In A Dark Mirror

Seven

After doing her homework, Aifric went downstairs towards the dining hall. When she was on the stairs, Heather caught up with her. She was smiling conspiratorial. Heather had been glowing all day, still excited from last nights adventure. They didn’t have much time to talk today, but Aifric knew that Heather had enjoyed her small victory over the nuns extensively.

And who would blame her? It had been a beautiful night, magical and liberating. But there was something more in Heathers attitude towards her. It hadn’t only been for the fun of escaping their prison for a night, it was also the joy of each other’s company. Aifric had not figured out what it was they shared, but since last night she had the strong feeling that it was more than their common fate. Heather’s attitude towards her was not only friendly, often she was openly flirtatious. And Aifric was not entirely sure what that meant.

Heather seemed more certain of herself. When they walked down the stairs together she causally took Aifric’s hand on hers and gently caressed her fingers only for a second before she would let go.

In the dining hall, Heather’s playfulness evaporated at once. Sister Immaculata was sitting on her usual place her cold and unforgiving gaze literally sucked the life out of the place. Aifric asked herself, if she would ever stop feeling a chill whenever Immaculata was in the same room with her. Three girls were already there, only Heather, Mary-Jade and herself where missing. They were punctual on the spot, but Immaculata shot a disapproving look in their direction anyway. Heather’s hand lightly brushed Aifric’s before she went over to her place at the opposite site on the table. They said their prayers, or in Heather’s case pretended to and finally began their meal.

Mary-Jade, who was sitting beside Heather, looked rather satisfied. Aifric couldn’t hear all of what she was saying, because she kept her voice down, so Immaculata couldn’t hear her. Which wasn’t too hard, because the old sister’s hearing had had it’s heyday quite some time ago. Heather seemed amused.

“You shouldn’t put your pretty little nose into other people’s affairs, or someone might pluck it off".

She playfully grabbed Mary-Jade’s nose, and Mary-Jade giggled. Aifric wondered what was going on. Seeing Mary-Jade this happy was a rare sight. As Mary-Jade glanced across the table, Aifric got the feeling, they were talking about her. That was confirmed when Mary-Jade pointed in her direction. Aifric clearly heard her say the word snog. Heather laughed.

“Do you even know what that means?”

“Of course!” Mary-Jade leaned towards Heather and whispered something in her ear.

“Don’t let sister Immaculata know, you know that.” Heather warned her with her voice down. “She’ll wash your mouth with soap!”

Just know Aifric noticed, that Mercedes, who usually would have told her what she had done all day by know, was unusally quiet. When she turned to face her, she saw that Mercedes was trying as hard to follow the conversation on the opposite side of the table as she was. Aifric blushed.

“What are you looking at?” She snapped at the blonde girl.

Mercedes was startled. “I’m sorry. Did I miss something? What’s going on with you two?”

“Nothing!” Aifric said a little too quickly.

“Ah,” Mercedes whispered. “And nothing is also why you weren’t in bed last night.”

She grinned. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

{% fleurons %}}

As the summer slowly progressed Heather made a habit of sneaking out. Sometimes she could motivate Aifric to come, sometimes not. Aifric found that these nightly excursions where among the few times, where she was not brooding about her fate, and Heather always made sure, that there was something new to see.

They did not always go to the pond, sometimes they ventured into the forest, sometimes into the fields, where they watched owls, bats and other nocturnal animals going about their business. They carefully avoided the village though, because they didn’t know what would happen, if the villagers saw them. The orphanage had been here for a hundred years, and Heather couldn’t imagine, that nobody knew what was going on behind the run down old walls. Better not to trust them.

One night they even took Mercedes on an excursion to see the owls hunt near the barns. The blonde girl had been begging Heather for days, until the older girl had finally given in. Mercedes on the other hand, kept her promise. Not even the twins knew about their nightly activities.

Maybe they had become careless, maybe they had grown to bold, maybe the old hag wasn’t as stupid as they had thought. One night, when they came back from a longer run through the forest, Aifric had the feeling, something wasn’t right, the moment she had climbed back in through the window.

The ladder to the attic was still down, but when they climbed it, Aifric froze. The door to the dormitory was open, and in the door frame stood the broad figure of Mother Agatha.

“What’s wrong?” Heather whispered, when she saw her friend hesitating. Then, when she stood beside Aifric she became chalk white.

“And what where you two up to?” Mother Agatha’s voice boomed across the corridor.

Aifric grabbed Heather’s arm.

“This is bad.” Heather muttered. “This is very bad. I’m sorry Aifric. So sorry.”

“Come here!” Agatha commanded.

With wobbly knees Aifric and Heather stepped forward.

“So?” Agatha held her arms crossed before her chest.

Heather spoke. “It was my idea, mother. I talked her into getting outside. We were watching the owls. It’s all my fault!”

“Is that true?” Agatha shot at Aifric.

Aifric looked over to Heather who nodded.

“Yes, Mother” Aifric confirmed.

“Do you think that keeps you free from sin?”

“No, Mother.”

“Into my office! Now!”

Back inside the dorm, Aifric could see Mercedes, who was clutching her cushions and cried silently. She could see Heather’s teeth grind, as they walked behind the nun.

Then Heather turned to her and whispered: “What ever she’s going to do to you, Aifric. Don’t let her break you. Just concentrate on me, OK?”

Aifirc nodded.

“Promise?”

“Promise.” Aifric whispered back.

The old nun led the two of them into her office without a word, and closed the heavy wooden doors from the inside.

 Previous chapter

Next chapter