With the key she gave me, I unlock the drawers, starting from the top and working my way down until I find what I’m here for. Deep inside the lowest one are bundles of envelopes all addressed to the convent with different girls’ names on. Each one has been opened already. Knowing that Father Stone, or any of the others, read them is another violation to my abused soul.
I take the ones addressed to me to the desk and use a letter opener to cut the string tying them together. My heart is in my stomach as I pull out the first letter and read it under the dim light of the candle that’s still burning away.
It’s dated only a few days after Mom dropped me off here. She says how much she missed me and that she couldn’t wait to see me again.
I remember wondering why she never wrote to me. The worry that she had died without anyone knowing kept me up most nights.
Mom’s handwriting gets progressively worse as I read through the rest. When I get to the final one I’m filled with as much guilt as she had poured onto the page.
She thought I didn’t want to see her and she blamed herself for being sick. The Fathers lied to her and told her that I was happy here without her, because I knew I’d see her again in heaven.
I truly believe that if Mom knew any of what was happening she would have fought for me. She would havegotten me out of here the instant she knew. But they manipulated everything.
The sick, twisted fucking bastards.
My hands shake with anger.
I lost everything because of them.
This room was the last place I saw Mom alive, and now it’s the final place I say goodbye.
I gather up the letters and drop them into the waste basket next to the desk. Then I pick up the candle holder and hold the flame to the paper until it catches.
“I’m sorry for what they did to us, Mom. I don’t blame you for any of it. I know you were only doing what was right. Now it’s my turn.”
Chapter 26
Zack
“What a perfect event this is turning out to be. I should become a wedding planner, don’t you think?”
I sit on top of the pulpit and swing my legs back and forth as I play with my knife.
“Don’t be shy. You were all running your mouths, praying to your God earlier.” When I’m not graced with a reply, I let out an exasperated sigh and look around the chapel. “Doesn’t seem like he’s gonna show up.”
“Are you on drugs? You must be, to be doing this.” One of the men finally speaks up and my eyes snap toward him. He’s an elderly man, the same one who spoke up when Chloe and I came in earlier. I’m surprised he’s still kicking.
From what she’s told me, he was the one who isolated her to tell her that her mother had died. He gave her a shoulder to cry on in her most vulnerable moment only so he could twist that around in his favor later on.
“You’re a beast sent by the devil himself to test us!” He spits a wad of blood onto the ground in disgust.
I hop off the pulpit and take my time to stroll towardhim. I survey the men as I go. A few are still out of it, or dead. I can’t be entirely sure.
The youngest man here only looks to be in his early twenties. He’s smart enough to keep his mouth shut, unlike this old fucker who was the first to speak up. Did they all join the convent with the hope that they’d get to rape the girls, or was that kept a secret until they were fully initiated into this little fucked-up cult?
I’ve restrained them all with rope to keep them in place for the ceremony, and each one has a knife lodged in his stomach. It’s enough to leave them in pain for the time being, until Chloe’s ready to put an end to them.
“See, that’s the beautiful thing about all of this,” I say, waving my knife in front of the old man’s face while he struggles in the rope. He whines in pain as the knife in his gut shifts.
I wait for him to stop making such a fuss before I continue. “I’m higher than I’ve ever been, and I’ve not taken a single substance. Unless you count my love’s sinful kisses? Did you ever get to sample them, or did you go straight for the pussy?”
He looks away from me, and I roll my eyes. “What about the rest of you? Did you all hurt her?”
“Who are you talking about?” a middle-aged man with a beard pipes up.
I stare at him, weighing up whether to name drop her now or wait for the big reveal. The latter would be way more fun, but I want the moment she walks down the aisle to be all for me.
“Chloe Rivera.”Soon to be Chloe Vaughn.
