“What’s your name?”
“Marie. What’s yours?”
“E . . . Stella.”
“Estella?”
“No.” I cleared my throat. “Just Stella.”
“Hm.” She eyed me funnily. “Do you know what they do to girls around here?”
“No.” I lowered the bite of sandwich I had left and held my breath. “What?”
“I don’t know. I’m asking you.”
“I’ve been here a few hours. You’ve been here forty-three years. You’d know more than me.”
“Well, there are rumors.” She glanced toward the bathroom. “But I don’t believe rumors.”
“What are the rumors?”
“Nope. I don’t gossip either.” She met my gaze again. “God frowns upon gossip.”
“True.” I finished the sandwich.
“There’s a chapel. If you’re interested. In the mouth of the woods, you can’t miss it.” She picked up the tray. “They have services every Sunday at eight in the morning. We also need help cleaning it, so if you’d like to busy yourself with something in your time off I can put in a word.”
“And that’s part of . . . this?” I waved a hand around the room. “The cleaning the chapel, I mean.”
“No. The Swords aren’t allowed in the chapel, so you shouldn’t tell them.”
“But they know about it,” I said. “Right?”
“Yes.” She set the tray on her hip as if carrying a baby. “They don’t wake up early enough for Sunday service, but if you want to come, you’re welcome to.”
“Who attends the Masses then?” I stood slowly.
“Let’s just say, it’s a women’s Mass. For women, by women.”
“What denomination?” I asked. She looked at me like I was going too far, so I added, “I only ask because women aren’t allowed to give Catholic Masses and I’m Catholic and you called it a chapel, so . . . ”
“Join us next Sunday and find out.”
“Maybe I will.”
“Good. See you there.” She started leaving, but took a step back into the room and glanced over at me. “And girl, don’t trust anyone in here, you hear?”
I nodded, suddenly a lot more frightened than I was when I walked in here.
Where the hell was I?
Chapter Five
You’ve been hand-selected to attend the costume party of the century.
Wear your best Gatsby-themed outfit.
September 9th
The Manor
999 Bloods Point Road
Be there at 9 p.m.
I looked at the cardstock and read it again. I thought about Marie’s words. Don’t trust anyone in here. It shouldn’t be an issue considering that I didn’t trust anyone outside of here either, but hearing it aloud from someone who worked here as long as she said she had was different. I started to pace the room, hitting my hand with the cardstock as I did. I’d checked Stella’s computer and found nothing of note. She seemed to only use her computer for academic purposes, which I couldn’t relate to. She didn’t have social media, but then again, neither did I.
Debbie Maslow hated social media. She said it was a breeding ground for bullies and I didn’t need any outside factors affecting my mental health, and because I’d known Dr. Maslow for as long as I could remember and she treated me more like family than a patient, I listened dutifully. Besides, the one month I had downloaded Snapchat I thought it was incredibly dumb, and I didn’t have enough cute outfits for Instagram. Stella obviously did though. I stopped in front of the closet and looked at the clothes I’d hung up. She had an eclectic style, which I liked. I was more of a jeans and T-shirt girl. I wore my Converse until I could feel the pavement against my socks. To work, I usually wore jeans and pretty blouses or conservative dresses I found at Goodwill. I was the best bargain shopper by far, according to Aisha. I stopped walking at the thought of Aisha and called her.
“Hello?”
“Hey.” I smiled at the sound of her voice.
“Why are you calling me?”
“What do you mean?” Her tone wiped the smile off my face. “Why wouldn’t I call?”
“I meant it when I said I no longer wanted to be your friend.”
“What? Why?” My chest squeezed.
“Eva. I can’t. I don’t have time for this shit right now. What you did was messed up and I’m not going to stand here and take that kind of treatment from you.”
“What are you . . . ? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t remember what happened the last couple of days and I just need you to explain—”
“Look, I’m not the one who has to explain anything to you.” With that, she hung up.
I felt instantly bereft. Aisha had been a part of my life for as long as I could remember. How could she just hang up on me right now? And say she wasn’t my friend? It made no sense. There was no Eva without Aisha. I stumbled as I tried to find the edge of the bed, to look for the pills in my bag I knew would set me right again. My vision began to spot before I could reach them. The bedroom door opened and I saw a flash of red walking in. A cloak. A red cloak. As he stepped forward, lowering the hood from his head, I lost my battle with my eyes and they shut completely.