"Carina...wake up… Carina…"

My eyes fluttered open to Maureen sitting beside me and I blinked severally trying to adjust to the light just as confusion saturated me. Apart from the abnormality of my roommate waking me up with no apparent reason as to why she did, there was another conspicuous figure right next to her.

Initially, I visualized the figure as nothing more but a shadow however as soon as my eyes increased in clarity I discovered that it was no shadow but rather, another being.

Somehow, a frown etched onto my marred face on recognizing her. I sat up wearily, stretching my limbs as I ignored the pesky little girl.

"Good morning, Sister Maureen," I uttered, right after I'd said my prayers before turning to my bedside table. Both their gazes were burning holes at the back of my head until someone cleared their throat behind me.

"Carina, won't you bother to ask why Anaïs is here?"

Reluctantly, I shot them a perfunctory glance over my shoulder. "Nope."

"Well, I'll tell you anyway. Anaïs here will like you to accompany her to the learning centre."

At that utterance, I turned from the table to face them, my movements still sluggish from sleep.

The said girl was firmly rooted beside Maureen watching me. She donned a brightly coloured dress with a collared neckline and a cardigan.

Her big curly hair had been tamed into twin braids that just fell past her shoulders and those iridescent eyes on that little heart-shaped face bore defiantly into mine.

My gaze flickered back to Maureen. "Why can't you take her?"

"I want to go with you!" Anaïs declared suddenly. She wasn't taking no for an answer but simultaneously I was amazed at her effrontery to traipse in here and make demands like some kind of boss. For goodness sake, she was six...and was also becoming a thorn in my flesh.

It was very inconsiderate of her and Maureen too; I had been in a night of dreamless sleep—a rarity for me should I add. It was so unfair.

"You know, it's still up to me to decide if I will take you or not and I just realized, I don't take orders from over-confident and over-pampered six-year-olds!" I fumed. She should remember that I wasn't one of the sisters who would literally bend over to please all of them.

Her eyes widened, her lower lip jutting out in a pout while she looked disappointedly up at Maureen.

"Uumm…" Maureen was confused, it seemed. Shuffling closer to me, she said, "Carina, come on please just agree and take her already. Remember what I told you." Her voice was exasperated.

Shaking my head, I said, "That's still not enough reason for you guys to interrupt my sleep. There were no nightmares this time, Sister Maureen, no nightmares. You know how rare those are for me and you know I normally wouldn't sleep this long."

Stress was evident in her hazel eyes as she clasped her hands holding them in front of me in a show of sincerity. "I'm so sorry for that Carina but it's too early to be arguing most especially about such little matters."

"Little?!" I voiced now brash. "Did I just hear you say little?" I was unusually cranky that morning and had only realized how my voice had risen in pitch. I sighed, letting out a deep exhale. "Let me remind you, she must've left the orphanage's building which is only a stone's throw away from the learning centre to come all the way here so she could demand someone to literally walk her back and you're telling me it isn't absurd-"

"-and you know I wouldn't hesitate to do that if she'll let me but she wants you to walk her!"

Maureen looked like she would blow if this argument prevailed further as she pressed some fingers to her temple. "Again, I'm sorry about the sleep situation since that seems to be your major grievance but please don't refuse her, she'll stop this soon, I promise. It's just a phase-"

"-and I'm expected to just go with it?" I asked her incredulously.

Her silence said it all and I let out a mirthless chuckle.

"She's just a little girl so please we have to take it easy with her." She said, reaching out to pat my shoulder. "By the way, it's already eight and Anaïs is officially late so if you'll hurry, your efforts will be greatly appreciated."

When I turned to Anaïs again, she could stare anywhere but at me. She might have overheard our not-so-silent conversation. I cleaned up a bit before taking her and thankfully she saw that I was in no mood for chit-chat and remained silent behind me throughout the walk.

It was amusing for obvious reasons 'cause she tried to keep up with me and failed each time. A quick 'thank you' was all she uttered before slipping into the building. Somehow, my anger had dissipated and I felt lighter, barely being able to dwell on the reason I was ever mad in the first place.

Regarding the building perfunctorily, I found myself considering the thought of volunteering there. However, I suppressed it as soon as it came.

"Uum… Hello," someone voiced when I had already turned to go. It was one of the nuns.

Her face was quite unfamiliar and I wondered what she had to say. She smiled brightly at me just as I quelled the urge to roll my eyes.

"I'm Mary-Ann," she blurted expectantly in a foreign accent.

"Hi…" I acknowledged, my expression turning pensive as I scrutinized her.

"I already know who you are, so you don't have to bother introducing yourself. I mean who doesn't, right?"

While she brought up ridiculously redundant subjects, I stared with one of my brows raised, not even bothering to make comments when expected which in turn left her in a kind of one-sided conversation.

"Since we're heading in the same direction, why don't we walk together?"

I would've preferred solitude but conceded to walk with her in the spirit of tolerance and it was one of the worst three minutes of my life.

A blithe spirit hers was, and she had so much to talk about. I tried my best to entertain her enthusiasm by managing to throw in few-worded replies out of deference until it got to a point where I tuned out her voice as my patience started growing thin. It grew even thinner when she brought up some very personal questions.

"Your scars...permit me to ask are they even real? How did you get them?"

I stiffened when she tried to touch my cheek but pulled back her hand at the last minute.

"Sorry. But would you mind sharing how you got them?" She asked in that peculiar accent of hers.

