"Look over there, dear. I'm checking this side." Sister Beth instructed as she looked over dusty, old book shelves. Valery searched the other side of the room, going through equally old shelves. They were at the archives, but not the main ones. These were the "really old" archives, mostly containing documents that weren't relevant anymore or somehow outdated. It was an abandoned room in the basement, no one ever went there, Sister Beth was the only one that had the keys.
Valery hated the dust, or the fact she had to look for some old document among horribly decayed folders. She was sure she had seen some bugs between folders here and there, creeping back into darkness to avoid her. An expression of disgust was permanently stuck to her face during the search. "There is nothing here, we should just go back upstairs." Protested the girl. Sister Beth responded without even turning to look at Valery. "Keep searching, we were told to find out more about that room and what is going on in this school, and that is what we'll do."
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Valery continued. She was now Sister Beth's personal assistant, as requested by the nun herself. After the incident with Mary in the locker room it became clear Valery, Julie and Renata needed close supervision. All the Sister had to do was convince Mother Grace and the other nuns to keep Valery under her watch all the time. Now, after lunch each day, Valery was stuck with Sister Beth, helping her with the shores.
While searching the old archives Sister Beth reflected on the task Kristanna gave her. The room from last night was indeed strange. It had always been locked since Beth joined the school years ago. Then there was the unusual layout. Soundproof walls, no windows, and that hole in the wardrobe with handles above it. According to the most current version of the school blueprints nothing stood out about that room. But it was clearly different, which meant someone hid it on purpose. The cover-up only enhanced the nun's curiosity, admittedly she hadn't been excited about anything in a long time. In fact, if one thing the contact with Kristanna had reignited in Sister Beth a passion she had forgotten was even there.
Now the nun patiently searched for the old blueprints of the building. Maybe an older version would contain some relevant information. However, finding anything in this mess was proving itself to be harder than she thought. The last hour of inspection through the archives had been unsuccessful. The nun knew she didn't have much time before having to return to her regular activities. But she was determined to at least bring something back. She couldn't disappoint her angel!
A few minutes passed, they were almost giving up the search. Raising a hand, Valery called Sister Beth over. She placed a folder on the single small table at the center of the room. "Is this what you wanted?" The folder was labeled "School layout and Plans". As they opened it, several papers were glued to each other, this hadn't been opened in a long time. The paint was feint and the sheets had that distinct yellow tint indicating their age. One of the sheets contained a map. It wasn't exactly the blueprint they had been looking for, clearly it had been drawn by hand without exact measurements. It was more like a detailed sketch of the entire school.
Looking over the map Sister Beth could see the common areas, the courtyard, all the hallways, the orchard. Details on the map that were wrong or had changed revealed its age. The main chapel label was placed on what now is known as "The Old Chapel", a much smaller and simpler building. The current main chapel was already in the map, but labeled as "New Main Chapel". Seemed like it was in the plans to be built when the map was drawn.
Several other areas were mismatching the current layout of the Camp, but Sister Beth had no time now to focus on them. Her eyes were drawn to the room labeled "Headmaster's office" where Mother Grace worked currently. Also the room that was today Sister Beth's office was branded "Grace's office". It seemed like before becoming Headmistress, Grace had the function Sister Beth has now. She checked her own room in the map and confirmed that it was branded "Grace's room". Next to it was the room she was looking for. The title curiously said "My room". Intrigued, the nun's eyes went to the edges of the document in search for the signature of an author to this map. At the bottom right she found "Father Graham."
"Who is Father Graham?" Valery asked. It was as if the girl had simply given a voice to Beth's own thoughts. She shook her head. "I don't know, but I think I know who might." Sister Beth rolled up the map taking it with her. They left, locking the door to the old archives behind them. For the next few hours they went back to their routine, general maintenance of the school, assisting teacher nuns with logistics, making sure everything was ready in the kitchen for dinner tonight.
Sister Beth displayed true leadership skills. She was gentle, listened to all the nuns and novices under her command. Valery watched all of that and felt a newfound admiration for Sister Beth growing inside her. She had seen only the more punishing side of the nun, especially last night. But now there were no signs of that. That whole persona she displayed the night before seemed to have been buried deep, together with those soulless eyes and the inverted pentagram marked on her forehead. How she was able to repress those desires so easily was beyond the young girl's understanding. But somehow she did, the good Sister during the day, and the "cleanser" at night.
Just before heading off to dinner, Sister Beth went to the main chapel, Valery followed her as usual. They walked on the outer side of the benches, now empty. Their steps echoed through the high ceiling of the mess hall, reflecting on the marble and glass acoustic chamber. "Wait here". Sister Beth commanded, asking Valery to stop several feet away from the confession booth.
The nun went inside and knelt. She could see through the wooden fence the outline of an elder nun. Sister Beth blessed herself and spoke quietly as usual. "Sister Fatima?" The voice from inside the confessionary then responded, with a clearly tired voice, showing her age. "Yes, dear. What afflicts you today?"
"Today I don't come here to confess, Sister. But to ask for guidance."