Staring up at my assailant in shock, I watch as two men stride purposefully into the room, whipping the door shut this time. One has a baton. Father Cassio has used one on me many times when I speak out of line. And the other holds a linen bag and a length of rope. I try to scramble back, but I’m stopped when the first one reaches down to grab my ankle and drag me back.
“No!” I scream, kicking out. “Let me go!” Reaching around, I grab the first thing I touch, a duffel bag, and swing at the man’s head as hard as I can. Knocking him in the eye with the strap, he lets me go and begins cursing as the other man rushes forward to try and get control of me. Clambering to my feet, I look around for a weapon. Not seeing anything, I run to the bathroom and lock the door just as a body hits it.
I know I only have seconds, so I search for anything to use to fight them off. I accept that it’s a losing battle—they’re too big, too strong, for me to even dream of winning—but I won’t go down without a fight. Spotting the towel bar, I grip it with both hands, putting a foot against the wall for leverage and yank until I finally feel it moving.
Just as the door crashes open, lodging the knob into the plaster, the bar comes free, sending me back into the corner of the shower. My spine bangs into the wall, and I want to scream from the fire now breathing through my bones, but I have no time. Swinging the bar at their heads, I try to inflict as much damage as possible before they tackle me to the ground. The last thing I remember is a meaty fist swinging at my face and pain exploding through my cheek.
* * *
Gasping awake as icy water penetrates my body, I choke as I blink up at whoever is spraying me. I see the nozzle of the hose and nothing else as the two men stare down at me. Bruised and slightly bloody, I’m pleased I was able to cause them a bit of harm.
“What do you want?” Shock hits as soon as the water shuts off. Bright lights shine from above, white walls circle me, and a cement floor with a drain is under me.
“Father Cassio asked us to cleanse you.” They both smirk as dread pools in my belly. I know exactly what that means, and I’d rather die.
“You can’t do that,” I whisper in horror.
“We can, and we will, but not until you’re good and stop feeling so damn righteous first.” Watching as they leave the room from a door behind them, the lights go out, and I’m left in the dark.
Shivering and terrified, I have no idea what to do. In all the time Father Cassio or one of the sisters locked me in a room, I knew they would eventually come back. They’d let me out and the punishment would either be over or continue with a lashing or something. I don’t know these men; I don’t know what they’re capable of. What they plan. And I certainly don’t know how to rescue myself.
I’m helpless.
Not for the first time either, but this time feels different.
I know what they plan to do by cleansing me. I’ve watched Father Cassio do it before. There were twins at the church once, Bria and Bella; I have no idea what happened to them. They were with us for almost a year when we were about thirteen, and I think they were older than me by a year or two. Bria was the quieter one, Bella was always protecting her, so when Father Cassio chose Bria to be cleansed, no one was more shocked than Bella. It was shortly after that, they were gone.
I was sick about the entire thing for days afterwards. Bria was like a ghost whenever I saw her. She was a shell of the quiet girl I grew used to telling me funny stories at night in the quiet of our room. She only ever spoke to Bella and me. After she was cleansed, she didn’t speak again.
“Let me out!” I scream. Over and over until my voice is hoarse and my throat is bone-dry.
I need out. I can’t become like Bria.
* * *
Pace
The room is dark, the only ambience comes from the candles lit in the grooves of the wall, and in the middle is a steaming bathtub with water near bubbling. Hiding in the alcove behind one of the brick pillars of the basement, I wait for the nuns to bring in Daia. Whoever walks through those doors with the girl is dead, they just don’t know it yet.
I found Hildegard on my way down here, and she now lays lifeless on the floor of an office, behind a locked door. I can’t chance someone finding either her or Anna before I have Daia in my possession.
I gathered as many files from Cassio’s office as I could fit into my bag. I already know my brothers will want to find as many of these children as they can and return them to their families. Some will likely never be the same again, but I know there will be a few who survive the torment this place brought them.
Noticing a long shadow cross the archway where I assumed Daia would be escorted from, I step back, waiting until they’re through. I see the girl, naked except for the bag over her head, with a nun on either side, gripping an arm each. As they enter the light of the room, I recognize that it’s Maura and Dolores.
As they stop in front of the tub, I step out, raise my gun with the silencer attached and whistle. All heads turn towards me, and I fire off two shots in quick succession. Neither Dolores nor Maura knows what hits them as they drop to the ground, blood spilling from the wounds in the center of their foreheads.
“Daia.” I say her name softly, and she sobs, fear causing her to shake violently. “My name is Pace. I took Isabel away from here, and she has asked me to bring you to her.” Walking towards the frightened nun, I grab a robe from one of the hooks in the wall. Wrapping it around her body, her arms slip through the holes as I tie the knot. “I’m going to take the bag off your head now.” She still doesn’t respond.
Cutting through the rope that’s knotted at the back of her head, I tug the covering off, and her nearly white-blonde hair cascades around her face and shoulders. If I wasn’t so taken by Isabel, this one might stir my dick.
“You want to get out of here?” I ask her as she surveys her surroundings. Spotting the sisters on the floor, her terrified eyes stare up at me. She’s like a doe.
“You killed them.”
“I did.”
“Why?” I frown at her question, and before I can answer her, I hear another set of footsteps approaching.