"Sire... Sire..."
The small voice sounded far, like it came from the neighbor's apartment.
I pushed it aside and tried to pick the preposterous dream I had been having.
Where was I... Oh fuck the neighbor... The interruption had made it disappear.
Try as I might I could not force it back to my mind.
"Sire... Sire must wake up."
This time it was followed by someone shaking me.
My eyes snapped open and I froze for several seconds in sudden fear.
Someone was... "Oh fuck."
I swore as the reality of my situation flooded back.
I sat up to find Maya staring at me patiently.
"Sire must have been tired," she said with an equivalent of a smile which was me seeing her milky white front teeth.
"Oh crap... How long has it been?"
"Eight at night sire."
"Oh crap..." I swore again, jumping off the couch. "So... What do I need to do?"
My overwhelmed brain must have shut down before I could come up with an immediate course of action.
All I had was the alert asking me to serve my first client and earn trust points to unlock minor room control ability.
No mention of where the heck I was supposed to find the client.
"Eat... That is what sire needs to do," Maya said, her smile getting even more wide, which again was me seeing even more of her neat teeth.
"You look happy," I stated while noticing for the first time the neat bundle resting on the table.
"What is that?"
I did not reach for it since I was not certain it was meant for me... But my guess was that it was.
Still, better to let her enjoy her reveal.
"Indeed Maya is happy..." she answered, now practically grinning. "Maya and the rest are throwing a dinner party to welcome sire..."
I did not know how to react to that... A party... With... Well, I now had difficulty thinking of them as rats, especially now that I knew their story.
But still, what kind of party would it be when I was the only human there... Wouldn't it in fact bring them more sadness as I would be reminding them of what they once were?
"It's tradition," she quickly added as she saw my hesitant look. "But if sire does not like it, Maya will have his food brought to his chambers."
"No... No need, I will be honored to attend," I hurried to reassure her, seeing the disappointment that had fallen.
She seemed to have been looking forward to this, which meant so did the rest. I did not wish to take the little spark they had, especially since very little had been going on in their life ever since Maya's contract was terminated.
The grin that had disappeared was back.
"This is sire's official clothes," she said, indicating the bundle. "Sire will come at the residents hall when ready."
She bowed merrily as she turned to leave.
"Maya... Wait, where does someone take a shower or sleep?"
She suddenly flinched while gently patting her head.
"My apologies sire... How could Maya forget. This is only the study sire?" she said, bouncing back.
I watched as she pushed another brick above the fireplace and the same shelf that had swallowed my contract papers parted both ways.
"There..." she said, pushing the black doors that had been exposed.
I picked the bundle from the table and followed her in.
Just like the study, the bedroom too looked simple and modest.
Just mid size bed and a fairly large walk in closet.
There was a reading desk and a chair and then another small bookshelf on either side of the bed.
It seemed like reading would be the one never ending thing in this job... Which I did not really mind. Based on my job, they were probably some of the best reads.
"The garment department is working on more clothing for sire... They will soon be ready."
"Wait... There is a garments department?... You never told me anything about this... Are there other departments?"
She nodded. "Sire was tired, Maya did not want to trouble him. Midstreet is mostly self sufficient, most of the things it needs is made here. The former caretakers serve in one of house departments."
"most things?... What are the exceptions?"
"food sire... Food and drinks we can't make... We can prepare but only if we have the ingredients"
'oh great'... One more headache for me trying to source food for myriads of Supernatural beings
And it also reminded me how very little I knew about the place I was expected to manage. I would have to work faster and learn things even quicker before that stability percentage began to dip.
"Sire's bathroom," she said, pushing the door on the edge of the room.
I took a peek inside and smiled.
"Just what I needed," I answered, suddenly feeling like a pig... Too bad it did not come with a mental massage.
I did not say this to Maya though... Something told me she would probably come up with some weird contraptions of sort for that very role. I would rather not have my mind invaded to that extent just yet.
"Thank you for the tour Maya, I will join you in a while, don't start without me."
"Maya would never, sire," she said, bowing deeper.
"Oh... Come on... I only meant it as a joke..." I clarified, afraid she might have taken it seriously.
Her grin however told me she still understood human figurative speak.
"And you guys should stop bowing to me... It makes me uncomfortable."
She hesitated like the very idea of not bowing was a threat to life. I was however not compromising on that.
It was not something the hotel demanded and certainly not what I wanted.
"Tell that to the rest," I added as she turned to leave.
The last thing I wanted was to enter that hall and everyone began to just to bow.
I wanted to feel I was amongst, be my way to rising in this place... And staying human.
My stomach grumbled as I began to strip... The thought of food now sounded like something I would give a bit of my stability to indulge in.