Now You See Me, Now You Don't (want to) pt.1

The rest of the sins had gathered in the dining table while Wrath did her morning ritual in her room. She had locked the door and windows and sealed the bottom of her door. Gluttony made a mean breakfast wrap for the rest of the group. Crispy hash brown, soft and fluffy omelet, a thick piece of lettuce, breakfast sausage, and a generous amount of his secret sauce (literally just mayo and ketchup stirred together) enveloped in his homemade wheat tortilla.

Unlike a normal wrap, he had made his into a monstrosity of a creation. It looked more like a seven-layer dip or dinner for a family of five than a breakfast meal. Envy had her usual cup of seven-shot worth of espresso. She held her mug with her spidery fingers to absorb the heat resonating from the ceramic material.

Meanwhile, Wrath was planning an escape route from her room to the basement. Something about the random visitation to the grave site made her feel uneasy. It was as if a knot had formed in her gut that wouldn't let her sit still during her meditation. She timed herself, considering the breakfast chatters and her usual morning routine – which she failed to do – she would have a spare of five hours before anyone would check up on her.

The old neighbor's balcony was situated right under her bedroom window and no one seemed to be in the balcony at the moment. It was the perfect opportunity. She slipped into her favorite dark hoody and some shorts in a haste, opened her window, shut it, and jumped down unto the balcony below her; trying to make the least amount of noise.

"Running away again?" the old man cheerfully asked.

She smiled and put her index finger over her lips to remind him. He gave a silent laugh as if remembering the good old days when he used to sneak out. Wrath pointed to the front door and the old man nodded and mouthed 'be careful'. She mouthed back a thank you. And off she went to the basement with Lust's motorbike keys she had stolen the previous night. He owned this huge sports bike he occasionally rode at night or to run errands. Another thing about Lust was that he always had a full tank of fuel.

"Master, don't drive through town. Take the small dirt road," Eros warned.

Wrath put her hood up and then her helmet, hung her backpack on the handle, gave a nod, and proceeded out of the basement. Being underaged meant she was in no way or form legal to ride anywhere with or without supervision. A bunch of new spot checks were activated following the diner incident.

The mayor had petitioned random bag checks around town. But it wasn't in a state of lockdown yet, though the fire was still going strong and steady. Wrath passed through the town limit and could finally breathe the wind of freedom again. The grave site was about an hour drive away from her apartment, this gave her three hours of spare time to do a thorough inspection before she had to go back.

**********

The muddy ground was concealed by the tall grass on the shaded forest floor. Rain from the previous day dampened the surrounding air; adding the mystery to the misty surrounding. Wrath took a few steps closer to her late family's joined gravestone. 'Here lies Timotheus the third, the loving father of Wrath and loyal husband to Persephone'.

Under the inscription was written 'Here lies Persephone, the caring mother of Wrath and her unborn child Rose and an endearing wife of Timotheus the third'. The dates were lightly scratched over multiple times. The headstone was cracked almost in half and covered with wildflowers. The soil enclosing the bodies were topped with a heavy slab of concrete with symbolic inscriptions.

Wrath had drawn a sigil to seal in the spirits of her family. She made sure that their souls were trapped as their bodies rot away. All dead people will turn into spirits if they had died before their time or if the individual had unfinished business after their death.

The sigil was drawn with her own blood and lined with black salt she had collected over the years. It was protected with few spells she learnt from a book she had inherited from her late grandmother. She knew that both parents would be powerful enough to seek revenge on her if she hadn't sealed them instantly after their burial.

"Varius morbi enim nunc faucibus. Purus in mollis nunc sed. Adipiscing tristique risus nec feugiat in fermentum posuere. Diam sit amet nisl suscipit. Faucibus purus in massa tempor nec feugiat nisl pretium. Tellus pellentesque eu tincidunt tortor aliquam nulla," she chanted.

A bright light shone from underneath the sigil and a single deformed figure emerged from within. The huge shadowy figure had two heads and a merged body; one part looked bulkier than the other half. A miniscule pair of horns started to emerge from their foreheads.

There was a shimmery stone in the middle of their chest that protruded slightly from their skin. It made some muffled screaming noises as the creature gained consciousness and clawed on the air around it.

"Tellus elementum sagittis vitae et. Ac orci phasellus egestas tellus rutrum tellus pellentesque eu tincidunt. Nunc faucibus a pellentesque sit amet porttitor eget dolor morbi. Est ullamcorper eget nulla facilisi etiam dignissim diam quis enim. Tortor vitae purus faucibus ornare suspendisse sed."

With a loud shriek, the demonic spirit split away from each other and transformed back into the figures of her former parents. They were sucked back into the sigil instantaneously. Wrath wiped the sweat off her forehead. The ritual had sucked a significant amount of energy from her.

The powerful spell sealed and reversed any mutation the spirits had undergone. She did this so-called "maintenance" every six months. But recently she had seen a significant and alarming increase in development and growth of the demon. She might need to change her strategy or do more frequent visitation to monitor them.

Bawma landed lightly behind Wrath and Eros with a concerned face, "Master, there is something lurking in the darkness."

The General appeared next to her, "But we seem to be unable to trace its exact position even after a thorough sweep of the suspected area. It appeared as if we missed the presence as we get closer to it."

"Get everyone here right now," she looked at Eros as her eyes turned red. "And I mean everyone."