Take it Slow (Bananun)

Chapter 7

"Sister Mary-Eunice has been corrupted." Arden insisted.

The blonde girl was eavesdropping on Sister Jude and Arden's conversation. They were fighting over the lipstick and the newspaper that she had brought to the old nun, earlier in the day.

Of course, it was Mary-Eunice who was messing with Jude's nerves, but the older nun trusted her kindness, and had believed her when she had told her that it was Arden who had advised her to bring the lipstick. Arden was blaming Shelley for corrupting Eunice, but Jude counter-attacked and accused him instead. The doctor was caught unprepared. He was oblivious to everyone knowing his attraction for the young nun. The blonde girl, on the other side of the door, was revelling in their argument, but she had to prepare the movie, so she headed to the common room.

*

"Welcome, one and all..." Jude made her way through the crowd, lurching. " ... to Briarcliff Manor's inaugural movie night." She walked to the screen and continued her speech.

"Is she high, or something ?" Shelley was suspicious.

"Probably drunk. All the staff has access to the communion wine... but why would our beloved and flawless Sister Jude come to empty a whole bottle ?" Lana wondered.

"Who cares ? From this night on, we won't have to see her, or anyone else's face ever again. We're going to flee this place, girls." Grace was delighted, and the others nodded with enthusiasm. "Where would you like to go, after we've run away from here ?" She asked.

"France !" The blonde immediately replied. They're so much more sexually liberated there... I'm sure I'll fit in, for once... what about y'all ?"

"France, as well." Grace grinned. "I want to go back to my roots."

Lana was partly listening to their discussion : her eyes were stuck to Mary-Eunice. She was looking at Jude, who had suddenly started to recite the lyrics of You'll Never Walk Alone, with a devilish smirk. The brunette didn't understand her behavior at all. She was switching from the innocent to the tease, then to the sadist. The blonde felt her glance on her, and stared back, winking at Lana.

"Fuck." She thought, looking down.

"Are you checking if you just wetted your underwear or something ? Because in my opinion, even your gown is soaked, honey. That wink, though !" Shelley commented, scoffing at her.

"Don't you think she's acting strange ?" Grace was suspicious. "That face she constantly makes, the looks, that wink... that's not her. That's not the Mary-Eunice we all know."

"I totally agree. You're not even aware of everything that's new about her..." Lana approved, blushing from the memories of the night before.

"Oh please, we don't need any details." The French girl chuckled. "But I'm wondering what's gotten into her..."

"Me too." The reporter approved.

*

A few moments later, they managed to escape the common room, and were all running in the corridors leading to the bakery. Shelley heard some noises and stopped them.

"It's Carl." She whispered. "I'll handle him."

"Are you sure about that, Shelley ?" Lana questioned, and the blonde nodded.

"I'm never against a quickie." She winked. "But you have to promise me that if I can't make it tonight, you'll write the article that'll bring this place down, and that we'll meet again."

"I promise. We'll wait for you at the bakery." Lana frankly smiled.

Shelley hugged them one last time, and seductively greeted the medic, who didn't resist long before ceding to her demand. Grace and Lana ran to the bakery and entered the secret tunnel, in which they hid. They waited about twenty minutes for Shelley to come, but she didn't.

"We'll come back for her." Lana pledged. The French girl nodded, and they both exited the tunnel. When the rain and wind violently hit them, they couldn't help but whoop in exhilaration. It had been years since the last time Grace had been outside. She was loving the feeling, even if she normally loathed rain.

"Come on ! We have to get as far away as we can from this place before they discover that we've left !" Lana encouraged her. They started running in the woods. Lana led the way because she knew where was the road. But as she was trying to see through the rain, she stepped on something more solid than the forest ground. She took a moment to examine it, and held back a shriek. It was a skull. A human skull. She approached what seemed to be a tarp, and lifted it up.

"Oh my God, I think we found the Mexican !" Grace exclaimed, panic-stricken by the sight, before she heard growls, coming from the bushes right in front of them. One of Arden's creatures came out of nowhere, looking at Grace and Lana with aggressive and hungry eyes. It had a human silhouette, but its whole body was ravaged by weeping buboes. There was nothing in its eyes which could prove an ounce of consciousness. The girls tried to slowly step back, but the beast immediately ran after them. They took the rush of their lives to the asylum, and didn't stop running until they had come back to the bakery. They closed and locked the door, then went back to the common room, soaked, frozen, and scared to death. It took them some time to recompose themselves, and being out of breath didn't really help them.

"What... What did we just see ? What was this ?" Lana was confused.

"Do you think there's more of them ? I heard other growls coming from the bushes..." Grace was also terrified.

"Wait a minute... If she had been caught..." the reporter looked around for Shelley, but there wasn't any sign of her. " ... Shelley would have been brought here... but she's missing." She remarked.

"Where is she ?" Panic started to rise again in Grace's mind.

"I have no idea." Lana sighed, as she was making different hypotheses about where the blonde could be. Deep down, she knew that she had to find her. She felt that something bad was about to happen to her.

And her instincts were, as always, right.

-

Hi !

Well, we all know what happens to Shelley on this night, unfortunately...

xoxo,

-A.