Paying off the staff was an easy thing. They had taken the extra money without any questions and seemed to understand Theo and Mary's intentions. Some of them even offered to stay and help with the baby and the preparations to keep his existence a secret.
After a few weeks, life at the mansion had almost returned to normal. Things were shaping up to be much easier than expected. But there were some issues that were more difficult to deal with than others.
The fact that they couldn't take their son with them anywhere was hard, especially on Mary. She had grown so attached to her little boy. She could hardly leave him for a few hours without feeling guilty.
She spent every moment she could with him.
They had a hard time finding a name for the boy, but after a while they finally settled for a name that they both found appropriate.
Damien
The name had been suggested by a member of the staff, Nina, a young woman of 19 years who acted as the ''nanny'' and the caregiver for the baby when his parents were absent.
It did suit him well, and everyone agreed.
What Nina didn't tell the proud parents is that Damien was her brother's name. He had passed away when he was a child. And somehow, this baby reminded her of him. It was an odd feeling. As far as she could tell, these two had nothing in common. It was far too early to tell. There was no way of knowing what kind of person Damien would become. Secretly, she hoped that he would be like her little brother; being a sweet little boy that everyone loved to have around.
In a few short months, she had grown attached to the little one. He was such a joy; she understood why Mary never wanted to leave him behind. Damien was constantly happy, and she made sure that things wouldn't change. She played with him, gave him all the attention he needed and spent as much time with him as possible. Nina had become like his big sister, and in many ways, she was.
She was also extremely protective of him, and Mary was grateful for it. Mary trusted her because of it. She always felt at ease when her youngest staff member was taking care of Damien. She never hesitated to ask her advice even though Nina had so little experience with children.
There was one incident that neither of them would ever forget.
It was a few months after Mary gave birth. Damien was already much larger than an average 6 month old child, and clearly showed signs of a gifted mind. He was incredibly curious; fascinated with the things around him. He also loved stories, always looking forward to his mother reading to him before bed.
He was left alone in the mansion's library for a while.
It was his first time being alone in the library. He didn't seem to notice that he was by himself; even so, it wouldn't have bothered him so much.
He sat on the floor, looking at books, watching the bright and colourful pictures on the pages.
He hadn't noticed that another child was in the library with him. The child was called Simon; he was the son of William Owens, one of the staff members.
The boy was watching Damien intensively; no one had ever told him about the baby, or informed him of his physical state. He has awestruck; completely baffled by what he was seeing. So many questions were going through his head.
"What was that thing?"
"Was it some kind of pet?"
"Why was it ''reading''?"
"Was it going to hurt me if I came out of the shadows?"
The place was already dark, limited lights were turned on so it was easy for Simon to keep his presence a secret from the tiny creature that he would later call Damien.
He didn't know for how long he sat there, just watching the younger boy. It seemed like hours, and for a moment he thought that it would never end.
Suddenly, Damien lifted his head and looked towards Simon. Even though he couldn't see him because of the shadows, he was sure that he heard something.
Was someone here? He asked himself.
Even though Damien wasn't yet capable of speech, he was remarkably intelligent for his age and understood things quite well.
And he was smart and observant enough to know when he wasn't alone in a room.
He drifted his attention away from the books and focused on the sound he was hearing. He could clearly hear someone breathing in the room, and it wasn't him. He started crawling on all fours, exploring the room and following the sound he was hearing, curiosity getting the best of him and found the source.
Simon was hiding under a desk, obviously scared.
Damien could easily see him, but didn't know how to get to him. He had always been social; everyone who worked at the mansion knew that and weren't bothered by it. In fact some of them even enjoyed spending time with the boy. He never really got to experience socializing with a child, either close to his age or not. Simon was 5 years old, but it was impossible for Damien to realize that.
All he knew is that he had a friend hiding under that desk.
And he wanted to reach that friend.
Damien peaked under the desk to take a look.
Simon started crying even harder.
He was confused. Had he done something to him? He didn't, as far as he knew.
