looked at him, an eyebrow raised.
"A meeting in the middle of the night?"
"Yeah, he is a foreign investor and had just arrived in the city." Adrian said.
"And this meeting lasted the whole night?" Melon said, looking at the horse, while Legoshi, by his side, was sniffing the air, as his nose had picked a faint smell.
Charles looked at the masked gazelle, before looking at the horse, who was looking at him as if he was waiting for his answer, which the horse was soon giving.
"I... Had to stay in the meeting for a few hours. By the time we finished negotiating it was quite late and I was quite far from the house, so I decided to stay in a nearby hotel and come back home as soon as I could in the morning. Of course, I had hoped to come back before breakfast, but I overslept and had to rush to return. You can ask Euphemia, she saw when I was leaving."
As he spoke, Legoshi had been walking in his direction, sniffing as if he was trying to find a scent. Charles didn't noticed it, until the wolf was very close to him.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Charles said, pushing the wolf away from himself, and Legoshi was looking at him.
"Charles-sama..." Legoshi said, looking at him. "Are you wearing perfume?"
Charles looked at him, confused.
"It is in you." Legoshi said, looking at him. "In your clothes, your fur... And also... some other smells." He said, looking at the horse, "As if you have been rubbing on someone-"
"I have to go to my room now take a bath and get changed!" Charles said, and he was soon leaving through another door, but not before he gave one last evil glare at the wolf, who seemed confuse on why the horse was glaring at him.
As Charles left, the room was silent, and Adrian looked at the others. After a few moments, he said:
"Well, I believe this was everything for now, right? I believe we should all go have breakfast."
Soon, Adrian and the other mammals were once more on the dinner table, and all of them were served a nice breakfast. Some of them didn't remembered when it was the last time that they have had so many options of food in a single meal. It truly looked like a rich-mammal breakfast. The kind that you only saw in commercials and on the television.
The presents liked it.
Legoshi was eating some of the eggs on the table, as an option for the carnivores. It was soon clear that the wolf was a great fan of eggs, as he ate them with a gusto that was almost pup-like. Meanwhile, the gazelle standing by his side was only picking things and placing them in a plate for himself, right before he excused himself and left the table with his full plate. No one really gave him much attention.
The breakfast continued without incidents. Charles joined them in for breakfast a little late, sitting by the side of his wife. He even asked Adrian if Carolyn would be joining them, to which the horse answered that she was "not feeling very well".
"Probably still with a hangover for nearly drinking herself to death last night." Marcy whispered to Josh, and the muscular cheetah chuckled at this.
After breakfast was done, the servants were clearing the plates. One butler, in particular, was carrying some plates when Melon returned, his plate not empty, and he placed it on the pile of plates.
"Don't forget this one, and wash it well, I gave it a good licking, and I am sure others don't want to taste my spit." The masked gazelle said, "By the way, the food was great, tell the chef for him to keep up the good work. Oh, and here is a little something for your trouble." As he said that, he pulled out fifty bucks and slid them into the butler's pocket.
The butler looked unimpressed, and looked back at the masked gazelle, saying something polite to "Master Horne" before walking away with the other servants.
With breakfast over, the mammals in there were soon engaging in some morning conversation. Well, the ones who were staying in the dining room were. Some of them were leaving to take care of a thing or another. Horne and Ogami were leaving, probably to check if the protections that they had placed were still working, as to avoid getting Adrian angrier with them. Meanwhile, Simon left because he had to make a few phone calls, as he still had to work on Gazelle's upcoming tour. Even Chandler left, as he wanted to show the house in detail to his girlfriend, and he looked quite giddy as she was going with him hoof-if-hoof for a tour through the house.
This left some of the mammals in there to talk to each other, once more distracting themselves as they spoke over varied subjects.
Nick was talking to Judy, but she was a little distracted as she looked at another mammal that was in the room.
Charles had gone to have a word with Adrian, and this left Euphemia Manechester sitting by herself, at least for the time being. Judy kept looking at the mare, as she was sitting by herself drinking from a cup of tea that a servant had brought to her.
Looking over at her, Judy excused herself from Nick, who seemed okay with Judy ditching him to go to talk to someone else. Soon the fox too was looking someone to talk with, and this happened to be Gazelle's bodyguard.
Judy didn't felt good for ditching Nick, but she wanted to use this chance to talk to Effie.
