Ahmed stood under the water, letting it cascade down his face and shoulders, his thoughts drifting back to Kyle and what he was planning. As the water ran off his body, he tried to silence his thoughts, but he could still feel the sin watching him.
"Ahmed..." Kyle's voice rang out, barely audible yet undeniably real. Startled, he scanned the mist as if Kyle was going to come charging out of it.
"Ahmed!" Kyle cried out again, this time sounding closer than before. With trembling hands, he pulled back the shower curtain and found himself standing on the quad, a gentle wind whistled through the trees. He looked down to see he was wearing his navy blue suit from the winter formal.
Darkness began to creep in from all sides, hiding the path ahead of him. Ahmed looked back to find his shower had disappeared. Kyle called out to him again, layered with a demonic tone, and with no other way to go Ahmed stepped onto the gravel pathway, his breath visible in the chilling air.
"It's almost time," Kyle whispered.
As he walked farther down the path, Kyle emerged from the shadows, his eyes glowing orange like embers in a dying fire. Ahmed paused, unsure if this was a dream or reality. Kyle's body began to ripple and jerk, his muscles expanded as his limbs twisted and elongated. Fangs sprouted from his jaw and his transformation to Gluttony was complete.
"It's almost time," Gluttony snarled once again, saliva dripping from his fanged jaws.
"NO!" Ahmed screamed, jerking awake in his bed. He was drenched in sweat, he could feel his heart beating in his chest. He rolled over in bed and caught a glimpse of the hanging mirror in the far corner, glowing orange eyes stared back at him in the night.
"Just leave me alone" Ahmed trembled under the covers.
"If only I could," he said, his voice dripping with malice. "But if all goes well, you and eye will be parting ways soon."
"Wh-what do you want?" Ahmed stammered, trying to catch his breath.
"Ah, all good things come to those who wait," Kyle explained, his grin widening. His orange eyes seemed to drill into Ahmed, forcing a vision to emerge. He could see his house, with colorful strobe lights flashing from the windows. The sounds of pulsating music filled the air but Ahmed could feel something was off. The vision pulled him closer to the window and horror overtook him, bodies, dozens of bodies laid out on the floor.
"And now you can see the future," Kyle warned. "Follow my plan, or everyone will die."
"Y-you're lying!" Ahmed shouted, but fear gnawed at the edges of his thoughts. Kyle shook his head, feigning disappointment.
"Care to test your theory?" Kyle asked, Ahmed fell silent. Kyle simply smiled as he faded from the mirror, leaving Ahmed alone with his thoughts.
-----
In the dimly lit basement of St. Jerome's Parish, Jessica paced back and forth, her eyes never leaving Father Bill, whose eyes shift between his regular blue and a lime green, his hands shaking as he tried to stop the transformation. Jessica knew the rules around what happens if an exorcist is cursed, she prayed that Bill's body would reject the curse and he would remain human but every passing hour made it feel less likely.
"Bill," Jessica whispered, kneeling beside him, "I believe in you. You're stronger than this curse."
"Jessica..." Father Bill rasped, sweat beading on his forehead, "I don't think that I..."
"Don't say it," she urged him gently, her hand gripping his. "We'll figure out a way to fix this before anyone else finds out."
The sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs echoed through the otherwise silent basement, causing Jessica to tense up. Pablo appeared at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes narrowing as he assessed the situation.
"What's wrong with him?" he asked, his voice cold and detached. His gaze firmly locked on Father Bill.
"Nothing, he just hasn't fully recovered from his fight with Ethel," she replied, attempting to maintain an air of confidence. "He's not a young man anymore."
"Please, you call this convincing," Pablo shot back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Even the newest exorcists would be able to tell the good Father Bill is no longer human."
"You're wrong!" Jessica burst out, anger and fear mingling in her voice. "He's right here and he's fighting!"
Pablo shook his head, his expression darkening. "He's not Bill anymore. He's just a thing, a cocoon waiting to hatch. And by the looks of it, he is close."
"Have some compassion, Pablo," Jessica protested, her eyes darting between Father Bill's pain-stricken face and the cold, unyielding gaze of her fellow exorcist.
"Compassion is a waste of time, a way to ignore reality," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "The reality is we have rules for a reason, now it is time for him to do what he knows he must."
