"Let me go !" Shelley was fighting against doctor Arden. His hands were keeping her still while he was undressing. The blonde was unable to move. She was going to be raped. For the first time, she didn't want to have sex, and she was going to be forced to. She screamed for help, eliciting scoffs from the old perv.

"No one can hear you from here, whore. You're just going to get what you deserve."

*

"Grace, I'm going to look for Shelley." Lana whispered to the French girl. "I'm worried."

"Wait, I'm coming !" She quietly followed the reporter out of the common room. They didn't have any trouble exiting, since Frank had fallen asleep after the bath scene. They explored all the wings of the building, dodging the guards and medics, except Arden's one. When they approached his office, the girls could clearly hear Shelley yelling for help. She was trying to fight doctor Arden. She shouted "Rape !" multiple times. The girls wanted to help her, but couldn't do anything : the door was locked. But then, Lana and Grace could hear their friend making fun of him.

"Don't you dare laugh at me." His tone was furious. Shelley spoke again, but the girls couldn't hear what she was saying. All they could perceive was a loud "Shut up !" from Arden, then a sonorous thump.

"I think he knocked her out." Grace was breathing heavily. "What're we gonna do ?"

"We need to figure out what he's up to. And then, tell Sister Jude." Lana explained. "She's the only trustworthy person in this shithole. Plus, she abhors Arden."

The French girl agreed. "You're right. Even Sister Mary-Eunice is now part of Satan's crew." She chuckled, smirking.

"What do you mean ?" The brunette asked, feigning innocence.

"Don't try and play me for a fool, Mrs. Winters." Grace mimicked Mary-Eunice's way of saying her name, bringing red on the older girl's cheeks. "I wasn't sleeping, last night, when she came to "check if everything was alright". Anyway, we'll talk about that later, we need to find a way to rescue Shelley." She became serious again. "Did you, by any chance, explore anything else, when you broke into this place ?"

The brunette shook her head. "But I heard some of the nuns talking about a tunnel linking the bakery to Arden's lab. We could try to sneak in, couldn't we ?" She suggested.

"What if one of those... creatures had followed us in here ?" The younger girl was cautious.

"We have to try. Come on." Lana didn't let her answer, and headed to the bakery. There, fortunately, was nothing which could have signaled one of the beasts' presence. They easily found the door to the not-so-secret tunnel, and hid to spy on what was happening in the lab. They could hear Arden talking to himself, and moving what sounded like surgical instruments. The girls looked at each other, and immediately ran to Jude's office. They entered the room, out of breath, only to find the nun asleep on her desk. They woke her : she was sleepy, but sobered up.

"What are you doing in my office ?" She grumpily asked.

"Doctor Arden is going to practice experiments on Shelley ! You need to stop him !" Lana was trying to get her attention.

"Oh... I see... I'm still drunk..." she sighed. "I'm just going to... go back to sleep... if you're even real, leave a note, I'll take care of that tomorrow..." Jude almost directly fell back asleep.

"The "most trustworthy" ? Well, I guess it isn't the case anymore..." Grace sighed. "What are we gon' do ?"

"We're going to leave a note." Lana stole a piece of paper from the nun's desk and wrote what she wanted the older blonde to know. They left and tried to buy some time, that's why they went back to the bakery.

But Sister Mary-Eunice had been eavesdropping on them all along. She was the first one to break in Arden's office as he was making the first incision. He startled, and took a step back. "Sister ! What are you doing here ?" He managed to hide Shelley, but being the Devil, the nun already knew everything that was happening in this lab. Arden didn't really trust her anymore, after what had happened earlier. He felt betrayed by her sudden attitude switch.

"Doctor, don't amputate her now. Two inmates have discovered what you've planned to do and warned Jude. She'll check tomorrow if everything is okay, and if she finds her, you're out of here." She informed him.

"Why do you care about what will happen to me ?" The old man hoped she cared about him somehow.

"I don't give a fuck about you, Hans." She insisted on his first name, his real first name.

During World War II, Arthur Arden was known as Hans Grüper. He was a sadistic Nazi doctor, who used to practice torturous experiments on people he found in the camps. He knew no mercy. After the end of the Reich, he fled to the US, with a brand new identity : Arthur Arden. He came to Briarcliff, which was, at the time, a tuberculosis ward, and quickly became the supervisor of the place. When the Church took over, the Monsignor let him continue his experiences, but he wasn't aware of the doctor's real identity, and neither was he of the nature of his experiments. But Mary already knew everything about him.

