Chapter One.
“Will you unzip your pants before someone finds us?” I demanded.
Dylan Scott’s hand scrabbled at his belt. His grin told me everything. He didn’t care that I was supposed to be joining a convent.
But neither did I. Because before I was locked away, I wanted to experience sex.
My parents were shipping me off to my aunt a year early.
They understood I was on the verge of rebelling.
I was done being their whipping boy. I had no intention of becoming a nun.
If I lost my virginity, they’d freak and send one of my remaining docile sisters.
Edith was safe. She’d married a nice man from the church.
How boring. But Catherine and Hillary weren’t wed yet, although Catherine was engaged.
I was sixteen, legal to have sex, and if Dylan would get his damn act together, then it would work out.
I’d picked him because the idiot was a jock and meant to have game.
He was fumbling around like a complete virgin, which was me, not him!
“Margaret!” Hillary called.
No! She couldn’t be here. My eyes narrowed. That bitch was going to ruin everything.
“Keep your mouth shut, and I’ll give you a blowjob,” I promised Dylan.
His face lit up, and he grinned, licking his lips. I wasn’t particularly fond of him. He was actually rather disgusting, but I’d picked him because I assumed he knew what to do with his cock. Which right now was proving false.
We heard footsteps heading towards us.
Crap on a cracker, surely Hillary wasn’t aware we were back here? This was the one place off-limits to us. My parents strongly disliked acting, so the theatre should have been a safe spot for me to get laid. Hillary was going to ruin my only chance!
I placed a hand over Dylan’s mouth, but he jerked away and knocked something over.
Hillary’s sharp footsteps marched towards us, and I gave up.
I was done for. Hillary would ensure I was shipped off tonight—because if I escaped, she was next in line.
The curtain yanked back, and she smirked as she took in Dylan and me.
“Say bye-bye,” she trilled in triumph. “You can thank lover boy for me finding you. He bragged to all his friends. If he’d kept his mouth shut, you might have got away with this!”
“You stupid prick,” I snarled at Dylan, who looked smug.
I reached out, grabbed his balls, and twisted them so hard he’d never have kids. Then I stomped off, furious at having been caught. Dylan lay on the floor, screaming. Yeah, well, at this particular moment he understood how I felt.
2015
“Reverend Mother has ordered you to take these leaflets and hand them out at the bar,” Sister Theresa Clare said.
I nodded and took them obediently. “I’ll go now,” I replied dully.
“Sister Mary Immaculate will accompany you, Sister Agnes Madalene,” Theresa Clare instructed.
“Yes.” I didn’t bother arguing. There was no point.
It didn’t get me anywhere, and I’d still be imprisoned in this hellhole.
My aunt was up for abbess, which would give her the coveted Mother Superior title she wanted.
If I ran away, she’d lose that, as questions would be asked.
So, I had watchdogs. Theresa Clare, Mary Immaculate, Hildegard, and Elizabeth Antony. The most sadistic nuns in the priory.
I followed Mary Immaculate into town. We targeted several bars, chasing sinners out of them.
Mary Immaculate marched along, her face like a chewed-up bulldog, watching as people scattered.
Yeah, they knew what Sister Mary Immaculate meant.
I spotted a row of Harleys parked up and cocked my head in curiosity.
They were new; I’d not seen them around here before.
“Sinners!” Mary Immaculate snarled. “Heathens!”
Whatever.
Within moments, Mary Immaculate was preaching, handing out leaflets, and praying over people. Most crossed the road to avoid us, which I found funny, but Mary Immaculate got louder, shouting across the street.
Could this be any more embarrassing?
I stood by her side, handed out the flyers, and prayed God would deliver me from this.
Several women exited the bar. Oh no. This was the type of woman Mary Immaculate loved to humiliate. Mentally, I urged them to run, and one stopped and stared at me.
“Whores! Jezebels!” Mary Immaculate roared.
Just leave, I begged in my mind. These women weren’t causing trouble, simply having some fun. But the dried-up old prune had set her sights on them. I ducked my head as she stomped towards them. The young woman in the lead paused.
“Who the fuck are you calling whores?” she demanded.
Her aggression took the wind out of Mary Immaculate’s sails for a moment as she herself stepped forward.
“Dear God, look at that face. No wonder she became a nun. Not even putting a bag over her head would get her laid! Sapphire, take a fuckin’ peek; she’d scare a milk cow dry,” another said.
I barely held my lips steady. Mary Immaculate regrouped and made the sign of the cross. “May God forgive your sins and your blight on society. Repent, whores! Get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness!”
