Seven Devils All Around Me

Valeria allows me several more moments to stare at my reflection before she finally rises from her chair. The movement immediately draws my attention. Every conversation in the room dies. Every smile softens. Even Marina stops smirking. For the first time since this nightmare began, the seven women seem completely serious.

Valeria glides across the salon floor and stops beside a small black table. With a casual flick of her fingers, seven ornate cards appear in the air above it. The cards drift downward one by one. They arrange themselves in a perfect row. I stare at them. Each card bears a single word written in elegant gold lettering; Pride, Gluttony, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Lust.

A knot immediately forms in my stomach. Valeria looks back at me. The room remains silent. The laughter that accompanied my shearing is gone. The mockery has vanished. Even Callista has stopped grinning. Whatever comes next, these women take it seriously. That realization frightens me more than the razor ever did.

Xiu Lian steps forward and folds her hands inside her sleeves. "Each of us governs one curse." Her voice remains calm and measured. "Each curse embodies one of the seven deadly sins. In order to break the spell binding you, you must face every lesson, overcome every temptation, and emerge from each trial without surrendering to the sin at its center."

I focus on a single word. "Trial?"

Xiu Lian inclines her head. "If you prefer." The answer does not comfort me.

I look from one woman to the next. "How dangerous are these curses?" Nobody answers immediately. The hesitation tells me everything.

Finally Drusilla breaks the silence. "That depends entirely on you."

Valeria clasps her hands behind her back. "The purpose of a curse is not to punish. The purpose of a curse is to reveal."

I stare at her. "Reveal what?"

"The person you could become," she says. A chill crawls up my spine.

Valeria continues. "Every person carries weakness within them. Pride. Desire. Anger. Greed. Sloth. Most people simply lack the opportunity to discover how **** they truly are. These curses remove that protection."

Marina leans back in her chair. "They don't **** you to fail."

Reina smiles. "They just make failure very attractive." Several of the women chuckle.

I don't. "What happens if I fail?" The question hangs in the air.

Nessa finally answers. "If you surrender completely, the curse becomes permanent."

The room feels colder. I swallow. "You mean I could lose?"

"Of course you could lose," Marina replies. "Did you think this was some kind of magical self-help retreat?" A few of the women laugh. The sound feels hollow. Nobody truly finds the joke funny. Because everyone in the room knows she is telling the truth. Silence follows. I look back toward the cards.

A few hours ago I had been worried about my appearance. Now I am being told that pieces of my identity, my will, and perhaps even my soul are about to be placed on trial. The scale of the situation finally settles over me. These women are not simply humiliating me. They are attempting to remake me.

Valeria places a hand lightly against the nearest card. "You may choose which lesson comes first."

I stare at the row of sins. Every card feels dangerous. Every card feels like a trap waiting to spring shut. Unfortunately, remaining here is not an option. The curse binding me seems to tighten slightly, as though reminding me of that fact. Seven villains watch me. Seven curses wait for me. Seven possible disasters lie before me.

The salon becomes so quiet that I can hear my own breathing. Finally I push myself to my feet. The movement feels strangely difficult. My legs are unsteady. My bare scalp feels cold beneath the salon lights. Every instinct I possess is screaming at me to run. There is nowhere to run.

Nessa studies me from across the salon. Her sleepy expression somehow makes her words worse. "Greed may leave you obsessed with wealth. Wrath may consume your judgment. Pride may convince you that you are incapable of error. Lust may overwhelm every other part of your personality. Sloth may drain away your ambition until you no longer care about anything. Every curse offers an ending, Jezebel." She pauses. "None of them are happy."

I walk slowly toward the table. The seven women watch in silence. I stop before the cards. My eyes move across them one final time; Pride, Gluttony, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Lust. Every choice feels wrong. Every choice feels dangerous. I take a slow breath. Then I reach toward the table.