Page 78 of Sin & Fall
I pull down my hood, and the familiar faces are surprised to see me again.
“You’re all free to leave now. The Fathers are gone.”
“Chloe?” Priya, a girl from my time here speaks up. She puts her glasses on and climbs out of bed. Her white nightdress swishes around her ankles as she rushes over. “I didn’t think I’d see you again. They told us you were transferred because of your disobedience. Father Daniels left the same day. I knew it wasn’t a coincidence! What happened?”
“They covered it all up?”
“Covered what up?”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. Pack what you can and get everyone out of here.”
“What did you do? Where did you go? Did they send you back here? Please, tell me something.”
“It’ll be better the less you know.”
“Better?” she snaps. “Things were awful after you left. Whatever happened to you and Father Daniels, they took out on us. Chloe, the things they did. Anyone who didn’t obey just vanished like you did. Except they didn’t tell us pretty lies, they kept silent. The not knowing was so much worse, but it gave them what they wanted.”
I place my hand on her arm, but she pulls away.
“You’re angry,” I say slowly.
“Of course, I’m angry!”
“That’s good! Hold onto it. That pain is what will help you survive this, because it won’t ever disappear completely, no matter what you do.”
Her face falls with the haunting realization of her life from now on.
“I really am sorry,” I tell her as sincerely as I can. Even if she doesn’t believe me, she needs to hear the words from someone who’s been through the same. I give her a tight smile then take her hand and press Rebekah’s keys into them. “Get out of here and live.”
She stares determinedly at them. Then she removes one key and hands it back to me. “You should head to Father Stones’ office before you leave. When things changed,I couldn’t wait around doing nothing, so I broke in there, hoping to find a way to reach the outside. It was a fruitless search, but I did find some letters that had been kept from us. A few were addressed to you. Chloe, they were from your mom.”
All the confidence I came here with leeches out of me into the cold stone beneath my feet.
Mom contacted me? All this time, I thought she was too sick to reach out to me, but the Fathers kept her from me.
“I’ll find them. Thank you, Priya. Do you have family you can return to?”
She shakes her head.
Why am I surprised? The Fathers kept this place running for decades. The easiest way to keep their atrocities from being discovered was to keep us isolated and only take girls in who didn’t have families able or willing to come for them.
They chose me because they knew my mother would die.
I turn to leave and am suddenly engulfed in a hug. Eliza squeezes me tight.
“Thank you,” her girlfriend says from over her shoulder.
“Forget I was ever here, okay? If the police get involved, tell them you know nothing. Only that you were asleep in your beds when Rebekah came in to get you out. She left you with the keys and you didn’t see her again after that.”
“You’re not coming with us?” Eliza sniffles, and her girlfriend takes her from me to comfort her.
“No, I have someone very important waiting for me.”
Leaving them behind me, I take a quick detour to Father Stones’ office.
I’m anxious to return to Zack, but what Priya told meis gnawing at my heart and I know I won’t be able to forget about it unless I see the truth for myself.
The filing cabinets stand tall next to the window in the office. I’ve seen them countless times and never considered breaking into them. I’m thankful that Priya had that bright idea.