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I glance over, seeing Sister Marjorie standing to the side with a wooden ruler in her hand. "Vera! I've had enough of your foul language." Settling her ruler down at her side, she lifts her other hand toward us. "We've all given you too much leniency. Apparently, The Room of Atonement didn't do as we'd hoped the first time around. Maybe a longer stay would do you good."
Vera is ripped from my arms, and Sister Marjorie drags her down the hall. Just before she turns the corner, she opens the black door and shoves Vera inside. "If you make it out of this, well, I hope you’ve learned a valuable lesson." Her words echo as she slams the door closed, leaving Vera in the unknown. In The Room of Atonement.
Clutching her ruler in hand, she walks back toward me, the whites of her knuckles wrinkled and weathered. She looks to be about three hundred years old just now, and I wonder how easy it would be to shatter her bones.
She glares at me. "Mr. Myers, your behavior is quite uncalled for. I have every right to call your father and speak with him about this. I don't believe he would be quite happy."
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, and the whooshing in my ears tells me I only have moments before I lose myself.
A growl starts deep in my chest, rolling its way through my rib cage and growling out of me. "Et conteram in vobis pulvis et ossa tua defecto corpore dissipate peribunt, tu vestus nitida femina."
Her eyes go wide, taking a step back. She stands in black, cloaked from head to toe in the color of death, yet she pretends to represent life. "What is the matter with your eyes? They are turning white." Her voice shakes with the words, barely held together with her fear.
My hand raises, and she slams against the locker. She lets out a yelp, the ruler falling from her hand and clattering to the ground. "What's happening?"
Raising my hand, Sister Marjorie lifts with me, her back sliding against the lockers until her head nearly hits the ceiling.
"Tibi anima eorum quasi favilla erit in terra hac. Et non invenietis pacem, Sister.” The words flow from my lips and the control I have over myself is dwindling by the second. I don’t know who I am anymore.
Her face turns a ghostly white, sickly and pale and her skin sits wrinkled and puckered in the most disgusting way. Her hand goes to her neck, and she pulls out a crucifix. Lifting it in the air toward me, she stays suspended as she starts mumbling verses from the Bible.
"Nec deus nisi tu. Haec ecclesia, et non liberabit te. Non stupri crucis manus tuas. Non est salutaris, Sister. Et non morieris." The words slip from me, yet I don’t know a word of what I’m saying. I want to break free from the cage I’m locked in. The cage of my own body. But I have no power anymore, and I’m trapped inside myself with no way out.
She speaks louder, tears flooding her eyes as she screams words of prayer at me. She doesn't realize, it's too late. I'm already gone.
My wrist cranks to the side, and her neck bends awkwardly, the part of her spine connecting to her skull snapping in half.
My hand drops, and she falls to the floor in a pile of black.
And my soul? Well, that goes black, too.
33
VERA
My head stays buried between my legs, because I feel like that's the only way to stop the whispers. The only way to protect myself from whatever lingers in this place.
"She's dead," whispers a feminine, raspy voice. "Dead." The voice comes straight into my ear, and I wave my hand around, rolling away from the sound.
"Stop!" I scream. "Leave me alone!" It feels like my throat is about to bleed from the force of my voice.
I can't see a thing. But I can feel, and I can hear, and there is so much in this room that I feel like there's no way to escape it.
I am trapped.
I swing my arms into the darkness, connecting with nothing. But the giggles don't stop.
And then I'm shoved. My bare knees scrape against the aged carpet, an instant burn tearing apart my skin.
Something grabs onto my hair and pulls. I'm swung backward until my back lay flush against the floor. My arms are pinned at my sides, and I try to move, but it feels like I'm tied down, even though I'm not.
"Leave me alone," I grit through my teeth. "Leave me the hell alone!"
I can feel breath on my skin, brushing against my cheek and neck. I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing this was all a dream.
This has been going on forever.
I feel like I'm going crazy. I've been here for so much longer than I was last time. Weeks. It feels like I've been here for weeks. I'm so hungry it feels like my stomach is eating away at itself.
