Bad Habits: A Dark Anthology - Yolanda Olson Page 0,63
the front pew. I feel a chill run through my body when I notice that someone is laying motionless on the altar.
“Celeste,” I say softly.
She doesn’t answer me, just continues to stare ahead. I make my way to the altar, and my eyes widen at what I see. I have to look away, almost gagging. Sister Mary Concessa’s naked body is on display. Her skin is almost translucent it is so white. There is no doubt in my mind that she’s dead.
“Did you do this?” I point to the altar. Celeste doesn’t answer. “Celeste?”
She finally looks at me. “I thought you’d be gone.”
I rake my hands through my hair. “This is crazy, why, why’d you do this?” I look around the church. “Where is everyone else?”
I’m crippled by the fear of what else she may have done. “They’re fine. They were none the wiser when Father Thomas and I used the church for this very thing.”
“Where is he? Father Thomas?” She stands and walks to the baptismal. I follow close behind her, coming to a halt when I look into the water and there he is, floating face down.
I grab her arm and turn her to me. “You’ve got to snap out of it, Celeste.”
“I told you to leave.” Her vacant eyes scare me.
I let her arm go. I should walk away from here. Pretend I never met her, that I didn’t see any of this. Instead, I wrap my arms around her. She tries to fight me off, but I hold her tighter. “Let me help you.” I whisper in her ear. Her shoulders shake, and I don’t release my hold on her. As wrong as this is, I know she thought she had no other way.
“I can’t run, Priest. They’ll always be here, hurting others, damaging them the way they damaged me. This is a dark place, and I can’t outrun it. It will follow me.” She sniffs.
“Come with me.” I plead.
“They’ll find me. They’ll find us.” She looks so small and fragile, I want to hurt every person who made her feel this helpless. I know the car is waiting for me outside by now, but he has instructions not to leave until I’m in the car.
“They? What do you mean, Celeste? Father Thomas, Sister Concessa, they’re gone.”
She shudders. “Who are you talking about?”
She blocks her ears, but there is absolutely no sound.
“Tell me how he got rid of the others.” I ask her.
“The well.”
I nod. “I need you to get whatever you need from your room. I’ll take care of this.”
I watch her walk away, dreading the task ahead of me.
Epilogue
The sun streams in through the floor to ceiling windows in our bedroom. I sit up in bed, yawning. I slept through the night, and that means the nightmares are slowly fading. There was a time I thought they’d never end, I’d wake up covered in sweat from running away from the monsters in my mind. I turn around and Priest smiles up at me.
“Good morning, beautiful.” His smile is warm and inviting. I could curl up in bed with him for the rest of the day, but someone else needs my undivided attention. And on cue, the baby monitor lights up, and the melody of Brighton’s cries fill the room. I lean down and kiss Priest’s cheek before climbing out of bed. I walk down the hallway into our son’s room. He’s just over a year. I look down at his smiling face, picking him up from his cradle. Priest and I have new names, new identities, and live in a new country. My life in the convent seems like a lifetime ago. I don’t know how I got so lucky.
I hold Brighton close to me, inhaling his baby scent as I return to our bedroom. Priest immediately starts to tickle him when I place our son on our bed, their laughter following me into the bathroom. I’ve been thinking about my biological parents lately, wondering who they are and why they abandoned me all those years ago. Apparently, becoming a parent does bring up those kinds of questions. I wouldn’t be able to walk away from Brighton, not after birthing him and falling in love with him the way I have.
I look in the mirror and Charity Holmes stares back at me. She has shoulder length blonde hair, wears glasses and has freckles on her nose.
You can’t hide from me. I shake off those thoughts and open the medicine cabinet. I grab the glass