The silent alarm buzzed at Charles Street Bus Station, leading Officer Mark to the abandoned building. It was the fifth time that week the alarm had been triggered, usually by someone seeking shelter. As he approached, his flashlight flickered to life; catching a group of students in its glow.

"Keep it moving," Mark called out, noticing their attempt to hide what they had just lit. "You can't do that on private property," The students grumbled before slowly leaving the area.

"Dispatch, this is Mark at Charles Street," he said into his radio, only to be met with static. Frowning, he tapped the device, "This is Mark, is my signal coming through?" he was met with even more silence.

That's when the hooded figure slipped through his peripheral vision, he turned just in time to see the terminal door close. Mark rolled his eyes and placed his radio back on his belt, he stepped through the door to begin his search.

"Hello?" His voice echoed off the wall of the empty building. "You can't be in here, this is private property," scanned the area with his light, his other hand resting on his his sidearm.

"So sorry officer," came a whisper, causing him to spin around. A young woman emerged from the shadows, her clothes more suited for a nightclub than a bus terminal. "I'm not from the area and must have gotten a little turned around, I take it the last bus is already gone?"

"Sorry miss, this terminal was closed down last year," Mark explained taking in the woman's beauty, "Maybe I could drive you where you need to go,"

"Oh, would you?" the woman reached out and took his hand, "What a gentleman," She looked up and Mark with big eyes, he started to blush.

"Come with me, my cruiser is just out front," he said trying to keep his cool, he led the woman out the front doors with him. He was so distracted by her beauty that he didn't notice the red tint to her eyes.

"Just hop in," He opened the door for the woman, helping her inside. He came around to the other side and got in, pulling away from the curb and driving off into the night.

---

Zack and Rob arrived at the University early the next morning to find Ahmed pacing and Deb leaning against the wall, her arms folded tightly across her chest.

"Ahmed, what's up?" Zack asked as they approached the pair.

"It happened again," Ahmed said, running his fingers through his hair. "I had a vision. It leads me here, and you know what that means.."

"We found a body," Deb finished grimly, nodding toward the entrance of the optometry building where a small group of officials congregated.

"Who was it?" Rob asked, noticing the visible police uniform the body was wearing, his mind already leading him to the worst-case scenario.

"Where is Lindsey?" Zack asked, also noticing the uniform.

"Don't worry," Deb replied. "It's not her, she went inside to ask for the security footage."

Lindsey appeared then, notes in hand, her usually sharp gaze clouded with fatigue. She noticed the group huddled by the end of the path and made her way over, "The four of you need to go back to your classes," she insisted. "We will handle everything from here,"

"Who is it?" Rob asked as another officer zipped up the bag.

"It was my partner, Mark," Lindsey looked back at the scene over her shoulder. "He said he could handle the call on his own last night... I will find out who this is. Now go before I have to explain how it is the four of you seem to find bodies everywhere you go." She gave them a look that sent her back to campus without asking any more questions.

Deb looked back over her shoulder, catching Lindsey wiping away tears, she almost walked right into Jessica. "Deb, are you planning on going to that candlelight vigil thing on Saturday?"

"I don't know," Deb looked over to Ahmed and Rob. "We might have other plans that night."

"Right," Jessica conceded, offering a smile to Deb's friends. "Well, if you change your mind I may need a hand handing out candles that night," Deb didn't really respond, so Jessica turned and left.

As soon as Jessica was out of earshot, Deb turned to Zack. "You hear her, she is going to the vigil Saturday, that could be our chance to figure out what she knows about Lust, I mean she had the map marked before we even knew about the frequencies,"

"You don't think she's investigating it too do you?" Zack asked Deb, his gaze flickering back to Rob and Ahmed.

"Not she follows the exorcist code right down to the letter," Deb replied, "If she is in it, then it means she is a part of it,"

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Rob interjected. "I know we haven't made much ground finding Lust but we can't just start accusing people,"

"True," Zack mused. "But Jessica does know something, Saturday may be the only time we get to go through her office again, we can't turn down an opportunity like that," The group nodded in agreement before heading their separate ways.

