Bad Habits: A Dark Anthology - Yolanda Olson Page 0,64

holding the toothpaste and toothbrushes and grab the small bottle of pills I can’t seem to operate without. Empty. I shake it again to be sure. How did I forget to order a refill? My hands start to shake, and the glass slips from my grip, glass shattering into the basin. I shut the cupboard and jump back when I see the image in front of me.

“Where the hell is Charity?” I yell at the raven haired woman in the mirror.

“She isn’t here, is she, Celeste?” she sneers. I take a few steps back, hearing a knock at the door. “Babe, you all right in there?”

The woman in the mirror grins back at me, she raises a piece of broken glass, pressing it to her wrist.

You can’t hide from me.

I stand against the tiled bathroom wall, and watch as she cuts from one side of her wrist to the next. Nothing happens, but she looks satisfied. She does the same to her other wrist, but it’s a failed attempt. I grin. “I’m fine, honey.” I call when Priest knocks again.

“You don’t win.” I say through gritted teeth to the bitch in the mirror.

“I feel a warm trickle of liquid run down my arm and gasp when I realize my wrists are bleeding. Two clean cuts on each of them.

I will always find you. Your sins follow you.

I suck in a breath, my eyes flying open. The room I’m in is white and padded. I try to move my arms but they’re retrained. “Priest!” I yell. The door creeks open, and a tall, gangly man with a white coat and rimless glasses enters the room.

“Celeste, I’m Doctor Bartlett. Do you remember me?”

“No.” I hiss. “Where the hell am I?” Where is my husband, my son?”

“Celeste. You’re at Horizon View, a psychiatric facility. You were brought here by Father Heath Thomas, do you remember him?”

“He’s dead!” I yell. “I killed him. What did you do to my family?”

He pulls a syringe from his coat pocket and steps closer to me to insert it into my drip line. “What is that?”

Good night, Celeste.

I start to scream but it feels like nobody hears me. My vision starts to blur, and I swear I see Father Thomas walking into the room before everything goes black.

To be continued…

About Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne Joseph is a USA Today Bestselling author who writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and psychological thrillers. She loves good books and good wine.

Her lifelong love affair with words started from a young age, and she has published several titles in several romance sub-genres. Her writing is and will always be her ultimate adventure and escape.

Jo-Anne is married to her best friend, Brian. Her greatest honor will always be that she is Mom to her son Braydon and her late daughter, Zia. She has four fur babies that run the Joseph household.

She’s also a corporate governance specialist.

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

- Maya Angelou

Also by Jo-Anne Joseph

Dark Romantic Suspense

Mariticide (Deliverance Series)

Misandry (Deliverance Series)

Inexorable (Cavalieri Della Morte Series)

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Indolence

Ally Vance

Diligence

Careful and persistent work or effort

Blurb

Sins, Sisterhood, and Temptation...in a life governed by seven heavenly virtues, Diligence is the virtue I repeatedly fail to uphold...sinning comes much more easily to me. They say that the devil finds work for idle hands, and I’m about to discover I can truly be diligent to my faith… if the temptation is sweet and innocent enough, and she is almost perfectly angelic and corruptible.

Prologue

Sister Emily

My knees ache from being pressed against the cold, hard, slabs of the chapel floor. The prayers seem to be taking longer than usual to complete, and I find myself thinking longingly of spending the remainder of the day resting and indulging in the simple comfort of my room.

With my head still bowed, I smile slyly to myself. Mother Superior, or Mother Bitch as I like to call her, would take a cane to my ass if she knew the thoughts I’m having, and rightly so, but what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. I’m sure the Lord will punish me justly when I finally reach heaven’s gates.

If I’m ever lucky enough to rise to a position of power, I look forward to enforcing the same kind of rigidity and rules as the current Mother Bitch. The novitiates will learn to accept the pain and will work harder to avoid it. Although in my case, having initially suffered through my punishments, I learned to tolerate the harsh crack of the thin strip of wood