Mona was awoken by the sounds of the girls and women yelling outside. She quickly got up and ran out to see what the problem was. John was passed out on the floor, no doubt trying to sleep off all his drunkenness from the previous night.
"Hey!" Mona screamed as she ran up to the group. "Stop! Stop!"
George came running up and helped her break up the fight. He started yelling in Chinese and then everyone started yelling at each other, and then the girl grabbed one of the women and started fighting with her again. Mona was about to go break them up again when a bullet shot through the stained glass and hit the girl right in the neck, spraying the woman she was fighting with blood. The girl fell to the ground motionless.
All the girls started screaming and panicking. Shu gave an order to George and they all started running downstairs. Mona had a feeling they were all going to go to the cellar to hide from the Japanese who must've fired the shot. She ran to the room where the girls were sleeping and saw them all screaming and throwing clothes on as multiple gunshots rang out from the courtyard.
"Come on!" she yelled. "Get to the cellar as quick as you can!" She urged all of the girls out of the room and ran with them downstairs. "Go!"
They were almost into the cellar when a Japanese soldier spotted them. Shu and Mona looked down a little and saw some of the women looking up at them in fear. The soldier called for one of his men and Mona and Shu took that time to push the girls through the door in the back so the Japanese didn't find the women. They all ran upstairs and hid in one of the rooms while Mona ran back to her own room and burst in.
"John!" she cried. He was finally awake, but he didn't look at top condition. He looked up at her with hardly any expression on his face. "There's Japanese soldiers in here. They're looking for the girls."
Loud screams and shouts were heard outside and Mona's heart sank as she realized that the soldiers must've found them.
"You have to do something!"
"Why don't you go do something?" he asked, the hangover still not completely gone from his head.
"Get it through your thick head and into your stupid, immature brain! If I go out there, they will rape and they will kill me! I may be American, but I'm still a woman and that's all they care about!"
John made no move and it didn't even look like he was listening to her.
"You know what, fine." She angrily turned to leave.
"What are you doing?" John asked.
"I'm going out there. And they're probably going to kill me, but somebody has to do something and it certainly isn't going to be you. I hope staying in here like a big coward is worth it."
Mona ran out of the room and looked at the sickening sight around her. Soldiers were chasing the girls in every direction and ripping their clothes when they caught them.
"Oh, Lord, help me," Mona whispered.
She bolted down the stairs and ran to a soldier that was attacking one of the girls and shoved him off.
"Get off of her!" she yelled.
The soldier looked at her angrily and hungrily at the same time. It made her extremely uneasy.
"You wanna do something to me?" she said trying to appear braver than she felt. Mona's heart hammered in her chest harder than it ever had only once before. She was terrified for her life.
"Stop! Stop!"
Mona looked at the top of the staircase and there stood John holding out a big banner with a red cross on it. She smiled a little in surprise at the fact that he had decided to help.
"Stop!" he yelled. "This is a house of the Lord! These are children! You are breaking the laws of man and of God!"
The soldiers stopped attacking the girls and looked up at John in shock. They hadn't realized a priest was in the cathedral.
"No soldiers here! You have no business being here! I am the priest! And I command you, in the name of the Father to leave now! Girls, you come up here now! Come up these stairs, and stand behind me."
Mona looked at the girl on the ground she had just saved. "Come on," she said as she took the girl's hand. Mona made sure all the girls got up the stairs and behind John.
"You're honorable men! Behave honorably!"
Mona stood next to John as she breathed heavily from running up and down the stairs and looked up at him. She sent him a small nod and he returned the action.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a gun cocked next to them. John and Mona stood in front of the girls protectively. They were all sobbing behind her and her heart ached for them. What kind of life was this for a child?
Another soldier came up and forced the first to lower his gun. Then he took out his sword and raised it above his head. Mona waited for what he was about to do, sure he was going to kill John.
Instead, he cut the banner from John's hands and it fell to the ground. Then he threatened the girls and they all went running in all different directions. Mona and John tried to grab onto some of them to protect them, but they were too scared to stay. The soldiers started attacking the girls once again and Mona was powerless to stop them. All around her, the girls were being dragged across the floor by their hair, their clothes were ripped open, and they furiously kicked and screamed, trying to get away from the soldiers.
John ran down the stairs and knocked a soldier off one of the girls. "Stop! Stop this! Stop this!"
