Ione quickly made her way off the roof once she realized it was time to leave. Her ponderings over the future provided little comfort, other than the occasional excitement about getting stronger, and not the responsibility she had all but forced on herself because she cared too much.

She used a combination of movement and awareness skills to make it back to the dorm room in record time. Ione speedily stashed the cloak into the chest and hopped into bed, heart pounding with adrenaline of what was to come.

Not too long later had she heard the patter of footsteps make their way to the room, the door opened, and Sannie’s voice echoed off the walls, “Ione, how are you feeling?”

Ione turned her body over and looked at Sannie, her flushed cheeks and glittering eyes indicated sickness, even though it was just adrenaline, and before she could respond Sannie said, “You will be up at 7am sharp tomorrow to make up for today, we will not develop bad habits,” Her peers filed into the room and Sannie continued, “the rest of you will get up at 9:30, not a minute more, or less. Now, get ready for bed. You have 10 minutes,” she ordered.

With a slow turn, Ione decided to stare at the spiders, their beady eyes almost dared her to snap and do something she would regret. However, she wouldn't. Couldn't. She had self control.

She would wait.

She should wait.

Ione felt rage like she had never felt it before. The woman fucked with her sleep schedule and singled her out in front of everyone. Ain't no way she was going to let this infraction go. Fuck that. Yet, Ione decided to test her. To see if Sannie wasn't this caricature she was making herself out to be.

“Sannie, can you heal me?” Ione called out. “I really don’t feel so good.”

“No, you are strong enough to fight it on your own. If I helped with every cut, bruise and sickness I would never have time for anything else. You’ll survive.”

Yeah, but you won’t.

