Ch 6: I HAVE SINNED
'Ugh, this bitch has caught me again,' Karenina rolled her eyes in annoyance as she lazily dragged herself to where Madonna was standing.
Hiding the first aid kit behind her back, she answered,"Sister, I went to the nursery room for treatment of my injuries. Sorry I couldn't attend the–"
"But I saw you coming out of the priest's quarters,"Madonna said, stopping her in the middle of her sentence. "Nursery room is in third floor of your dormitory,"
Flustering for a moment Karenina awkwardly insisted,"No. I went to another nursery room... I mean I was called by Father Romeo for something."
She lied. Madonna's face darkened upon hearing her outrageous lie. Tightening her grip on her swagger stick Madonna asked Karenina to bring her hands forward.
Karenina sighed since she knew such a lie will not work on a strict nun like Madonna. She wished she could have said something else. She puts the first aid kit down, and forwarded her palms out, taking her leisurely time in doing so.
THUD THUD
"Ouch, it hurts,"Karenina cried in pain because Madonna was hitting her really hard. It felt like the steel swagger stick of hers was tearing into her skin and then pulling them out with it.
Leaning towards her, Madonna said,"Foolish girl, how could you use Father Romeo's name in your lie? Do you have any consciousness left?"
"Well, I'm sorry for that but it's somewhat true. I was definitely in his–"
Before Karenina could complete her sentence, she was given a resounding slap across her face. Holding her burning right cheek she looks at Madonna's angry face.
"You impure girl,"she scowled. "From the very first day I have been noticing you behaving like a prostitute in front of father Romeo. Do you want to dirty him?"
"Why do you care?" Karenina asked in mockery, angering her further. "Do you perhaps have feelings for him, sister?"
Clenching her fingers on the stick, Madonna raised her hand to hit her when suddenly they both heard the approaching footsteps of someone. Madonna turned back and her eyes widened in shock when she saw Romeo arriving there. Hiding her stick back, she greeted him with a sweet smile and asked Karenina to leave quickly.
"No. Wait," Romeo said, stopping Karenina from entering inside the dormitory. Turning his face at Madonna he indifferently asked,"Why were you not allowing her to get inside, sister?"
"I was only asking her about the reason for her being absent during the–"
"No."
Romeo interrupted her as he looked at Karenina's swollen right cheek and the red fingerprints of Madonna's hand on it.
"I saw you hitting her. Could you please explain it to me?" His voice sounded like an order, causing Madonna to shiver in terror as she lowered her face.
"Sister, I'm expecting a reply."
"I-I was only doing my work as the girl's dormitory warden. It's breaking the rule for a student to stay out of the dormitory after 6 pm," she stuttered, cracking her knuckles in nervousness.
Taking a step close to Madonna, Romeo glanced down at her. "But she already said she was in the nursery room. Could you not notice her wounds?"
By now Madonna was trembling badly, her knees were already giving up. The fear of angering the High Priest would land her in the lifelong dungeon of temple Selene Grandeur. And it was true Madonna was just picking up on Karenina because she saw her going into Romeo's office earlier.
"Sister, what happened to your voice? Are you perhaps ignoring my words?" Romeo threatened her further causing her to fall on her knees.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she begged for forgiveness. However, his expression didn't change a bit. He continued staring at kneeling Madonna with his emotionless eyes as if he would burn her alive for hitting Karenina.
Feeling all this super dramatic, Karenina stepped in and asked Romeo to stop all this.
"Father,she was only doing her job. And it's my fault, I should have informed her before leaving,"she answered as she helped Madonna to get up. "And I'm okay with receiving the punishment, Father."
Her reply made him clench his fists. He ordered Madonna to leave and grabbed Karenina's wrist. And started dragging her all the way towards the quarters of priests.
"Father, let go of my hand," She yelled at him, confused by his actions. How could he just hold her hand and take her to his quarters? Does he want to call her father and make her get a good scolding?
She helplessly turned her face back, hoping for Madonna to help her. But when she saw nobody, she got mad. She tried pulling her hand from his tight grasp however he was far more strong than she had thought. But she didn't give up and bared her fangs into his hand.
"Ah,"he was taken aback and Karenina pulled her hand back and shouted at him.
"Why did you follow me and come into my dormitory? Isn't it Forbidden!"
"I was worried about you and–"
"Hah? Seriously?" She reacted, dramatically raising her eyebrows at him. "Who are you to worry about me? And before you start chanting that you're my father's friend and blah blah... I will make myself clear to you."
"I don't care about your friendship with my father. Just treat me as a normal student and don't cause me more trouble. Now please leave me alone," saying that Karenina turned back to return to her dormitory.
Romeo wanted to stop her but he decided to listen to her. He, too, was confused about his change in behaviour. Before he would not care about anyone or anything. Nothing bothered him to the point he would lose his temper. However, as soon as he met Karenina, his mind became strange. He could not stop himself daydreaming about her...
Whenever he would see her, his heart would start beating rapidly. His breathing would increase and a strange feeling would erupt in his heart.
The feeling of looking at her beautiful face...
The feeling of touching her...
Kiss her....
"What?" Romeo questioned himself in disbelief. How could he harbour such thoughts about his student...? How could he make a mistake of feeling that way as a High Priest...?
The temptation for forbidden love was devouring him. And before he would turn insane, he arrived at the temple and locked himself in the confession room.
Pulling out a leather whip, Romeo removed his robe, and kneeled down in front of the Moon goddess's porcelain statue.
"I HAVE SINNED."