She seemed to be the only one on that house, besides Chandler, who didn't showed any hostility towards Benjamin. She was cold, of course, but there was no hostility towards the cheetah in her actions, Judy had been observing enough to recognize that.
That was why it seemed that she could talk to the mare.
Hopping into the chair that was right by Euphemia's side, Judy was seating herself. The sight of the bunny sitting in a chair made for a much bigger mammal was rather comic, like a child sitting on an adult's chair.
"Mrs. Manechester?" Judy said, and Euphemia slowly put her cup down, before turning her head to look at the bunny.
"Yes?" Euphemia said, looking at the bunny. At that moment, Judy realized that she hadn't really planned what she would say, or how she would lead that conversation.
For a long moment, she only looked back at the mare with, as she tried to find the right words to say next.
"So... you enjoying the game that your brother is making so far?" Judy asked, and Euphemia looked at her for a few moments with her eyebrow raised. Judy felt like slapping herself for not having planned it better.
"It is enjoyable, that is, if you are a fan of such games." The mare said, looking at the bunny, and she asked if she was enjoying the game.
"Oh, I sure am!" Judy said to her, "You know, the first night was actually pretty fun. I mean, it was being pretty fun... before..."
"Before someone attacked us out of the blue?" Euphemia asked, and Judy nodded. "Yeah, I can tell that dad became really upset with that. He probably gave a pretty good ear-chewing to Horne and Ogami for having letting it happen."
"Yeah, I had the impression that he did." Judy said, and looked back at the mare, before she spoke:
"But, it was risky to let Chandler take the party outside, with what is happening into the house."
Euphemia looked over at the bunny.
"You... you know what has been happening into the house, right?" Judy asked, and Euphemia nodded.
"Yes, in fact, I do." Euphemia said to her, "My husband is clueless about it, but I assure that I most certainly am not, Officer Hopps. I am well aware of everything that is happening, the vandalisms and the invasions. I know very well what happens in my house."
Judy looked at her.
"Wait, Charles don't know about the vandalisms?"
"No, he doesn't." Euphemia said, shaking her head at the bunny cop. "My father has agreed that it was better if he wasn't informed. My husband can be... a bit impressionable by things, and knowing that such events are happening in our own house could make him... more than a little nervous."
But shouldn't he be nervous? Someone is breaking into the house. Judy wanted to ask, but she refrained from making this question, and instead, she only nodded. Euphemia looked back at the bunny, and she said:
"Anyway, the vandalisms were the main reason why dad hired those two morons." Euphemia said, referring to the wolf and the gazelle. "They presented their own resumes when coming here, and dad wanted to hire someone who knew anything about magecraft, but he didn't wanted to risk hiring any scammer. When those two came, presenting themselves as mages, dad hired them two days later, after running a very keen eye on their backgrounds."
"So, he found out that they are really good mages?" Judy asked, and Euphemia looked at her.
"Well, he found nothing that said otherwise. No criminal records of any kind. No accusations of them ever having scammed anyone. I guess that this was enough for dad." She said, looking at the bunny, and Judy nodded.
"Also, the vandalisms have stopped ever since they started living in here a few weeks ago, so this must mean that they must at least be a little competent... Or so we thought." Euphemia said, and she then looked at the bunny once more.
"There has been a new vandalism, there isn't?"
Judy didn't answered, she only remained silent, to Euphemia, this was all of the answer that she needed.
"Yeah, Dad certainly will be giving these two a hard time for this. Especially after they allowed someone to sneak on us and attack someone in the maze. Even if this someone was Benjamin Clawhauser." She said, seemingly distracted, and Judy looked at her.
The bunny looked intently at her.
"Are you glad that Benjamin was the one attacked?" Judy asked, as straight forward as she usually was. The mare looked back at her, and she said:
"I am glad that no one got hurt from that attack." She said, looking at the bunny, and Judy had the feeling that she was dodging the question. However, the mare soon was answering.
"But, I am not glad that Benjamin Clawhauser was attacked. And I assure you that neither would be anyone of this family." She spoke it with sureness as she looked at the bunny, "We are not as petty as to rejoice on someone else's misfortune, and we certainly don't go wishing that others are attacked by murderous maniacs. At least I don't."
"Not even when it is a mammal who you hate?" Judy asked, and the mare looked at her with what seemed to be curiousness.
"Are you implying that I hate Clawhauser?" She asked, and Judy looked back at her.
"Do you?"