“I only get on my knees for one reason, and believe me, it ain’t to seek absolution,” the leader snapped with a grin. She performed an obscene gesture, and Mary Immaculate turned puce. Vitriol spilt from her lips as the women laughed and mocked her.
Meanwhile, one focused on me, as I kept my thoughts to myself. But boy, did I enjoy it. I longed for their freedom, to join them and ride a bike like them.
To wear jeans again and pretty tops rather than this nasty, coarse habit. The Reverend Mother had mine made of the worst material as punishment. It itched my skin and rubbed me raw.
“Belladonna,” Sapphire called, and the woman watching me held a finger up.
For a moment all my suppressed yearnings were freed, and then Mary Immaculate stood in my line of sight.
Instinctively and fearfully, I buried them again.
I’d escape someday, but not today. The old bitch kept hollering insults, but the women just laughed them off.
Belladonna cast a look at Sapphire, who deliberately sought Mary Immaculate’s attention.
“You want freedom. We’ll meet you at your gates at one this morning. Be there. We’ll set you free, little nun!” Belladonna murmured and snatched a leaflet as a cover. She stomped over to Mary Immaculate, who’d been watching, tore it up in front of her and sauntered away.
Mary Immaculate turned an eye on me. Shit. I was in trouble.
I staggered through the passages, barefoot and in agony.
Somehow Mary Immaculate had made what happened in town my fault, and I’d been punished for it.
My robe was sticking to my back, and every moment grated against my open wounds.
The cold stones were stained with my blood too, as the Reverend Mother had whipped my feet for my sins. What damn sin? I’d only stood there.
I staggered out into the crisp air, hearing the clocks chime. It was one a.m., and I wasn’t at the gate.
Silently, I prayed Belladonna was there, and that she’d wait, and wouldn’t leave me because I couldn’t do another day here. My knees gave out, the pain too great in my feet, but I began crawling, driven by desperation.
Please don’t leave me. The thought kept repeating. It took me fifteen minutes to reach the gate, and there was nobody there.
“No!” I gasped, disappointment rushing through me. Desolation and despair swiftly followed on its heels. It was a cruel trick, a mean joke. They hadn’t been waiting for me. Then boots appeared, and Sapphire crouched in front of me.
“Christ. Belladonna, Sparrow, get here. I’ve the nun, and she’s badly hurt,” she called softly.
“I told you I could hear her… fuck,” Belladonna gasped.
“How the hell is she going to ride in this state? She’s barely conscious,” Sapphire pondered.
A light switched on in the priory.
“No time. Come on, little nun, we gotta move,” Belladonna murmured. She and another woman swooped and picked me up.
“Tinkerbell, cover us and slow them down,” Sapphire commanded, hearing shouts and seeing lights illuminating the priory. I was dragged away, but as I was, I swear I saw the gate freeze over. What the hell? They pulled me a short distance down the lane—to where they’d hidden their bikes.
“You need to stay awake, okay? We’ve got a motel, but it’s ten minutes from here. Little nun, you can’t drift off to sleep because you’ll topple off and die,” Belladonna declared and swung her leg over the Harley. “Help her on, girls.”
I settled behind Belladonna and wrapped my arms tightly around her. The others picked my long robes up and handed them to me.
“Don’t let them drop, or you’ll be dragged off,” Sapphire said. I nodded.
Moments later Belladonna roared out. The lane was unsteady enough to send shivers of pain racing through me. There was no chance I’d doze off to sleep, although passing out might be an option.
Luckily for me, I stayed awake until we pulled into the motel. I slumped against Belladonna’s back as her friends came to help.
“Come on, girl, nearly there,” Belladonna urged.
I nodded. Sparrow and Sapphire helped me off the bike, and I attempted to stagger after them, but my feet were raw meat.
“What’s up?” Sparrow asked as I tried to follow again. I left bloody footprints behind.
“Pick her up,” Sapphire instructed, coming back to my side and hefting me. Between them, they carried me into the room.
“She’s badly wounded,” Sparrow said.
“Call Stitch; we’re going to need her, and let’s get a doctor out. I want these wounds recorded, and find a cop, Belladonna, who won’t turn her in,” Sapphire commanded. “Strip her.”
Moments later, I was sitting on the bed, shaking with fear, shock, and cold.
“Christ, those bitches did that?” Sparrow demanded.
“Take pictures,” Sapphire ordered. “They’re going to pay for this.”
I held Sapphire’s gaze. “What happens now?” I asked with tears in my eyes.