Sin of Lust

CHAPTER 6

Sin of Lust by Swapie Achilles

CHAPTER VI

OCTOBER

Weeks have passed and Mary Jane can see the improvement on Blanche’s behavior, she now can smile and laugh with her siblings like nothing happened unlike before when she’s barely eating and sleeping.

There are even some nights where the kid is knocking on her door just to sleep with her in the middle of the night, though she highly advice not to go there in such hours, because even though the quarters from the nuns and male ministers are away from each other, she can’t guarantee that Daleon will never see her.

“Good thing she’s almost fine now.” She mumbled to no one in particular, and turns her back from the playground to hang the clean laundry on the sun.

The breeze is nice, gently blowing the moist from the wet linens she’s hanging and the sun isn’t shining hot so the kids are enjoying the perfect warmth of it. This day could be better if Hannie is here.

But she’s gone now, she’s with her new family. And they can only hope that she’s in good hands now, away from the abusive hands of those people who she trusted.

“Mary Jane!” another nun that was a little older than her called her name from a distant.

She looks at the source of the voice and saw a woman with the same uniform as her, waving her hands up, “Sister Gregoria? What is it that she wants with me?”

The nun runs to her direction, and Mary Jane stops her chores only to witness how Gregoria steps on the hem of her uniform and fell on her face.

Mary Jane grimaced from what she saw, “That looks painful.”

“Are you alright?” she asked when the other nun finally get to closer to her.

“Yeah, I just slipped, that was all.” She nervously laughs while dusting the sleeves of her uniform.

“Then?” Mary Jane asked, “what can I do for you?”

“Oh, nothing serious, I was just going to ask you if you could could handle the cleaning of late sister Novelyn’s room?” Gregoria asked her a favor, “there’s no one can handle cleaning her room.”

“Why, is there something wrong there?” she asked with concern and curiosity in her tone.

“Nothing, it’s just that most of us are afraid of her ghost.” Gregoria rubbed the back of her neck.

“Oh…” Mary Jane cups her mouth from laughing out loud at her silly argument.

“Don’t laugh at me, Jane.” Gregoria whines at her. “I heard some says they can still hear the books being taken and back on the shelf!” she whispered yelled.

 “I’m sorry, I just,” Mary said in between her stifles laughter, “Okay, okay I’ll get it. I’ll just finish this laundry.”

“Wait, did she just say shelf?” she internally questioned, but then she shrugs it off.

“Oh no, let me take care of that.” Gregoria insisted, “It’s embarrassing if reverend Daleon will clean that, so go now.”

“Reverend Daleon will clean that?” Mary Jane asked in a hurry.

“Yes, since no one was able to clean it, he said he’ll do it, but that still embarrassing to let the high priest clean the room of a dead person, isn’t it?” Gregoria said as she took the basket of laundry from her hand.

“Y-Yeah…” Jane shortly replied.

“Go, go, go,” she urge the youngest nun to go.

Jane nodded and jogs to the direction of sister Novelyn’s room, “Why did he agreed on cleaning a room where he has so many subordinates to do that?”

“Wait, is he going to throw all the evidence he can find so he suggested that he will clean it?” she queried herself as she jogs a little faster.

“Wait, the note!” she exclaimed internally and turns into a run.

Luckily, she manages to get in to the room before him. Though it cost her weirded glances from the kids and other staffs. But she just smiled it away and say sorry or greeted those who she encountered along the way.

She pulled the crumpled paper on from her pocket, she never let the paper go whenever she goes so it took a toll and became tattered and some ink turns blurry but still readable, “Sister Novelyn’s room. Behind a shelf, a loose plank of wood.” 

When she finally gets to the door of the late sister, she clenches the door knob and twisted it open, to her luck, it was unluck.

“Lucky,” she muttered.

Upon entering the room, she noticed that it’s still the same room like any other, typical cladding and ornaments, she looks around her room, there’s nothing unusual here just a bunch of her old things, from her carpet to the choice of her own curtains. She can’t help but get nostalgic from the memories of the kindest nun she has ever met in this orphanage.

They maybe together in such a short period of time but her heart grew warm with her.

But her happy smile turns into a serious one when she remembers why she’s here in the first place, “I need to find it. A book shelf,” she muttered.

There are two book shelves there one is smaller and the other one is a lot bigger both filled with books, giving her the idea that late nun truly loves to read. She moves to the smaller shelf on the spot where she has a small table beside the window.

She pulled it for her to be able to look behind it, the back of the shelf was exposed and she can see the planks of wood of the floorings, she taps each one but she didn’t find a loose plank the note was indicating.