"I'd rather not." Was my reply with an undertone of anger lacing that last word? Presently, I was on the cusp of strained placidity and seething.

If that was her attempt at befriending me then I had to say it was a pathetic show of senselessness neither was she getting anything out of me.

"Ha! We're here already. Bye Carina, I guess we'll talk again over dinner." She said awkwardly once we'd reached. Her face was flushed from embarrassment. It wasn't my fault 'cause initially, I was in no mood to talk and she could not get that.

However, I was more impressed than appalled that she was willing to try again with me but it was only a matter of time before she realized that I wasn't worth the effort.

Also, I knew her motives well. It was just like in Delilah's case; she seemed nice at first but with time I got to know just how much of a backstabber she was. In the end, she was but a pawn for my terrorists.

I knew about the strange perceptions many of the sisters had about me, to them I was mystifying. So, it was expected because of their curiousity to try to unravel me—Maureen held only tidbits of my past that I chose to relinquish to her—and maybe Mary-Ann was their ticket to finding out or maybe she was bonafide. Considering how the little time spent in her company jarred my nerves, it seemed we weren't compatible as friends.

The former Carina would try to make it work but that was the difference; the somewhat complaisant and more tolerant demeanour my former self possessed had vamoosed somewhere along the line and then, there were only cynical remnants.

                 *            *            *
                        *             *

Contrary to what Sister Maureen had told me, Anaïs never stopped pestering me. She had even become my shadow and I was seldom seen without her.

Still, I didn't know what to make out of her; the way she strongly believed that I resembled her late mother even when no one else could see it, and the way she went ahead with that notion made a point to cling to me.

Yet, she couldn't be blamed entirely. After all, she was only but a child who was met with such an ill fate and was forced to cope with it. Maybe I should let her go ahead with her ideas 'cause she would eventually wear herself out.

Nevertheless, the last thing I wanted was to get attached although there was a certain admirable if not endearing thing about her; she spoke so fearlessly and articulately that one would wonder what gave her the nerve.

The following day, I took to the Church to pray. I prayed with a chaplet—a holy object with which I was still familiarizing myself—giving great gratitude to the Almighty for all He had done in my life and all He was going to do while recalling my family too as I prayed for their safety and well-being. We haven't spoken in months and I was severely anxious about them.

After my prayers, I decided to meet the doyenne, Mother Priscilla concerning something that tugged heartily on my psyche.

Her office was sited somewhere before the main entrance of the Church's vicinity. It was a medium-sized room where she carried out formal transactions involving child adoptions, donations, and basically just attending to visitors.

A man was just exiting her office as I approached. It was as though he was taken aback at the sight of me, given his stunned expression.

I simply tilted my face towards the ground as he passed. I knocked once. "Mother Priscilla? It's me, Carina."

"Come in."

I stepped in at her acquiescence.

"Good day Mother Priscilla." I acknowledged dutifully.

She peered at me from above her gold-rimmed spectacles. "And to you. It seems you are much of a rare commodity these days now, aren't you? You never drop by to say hi—how long has it been since we last spoke? A year, two?"

Mirthful laughter escaped my lips at her utterance. For goodness sake, we spoke last week! But the way she put it, it would seem I had entirely forgotten about her.

"I am here now." I countered.

"Of course you are." She smiled. "So, how have you been?"

"Very well, thank you."

"And what about those bad dreams you have? Do you still get them?"

"I do…but now, I only encounter them sporadically." I mused.

"That's good to hear. Have you spoken to your family yet?" She inquired.

That got me scratching the back of my head guiltily. "Not yet, but soon. I promise I will reach out."

"You better do, Carina. Don't leave them clueless."

My phone had been dead for months and I hadn't tried to find a way around that disadvantage.

The problem was not calling them. Indeed, it anchored on what I'd tell them. That was still another aspect I needed to figure out.

"Actually, Mother Priscilla, something brought me here."

"Ooh," she adjusted her glasses. "And what might that be?"

Sitting up straighter, I said, "I would like to become one of you." I told her. "I have been thinking about it for the longest time, I mean the Lord led me here so this must be why."

With time, I had come to admire the nuns; how they devoted their lives to divine service. Indeed this must have been why I was led here and I had just only discovered it.

Her brows ascended in perplexion at my words. "Ah...my dear, I'm afraid I can't let you do that-"

"-is it because I'm no longer versal?" I spoke, confused and somewhat crestfallen.

"It's not that. This is not your path. This is not the path destined for you. I will not say much but the Lord has shown it to me, something huge is about to happen to you, something life-changing. I want you to stay strong in faith and keep on praying, the Lord has not finished with you, He is still writing your story."

Nodding, I took in her words. Although a large portion of them bewildered me, I knew not to doubt the words of the Lord. Later, she informed me that the men who had left were sent to donate a huge sum to them.

"I'm very grateful. We could really use this donation." She said smiling.

I acquiesced, having noticed some structural problems in the management that the donation will go a long way toward fixing.

Still, I couldn't seem to get the look that that man had given me out of my head, and deep down in my gut, I had the feeling that I would find out soon.

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So sorry guys. This chapter has been due since last week or the last two weeks, perhaps. I was so busy so it couldn't happen but it's here now so, yippee!

Btw, thanks for reading. The next one gets better. Who do you think that man is? What is your take on that little troublesome child, Anaïs?

Don't forget to vote and comment and have an awesome week,

🤗
Neon.