---

Deb arrived home to her apartment, she made her way to her room and spread her knives out over her bed, she retrieved her sharpening stone from her bookshelf. With practiced ease, she starts sharpening each one. The silence of her apartment allowed her to focus completely on her work, but a sudden scratch at the window had her on her feet.

Without a moment's hesitation, Deb moved to the window without making a sound. She yanked open the window with one hand while the other drew a blade in a silvery arc. John's surprised face appeared as she hauled him through the window and pinned him to the ground, the knife at his throat.

"What the hell John, I could have killed you," Deb growled, her eyes searching John's for a reason.

"Relax, I just wanted to check on you," John grunted, staying remarkably calm for a man with a blade pressing against his throat. "I just wanted to know how you are doing, I also wouldn't mind if you put the knife away,"

"Oh, right," Deb replied, tucking the knife back into its sheath. "Sorry about that, I've just been on edge recently,"

"What to talk about it?" John asked, getting up from the floor.

"I'd rather just watch a movie or something," Deb looked over to the door.

"A movie works," John smiled, "Lead the way.

---

Meanwhile, Jake Rivers stood before a classroom of sombre faces, as they discussed the psychology behind morning the dead. He noted Ahmed's pen moving steadily across his notebook, even though he had made it clear they didn't need to take notes during this discussion. Jake cleared his throat, trying to get his attention.

"I'm sorry... Ahmed was it?" Jake began, his gaze locked on the young man as he walked up next to him, "This discussion will be more informative if you participate and listen. It won't be tested on, so there is no need for notes,"

"Oh sorry, I'm listening," Ahmed looked up at the man, "Find doodling while I'm listening helps me remember it all,"

"I see," Jake said, offering a faint smile as he looked down at AHmed's work. "Gravestones are a little on the nose."

"Yeah, but they are fun to draw, i must have drawn like a million of these," Ahmed said, his pen pausing as he looked at his work.

"Well as long as you are listening," Jake responded, shifting his weight uncomfortably. "Let's discuss religion's role in the grieving process,"

---

At their apartment, Zack sat next to Rob. "I think we should talk to Kenneth again, I mean every time Lust kills someone, Greed seems to act out."

"That would be great if Brian wasn't glued to him ever since they murdered Kristian," Rob murmured, looking at the blank TV screen. "But I agree, they know something about Lust,"

"So we just create an opening," Zack said, reaching for his phone. "They used Ahmed to try to get closer to us, maybe it's time we use that against them."

"Right Ahmed is the perfect distraction," Rob said, giving Zack a worried look. "I don't like the idea of his alone with a killer,"

"Ahmed can handle Brian," Zack continued, "We need to do this. We are losing this fight on both sides, we need to change up our plays. We only have until the end of the month before Amanda comes back for Ethel."

"Fine, I'll text him," Rob muttered, almost to himself.

"Thank you," Zack said, watching Rob write the text.

Rob hit send then turned back to Zack. "There has been something that has been bothering me, If Pablo was the reason Danny became Greed, why hasn't Danny killed him yet? you know to get his full power up,"

"Because his focus has been on me and Ethel," Zack said, as he tried to think of a logical explanation.

"Still," Rob rubbed his chin in thought. "It seems off, I mean we've fought five sins in a year and a half. There are only seven sins and for some reason, they all seem to be drawn here,"

"Rob, can we just focus on Lust and Greed for now?" Zack reasoned, already feeling overwhelmed, "We can figure everything else out after."

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Sure thing," Rob said before the silence fell between them.

---

Kenneth lounged on the edge of a weathered picnic table, he scrolled w]through his feed as he half ate a sandwich. The university campus buzzed around him as he liked one of Leona's latest photos.

"I thought you two were over?" Brian's voice caused Kenneth to jump.

"Not yet, I just haven't found the right time," Kenneth muttered, not meeting Brian's eyes, and turning off his phone.

