Killers: A Watchers Novella

Spring

Edna and Therese move into their rooms in the convent wing of the Haven of Salvation in early April.

The rooms are tinier than Edna remembered, just a twin bed on an iron frame and a clothes rod hanging from the ceiling. Edna is surprised to find the black robes and white habit of a nun on hers, and as she goes over to look at it, she hears her sister's voice over her shoulder.

"They're pretty, aren't they?"

Edna turns around to see Therese dressed in an identical set of black robes. Hers are much smaller - Therese was always a slim, delicate girl - and she lets them swish at her feet as she comes into the room.

"You're a nun?" Edna asks.

"So are you," Therese says. "Father Gary will confirm us at the sermon tomorrow morning."

"Don't you have to study for it?" Edna asks.

"Yeah," Therese says, waving her hand as if she were swatting a fly. "You're like a junior nun, but you still get to wear the robes while you get the hang of it."

"Oh," Edna says, looking doubtfully at her robes. They hang almost to the floor and she can't picture herself in them.

This doesn't last long, though, because Therese's next words are, "Get dressed."

She closes the door and helps Edna into the robes. The habit in particular is confusing and Edna gets her head stuck in it twice before Therese lets out a huff of frustration and straightens it for her.

"There," she says. "You look good."

Edna smiles. "I do?"

Therese is not in the business of handing out compliments, at least not to Edna, but she likes feeling close to her. Therese leads Edna down the hall to the restroom, where they stand at the mirror and look at their new clothes. With only her face showing, Edna finally feels like she's on level ground. Her most prominent attributes - her size and the slight hunch of her back - are suddenly dwarfed by the mass of fabric draped over her body.

"I like it," she says, surprising herself.

* * *

Edna doesn't see much of her sister after their first day in the Haven. When she does spot her, Therese is always busy moving from place to place, chasing after Father Gary or handing down orders to the other nuns that Edna sees.

She waves when she sees Therese. Sometimes Therese waves back and sometimes she doesn't, and that's okay as long as she's happy.

One of the other nuns is named Mary.

She comes up to Edna in the great room after breakfast on Edna's second day and offers her a tour.

Sister Mary turns out to be really nice. She's soft-spoken and older than Edna. It's hard to say by how much thanks to the habit, but Edna guesses she's in her forties.

She walks slowly and never makes Edna rush to catch up the way Therese likes to do. She also uses small words and speaks clearly, so she must know about Edna's accident.

"What do you do here?" Edna asks as Mary shows her the laundry room and then the winter garden.

"I'm in charge of helping new residents settle in," she says. "I show them around just like I'm doing for you. I make sure they get a hot shower and some clean clothes, especially if they've been on the street a while, and I get them their first hot Haven meal."

She pushes open a door in the hallway to show Edna the kitchen. There are a few residents and one nun there, all cleaning up after breakfast, and they don't look away from Edna when they notice her.