Fallen

She pulled the first one out, rifling through it. A whole list of the girl’s offenses was at the front along with her picture. The rest of it was . . . class assignments, work detail information, and . . . date of discharge. Damn. She pulled out the next one. There had to be thirty files from that year. Lilith School didn’t house that many girls, but perhaps some had only served a short sentence, with the rest being full-time students like Kandace, and her roommates. She had hoped—

A key rattled in the lock and before Kandace could even fully whirl around, the door swung open, banging against the wall and bouncing back with a piercing squeak. Ms. Wykes stood in the doorway, her beady eyes locked on Kandace.

Kandace’s heart drummed with sudden panic, her mouth going dry. Oh God.

“Well, well, well,” the woman singsonged, moving forward in that inhuman glide.

Kandace swallowed heavily and then slammed the cabinet door closed. “Where’s my marijuana?” she demanded, pretending self-righteous bravado she didn’t feel. “It’s mine and I want it back.”

Jasper, Ms. Wykes’s constant shadow, entered the room, coming to a standstill near the door. There was something predatory in his eyes, some sort of . . . excitement. It caused a deep tremor of fear.

She knew men like him. He got off on pain. Even in her most self-destructive moments, she’d always avoided that type. She’d kept a wide arc between her and Jasper since that first day, but now? There was no avoiding him.

Kandace knew then she’d been lying to herself about the bluff. The bird had been a warning, and she had not heeded it.

“Drugs are a tool of the devil, Ms. Thompson. Do you think I would store such a thing in my office? Do you think I would keep such a thing at all?” Ms. Wykes moved closer as did Jasper. “I’m severely disappointed, Ms. Thompson. Severely.” She put a finger on her lips. “Now what to do with such dishonesty. Such sinful behavior.”

Fear zinged through Kandace like a downed live wire. She threw her head back and let out a shrill scream that surely the whole house could hear.

“Jasper,” Ms. Wykes hissed. “Restrain this girl now.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jasper said, his thick lips turning upward as he drew near. Kandace upped the level of her wails, flinging herself away from Jasper so that her back hit the file cabinet behind her. She tried to duck, to move under his grasp as he came at her, but he anticipated her move and went low, grabbing her around the waist and spinning her around. He was like a boa constrictor. All muscle coiled around her so that she could hardly breathe.

Kandace thrashed in his arms. She had no real plan. But maybe if she fought aggressively enough, they’d throw her in a room by herself rather than be bothered with the theatrics.

Or maybe they were enjoying it. Maybe she’d taken the wrong tack. Maybe begging for her blackened soul would have appeased them.

No, something inside her whispered. Nothing will appease them. It’s too late.

Jasper dragged her out of the room, quite literally, Ms. Wykes following behind. She was reciting something, a religious incantation, as though they were heading for an exorcism, and she was the one possessed of a demon.

“To the showers, Jasper,” Ms. Wykes said. “I see this one needs a cleansing. We will wash the evil from you, girl.”

Kandace thrashed harder, to no avail. “Help!” she screamed. “Somebody help me!” But from the way it seemed, Lilith House was very suddenly abandoned, the other girls and the rest of the staff sitting still and silent behind the closed doors they passed.

Hers were the screams echoing through the hallways now.

She’d never come to anyone else’s aid. Why should anyone come to hers?

Jasper carried her effortlessly through the corridors and up the main set of steps, and though she fought mightily, it did no good. She seemed to be the only one exhausted when he finally set her down on the tile of the large communal bathroom floor. Cold tile. Kandace glanced down, noting that somewhere along the way, she’d lost both her shoes.

She cried out when her uniform was very literally torn from her body, the fabric splitting down the back with one hard yank of Jasper’s hands, as though they’d been constructed to do so. Kandace grabbed for the cover of the material, but Jasper ripped it away. “Stop it. Stop it!” she screamed, crossing her hands over her chest to cover her bra. “You’re all sick! My mother’s going to hear about this! My lawyer is going to hear about this!”

Ms. Wykes’s laugh was a scratchy, unused sound pulled out of the mothballs in the storage area of her shriveled heart. She turned on the shower with a quick flick of her wrist. They were going to make her bathe? While they watched?