You might be wondering why there are nuns existing in a world setting like hers. They are a group of religious demons, witches, and humans who are blinded by light—the ways of the holy angels that keep this forbidden realm of demons and witches in check.
Rumor has it that the humans here were born after dying from where they originally came from—to suffer and be punished until they die and get reborn, over and over, until the day all their sins have been fully accounted for. Only then can they be allowed into Heaven.
They are Light bearers chosen by the angels, kept aside for the purpose of righteousness—to lead the punished mortals closer to being redeemed in a much quicker way through belief. Belief in the angels and that sin was a terrible thing, and the demons were wrong for rebelling.
The nuns were meant to show love in a loveless realm. They were the ones that paid the most taxes because they were not in alignment with the system and ways of the ruling race: demons.
They had it harder in this wicked realm than the girls gathered around the table to eat breakfast.
The nuns moved around each table for a head count and made sure every girl was participating in the holy prayer that blessed their meal and made it more acceptable in the eyes of the angels.
"...Amen."
They concluded, and everyone's eyes drifted to the head nun at the table—a demoness who believed so much in the angels, rejecting the ways of her people with peak disgust. A small head nod from her encouraged everyone at different tables to begin their regular meal of soup and bread.
Since the royal family forbade any nun from having any substantial source of income, the sisters here lived on volunteer work and the donations they received from other wealthy families in strong support of the light.
They had to be economical with what they had, and at times, the nuns would go hungry so every abandoned child in their care was well-fed.
The other sisters resorted to breastfeeding the babies and spoon-feeding those who weren't yet old enough to eat. Eve stared down at her meal strangely, with zero appetite. Her blue eyes zoning in and out of her meal, and she couldn't think of her mouth being strong enough to accommodate anything other than water.
Is my condition already progressing further than this? Or has my expiration date jumped a few months back in time? She pondered silently.
Eve let out a heavy sigh and tried not to ruin anyone's appetite at the table by crying. The nuns had already made it pretty clear never to let anyone else know about her condition. She was apparently born with it—with no name—and it started to manifest in her life the moment she was old enough to call herself a woman.
"No one is allowed to join in the Devil God celebration happening tonight."
Silence took over the noisy dining room that stank heavily of wood and staleness instead of food. Eve wondered why this rule always shocked everyone. It wasn't like the head sister had ever allowed them to participate in the worship of the Devil God before here in Hell, and she was now stopping them from doing so this year again.
Eve's baby blue eyes wandered around and noticed no one really had a problem with it—except Maya, Kira, and Gwen, who looked to have more up their sleeves than they were letting anyone know about.
"To preserve our redemption, we would not participate in the unholy acts, traditions, and ways of the demons."
The head sister said that strangely, like she wasn't a demon herself. Her firm red eyes observed each of them to make sure her words sank deeper into each of their skulls so no one would make a mistake that might taint their redemption from this wicked place.
"Anyone in this room that dares to indulge is more than welcome to leave this place and fend for themselves," she said, rising to her feet—making both Maya, Kira, and Gwen stare more at the demoness with silent promises of rebellion.
It made Eve more curious to know what she might have missed when she left their circle yesterday from exhaustion after being ignored for too long.
"Evangeline."
The head sister's strong and powerful voice snapped her out of her thoughts and from moping over her food for too long. Eve stared at the demon with wide, terrified eyes. Not eating at the table that had been feeding you for this long—without once asking for anything in return—could be considered a grave sin, and Eve didn't have the stomach to be rebuked by the head sister herself this very morning.
"You are to come with me. Now." She said before turning around to leave the dining hall.
It took her only a few mini seconds to gather her thoughts before standing up from her seat to follow after the demon.
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She followed closely behind the nun, her hands folded before her as she stared down in thought. There could be a million reasons why the head nun wanted a private meeting with her. Half of those reasons could be bad—or worse—and she only prayed it didn't lead her to do a full week of house chores all by herself. Or worse, picking all the weeds in their front yard for the rest of the month.
"Your appetite has reduced drastically, child," the demoness began as they made their way up the weak wooden stairs to her private place in this big, wooden home of theirs. "Lara was the first to notice and did well to call my attention to it before I saw it with my very eyes at the table this morning."
Eve's lips floundered, not knowing what to say or how to respond to her true observation. Water had been the only thing she could survive on since the beginning of this week, and it was scary to know it was just enough to sustain her—more than the thought of food.
They paused before a small wooden door, and Eve saw the demoness pull out a set of oddly bent keys to open it.
"Your illness… is still yet to be given a name, my child. And I am worried you might be the first to pioneer it in this world… maybe after you die?"
She said, pausing to glance over her shoulder to see how Eve would respond to the thought of dying so soon and young. All Eve could do was gulp down her fate and stare deeper into the ground.
The head nun pushed the door open to let her in first. They stepped into her equally cramped office, which contained bags of rice and millet, well-stored fish and bread, and also close to fifty files and records of the children she had taken upon herself to shelter until the angels fulfilled their promise of redemption.
"It is a very weird one you have within you. And it's sad to see that you have been enduring that parasite for quite some time now, and it has decided to end you—its host—since birth."
She stood before the small wooden table as the head nun settled behind it, her hands folded on the old wooden surface as she stared at her from head to toe.
"You are one of my oldest daughters in this place. And I can't bear watching you die slowly like this. No, the angels wouldn't approve of me."
Eve nodded. It's always about the angels—or not. Everyone lived under the fear of the divine. No one was bold enough to live a moment for themselves.
"That is why I spent most of my savings on a doctor I discovered to be very good at helping rare cases like you. He has been researching your blood and—"
"My blood?" Eve dared to cut her short with a shocked look.
The head nun said nothing but gave her a look that warned her to let her finish before she started questioning how they got her blood for this secret research on her illness—years old or not.
Eve resumed keeping her head low before the slightly displeased nun, her hands instinctively wrapping around herself in horror at the imagination of how they had been getting her blood for experimental research without her knowledge.
"He has been researching the blood we gathered from every one of your sick episodes and vomits."
Eve's stomach churned in repulsion.
"Your fluids have also been put under the microscope for various testing."
Eve wasn't interested in knowing how they got her body fluids to give this doctor.
"He recently found a way to reduce your frequent irritations to things and stop the itchiness under your skin."
Eve's fingernails paused from nonstop scratching on the back of her palms as she raised her head to look at the head nun in disbelief.
"Don't get your hopes too high, as we haven't found a cure yet—but medications you can survive on… you know… until the day you…"
Eve gulped down her saliva as she locked gazes with the nun still.
"…die?"
The head nun nodded at her. "Correct."
A small pouch contained her first medications since her illness had worsened to this stage.
"Take one of these pills a day before the sun goes down, and you will be fine and strong enough to endure this better. You will come here once every week to have that pouch refilled with more pills, and then we will put you under close and tight examination."
Eve stared now at her bag of pills and wondered if this would only make her feel better—or worse than ever before.
"The bottom line is—this pill might have great potential in prolonging your days here in Hell. The day you stop depending on it will mark the day the parasite living in you will stir from its sleep and eat you faster—inside out—than any one of us could catch up in time to save your life."