Sister Christian

Sister Grace tapped gently on the door of the Mother Superior's office. In the hush of the convent, even those brief, hesitant knocks carried far down the corridors, but nobody turned their heads to look. At this time of the evening, most of the nuns had already retired to bed. Sister Grace only hoped that the Mother Superior hadn't fallen asleep just yet.

She was in luck. After a few moments, the door opened, revealing the Mother Superior in a modest nightgown. "What is it, my child?" she said gently, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

"My apologies, Mother Superior," Sister Grace responded nervously. She had exchanged perhaps a dozen words with the head of their order since coming to the convent, and her natural deference to authority was already stinging her with the fear that she was troubling the Mother Superior with insignificant worries. But for the moment, she held her ground. "I am aware of the lateness of the hour, but--"

The Mother Superior patted her on the shoulder. "It is nothing, my child," she replied. "My door is always open to the lambs under my care, no matter what the hour. Please, come in."

Sister Grace stepped inside. The Mother Superior's quarters were modestly appointed, of course; ostentation ill befitted one who had taken a vow of poverty. But they were spacious enough to accommodate an outer room for the business of the order as well as an inner, private chamber which must contain the sister's living space. Sister Grace closed the door behind her, then surreptitiously locked it.

"You seem greatly troubled, my child," the Mother Superior said. "Please, sit down and divest your spirit of its burdens."

"Thank you, Reverend Mother," Sister Grace said, taking a seat in the chair in front of the Mother Superior's desk. "I admit, I am troubled. I...I apologize if I am being rash, or impertinent--"

The Mother Superior took a seat behind the desk. "Please, child," she said, smiling warmly, "do not worry so much. I am not some sort of ogre, am I?" She chuckled. "It seems not that long ago that I was a novice like you. Please don't tell me that I seem that old to young eyes."

Sister Grace smiled timidly. "No, Mother Superior," she admitted. "Not so much old as senior." It was true. There were a few streaks of gray in the Mother Superior's hair, normally concealed by her wimple but evident now, and laughter lines around her mouth and eyes, but she was no crone.

"Then rest your mind at ease, child," the Mother Superior said, "and tell me what troubles you."

Sister Grace nodded, steeling herself to speak. "I know I am but recently joined to the order, Reverend Mother, and they did tell me that there would be many differences between the seminary and the convent. But I fear that some of the behavior of my fellow sisters strikes me as..." She blushed slightly. "As odd," she finished, privately cursing her own hesitancy. Such a faint, half-hearted description of the activities of some members of the order would scarcely convince the Mother Superior of the need to wake her up, let alone the need to act.

"Which sisters do you speak of?" the Mother Superior asked quizzically. "You'll forgive me for failing to notice anything myself, I hope; sometimes, being the Mother Superior has its disadvantages. People sometimes find it hard to be themselves around me."

Sister Grace knew exactly what she meant. She felt like she'd get a swift rap with a ruler if she relaxed into her seat. "Well," she said, "I've noticed strange behavior from many of the sisters, but it always seems to stem from Sister Christian. I'm..." She blushed again, fiercer than before. "I'm...I think that...it seems bizarre, I know, but..."

"Calm yourself, child," the Mother Superior said, gazing levelly at Sister Grace. "It's alright. You can say anything to me. Whatever confidence you wish to impart, it is between you and I and the Lord."

"I think Sister Christian is a man," Sister Grace blurted out.

To her credit, the Mother Superior didn't get upset. Instead, she merely laughed, as though the idea were too absurd to be given the slightest thought. "A man?" she said, her voice incredulous. "What on Earth could make you think that?"

"The name, for one," Sister Grace said. The laughter had almost cowed her into silence, but she managed to press on, albeit with a tremor in her voice that nearly cracked with each new word. "Christian is a man's name, Reverend Mother, and I...I..." She trailed off, the look of amusement on the Mother Superior's face finally stilling her voice.

"It is an unusual name, my child," the Mother Superior said, "I will grant you that. But Sister Christian's parents dearly wished for a boy, and when she was born, they decided to give her the name they had chosen in expectation of a son. When she took the vows, she decided to keep her birth name, both to honor her parents' love and to honor Christ our Lord and Savior. There's no greater mystery to it than that."

"But--" Sister Grace almost stopped there. She almost stopped even before the objection had escaped her lips, but the conviction in her heart forced that single word out to hang in the air. It would have been left to fend for itself, were it not for the Mother Superior's expectant gaze.

"But what?" she asked. "Please, child, go on. I think we need to set these fears to rest once and for all."

Sister Grace could not continue to meet the Mother Superior's eyes. She stared down at her hands, clasped together in her lap, as she spoke. "When the sisters are dressing, your Grace, I...I have looked upon Sister Christian's body. Not deliberately, of course!" she added hastily. "But I have seen. And Sister Christian is different from the others."

"We are all of us as the good Lord made us," the Mother Superior said severely. "The doors of this convent are open to all women, no matter how the Lord might have seen fit to burden us. Sister Christian suffers from a deformity, but she suffers nobly. Her stoicism will be noted in the Book of Judgment, I am sure."