The two females looked at each other for a few moments. Then, Euphemia spoke:
"You know something of the events of five years ago, don't you?" She asked, looking at the bunny, and Judy answered:
"Only the basic. That either you or your brother assaulted Chief Bogo, your father lost the election because of it, and for some reason he blames Benjamin."
Euphemia looked at her, as if she was trying to see through the bunny. After a few moments, she started talking again:
"No, Officer Hopps." She said, causing Judy to look at her with a raised brow, "I don't hate Benjamin Clawhauser, and neither do I blame him for what have happened. My parents might, but I assure you, that I don't. Neither does Grandpa, by the way, he is somewhat strange, but he is fair, and I am sure that he does not really blames Benjamin for what happened. Well, at least not as much as my mother and father."
She sounded sincere as she spoke that. This much Judy could tell. The bunny girl could also notice that the mare really seemed like she held no grudge against Benjamin, as she could notice none of the resentment and hostility that she had, noticed, up until now, on both Charles and Adrian. She continued to look at the mare, who sighed.
"It would not be fair to hold that against him." She said, looking down at her cup of tea. "After all, it is not like he actually did anything wrong. He really doesn't hold much blame, other than having gotten involved with our family."
Judy looked at her, and she was about to ask if by "getting involved with their family" meant having become friends with Chandler. However, before she could ask that, the mare was once more speaking.
"I am sorry, I divagated." She said, looking at Judy. "I believe we were talking about the game that my brother is conducting, ain't I right?"
Judy looked at her, a bit confused at the sudden change of subject, but the mare continued:
"Well, it is quite clever of him having come up with a mystery game. Well, I was not surprised, of course, since I saw how much he was researching and making an effort at this game, I had a feeling that he had planned something of the short." She said, looking back at the bunny. "Do you enjoy this kind of games, Officer Hopps?"
Judy looked at her, and she wanted to go back to the subject that they were talking mere minutes ago. She wanted to ask him about how Benjamin held blame for "getting involved with their family", and how that could have possibly led to Chief Bogo being assaulted by one of them. However, she had the feeling that attempts to steer the conversation back in that direction would be meet with failure.
Judy was not the kind who gave up but, in the past two years, she had learned enough to know when it was a good idea to stop pushing. At least, for the time being.
"Yes, I do enjoy this kind of thing." Judy said, looking back at the mare. "I've always liked these mystery murder parties. Ever since I first heard of them."
The bunny was able to sit back and relax, even if juts a little bit, as she looked at the bigger female.
"You know, in these parties you are basically doing detective work. You hear everyone's alibis. You hear of their motives. You go after evidence. You use deductive reasoning to find out who did it and why. Basically all kinds of police work."
Euphemia looked back at her.
"And you are a fan of anything that has to do with police, aren't you?" She asked, and Judy blushed a little bit.
"Yeah... since I was a kit." She said, and she rubbed the back of her neck. "I was keen on anything that had to do with police. As I was growing up, I couldn't stop readying police and mystery books. I even had this game with myself where I tried to guess who the culprit was before the end of the book."
"I see." Euphemia said, "I did something quite similar."
"Really?" Judy asked, looking at the mare, who nodded back at her.
"I am the granddaughter of the founder and owner of a private police company." She said, and Judy looked back at her.
"Oh. I see." Judy said, "But, it was not just guessing. I used to read it with a pencil in my paw and as I read it I made notes all over the pages, marking anything that could be a clue and making notes on the subject."
Euphemia looked at her, and she smiled.
"I did the same." She said, surprising Judy. "Grandpa said that it was a good way of training my mind. It would help me become capable of solving crimes, that it would increase my ability to reason and solve problems. He said it was something that I had to cultivate, no matter what career I was going to choose. Of course, that was before I became the new appointed heir of the company after my brother..."
She stopped as she was about to say something, but she stopped. Judy noticed it, and she noticed the look that passed by her face, even if just for a moment. However, the mare recovered rather quickly, and she was then speaking once more:
"My favorites have always been the mysteries of Sherlock Howlmes." She said, before she took a sip of her tea, and Judy continued to look at her. "I always found all of them interesting. Have you read some of that?"
Judy looked at her and, once more, she had to suppress her urge to try to steer the conversation in a certain direction. She thought that it was better to follow the flow that the mare was setting.
"Yeah, I have." She said, looking at her. "I really like those stories. My personal favorite is The Hound of the Badgervilles."