He had done nothing wrong. So why was the other boy acting this way? Why was he crying?
It was so strange for little Damien. No one had ever acted this way around him. No one had ever cried after seeing him. Why was this time any different?
He tried to crawl under the desk but was interrupted by Simon's hysterical cries.
Then William, Simon's father, came rushing through the door.
He was angry, extremely angry. His tone was enough to terrorize Damien, who was too young to understand what was really happening.
Owens was very upset. He had been so careful. Ever since the creature was born, he had made efforts not to expose his son to that vile thing. He didn't want his son to be traumatized or disturbed by the younger boy.
He was alone to raise his son, and he wanted what was best for him; as any other parent would.
That was the reason why he decided to start working for Theo Mercier, rich but honest man, who treated his employees well, and offered a great salary in return for their services. William Owens did many things around the mansion, but mostly he took care of the library.
Keeping it organized and easy to use for his employer and his wife.
It wasn't a difficult task, as his son helped him occasionally. He would sometimes bring him to work along with him, but he was always careful not to expose him to his employer's freakish son. He had been informed, just like any other staff member of Damien's unique physical condition.
At first, it was hard to believe, but he soon changed his mind after he saw him for the first time. He had never witnessed anything like it. It was without a doubt, the most disturbing thing he had ever seen.
What kind of illness was that? What would have caused this to happen?
The nanny didn't know the answers and didn't seem disgusted or repulsed by the child she was holding in her arms. No doubt that she had taken care of him since he was born; he thought.
And now all his attempts at keeping his son from coming contact with this creature had failed. Simon was terrified, and the damned thing was responsible for it.
As he walked towards the desk with determination, he noticed something.
The creature was crying as well.
He could feel his heart swelling at the sight, but it didn't last long. It was a threat to his son and as a father, he had to intervene. He had to pull his son out of this situation.
He got closer to the desk, completely ignoring Damien crying softly on the floor, and reached out to his son. Simon, overwhelmed by emotions, jumped into his father's arms.
''It tried to get me! '' He cried ''I was so scared. Did it go away?''
''it's still there son, but it won't hurt you, I promise.'' Owens said, still staring at Damien with hate filled eyes.
''Let's get you out of here, alright? '' He said
''Yes, please!'' said the frightened five year old
Owens hurriedly carried his son out of the door, never once looking back at the baby still crying on the floor.
Damien was left alone for a few more minutes until Nina came to get him. She sat with him on the floor and just stared at him. He crawled into her lap and snuggled close to her. He wanted to be held, to be comforted; since she was the only one there with him, he took his chances. He knew her, le loved her, and he knew that she wouldn't push him away.
Nina had seen enough of the scene to understand why Damien was upset. She was too but refused to let it show. She had a job to do and she would do it perfectly. Her job was to take care of him and if she let herself feel too much, it would compromise her line of work.
She would however, mention this to his parents. This had to be dealt with efficiently and effectively; to prevent something like this from happening again. Owens would be reprimanded for his behaviour; she would make sure of that.
She was sad that Damien's first encounter with another child had gone so badly. She wanted him to have friends, to socialize, but it wasn't easy. If only she could find another child, boy or girl closer to his age. Maybe it wouldn't be as frightening for the other one if they knew each other from that early on.
It was another thing that she would have to mention to Theo and Mary.
I'm sure that deep down they would agree. All of them had Damien's best interest at heart, but she knew that finding a way to make this happen wouldn't be easy. Not every parent would agree to let their young child play with Damien.
Most of them would never consider such a thing. Some of them would call the three crazy for it.
''What if he harms them?''
''How is he going to react to another child? ''
''Is he dangerous?''
''Does he need a playmate? He is a monster after all!''
Gosh! So many stupid questions came to mind. She understood why these questions had to be asked. She cared about Damien very deeply and it hurt her to see him going through this. It was however, inevitable.
She would do her best to find a playmate for Damien. She was sure that the whole thing wasn't impossible.
She would do her best to make it happen.