Sannie was going to die tonight if Ione could help it.

~~~~~

Night soon arrived and Ione was left the only one awake. She had laid in bed hours after everyone else had gone to sleep to think about what she was going to do and to ensure as little things went wrong as possible. It would do her no good getting caught by a wandering nun, or Sannie not being asleep upon her arrival. Moonlight filtered through the filmy curtains, giving ample enough light to see.

Ione activated [Prey Sense], and decided to get up and do a dance. No one looked at her so she was good to go. She quietly plucked the pencil from its hiding place, grabbed her pillow and fastened her cloak over her shoulders. As Ione adjusted the hood of her mantle, she left the sleeping girls behind and activated all the needed skills, [Spatial Awareness] taking the forefront once again. She placed the pillow under her cloak and used her belt to fasten it to her person; she didn't want to lose it just in case they had evidence crystals- if those even existed.

This time she went outside and was greeted with a few nuns patrolling in the distance, holding lanterns that directed the glow in front of them, almost akin to flashlights, and Ione made sure to hug the wall, her [Stealth], [Camouflage] and [Prey Sense] greatly helped in avoiding detection as she was shrouded in shadow by the the outer wall.

She eventually made it to the anticipated wall. Ione was so close she could taste victory on her tongue, and with a few leaps and pulls she was at the window. She peeked inside.

Sannie’s tawny hair spilled across her pillow; she laid on her side as she faced the window and long lashes fluttered in sleep. Her face scrunched briefly before settling back into relaxation.

Ione wondered what she was dreaming about.

Probably dreaming about how she’s gonna punish me, the old twat.

With a gentle push, the window opened and Ione slinked inside, being incredibly careful to not make any noise, and faced Sannie.

Ione imagined a scenario where she would act the villain and ask if Sannie had any last words, but that would be incredibly stupid. Although it was fun to imagine Sannie knowingly getting her just desserts, it was best for all involved to have this happen as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Intrusive thoughts are a bitch.

With that, Ione angled her left hand, wanting to hit in the direction the brain would be in, and quickly shoved the pencil through Sannie’s ear canal. She heard a crack as blood spurted out and swirled the writing utensil around while her right hand swiped the pillow to hold over Sannie’s face, creating an unholy sandwich of pencil, head, and pillow.

Sannie’s body convulsed while muffled sounds of agony emanated from behind the cushion, her hands tried to clutch at Ione as she pushed the pencil deeper until eventually only an inch of the end stuck out.

It was maybe 5 seconds before the woman's body went still. Her chest was still. The air was still and silence reigned save for Ione’s breathing. As if the entire world stopped to truly take in the actions the little girl executed. She gently removed the pillow and saw Sannies’ opened, unseeing eyes. Her visage was a mask of pain.

Ew. Gross.

With clinical detachment, she attempted to pry the pencil out of her ear; the blood made it slippery, but Ione eventually had a good enough grip to drag the sharp end across Sannies’ jugular. Blood poured from the wound, drenching the already stained white bed in more sanguine ichor.

Always gotta double-tap.

She was surprised the pencil came out in one piece, but she wouldn't be surprised if there were some graphite fragments in her head. She knew she bypassed the skull, but she wasn't sure if she hit the brain. She didn't vigorously twirl it for nothing.

Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Kill Sister Sannie in 6 hours or less

You have received double the rewards. Check your inbox to review

Ione grinned while she vacated Sannie’s room. The adrenaline caused her to nearly shake. Her first completed quest and with double the rewards; she could hardly believe it. She wondered how the experience would show up in her status page, but she wouldn't check anything until she was safely back in bed, with a new pillow and no murder weapon.

I killed someone.

The forest called to her, and so she answered. She quickly ran into its darkened depths to avoid detection. She reached an area even she didn’t recognize and quickly dug a hole into the earth with her hands, flinging dirt and forest debris around her. This was just a band aid solution; she would eventually burn both, but all she really wanted to do was sleep and she didn't have the time to commit arson.

A thinking, breathing person.

She buried the items and then stood up. While she would like to put an identifying marker, she knew there would most likely be someone who also has a tracking skill. No doubt someone would come to investigate, so she continued to run around the forest, making as many tracks as she could before heading back. She wanted to get to the bathroom as quickly as possible to wash the blood and dirt off her hands.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

I….killed someone.

Once she reached the forest line she peeked around, noticing a couple of meandering nuns, but nothing out of the ordinary. She had to get to safety.

I’m a murderer.

She arrived at the bathroom, and took off her cloak. Ione peered into the mirror in front of her. White fuzzy hair poofed out around her childish and yet elven face; raised ridges on her cheekbones and forehead, pointed ears jutted out while blank gray eyes stared back at her.

She held her dirty, bloody hands in front of her and her eyes flickered down.

And stared.

And stared.

And stared.

Her hands held a tremor, and she quickly shook them out and then clenched them into fists while breathing deeply. Then, she started to pace.

Okay. So yeah. I killed someone. Big deal, right? I mean she had it coming, right? She abused kids. She took pleasure in it! That means she definitely had to die. It was a moral responsibility, I had to do it.

Ione continued to rationalize it.

She was a mean bitch and traumatized little kids for fun. It was for the greater good. It had to be. It was the right thing.

Fuck! She felt her chest clench painfully and endured a prickling sensation behind her eyes until it went away. She wouldn't cry.

She grabbed some soap and set to scrubbing, her hands turning raw from how much force she was using.

Her breathing increasingly intensified until she was hyperventilating, whirling herself into one of the toilet stalls to throw up. Immediately, she felt better.

There. All I needed was a quick throw up, no biggie.

Stomach still turning, she finished washing her hands, then face, and dried both, once again looking into the mirror.

Those same dead gray eyes stared back.

She closed them and turned away, making her way to the linen room and grabbed a new pillow. Sneakily heading to the boys' dormitory linen room, she put her bloody cloak in the hamper with theirs, sadly knowing that seeing blood on them wouldn’t rouse any suspicion. She grabbed a clean one and then went back to the girls' dorm room.

After carefully putting the clean cloak into the trunk, she then crawled into bed, her small form shivering with the weight of her actions.

Tomorrow will be a new day. Tomorrow, things will change.

It was a long time before she went to sleep.

~~~~~

Ione slowly woke up as she heard hushed whispering coming from across the room.

She decided to ignore that for a moment in favor of looking at the new tabs on her status screen.

INBOX

Blanket of Warmth and Vitality x 2

500 EXP x 2

20 attribute points x 2

Accept Rewards?

She decided to accept the EXP and attribute points. Ione wasn't sure where the EXP or attribute points would go, yet she assumed they went into some sort of holding bank. There was no way she would put the blankets anywhere in this place; they would either get stolen, confiscated and more so investigated, and at this point, they simply weren't needed. So she was going to use the INBOX as a pseudo backpack for now.

Two lines changed in her status page.

Class: locked [EXP bank: 1,000 EXP]

Attributes (40 points available)

She blinked, rubbed at her bleary eyes and sat up. The confirmation that she could farm for EXP before getting a class was brow-raising. While she suspected this would happen, the confirmation was nice. She decided to wait to use her attributes, deciding that once she gets her class then she could decide which to focus on.

