The shadow silenced.
"I demand! Who calls?"
A faint and childish laughter from above made the remaining hair on Christoph's neck stand on end. Finally, it answered him.
"We are malicious."
Christoph shook his head and covered his ears.
"No! You are an apparition! I don't believe in spirits wandering the earth. Leave me!" he yelled.
The voice grew distorted and began speaking directly into Christoph's ear. His eyes widened as he fell to his knees, wincing in pain. He threw off his long coat and tugged at his hair. "Get out of here!"
"You," whispered the spirit.
"You belong to the resistor."
"Test him."
"Test you."
"Test him."
They repeated their words continuously. Christoph fought against his growing insanity. He stood and ran deeper into the forest. The faster he ran, the louder the voices became. He could not escape the torment.
"Eeeyaaah!" he yelled through the darkness.
His eyes bulged as the voices taunted his mind. He stumbled and fell headlong onto the dirt. The flesh above his brow sliced against a jagged stone. He rubbed his eyes and he turned on his elbows as the spirit resonated into shape. It flew in all directions several times but did not fully become a tangible creature.
"Test."
"The boy is sick. He will die."
"What say, you?"
"What say, you?"
"What say, you?" roared the voice in a horrid growl.
Christoph's fear completely vanished from his heart as he thought about Jhonen dying. It consumed his thoughts. He smiled and began laughing hysterically. It gave him peace. The shadow laughed with Christoph with the child-like laughter, and left him.
"Finally…justice," he whispered, his eyes glowing in the darkness. "Justice," he said louder, pounding the earth beneath his fist as the forest filled with Christoph's visceral laughter.
~*~
Morning came and Jhonen was late for a meeting at the town hall. Brunis felt something in his heart and sent some people to go to him; he was never late for anything.
"I hope he's…I hope he is well," Brunis said, his voice full of worry. "It's not like him."
A short time later, Brunis was called to Jhonen's home. He walked in and was joined by a number of people, including Maris. Somberness filled the air of the room.
"No, it can't be," Brunis whispered as he neared Jhonen's bed. A few of the people scattered nearby moved to one side, allowing Brunis to approach the bed.
"I'm here, Brunis. I'm well. Well enough to speak, that is."
Brunis placed his hand to his chest and exhaled.
"Jhonen, you put a fear in me like I've not felt in ages, boy," Brunis smiled. "Take time to rest."
"I'm fine, Brunis. This burden, I've had since I was a child. But it will not stop me from doing what I must for the people of Vale. My time has yet to come." Jhonen moaned, shifting his body a bit in his bed. His voice was hoarse and he was sweating from his brow. "Maris, do not leave my side, my love."
"I'd never," she whispered.
"Come, gentlemen. Let's allow him rest and peace." Brunis extended his arm away from the bed to lead them out.
Jhonen looked at Maris and then to Brunis. "I surely will, Brunis, thank you. Though, any word from Christoph?"
Brunis stopped in mid-turn and took a deep breath. "Here you lay, sick, and yet you still waste moments in worry about a man who wishes nothing to do with any sort of goodness. He is consumed with self and self-loathing and it has has indeed clung to him." Brunis walked to the bed and grabbed Jhonen's hand tightly.
Jhonen only nodded.
"Well," Brunis began tapping Jhonen's hand, "I'm off. Maris, would you escort me out?"
"Yes, of course, Brunis."
~*~
Christoph hunched from sight just outside of Jhonen's window. He had lingered for hours as he listened to all the clamor and kind words about Jhonen.
"I'm sick too, but do they care? No." He grunted and darted off into the forest, plotting the only thing that would end this.
The night came and once again, Christoph was visited by the tormenting spirit.
"We are near."
"We are near."
"He is too simple."
"Allow us to grant you a greater good."
Christoph sat against the root and buried his feet beneath the cool dirt to relieve the pain from the growing lesions and closed his eyes. He drifted into slumber when suddenly, his eyes popped open and thought on the words whispered into his ears. He scratched at his skin as he stood. The moonlight revealed his flesh to be a rancid green color, darkest around the skin above his heart. His eyes voided of whiteness, were now orbs of emerald. He fell to the earth and lifted his sinister smile and glared into the horizon toward Vale.
