21. The Orphanage

Chapter twenty-one

The Orphanage

*AURELIA*

" M eg Rose, I still remember her like it was yesterday," Mr. Simon says with a sad smile.

Leila didn't exaggerate; he comes off like a truly kind and gentle man. He must be approaching his sixties. There are lines of sorrow on his face and he looks tired, but whenever we pass some of the children who are running around and playing, he smiles at them.

They seem to like him. The moment they spot him, they come running to him to tell him about their day.

Nothing about this man makes my alarm bells go off. Maxima doesn't get any weird vibes either. I know that Arden and the others are going to do a serious background check on him while Leila and I are here, but I doubt they will find much.

"Meg Rose?" Leila asks. "I didn't know she had a second name."

"It's not official," he says with a smile. "But the day her mother arrived, she was wearing a dress with roses on it, and she had a blanket with her with the same roses. We gave her the middle name Rose to honor her mother."

"Wait," I halt. "You know her mother?"

"I told the police back then, when Meg disappeared," he starts. "I told them about how Meg's mom arrived. She came to us as if she was chased. She was a mess. Have you ever seen a hunted animal?" he asks. Leila and I exchange a gaze. As wolves, we definitely have. When I nod at him, he continues. "That's the look she had in her eyes. Like something bad was after her. She was heavily pregnant, too." He pauses. "I took her in and instantly called the hospital. They sent the ambulance but came too late to take her there. Meg wanted to arrive, and she did. Unfortunately, Meg's mom passed away only minutes after giving birth." He pauses. "She only held her daughter for a moment and named her Meg, short for Mégane."

"And she didn't have any documents with her?" Leila asks quietly.

"Nothing, just the blanket with the roses on it. It's in Meg's possession."

"Do you know her father?" Leila asks.

Mr. Simon shakes his head. "I asked her mother briefly if we should contact someone, but she instantly panicked. I figured… it couldn't be anything good."

"And the police didn't search for her pursuer?" I ask.

"The police didn't believe she was hunted," he says bitterly. "And when Meg disappeared, they first believed she ran away, also Only when another girl in the same area disappeared, just a couple of months later, did they investigate."

"Another girl disappeared?" I ask.

"Yes, she was the daughter of a homeless man. She was a couple of years older than Meg," he says. "Her father was a broody guy, gave off a dangerous vibe, but he seemed to be devastated about his daughter."

A rogue! That could have been a rogue! If it was a rogue, then Arden's intuition proves to be right once again. It's not about the victims being omegas; they just need to be lonely, orphaned or outcasts, and unfortunately, in our dark past, omegas fit that criteria the most.

"You believe this girl is at the same place where Meg is?" Leila asks.

"I hope not," he says quietly. "Because they found the girl, dead, only a year later."

My heart freezes in shock and sadness before the realization that we just might have found a body settles in. It's so sad that this is something that might help us; an innocent girl's death. "Do you have anything from Meg's possession left?"

"I have kept it all," he says. When we look at him in surprise, he just shrugs sadly. "As long as they don't find her body, I will pretend she is still alive. And when she returns, I want her to have some things left in her possession."

"That's sweet," I say quietly.

"I agree," Leila looks at him gently. "I am sure she will appreciate it."

"Do you think she is alive?" Mr. Simon asks.

I let Leila answer because I have no idea what to think or feel… or say.

"I don't know," Leila says. "But I certainly hope she is."

Mr. Simon ponders a bit over her words before he nods. "Yes," he says. "Let's hope she is."

"What type of child was she?" I ask.

He beams. "She was a ray of sunshine. Always laughing and smiling and telling us stories. She easily befriended everyone."

I remember the article I read and try to think of things that may have made her a target. Maybe her befriending everyone was her downfall? But then, I doubt they kidnapped only chatty people.

"She wasn't scared of anything," he continues. "Just of thunderstorms, and she hated carrots."

"Who doesn't?" Leila chuckles. "She sounds like a lovely child."

"She was so creative," he says. "Always spinning stories for the younger children, and when she started school, she began to help the younger ones with their homework."

"The day she disappeared," I say quietly. "What happened?"

"Nothing particular, and that's what's driving me crazy," he mutters. "She was twelve, you know? It was two weeks after her birthday, and then one day, someone rang at the door with a delivery. The nanny and I were preoccupied with something else, so Meg said she would answer the door…and never returned."