With that, Pablo turned on his heel and ascended the stairs, leaving Jessica to grapple with the weight of his words.
-----
Deb sat in the back of her sociology lecture, her thoughts on the crime stats being discussed. Sarah fumbled to get the seat next to her before looking over at Deb, her cheeks flushed.
"Hey, um, I just wanted to say sorry again," she stammered. "For trying to kiss you the other night."
Deb waved her hand dismissively. "Forget about it, okay?" she said, without looking in her direction.
"Right," Sarah said, nodding. She hesitated, then asked, "So, what's going on with you and Zack, anyway?"
Deb sighed. "It's... complicated."
"Ah," Sarah said, her voice tight. "I see."
Sarah felt Deb's unease and annoyance with her, she wanted to make things less awkward but couldn't find the right words, with one more quick look at Deb, Sarah gathered her things and moved a few rows over. As soon as Sarah left, Deb noticed her camera had fallen out out of her bag, Deb reached for it, curiosity getting the better of her. She scrolled through the pictures - there were dozens of shots from different sporting events around the university, but as she scrolled deeper Deb discovered photos of herself and Zack. She began to panic as she came across a photo of Her and Zack that had been taken through her dorm room window.
"Jesus, Sarah," Deb whispered, her heart pounding in her chest.
Suddenly someone tapped her on her shoulder, and Sarah leaned in snatching her camera from Deb. "Were you looking at my photos?" she asked sharply.
"Uh, no," Deb lied, trying to act casual. "I just noticed it on the floor and picked it up, I was going to bring it over to you."
"Sure," Sarah said, her tone unreadable. "Why don't you come to my dorm later? I can show you some of the shots I've taken."
"Actually," Deb said, not wanting to be alone with Sarah, "I am really busy studying for finals, maybe when they are done we can hang out."
"Come on," Sarah insisted, her eyes narrowing. "It'll just be one night."
"Seriously I can't afford to fail," Deb said, her body leaning away from Sarah without her trying to.
"Another time then," Sarah said in a cheery tone, but as she turned away from Deb her expression darkened.
-----
The buzzer rang throughout Ethel's apartment. She sat at the island and looked at the camera feed, a pizza delivery man stood at the entrance. "Teenagers," She muttered as she hit the button to let him in. John emerged from his room, clearly still half asleep, he took a seat on the black leather stool next to her.
"Who was that?" he asked with a yawn.
Kristian glanced over from his spot on the sofa, "Someone ordered a pizza."
"Oh, I thought it might be Zack," John said. "You know come to help us out with our plan to take out Pablo, since you saved his life."
"Saving Zack's life just makes us even," Ethel replied, her voice firm. "If it wasn't for him I don't think I would be here today."
Kristian snorted. "Then how come you're the Supreme and he isn't?."
Ethel rolled her eyes, but deep down she had asked herself the same question before.
-----
Ahmed arrived at Deb's place, arms laden with three bags full of outfits for the surprise party he was throwing for Rob. He set them down just inside the door, excitement shining in his eyes. Deb, however, was still shaken from the exchange with Sarah.
"Ahmed, who exactly did you invite to this party?" she asked, hoping Sarah wouldn't be on the guest list.
"Invites? What are we, five?" Ahmed replied, waving a dismissive hand. "I'll just tweet about it later and throw out a quick Instagram post, people will show up. Easy."
Deb hesitated, Ahmed's popularity had wavered ever since the rumors of his hallucinations spread through the campus, but feeling compelled to say something. "Ahmed, I don't mean to be a downer, but... you were you know... attacked and then disappeared, are you sure throwing a massive party is what you need right now?"
Ahmed frowned, clearly not appreciating the implication. "Of course, it is what I need right now," he muttered defensively.
"I just wanted to make sure you felt up to it," Deb sighed, changing tack. "So, have you talked to Boon lately? You guys haven't really talked since you found out....."
"He's a ghost snake under the control of a demon," Ahmed insisted, his voice tight. "He's still Boon, deep down. Besides Zack says you can save him so I'm not worrying about it." The energy in the room was tense and Deb could tell she had put Ahmed on the defensive.
