Chapter 9 #2
“We should get back to the convent,” I urged, trying to conceal the tremor in my tone. Something felt off.
Sister Lilith followed behind me as we made our way back onto the trail. “Are you afraid?” she asked, so close behind me she may as well have been holding onto my sleeve. “Should I be afraid?”
“This wouldn’t be the first time the forest of Howl Moor spooked me,” I admitted, scanning the brush. “Although usually I have…”
Long, slow, and forlorn, a deep bellowing howl pierced through the woods.
Lilith and I froze in our steps. We stood motionless, as still as statues, as if in tandem, wondering if we’d both really heard what we thought we did. Sister Lilith wrapped around my arm. “Is… was that… maybe it’s the dog?”
“No, Bernard doesn’t sound like that. That’s not a…
” I shook my head. Whatever it was, it was the same thing I’d heard the last time I was in the woods.
Bernard had heard it, too. Was that why he was so eager to get me out of the forest?
Despite the growing tremble in my limbs, her body close to mine warmed my chest with something else.
A desire to keep her safe. I needed to get her back to the church.
“Bernard!” I cried out. “Bernard, buddy, where are you?” I held Sister Lilith’s arm and we broke into a brisk walk down the trail. Running felt too urgent, too dramatic, or perhaps it would have only frightened us both more to feel as if we were fleeing something.
There had to be a logical explanation for both the blood on the tree and the howling in the woods… though the reasoning evaded me as I still tore through branches, my head pounding and heart racing as I fought to see the piercing steeple of Altar Church once more.
Finally, the end of the trail appeared in the distance. We only had a few yards to cross, wade through the bushes, and we’d be in the field adjacent to the convent.
As we stepped forward in an eerie moment of silence mixed with hope, twigs broke somewhere behind us and bushes rustled. I spun, tucking Sister Lilith behind me as I stared up the trail, following the dirt to the point it went dark with shadow.
It was possible that my eyes were playing tricks on me. It was likely that adrenaline had me seeing things. But I could have sworn I made out the looming black shape of… something… in the distance.
Another howl tore through the forest, jolting me into action. I turned, grabbing Sister Lilith’s hand. “Run,” I ordered.
As if our lives depended on it, we sprinted for the tree line. Lilith stumbled, and I caught her before she fell, grabbing onto her tunic and pulling it up over her shins so she wouldn’t trip again.
At long last, we cleared the brush, and with panic still coursing through us, kept running until our bones gave out nearly halfway through the field.
I stopped, resting on my knees, my breaths coming in waves of burning knives. Lilith leaned against me, panting. “What—what was that?”
“I don’t know,” I answered. An explanation would come later, logic would ascend, we’d laugh about it. Though, for that moment, the terror still lingered like the storm clouds overhead. “Whatever it was, it’s not as scary as Reverend Mother Veilentine will be if we’re late to lunch.”
As if on cue, the church bells chimed in the distance. Sister Lilith grabbed my elbow, pulling me up to stand as I groaned in protest. “We have to run. I don’t want to get in trouble—not so soon after my arrival, at least.”
Agreeing, I forced my legs to move, and we ran the rest of the way back to the convent.
Once we reached the kitchen, a solitary nun stood, back to us, stirring a pot.
She picked up a bone and tossed it in the corner, where slobbering and gnawing noises commenced.
“Bernard!” I exhaled in relief and rushed over to where he lounged by the stove. “Where’ve you been, buddy?”
Reverend Mother Valentine’s voice crooned from above me at the stove. “Where’s the dog been? Where have you been, Sister Jezebella?”
I swallowed, looking up at her very similarly to how I’d looked up at her earlier that morning. “Sister Lilith and I finished our healthcare and elderly community visits early.”
“Is that so?”
Sister Lilith glided over. “The people of Howl Moor are lovely. Sister Jezebella was an excellent guide.”
Reverend Mother leveled me with a skeptical glance before turning her attention back to the bubbling, aromatic liquid. “I’m glad you think so, Sister Lilith.”
Sister Pandorian’s voice chimed in the background. “That smells delicious. Stone soup?”
“With added ham from Percy’s. The butcher had leftovers and Bernard is much enjoying the bone. He’s watched me cook for hours now.”
Lilith and I glanced at each other, making the same quizzical eye-lock as the other at Reverend Mother’s passing statement. The dog was just with us. What an odd thing to lie about.
“Perhaps,” she continued, “you can take a bowl to Sister Delilyx.”
Giving the Irish wolfhound a final pat on his head, satisfied that he was safe and whole, I stood, brushing off my tunic. “Where’s Sister Delilyx?”
“Headache,” Sister Pandorian answered quickly. “Must be the same ailment that found you yesterday afternoon.”
Doubtful.
Sister Lilith’s brow furrowed as she accepted a steaming bowl of soup from Reverend Mother. “That’s strange,” she said, moving to the table. “Sister Delilyx looked fine when we saw you both in town earlier.”
Pandorian snapped her attention to the newest nun who sat, blowing a heaping spoonful of lunch.
“Is my—” Pandorian stopped herself from saying a word she wouldn’t utter, though her cheeks were reddening by the moment.
“Is my dear friend’s headache now a part of her, what was the word you used, ah, yes, delusion?
So many opinions for someone who only just got here and met us. ”
“Tone, Sister,” Reverend Mother lightly chastised, gesturing for us to be seated.
Pandorian slumped in her chair, staring daggers at Sister Lilith as Veilentine placed our bowls before us.
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as god for christ’s sake hath forgiven you. ”
Reverend Mother took her seat. “Where is that verse located in the bible, Sister Pandorian?”
