17 | Wrath

**SIENNA**


*I saw red*.
Unbridled fury danced in front of my vision, almost making me dizzy and aimless. Even my stepmother, Ivory, the woman who possibly hated my mother and me the most, did not even dare to cross the line, and yet Eva Porter did.
I did not care what vendetta she had against me, but she started this. And I was going to end it for her. By the time I will be done, she would wish she didn’t dare to step into my room. The damning consequences of my actions did not faze me anymore. I have already seen the worst.
This pendant was everything I had — my strength, my power and my bravery. It was the embodiment of my mother’s courage instilled within me. It’s what carried me forward after all those horrible events. And with this pendant destroyed, I did not even know who I was.
All I saw was the smirking face of Eva Porter, and I wanted nothing but to smack the heck out of it.
Clutching the pendant in my hand, I stormed out of my dorm room and towards hers. She was right by the door, leaning against the wooden frame and laughing. As soon as her eyes fell on mine, the glint sharpened. Her smirk told me that I was absolutely right in guessing her name.
After all, she had seen me wearing the pendant before.
I crossed the distance in giant strides and roared into her face, almost pushing her back. “How dare you!”
“What the hell!”
I charged, backing her into a corner. “You went to my room?”
“Your room?” Her bark of laughter was loud enough to catch the attention of other girls. “Listen, princess, it’s a dorm room. Not your father’s penthouse apartment.”
Beside her was Irene. It was like both of them were thick as thieves. She wedged herself between Eva and me, waving her authority as the dorm prefect and jabbed a finger into my shoulder. “Get back to your dorm and stop bothering other people for no reason.”
I jerked her away and shoved her aside. “Touch me again, and I will break your hand.”
“If you don’t go back, I will have to report you. And believe me, you don’t want to be reported for starting a brawl in the dorm.”
“Fuck you,” I snarled, turning my attention back to Eva. “You should not have done that. You should not have touched the pendant.”
“Jewellery is not allowed in this school,” Irene interrupted once again, being the annoying bitch that she was. “Anything found can be confiscated.”
“Guess I did something good then.” Eva laughed, turning to Irene. “What do you say, Irene?”
Whatever happened next was a blur for me.
One minute they were bitching and laughing, and in the next, Irene was on the floor. I had shoved her so hard that she landed on her ass and stayed out of my way.
Next, I punched Eva in the face. My fist collided with her cheeks with a satisfying sound as her blood-curdling scream almost summoned the devil from hell.
By now, we were surrounded by a ring of gasping and screaming bunch of girls. A giant fight broke out, and there was chaos everywhere. I tried to take another shot at Eva, but someone pushed me. As a result, my face crashed into the hard wood of the door as I tasted the immediate tang of blood.
I retaliated.
Someone shrieked.
Then another person tried to separate the three of us.
I didn’t care how many people I’d have to fight today, and I didn’t care as long as I could beat the hell out of her.

**GABRIEL**


Normally, this was the perfect time for my prayers. The school got over by four, and by now, the students were back to their dorms. Only a few stayed back for confessional, and that was usually taken care of by Father Lucas.
It meant that I could peacefully sit in the church and connect with God.
But today was different.
The pin-drop silence was broken by the frantic footfalls of a woman, and even before I had turned, I knew it was my assistant, Anna.
“Oh, good, you are here,” she puffed and panted, waiting for me to rise on my knees.
I slowly made the sign of the cross, forced to break my prayers and turned around with mild irritation.
“I apologise, but it is an emergency, Father.”
In an all-girls boarding school full of rich brats, the definition of ‘emergency’ was different. But I still gave a patient hearing. “What is it, Anna?”
“We have a problem. A fight broke out on the third-floor dorm. And the girls…” Anna wrapped a hand around her stomach, trying to normalise her breathing efforts.
“The girls?”
“Yes.” She nodded frantically. “Well, three of them. They are not exactly injured but have suffered only minor cuts and bruises. So, I had them sent to the infirmary for the first aid.”
My mind revolved around one name — the only name that I could think of. I simply hoped that I was wrong.
“Give me the names.”
And as I have rightfully guessed, the very first name was *hers*.

