𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒.
LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE

•••

"Tell you what?" He asked, his voice still husky. A white shirt hugged his chest, the top few undone buttons catching my attention for a split second.

"You said you knew what I'd seen. What—who is it?"

"Normally, it's me."

Normally.

The thought that he'd done this before left a bitter taste in my mouth. I shrugged the sudden weight off my shoulders immediately, annoyed at myself for the feeling spreading through my chest.

"I don't mind if you want another round." He dipped his head into the curve of my neck. "To get a better look at the visions."

I huffed a laugh. "I think I'll pass."

I felt breathless, shaken from the portraits forming and shifting in my head. Desperate to parch my thirst, I tripped over my feet to the kitchen.

The tap splattered small flecks onto my cheeks as I filled my glass. A sip had barely smoothed down my throat before I tipped it back out, the water splashing up over the edges of the sink.

Black and white shifted around in my head, a dull pressure building behind my eyes. I let out a groan, the glass falling to the ground with a sharp clang.

A smothered voice rang in my ears as I tried to delve deeper behind the mask of the man. The fog moved to wherever I looked, the pressure in my head turning into a painful throb. The voice turned into multiple ones, chanting and speaking over each other in a relentless rhythm.

"Pandora," he called, whispering my name like the chant going on in my head.

I gasped, my eyes snapping open. The kitchen floor dug into my back as I stared up blankly at the ceiling. Blank, white paint peered down at me, the blinding lustre of the light above my head jolting me to my senses.

His touch sent odd races up through my skin as he pulled me up and kneeled behind me, rubbing his hands over my arms soothingly. "What is it?"

I struggled to find my words. "Shadows." My chest tightened. "The man, he was—fog, there were shadows too, black and white—"

He halted my blabbering, pulling me into his lap in one swift move. "You need to calm down."

The intensity of his gaze only made it worse. "No, you don't understand. I saw someone—"

He cut me off again. "It doesn't matter."

I watched him carefully as his eyebrows furrowed, doubt and uncertainty casting over his face.

With my breaths still racing, I came to a realisation.

I stood up, gripping onto the counter as I felt my balance falter.

"You're lying to me."

He rose, the colour of his golden eyes sharpening.  "I'd never."

I let out a shaky sigh, trying to piece everything together. "You're one of the seven deadly sins," his jaw clenched as I continued, "how can I trust you?"

Taking his silence as an answer, I scoffed. "You're one of them." Tears pricked the back of my eyes, my confusion growing, "Pride, Greed, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, Sloth and yo—"

All at once, his hand has pressed up against my mouth, a raging storm growing in his eyes. "Shut up."

I staggered back, taking in the warning in his sharp stare.

And then his hand disappeared along with the rest of him, his form disintegrating with the take of a breeze. Wisps of smoke floated in the air where he was standing, a grey cast sitting in the air for a split second.

The silence of the apartment unsettled me as I dragged my feet behind me to bed.

I dropped down between the clean sheets, expecting the dull darkness of sleep to take over the loudness of my thoughts. But they were as noisy as the apartment was quiet, the images flashing and peaking below my eyelids with every blink I took.

I sat up slowly, scared that I'd somehow end up frightening myself. Scared that I'd let my mind trick me into fearing the silence of the apartment—into fearing the drip, drip, drip sounding from the open tap in the kitchen.

I held my breath, wiping the back of my hand across my forehead to find it damp.

The floorboards creaked beneath my bare feet as I rushed into the kitchen, twisting the tap shut. The screen of my phone lit up, it's bright light cutting through the dark of the apartment.

I had no reason to cry. There was no fear within in me—except the moments when I gave in to my curiosity and let my eyes fall shut, wanting to see more and wanting to get rid of the vision at the same time.

Swiping my tears off my cheek, I let my fingers dance across the device, the countless websites and articles rattling around in my brain.

Words jumped out at me:

Darkness.

Sin.

Light.

Evil.

I sniffed, grabbing the nearest pen I could find. The ink bled out onto the paper in a messy scrawl, my hands trembling as I folded the name into my pocket.

•••

The library chimed as I walked in, a bell ringing overhead. I gasped at the sound, pulling my coat tighter around me.

"How can I help you, ma cherie?"

I spun on my feet in alarm, the woman's easy smile calming the race of my pulse. Reading glasses hung loosely around her neck, the silver wisps going through her hair speaking of experience and maturity. I eyed the book in her hands.

"I'm sorry, I didn't m-mean to disturb you."

She neared me and I took an automatic step back. "Are you alright?" She asked, her accent lying thickly over her question.

I nodded. "H-have you got a section on f-folklore?"

"Why, of course, we have. It's right down that aisle."

I muttered a quick thank you, pacing in the direction she had pointed. The oak wooden shelves of the library seemed to stretch for metres above me—I walked deeper and deeper into the maze until all I could see was books.

Patterned covers adorned the shelf, both bright and muted colours jumping out at me from all directions.

I took the crumpled paper out of my pocket, glancing down before my fingertips along the spines of the books. Confused, I searched repeatedly through the shelves, running through the alphabetical order in my head.

It sat right at the end of the shelf, out of order and separated from the rest of the books, it's maroon velvet cover encompassing its weight. I cradled the heavy scripture in my arm, flipping through the pages until my sights brushed over something familiar.

The Deadly Sins.

•••

This was supposed to be a double update but I've got some last-minute changes I have to make to the other one!

The banners also took a lot longer than I thought they would-

I'll be posting chapters every Wednesday and Saturday from now <3

~ ma cherie = my dear/darling in French

I put chapter countdowns on my Instagram @//devilishtales so you know exactly when a chapter is coming out!

Leave a vote if you enjoyed!

Love,
Laila