Ione eventually looked at the gaggle of girls that crouched near the door, voices hushed in excited whispers.

One of them noticed Ione and quickly gestured for her to come over. Ione, ever curious, walked over and lowered herself, whispering, “what’s going on?” Some of the other girls glanced at her, but then looked to Fellis to explain.

“Mother Belan came to our room this morning to tell us that classes were canceled today. Something happened to Sister Sannie!” Their excitement was palpable and Ione could barely hold in her laugh.

If only they knew.

Ione's brows raised. “Something happened to Sannie? Did she say what?”

Fellis shook her head, curly red hair swaying, “Nope. So we’ve just been talkin’ about what could have happened. Obvia thinks Sannie had to go to her evil dungeon in the mine caverns and she got trapped and I think a monster got Sannie! She’s always mean to everybody. She woulda been mean to a monster and it killed her! That must have happened.” She confidently nodded.

A monster indeed.

Gnavine spoke up, “Well I think that Sannie fell down a cliff. And now she’s dead!”

A chorus of claps filled the room. Ione looked on with amusement.

“Oh! I bet she went to see her family. And they killed her cause they hated her!” supplied Hayna.

The group laughed. Ione thought it was a little morbid, but she felt she didn't have the right to speak on that topic. Although there was something she wanted to ask.

“Would you guys really be okay if she were dead?”

A chorus of ‘yups’, ‘yeses’, and ‘hmhmms’ filled her ears. She knew children weren't the beacons of morality, but in a way, she was glad they were happy nonetheless. It was almost as if she was seeking validation that what she did was okay.

“So are we just locked in the room for today?” asked Ione.

“Yup yup!” Fellis answered.

“Okay, well,” Ione clapped her hands on her knees and stood up, “on that note i'm going back to bed.”

The girls giggled, but offered pleasantries as Ione crawled under her covers.

Sleep came much faster

~~~~~

Ione woke up again to someone shaking her.

It was Fellis.

“Ione, are you hungry? It’s lunch-time now and you slept through breakfast.” Fellis looked worried.

Ione yawned and slowly got out of bed, Fellis watched her every movement, “yeah, I’ll join for lunch.” She stretched and gestured to Fellis, “lead the way.”

Fellis gave an excited smile, mischievousness hidden within her yellow eyes.

Ione became suspicious. For multiple reasons.

“Why was I allowed to sleep so long and why do you look like that?” Ione asked.

“Look like what?” Fellis responded with an innocent look.

“You’re just going to ignore my first question? Also, like you know something I don't.”

“Maybe,” was all the little girl offered with a sly curl of her mouth.

Oh Christ.

Ione’s lips thinned and she refused to engage, letting the silence fill the space until Fellis broke it.

“Okay! Okay, I'll tell you,” she shot Ione an annoyed look, “I was gonna wait to tell you in front of everyone, but you just…you…okay, anyways, Sannie is dead!”

Ione dropped her jaw in false surprise, “no way!”

Fellis vigorously nodded her head, “Sister Coranne came to our room after you went back to bed to tell us that she had died in her sleep,” mumbling to herself, she added, “how boring.”

“In her sleep?”

“Yes! She went to bed and then died,” Fellis paused, “Ione…what if that happens to me?” She suddenly looked nervous.

“Well, Sannie was kinda old, and you’re young, you’ll be okay. Just don't be mean to others; treat others how you want to be treated, and you'll live a long life.”

Fellis nodded, “I’ll never be like Sannie. I’ll never grow old and I’ll always be nice!”

Ione smiled and laughed, “that's the spirit!”

The red-haired girl shot her a grin and skipped ahead, prompting Ione to skip with her until they reached the cafeteria.

“Wait, so why was I allowed to sleep then?”

Fellis pointed towards someone.

Coranne was sitting down amongst the children, smiling and laughing. Excited chattering filled what was supposed to be a somber atmosphere and Ione smiled. So it was Coranne’s doing that allowed Ione to sleep, leaving the tired elven girl alone. Affection bloomed in her chest.

“Sister Coranne is going to be our new teacher! Isn't that amazing?” Fellis squealed with excitement.

Coranne noticed the two girls standing at the entrance and gestured them over with a grin that beamed from ear to ear.

“Yeah, that really is amazing.” Ione’s eyes twinkled.