"You should have done it weeks ago," Brian scoffed, leaning against the tree trunk. "Newsflash, Romeo - she isn't useful to us, so you don't need to be with her anymore,"

"Just because she isn't a part of Zack's covenant doesn't mean she isn't useful. She makes me feel normal," Kenneth protested, finally looking at him.

Brian's grin stretched as he stared down at Kenneth. "You will never be normal, if Greed finds out you are still with her, you know what he will do?"

"You know he's going to ask you to do the same to Ahmed," Kenneth shot back, looking Brian right in the eye.

"Ahmed shows promise," Brian said through gritted teeth. "Stop seeing Leona," He commanded. "Or Greed will make sure she can never talk to you again,"

With a last chilling look, Brian turned and strode away, leaving Kenneth to think about his choices. Brian wasn't lying, Kenneth knew there would be consequences for not obeying Danny's order if he ever found out.

***

Ahmed's room was dim, a single lava lamp provided some multicoloured light. He reached out to help Brian off with his shirt, but paused, catching a moment of hesitation from Brian.

"Is everything ok?" Ahmed questioned, stepping back from the shirtless Brian.

"I'm just a little surprised you texted me since..." Brian began, then trailed off, as he caught Ahmed's gaze.

"Since you killed Kristian," Ahmed finished for him, sitting on the foot of his bed.

"It wasn't my choice," Brian said, his voice hollow, "Amanda was the one who wanted to kill one of Ethel's vessels,"

"And here I thought you were a Supreme," Ahmed rolled his eyes and avoided Brian's gaze. "Doesn't that mean to you the power to make your own choices?"

"It doesn't work that way. Greed gave her the go ahead, you don't go against Greed," Brian muttered, sitting next to Ahmed on the bed.

They both sat in silence, Brian leaning over and placing his head on Ahmed's shoulder. Ahmed didn't look down at him, but he didn't pull away either.

***

Zack and Rob found Kenneth alone, still at the picnic table lost in thought. He stared down at his empty phone screen, his thumb hovering over it as he tried to find the words to text.

"I knew it would only be a matter of time before you showed up," Kenneth said without looking up, he kept looking at his phone.

"We just want to talk," Rob said taking a seat across from him, "We know you didn't want to kill Kristian,"

"But I still helped," Kenneth's voice was hollow, "It's always the same..."

"What's always the same," Zack asked. "Kenneth you've helped us before, just tell us how we can save Ethel,"

"You can't, Greed already knows that she won't join us" Kenneth explained, "If he can't have her power, no one can,"

"Great," Rob tapped the table, frustrated. "So there is nothing we can do,"

"Well, there is one thing," Kenneth dropped his voice to a whisper, "Find Lust, Greed is convinced Lust is after him, someone we killed along our way. It wouldn't surprise me..."

"So he thinks Lust will target him?" Rob asked a small smile spreading across his face, "If he thinks we have Lust, we could draw him right to us."

"You better have one hell of a plan to kill him then," Kenneth murmured, "Because he will kill you for deceiving him,"

---

Brian was greeted by the cold night air as he felt Ahmed's house. He paused for a moment, sensing something coming his way, turning around, he found himself facing the pointed end of Ashley's energy blade. The air crackled as she lashed out, slicing across his chest, and sending him falling back onto the grass.

"What the hell," Brian muttered as blood began to seep into his shirt, he jumped back to his feet, squaring off against her. "You should know better than to attack a Supreme,"

Ashley said nothing, instead, she raised her hand summoning another energy blade. Brian's eyes shifted to a solid black as he transformed on the yard.

"You're lucky Amanda has dibs on killing you" Brian hissed. Brian slipped through the shadow, emerging behind her and grabbing her by the neck, hurling her through the air like a ragdoll. Brian turned his attention to a large rock in the garden, in his bloodlust apparent, he raised it high above his head.

"Tough I have been known to break the rules every once in a while" Brian's voice boomed. "I'll make it up to Amanda somehow,"

There was a click as the door opened behind them. Brian's gaze shifted towards Ahmed, who looked right at him, his disappointment was clear. Shame replaced Brian's anger, and the rock dropped harmlessly to the grass.

