Page 12 of Sins and Virtue

Ripples of sadness rain down upon me like the droplets that poured from the sky.

Uncontrolled and unable to contain the emotion within.

Every day was a struggle to be away from the person who made up half your soul. Supposedly, time healed all wounds, but this was a wound that refused to fade.

“Hey,” Sister Mary softly approached me. “Are you okay?”

I blinked, snapping out of it, and drowning out any of the white noise. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

She searched my face, raising a worried brow. “I don’t know,” she pouted. “You look a bit under the weather. Maybe sad?”

Damn, was it that obvious?

I shake my head, telling a little white lie that I pray for forgiveness later. “This type of weather makes my allergies act up. My sinuses are giving me a headache.”

“Ah,” indecisiveness washed over her face. “Are you sure?”

Her persistence nearly made me laugh. Now there were so many secrets that must be taken to the grave, and I was keeping all of mine.

My lips opened as I was about to lie again when a woman came bursting into the church with a look of distress on her face, leaving a puddle of rain behind as she ran up to the nearest nun and spoke rapidly.

The following churchgoers suddenly surrounded her as their chatter increased amongst each other.

The sensation of pending doom simmered in my stomach. Something was off. People were talkative but never rowdy in church, so what was going on out there to cause such an uproar?

Now, if I speak, I’ll be in trouble.

Keeping my distance, I eyed the scene before me.

Mother Superior was at the front of the altar, observing everyone with a scowl as she was about to yell at us all, when a younger nun dashed to her and began relaying the message.

Sister Marie’s brow perked up, and a soft line appeared in the middle of her forehead. “I wonder what all the fuss is about?”

“No clue, but you know if I had started speaking, I would have been shut up immediately.”

Marie tapped my shoulder in disapproval. “Oh, Blair! What if it’s something serious?”

“Oh, how serious can it be?”

Mother Superior stated loudly. “That can’t be. We must get everyone out now then!”

She hastily made her way over to Father Andrea and whispered whatever the danger was into his ear. His eyes rounded with concern, he glanced at her once, then twice, confirming what he had just heard. “Are you sure about this, sister?”

“Absolutely, everyone is in danger, Father. You never know what those criminals can do.”

“Just because they’re criminals doesn’t make them bad.”

Mother Superior obviously thought otherwise, but she bit her tongue. “Perhaps, but we need to get everyone to safety just to avoid any accident.

He contemplated before turning serious. “Alright. I’ll tell them.”

“Thank you,” Mother Superior breathed a sigh of relief as she started to run back into the offices of the church like a coward.

Sister Marie brought her hands to her mouth and started chewing on her nails. “The way Reverend Mother left isn’t good.”

“Oh, don’t stress about it.” I waved off. “She just said something about criminals.”

“Criminals? Oh my god!”