CHAPTER 10 : AN INVITE

' Lots of dialogues coming up . '

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" Anika i have someone here you must meet ." James spoke as he walked into the room , happy .

" This is Tayden , my friend . "

" Who ? " Anika asked surprised as she turned her chair around .

" Hey . " Tayden spoke , wiggling his eyebrows .

" Remember me ? " He asked giggling .

" Unfortunately yes , I do . "

" Oh , you two know each other already . " James spoke as he looked at us .

" James , why is he here ? " Anika asked irritated at Tayden's mere presence.

" He is going to help us . He knows the party house . The higher ups have given him permission to help us . "

" What do you know about the party house ? " Anika asked .

" Slow down ." Tayden said , looking at the girl as she stared irritatedly .

" Aren't you going to welcome me to the team ? "

" No . "

" That hurt . "

" Good " .

" Tayden sit here . " James spoke as he , handed a chair to Tayden .

" You know the last day when me and Jonathan went to the party house ? "

" Yeah . "

" We found a letter for you . "

" What is with him and letters ? " I said as I took the letter James offered me .

Opening it , I read it aloud .

" I invite you to the ' Mask and Masquerade 2021' . Grab your masquerade mask and a gown .

I will be there waiting for you . Wear something red . Hope to meet you there . Invite your friends as well .

P.S : I won't be killing you . "

" How considerate . " Anika spoke as soon as she finished reading .

" When is this party ? " Asked Tayden.

" I don't know . " She said as she thought about the party .

" I don't think I have heard about this party . " She finished .

" I will look it up . " James volunteered as he pulled out his phone .

Turning back to Tayden , Anika asked . " So , what do you know about party house ? . "

" I know about the glass room . "

" Glass room ? " Anika spoke doubtfully.

" The room under the well . "

" Oh. " Anika replied . " Is his interrogation over ? " Anika asked as she looked at James who was busy on his phone as the image on the phone's reflection stood in his glasses.

" James , what are you looking at ? " Ava asked as James looked up at her .

" Sorry , but i found out about the party. It's next month . "

Anika only nodded to it .

" What about the interrogation ? " She asked again.

" That's finished . "

" Rick didn't call me though ." Anika said as she thought about her police friend .

" The police are no longer handling the case . They decided it's best if they just leave it to us . "

" Well that's good , but why didn't any of you tell me about this ? " Anika spoke as she smiled .

" I thought Johnathan did ." Said James as he kept his glasses properly .

" I didn't know about it ". Tayden spoke , looking at Anika as she ignored him and continued with the next question towards James .

" By the way , where is Johnathan and Syl. Syl is almost always missing . "

" Syl drove you yesterday ."

" I know , but when we have meetings or have to check something , most of the time she is not there and we have not even kept many meetings . She rarely pops up . She has not even told me what she is up to . Johnathan didn't say anything to me as well , but he is almost always present at all meetings . "

" I thought about that yesterday too . I don't know what Syl's upto as well , but Johnathan's at the armory. He couldn't go there yesterday . "

" Can you speak about something I know ? " Asked Tayden as he looked at the two in front of him clueless of what they are saying .

" How do you know about the party house ? What is your relationship with them ? " Anika asked as she observed the young man sitting infront of her . He was clad in a black shirt and grey jeans , a watch on his left hand and a chain on his neck with a claw as a pendant . His hair was neatly combed and his eyes were big as if they were searching for something .

Noticing the watch again , she murmured . " Rolex ."

" Did you say something? " Questioned Tayden distracted .

" No , I was just asking about your relation with the Hayes . Are you a family friend ? "

" Kind of , i am one of uncle Hayes's friend's son . We don't really meet each other a lot , but i have seen the glass room before . "

"Do you think we could speak to your father ? "

" Sure , but i haven't seen him for the past ten years . He left in the middle of the night to buy something . Never seen him after that . "

Anika only said an ok , her mind was preoccupied with the fact the he was wearing a Rolex. Sure , there are many people who own Rolexes , but something about him knocked her in the wrong way . The way he talked to her the past day , then appearing here , knowing about the glass room , etc .

" Do you think we could meet today evening at the canteen , maybe at four ? We could get to know each other . "

" So finally a date . I am impressed . "

" Its not a date . " Anika spoke as she got up from the chair , turning around she spoke to James .

