Page 24 of Sinner
Gloria was out of her bed and ripping the intravenous tubing from her arm. She swayed from side to side, but steadied herself on the bed. She jutted her chin out and avoided Mary’s gaze, then walked, one shaky foot in front of the other.
“Get back in bed, Gloria.” Mary made her way back to Gloria, but Gloria detoured to her desk. She rummaged through the drawer to pull something out: a bottle of Ethanol and a lighter. She poured the flammable liquid onto her desk, and the alcoholic stench filled the air. “I won’t let him get this. It’s not for him. You can take my laptop. Everything you need for the future is in there. One day the children will be smart enough to decipher it.”
Then she set the desk on fire.
“Gloria!” Mary shouted. She raced to the bassinet to retrieve the baby and tucked him into her arms. Thankfully, the boy was asleep. “What are you doing?”
“What I should’ve done a long time ago.” Gloria moved faster than Mary thought possible. She unlocked the door to the children’s living quarters and pushed through, spraying the flammable liquid on the floor, on the walls, everywhere but the children’s beds.
Sweet Mother.
“Out!” Gloria cried. “Everyone out!”
Mary raced in after her. Sister Josephine shot out of her seat, her knitting scattered to the floor. She held her palms in front of her in surrender.
“Dear Gloria, what are you doing?” Sister Josephine asked.
Gloria’s eyes were wild as she picked up a metal cup from the kitchenette and used it to bang loudly on the mirrored window. A horrendous clatter filled the room, waking the children. Some of them cried, others shot out of bed. Then Gloria went to the wall, opened a hidden panel and pulled the Fire Alarm lever, alerting anyone left in the building.
Mary and Sister Josephine ushered the eldest children, Pride, Despair, and Wrath to stand near the door before going back for the younger children. Mary handed the newborn to the eldest, Pride, and told him to wait by the lab exit. The boy was tall. Only seven years old and coming up to her shoulder. Unlike his siblings who had darker hair like their mother, his long russet hair was thick and tarnished, almost like a lion’s mane. But he refused to cut it. He took Envy without a word of complaint and went through to the laboratory. It would all be so new for them. They’d never been outside their living quarters.
“Out. Out children. There is a fire. Through this door.” Mary peered through the laboratory and saw the secure exit door opening. Two unknown guards came rushing in and stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of children running toward them. “Take the baby,” Mary shouted.
“And this one,” Sister Josephine rushed down with the one-year-old girl in her arms. Sloth. Then the Sister rushed back to retrieve the two-year-old toddler, Gluttony, who woke screaming in fear and sucking his thumb between wails. Mary took hold of four-year-old Lust’s hand, then collected the three-year-old boy Greed. Mary hefted him out of his bed and balanced him on her hip. Now, where was Gloria?
She was gone.