"Yeah, mine too." Euphemia said, looking at the bunny. "Of course, in my case, is because it makes some parallels with our own story."
"Huh?" Judy asked, looking at her, and the mare looked away. She looked in direction to her husband and father, who were both still seemingly talking about something. Judy looked at her as she did it.
Was she... seeing if they could not hear her?
"There is a story about the Manechester family." Euphemia said, as she turned back to the bunny. "One that we, from the family, prefer to avoid."
Judy looked at her, and the mare soon was speaking again.
"It all began around two hundred years, with Jeremiah Manechester, our ancestor." She said, looking at the bunny, "He was a mammal of great respect. He had managed to acquire a great fortune due to years of good deals and of good crops on his properties. He ended up becoming a very wealthy mammal, one of the more important ones of Zootopia at the time."
Judy listened to her as she explained that.
"Of course, while many admired him, others were envious about his wealth, and this made room for all kinds of rumors to appear." Euphemia continued. "Among them, the rumor that the reason for his success was that he had sold his soul to the Devil."
"Of course, back at the time it was all considered non-sense. After all, they all knew that he was a good Christian, and a good Christian would never sell his soul." She said, and she seemed a bit entertained with the idea. "He continued to be seen by everyone as a rightful mammal, and these stories were seen a nothing more than slander from the rabble... But, when it came to his death..."
A moment of silence, Judy was looking back at her.
"Back on that day, it was not unusual for the wealthy to have mysterious deaths." Euphemia said, "It happened a lot. Maybe they would have some accident, or die from some sudden disease that, under normal conditions, would not cause someone to die. These sudden deaths were consider common, and no one ever investigated these things. The death of Jeremiah Manechester, at his thirty-seven years, was also never investigated, but for different reasons."
She looked at the bunny.
"He did not had a nice death. He was maul. Torn to shreds by a creature with claws and fangs. Something that ate many chunks of him, maybe while he was still alive."
Judy felt a shiver run down her spine.
"H-he was killed by some beast?" She asked, looking at her, "I-I mean... it wasn't... another mammal, was it?"
Euphemia looked at her, and she said:
"It was a demon."
Judy just stared at her. The mare shrugged.
"That's what his wife and son both said." She explained. "They had left the state to go to the church. When they returned, they found Jeremiah dead, and the thing that killed him was standing over his corpse. Its claws tainted with his blood. The same blood that was dripping from its muzzle."
"Jeremiah's wife let out a terrified neigh before she fainted, while his son was quick to reach for a fire poker that he intended to use as a weapon against the beast and avenge his father. That is, according to accounts from the son, Arnoldo, himself." The mare continued, "However, he didn't had the chance to get revenge over his father's death, for the creature immediately fled from the scene, while it let out a furious roar, and the only signs of its presence were the mangled, half-eaten remains of Jeremiah and a trail of blood from its claws and fangs."
"Later, both mother and son described to everyone what they had saw. They were telling that a ferocious beast, covered in fur, but that could not have been a mammal, and that this creature had killed Jeremiah Manechester and devoured him like a savage. They were saying that a monstrous beast had killed him. A demon, was how they described it. The creature could not be find, even though there were restless searches for it all over the state. It was as if the beast had vanished without leaving clues."
"Of course, it attracted a lot of attention, not only form the authorities and from the local priest, who immediately wanted to bless the entire state so the demon would not return, but also from the common people of the local."
"We are talking about the same mammals who talked that the horse had sold his soul in return for his success and fortune." Euphemia continued, "And now, these rumors gained even more force. For the next years, all around the land of Zootopia, mammals said that Jeremiah Manechester had, indeed, sold his soul to the Devil, and that the Devil had come to collect."
"Of course, the story would eventually be forgotten, as years passed, and Arnoldo Manechester became the new owner of the state, having his own family and maintaining the land that he inherited from his father." She said, looking at the bunny, who was looking back at her with a lot of interest. "Until, one day, he was found by the servants on his office. Tore to pieces, and a lot of his flesh missing. Someone had mauled and devoured him, and somehow had vanished without letting evidence, as if it had simply evaporated in thin air."
"Of course, that was what it took for the story of the death of Jeremiah to resurface, as many saw the similarities on how they had died, and the superstitious folks of the city were soon making their own connections. It was the Devil. The same one who had killed Jeremiah, and that now had come back to claim Arnoldo's soul as well."