Mona bolted down the steps to help the girls when a Japanese soldier stopped her and threw her back against the stairs. She hit the back of her head on one of the hard steps and saw stars for a second. When she looked back up at the soldier, she saw him quickly advancing on her. He grabbed her shoulders, so she swung her foot up and hit him in the crotch then punched him in the face and sent him toppling down the stairs. He said a slew of words at her that she was pretty sure were Japanese curse words, and went after another girl, apparently believing her to be too much trouble.
Mona saw John lying on the steps and he appeared to be unconscious. "John!" she said urgently. "John!" She got to the bottom and looked at the bleeding wound on his head where a soldier had struck him with his gun. "Look at me! Are you alright?"
Suddenly, a body fell next to her that made Mona scream in surprise. When she looked over, one of the girls had been flung down to the ground and died instantly when her head hit the hard floor. A massive pool of blood started forming under her and her hair was already soaked in it.
Mona slowly went over to the dead girl and touched her head. Her shaking hands came back to her drenched in bright red blood. Tears began sliding down her face at the sight. She saw John slowly coming over to the girl. He gently touched her lifeless hand and when Mona looked up at him, tears were coming down his face too. It shocked her to see him show such emotions.
Mona gently began rubbing the girl's hair despite the fact that it was covered in blood. Horrible memories were flooding back to her as she sat there letting the girl's drenched hair intertwine in her fingers.
Gunshots sounded and the soldiers ceased what they were doing. One of them blew a whistle and then they all ran out of the cathedral to follow their orders.
The rest of the girls came over to the body and began sobbing even harder. Some of them knelt down and gently touched their friend. Mona's heart broke when she saw the girls with the lifeless one on the ground.
She stood up to give them more room, seeing as they were closer to the girl, and looked at John. When she saw he was still bleeding, she ripped off a very small piece of her shirt and dabbed it on the wound on his head. They made eye contact for a second, but neither could withstand the pain in the others' eyes.
Suddenly, the doors to the cathedral opened and slammed shut and several more soldiers entered.
Mona wiped off her tears with the back of her hands, seeing as the front of them were still covered in the girl's blood, and she and John protectively held out their arms out a little in front of the girls who had all gathered at the bottom of the stairs.
John walked towards them, holding his hands out to get them to stay away from the girls. One of them looked over at the crying girls and the dead one on the floor.
"Were our soldiers here recently?" he asked John. John nodded a little, but remained silent. "Are you the resident priest?"
"Yes," John answered softly.
He looked over at Mona. "And are you his wife?"
John was about to say something, but Mona quickly stepped forward and stood beside him. "Uh, yes. I'm his wife."
"Forgive me, but I thought priests were not allowed to marry."
"Um, he married me before he joined the priesthood."
"I see. Father, ma'am, I apologize on behalf of our soldiers. Please understand. In the middle of a war, occasional unfortunate behavior is inevitable."
Mona had a few choice words to say to that remark, but she forced herself to stay silent. It would be unwise to anger these Japanese soldiers. But there was absolutely no excuse for men to come into a church and attempt to rape young girls. No excuse at all, and he shouldn't even have tried to make one.
"Your church is very beautiful," the soldier continued. He looked over at the girls. "How do you do? Are you students here at the convent? So sorry to have caused you alarm."
"Please," John said to him. "Don't hurt the children anymore."
"Naturally. My name is Hasegawa. I am responsible for the safety of this area. Please do not worry about the security of the church and the students."
"I apologize, but I have no confidence in that assurance."
"My guarantee is effective. From now on, I shall post armed guards in front of the church to protect you all."
More soldiers came in and placed sacks of potatoes in front of them.
"There is not a lot of food in Nanking at the moment," Hasegawa said. "I hope the students will not go hungry." He walked over to the organ. "May I?" He sat down on the bench and began to play it and sing along to whatever he was playing. While he seemed happy which made Mona comfortable enough, she would've felt a lot better if he left. He finally finished playing and sighed. "Thank you. Did you like it?"
John and Mona nodded a little to show their respect. Even though they didn't deserve any at all. Not after what had just happened.
"This is a Japanese folk song, 'My Home'. It is about hills and rabbits, and streams full of fish. It is the most beautiful song in the world for those who are homesick." He closed the organ and stood up. "Do the students sing well?"
"Very well, yes," John said hesitantly.
"That's good. I shall come back in a couple of days to hear them."
Mona heard some of the girls gasp in fear. She looked over at them and held her hand up in a way that the soldiers could not see and gave them a reassuring look that told them it would be okay.
"Why?" John asked.
"No reason. I happen to love music. Father, ma'am, we shall meet again soon."
He turned and left and the other soldiers followed suit. Mona released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Then she ran back over to the girls and gave them comforting hugs as they all continued to cry.