"I only care about your creatures. Keep that in mind."

"Don't talk to me like that !" Arden was going to slap her, but she used her telekinesis to throw him at the other side of the room.

"Did you really think you could lay your repellent paws on me ? Hide the girl, and keep your mouth shut." She crossed her arms, waiting for him to do what she expected him to. Arden obeyed, too afraid to contradict her, and hid the blonde in a room adjoining to his lab, before gagging her. The possessed nun locked the secret tunnel's door to prevent Lana and Grace from breaking in, then left the room, followed by the doctor.

*

"See ? There's nothing in here, Sister." Arden was triumphant. Jude did come to investigate his lab, but there wasn't anything suspicious inside.

"Yes, I can see that. But there are so many things happening around here, things that aren't always for everyone to see. I won't let my guard down, Doctor." As she was talking, Jude discretely reached for the tunnel's door : she unlocked it while the older man wasn't looking, then came back to the center of the room. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to." She exited Arden's wing, then visited Grace and Lana, who both were in the French girl's room.

"Sister ! Did you find anything ?" Lana asked, hope filling her eyes.

Jude, as severe as she could be, wasn't stupid. She knew very well that Lana wasn't crazy, and that she wouldn't have imagined some gruesome kidnapping orchestrated by Arden just for fun. She believed her but didn't have any proof of his acts. She shook her head. "I couldn't find anything. But I unlocked the door leading to the tunnel. I heard he'll be going to town this afternoon, in order to buy some chemicals. I'll try and discover where he is withholding her. And you'll come with me.

Both girls grinned. "Sure !" Grace nodded.

"I hope he didn't give her to the creatures, though..." the brunette sighed. She was totally panicking, but didn't want to frighten the others, so she kept it to herself.

"Please, Lana, don't be so pessimistic. You know he didn't have the time to bring her there. He hid her somewhere, in his lab, and we'll find her !" Grace tried to cheer her up, but it wasn't really effective.

"And I'll finally be able to chuck this pervert out of this place." Jude added.

*

As soon as Arden had left Briarcliff, Lana, Grace, and Jude sneaked in his lab via the tunnel. They looked around the place, searching for clues which would have led them to Shelley's location. As they were about to give up, Grace perceived muffled screams, coming from a closet. They were terribly understated, that's why she almost missed them.

"Over here ! There's something in this closet." Grace signaled.

"Well, obviously, it isn't me." Lana joked, deadpan. The French girl lightly chuckled, and the reporter could spot a tiny smile on Jude's lips, smile which she was trying to hide.

"We have to figure out a way to open this door. We don't have plenty of time left." The nun declared.

"Do we really care if this door is broken ? If we find out that he actually kidnapped Shelley, he's going to end up in jail anyway, isn't he ?" Grace questioned.

"That's true." Jude agreed, as the youngest girl was strongly hitting the doorknob with her foot, breaking the door open.

"Shelley !" Lana exclaimed. The blonde girl was sitting in the corner of the room, tied up and gagged. Tears of fear and relief were rolling down her cheeks. The reporter hastened to free her, and as soon as she was able to move again, Shelley fell into Lana and Grace's arms, trembling. Jude noticed the cut, and the lines which the doctor had drawn on her knees. She knelt down next to her, and examined them, rapidly understanding Arden's plans for her.

"He'll be back soon. We have to get you out of here. You'll stay hidden, I'll ask Sister Mary-Eunice to take care of you." Jude explained.

"N-No ! Please... not Mary-Eunice, she's in this with him ! She helped him putting me in here, and she's the one who warned him that you were going to investigate his lab !" Shelley begged, desperate.

"She did what ?!" The nun was taken aback by her revelation.

"I can totally confirm that she hasn't been her usual self, lately..." Lana agreed. "It's like... like something had taken control over her..."

"Listen, we'll talk about that when we'll be safe, okay ? Let's get out of here, this room is giving me the creeps." Grace helped Lana to carry Shelley, while Jude was trying her best to make the door look intact.

Grace decided to take Shelley in her room : not being known to Arden, she could hide her more easily than Lana. They made the whole scene look like the blonde had escaped into the woods -it, of course, included being eaten by the creatures. Jude was with the girls, trying to have a grasp of what had happened to Eunice, and figuring the best way to bring Arden down.

They were all safe... for now.

-

Hey !!

(Another) long update for you guys !

Hope you enjoyed !

xoxo,

-A.