“Maybe it’s on the other one,” she mumbled and walks towards the larger shelf.

She stood in front of it, and she immediately knew she can’t do it alone, but she can’t get help from others or else they will see through her plan, if she wants to move it, then she needs to get all the things it contains out.

“This will be a lot of work,” she mutters, “but then…”

She commences on one by one putting the books on the floor, taking her time to look at it carefully if there’s something important in there. Until, she heard a creak from the door, she immediately darts her attention to the source of noise and there she found,

“Melody, Micah, what are you guys doing here?” she asked when she saw the twins hiding behind the closed door.

The two startled when they heard a feminine voice, they slowly look behind them to see if there’s someone behind them. But when they turned around, they found a dusty figure wobbling towards them.

“This…” the two began to scream and jiggle the lock of the door but didn’t mange to open it since they are panicking, “it’s the ghost! Please don’t hurt us! Sister Novelyn’s ghost is here!”

“I hereby offer this child to you!” Melody pushed her twin sister forward for the ghost to take.

“You traitor!” Micah screeched as her feet glued on the floor.

All in all, they did nothing but scream to each other.

“It’s me!” Mary jane yelled too, “it’s sister Mary Jane guys!”

The yelling stops when they realized it’s not a ghost, “Oh it’s just you sister Mary Jane.”

Melody sighed, “I thought you’re a ghost for a second, we almost exorcise you.”

She said as if she’s not the one screaming the loudest.

“What are you doing here, sister?” Micah asked. “You’re so dusty.”

Mary Jane dusted herself before answering, “It’s may chores today to clean this, what about you?”

“We’re actually in the middle of hide and seek, we didn’t notice we came across here.” They mumbled, “do you perhaps want us to help you?”

Mary Jane thinks about it, but when she was going to decline Daleon spoke.

“What are you doing here?” He asked with a stern tone that only the nun noticed.

The nun felt all the color of her face gone, she expected Daleon since earlier but she still shocked from his presence.

“Oh, we are going to help sister cleaning here.” They simultaneously saluted.

Daleon look at the kids before looking at the nun, Mary Jane subconsciously swallowed from the tension.

“Oh, is that so? Go ahead and help sister, I’ll beg going for now.” He said, his smile returns to his face.

“Where are you going?” the kids asked.

“There’s a family that wants me to blessed their new house so I can’t help you.” He smiled apologetically. “Can I leave sister Mary Jane to you?”

“We got it!” Micah gives him a thumbs up.

“Okay, see you later.” He waved his hand before taking off.

Mary jane let out the air she’s been holding all this time, “Thank god,” she sighed.

“What are we going to do now? Sister Mary” Melody asked.

“Just tell us what to do and we’ll help you.” They said.

“Found them!” a tiny voice from the door beams.

“Oh, Blanche!” Micah chimes in surprise, “y-you found us so quick!”

“Oh, I forgot about that part.” Melody deadpanned.

They acted surprise that Blanche already found them but in reality they forgot that they were playing hide and seek with her.

“What are you doing here?” the small bundle of joy runs to hug Mary Jane.

“We are in a mission to clean this haunted room.” Micah said in a spooky manner, her fingers are wiggling around, imitating the movements of worms.

“And we are going to exorcise this house!” Melody grabs Blanche shoulder form behind trying to scared her away.

Btu the kid gete sxited, “Me too! I want to cast the devil away!” she happily chirped

The twins slumped their shoulder when their plan to get blanche scared fail.

Mary jane let out a small laugh at them, “Well then, let the haunting begin.”

The twins went to get the cleaning materials and few boxes to pack Sister Noveyln things meanwhile, Mary jane hurriedly went to get the book out of shelves before the twins get back.

“Why are you in a hurry, sister?” the kid asked while she gradually put the books that’s being thrown on the ground in to a pile.

“Hannie gave me a note,” she said, her focus remains on the task on hand, “there’s a loose plank of wood behind this shelf, and we got to get whatever it contains.”

Blanche immediately understood her and help getting the books out of the shelf, and when they finally get it all off, they pushed the shelf away from the wall with all their might, when the gap is huge enough for Mary Jane to squeeze in, they stopped.

“Okay, wait here.” She gives her order to

The nun went behind it and taps all the wood fen planks, until the single tile produces strange sound from the rest, “I found it,” she gasped.

“Sister, are you playing hide and seek too?” voice of the twins sounded form behind her thus she immediately put the box back inside.

“N-No,” she breaths out, “I’m just looking if there’s a rat here.”

Micah run back to Melody’s back and hid, “There’s a rat here?!”

“Disgusting,” Melody only made a disgusted sound.

And they began to clean.