There was only one Orphanage in Pentagon City. When Hybrids started to appear around the world, many parents realized an opportunity to shrink responsibility, most feeling that the rules no longer applied to them. The government opened The Orphanage to take in children of irresponsible hybrids that were being abandoned all around the city. As the government cared for these children, they took advantage of the opportunity to study them and learn how the DNA of Hybrids was different from that of humans. This led to many medical and technological advancements. Ironically, from these advancements, the government learned how to keep the hybrids in line.
Vannesa pulled up to the parking lot of the tall glass building occupied by the Orphanage. The building had been modified so that the space inside was more than one could see from the outside; space hex, it was called.
As she walked into the lobby, her eyes burning in a fury, a voice called out to her, calm and collected with the slight gruff brought on by age.
"Mrs Maxwell" an old man looking to be in his seventies with a bald head approached her. His cane tapped the ground in a slow rhythm as he walked closer to her, his steps firm with a very slight limp.
Vannesa, who had now stopped, observed his pristine grey suit and the expensive wristwatch dangling on his wrist. There was only one other person reeking so much wealth whom she had been in contact with.
"Do I know you?" She asked squinting slightly as she studied him.
"No, but if you are not in much of a hurry could I indulge you in a tour of the facilities?" The older man asked gently, a small smile on his face as he slightly leaned on his cane, his back still straight as if in stubborn defiance to his age.
"Umm I was go-"
With a hand held up, he interrupted her. "I promise it will be worth your time"
Smiling weakly, Vannesa shrugged and the older man nodded pleasantly.
"Perfect," he said, gesturing for her to follow.
"I am Counselor Hagen, and I believe you met my client before her unfortunate passing," he introduced himself, walking slowly with Vanessa beside him, her brows slightly scrunched up and her shoulders tense.
"You are Mrs Lynch's lawyer?" she asked skeptically turning to face the older man as they walked.
"Indeed I am." he nodded, his gaze mostly on the floor and the path in front of them.
They came to a stop at the end of a hallway leading into a lawn decorated with beautiful flowers and colored gravel stones making pathways to another building.
"Is there something I can help you with, Mr Hagen?" Vannesa asked tentatively. Her suspicion about Daemon grew with every passing minute.
With his eyes seemingly trained on a flower in the lawn, Hagen started.
"Do you know what it's like to know everything your parents feel as a child?" he asked, his pupils moving slightly to look at Vannesa.
"I can't say that I do. I'm not a hybrid," she replied, shrugging slightly, her frown still present as she looked earnestly at the Counselor.
"Being a hybrid can be glamorous when you aren't one. All that power and the many options it opens you to" Hagen chuckled derisively, glancing downwards.
"But being an empath is like being a different kind of hybrid. I shouldn't have to tell you that. You probably know more about hybrids than I do" he gestured towards her.
"I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say, Counselor," Vannesa replied, shifting on her feet, her eyes darting towards the hallway they just came from.
"What I am trying to say is simple. Leave the boy alone, if you don't want him, I would be more than pleased to take him off your hands."
Vannesa opened her mouth to speak but he quickly interrupted.
"You don't have to worry, you will be duly compensated as promised."
"Compensated?" Vannesa frowned. She wasn't promised anything.
"Yes indeed, Hayley... excuse me, Mrs. Lynch left me with a specific set of instructions before the. . . unfortunate incident, and she did inform me about the compensation for Daemon's guardian, so you don't have to worry. I'll take the boy and you can have the compensation anyway"
Vanessa closed her lips and looked downwards, her thoughts traveling to the new project she was starting at the clinic and her Mother's medical condition. Then she thought about her daughters, her expression easing up as their faces came to the fore of her memory. But then Dani's expression before they parted sent a cold chill down her spine.
What would she tell Dani if she took the deal? And what about Ruby who was only now starting to open up? Would her kids believe her if she cooked up a lie for them? And even if they did, could she live with herself knowing what she had done?
"You seem to know a lot about empaths; what can you tell me about Daemon's ability?" she asked, suddenly looking up at Hagen.
Jerking slightly backward, his eyes squinted slightly as he gazed intently at Vannesa.
"I... Well, umm, he is powerful. More so than his mother realized I suspect. Mrs Lynch was a very powerful hybrid, perhaps one of the most powerful to have existed if not the foremost. But Daemon is something else; either he is hiding what he is capable of, or it's all stacked in potential. We'll know when he turns sixteen exactly what he is capable of. Until then, his powers are restrained by the necklace his mother gave him." suddenly catching himself, a puzzled expression covered Hagen's face for a moment and was suddenly replaced by extreme terror as his knees buckled and he took a step back from Vannesa.
"Y...you, ha...how did you do that? You can't do that," he muttered incoherently, pointing at Vannesa with a terror-stricken expression as his shoulders tense and his pointed hand trembled.
"What?" Vannesa chuckled at the performance, glancing behind her to see what he was pointing at.
"No, no, no, this ...this is impossible," Hagen continued to mutter, and Vanessa's smile started to disappear.
"You put a hex on me. How can you do that?" he muttered one last time before turning around. Walking briskly, he quickly disappeared from her vision as she stared on in confusion.
Glancing around with furrowed brows, Vannesa started on her way back to the lobby.
"F*cking weirdo," she muttered under her breath as she walked out of the hallway and approached a counter behind which stood a smiling redhead.
"Hello," the receptionist greeted first with a warm smile on her lips.
"Hey, I'm here to see Daemon Lynch. I'm his legal guardian" Vannesa flashed a quick smile at her.
****
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the building, a man and a woman stood together before a monitor displaying a patient's brain scan. Beside them on a bed was a young grey-haired boy dressed in white and lying on a bed.
"We've run all known tests and they all come back with average Empath results. If anything, his feedback is stronger than most empaths but that pendant he is wearing renders all abilities useless. We can't use any hybrid abilities on him, and he can't use his either," the man spoke in a hushed voice, leaning slightly towards the woman in a prime office suit under a long lab coat.
"And you can't take it off?" she asked glancing at him.
"Not without killing him, no" the man replied.
"I just find it hard to believe that the son of a Lynch is an average hybrid." Her tone increased by a few notes as her eyes bore into the man.
"There has never been an empath in their bloodline. And we all know that mind hex is very different from all others; it's actually very logical and reasonable," the man shrugged.
"Why are we keeping our voices down again?" the lady glanced behind her before asking.
"Well, his abilities are sealed, but the boy's senses are off the charts. They match that of a two-star hybrid. We are keeping him under but while the pendant prevents him from extending his abilities, it doesn't stop him from working on himself. Put simply, we can't put him to sleep "
"So he is useless to us?" the woman asked in a normal voice, her tone turning frosty.
"Well we finally figured out the weakness of the Lynch family"
"Get this kid out of my building." Not waiting to hear the rest of his words, the woman waved aggressively before sauntering off.
As she exited the room, a younger woman in a red blouse and black office trousers entered.
"There's someone here for Daemon Lynch, Sir," she reported.
"Just as well, return the kid. He's nothing." The man popped a lollipop into his mouth, nodding at the secretary who just entered and returning his attention to the screen.