The bells rang for second service. Birds flew overhead in large flocks. The bells of the church echoed throughout the Abbey — two chimes — birds who had settled in the trees launched into flight as the leaves were rattled by the bell.

Corvina sat with Leora fast asleep on her lap. As planned, the girl had been very easy to push toward more of the remedy. All it took was a little convincing, a little threat of losing Corvina, and failing the Lord.

Leora was letting her guard down around Corvina more and more. The fact that she had come to the office today intending on getting Corvina’s help indicated that. Soon she would be ready for the next steps but for now, Corvina was simply fanning the flames.

It was easy for Corvina to tell that Leora enjoyed being around her. Combined with Leora’s lack of sleep, the girl’s senses were being clouded and obscured. When Corvina noticed doubt or fear in Leora’s eyes, she simply had to dangle herself before Leora to tempt her. Love was so very easy to manipulate.

Corvina did love the young girl, from the moment she laid eyes on Leora she felt a pang in her spirit. A deep connection that went back eons. As such, her motives were greater than simple romance.

Each time they met she had another opportunity to burn a little more of Leora’s psyche. With each piece that broke away there was left more room for devotion. It would only get easier after today.

As her Superior it was not difficult to bury seeds in Leora’s mind. Seeds that were soon to bloom. Naturally, like all seeds, it was incredibly important to keep them watered and healthy. With praise and a little manipulation, she was bound to bloom into a beautiful harvest.

Corvina gently ran her nails along the budding horns on Leora’s head. She was sprouting already.

Corvina had been watching her progress very closely and influenced it only when necessary. Leora had to do most of the work on her own. It would make it that much more effective and that much more difficult to escape.

For example, Leora’s addiction to the remedy was her own choice and that made convincing her to take even more child’s play. The demonic influence was causing visions and, based on Leora’s expressions and flushed skin each time her eyes glazed over, they were becoming increasingly depraved.

Corvina wondered how long it would take before she let her consciousness fall into the visions - and how she would feel about what happened in reality while she was gone.

The poor girl had been losing memories for months. Old memories burned away, and new ones were formed. It was the one of the few active roles Corvina took. She shaped and altered Leora’s memories by having control over her candle. Leora had been convinced that her new sinful sexuality had always been there, that her family hated her.

That Corvina had saved her.

With each searing gaze and each sinful act, she lost more of her memories and more of her psyche to the flames. By the time she realized what was happening, if she ever did, Leora’s psyche would be permanently crushed.

The blood vow Leora gave to the journal was a pivotal step to her transformation and Corvina had been eagerly anticipating it. She knew that Leora would not be able to resist the lure of knowledge. The book had been lying in wait as a trap for decades waiting for the perfect candidate.

Leora was the chosen one.

There was one major obstacle, however; for Leora to fully bloom, Corvina needed her to be desperate. She had to have nowhere to go but to Corvina’s arms. Corvina had to cut her off from all sources of support and in Leora’s darkest deepest pain, create something new.

Corvina closed her eyes and held her hand above Leora’s sleeping face. She reached inside her mind and felt for the girl’s dreams. She searched through the ashes and the black liquid of the remedy and found the core of her.

Leora was dreaming about her time before the convent. The village where Corvina found her. She was walking with her younger sister to collect some produce for their mother. Corvina had already burned away memories of her family, but this was the first time she had access to Leora’s sister.

She exerted some pressure on the girl’s dream, setting the image of her sister alight in her mind. Leora’s sleeping brow furrowed in concern; her body twitched. Corvina could feel the fear inside as she began erasing Leora’s sister from her existence.

Corvina released the hold she had on Leora’s mind. It would take a few attempts to remove her completely, just like the other memories, and as such needed to stop the process for today. Corvina had practiced on enough girls to know that destroying the memories in a single session took a toll on their minds.

She had enough puppets at her disposal. Leora was destined for more.

She gently lifted the sleeping girl’s head and replaced her lap with a pillow. Regretfully, she had to update some other members of the church on the progress of the Abbey and thus had to sit at her desk to write. She lowered herself onto her desk chair and gazed down at the blank page before her, hatred in her eyes.

In her time as the Abbess of Sacred Night, Corvina had done her best to become as independent of the Church as possible. The connection to the Church proper still had to be maintained in order to keep appearances, but they didn’t have any true sway over her Abbey.

She held a certain pride in her chest for the work she had put into making the Abbey hers. She had spent a significant amount of time and energy curating the perfect lambs to induct into Sacred Night. She dipped her pen into her inkwell and started writing.

‘Father Julio,

May this missive find you in good health.

Since you inquired into the status of Sacred Night. The Abbey is thriving under my guidance. The Lord has blessed us with good weather and health. My children have been devoted to the Lord and his word, and their sins and missteps have been adequately punished.

I am pleased with my girls and the Abbey. I expect a good harvest in the fall.

Corvina returned the pen to her inkwell as she thought to herself. In the last letter she had received, Julio was inquiring as to when they could come visit the Abbey. Ordinarily, even in convents, high-ranking officials from the Church would visit to give sermons and ensure that the Abbess was keeping the faith.

Her distaste for men was only topped by her distaste for Church officials. When she took over the Abbey she had to deal with many people in positions of power who did everything they could to belittle her.

Every single pathetic attempt failed. She refused to bend the knee to the superiors of the Church and they knew not to try. However, new men and women were placed into power on a regular basis. The elders were old and sickly and their passing left room for new filth to take their places.

Julio was one of the new filth. He had been trying to get her to bend the knee and follow protocol as of late and Corvina wasn’t going to let him get away with it. She had to ensure that no one from the Church would visit the Abbey to check on her and the sisters, lest they corrupt the convent’s minds.

She had worked very hard to shape and mould their minds into a shape that Corvina was proud of. The last thing she wanted was to scrap decades of work because one man did not trust that she was running the Abbey well.

With regards to your request to visit:

Please consult your superiors on the history of the Sacred Night. We live in self-sufficient isolation. I have set a strict schedule every day that each and every sister in my care must follow. To have a visitor of the opposite sex in the Abbey would confuse them. I assure you that your sermons would be unnecessary repetition.

You can trust that the work I am doing here is up to the code and goals set out by the Lord’s word and the Church’s will.

God has been on my side, guiding my hand. We pay our tithes, and then some, always on time. Under my command the Abbey has thrived and I shall not have any one soul jeopardize it in a thinly-veiled attempt to undermine me.

It was harsh, but Corvina had to make a point. Each time a new boy joined seemingly filled with limitless energy to meddle, she had put the fear of God in them in order to ensure the safety of Sacred Night. In the end, they all broke the same way: Under Corvina’s heel.

Stay away from the Sacred Night or face the wrath of the Lord. You are not welcome here.

Corvina looked over at the fast asleep Leora and smiled. She had to complete the tasks she had set in motion and nothing would stand in her way.

Not even Lucille. The useless girl had done her task well enough — give the drug to Leora and push her towards sin. However, they had become too close to one another. Leora and Lucille needed to be separated.

Corvina thought for a moment. She could destroy their friendship by altering Leora’s memories… but Lucille was stubborn and far too kind. She would find a way to win Leora back. No, she needed something more drastic.

It was soon time to give Leora the final push and in her mind a plan formed.

With a smirk on her lips, she turned back to the page and decided she had nothing else to write to Julio, or at least nothing befitting of her nun appearances, and finished off the letter.

May the Lord God bless you.

Sincerely,

Sister Superior A. Corvina

Sacred Night Abbey