Sister Grace fell momentarily speechless with surprise. She'd expected ignorance of the situation, perhaps, but this? It didn't make sense. She didn't know how to respond. "Deformity?" she managed at last. "He--she--there's a--" She squirmed in her chair, unsure of how to explain without requiring a penance later on. "There is a penis between his legs, Reverend Mother," she said at last. "Some mornings it is still stiff when he puts on his robes."

"Indeed, child," the Mother Superior said irritably, "that is the deformity I speak of. The poor girl's womb is inverted and swollen, but she is no less a woman for all that the Lord has seen fit to blight her with such a condition. Indeed, I believe she sees it as a blessing in disguise; no man can break her vow of chastity, you see. She says that it is a sign from the Lord, telling her to enter His service."

Sister Grace jerked her head up in surprise to stare at the Mother Superior, unable to believe what she was hearing. "But...but...but..." Sister Grace didn't even have the words to explain the wrongness of the Mother Superior's logic. It honestly wasn't a situation she'd ever been taught how to handle in the seminary. "But he goes to the other sisters' beds at night, after vespers!"

"Many in the order are troubled by spiritual burdens, my child," the Mother Superior said evenly. "We all need solace and comfort from time to time, and Sister Christian gives unstintingly of herself. If this strikes you as 'odd', my child, then perhaps you need to look deep into your own heart, and find a greater well of Christ's compassion therein."

Sister Grace gaped openly at the Mother Superior now. She had never thought of herself as worldly, even before taking the vows, but how did any woman ever get to be the Mother Superior's age and remain this naive? "He doesn't just go to their beds, your Grace, he gets into bed with them! I hear them, moaning and panting in the darkness!"

"And in their time of distress, he comforts them," the Mother Superior said as though it was the most natural explanation in the world. "He quiets their moans of sadness and helps them to sleep easier."

"He's--!" Sister Grace almost shouted out, 'He's fucking them!' before years of training and discipline stilled her tongue. "He's not 'comforting' them, Reverend Mother. He's engaging in sexual intercourse with them, in obvious violation of their respective vows of chastity."

"Don't be silly, my child," the Mother Superior said waspishly. "The vows of chastity prohibit carnal knowledge between a man and a woman. There isn't even a man present in this convent, save in your imagination."

Sister Grace could not believe what she was hearing. She wondered if she would have to draw diagrams before the conversation was through. "I--when we shower, your Grace, he..." She gulped. Penance it was, then. "He fondles their naked bodies! He steps right behind them, grasping their breasts with soapy fingers, and his penis--"

"His womb, my child," the Mother Superior interrupted.

"His penis disappears between their thighs!" Sister Grace snapped back. "Sometimes into their womb, sometimes..." She coughed in embarrassment. "Sometimes elsewhere."

"'Elsewhere'?" the Mother Superior repeated, her voice dripping with scorn. "Is it a magic wand, then, that it can vanish without trace? Really, my child, I don't know why you expect me to believe this errant nonsense--"

"Their buttocks!" Sister Grace shouted furiously, her cheeks bright red. "It goes between their buttocks...your Grace."

"I see," the Mother Superior said icily. "And while you were shamelessly gaping at the unclad forms of your fellow sisters, lewdly imagining perverted acts in their simple efforts to help one another become clean, did you ever think of approaching Sister Christian and asking for an explanation for her behavior?"

Sister Grace quailed slightly under the Mother Superior's fury, but she persisted. "No, Reverend Mother," she said. "I have tried to avoid speaking with Sister Christian. I've watched the other sisters talk with him. He speaks to them, and their eyes go blank. They smile mindlessly, and nod in agreement with whatever he says. I fear he has some power over them, something that clouds their minds and weakens their wills until they find his perversions natural, even Godly." And, she finished in her mind, I fear you have fallen victim to it as well. Still, she hoped that with enough effort, she could help the Mother Superior break free of Sister Christian's spell.

"Oh, my child," the Mother Superior said. "How did your head become filled with such foolishness? It is of no matter. I will have Sister Christian speak with you directly, and you will see that your fears burn away as the morning dew under the sunlight."

Sister Grace's eyes went wide with terror. "Oh, no, your Grace!" she cried out. "No, please don't--" Then the inner door opened.

Sister Christian stepped out of the Reverend Mother's bedroom, as naked as the day he was born. His penis was stiff and hard, jutting out from his crotch as though it hungered to penetrate her. "You'll forgive me for interrupting," he said. "I heard your conversation, and thought it best to explain things to Sister Grace now instead of waiting for matins."

"Not at all," the Mother Superior replied, letting her nightgown fall open to reveal her naked body. She reached down between her thighs and began to finger herself. "Your judgment is perfect, as always."

Sister Grace darted to the door, but it refused to open. The irony struck her, even as she tugged and rattled at the unyielding knob; before, she had sought to lock the evil out, but now that she found it was in here with her, she was trapped with it. Her fingers fumbled at the lock, but panic made them clumsy. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she froze in terror.

"Sit down, Sister Grace," Sister Christian said. The fear faded from Sister Grace mind as her eyes widened into a blank stare, and she felt her expression blossom into a mindless smile. "I have some things to explain to you." As she returned to her seat, Sister Grace found that she could only nod in agreement.

THE END