Tangled With A Priest

 Meanwhile, later that day, Ivie hung upside down from a tree, her legs locked on the branch to keep her in place. The sky above her was coated black, stars dancing around it. The breeze was chilly and the once vibrant day had now transformed into a ghostly scene of night.

 Something gnawed at the back of her mind, Sister Gabriel gnawed at the back of her mind. She had been the with the letter found on Precious's corpse, and she had denied it. What feared Ivie the most was the vision she saw could be before and not after the death, that would mean…

 "Are you thinking of ways to kill Father Chibuike?" Gaga asked. She had decided, as long as the others, that they would join in the hangout. 

 "He is the least of my worries. I'm thinking about something else." She propelled her body upwards and held unto a branch feeling the fuzziness in her head. "Do you know if Sister Gabriel had known Precious, on a personal level, I mean?"

 "You're awfully curious about her today," Itohan noticed. "You were never a fan of her."

 "Did you see something?" Gaga asked. 

 Oh no, Gaga's blabbermouth was not going to reveal her secret. Amongst her friends, Gaga was the one she cared enough to tell about her gift. 

 "See something?" Itohan picked on that. 

 She quickly said. "No, it's nothing. I just fell unsettled. You know I never had my closure on that case."

 "Are you studying to be a detective, Ivie? The school already concluded it as suicide."

 "I know." But she had seen the girl's suicide note on Sister Gabriel. She didn't think the school would allow the Sister walk the note after the incident, so it meant what she had seen was before the incident. Precious's suicide note was written before her death, it had not been suicide, Ivie knew that much. But what conflicted her was that she knew what killed the girl, saw it kill her, so what sense did it make that Sister Gabriel had been with the note? Had that thing and Sister Gabriel been accomplices?

 She scratched her head and went back to hang upside down from the tree, swinging her body slightly. JohnMary lit the end of a cigar and passed it to her. She thumbed him up and took a long drag. She wouldn't let this pass, the other suicides she had buried under the workload of school work, but she was going to push through with this one. If Sister Gabriel had something to do with it, she wanted to know what, and why a priestess like her would engage in murder. 

 "Did we come here to give a one minute of silence to the girl who died weeks ago?" Gaga sliced through the silence. 

 "This was originally meant for just Ivie and I, can't you all take hints?" JohnMary tutted. 

 "We might as well escort you, since the only thing you'd be doing is light a cigar for her."

 "Ouch." Aisosa placed a theatrical hand on her chest. "That hurts."

 While their bantering continued, Ivie caught something jump from one of the trees to land on the ground. The hand to her lips paused midway and she watched. When she saw what it was, her legs crooked on the branch gave way and she crashed to the ground. 

 "Ivie?" JohnMary jumped to meet her. "Are you okay?"

 She saw the cat move in shadow of the night, slithering away from her sight. Devil be blasted if that wasn't a cursed creature that escaped from the roaring flames of hell. 

 It turned back and Ivie saw only the yellow eyes before it merged back into darkness. Ivie cursed. 

 "Are you okay?" JohnMary looked into the woods were her direction was fixated on. 

 "I just fell," she said, standing up. 

 "Exactly, you don't normally 'just fall'." Gaga quoted in air. 

 "Did you see something? You look like you saw a ghost?" Itohan asked. 

 Wasn't a ghost better? What's with the cat following her and locking eyes with her? Yes, she liked its eyes, but she didn't want them staring right at her. 

 She stubbed out the end of her cigar. "I'm checking out, you can stay here if you want to."

 "Seriously? When it's just starting to get interesting?" Gaga crooked a brow at her. 

 She shook her head. "I changed my mind."

 Grumpily, the others jumped down from their nest and followed her to desert the place, but hours later, far into midnight, at that same place, another group conveyed. 

 "Somebody is getting curious," the first girl said. 

 "It wouldn't be the first time," a man's voice replied. "Shake the curiosity off her."

 "Is it who I think it is?" An older woman questioned. 

 The first girl nodded. "We're not practically close, but it looks like she has a leverage."

 "I told you all to be on the low," a stern man's voice interrupted. "We cannot stir things up now when there's a recent death! Are you forgetting that there's a new inclusion to the priests? Not one, not two, but three for goodness sake!"

 A hush fell amongst them, the man's anger reverberating. 

 "We've been on the low, I'm making sure of that," the older woman said. 

 "What leverage do you think she has?" The first man asked. 

 The girl exhaled. "Didn't say, but she kept asking questions."

 "Do something about it," the harsh man said, "or you know, it's everyday students fall off the staircase, and it's not hard to call it suicide."

——

 "Let's go to the canteen before the seats finishes," Ivie hurried her friends the next morning as they made for breakfast. 

 "Chill, we can always tell one of those freshers to scoot," Itohan said. 

 "I don't like oppressing people, how do you sleep well at after night doing that?"

 "Ivie has the purest of hearts, she can't hurt a fly," JohnMary, smiling sheepishly, said. 

 "But she can devise ways to kill a priest."

 "A priest is not a fly."

 "And here comes, ladies and gentleman, the heartthrob of St. Stephen," Gaga, with her exaggerated theatrics, said and Ivie looked to see Father Chibuike and the other new priests. She rolled her eyes, a priest by day, a cat by night. 

 "Everybody in my dorm kept talking about him," Gaga said. "Who wouldn't?"

 "We should stop and greet him," Itohan added. 

 "Them," Ivie corrected. She wondered why Father Chibuike had garnered such a reputation just three days after his arrival while his colleagues were not noticed. Did he perhaps do juju with his cat, a kind of charm to make people like him effortlessly? Yes, he was handsome, maybe too handsome for a priest, but he was not the only handsome priest in the school. She found his widespread admiration suspicions. 

 "Good morning, Father," Gaga greeted, her bow dramatic and Ivie wanted to slap her, at least she should greet the other priest and Sister and not behave like they were invincible.

 Father Chibuike smiled at her, at the others, his eyes staying long on Ivie. "Ivie," he called, "I hope you've decided to be of a good manner today? I mean, I can't discard your gum all the time."