" You can carry on , I will meet you later . Tell Johnathan to call me and Syl to meet me . Her phone's switched off . "

" And you , all of us together can go to the party house today . Meet us here at five , sharp . "

She walked out of the room as she thought about Tayden . Something felt fishy . She walked to the file room .

His whole figure just seemed too similar to someone else.

~

" Look who is finally here . " Johnathan spoke as he saw Syl running towards the team .

" Its 5:15 . You were supposed to be be here fifteen minutes ago . " Said Anika as she stared at the girl.

" Be like me . " Tayden spoke as he pointed at his watch .

" Your opinion is not needed . " Ava hissed as she looked at Tayden who was now looking at the ceiling .

" You need to give me a report of what you have been doing tomorrow morning itself . I need to say something to the higher ups if they ask about what each of us have been doing. Write what you found out in the report as well . "

" So shall we go ? " Johnathan spoke as he looke at his team mates .

"Sure . James get off your phone ." Anika spoke as she walked along with the rest , noticing that her team mate was not following .

" Sorry . " James spoke as he caught up with them .

~

" You sure you got permission right ? "

" Of course . " Johnathan spoke as he hit the door infront of him harder as the rest stayed a bit far away . Syl covered her nose as she saw the dust rising , while Anika pulled James a bit far away making sure that Tayden doesn't follow .

" I don't like him . He screams suspicious . Just sent him away as soon as possible ."

" There's nothing suspicious about him . I have been knowing him for a long time . "

James spoke , his hands on his hips as he looked at Anika .

" I don't trust him . He doesn't seem trustable . "

"He just looks like that . You can't blame him for his face . "

" Well ....." Anika spoke as she stood there empty minded , she didn't know what else to add that would not make her sound stupid.

THUD!!

" I think he opened the door . Come on . " James spoke as he paced towards the rest .

Anika walked behind slowly , thinking of a good excuse to avoid Tayden.

~

Entering the room , she was surprised at how clean it was compared to outside the room .

The walls had a few painting hung on them . The same man sitting along with Mr.Hayes's grandfather .

There were a few tables filled with books that were dusty .

Anika walked towards one of the tables . Taking one of the books from the table she opened it to see that a necklace fell down .

Keeping the book back , she bent down and picked up the necklace . It had a moon pendant which had some words carved onto it , which she was unable to decipher .

"Johnathan come here for a second ." She called the man who stood near a cupboard looking at the things that was kept inside . Johnathan had specialized in learning a lot of languages .

" What is it ? " Johnathan asked as he stood near Anika .

" Can you read it ? " Anika asked as she showed Johnathan the pendant .

Taking the pendant from the girl's hands , he looked at it carefully . " No , but i think I have seen something similar at the library . We could go check there later .

Taking a ziplock , Anika kept the pendant inside . According to what she was told , this room has been kept closed for almost the past thirteen years.

Hours passed as the group searched the room thoroughly , checking for anything that could help them with the case .

A lot of things were written in the books , but there was absolutely nothing about Mr.Hayes . All of them were about his grandfather's travelling stories , cooking recipes and letters to his friend .

" We should continue this tomorrow . " Tayden spoke as yawned .

" I am loosing my beauty sleep . "

" As if you are a delight to look at . " Ava spoke as she stood at one corner of the room , staring at the man who was sitting on the ground with droopy eyes .

" Its hardly ten . " James spoke as he looked at his friend .

" I sleep at eight ." Tayden spoke .

" Sure , you do . " Johnathan spoke this time as he looked upwards at the glass above him .

The glass covered only a small part of the ceiling , the wall was layered outside with something else .

" I am heading outside . I need to take a leak ."

Anika hummed as a response to the man who stood near the doorway .

" You know the way , right ? " Syl spoke as she looked at him .

" I do . " He spoke as he walked outside .

A few minutes had passed after Tayden had left .

" AAAHH , HELP !!!!! " A scream was heard which was soon followed by the howl of a werewolf . She could hear footsteps running away above her.

" Shit ." Anika cursed as she sprang to her feet.

" Tayden . " She screamed as she ran outside the room and soon was followed by the rest .

Taking out the silver knife from her belt , she raced through the stairways infront of her . She could here the sounds of Johnathan loading his gun behind .

Reaching outside she looked around .

Only the footprints of a werewolf were present and they led to the forest near by.

" Well fvck , " James cursed as he ran towards the forests with nothing to guard himself .

The full moon shined above as all of them ran towards the forest .

" He is going to get me killed . " Anika spoke before jumping over the gate and finally into the forests as more howls filled the air .