The Eighth

The Truth

"Hazel? Hazel! Wake up!" Mrs. Landers, the real estate agent, said shaking me awake.

"W-what?" I said groggily as I sat up in bed. Mrs. Landers handed me a glass of water and I downed it quickly.

"Hazel, there's glass broken upstairs in the attic and there was blood on the counter. Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

I looked down slowly to my hand but the towel was gone. I turned my hand over in curiosity but the cut was still there. Maybe I had cut myself then taken a nap and it was all a dream? Nevertheless, I sat up and got out of bed, retiring to the kitchen with Mrs. Landers in the lead.

"Now, about the house." She started. "It's not officially yours yet, we need you to sign a few more things and I'll take care of the rest."

"But Mrs. Landers I've already signed plenty of things." I said taking a seat on one of the barstools at the counter.

"Well those were papers saying you'd tour the house and you acknowledge the house is officially yours since your parents left it in your name. Also, since they'd already paid it off in full the only thing you need to worry about is utilities, but since I know that might be hard for a high school student I might as well help you with that." She smiled. "I am your godmother after all."

I was so grateful for Mrs. Landers, she would show up every morning to take me to school and get me breakfast before I'd legally been able to take the house. The aged real-estate agent had taken care of me and she would never know how thankful I was for that.

Mrs. Landers slid the papers across the table toward me during the silence. "I wish your parents were here to see you now." She sighed.

I looked up but had no words. I just smiled. Picking up the pen, I signed my name in big swooping cursive, followed up with a copy in small print letters. As soon as I picked the pen up off the paper, Mrs. Landers shuffled her documents then looked up.

"The mowers will come every other Tuesday also school doesn't start for you in another couple of months. I'll print you out a list later to fill you in on anything else. I need to go for another tour but I'll take you out to dinner tonight so we can discuss things, if that's okay with you." Landers smiled. "Oh and before I go, feel free to go meet the neighbors, make friends. No need to be holed up in this pile of memories all day. It is yours now after all."

"Yes Mrs. Landers and seriously, thank you. Also, I'd love to go to dinner."

"Great! And you know you can call me Angie, or aunt, anything really... Bye Hazel. See you at seven?"

"Of course." I smiled. "See you at seven."

***

As the door clicked shut, I sighed. I turned towards the kitchen and opened the fridge curiously. As expected, it was empty. Right before I turned I flinched.

"Dinner? Can't I come?" Lust pleaded, right behind me.

I spun around only to find my face inches from Leo's chest.

"Careful darling." He smiled.

I rolled my eyes and slid around him to get some space.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"Not that, it's just... we kind of just met." I said, filling up a glass with water.

As I said that, he hopped up on the counter right next to where I was standing. "Okay then, but I still want to know if I can come to dinner."

I pondered for a second, "Absolutely not."

"Why?" He said, sounding hurt.

"Because you're a seven deadly sin. You're different from me and my friends. Plus it's not like you can just stay here with me and hang out all the time. You have a job to do or something, right? You'll have to go mysteriously. What sort of excuse would I have for you or where I met you? It just wouldn't add up is what I'm trying to say."

"That's where you're wrong." He said firmly. "You and I are the same, whether you like it or not."

"What do you mean? That makes no sense." I said warily.

"I won't leave you if you want me to stay. You need me here for this process, this is my job right now."

"What process?" I yelled.

"You're parents weren't human!" He exclaimed, raising his voice. "Your parents broke the law. An angel and a demon can not mate, that's the rules and not only did they break them, they had a baby. It was Prides job as leader of the seven deadly sins to take care of the problem and somehow we got captured so that no harm would come to you as you grew up."

"That's a lie. A good story but it's not true, it can't be true." I reassured myself, bracing against the counter as to not fall over. I peered into his blue eyes, trying to catch the flash of deceit but they shone as if it were all true. I shook my head in disbelief as I stared at the floor.

"I shouldn't have told you this yet, I'm sorry..." He reached his hand toward me. Part of me wanted to let him console me, to calm me down, tell me it was a joke or something, but I couldn't.

"You're telling me all these years, the reason why I had gone through a life with no loving parents was because I was a mistake they had made? Because I was against the law?"

He took a step closer, trying to find out how to help without offending me in some way. "You weren't a mistake. Your parents loved each other and they loved you." He lowered his tone.
"Plus it was always said this would happen. No one believed but just look. You may be the miracle, Hazel."

"I just don't understand." I whispered.

"The sins are here to balance out humans. They wouldn't be the people they are without being inclined to do 'sinful' things. That's where we come in. While God and his people are the people 'washing away their sins' and all that crap we are the ones keeping the whole cycle together by balancing the good and evil. Make sense? Anyways, it was always said another sin would emerge. One that is the beauty of imperfection. It's a rare sin or emotion. Only we sins and some powerful beings know about this prophecy. The only way to make a sin is to have some sugar and some spice, if you know what I mean. Basically an angel and a demon baby. Like you."

"So I'm just supposed to become one of you?" I asked, overwhelmed.

"In a way, but the child has to follow its own path to become the balancer of the sins. You can't just become one. I want to help. Some of the others aren't so sure. They like how it is now, but I'm sick of it. I do have pleasure in some sinful things, but so do we all. I hate that all we do is bad so we balance the good. I know that sounds weird coming from a sin himself but please trust me. I need you Hazel." The emotion in his voice sounded genuine but he was a sin. How could I trust him? Images flew through my head as I thought: his blue eyes, him taking care of me, him needing me. I just didn't know anymore.

"I guess I'll follow along, I don't know how it could hurt me, but at any time if I want out, I'm out for good. No strings attached. This is my decision and it'll go my way with your help." I decided there was still fear of being discarded in the end, but I had to open up at some point in my life. Why not now.

"Deal, but one last thing..." He smiled.

"What is it?"

"Can I come to dinner?"

I sighed,"Sure."