"Maris," the spirit whispered into his ear.
"Maris."
"MARIS!" it growled.
"Maris!" he yelled into the night.
His voice now mirrored the spirit above him, twisted and garbled. He stood to his feet but his bones were growing weaker by the moment. He trudged through the trees and made his way into town.
"You'll see. You need to suffer to see," he repeated in a snarl. He reached the edge of the forest. He hid in the shadows, his body contorted and soft. His heart began beating harder as he neared her home. A visible aura of green pulsated near his heart.
"Charity will be her end," he gleefully groaned as he made his way to her doorstep and knocked softly.
She answered from within promptly. "Who calls? Brunis?"
"No, ma'am. I am in need of assistance," he said, bowing his head to hide his disfigured form. "I have become ill and found my way through the hills. Will you please help a poor beggar?"
He bit his rotting lip and swallowed the flesh as he anticipated her coming to the door. Silence filled the air as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. The silence was broken as her footsteps grew closer to the door. It opened slightly and Maris looked out to see a man covered in a dark cloak.
She reeled for a moment before she walked toward him. "Of course, sir. It is our way. In fact I was on my way back to my fiance's home. I came to get...."
Christoph stepped to one side, hoping to hide his face from the moonlight. "Fiance, you say?"
"Yes, Jhonen, of the Red Lion. He's become ill and I am caring for him."
"Of the Red Lion, you say?" Christoph asked in mock-interest, "No, I've not heard of this clan. I hope he will be well and strong soon."
"Well, thank you, that is quite kind of you to say. Walk with me," she pointed to Jhonen's home, "and I will see to it that you get a warm meal."
"Yes. Yes. Thank you. This Jhonen. Is he a good man?"
"Rather strange question from a stranger, don't you think?" She stopped and tried to look at his face as he looked away.
"A hundred pardons, milady." Christoph whispered.
"But, yes, of course he is. He lives for others," she said proudly, "He never places himself before any. Especially his brother, Christoph. In fact, I believe that to be what makes him ill," she exclaimed, "He worries so."
Christoph stopped, clenched his teeth and grunted. "No! Always about him!" he yelled.
His deformed body lunged at her. She tried to scream but he covered her mouth and pulled her into the shadows.
"Tell me why he gets everything as if he were a king?!"
She knew her captor well. Christoph. She could not speak and the stench coming from his body was too much to handle. Her eyes began to water as she heaved over. She slipped away far enough to kick him from behind.
"You bitch! He needs to learn!" he caught her and grabbed her neck. "Brother, indeed. My brother will learn. I'm becoming something greater than he will ever be. With you gone, he'll begin to see. He'll feel pain, finally. At long last, justice has found him!"
Her eyes shot open as Christoph placed his clammy, rotting hands around her neck. He stifled any s
ound that wanted to come from her mouth. He squeezed harder. She tried again to kick him, but failed. She clawed at his sores and he cried out pain. She continued to fight but was losing the battle. He looked at the back of her head with hatrid and smiled as he choked the life from within her.
"He doesn't deserve good."
He heard the voices of the spirit laughing in the forest. This pleased him. With one last bit of strength he pressed harder against her neck, and the victory was his.
"See? See?" he said. He let her fall to the ground and kicked her lifeless body. "Done. You'll see, brother. You'll see." Christoph looked into the sky and quickly left her body for the solitude of the wood.
~*~
The town of Vale was in a state of shock and deeply saddened when Maris was found. The citizens gathered around her.
"Who? Who?" Brunis repeatedly cried out. "Jhonen. We must inform him."
He stood from kneeling over Maris' body, now draped, and the entire crowd turned in one direction. Jhonen was standing there, pale and considerably weaker looking than the days before. His eyes were glassed over and he stammered toward them. Brunis ran to him and caught him just before he fell.
"Maris?" Jhonen pleaded with his hands around Brunis' collar.
