Page 77 of Sin & Fall

“I’ve been filled by God’s light, and I help to keep this place in order.”

I bark out a loud laugh that makes her recoil.

“Rebekah, the only thing you’ve been filled with is a dozen disgusting cocks. You don’t have to do this anymore. You can be your own person, not their puppet. They don’t have control over you anymore.”

She lifts the lantern higher, and looks behind me, her brow creasing. “What have you done?”

“The right thing.”

“No! You can’t ruin this! It’s God’s plan!” Anger flashes across her face, and she makes a run for it back where she came from. I sprint after her.

“Stop!”

She looks over her shoulder in a panic and ends up tripping over the long skirt of her habit.

I grab her and roll her onto her back to pin her down.

“Get off me! You wretched girl! You heathen!”

I slap my palm over her mouth.

“Enough!” I thought I’d be angry at her. After all, if it weren’t for her telling the Fathers that I snuck out, I wouldn’t have had to face a month’s worth of punishment. I might have been able to leave sooner. But then I wouldn’t have met Zack. No one would have been there to save him from himself.

“Listen to me, Rebekah, everything they told us was a lie. I’ve seen the outside world, and there’s no punishment for being bad. There’s just existing. You don’t have to fuck someone to get a taste of life. It’s there for you to choose whether you want it or not. Do you want it?”

I stare into her eyes, urging her to do the right thing by all these girls here. Her face softens, a few tears spilling from the corners of her eyes.

My shoulders relax, and I remove my hand.

“I’m so glad?—”

“Help! Someone help! There’s an intruder!” She bucks her hips, trying to get me off her and claws at my face.

“No! Stop!” I grab her hands and pin them down.

“Help!” She doesn’t stop screaming. The other Sisters who have fallen for the lies might hear. Earlier, Zack and I bolted the doors to their building shut while they were still sleeping. I came here intending to only harm the men, but if the Sisters find a way out then our plans will be ruined.

“I’m so sorry for this, but in the end you’ll understand what’s right.”

Letting go of her hands, I grab her head and smack it back into the concrete. Her eyes roll back, and I hit it again. This time her arms drop and her eyelids close. Pressing my fingers to her neck, I check her pulse. She’s stillalive. She’ll probably have a nasty concussion when she comes to. Let’s call that karma for being a snitch.

Up ahead is a cleaning closet. I drag her body there and take the keys from her pocket to lock her inside.

I take a moment to straighten myself out before returning to the stairs.

“You waited for me,” I say, surprised to see Eliza still there.

“I trust you.”

We head up to the entrance to the girls’ dorms, and I press my finger to my lips, urging Eliza to be quiet. I open the door as slowly as I can, so it doesn’t creak. The smell of fresh linen smacks me in the face and I’m transported back to the fearful nights I slept here, dreaming of a way out.

“Eliza?” a girl shouts and pushes past me to get to her. I watch as she hugs her friend. Eliza is stunned for a moment before she hugs her back and they kiss.

“Let me take you to the washroom. There are some painkillers hidden in the cupboard.”

“No, it’s okay. I don’t need them. They didn’t hurt me. She saved me.” Eliza points at me and her girlfriend turns with a defensive look on her face.

I don’t recognize this girl either. In fact, as I look around at the other girls now sitting up in their beds, I realize I only recognize a few of them. It’s not unusual for them to be passed around to different places. Especially the unruly ones. If Father Daniels hadn’t taken such a shine to me, I probably would have been shipped off as well.