It wasn’t often that Rhenakos and Osiria visited, and even less often that they had information on something even remotely within Lewis’ and Simone’s interest. At first it was a stern dismissal from Lewis when they said it was a lead on a job, but when they said the client was a child offering a single coin…well, Lewis figured they could at least investigate.
Ettiene, according to Simone’s knowledge, had an association with ‘wealth’. The word itself meant ‘Crown’ Egjorian. With a name like that, the orphanage should have been somewhere in an affluent part of town. It was to their surprise, though, when they followed the directions and found themselves standing at a dilapidated building.
“Three doors,” Lewis muttered. An old habit of identifying entryways and exits. Though, in this case, one of the doors was barely hanging on the hinges. The silver haired man took a step onto the porch, and heard an unsettling creaking as the wood strained against his weight.
“Not there, mister,” a timid voice said. “Hugo says that the wood is gonna snap one of these days and hurt someone.” A girl was peeking through the screen door.
“Thank you for the warning,” Lewis replied with his deadpan stare. That got a small, concerned reaction from the girl, and she scampered off into the building. The ex-assassin huffed under his breath, and stepped to the left to avoid the bad spot. “Sometimes I forget I’m like this.” He smirked, and opened the door.
The outside portion of the building was bad, but the interior was a disaster. At once they were met with the smell of spoiled food. The carpeted floor in the front room was likely several shades darker than it should have been, and the corners and edges were coming loose from the walls. Past the entryway, the rest of the floor was bare, untreated wood. Some parts were cracking and splintering, and from what Lewis remembered, the girl from before hadn’t been wearing shoes.
“Hello?” Lewis called out. He wondered if Egjora was under funding this place. Perhaps a massive ‘anonymous’ donation was needed. He was sure that Raile could find a way to make a small profit while investing. “Anyone home? We’ve come to adopt.” He was met with silence. “Maybe I’m too intimidating…” He was suppressing most of his cold blooded instincts.
“Uncle Tyran, Auntie Connase, there’s people here,” a much younger voice called out. “They said they’re here to adopt!” There was excitement in his voice. Sounds of light footsteps echoed from upstairs, and there was knocking at a door. “Uncle Tyran!”
“The hell do you want,” a slurred voice asked. “You’re interrupting.”
“Sir, there’s someone here to adopt us!” the voice rang out.
“Nobody would want you leeches,” the masculine voice responded. There was a loud belch, and the sound of a door slamming. The light footsteps seemed much slower as they walked back, and then came downstairs.
The boy couldn’t have been more than seven, and there was despair in his eyes. “You…probably don’t want us. You should just leave.”