Brunis looked down and closed his eyes, his tears crashed against the ground. "I'm sorry Jhonen. I'm so sorry."
Jhonen moaned and the entirety of his weight fell on Brunis' arms. Brunis was not strong enough to hold him and they fell to the ground together. Jhonen screamed again but gulped and his arm shook violently as Brunis held him. His mouth dropped and his eyes widened.
"Jhonen?" Brunis yelled.
"First Maris, now Jhonen! God be with us all!" A woman standing nearby sobbed.
Jhonen stopped breathing completely.
"Jhonen!" Brunis yelled and struck Jhonen's chest again and again, but to no avail.
"No!" Brunis wept.
The wails became louder and louder, as everyone, some standing, some kneeling now, looked on in mourning and utter disbelief. His lifeless body lay perfectly in death beside his Maris.
~*~
Deep within the forest, Christoph was in a trance. The spirit hovered above him. He began to speak.
"Now he will see. He will feel pain. He deserves to hurt."
His appearance changed even more. His flesh was entirely green and he could no longer see.
"I am becoming something more. I am becoming something more."
He repeated those words for hours until finally, night fell upon him. A loud rush of wind surrounded him. The spirit that sat atop the tree appeared just as before, only now it sat next to him.
"Show him who we are?"
"We are malicious."
"We are leviathan!"
It roared and formed a shadow. Transformed into a deep emerald color, it nearly matched Christoph's. Appendages that looked like tentacles sprouted from its head and the flesh became harder. The creature had no eyes, only a mouth lined with teeth. It snapped at Christoph and limbs sprouted all over its body before they disappeared into its hide. Tentacles grabbed at the air, each one pointing a different direction.
The creature took shape quickly. It resembled a misshapen lion, four times one's size, with a snake for a tongue, hissing in and out of its enormous razor lined mouth. It sniffed at Christoph's flesh and lapped at his wounds, tearing large portions of flesh. The beast rumbled a deep, disheartening laugh as it mocked him.
"You are nothing. You become nothing. You will never be anything."
Christoph's blinded eyes could not see the beast, yet he felt everything. He froze there with his mouth open, all of his teeth missing.
"Tell me…what your name, master, is?" he asked, his speech deformed in his weakness.
The beast snapped its teeth again, snarled, and answered with a slithering tongue, "We have many names. There are none we prefer. Leviathan. Malicious. Schadenfreude. The name of our father, 'Invidios.' It matters not what you call us, as long as you do." The demon walked next to him.
"I am…Envy," it whispered into Christoph's ear.
Christoph heard the beast trampling around him and turned his ear in each direction. "Envy…of course. Of course," he said, bowing his head. "What will you give?" he asked in a most raspy, distorted voice.
The beast, Invidios, answered. "Nothing."
"Bororintis."
"Nothing."
As smoke from Jhonen's and Maris' funeral pyre lifted into the heavens, Christoph stood up. The beast laughed again hysterically. "He is dead. The smoke rises to honor them."
"Invidios, leave me now?" he pleaded.
"Never."
"You belong to us, dog."
Christoph wept and felt around the roots he would rest in and stumbled to the opposite side of the tree.
"You will be left to rot some more."
"We love the rot."
"We will not let you live."
"We will feast upon your flesh."
His blinded eyes fumbled deeper into the forest. Christoph began to weep. He shed no tears for remorse over what he had done. No, he was saddened that even after Maris was gone and Jhonen was now dead, Jhonen was still receiving attention. This pained him deeply. He wandered beyond the outer reaches of the forest, barely able to step. He grew greener still, with envy…even after the death of his rival.
The demon followed him, tormented him, lapped again at his lesions and laughed. Its tongue left a bloody trail on Christophs back. As the beast backed on his haunches, ready to make a meal of Christoph's body and trap his soul within, Christoph stumbled and heard noises nearby. He cried out for help as loudly as his throat allowed.
"Hey, there! Help! Ho, there!"
The beast jumped on top of Christoph and bit his hand.