As if on cue, Father Bill appeared at the door, his face pale and slick with sweat. He was wearing sunglasses, even though the sun had set hours ago. "Deb," he whispered, "I need to talk to you."
Deb, already on edge from her conversation with Ahmed, snapped back, "It'll have to wait, Father. I am in the middle of something right now."
Father looked at the two friends, their expressions tense. Disappointment flashed across Father Bill's face as he turned to leave, he glanced back to look at Deb one last time, the last exorcist he would ever train. With a mournful sigh, he turned and staggered away, leaving Deb feeling guilty about snapping at the man.
-----
Meanwhile, Rob sat in his dorm, leafing through old articles about the University of Waterloo. He paused at an article featuring their sports teams and charities, and he remembered the photo of Maria in the Waterloo cheer uniform. He began to search for a photo of her team as his phone buzzed.
"What's Zack? Have you found anything?" Rob asked, his eyes still scanning the photos as he tried to find one with Maria in it.
"Nothing here, but they arrested Professor Dowding," Zack reported. "I saw the whole thing go down. They think they have evidence placing him at some of the crime scenes, but that is all I could overhear."
"Wait, I remember seeing him at the warehouse rave with some date," Rob interjected, a frown creasing his brow. "But he doesn't strike me as the Sloth type. Evil? sure, but the reincarnation of a sin....."
As he spoke, Rob noticed a year of the cheer team was missing. the photos jumped from 2017 to 2019, and there was no sign of Maria in any of the other photos. This was it, he thought, something happened in 2018 to the cheer team and someone covered it up. Now that he knew where to look, he knew he could figure it out.
"Are you still there?" Zack asked, returning Rob's attention to the call.
"Zack," Rob said urgently, "I think I found something. We need to look into why the University of Waterloo didn't have a cheer team in 2018. If we can figure out what happened, then we can figure out who Sloth is. I'll call you back when I know more."
Rob switched to Maria's Facebook page but it wasn't public, he swapped over to Nancy's profile and thanked God it was public. scrolling down through the photos he found a single photo from 2018 with her arm around Tom. To most, it just seemed like a happy couple out for a night, but Rob took note of her skirt and his pants, both clearly a part of the Unversity of Waterloo cheer uniform. Why were all the other photos the team missing?
-----
Ahmed strode into the locker room, clearly on a mission. After his conversation with Deb the night before he decided to finally try talking to Boon again. As he spotted Boon standing by his locker, Ahmed felt a pang of nostalgia for the way their relationship used to be. Approaching him, he called out with a half-smile, "Hey, Boon! You up for some one-on-one later?"
Boon's gaze met Ahmed's, but he quickly looked away. As Ahmed tried to move closer, Boon recoiled sharply, his gaze never leaving the floor.
"Ahmed, you don't want me around," Boon murmured, his voice strained. Ahmed bit his lip, unsure what to do. He assumed Boon was trying to protect him from the monster he had become.
"Boon, it will be ok. I am sure we will figure this out," Ahmed reassured him, reaching out for his friend. But Boon grabbed Ahmed's arm, his grip was like iron.
"Listen to me," Boon insisted, his grip tightened. "You don't want me near you."
Ahmed winced in pain, and he pulled back, alarmed by the look in Boon's eyes. Swallowing hard, he managed to stammer, "Don't come to my party this weekend." As he turned to leave, he caught a glimpse of Boon's eyes, they welled with tears as he turned away.
-----
Deb walked alone up the driveway to Ahmed's house, her arms laden with an enormous wrapped package. She could hear the doorbell from outside as she pressed it, the sound muffled and faint. When Ahmed answered the door, Deb attempted to squeeze the package through, but it stubbornly refused to fit. Ahmed watched her struggle for a moment before guiding her through the door.
"Thanks for coming and don't forget to try the jungle juice," he reminded her, he left Deb to place the gift with the others, not wanting to talk to her after their last conversation.
Deb took off her shoes and then turned around to take in the party, the living room was almost empty. A couple made out on the grey fabric sofa under the window, a table filled with far too many snacks lay untouched in the dining room, and the sound of music trickled in from the backyard. Zack and Rob stood by the back door of the barren party, lost in conversation.
