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Shawn
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“There it is.” I glared at the large building standing tall in the distance.
“It looks like a prison.” Dietrich commented from beside me. “They actually kept children in that place?”
Dietrich wasn't wrong about his description. The building was two stories tall and rectangular in shape. It was big, but not overly tall. There were bars on all the windows as well as what appeared to be wire running through the glass, making little diamond shapes. That was to stop them from shattering as easily. They really wanted to keep those kids in there, didn't they?
Aside from the windows being reinforced, there was also a high security fence that wrapped around the building. It was two stories tall with razor wire at the top. That would definitely deter most from climbing over it. And the closer that we got, when we were able to see the front of the large tan building clearly, the more that I knew that this place was truly a prison. That door was so reinforced that it would take a tank, or a nonhuman, to break into that place.
.....
This wasn't just a prison though it was also a fortress. It was built to keep people like us out. It was made so that the people that were in there would feel safe from people that weren't even a threat. I wouldn't be surprised if they used runes on it as well. We were going to need to be careful. There might be more of that magical water that they used before. Who knows what lengths they went to just so that they were protected from us.
“So, you think that we should just walk right up?” Dietrich smiled at me. “Maybe we can tell them that we're looking to adopt a couple dozen kids or something.” He was trying to keep his emotions in check, but I could see the anger in his eyes.
“Yeah, I think that would be the best plan. There has to be someone in there that we can talk to about potential adoptions.” I put on my best smile and let a little more flamboyance out. I wasn't as good at that as Dietrich was, but after twenty years of being my true self, I was able to let loose once in a while.
Hand in hand, Dietrich and I walked toward the gate that closed off the orphanage from the world. Or rather, the gate that was supposed to close them off. It wasn't shut at the moment, so it wasn't doing a very good job of keeping people out, or in.
“Huh, that's odd.” I said as I walked inside. “Do you think that they were expecting us?”
“Let's just be on our guard. No need to give them the chance to surprise us.”
“Agreed.” I nodded at Dietrich and walked toward the building.
However, when we got to the front door, it was open as well. Not that it was cracked open, or left ajar like the gate had been, but it was unlocked. I thought that this place was definitely going to require us to be buzzed in.
“Does it seem quiet to you?” I asked Dietrich as we walked into the building.
“Really quiet. If there are kids here, then they are the quietest bunch of kids that I have ever heard of.” He was looking around the lobby area as we stood there, still holding hands.
“There isn't anyone here.” I was reaching out with my senses. The ones that were better than almost anyone else's. These senses were the ones that were a mix of wolf and vampire. My hybrid senses that were really good at hearing and smelling, but also good at detecting life. If there was someone here, anyone, and if that person had a heartbeat, then I would know it. I would feel it thumping against my senses at the moment. But there wasn't anything. Nothing more than all of the bugs that were crawling in and on the walls. There was no person here, human or otherwise.
“Where did they all go, Dietrich?” I started to walk toward the hall that led off to the right. “Why did they abandon this place? I mean, according to the information online, it's still a fully functional orphanage.”
“Yeah, but it looks like they got up and abandoned it, just like the house. We need to search this place too. We need to see if there are any clues.” There was a tense sort of focus filling Dietrich's voice. I knew that he was back to his old self again. He wasn't being affected by this place like he had been at the mansion.
“Yeah, we should split up. You take the left and I will take the right.” I turned to face him. “We will search the same floor each time. And we won't move up without having the other with us. I don't want this to take too much longer.”
“Neither do I.” Dietrich nodded. “I don't like the idea of splitting up, but we will be on the same floor, so I guess that it's not that bad. Alright, let's get going.” He turned and started to walk away, but he paused after a moment. “Be careful, Shawn. And call out to me if anything happens. Anything at all.” We both knew that there weren't any people here, but that didn't mean that there weren't any traps.
“You too, Dietrich. I love you.”
“I love you too, Liebe.”
After separating from Dietrich, I went down the hall in search of clues. The side that I was down contained more offices than anything else. There was the director's office, the counselor's office, and the activities coordinator's office. There were also a couple of others that I had never come across before, such as the family coordinator, the community mission, and the family officer.
I could tell that these offices were occupied until very recently. The scents of the people were still in them, but they had faded over a few days. And that same musty smell was present in the rooms. It was like something inside of them was not quite human, but I just didn't know what it was.
There were files and other things in all of these offices. Files on the kids that had been here. All of them were listed only by first name, I guess they didn't have a last name, or they weren't needed for the records.
The things in the files started off as normal. I saw names, birthdays, physical descriptions, and even pictures of all the kids. They went back over the last few decades. However, not a single one of the files listed the children as having been adopted. They didn't even mention anything about adoption. And the parents were listed in their paperwork. They were all members of the family as well. People that had grown up in this place and had more kids to be sent here. It was like another home, just like the mansion. This wasn't an orphanage at all. It was a dormitory for those that couldn't fit inside the mansion.
In the files I saw where each child excelled. Language, math, reading, which particular form of combat. There was so much written about them. They even included things about their personalities. They had noted if the kids would be compliant or oppositional to commands. They had put their eagerness to kill nonhumans and their fondness for the 'monsters'. These were not the files that you would expect to see in a normal home for children.
“This place is insane.”
“That it is.” I heard Dietrich call out from behind me and jumped.
“DAMMIT!” I snapped at him. “Make more noise next time. I was too focused to notice you coming up behind me.”
“I am sorry, meine geliebte. I didn't mean to startle you. I just noticed that you were taking longer on this floor than I was. All I found was a cafeteria, a library, classrooms, and a training room. The training room was much like the ones at Alaric's mansion.”
“These are offices. Places that would make it look official if someone came looking for a kid to adopt. Although they were definitely raising the kids to be their weapons, based on these files. And all the kids that lived here were Alaric's descendants.”
“All of them.” Dietrich looked over my shoulder.
“It seems so.”
We browsed through the rest of the files, but there was nothing else. And unfortunately, they had removed all the computers from the offices, so we couldn't check them for more information.
When we got upstairs, we saw that it was filled with rooms for the kids. They would sleep four in a room it seemed. There were communal bathrooms that they used for showering and other personal needs. There was a music room and an art room, probably so that they could relax and blow off steam from time to time. And there was even a communal living room or common room. It was filled with places to play games, watch tv, and other things like that.
“This place gives me the creeps. It's like a nut house, prison and orphanage all rolled into one. But in truth, it's just a training facility for people that hate us. And that is far worse than what it appears to be.” I shuddered as I closed the last door behind me.
“Agreed.” Dietrich sighed.
“It's just too bad that we didn't find out much information. Aside from the fact that your friend's descendants are the ones that are doing this. We don't even have last names. Just the first name.”
“Well, it's possible they are still using Alaric's name. If they kept the family as a priority, that would seem to be the way to go. They would have the name of Jaegen.”
“Jaegan? Well, that's a start.” I nodded at him. “We can give that to Trinity and Reece. And we can have someone check out that computer from the mansion. Plus, we need to look for hidden messages on those papers. There is still a lot of work to be done.”
“Yes, Liebe, a lot to do. Let us go. We will contact the others and head home in the morning.”
“No, with the time difference, we need to go tonight, to later in the afternoon.” I was thinking about what time it would be in Colorado right now, and what time it would be after we got back to the castle. “We will work it out then. Let's just get out of here.” This place was giving me the creeps. I didn't want to be here anymore than I had to be. And I hoped that Dietrich felt the same. At least he took my hand and started to leave without putting up a fight. That was a good thing.
