Sin of Lust

CHAPTER 5

Sin of Lust by Swapie Achilles

CHAPTER V

OCTOBER

“Sister Novelyn’s room. Behind a shelf, a loose plank of wood.”  

Mary Jane read the content of the paper once more to fully comprehend it. She hurriedly put the piece of paper on her pocket before she immediately went back to the convent to lull the crying children.

But all the way back to their house, she can’t help but clenched the paper in between her thumb through the linen of her pocket.

“What are you hiding, Daleon?”

“Where’s sister Mary Jane?” Blanche asked Daleon with her cute high-pitch voice when he entered the house but without her second favorite nun.

Daleon bowed down to her level to look at her directly on the eyes, as he bestowed her a fake smile, “She just wanted to be left alone for now, maybe because she’s already missing Hannie.” He pats her head.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be back soon.” He reassured him.

“Is that so?” Blanche whispered with a sad pout.

“Why don’t you go to your chamber and sleep again?” Daleon suggested to the kid.

“I can’t sleep right now, I don’t want to sleep and awaken that Hannie is not here anymore.” She solemnly said.

The kid’s being sad that her sister is not here anymore when she wakes up. She used to see her face every morning as they laugh when they see each other’s unruly bedhead, and her older sister will comb her hair after she does hers.

“But you need to sleep, it’s too early for you to be up at this hour.” The reverend urges her to go back to sleep.

But blanche only clenches the hem of her night dress and mumbled, “I can’t…”

The reverend’s eyes darted from her blushing soft cheeks to the expose neck of hers.

“Okay let me put you to sleep.” Daleon propose as his hand linger from her cheek to her shoulder down to her arms.

Blanche stiffens from his touch but it seems to her that Daleon didn’t notice her so she nodded at the offer. She let herself be carried on his arms as she rests her head on his shoulder while thinking what is Hannie doing right now.

“Do you know what’s the best thing to make you fall asleep faster?” the reverend asked.

Blanche only hummed, “What is it?”

“It is to make you tired, because when you’re tired, you can’t think of anything else but you just want to fall asleep as soon as you hit the bed.” He pats her back up and down multiple times to lull her to sleep.

The kid’s eyes are getting heavier the longer the man pats her small back. Daleon lets out a smirk as he senses that the kid is finally getting asleep.

He’s ascending the stairs when,

“Let me take care of her…” Mary jane spoke from behind them.

And his sick grin fades when he saw her arms already outstretch to get the sleeping kid from his.

“You must be tired, I can get her to bed.” She offered, “you should take rest, reverend. You have a ceremony that will be held in just a few hours at the plaza, you need to be early for preparations.”

Daleon bestowed his usual smile, “Oh no, this is alright, besides this will be one of the moments where I get to see my kids sleeping, it’s so heartwarming.”

In spite of the fact that he has his smile, Mary Jane still feel something ominous behind it. She thinks that she’s just being paranoid, but she can’t just trust that man after what she has seen what he’s done.  

And to think that, those hand is carrying an innocent child is something that make her blood run cold. Now that he has replied to her, she can’t do anything about his argument, however, she can’t just let that man go with Blanche.

“So, I’ll be going now,” Daleon proceeded to walk away. “You too, sister Mary Jane, you need to take few hours of sleep too. Sleep is still requirements for you to grow beautiful.”

Blanche stirred up from her sleep, and upon opening her innocent eyes, she saw Mary jane on downstairs. And the moment their eyes met, they’re both delighted.

“Sister Mary Jane!” she beams and reaches out her small limbs. Just like a baby wanting to be catch as she falls.

She wiggled out of Daleon’s grasp so he had no choice but to put her down, and then she immediately went back down to the nun.

To which she welcomed her in her open arms.

“I thought you’ll leave us too.” The kid hugs her tight.

“No, I won’t.”

The nun smiled up to Daleon and signal him that she will handle everything from there, though it irritated him, he still needs to fake a facade so he won’t get noticed.

“Okay, thank you sister Mary, I owe you.” He walks back down to go to his chamber since the elders are staying on the ground floor and the kids are upstairs.

He put his hand on her shoulder to give a pat and to Blanche’s head to ruffle her hair, “And for you, little one, go to bed as soon as sister Mary tucks you in, okay?”

“Okay” the kid answered prolonging each syllable.

The two didn’t move from their spot until they can no longer see the man’s figure, by the time he takes a turn and his figure finally gone from the sight Mary Jane let out a deep sigh.

“Please, tell me all about it.” Blanche stated as she caresses her face with her small hands.

“What?” Mary jane let out a nervous laugh as her sweat cascade down on her face, “what are you talking about? Come on let’s go to sleep.”

“You don’t like him, do you?” the kid queried once again.

