The Unwanted (Black Water Tales Book 2) (30 page)

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

T
he next morning the sun rose in its own sweet time, melting the snow away little by little, and, as it inched up midway to the top of the sky, the children began awakening and could see that the snow had ceased its hammering fall.

A truck rumbled up the drive in front of St. Sebastian and Hannah got out, waved goodbye to her ride and made her way up the steps through
un
-shoveled snow. Inside Hannah shook out her coat and hung it on a hook. She was halfway down the hall when she stopped suddenly, realizing that St. Sebastian was eerily quiet for this time of morning; it seemed as if the place were empty. Looking around, she noticed a photograph on the floor and stooped to pick it up. Hannah recognized the image of the American volunteer, Blaire Baker, with Ivan, despite the fact their faces were completely swirled in some photographic defect. She placed the picture in her pocket and continued up to the second floor.

“Vesna,” Hannah called out as she walked the empty hall cautiously, but she stopped when she noticed a creaking noise. She walked into the bathroom to see Vesna hanging from a pipe and let out a huge scream that she carried all the way back down the stairs, not bothering to look for the children. She grabbed her coat, threw it on making no attempt to close the front door of St. Sebastian behind her as she galloped clumsily through the leftover snow toward town.

At the urging of a hysterical Hannah, a group of men soon appeared at the orphanage. They made their way through the building where they discovered the children, and continued on following Ivan’s small blood trail that led them to the secret elevator shaft. They pressed the button, but the elevator would not move. Anya’s body still lay across the threshold of it not allowing the doors to close.

J
on
a
th
a
n
S
p
ec
kle
op
e
n
e
d
Blaire
’
s l
e
tt
er
.

D
ea
r
J
on
a
th
a
n:

Give
m
y
u
n
c
le
a
nd his
w
i
f
e
wh
a
t
e
v
e
r
it is th
e
y
w
a
nt,
a
nd in the
e
v
e
nt of
m
y
d
e
a
th, the
e
nti
re
t
y
of
m
y
remaining
e
st
a
te
is to be
l
ef
t to
St. Sebastian
o
r
ph
a
n
a
g
e
.
S
i
n
c
e
coming to this home for unwanted children,
I have
rea
li
z
e
d th
a
t
I
w
a
s lost,
b
ut
I
’
m
f
indi
n
g
m
y
s
e
lf
a
g
a
in h
ere
, in t
h
e
se
c
hild
re
n.

Best regards,

Blaire
.

Petro took a deep breath before breaking the locks off the basement door, opening it from the outside with a crowbar. When they opened the door to the basement, darkness assaulted them.

“Hello?” Petro yelled.

Light from outside
f
lo
a
t
e
d into the
void
a
nd slow
l
y
r
e
v
e
a
l
e
d the
b
odi
e
s of
T
ra
vis, A
n
y
a
,
I
v
a
n,
N
a
t
a
lka,
a
nd
Blaire
. T
h
e
ir
r
e
stl
e
ss souls
e
s
ca
p
e
d into the
l
i
g
ht, into the
op
e
n b
r
i
g
ht light of
t
h
e
wo
r
ld,
a
nd
f
lo
a
t
e
d freely into
the
s
k
y
.

Mommy, mommy take me home, far away from the unknown. Pick me up and fly away into the light of another day. Rescue me from the halls of the haunted, the desperate, the evil, unloved, and unwanted.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JeanNicole Rivers is a great lover of reading and writing. Although she loves varied genres, the horror/thriller genre is her favorite. JeanNicole has been writing poetry and short stories since she was a child, but has always aspired to master the art of storytelling through novels.
The
Unwanted
is the second story in her series of
Black Water Tales
, following
The Secret Keepers
.

JeanNicole Rivers graduated from Florida International University with a bachelor of arts in philosophy, and she lives in Houston, Texas.

Become friends with her at
www.facebook.com/JNicoleRivers
.
Follow her on Twitter
@Jeannicole19
. Check out her Instagram @Jeannicole19 or visit her at
www.jeannicolerivers.com
.