Kyle had that twisting feeling like his intestines had just formed a knot. He knew very well who those footsteps belonged to and whose voice that was, so the second the doors opened, he was expecting the worst.
A mid–early to late–sixties woman stood outside, and with her were two young sisters who, from the way they were so frightened, it was obvious that they were new recruits. The woman was Prudence. Prudence didn't just look like an innocent nun—everything about her was evil and cruel; even her presence made those who were lower than her fear her.
Prudence wore glasses—those glasses whose lenses changed colour. When she was inside they would be clear, and if she was outside under the sunlight they would change and become shade black. Kyle wasn't as afraid of Prudence as he used to be when he was still young.
But from the way Prudence shouted and screamed on the other side of the office, the person Kyle was afraid for was Sister Nancy, because she was just a sweet and innocent person. Under the wrath of Prudence, it was either Nancy would be quiet or become like her.
So Kyle continued eating like nothing had happened. This was his fourth plate, and the other plates were stacked on top of the office desk.
Prudence's eyes pierced through Kyle and he felt them do that. Instead of shivering or doing anything, Kyle just kept eating and took a sip of his glass of milk like nothing happened.
Sister Nancy was standing by the door—not because she was keeping guard or anything like that, but because she was traumatized by the sight she found Kyle in. From standing behind, she could see the scars all the way up to his neck.
Prudence just gave Sister Nancy a look, and Sister Nancy felt herself squeak involuntarily. She retracted her eyes and looked the other direction.
Prudence walked in and went straight to Kyle, who was so focused on his food more than anything. She came and stood behind him and spun the chair he was sitting in around, since it was one of those office spinning chairs.
Kyle faced her holding his plate; he just looked at her and finished eating that spoon of food.
Prudence felt disrespected—or maybe embarrassed—but whatever it was between those two, all she did next was hit the plate from Kyle's hands and it fell on the mat. Kyle didn't react. He continued and took his glass of milk and drank it all. Before Prudence could slap the glass out of his hand and make it fall, luckily it didn't break.
Kyle and Prudence locked eyes. Kyle had yet to swallow the milk in his mouth when Prudence slapped him so hard Kyle literally spewed milk from both his nose and mouth.
Kyle was now facing down. He didn't even bother to check or touch his cheek, because he knew that if he ever did that things could be much worse for him.
"Who told you to eat, huh? And who made you that food? And most importantly, who let you out of your room, huh?" Prudence's voice was so cold and vile.
Kyle didn't bother to answer her right away. Witnessing this, Sister Nancy wanted to come to the rescue and confess everything, but the two sisters stopped her.
"No, he deserves what's coming to him," one of them said with a smile.
Kyle decided to finish this once and for all. He lifted his head up and looked at Sister Nancy and saw that the sisters were holding her, which meant that she didn't just stand there and watch idly—she had tried to come to his rescue.
"Don't make me ask again and repeat myself once again. Who told you to eat and who made that food for you?" her voice was cold, distant, and vile.
"You know me, sister. I'm too smart for my own good, so I snuck out and made myself some food. As you know, I haven't eaten in days," Kyle answered with a smile on his face.
Prudence got even more mad than she was before and ordered one of the new recruit sisters to go and fetch her whip. The one who obeyed that instruction didn't even hesitate—she just ran.
She didn't spend much time. She was back quickly and rushed to hand Prudence her whip. The whip wasn't the kind shepherds used when they herded their animals; it was the kind used back in those days when people's herds were cut using a guillotine.
The whip was long, thick, and looked like it had spikes. When Prudence got it she unrolled it and cracked it a few times at her side. She didn't need to say anything—Kyle already knew what was going to happen next and what he needed to do.
Sister Nancy had been kind enough to find Kyle new, fresh clothes after she had freed him from the cell. She gave him a white T-shirt, khaki shorts, and a pair of sandals.
Now Kyle had to take off that T-shirt and face the other direction, leaving his back—already covered in what looked like a million scars—exposed.
He folded his T-shirt nicely, placed it neatly on his thighs, and waited for the most unbearable and punishing pain.
"Very good. Now you have learnt your lesson; at least that brain of yours is capable of processing something," Prudence said with satisfaction as she busied herself with the whip.
Prudence began to whip Kyle, and the sound the whip made the moment it struck his back was so loud it could be heard by the other sisters who were busy with their own jobs and by other children in their rooms.
The sight of this was too much, and Sister Nancy really fought to free herself from the sisters that held her. She saw that this was all unfair and wanted to do something to stop Prudence, but the sisters were too strong for her.
Though the whips were loud, Kyle was quiet—not because he couldn't feel the pain, but because he chose to man up and bear the pain. He didn't want the other children to hear him cry or scream because that would hurt them.
Prudence was determined, and every whip that came after the previous one was more painful than the last. From the way she acted, today looked like the day she was really aiming to end Kyle once and for all.
It's unclear how long this beating had gone on, but Sister Nancy was really having a hard time watching.
She was screaming, crying, and begging Prudence to stop.
"No, please sister, please stop what you are doing! He's still a child—he doesn't deserve this punishment!"
"This is no child. This thing is a beast, and from where I'm from, beasts need to be slain and put down!" Prudence said while whipping Kyle.
Luckily, the beating came to an end—not by choice but because it was disrupted by the arrival of the new priest, who was to take over the reigns and succeed the old priest, Priest Macallan, who had retired.
The new priest was making his way up to his new office. With him were new sisters who would be his assistants.
His name was Priest Thymes, and he wasn't that old. He was still very young, and for someone who was a priest he looked handsome, with golden hair, green eyes, beautiful skin, and a model's face.
Actually, he looked more like an action star than a priest. He was talking and, not that he wasn't aware of the loud sounds, he just didn't think about it much—he was distracted.
One of the sisters saw them coming and closed the door quickly.
"Why are you closing the door? I want all the kids of this orphanage to know that whenever they act like him this would be their punishment," Prudence said, having stopped whipping Kyle.
"I'm sorry, sister, but I think I just saw the new priest coming this way," the recruit reported.
"The new priest—but wasn't he supposed to come on Wednesday, which is tomorrow?" Prudence was confused.
No one answered. Prudence and the sisters knew that if this were to get out and the church they were under found out what they were actually doing to the children, it would be over for them.
"What do you suggest we do, sister? Should we stall them while you finish up with this mess?" one of the new recruit sisters asked.
Prudence didn't know what to do. For the first time she was actually trembling because she was worried—she had been so reckless that she was almost caught.
"Sister?" the recruit called.
"Ship up! I'm still thinking," Prudence snapped.
She paced up and down; she was already covered in the blood that belonged to Kyle, because in her eyes, beating him was like playing a game she loved most.
She stopped pacing up and down.
"Alright—this is what we are going to do."