Her words made the nun’s shoulder stiffen, she looks around to see if there’s someone who can hear their conversation. When she found none, she immediately went to upstairs and go to the library.

She didn’t go to the chambers of the kids for most of them are sharing a single room and she can’t just discuss things like this in a room filled with juvenile minds.

She hastily went up to the library close to the location of the chambers of the children, when she’s sure that no one’s around she locks the door from inside.

Mary jane asked her, “What do you mean I don’t like him? Of course, I like him, he’s our reverend after all. He takes care of us.” She fakes a smile but her sentences are quite provoking to see what she will going to say.

“You don’t like him, I can see that,” the kid reply.

Her usual jolly attitude is nowhere near to what she’s showing right now.

“How can you say that?” Mary Jane’s smile didn’t waver.

“You’re looking at him the way older sister Hannie looks at him.” She mumble in  a low tone, both of her hands are on table but both of them are clenched.

The lamp that shines upon her eyes seep through the façade of hers, making the nun realize that the kid knows something.

Mary Jane laughs at her, “Why would Hannie not like Daleon? He’s so kind and caring.”

Mary Jane’s intention is to defend the head priest of this orphanage because she can’t trust Blanche from not telling all these to her friends. And she doesn’t want to put them on risk.

“Yes, he is. That’s why sister Hannie doesn’t like him.” She said with a straight face. “She said, he’s too kind to her and she doesn’t like that.”

“What do you mean he’s too kind?” Mary Jane felt shivers crawl up to her spine as she waits for her to answer,

“I don’t know what she really means by that, but…” Blanche look from side to side as if she’s searching for something.

She jumps of the table and borrowed the lamp for a moment to further look for something.  She went from shelf to shelf until she found a book, when she opened it, she gets a tattered piece of paper.

She went back to Mary Jane’s side, “When we were folding one of his robes, this fell out from one of its pockets and older sister grew angry, sad, and scared at the same time,” she handed the piece of paper to the nun.

And this shock the most out of her. This image is something that she would never expect to see in this place.

“And I saw Daleon, doing that to my older sister Hannie,” she said with an unreadable expression. “Kindness is never bad, but if older sister doesn’t want that kindness, then it’s bad.”

She can’t help but put her hand over her mouth to refrain the audible sound of her gasped from escaping her mouth. The nun looks at the image on the paper she handed to her back to the eyes that were previously innocent but now has the taint of anger and desperation on it.

Though, the kid doesn’t know what to do with her anger yet, for she’s foreign with this emotion.

“Please tell me that Daleon is kind, please tell me that what’s he’s doing is kindness.” She begs.

Mary jane can feel that this kid’s desperation as she wants to know that her sister is never hurt by the hands of their reverend. But looking at the drawn picture, of a woman being pinned on the bed while a man is licking on her neck, she doesn’t know how to explain things to her.

She wanted to tell her everything she wanted to know but she’s hesitant because her young mind will never understand it.

“Blanch I,” she trailed as she shakes her head from side to side as one by one she’s learning his true colors.

“Please tell me, I am young but I’m not dumb.” She pleaded. “Is that kindness that my sister received?”

Mary jane was hesitant for a bit, but she can’t deny this to her anymore for she has seen too much and so she explained everything, “No…” she mumbled.

“This is…” she looks again to the picture and didn’t saw any tint of kindness, but now she finally realized the bruise on Hannie’s arms she saw earlier. 

“This is not kindness.” She grits her teeth as the image of the young Hannie and Daleon together filled their mind together.

Blanche felt like her world starts to shatter, “Then what is it?”

The fire on the lamp flickers for the last time before it dies, the same time the little kid’s innocence flew away, like a smoke in the air, fading.

Blanche wake up after few hours of her sleep but she didn’t feel like she rested at all, she stood from her bed and put on her shoes but she didn’t have the energy she always has when the morning comes.

The news she receives is enough to shatter her entire childhood. Although the nun didn’t explain it to her explicitly, but she told her that Daleon is hurting her sister.

Mary jane look at her form afar and can see the obvious changes of her behavior even though they haven’t been together that long. She looks at her as she pokes her food but not eating it despite her other siblings forcing her to eat.

“What happened to Blanche, she seems off.” A voice whispered on Mary Jane’s ears that makes her jumps away from the source.

“Oh… it’s just you reverend Daleon.” She sighed, and her attention went back to the kid, “I don’t know too. Maybe she really just misses her sister. But I guess she will be back on her usual self after few days.”

“It’s such a pity, if Hannie was only here then she would be cheerful and happy.” Mary said hopefully.

“Yeah, if Hannie was only here then everything would be happy.” Daleon agreed as he turns his back.

But when Mary peeks from the corner of her eyes, she can see his demonic and sick smile of his.

A smile that made Mary vowed to kill the man someday.