Chapter 44 One Down
Chapter 44 One Down
Madame Ingrid drew the curtains and the windows open, letting some rays of sunshine inside the room. "Up, up, girls. The sun is up and so should you." she clapped her hands, sending the hangover girls the urgency to get up.
"Your classes will begin at exactly nine. It's now seven and you are ought to make yourselves decent and have your breakfast. Tick tock, get up!" she did not give up on pestering the good sleep of the girls.
"God, you are so annoying!" Freya shoved her face on the pillow.
"This is torture, Madame!" Mary Kate hid under the covers, half-asleep.
"If you do not get up this instance, then I have no choice but to expel you. You are expected to strictly follow the schedule." the superior emphasized, leaving the two sleepyhead ladies no choice but to get up.
"Alright, geez!" Freya murmured, tugging her messy hair out of frustration.
Madame Ingrid smirked and head out of the room and off to the next room when she stumbled upon Gertrude in the hallway, carrying a tea tray. "Hold on, where are you going to take that?"
"Miss Clarina specifically said that she would like a breakfast in bed. Just her morning tea." the young girl explained.
"And I specifically told everyone that they are only having their breakfast in the kitchen. Bring that back and told her that she will be joining the other girls in the table." Madame Ingrid massaged the bridge of her nose.
"Alright. I will do that."
"God bless the souls of these young creatures." the woman shakes her head and left.
Gertude is assigned to assist the youngest, Clarina. She has to be tough enough to not let her get through her bones. That girl is a mean one. Mean and strong-willed. She followed the orders of the head mistress and when she got back to the youngest girl's room, she took a deep breath and told her the bad news. "Miss Clarina? Madame Ingrid forbids you to have a breakfast in bed. I suggest you get up now so we could proceed to step two." she insisted.
"You are such a pain in the ass!" the younger groaned and sat down. Her messy hair covering her grumpy face.
"You do not need to use profanity and shout at me, you know." she maintained her sweet smile.
"Wait outside. I'm just gonna take a shower." Clarina got up and wore her pink robe.
"Don't you need help in your bath?" Trudy asked.
"No, thanks. Just find my outfit number three for me, will ya?"
"Will do, Miss." she subtly bowed down and as the footsteps get farther, she raised her head up with a hint of prideful smile.
\---
While the table awaits for the new students to dig in, Madame Ingrid raised her goblet to say a few words. She began clanking the lips of the fine china, taking the attention of everybody. "While we are waiting to be completed, let me take this moment as an opportunity to extend my gratitude to you, ladies, for being here with me. I hope you take your classes seriously." she said solemnly.
"It's nothing, Madame. We are sorry for being spoiled brats. But look, we are trying to be the best girls for the Lord." Sylvia, the oldest speak up.
"I am sure you will turn out to be such fine elegant women. Not girls... women." Madame Ingrid emphasized.
She then waved a signal to Gertrude. The young girl stepped nearer. "Get Clarina. That girl's been fixing herself long enough." the head mistress whispered.
"Right away, Madame."
Gertrude left the place and marched towards the guest room. Clarina occupies the room on her own since her family specifically requested to have her own space in the manor, said that their child is one of a kind--- a wonderful yet distant child who prefers to be alone rather than surrounded by people. She came from the neighbouring island, her background being powerful allowed her to do things as she pleases... and that includes being strong willed and rude.
"Miss Clarina? May I come in? They're all waiting for you at the banquet hall," Gertrude knocked three times. But there came no answer, nor a sound. She places her ears on the surface, tryig to pick up a noise inside the room.
"Hello? Clarina? I am coming inside now." she pushed the door open but to her surprise, there is no sign of the young girl.
Her bed is fixed. The pillows are on its original location. The hem of the comforter is folded a foot just below the teddy bear. The clothes that she asked to ready are stil lying on the bed, waiting to be worn.
"Where is that girl?" she murmured to herself and wandered around. The room is big enough for her to take her time looking. Until her foot brought her to the bathroom. She could hear the water running in the tub. And there is the silhouette figure of her body through the shower curtain, comfortably lying in the tub. Gertrude shook her head in disbelief, thinking that the young girl might have fallen asleep while taking a bath.
"Miss Clarina, I'm sorry that I went in. But the head mistress asked me to come pick you up." she assumed that the other will be nagging her, but for a hundredth times today, there was no response from her. The tension is building up, her palms are getting clammy, while she is fiddling her fingers.
"You've been there long enough. You gotta hurry up now or else---" she drew the shower curtains open, her mouth dropped at the sight of the lifeless and naked body with crooked mouth and neck of a young girl inside the tub. Her arms are hanging on the lips of the tub, as if she fought for her own life but ended up tragic. The water is loosely running, drowning the corpse.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Gertrude shrieked and attempted to run away. But the second her foot tried to take a trembling step, she fell down on the wet, slippery bathroom floor.
"SOMEBODY! HELP!" she cried, unable to carry her own weight.
She felt a spark of hope when she heard the scurrying footsteps from outside, going towards their direction. "IN HERE! P-PLEASE!" she begged, hands covering her ears and eyes, completely traumatized with the macabre.
"Trudy! What is the meaning of this?!" Lila entered the bathroom, and winced upon witnessing the body in the tub. She uttered no words and helped Gertrude got up on her own foot.