Page 293 of Sinister

I quickly close the door and fumble through my pockets for the key, locking it.

“What happened?” the sisters ask me in horror.

I turn to them, white as a sheet of paper.

“Father Benedict . . . he’s . . . dead. The demon . . . killed him.”

80

THE NUN

The clock strikes midnight.

Claire’s parents are demanding to see their daughter, while Sister Mary tries to appease them and get them to wait.

The other sisters are all in shock. A few have fainted at the news that Father Benedict is dead, while the others are in a corner, on their knees, praying.

I pace around trying to think of a solution. Claire—or, rather, the demon—is a danger to us all. I have no idea how to go about it without Father Benedict. Worse, I don’t know of any other priest with experience in exorcisms anywhere in the vicinity of Radcliffe.

And if Father Benedict could not finish the exorcism, I doubt an inexperienced priest could.

So where does that leave us?

In an attempt to keep the demon inside, I’d put crosses all over the door and windows, hoping that would at least keep it contained. But for how long? If the entity escapes, none of us are safe.

As I continue to think of a possible solution, loud screams come out of the room, followed by a low, demonic voice that beckons the sisters to open the door.

Worse, the demon seems to know everyone’s past.

It did not just know mine. It is now calling each sister by name, whispering long-buried secrets and luring them in with wicked promises.

I catch sight of one of the sisters listening in to the door, her ear against the wooden frame, her hand hovering over the knob.

“Stop!” I tell her and pull her away. “Leave.”

She regards me with scared eyes before she scurries away.

“Agatha, we meet again,” the demon purrs. Its voice is thick and hoarse, and though I know it to be evil, there is a compelling quality to it. “Wouldn’t you want your baby back? Your fiancé? I can give them to you. You only have to open the door.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. As much as I wish I could say I was beyond temptation, I am not. For just a moment, I imagine what it would be like to have my beloved back by my side, to be together with our baby.

But then I open my eyes and realize that this is all a game to this demon.

Elroy and Plum are long dead, and nothing can bring them back.

I take a deep breath and step away.

A loud noise at the end of the hallway startles me. It’s followed by the slamming of a door.

I hurry toward the noise. Claire’s father has burst out of the room, his wife behind him. In their wake, Sister Mary is on the floor, her lip busted open.

“I will see my daughter now!” he shouts.

I glance between the spouses and Sister Mary, and a red haze covers my sight.

“You will not!” I tell him sternly. “You will go back into that room and wait.”

“I’m not going anywhere without my daughter.”