CHAPTER 2: Nan
709 Words
Antabelle Abbey 1989 August 26th 2 weeks later
MATTHIAS POV
The Class hour had ended and all the girls started to gather their books and head to the dining hall for the early afternoon meal. The students filled the hallway as I walked down the corridor.
The girls that attended the school ranged from the ages of six to eighteen all from different walks of life.
From orphans to girls of a higher social standing, the nuns did not discriminate. That did not mean they were trust worthy.
As I watched the cold greetings and utter look of disdain on each of the sisters faces I wonder how
anyone could feel this to be a comfortable living situation.
The walls were stone and gave the appearance of a medieval castle, cold ash grey stones. There was no adornment on the walls of any room. No pictures of any kind, just bare grey stone walls. Then there was the smell.
A stench that reminded me of the rotting pigs in my biology class back at Harvard.
Mr Jensing had mentioned the man made lake next to the school was the culprit of the smell due to its use as disposing of and cleaning the chamber pots from the dormitory.
The modern world was soon going to head into the twentieth century and Antabelle Abbey won't even modernize their sanitation.
Obviously this situation was not healthy for any human being but life seemed to move along and there didn't seem to be any complaints about it from the students. Though the girls were the most subdued group of children I have ever met.
Walking in the hall at a snails pace and not one interacting with each other. Any time they were in front of the nuns the youthful light faded in each girl.
The Abbess must have a tight rein on all of them. Mr Jensing didn't talk much about the Mother Superior, it almost seemed like he was avoiding that topic all together.
I had yet to meet the mother superior, but the Young Sister Mary Rose was eager to fill me in on the rules of the Abbey and what was expected of me. There was a curfew for not only students but also faculty.
This is not what I came here for. As I looked around the crowded hallway my eyes landed on the young Ms Remington. At Seventeen years old Georgiana Remington was not what you call a stunning beauty.
She had a pert nose and big brown eyes in a small heart shape face. Average height but a very curvaceous form. Her severe brow which always seemed to be furrowed and the small gap between her two front teeth saved her from being considered a beauty. But her hair was beautiful thick and black, braided very tight down her back reaching right above her lower back.
"Miss Remington! A word if you please?"
Her face turned to me in inquiry, shocked that I should call out to her. She straightens her books in her arms and crossed the crowded corridor to me.
"Mr Elridge, is there something I can do for you?"
She pushed a strand of hair out of her face. Her big brown eyes staring up at me with a innocence I have never seen in anyone. I cleared my voice and motioned for her to step back into the classroom we just exited.
"Sir and I in any trouble?" She fidgeted in place. "I really can't afford anymore trouble."
"No Ms Remington, you are not in any trouble." I tried to smile at her to put her at ease but I'm afraid it game out more like a grimace.
"I need to inquire about a mutual acquaintance of ours." Her eyes widened making her doe like eyes bigger if possible.
"I do not see how that is possible sir." Her cheeks tinged with embarrassment. "I don't have any acquaintances outside the school, or family." She murmured.
"Yes, I do understand you are an orphan." She flinched and lowered her gaze as I continued.
"The acquaintance I refer to is a young girl from this very school. A Miss Annie Herse."
Georgiana looked up and the look of pure rage ignited in her eyes.
“What do you know about Nan!?”
“I only know she disappeared months back and her disappearance has yet to be investigated by any local authority.”
Georgiana looked away but not before I noticed tears forming in the corner of her eye.
”Please Miss Remington you must know something.” I leaned closer to her so I could gently lay my hand on her shoulder. This poor girl obviously was not used to being touched as she tremble under my fingertips.
“I wish I did.” She rubbed her eyes and looked into mine. Such vulnerability in her sad eyes.
’Quiet Matthias you don’t need to be thinking about her eyes right now.’ I mentally scolded my self
“I only want to help little one. Such strange occurrences have been reported from this school.” She again avoided my eyes but I continued.
”Not just your Nan has disappeared but many girls have gone missing in the last decade.”
”Mr Eldridge please do not continue.” She moved away from me and sat On top of Mr Jensing’s desk.
”What would digging any of this up benefit you?”
”The truth. That is all I want.” I know my voice was becoming desperate but I was at a lost.
“Please help me find out what happen to my sister Georgie.”
Georgiana’s eyes widen
“ You’re Matty?
I sighed “Yes and you‘re Georgie my dear sister Nan’s best friend in the whole world.” I sat on the desk next to her
“She would write every week about how you were her only light in this dark and dreary place.”
She smiled and again tucked a strand behind her ear. “Nan told me about her brother she adored and who was her only family.”
I gently took her hand and caressed it.
“Please Georgie I only want to find out what happened to my sister and all the other girls who have gone missing from this place. Do not you think we owe it to them?”
She stared at our joined hands with A longing and sadness but it faded and a resolve filled those chocolate pools.
"Let me enlighten you about how things work around this school Mr Eldridge." She leaned so close to my ear her warm breath tickling my neck.
"If you want to survive here you will never speak Nans name again." She threw my hand off, hopped off the desk and left the classroom.
I stared at her retreating figure. I knew I should be upset but the vulnerability in the girl eye did something to my cold dark heart. It made it beat again. In my gut I knew Georgiana wanted to know what happened to Nan.
She would definitely be the perfect partner in helping me find out the truth.
I just had to convince her.
- Writer
