La Mort et ses Merveilles ✔

4. Pillow Talk

La Mort et ses Merveilles

Chapter 4: Pillow Talk

The convent was situated roughly thirty minutes out of Hannelore, surrounded by meadows to the south and east, while forested hills lay to its north and west. The compound was rather large, comprised of the main building, which was built in a neoclassical style as well as a few side buildings. Some of them were linked to the central structure, others were standalone. There was a bell tower attached to the southwest corner of the main convent, towering over the compound. The façade of the main building was adorned with engravings and columns. The glass windows directly above the imposing oak door were crowned with rams head pediments. Surrounding the whole complex were white washed stone walls, keeping the convent safe from the wilds out there.

Josephine parked the car in the small courtyard and led us all out. I held Isabella's hand as we followed the woman with the white veil and black dress into the building. The foyer consisted of a small open area and a large staircase leading to the second storey. The floors were a shiny, laminated wood while the walls were adorned with a deep red wallpaper.

She lead us to the mother superior's office, a comfortable room down the second floor corridor. In it was a mahogany desk, while a portrait of the blessed Virgin hung on the wall behind it. Josephine invited us to take a seat on a leather sofa.

"The mother superior is probably busy somewhere," the woman said. "Now if you'll excuse me."

With that, she took out a walkie talkie from her bag, before walking out of the room. The cross on her rosary dangling from her belt swayed with every small movement. Closing the door behind her, she left the both of us in the eerie silence.

I looked at my little sister seated beside me. She seemed unfazed, unamused. Perhaps she was just exhausted. It had been a long day of travelling, from the farmhouse to Hannelore, and now to the convent.

It was then Josephine returned to the office. Looking at us, she flashed us a smile.

"Well, they're all in the chapel," she said. "They might take a while. Why don't we head over to the infirmary? The mother superior can meet you afterwards."

Josephine led the two of us downstairs, through the labyrinth of corridors and past a central courtyard. The infirmary building seemed to be in a wing of its own, linked to the main convent by a covered walkway.

It seemed pretty big when we got inside. It seemed to me more like a ward than a simple infirmary, what with the five beds lining the room. Some of the beds even seemed to have life support machines. They were pretty well equipped for sure.

I waited on one of the beds while the nun went to gather what she needed. Isabella reclined into the armchair by my bed. As I sat there, I took in my surroundings. IV drips, oxygen machines and heart rate monitors lay beside some of the beds. I wondered why a convent would have such things.

"Sorry for the wait," the woman said after she returned. "They were way in the back of the store, nearly missed them."

She held a syringe in her gloved hands before placing it away on a tray.

"May I?" she said as her delicate fingers hovered over my bandaged wound.

I only grunted in reply.

She unwrapped my forearm and placed the bloodied bandage aside, revealing the bite. It had stopped bleeding, and the puncture wounds were beginning to be covered by black scabs.

"It certainly isn't a zombie bite for sure," she replied. "But I don't know how well the other nuns would like to believe that."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "It's clearly an animal bite isn't it?"