"I... I'm...," Brian tried to form the sentence before giving up, he turned and sank into the shadows.

In the aftermath, Ahmed knelt beside Ashley, assessing her injuries. Her head wound, usually quick to heal, remained stubbornly open as Ahmed tried to clean them with a towel.

"What do I do?" Ahmed asked. "I don't know what to do,"

"I need..." Ashley began before she lost consciousness. Ahmed in a panic dialed 911, hoping they could help her.

---

Meanwhile, in Deb's apartment, maps and notes were strewn about Jessica's office. John leaned over Deb's shoulder, squinting at the blacklight-illuminated patterns.

"So I take it we aren't going to finish the movie," he murmured, watching Deb pick the lock on the desk drawer.

Deb didn't bother looking up, she just shuffled the drawer open. She started carefully flipping through the papers until a file labelled victims caught her eye. Inside she found detailed backgrounds of each of Lust's victims, clustered into groups of three.

"She flipped through them until she found Officer Mark's, his addiction listed as sex," Deb mused. "She flipped his write-up over to find the word Body written across it." She squinted are the writing then turned back to the files. Flipping over each group of three.

"Mind, body and soul," John read aloud. "What do you think it means?"

"Each group of addicts serve a purpose," Deb explained, "This is why Lust chooses them, we have to tell Zack," She carefully took photos of each file before slipping them back into the drawer. "Let's get out of here," John was all too excited to get out of there.

---

The eerie echo of his footsteps reverberated off the walls as Jake descended into the tunnels beneath the university to avoid the rain on the way to his car. A cool draft swirled around him, carrying the musty scent of the damp concrete. At the far end, Ethel materialized at the far end of the hallway.

"Ethel!" he called out, racing over to her as a smile spread across his face.

She smiled at him as the distance between them vanished. Their embrace was a fusion of desperation and comfort; Ethel had gone silent for weeks and Jake had begun to worry he would never see her again.

"Where have you been?" Jake's voice trembled, looking into her eyes for answers.

"Jake, I've been... nearby," she replied, her gaze darting away to keep from sharing more.

"Why didn't you answer my calls? I was worried something happened to you," he protested, "I was worried those monsters had gotten to you,"

"They haven't, not yet," Ethel said quietly, "but that is why I've been keeping my distance, so they don't come after you,"

"Let them come," he urged, his hand slipping down into hers. "They caught me off guard last time but I've been doing some research, I know palm ash can stop them,"

"Sounds like you are on top of things," Ethel offered a half smile, "I just wanted to check on you, and let you know I am ok,"

Danny leaned in, kissing her, and for that moment everything felt right, as they turned away from each other, Ethel took a final look at Jake before leaving.

---

"So Greed thinks they created Lust?" Deb's voice crackled through the car's speakerphone.

"That is what Kenneth told us, which has me thinking. What if there is a record of it." Rob glanced down at his speaker as if Deb could see him, "All those animal attacks will be written up and recorded, especially on so brutal it was a miracle the victim survived,"

"Right but those would be confidential police files," Deb said, her voice steady as she said what Rob was dreading. "In order to get those we would need Lindsey and you know you would have to tell her everything to get her to agree with you,"

"I know," Rob's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "But we have no other choice, we plan to point them at each other and handle the one that wins, in order to do that we need to know who Lust is,"

"Good luck, John and I are going to look up a few articles to see if we can find any possible target of Lust," Deb explained before hanging up, Rob turned his attention to the road as the police station came into view.

---

Zack stood before Ms. McLeod, she had just finished packing up her office for the night. She met his searching gaze with an inscrutable one of her own.

"Why are you helping him?" Zack demanded, blocking the door out of the room.

"What makes you think I am helping him? I am just maintaining the balance," she explained, not seeming particularly worried about Zack blocking her way.