****

I didn’t wait for another word and marched out of the church and towards the infirmary. Evidently, Anna followed. She tried her level best to keep up with my speed, but I was too distracted to slow down for her sake.
When I reached, the first pair of eyes that clashed with mine was the nurse’s. Hattie was a kind woman in her fifties but having served in the army for years gave her an edge of steel in her demeanour that she solely reserved for some unruly students.
“Father Sullivan.” Irene Hutchins gaped from her lying position on the bed and tried to get up. By the looks of it, she was hardly injured.
“You stay there, Missy.” Hattie tossed her a stern look and pinned her back to the place. Then she resumed her work on Miss Porter’s hand.
My gaze scanned the place, looking for that one face that superseded them all. And there she was, sitting isolated at the corner of the nurse’s office in her slightly torn uniform.
For a second, I could not recognise Sienna. Not that she was severely injured, but the way she messed up hair covered her face and how quietly she sat, it was disturbing. The fire in her has turned into ash. And I only wondered what had transpired in the last one hour to cause such a change.
“Good evening, Father,” Hattie muttered, all the while cutting and sizing the gauze. “What can I do for you?”
I cleared my throat. “How bad is it?”
Hattie shrugged. “Oh, nothing more, a few scratches. It will heal in about a day or two.”
“A few scratches?” Miss Hutchins gaped dramatically and sneered at Sienna. “She pushed me, and I hurt my head! Oh, my God. I almost had a concussion.”
Given the way she whined, I highly doubted it.
“Young lady, if you had a concussion, trust me, you wouldn’t be able to spell the word,” Hattie scoffed, looking over her glasses.
“I don’t even know what came over her!” added Miss Porter. “She is like a psycho. Cursing and attacking everyone around her for no reason whatsoever. Even her dorm mates do not want to speak to her. If Irene weren’t there for me today, she would have probably killed me.”
While I refrained from rolling the eyes, Hattie showed no such restraint. She snorted and then arched a brow at her. “Nobody ever died of a black eye and bleeding nail beds, girl.”
A few weeks back, Harper had already given me a faint outline about the rivalry between these three, and from Miss Porter’s history, I already knew that she had a history with Sienna.
“There, you are nicely patched up,” Hattie said and motioned her to empty the seat. “Let’s see what story we have here now. C’mon, you are next, girl.”
She beckoned Sienna, who was stiffly rooted to her spot. Not a single muscle in her body moved. Something about her behaviour was off.
“Missy, I said you are next,” Hattie tried again in her typically stern tone and yet there was no movement.
“Nurse, these two are discharged and good to go?” I asked, pointing at Irene and Eva. I had a strong feeling Sienna would not come out of her shell in their presence.
As pissed as I was with her, I needed her to receive the medical care first. Her punishment would have to wait.
“Oh, yeah. There are free to go back,” Hattie dismissed.
I looked over my shoulder at Anna, who was standing at the doorway. “Escort Miss Hutchins and Miss Porter back to their dorms. And put out a notice that no one should be leaving their rooms before dinner. If any girl breaks the curfew or even step out of line today, she will be directed to report to my office first thing tomorrow morning. Make it clear to them.”
“I will, Father.” She nodded and then beckoned the girls to follow her out. “Let’s go.”
“Is she going to come back to the dorm as well?” Eva asked, jumping to her feet. “Oh, my God. I can’t sleep like this. What if she attacks me again? Who’s going to save me?”
Irene piped in. “Eva’s right. She’s completely unhinged and—”
“Leave!” I roared, making them jump and quick to comply.
“And one more thing,” I called out when they turned. “I will see both of you in my office right after tomorrow’s Mass. Do not be late.”
Two heads nodded in unison and then left.
Hattie sighed audibly and regarded me with her pursed lips. “Gabriel, I am going to need some help here.” Her gaze shifted to the isolated corner.
Without a word, I prowled over to Sienna in a flash, seizing by the fistful of hair and hauled her to Hattie. Only then, my eyes locked with hers, and what I saw would have haunted me beyond an eternity.
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***I am posting back-to-back chapters as I will be taking a small break at the end of the week. Please let me know of your thoughts about the chapter.***