"We will devour you…slowly."
Christoph cried out in pain. Two small figures working in the distance heard Christoph's cries and made their way toward the sound of his desperation. They were dressed in ancient dressing, almost colorless, dirtied from toiling in the soil for years and shoes made to stand firm in the softest of soil. In their hands were small blades, forged to work the land.
"This way, Biell!" yelled the taller figure.
"Right behind you, brother!"
The demon, Invidios, leaped from Christoph and bit its jaws at the incoming interlopers. It ran into some deep foliage to conceal itself. Something made this vicious and demonic beast take notice. They reached Christoph's disgusting form and fell beside him.
"Oh, no. Look at this," Biell whispered.
"Good grief," Aliel said in response. He sniffed the air and looked into the sky. "Brother…ad posse ad esse. It is near."
They looked down at the wretched, boney green man and felt pity, not fear.
"I know," Biell said, looking over his shoulder.
"What is your name?" asked Aliel. "What is it that torments you?"
"What is his name?" Biell asked louder, as he shook Christoph, who only moaned in pain. Aliel knew what was happening, but he wanted the demon to show himself, and by asking his name, he would. Biell looked again over his shoulder and nodded to Aliel who was also watching behind his brother.
"Aliel!" Biell yelled, hunching and rolling over as Aliel stood with his ax in hand.
He stood next to Aliel, clutching his spade as well. They were no more than four feet tall and were overcast by the demon that appeared before them. But they stood as though they were giants.
"I am Envy, you small pathetic creatures. I am going to devour this wretched fool, both his body and soul." The great demon lifted its head and raised its body as high as it could. The beast's tongue slithered inches away from Biell's face.
"There is nothing for you here, demon! Leave us!" Aliel yelled, raising his ax to Invidios' head. The demon stopped where it stood, appearing unable to move any closer. From the ax, a brilliant light shined, illuminating the area around them. The two small creatures stood ready, as they protected the afflicted Christoph beh
ind their feet. Biell swiped his spade as hard as he could, severing the beast's tongue from its body. Invidios jumped back and screamed in a hundred voices. The snake fell onto the ground and crawled away into the night.
"There is only one that can claim victory over us!" it roared in agony.
"Absolutum dominium! I know the one who can!" Aliel screamed with all of his might.
"Leave us, vile beast! Return to the resistor! You have no claim here!" Aliel's light shined brighter. It pierced the beast's skin through and through.
Invidios began tearing away at its own flesh and the black spirit rose high into the night. It screeched a high pitched shrill as the light made its way through its body.
"There is only one that can claim victory over us!" it repeated.
"That he has!" Aliel said to the beast as he lowered his ax. "Let's help this broken man."
"Surely. I wonder what happened to him," Biell whispered sadly.
"The demon took hold of him, until it was too late. For now, we must tend to him."
Christoph moaned through his words. "Where is…where is malice? Where is…Invi…dios, who seeks to have me, to devour me?"
"No malice here. Only charity. Nothing else. What is your name?" Aliel questioned.
"My name is…Christ…oph…and I," he gurgled.
"You what?" Biell asked.
"I'm…getting…worse." He reached blindly into the night. Biell took hold of Christoph's wrist, bony and ghastly.
"This hell beast influenced them to kill the King himself. How could I not know?
"I tell you this," Christoph mumbled, "rejoice not when the enemy falls, and let not the heart be glad when we stumble, for the demon will kill us….and he, Envy, has killed the last of the man in me."
Aliel and Biell looked down at Christoph. The moon was blood red, and the sky was now empty of the spirit. Envy did not prevail that night. Charity was the victor.
# # #
Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign that something is eating us.
—Peter de Vries
VI. GLUTTONY
Hunger Pains
by
Diana Ilinca
Everyone knows the concept of a wolf in sheepskin. The monster, rabid and ugly, disguised as innocent and sweet. In this story, another nature of the beast rears its head; for we all know what's under the sheepskin, but none have seemed to wonder, where is the rest of the sheep?
Seven Deadly Sins Page 15