"Soon, a new story started circulating among the people of Zootopia. The story that Jeremiah had sold not only his own soul to the Devil, but those of all of his descendants. Of course, no more violent deaths happened to any of Arnoldo's children, but this did not stop the rumors and local legends from spreading and surfacing. The stories of how every single one of Jeremiah's descendants are doomed to Hell and that, at any day, the Devil could come to collect their souls himself, taking the guise of an indescribable monster, that was neither predator nor prey, but something much, much worse."
She looked at the bunny, who kept looking at her.
"This, Officer Hopps, is the legend of the Hound of the Manechesters." She concluded, and Judy kept staring at her.
"That's... Wow." Was all that the bunny could say, as her mind processed the piece of the Manechester lore that she hadn't found on her researches.
"Yeah... wow." She said, looking at the bunny, "I thought something very similar when Grandpa told me that very same story when I was a filly. The same story that he certainly told Chandler, and surely our father when he was our age. He told us this story, and gave us warnings to be ready in the case the Hound would ever come for us."
"Of course, I never truly believed it." She added, "I thought that it was just something that he was telling us as means of illustrating us to be ready for anything. If anything, I thought that he was telling us that so we could later tell us that the Hound would come to get us if we misbehaved. After all, something like that could not be real."
She stayed in silence for a few moments, as she had finishing telling the bunny this, before she added:
"Of course... that was before the revealing of magecraft."
Judy looked at her, and she understood what she meant.
Before, it was easy to dismiss it as nothing more than a scary bedtime story. Now, however, it was a harder, because they knew that the supernatural existed.
All of sudden, the bunny remembered how Charles had acted right after the attack. How he kept saying that it was "the Hound". But... could it actually be "the Hound"? I mean, okay, maybe supernatural was really a thing, but could that really be the Devil coming to earth to collect the souls of the Manechesters?
"That thing of last night..." The bunny said, "You think it was... the Hound?"
Euphemia looked at her, before she shrugged.
"I don't know." The mare said, looking at the bunny. "Honestly, I am not sure of certain things in the past months. I mean, I grew up believing the Hound to be only an old story that came from gossip and hearsay, but now, I think that maybe there was some truth on the story. And maybe with what Grandpa told us... About how he saw the Hound himself."
Judy blinked, and she looked at the mare, who finished her tea and got up.
"It was nice talking to you, Officer Hopps." She said, and she left, leaving Judy to process all that she had just heard.
The Hound of the Manechesters. The Devil himself coming to collect their souls.
Judy kept thinking of that, as her mind processed this idea. Even the original plan of obtaining more information about what had happen five years ago had been momentarily forgotten...
"Aspiro!" Harry said, and he blew. And blew, and blew.
However, the castle of cans stood in there, strong and unmoving.
The bunny sighed, his shoulders slumping as he started to catch his breath from blowing so hard.
Like he had been doing for the past hour.
Currently, the dark bunny was standing in an abandoned alley. One that he had found while he was walking across the streets distracted, just as he did in the previous night.
Now, while he once more could criticize himself for not paying attention while he walked on the street, he could not really put his mind into it, once the same thing that made him wander without paying attention was currently plaguing his mind. It was the same thing that kept him awake till late on his bed on the previous night, and it was the same thing that made him sneak into that old and abandoned alley, gather some cans that were scattered around the place and pile them into a castle that now he was trying to knock down with his breath.
He was trying to reproduce the same thing that he had done to the leaves on the tree.
He had cast a spell.
Harry Hopps had actually cast a spell.
Like a mage would.
I actually cast a spell. Was the thought that kept repeating on Harry's mind as he made his way back to their apartment and joined the rest of his siblings.
He even had conversations with some of them, but these conversations were mostly one-sided, and Harry found himself too distracted to actually give intelligent answers to what they were saying to him.
He even remembered that two people had commented on how it seemed that he was "spacing out". He was pretty sure that it were his mother and Jason. The former had his mother's voice, while the later was certainly rude like Jason.
He would later spent hours on his bed as he thought on what he had done, and what it could possible mean. He even remembered that this was the first thing on his mind when he woke up in the morning, as it seemed that his subconscious continued to mull over the idea while he was sleeping.
He barely even paid attention to breakfast as he continued to remember the events of the previous night.
What if it was just a dream?
Maybe a figment of his imagination?
Maybe he mistook what he saw?