"She was kidnapped from here?" I ask, shocked.

He nods sadly.

While I'm still recovering from my shock, Leila asks another question. "Was there a place she frequented?"

"No, most of the time, she was in the orphanage or at school."

"Did she have visitors?" I ask. "Or friends who stayed with her sometimes?"

"Most of her friends were from the orphanage," he says. "As for visitors… not precisely for her, but during Christmas, we'd sometimes have young people visiting, you know, foreign students who didn't have the money to travel home. Some of them volunteered for our Christmas programs and came here to bake cookies with the kids and helped with making ornaments."

"Do you have any documents or photos of that?" Leila asks.

"Actually, yes, I think I do," he says. "But they are all in the archive, and the archive is a mess."

He wasn't kidding. Once he leads us to the archive, hidden somewhere in the basement, the door opens up to a huge dusty room with shelves full of documents. "We are currently digitizing it," he says. "But there is only so much time and effort we can put into it."

Leila and I exchange a gaze. "I guess we could help," Leila says. "But not here."

I know what she thinks. There is only one person able to sort through these documents in a timely manner, and that's Arden. Maybe Gustave could too.

Mr. Simon looks at us thoughtfully. "Are you truly doing this for a project for college?"

"We want to find Meg," I say quietly.

"Why?"

"Because she isn't the only person who disappeared, but she might have been the first," I say.

"Whoever is doing this is still active," Leila says. "And it's time to stop them."

"Are you from the police?"

"No," I say.

"Then, where are you from?"

"Let's say we are from a secret organization," Leila says. "It's better to keep it at that."

"That sounds shady in a way," he mutters. "You are not in legal trouble, are you?"

"Not at all," I say.

"Alright," he says, to my surprise. "You are the first ones in ages who are interested in Meg. If this helps you find her, do as you please."

Mr. Simon leaves us alone for a while, and Leila and I take a moment to exchange a few thoughts. "It sounds like she was a lively girl," Leila says. "Communicative, extroverted, kind."

"Yes, but isn't it about the blood?" I ask. "She fulfilled the criteria."

"That's true. I just wonder if she was kidnapped for a different reason, you know?" Leila muses. "I think Arden is right, and she is the first victim. She is also the youngest that we know of, and if that's true, then she is the most important. I don't think whoever took her is keeping her around for her blood. He keeps her around for who she is or what she means to him." She pauses, swallowing thickly. "That is if she is still alive."

"Then, they must have a connection," I say. "Or do we really think she was chosen randomly?"

"There can be a spontaneous trigger," Leila says. "But seeing how many of the boxes she checks, I'd say she was in one way or another acquainted with the culprit. Maybe she didn't even know that herself."

"Hm, you are right. He could have been the guy she walked past every day on her way to school," I say. "To her, just a random person. Mr. Simon says she was abducted here, from home, so someone must have spied on her, in a way."

"I believe that, too," Leila says.

"Are we sure that it's a man?"

"Arden says statistically speaking it's more likely it's a man, but we don't know for sure."

"What if she indeed triggered something in him?" I say. "Let's say you are right, and he knew her in one way or another. Maybe he kidnapped the other girl to distract from Meg."

"That would mean he still has her. He kidnapped her to keep her," Leila says quietly. "Do we really believe that?"

"I don't know," I say. "But it's a possibility."

"If it's true, what does it mean for Meg? She was abducted when she was twelve. It's been seven or eight years now. What did these years do to her?"

Leila is right. Mr. Simon described a lively and confident little girl, but years in captivity must have taken a toll on her.

At a loss for words, Leila and I browse through the archive. She calls Eric to tell him about our progress and that we can take the documents with us. Mr. Simon returns with a box of Meg's belongings, handing it to us, with our promise to return it to Meg once we find her. We promise him once more we'll do anything in our power to find her, and Leila even gives him her contact information.

When Emilien picks us up, he handles a few details with the orphanage, setting up a contract that we are only borrowing the material and will return it. When he drives us back, I make sure to call my father, filling him in on everything and asking him to spread the news, subtly.

Then my thoughts return to Meg and to the little girl she once was. I hope the adult she has become is still alive, and I hope we will find her, and more than anything, I hope that we can still save her.