The Club for the Disturbed (1)

Giles and the directors flinched. One asked, "Steal the party from Ring Garden? Like… make Faded Rose the venue? But the invitations had been given out!"

"Yeah… it only specified Menorosa County." Rhodes took the invitation from inside his suit jacket. He showed it to the one who asked. His eyes swept across the directors. "It's a tight schedule, but I hope we finish all major tasks in two weeks. Let's pay the workers double if they finish before the twentieth. Later, I'll see if Madam Iveren would like to entertain the idea over lunch."

"Won't Ring Garden get angry?" The director to look returned the invitation to Rhodes. "The Gardner family will surely return the favor if we steal a big client from them."

Rhodes received the invitation and glanced at it for a moment. "They will put the venue here if they have decided. Also, Ring Garden is worse than a four-star hotel in the city. I was there days ago when I got married. It won't need much to surpass it in terms of beauty."

The directors flinched again. One woman gasped softly and asked, "Married like… at First Sunday? Did you… Didn't you experience something scary, Dr Huxley?"

"I'd appreciate it if you just call me Rhodes." The doctor pocketed the invitation. He regarded the woman with a neutral tone. "And what does that mean? Why would you ask me that? Is the entirety of Menorosa County as haunted as Faded Rose?"

"Not really. We just… We heard that a few grooms had died in that altar recently." The slightly older director stroked at his thick beard. "Just a week ago, the fourth groom collapsed and died during their vows. It was a scary sight for everyone. My niece's restaurant catered to that wedding. Tch, tch, what an awful day for the young bride."

Rhodes's brows lifted. Grooms would faint and die? Didn't that almost happen to him if Vanya didn't show up? Wait, did Vanya step in because he was hunting that ghost?

However, his thoughts didn't translate well into his eyes. He remained calm in their presence. Rhodes gently waved a hand. "That sounds so unfortunate. I hope we don't get a party to suffer that fate. Also, if it hadn't happened again, the ghost doing it must have gone away for good."

The directors looked at him. Rhodes figured he shouldn't have assumed they thought it was a ghost activity. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, First Sunday is not our problem. Let's forget about it."

"We'll see what we can do about the tight schedules, Sir Rhodes." The youngest among the directors smiled and excused himself. Other directors also left to attend to their duties.

"That was a ghost's doing? Did you get away from it?" Giles didn't hear much detail about Rhodes's wedding. The doctor didn't speak about it, anyway.

Rhodes turned to him with a sigh. "Yeah. Don't worry about the deaths anymore. Whatever caused the grooms to die is already gone. I saw someone destroy it. Let's leave that matter to the police to deal with. Let's work on the hotel instead. I don't want to sound sensitive, but the families won't believe me even if I told them the truth."

Giles nodded and walked with Rhodes to the owner's designated office. "Deresita also asked me about something else. She mentioned the Gentle Club from the theater. Are you interested in them?"

The new owner hummed. "Not exactly, but if you know something about them, I want to hear it."

"They operate as a small theatre club for the disturbed teens. Everyone who feels alone and surrounded by the unknown comes to them. At least on paper, they are just a theatre run by amateur actors. They produce a show every three months. The shows didn't have to be profitable."

"Well, it shouldn't have problems with money if the Iveren family funds them." Rhodes fished for the black calling card inside his pocket. "I'll check it out later. Apparently, Madam Iveren is hands-on."

Giles glanced at the black calling card. He frowned and tapped his chin. "Why don't you talk to Darwin first? He's a member of their production crew. I'll ask my secretary to help you look for him."

Rhodes's eyes flickered. What kind of excuse should he give?

…

"Bryan?" The secretary knocks on the open door. She peeked her head inside and saw the housekeeper cleaning the desk. "Bryan, do you have a moment? Sir Rhodes is looking for you. He's interested in this… gentle club you work part-time in."

Bryan Darwin looked over his shoulder to find her. He finished cleaning the desk while talking. "It's not really the place for rich people. You might even call their theatre a dump."

Rhodes entered the room after the secretary moved the housekeeper's trolley out of the way. He asked the secretary to stay outside to keep their conversation private. The doctor looked at the man wiping the vanity and the bottom of the untouched effects. Instead of replying, Rhodes merely watched the man as if waiting for him to get to somewhere.

"Do you need something in particular, Sir Rhodes?" Bryan glanced at the nightstand and stepped back as if he was done. He turned to face Rhodes. "I can't promise you entry while they're rehearsing."

"Do you always clean this room?" The doctor chuckled and moved his head to look past Bryan. "You don't seem to bother her as much as I do. Has she ever interfered with your work? She looks like she's been here for a long time."

Bryan flinched and turned in the direction of the bed behind him. He pursed his lips and looked at Rhodes. "Sir Rhodes… are you… looking for the club… for that?"

Rhodes flicked his gaze at Bryan's face. "Maybe."

Bryan brought his tools down at the trolley. "The Gentle Club might not be what you think. It's not made up of stray kids and a do-gooder rich lady. It's a serious place for those who share the world with the supernatural. Sir Rhodes, you need a calling card to enter their premises. There's a test on it. They use that calling card to weed out the fraud."

He flinched and waved his hands. "I don't know the right answer! I barely passed the test. Please don't ask me to leak the answer."

"Oh. This card is a test?" Rhodes whipped out the black calling card. His fingers flipped the three masks to face Bryan. "Is it enough to see the third mask? Or should I say how creepy it is to have a human-like face as a company logo?"

"Human-like face?" Bryan gently took the black calling card from Rhodes. "I can barely see the third mask. Did it look like a human face?"

Rhodes's brows lifted. His lips then curled into a smile. "Tell me more about your answer, Mr Darwin."