The Unwanted (Black Water Tales Book 2) by Jean Nicole Rivers Read Free Book Online

caregiver scheduled to spend the evening. They take turns.”
    “So one person watches over all of the children?” Blaire asked.
    “Yes,” Marko snapped, not bothering to disguise his annoyance.
    In the middle of the hall was a metal door with a silver bolt lock.
    “On the other side of this door are stairs that lead to the rooftop deck. This door is always locked, no exceptions,” Marko said.
    “St. Sebastian has a rooftop deck,” Blaire quipped in a muted amazement.
    “Rooftop deck on the left, spa to your right,” Travis said with a chuckle.
    Blaire began to laugh, but Marko’s razor -sharp glare pulverized the tiny joyous moment.
    “Yes, it was part of the home when it was a personal estate. Once this building became an orphanage, the workers were allowed to use it for sunbathing in their off time, until one of them, a young woman, plunged off the side.” He recounted the tale with a wicked calm. Every bit of the good humor that had been leftover within Blaire from Travis’ joke a moment earlier was now completely crushed.
    Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Blaire could hear the iniquitous chants, and suddenly found herself on Grammercy Bridge with the autumn wind tousling her hair. Blaire looked around to see if Travis and Marko could hear them, but they couldn’t, just her —always just her.
    “She died?” Blaire asked.
    “No, but might as well. She shattered everything from her ankles to her collarbone. She can’t move from the neck down. Too bad, she was young and bright, but not much now.”
    “That’s terrible,” Travis responded.
    “No one is allowed on the rooftop deck, but you do have keys because there’s a fire escape in case it ever becomes necessary,” Marko’s voice trailed back to them as he began sailing down the hall toward the stairs. Before descending the steps, Blaire glanced into the room behind the first door on the right, the door labeled 3C, which had been left off the tour as Marko began down the stairs. It was another empty room, sparse with the same bedroom furniture as all the other rooms on the floor.
    “Ewl,” Blaire mumbled at the sight of a huge black stain in the middle of the floor, which caused it to sink in slightly.
    In one of the rooms on the second floor, Marko stopped abruptly in front of a window and pointed out of it. “That small cottage out back is where I live. I do like my privacy and prefer that you speak to me when I am here during office hours, but if you need something at any other time, you are free to come by and knock on the door.”
    Blaire looked over the charming cottage for a few seconds before her eyes wandered to an older dark -haired man who revved a pathetic lawnmower to a belching, dismal life.
    “That’s Heinrik. He works for St. Sebastian. He helps with the children and tends the grounds when needed,” Marko informed them. Heinrik’s eyes floated up to Blaire’s, and she smiled politely before turning away.
    Room 2D was the room for the older boys, and the younger boys were housed in 2E next to it. In both rooms several small metal beds were sporadically placed throughout. The quarters on the second floor were much larger than those on the third and hosted scores of children. A thin layer of dirt had made its home on the floors. Blaire studied the urine -stained sheets that were draped across the flimsy mattresses. At the end of each room were two oversized closets. In this room there were more of the eerie black and white photographs that hung almost everywhere throughout St. Sebastian.
    “This is where the children sleep?” Blaire asked.
    “Of course,” Marko said in a perfunctory tone.
    “Are there covers for all of the beds?” Blaire wanted to know. “I mean, it is much too chilly for all of the children not to have at least that.” She held up one of the discolored sheets.
    “We have what we have,” Marko stated.
    “All year -round?” Blaire pushed, dismissing the tension she felt building.
    “All year -around,”