DESPERADO | SWEET PEA [2]

28

After finding a piece of wood outside, Izzy did her best to wittle the end of it into a sharp point. While Ethel did the job of distracting the other nun, Izzy stalked toward Sister Woodhouse from behind, Betty following close behind her.

Within the blink of an eye, Izzy had her arm secured around Sister Woodhouse as she pointed the tip of the stake toward the elder female's neck, "Don't even think about screaming or even moving, got it?" Izzy whispered into Sister Woodhouse's ear, her lips almost brushing against it as she spoke up in a low, threatening tone, "You're coming with us. I believe it's finally time we pay a visit to your king, Sister Woodhouse."

Izzy roughly pulled Sister Woodhouse along with her, the wood pressed against her neck.

_____

"You sinful girls!" Sister Woodhouse told the three girls in a stern tone as she sat in the Gargoyle's Chamber, tied to a chair, "I will strap you to your beds and electroshock the sin out of you."

"I believe you've already done that to me, Sister Woodhouse," Izzy spoke up in a mocking tone as she walked closer to her, "But look at me now. Still the same."

Izzy scoffed, placing her hands on the arms of the char as she leaned forward to Sister Woodhouse, causing the nun to flinch a bit, knowing what Izzy was capable, "But listen to me when I say this: The Gargoyle King doesn't scare me, neither do you. I've seen real darkness. I've stared it right in the face every morning as I looked at myself in the mirror. That's why you couldn't break me even after everything you've done to me. Drug me, electrocute me, nothing will break me. And if you even thought for a second that I would've let you harm my sister, you were wrong, because I would've killed you if you even laid a finger on her. But back to the point, Betty and I know about the scam you're running. I saw you with Hiram Lodge. You're testing his drugs out on the patients. Why though?"

Izzy moved away from Sister Woodhouse, giving Betty a turn to question her.

"Mr. Lodge is a generous donor." She informed her and Izzy smiled in amusement.

"Oh, is he now?" She asked sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest.

"A believer in our mission." She continued on.

"And by 'Mission', you mean using the game and the Gargoyle King to scare girls?" Ethel questioned Sister Woodhouse, who turned to Betty and Izzy, "To torture children."

"The children who come through our doors are broken. It's our sacred mission to fix them, using whatever tools necessary," Sister Woodhouse explained and Izzy frowned when she noticed how she was staring directly at her.

"Why are you looking at me?" She questioned her with an attitude.

Betty decided to ignore Izzy's question and walked closer to Sister Woodhouse, "Does that mean that the sisters created Gryphons and Gargoyles as a tool?" She asked her curiously.

"Misbehaving children have been brought down to this room since the asylum opened," She informed the three girls as she gestured to the Gargoyle statue, "That statue scared them into submission. Some of them, the more disturbed ones, created a fantasy realm, a game to cope with the feat of the one they'd named the Gargoyle King. We embraced it as a therapeutic tool. And it worked because it embeds itself in the minds of the players. It makes them complacent. Focuses them."

"If that's true, then how did the game get out into the world?" Betty questioned her concerned, "Did you give it to Hiram?"

"It was never meant to leave these walls," Sister Woodhouse began to tell her, "It's too powerful. A game born of madness."