Terrorforming || Yandere!Harem X F!Reader

Dangerous

Your eyes were all but swollen shut by the time you exited the director's office. You and Nurse Thorne spoke of nothing else during your counseling session.

Unsurprisingly, she was of no comfort to you. For a woman so desperate to be seen as a motherly figure, she was remarkably unnurturing. No wonder Elizabeth ended up like she did.

Rosasharon was waiting for you outside.

"Have you talked to Jezebel?" You asked as soon as you laid eyes on the Faithful's camp counselor. "Is she okay after--" You cut yourself off. This wasn't your trauma to share.

"After Nurse Thorne's Draconian sermon on purity?" She prompted, leaving you wondering how much she knew. "Some days I wish we lived in the time of martyrs. Everyone here --including the woman herself-- would love to watch her burn at the stake."

That was so nonsensical that it shocked you out of your sad stupor. "What?"

"In the eyes of the Church, dying for your faith is the best way to die," she explained. "You're essentially guaranteed entrance into heaven. That's why, if you put a gun to a Christian's head and ask them if they love Jesus, they'll almost always answer yes, even knowing it would get them killed."

"That's insane!" You exclaimed. She nodded, which begged the question... "Would you?"

Rosasharon shook her head, looking at you a little like you were crazy. "No, of course not." Then she looked away from you, directing her gaze out over the glistening lake instead. "God has a plan for me and for my life, and I'm not about to throw that away."

You wondered how she knew that, what she thought that plan was... But that was a question for another day. You were more concerned about Jezebel right now.

"Can I talk to Jezebel?" You knew you still weren't allowed to talk to the Temperate, but Jezebel was one of the Faithful, so maybe...?

"She's gone, Y/N."

"Gone? What do you mean?"

"She left camp. Her father came to pick her up while you were in counseling."

"But-- But-- I didn't get a chance to say good-bye..." You thought you had no tears left to cry, but --lo and behold-- your eyes started watering again. You bit your lower lip viciously to stop yourself from sobbing anymore.

She put an arm around your shoulders and pulled you in close. "There, there... She's in God's hands now."

That's exactly what you were afraid of.

Rosasharon escorted you to her cabin. "You'll be staying with me until further notice."

You looked up at the empty bunk above her neatly-made cot. It made sense. There were four counselor cabins, each equipped to house two girls, and seven camp counselors. She must have been the lucky one, getting assigned a cabin to herself. Still...

"Why am I not bunking with the rest of the Faithful?"

She bit her cheek before admitting, "Religious folk can be a little... Superstitious, sometimes. The Faithful believe that God is testing you, that it's dangerous to be around you right now, seeing as all your friends outside of Temperance... You know."

You couldn't blame them. You previously wondered yourself if you'd been cursed. "What do you think?" You asked her. She was as devoted as they come, after all.

"I think this isn't the work of God. This is the work of man, undoubtedly His most flawed creation." Rosasharon looked at you for a long time. A split second before the silence became stifling, she said, "Take yourself, for example. If you were to ask me what your sin is, I'd say sloth. Ignorance is sin, not bliss. But --I have to wonder-- are you totally oblivious?"

You bristled. "What's that supposed to mean? What does my sin have to do with what happened to my friends?" Was this just another tactic meant to make you feel ashamed so you'd be easier to control?

She closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them again, you could have sworn they were brighter than before. "What you claim not to know may simply be what you've denied. Your view conceals a tragedy. The whole truth you claim to seek eludes you because you won't look at what's around you."

It was like God was talking through her. Every Christian's dream: to be heaven's mouthpiece.

"What?"

Then she let out a sigh, like you were being willfully ignorant, deliberately obtuse. "Stop and think, Y/N... Think about the tragic departures of those girls, and the events that led up to them. Dinah stabbed out Poppy's eye. What reason would she have to do that?"

"I don't know!" You cried out, already teary-eyed again.

"What happened right before that?"

You thought back to that day, as much as you didn't want to. The first thing that always came to mind was the act of violence itself, not the events leading up to it. "I told her I was going to sit with Poppy at dinner that night instead of her," you explained. Then, suddenly, "You think I'm the reason she attacked that girl?"

"Yes. She perceived rejection from you, and she didn't take it well."

You thought hard for a while after that. She provided you the time and quiet to do so. "Do you think Louise and Chaeyoung pulled the deadly 'pranks' that got Salome and Delilah sent home?" You asked at last, voice quieter than before.

Rosasharon shrugged a single shoulder. "It wouldn't surprise me if they did."

Which begged the question... "And what about Jezebel?"

"All I'll say is that Elizabeth knew those boys. Deep down, she must have known what they were capable of." The longer that sunk in, the more complicated the emotions brewing in your chest grew. "Contrary to what you may have heard, Temperance isn't where Camp Bethel puts all the outcasts. It's where the most dangerous of the girls get assigned."

"You don't think I'm dangerous, do you?"

"No, no, of course not. You were just a lamb in a lion's den," she explained, reaching out to pat your cheek. The spot tingled briefly afterwards, like her touch was electric. "You're where you belong now, with the rest of the herd, but you should be careful around the Temperate, avoid them at all costs. I'll do everything in my power to protect you, but I need you to work with me here."

"It sounds like a good way to paint a target on your back," you answered sulkily. Maybe it was best for everyone if you spent the rest of your summer at Camp Bethel in isolation. You didn't want anyone else to get hurt.

As if she read your mind, she took both your hands in hers, gave them a gentle squeeze. "I want to help. You're not in this alone, Y/N. I'll be right beside you every step of the way."