The Merciless II by Danielle Vega

navigate.”
    â€œI don’t know. I’m here on scholarship,” I say. “If I get expelled—”
    â€œYou won’t get expelled,” Leena cuts in. “They haven’t expelled anyone in years.”
    â€œThat’s right,” Sutton adds, flashing me a wolfish grin. She lowers her voice, making it sound creepy. “Once you’re at St. Mary’s, you never escape.”
    â€œReally?” I laugh nervously. Wind creeps in through the open window, raising goose bumps on my arms. I shiver and Sutton’s smile softens.
    â€œSofia, I’m kidding,” she says. “Seriously, don’t look so freaked. This place is totally normal. No worse than any other crappy school I’ve been to.”
    â€œOf course.” I force my lips into a smile, and push myself out of bed. “It’s getting a little cold. Do you mind if I close this?”
    I nod at the window. Sutton and Leena both shrug, so I cross the room and push aside the curtains. Something catches my eye.
    Three long gouges claw across the windowsill. I frown and run a finger over them, feeling the grooves’ sharp edges, the tiny splinters sticking out of the wood. Theylook like they were made by fingernails. Like someone tried to claw her way out of this place.
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    I lay awake that night, Sutton’s words running through my head.
    Once you’re at St. Mary’s, you never escape .
    Goose bumps crawl up my skin. The claw marks on the windowsill flash through my head, and I roll onto my side, mattress springs creaking beneath me. If Mom were here, she’d tell me to stop obsessing. Sutton was joking. I’m letting fear control me.
    A tear crawls down my cheek. I find my thumb in the dark and tug at a piece of skin near the nail. I can’t keep doing this. I’ll never fit in if my roommates wake up and hear me crying about my dead mom.
    â€œGo to sleep,” I whisper to myself. Heathcliff hops back and forth, paws crunching on the shredded newspaper lining the bottom of his cage. I pull my pillow over my head to block him out. The faint scent of rabbit piss hangs in the air, making me feel sick.
    Leena shifts in bed. Sutton releases a light snore and mutters something under her breath. They’ve both been asleep for hours. It’s like they don’t hear the bunny rustling around in its cage. They don’t see the way its red eyes seem to glow in the dark.
    I stare at the back of Leena’s head. If anyone shouldbe kept awake by the bunny, it should be her. He’s her little bun-bun, after all. But Leena fell asleep almost as soon as she crawled into bed. Right after her nightly phone call with her mom.
    Jealousy is like a cancer in your bones, I remind myself. I squeeze my eyes shut. Mom would tell me to find the silver lining. Don’t let jealousy consume me.
    A minute passes. Heathcliff starts drinking from his water dispenser. There’s a tiny silver ball lodged in the spigot to keep the water from rushing out all at once. When Heathcliff licks it, the metal ball hits the side of the spigot, making a kind of wet, clicking sound.
    Click click click . Pause. Click click click .
    It reminds me, strangely, of my grandmother’s rosary beads clicking against her table. I think of her sunken face, her bloodshot eyes, and raspy voice. Diablo, she called me. Devil . But I’m not evil. Dr. Keller told me I’m not. Brooklyn was wrong.
    Click click click.
    The sound haunts my dreams long after I drift off to sleep.

CHAPTER SIX
    I wake the next morning to the sounds of someone shuffling around the room.
    â€œGet up, sleepy,” Leena says. I roll over, groaning. Heathcliff kept me up most of the night. I’d be surprised if I got more than an hour of sleep.
    Leena’s piled her black hair on top of her head in a messy bun. She pulls on a fuzzy robe covered in giant yellow lemons. I stare at it and instantly hear my