The Seven Deadly Sinners

16

"What? What's wrong with him?" I asked, looking back and forth between Sam and Kat, who were clearly holding back smiles. "Is he okay? Are you going to do something or just stand here?" I asked. He seemed to be in some serious pain.

"I'm good," he wheezed, clearly not good. "God damn," he breathed, finally standing back up. "Jesus fuck, is it supposed to hurt that bad?"

"Stronger it is, more it hurts," said Sam.

"And if it happens faster it'll hurt more, too. Since it's the same amount that's just happening more at once," said Kat.

"I never saw any of you guys keeled over like that," Colby said, still a little out of breath.

"You know yours is supposed to be the strongest," Sam said.

"Yeah, I thought that would be a good thing," answered Colby.

"And it will be, once it's all there and settled," said Kat.

"Well when is it supposed to happen to her?" asked Colby. Kat shrugged.

"When she's ready for it to. But you know it's gradual. That wasn't the worst you'll have and it's definitely not the last, either," said Kat.

"She might have already felt it, you know. It doesn't hurt when it's a small increment," said Sam.

"No, actually, I wouldn't know," Colby replied,

"And neither would I. What the hell are you talking about and what the hell just happened?" I asked.

"Oh, he—,"

"Shut UP, Sam!" Colby said, cutting him off. "There is no way in hell I am telling her until I know for a fact it's happened to her, too."

I remembered the weird tingle I'd felt in my chest earlier.

"Yeah, not to mention how fucking funny it was that just looking at her like that hit you so hard," Kat said, giggling.

"Yeah, looking at them doesn't usually hit like that, but yours is stronger than anyone else's, so we can't really know for certain what's going to set it off," said Sam.

"Can you even blame me, though? Look at her," Colby said to Sam, holding his arm out at me.

"You said hot, I gave you hot," Kat said.

"Yeah, babe. Maybe a little too hot," Sam chuckled. I felt my face heat up again, but it was hidden under fresh makeup. "Take it easy on the poor guy."

"All I did was put her in some clothes and a wig. She's already hot on her own," Kat said, giving me some of the credit she'd taken earlier.

"No fucking kidding," Colby mumbled.

"You guys just really like leaving me in the dark with things, don't you?" I asked.

"This one is my call. I'm not telling you and you can't make me," Colby said roughly. Fucking Wrath. It was like he was all three of the things we called him and different parts came out at different times.

"Not yet," I said in a low voice.

"Excuse me?" he asked, moving across the room to stand directly in front of me, only a foot away.

"You said it yourself, buddy. That I'm the powerful one here. And clearly that Kevin-Belial guy was right. You need help the most," I said.

"Help? The fuck is that supposed to mean, huh?" Colby asked.

"We're going to...," Sam trailed off. Colby and I were glaring at each other but could hear Sam and Kat walk away and out of the house.

"It's supposed to mean that you need to learn how do deal with being Wrath. You get so fucking heated over small things. You lost your shit earlier just because I didn't feel like being lied to. You got mad just now when I made a comment about not enjoying feeling left out with all of this new information. You have no fucking clue how to control yourself and that's because no one has ever expected you to," I said.

"Well then why the fuck do you?" he asked.

"I don't know! Maybe that's what my 'sin' is. I'm a control freak, okay? I've gotten used to being at the top. When you're at the top, you have to make damn sure that everyone else is aware that that means they're at the bottom," I said.

"Well then maybe you're the one who needs to learn how to control yourself," he shot back. His gaze faltered for a moment.

"You're scared of me," I said.

"The hell I am," he replied. I smirked when I stole a glance at his feet and saw his toes wiggling inside of his Vans.

"You're scared of me because no one has ever challenged your power. No one else has control over you like I do," I said.

"You do not have control over me," he said.

"Clearly I do. You just about fell over when you looked at me not even five minutes ago," I said.

"That had nothing to do with fear," he replied.

"If you won't tell me what it did have to do with, then there's no reason I shouldn't continue to assume that fear is what's driving your anger right now," I said.

"It's not anger!" he yelled.

"Oh my god, my fucking bad. Wrath. Anger. Whatever. Is this just what you're like? You blow up at people and then what? Do you just make a lot of enemies or Urge people so that they can be convinced you're someone who's worth their time again?" I snapped.

"At least I haven't spent the past year and a half of my life being responsible for or at least aware of the fact that I could have prevented literally hundreds of deaths!" he countered.

"What, so now you're calling me a murderer? You're literally Satan, for fuck's sake!" I yelled.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Colby yelled.

"With me? Are you joking? I know you're kidding right now. You drag me into this and get mad and try to call me out on things that I didn't even have to tell you about!" I shouted.

"What the fuck!" Colby yelled. Something in his eyes changed. The light blue of them switched to a dark, deep shade.

"You don't get to be mad that I have opinions and feelings, buddy!" I yelled. I think that pushed him too far.