"You locked us in the silo," Zack accused, anger filling his body. "You lead them to Paulina, you are constantly by their side,"

"You seem to be confusing my duty as a choice," Norma shot back, "I've also kept him at bay, ensured he didn't do anything too soon or too damaging,"

"So killing Olivia and Kristian wasn't too damaging," Zack scoffed, his eyes narrowing. "Or is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night,"

"You don't get it, Greed wants you," Ms. McLeod said, sounding annoyed, "But not like you are now, he wants the Supreme you are destined to become. And he is going to either get what he wants or destroy you. Your friends are alive because I've distracted him with Ethel. You have no idea just how important your role is in what's to come,"

"So tell me," Zack pleaded, "Tell me what is coming,"

"You'll find out when you need to know," Norma said, stepping past Zack and out of the room, he didn't even attempt to stop her.

---

It was a quiet morning at Rockwell Elementary as Principal Skylar walked the halls, only coming to a stop when a whiteboard marker rolled out of a nearby classroom. With a furrowed brow, she stepped inside, noticing the room was completely empty.

"Mr. Thompson?"

No answer came, she turned to find the whiteboard covered in names of women, some of the ink from the marker still drying. She could feel her heart rate increase as she looked at the board: someone had just been in there.

---

Ahmed's fingers drummed an impatient rhythm on the wooden surface of Jake's desk, his eyes pleading for action. Jake, however, leaned back in his chair, a wall of skepticism built firmly between them.

"They'll be here any minute," Ahmed insisted, looking over to the door of the empty lecture hall, "All I am saying is we need to cancel the vigil for Saturday,"

"Because you had a vision," Jake cut in, his tone dismissive as he spun a pen between his fingers. "You know it took me weeks to get this set up. Not sure I can cancel it on the ground of a psychic vision..."

Frustration boiled over and Ahmed stood abruptly, knocking the chair back with a clatter. "I'm not psychic!"

Jake's eyebrows arched high. "The what are you?"

"Something!" Ahmed shouted, the word echoing off the walls, just as Zack and Kenneth appeared in the doorway. They made their way over to the pair.

"Ahmed's right," Zack said taking a seat. "he knows when someone is going to die, we need to stop the vigil."

"Does he now," Jake looked over at Ahmed, a certain curiosity taking over his features, "I'll try but honestly at this point it may be too late,"

"Don't worry, if you can't cancel it, we have a plan B," Zack said confidently.

---

Meanwhile, at the police station, Rob slept in the waiting room chair, he had spent the night waiting for Lindsey. Lindsey finally came back from her call to Rockwell Elementary and watched Rob snoring from the seat, she shook her head before approaching him.

"Rob, wake up," she said, giving him a gentle nudge.

"Sorry, I was just resting my eyes—" Rob paused looking up to meet Lindsey's gaze. She smiled down at him

"I take it, you wanted to talk to me?" Lindsey asked, motioning for him to follow her to her office.

"Right." He stood up from the chair and followed her. "We need to talk—I know you told me to stay away from the murders. But it's more complicated than that,"

"Not really," Lindsey folded her arms, as they entered her office. "I'm the police officer, you're the student, only one of us should be investigating these murders,"

"I know but," Rob tried to find the right words, while avoiding eye contact with her. "You don't have the whole picture about what's going on here. And until you do, you won't be able to solve this case,"

"What exactly am I missing here?" Lindsey no longer seemed amused by their conversation, as she sat down in her chair. "If you've got some insight on this I would love to hear it, along with an explanation as to why you know so much about this case,"

"Right, I'm getting to that," Rob swallowed hard, he never wanted to have this conversation, and a look of dread spread across his face.

"Well, I'm listening," Lindsey leaned forward in her chair, watching Rob start to pace.

"Ok, but if you're going to get it then we have to go back to last September," Rob started. "I know that doesn't make sense right now, but it will, I swear,"

"Just get on with it," Lindsey nodded. "A teacher is missing and I don't have all day,"

"I know," Rob said, pacing even faster now. "This all started the night before Basketball tryouts, that night you found the body in the park..."

Rob began to tell her everything, about Zack's curse, the exorcists and Gluttony's murder spree. Lindsey didn't say a word, she just listened with a concerned look on her face.