Esther and Mercy

Part 10

Sister Abigail leaves the house and drives down the Colemans' private road. Esther, Mercy and Max are hiding out of sight, waiting for the perfect moment. "It's going to be fine." Esther reassures Max. "We'll scare her so bad she'll never come back here. Here she comes. Wave your arms and make her stop. Max, go." She shoves Max into the road. The car nearly hits her. Thankfully, Sister Abigail stops in time. She's worried sick."You all right? Max? Max? You okay?"

Esther sneaks up behind her and hits her with the hammer. After a few swings, the nun is dead. Max is shocked and devastated. How could Esther do such a horrible thing? To her surprise, Mercy is crying too. "Stop crying." Esther orders them both. "Grab a foot and help me get her off the road. Now." She hoists up the torso and the three get her into a spot where the body won't be easily found. 

But Sister Abigail isn't quite dead. She groans and tries to stand. "Mercy, your turn." She hands over the bloody hammer. Mercy is reluctant to take it. Esther whispers something in her ear and she finally agrees to finish the job. "I'm sorry, Sister." She whispers. With every swing of the hammer, she mumbles something under her breath. Whatever the mantra is, it brings out a ferocity nobody would expect from the normally meek girl.

When it's all over, they cover the body with leaves. Esther is still concerned Max will tell. "They'll send you to jail just for helping us hide her. Mercy and I had to kill her because she was going to tell on us. You're not going to tell. Are you? Max shakes her head and Esther walks away, satisfied. She's going to hide the evidence in the tree house.

"Don't worry. You're my little sister. I won't let anything happen to you. I love you." Mercy tries to comfort Max. "Why did you do it?" She signs. "I can't explain. You wouldn't understand. But I have a very good reason, I promise." 

While Esther was disposing of the evidence in the treehouse, she saw Daniel spying on her. She sneaks into his room in the middle of the night and looms over him until he wakes up. "Tell me what you saw." Daniel is momentarily stuck on the fact that his freaky sister is in his room in the middle of the night. "What are you doing?"

"What did you see?" She demands again. 

"I saw you in the tree house." He's holding something back. "What else?" 

"What do you mean?"

"What else did you see?"

"I didn't see anything. I swear." 

"Did you tell anyone?"

"No. I didn't tell anyone. Please..." the poor boy is terrified. What is Esther hiding up there? "If I find out that you're lying, I'll cut your hairless little prick off before you even figure out what it's for. Do you understand me?" That threat scares Daniel on a primal level. "Yes."

"You pissed yourself." Is the last thing Esther says before leaving.