REVERENCE Episode 14 – RUTHIE LEE
Dressed in their sleeping garments, both girls Anna and julliette got on Anna’s bed and pulled the blanket to cover their body.
Juilette took the book titled Reverence and opened it and then turned to Anna.
“You ready?” She asked.
“Well I never fancied bed time stories but sure read it out loud” Anna breathed out.
“You wish this was a bed time story” Julliette laughed. “I don’t know what words lays beyond this book, but I don’t think we’re going to like it” Julliette stated.
“If it’s going to give me nightmares then please do read it to yourself” Anna said lying down and facing the opposite way.
“Oh don’t be such a child” Julliette rolled her eyes.
“Just go ahead and read the book” Anna sighed.
“And start from the beginning” Anna added.
“Sure” Julliette stated and starts to read the book.
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“All saint’s girls catholic high school was found in the year 1960, The school was founded in the year 1976 but this is the year 1980 and to anyone who reads about this, just know I was one of the school first generation students and I hope no one finds this book but at the same time I hope someone does. My name is Genevieve Smith and my days here in All saint’s girls boarding school hasn’t been the very best, despite being the School’s first generation the school has more history that I’m just finding out. All saint’s girl boarding school was once a synagogue and due to a rift which later turned into a huge conflict the place of Jewish worshippers had to be taken down and years later the synagogue was rebuilt and the catholics took over, and then five years later after the synagogue became a catholic church, the church was passed down to Isabella Jenkintown a daughter to the late priest who once lead the church, not wanting to follow the path of her father, Isabella took a step and turned the church into a school, an all girl’s boarding. Now that’s the history of the school I recently learned about.
So back to my days here in the school, becoming the principal at such a young age, miss Isabella Jenkintown was one of the best principal you could ever imagine, she understood everyone perfectly, she talked to students whenever they felt like they needed someone to talk to. Spending three months here I thought I would never want to go home again because my days here were like rainbows and sunshine. Well my rainbows and sunshine started to turn dark when rumours started going around in the school.
Well at first it was a fun and funny rumour to spread, I was also a victim of spreading and recieving the rumours and the rumours contains going to the bathroom at three o’clock in the morning to see a baby boy crying in the mirror.
Of course everyone doubted it and some even went to the bathroom by three to confirm the story and testified that it was a lie, some did confirm that it was true, but some harsh mouth laughed them saying they were just trying to scare everyone, as for me I one sidedly believe it was true and also a lie, I’m not a girl of faith and that’s what’s killing me. The rumour about the crying boy in the bathroom died some weeks later when some higher ups Nun were transferred to the school to become permanent teachers and news spread around the school about the principal Miss Isabella Jenkintown being pregnant. One thing was strange to me at first, immediately the news got to everyone you could clearly see how big and fat her stomach had become, which made me ask myself all the time how and when did she get pregnant, because she was already following the process to become a Nun just like the rest, but suddenly got pregnant out of the blue without being married, everyone knows she’s clearly single and that’s what left me speechless, well not that her pregnancy was important, well weeks later a student went missing by 3pm noon, when everyone gathered around for lunch in the place that used to be a cathedral for the church, her friends noticed her absence and told the nuns about it and they assured the friends of the lost girl that they will find the friend, that she probably went missing or is hiding around the school premises, but about four days came and passed with the girl still missing and on the fifth day another girl from our dorm went missing, I thought I was going to die of panic attack, and strangely the nuns didn’t seem to care about the two missing students, their words were always ‘the girls will be back’ without even wanting to look for them.
Things got serious and hectic when about six students went missing along with the two girls that went missing making the total missing students eight, and the student started to panic, miss Isabella Jenkintown our principal fell ill and it was due to the pregnancy and she was taken away from the school and to a hospital for better treatment, the Nuns took charge of the school and then came up with this little alter being built in our rooms and every night they told us to show reverence to God, and pray so hard so we won’t go missing. Of course everyone showed ‘Reverence’ including me, the school looked like it was falling back to place with students no longer missing and we were all happy saying us showing Reverence to God has payed off. But then about a month later one of my roommate went missing, and this scared the life out of me, and the question everyone asked was, where the hell were they missing to.
No one was allowed to walk out of the school’s gate randomly, the school security is super tight, so our explanations to the missing student just felt like sands in air. And the nuns just kept repeating that the girls will be back, that they’ll make sure of it and we shouldn’t panic. Well panic became an understatement when I started to feel insecure and uncomfortable, when I walked to class, during breakfast, lunch or dinner, every second of my life I felt like someone was watching me, I felt so scared I decided to come out to my two other roommates and one of them said she was feeling the same way, and then the next day my roommate, the one feeling the same way, went missing, I almost lost control of myself and that day I skipped all classes and head to the library, I had no one to complain to so I decided to write all this, to anyone reading this, I don’t feel safe anymore, I don’t know what’s going on but I think I’m not safe, right now in library I’m alone with the librarian but I feel like it’s not just the two of us, I’m being watched and I don’t know or by who…. ”
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Juilette breathed in and out, she was almost out of breath for reading all that.
“I’ve got chills” Anna said and snuggling closer to julliettte’s body.
“No kidding, and remember the lady I have been seeing?” Juliette asked.
“Yeah?” Anna turned to her.
“She’s miss Isabella Jenkintown, just like our principal told me about she being miss Jenkintown, and according to this book she was the school founder and principal, and I think her pregnancy is that boy I see with her too” Julliette stated.
“We wanted to know the history of the school and now I just feel like to throw away what I just listened to, the school wasn’t good right from the start.” Anna shut her eyes shaking her head.
“I have a lot of questions right now” Julliette sighed.
“Me too” Anna added.
“What made the student go missing, what actually happened?” Anna sighed.
“Do you think Genevieve, the writer of this book got to live, what do you think happened to her after her moments in the library” Julliette sighed.
“I don’t know but Let’s find out then” Anna said taking the book from her and turning to the next page.
“Huh, that was the end of chapter one?” Anna glanced at julliettte.
“Seems like it” julliettte replied.
Anna opened to chapter two and after reading a few paragraphs to herself she paused and turned to Juliette.
“I don’t think Genevieve Smith is the only writer of this book.” she said.
“Really?” Julliette leaned forward taking the book from Anna.
After observing the book and few of the first paragraphs from each chapters julliette turned to Anna.
“You’re right, the Genevieve girl wasn’t the only writer of the book, I think her final moments ended in the library I think she went missing while writing this, because the next chapter the writer is introducing herself as Nora Albert and it’s not the same year as Genevieve Smith, its like four years after Genevieve Smith’s time.”.
“Now I’m curious, I can’t believe this all happened in real life and in our school. Let’s read the next chapter” Anna pestered and julliette let’s out a nod.
She took in a big breath before starting on chapter two.
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“Year 1985, My name is Nora Albert I’m among the school’s second generation, so on my third day here in All saint’s girls high school, I found this almost shattered book in the library and picked it up, I started to read a story written in there by a girl named Genevieve Smith and it took my interest…
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