His mind brought up those and more possibilities, but it also discarded them nearly immediately. He remembered it in far too much detail for it to have been only a dream or something that he imagined. And he was pretty sure that he had not mistaken something that he saw.
Last night had really happened.
Harry knew that much.
That was why, once he realized that he was close to an empty and abandoned alley, he snuck into it. Because he wanted to make another test. To convince himself that what had happened last night had been real, and that it was not just something that he imagined.
The alley had trash in it, as it was to be expect from a place like that. A broken mirror leaning against the wall of a building, some craters in there, paper scattered around, and empty food cans all over the place.
Harry picked up as many cans as he could, and piled them on in a way similar to how a child would do, forming a "can castle", which he currently was trying to put down only by blowing, but with no success.
Of course, he didn't gave up, since he also didn't blew away the leaves of the branch on the first try, so he continued to blow at the cans, and blow, and blow. However, he didn't obtained any success on this on the past hour.
Why?
Why was he not making it?
Was he doing something wrong?
Was he forgetting something?
It had worked on the previous night. Was he doing something wrong now? Was he forgetting something important?
Well, he was picturing the entire process on his mind, just as Mrs. Wilde had explained to him and his siblings. It worked when he tried it last night. It even worked when he distracted himself thinking on other things, like leaves of autumn, and snow, and... wait...
"Activation image?" Harry asked, as he looked at the vixen, who nodded back at him.
"Yes, it is something important for all mages." Sophie Wilde said, looking at him. "It is a specific image that comes to your mind when you are about to cast a spell, and serves as a trigger that jumpstarts your circuits and make them work. It is basically the key that you turn to make the engine start working. It varies from one mage to another, but all mages have an activation image, and it is what allow them to open their circuits and perform the exchange of magical energy with the environment. It is a basic thing that makes the use of magecraft possible."
An activation image.
That's it!
On the previous night, one of the things that Harry thought must have worked as an activation image! But what was it?
Soon Harry was putting himself to think. He tried to remember what exactly he had thought while he tried to use the spell. It started with autumn, with leaves. Leaves changing color due to the change of station. Leaves of all of the colors of autumn. Then he thought about jumping into leaves and hiding in them. Then it passed by the naked branches, and then to the branches full of snow. Then there was snow falling and accumulating on the ground. Then...
Then he thought of snowflakes.
That was it!
He thought about the shape of a snowflake. More precisely, he thought about how snowflakes formed. He even pictured it in his mind. He pictured a single droplet of water crystalizing and turning into ice. Then other pieces of crystalized ice came r, and they merged as they continued to freeze. They changed, grew, fused, took the shape of a perfect snowflake.
As he thought of it, Harry felt a strange tingling on his body. A tingling that was accompany by a feeling of hotness. He opened his eyes and looked at his arms, and he could see it clear as day.
Lines of a bluish-green coloration running up and down his arms, looking just like the lines that he saw on many circuits when he was learning to be a computer technician. They were on his paws, up his arms, Harry even rose his shirt to see that they were also running across his stomach and chest.
Blinking, the bunny ran to the nearest mirror, and he looked at his reflection.
Through the cracked surface of the mirror, he could see his own reflection, and he could see the magic circuits that were on his face and on his ears.
Harry admired them for a few moments, before their light faded away from under his fur, leaving no trace that they were ever there.
But they were there. Harry knew this now. And he knew how to turn them on.
The bunny once more stood in front of the pile of cans, and he looked at it with determination. He closed his eyes, and once more conjured the mental image of a snowflake forming, from the single drop of water to the fully formed crystal.
He opened his eyes.
"Aspiro!" Harry said, and he once more blew. This time, he obtained results, as the cans all flew away, as if hit by a powerful breeze. Not only that, but the papers that were on the ground flew with the wind, even one of the craters was push back by the force of the wind.
As he stopped blowing, the bunny was panting. However, this time it was not from being blowing all day. It was from some form of excitement. It was from a thrill that Harry hadn't really felt ever since he was a. The kind of thrill that a child would have upon finding out that they had magical powers.
That was pretty much how Harry felt. Maybe that was the reason why he could not stop smiling.
The bunny completely failed to notice that, just outside of the alley, a single mammal was looking in his direction. A mammal who was a little taller than Harry was, had white fur and a bushy tail, and was wearing a long red coat.
"How interesting..." The white vixen said with a smile on her muzzle, looking at the bunny in there, before she turned around and left. Harry completely unaware that she had even been there.