Deb made her way over to the pair, she could hear Ahmed humming to himself as he worked away in the kitchen. As she approached the guys, she overheard Rob's whispers "The old cheer squad," he said, running his hands through his curly brown hair. "Someone worked really hard to erase all evidence that there even was a cheer team in 2018, maybe the Dean had something to do with it."
Zack noticed Deb and shot Rob a look, Rob stopped immediately, turning to greet Deb with a smile. Deb chose to ignore the fact they were cutting her out of the investigation, She knew Zack was still upset with her after she told the exorcists about Boon. Instead, she turned their attention to the empty party, "Nobody's coming," she said, her voice tinged with concern. "Everyone thinks Ahmed is totally out of his mind, and it's all because of us and the supernatural shenanigans."
"Ahmed's not exactly blameless," Zack pointed out, crossing his arms defensively. "He hasn't exactly been friendly towards Rob or me. He only started to pay attention to us after we saved his life."
Deb fixed Zack with a determined stare. "He is not a bad guy, he just gets a little full of himself. He was popular until the rumors about him freaking out in classes started to circulate. And we all know those are our fault, they are because we failed to stop Gluttony and now he has to live with that PTSD."
"Fine," Zack relented, he knew she was right. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, "I'll invite the basketball team." Rob nodded, inviting everyone on his friend's list.
As people began to at Ahmed's party, the atmosphere transformed; people poured out of the house into the backyard, and the sound of people's conversations filled the air. As the host, Ahmed seemed to be filled with energy, ensuring everyone had a glass of jungle juice in hand.
"Zack," Rob said, taking a sip of his drink, "you need to apologize to Deb."
"I haven't done anything wrong," Zack protested, his blue eyes narrowing.
"You know she was just trying to do what was right." Rob countered, taking another sip. "She is one of us but she is also an exorcist, I don't think we have the right to judge her. Being a part of two teams must put her under some massive pressure."
Zack fell silent, mulling over Rob's words. Seeing Zack hesitate, Rob launched into a speech. "The two of you have a real Romeo and Juliet situation going on. You belong to two very different worlds but you are soulmates dude, don't let one fight ruin it for you. Go get your girl, oh, and avoid the whole dying at the end bit." Zack let out a laugh before heading off to find Deb among the guests.
-----
Boon slipped into the party trying to avoid Ahmed but wanting to be there for his friend, he ducked behind some fellow basketball players but his fiery red hair stuck out like a sore thumb. Ahmed approached him with a wide smile, handing him a glass of jungle juice. "Glad you could make it," Ahmed said warmly, clapping Boon on the back.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Boon replied, confused by his friend's behavior. Boon thought Ahmed would kick him out for sure, the warm welcome felt off given their last conversation.
As Ahmed turned to prepare more glasses for the growing crowd, he furtively poured a vial of glowing elixir into the bowl of jungle juice. The liquid shimmered as it mixed with the fruity concoction, and Ahmed continued to him to himself as he worked, as if on autopilot.
"Um is everything ok?" Boon asked, wondering if Ahmed was just too drunk to care about what happened in the locker room.
"Everything is great." Ahmed chuckled, but his voice was almost robotic.
-----
Meanwhile, all hell was breaking loose in Ethel's apartment. Olivia and Kristian shifted between vessel and human form, and their control slipped further away, causing water pipes to burst and flood the area around them. Ethel shifted, prepared to fight the out-of-control pair, her mind racing with questions about how this happened. Behind her John also began to lose control of shifts.
"Ethel," he asked, his voice steady, "What is happening to us?"
"I don't know," Ethel replied without looking up, she tried to hold Kristian down. Her gaze settled on the pizza boxes. "Who ordered the pizzas?"
"I didn't," John, Olivia, and Kristian said in unison as they fought to keep control.
"You've been drugged, by exorcists most likely." Ethel could feel the room closing in on her as the fact the exorcist may have found them. "You need to fight it, find an anchor to help you keep control."
"An Anchor?" John asked as a cold sweat broke out across his forehead.
"It is something that grounds you, keeps you human and in control. For me, it is my anger, the loss of my family, and the hands of my so-called friend." Ethel explained, her eyes almost burning with rage as she recalled the memory.
John tried to think about her words, but Olivia was too far gone. She fully transformed into her vessel form, letting out a roar as she lunged for Ethel.