Tensing her jaw as if she was gritting her teeth, the red-freckled nun straightened, sucking in a breath. “Ephesians four, verse thirty-three.”
“Verse thirty-two,” Sister Lilith corrected without taking her eyes off the stirring of her soup. “Nice try, though.”
Pandorian’s eyes widened as she looked from Lilith to Reverend Mother.
I swear I caught Veilentine fighting a small, humorous smile.
“I’d like for you to find Ephesians four, verse thirty-two.
” Reverend Mother glanced at Sister Lilith, then went back to addressing Sister Pandorian.
“Pray over it thirty-two times before bed this evening. Understood?”
“Yes, Reverend Mother,” Sister Pandorian murmured, picking up her spoon.
“That’s what I like to hear,” Veilentine’s hazel eyes swept to mine for a brief moment. “And this is love, that we walk in obedience to his commands.”
Sister Lilith’s small voice echoed again. “First John one, verse six.”
Sister Pandorian hissed. “It’s not a quiz.”
“Your biblical recall is impressive, Sister Lilith,” Reverend Mother said smoothly, ignoring Pandorian’s growing ire. “Your studies at your church abbey must be extensive.”
“Oh, they are,” she took another slurp of soup. “I could probably quote the whole book of Proverbs if you asked me to.”
Reverend Mother nodded. “With such dedication to christ instilled upon you, Sister, I find it bemusing that you’ve neglected to pray before eating.”
Sister Lilith stilled.
A small, satisfied smile bloomed across Sister Pandorian’s face as she stirred her soup, having not taken a bite yet. “My, my, how horrible. We must thank the lord in everything we do and acknowledge every blessing.”
“Indeed,” Reverend Mother said evenly. “Sister Lilith, would you lead us in our afternoon prayer?”
The blonde-haired, blue-eyed nun sucked in a breath and leveled her shoulders. “Forgive me, I said my prayer silently, for I did not know the mealtime customs of your convent, Reverend Mother Veilentine.”
Reverend Mother tilted her head graciously.
Veilentine wasn’t an overly harsh leader, though she certainly packed a bite when needed.
We joined hands and Sister Lilith led our prayers before we finished our meal and cleaned up.
Sister Pandorian left with a bowl of soup fresh from the stove to take to Sister Delilyx.
“What happens after lunch?” Sister Lilith asked after wiping down the countertops.
Reverend Mother lingered at the table, thumbing through her bible as Bernard snored loudly by the stove.
“Independent prayer time and bible time, plus any chores we may have,” I answered, drying a bowl and placing it back in its cabinet. “Then supper, then bed.”
“Which reminds me,” Reverend Mother interjected, not glancing up from her thin, gold-lined page. “I have not yet given you your room assignment, Sister Lilith.”
“The room I stayed in last night was more than sufficient,” she answered, reaching into her pocket and thumbing at something again.
“That room is a storage closet with a cot, Sister Lilith. It is not the proper place to house a guest from a neighboring convent. I only placed you there for the evening because Sister Jezebella had already retired to bed.”
A bowl slipped from my grasp with a clank. “Pardon?”
Reverend Mother arched a vexed eyebrow in my direction before addressing me. “You will share your room with Sister Lilith for the duration of her stay.”
“What? No, I—”
“Sister Jezebella,” Reverend Mother interrupted sternly. “Have you already forgotten our morning prayers?”
A pit dropped in my stomach—and no, I hadn’t forgotten. How could I when my backside had ached with pain every time I’d sat down that day? “No,” I answered. “I have not forgotten, but—”
“All nuns share a room here, Sister Jezebella. While we’ve had an uneven amount, you have had your own space. However, for now at least, that is no longer the case. I have already moved another bed into your room for Sister Lilith.”
“That is…” Sister Lilith looked white as a ghost. “Very generous of you, Reverend Mother. Thank you. Although, truly, I do not mind my room from last night—”
“I will hear no more of it,” Veilentine dismissed us both with a wave of her hand. “Now that’s settled, I must prepare for assisting with confession tomorrow. Father Benedict has prepared several passages for my meditations today.”
Arguments bubbled to the surface of my tongue. Having to cart Sister Lilith around all day was one thing—at the very least, we were surrounded by people, other nuns, and townsfolk. We could avoid each other at prayer hours and during free time. But to share a room with her?
To be alone with her?
To be alone with Sister Lilith every evening…
The urge to run and scream fought through me. I wanted to argue with Reverend Mother and make her understand just how horrible of a decision it was to put us in closed, private proximity to each other.
Sister Lilith glanced over and up at me through her lashes and my knees buckled—from one look alone.
The mature and contained woman at the breakfast table, flipping through her bible, had commanded me through fits of pleasure and pain just that morning.
Though I’d been on my knees for her, they’d never grown weak for her.
My desires were stoked by spanks and yanks and orders until the fire was a mild, controlled source of heat that warmed my bones enough to get through my daily tasks.
This thing, these desires I felt within my whole body for this newcomer, was something else entirely.
One look from her extracted more sensation than the ones that currently marred my backside.
In the sanctuary, with Reverend Mother as my holy guide, my good shepherd, I was taught restraint.
My needs culled into something acceptable and sated.
How could I be alone in my room with the woman whose tits I’d sucked into ecstatic brilliance?
The woman whose naked form had not once left the visions in my mind since I’d seen her glistening and perfect in the lake?
The temptation was too great. The devil called to me, beckoning me to lose control, to disobey.
Lilith was the snake on the tree, whispering that I should try a taste of her forbidden fruit.
And I wanted that bite.
Oh, I wanted to swallow her whole.