The Immortal Truth

Chapter Five

"Isabella, are you okay?"
            I turned away from the view of Venice's plaza, shaking the memory away.
            "No. Take me back to the city, Christopher. I don't want to be here any longer. Please, I don't know what the hell you tried to accomplish with bringing me here, but I want you to take me home now," I begged, unable to stop the flood of my tears.
            I hated Venice. I hated Italy. I hated Europe.
            Christopher nodded, not saying a word as he grabbed my hand, his touch calming the tremors in my body, before once again it was ripped to pieces.
 I was ready for it this time, the horrible pain that I was sure would kill me.
            I couldn't stop myself from opening my mouth in a silent scream, eyes clenching shut as the pain made a path through my hardened body, before everything suddenly stopped.
            I opened my eyes hesitantly, fatigue weighing me down to the bed I was lying on. My bed it seemed, from the comforter I would recognize anywhere.
            "You dick! What the hell did you do to Bella? I've never seen her so drained, not even when she was starved of blood for two months!" Tia's yelling pierced my ears, and I could just imagine her pointing her gold nails at Christopher’s face, anger lifting her hair with her uncontrollable magick.
            "Isabella is awake." A glass of blood appeared on my bedside table, and I forced my heavy body to sit up and reach for it.
            The blood was downed in a second, refilled, downed, and refilled once again before I finally felt semi-okay.
            My door opened, Christopher and Tia walking in, tension almost visible between the two. It was definitely weird seeing them standing beside one another, as they were such visible opposites.
            With her stick-straight, magick-induced pink hair, petite caramel colored body, made-up face, chocolate brown eyes, and bright yet trendy clothes, Tia's demeanor was bold and impulsive, blatantly showcasing her untamed power.
            Christopher's on the other hand was dark, haunting, his power something one could only guess at. With his flawless face that housed those damn dimples and ever changing blue eyes, his dark hair, bronze skin, muscled body that was at least 5"9 and covered in expensive clothing that yelled well-endowed New York City teen, Christopher was nothing like Tia.
            "Bella!" Tia exclaimed, stepping to my bedside. "Christopher won't tell me what he did to you. What happened?"
            I looked at Christopher, and he shook his head once, an unmistakable signal to say nothing. Obviously I had no choice but to ignore though, because what kind of best friend would I be if I lied to Tia? "He's a Fallen, T! They're real! And not only that, apparently they can absorb others abilities too. Christopher took a faeries powers, and so he can Travel, something that my body isn't so good with handling. Probably because of the magick it uses," I blurted out, shooting an apologetic glance at Christopher's stony face.
            Tia stepped closer to my bed, eyes wide and body frozen in unmistakable fear. "A Fallen?" she asked, voice trembling.
            I rolled my eyes, downing another glass of blood before looking pointedly at Christopher to explain.
            "Yes, a Fallen. Now, before you out me to other Supernaturals, you must know that I am not here to cause harm to anyone," he said, leaning against my bedroom wall.
            "I know what Fallen are, I've met one of you and barely escaped with my life. All your kind bring is chaos and harm, all your kind has are evil intentions," Tia snarled, her fear seeming to morph out of nowhere into disgust and anger. She's met a Fallen before? "Now, though my lovely best friend may be ignorant and unaware of your nature and the facts surrounding your despicable kind, I'm thankfully not. So tell me Christopher, which one are you? Lust? Greed? Envy? Wrath? Sloth? Gluttony? Your murderous friend Marcus was Pride, so that rules one option out. Enlighten both me and Bella on who you really are."
            I forced myself out of bed, placing my empty glass on my bedside table, the stolen blood it held swimming throughout my veins and filling me with strength. "What are you two talking about? T, you met a Fallen and never told me? And Christopher, I don't understand," I whispered, holding onto my bedpost to keep me steady.
            Christopher was the first to talk, groaning as his face fell into his open hands. "Unlike common myth, there are only seven Fallen. Me and six others: Marcus, Gabriel, Lucy, Harrison, Thomas, and Tricia. We each embody one of the 'seven deadly sins', whichever correlates to the specific reason each Fallen fell.
            “As Tia said, Marcus fell for his sin of pride. He saw himself as better then all else, invincible, his powers limitless.
            “Gabriel fell for his sin of greed. He was never satisfied with what he had, and was constantly trying to gain as much as he could over others, stealing abilities that weren't his to steal.
            “Lucy fell for her sin of gluttony. She had an unending habit of using more of anything then her right to use, such as her excessive consuming of others abilities.
            “Harrison fell for his sin of wrath. He always had a fascination that bordered on obsessive for causing others as much pain as he could, chaos and disaster seeming to always follow behind him.
            “Thomas fell for his sin of sloth, or laziness. He never did a thing, always avoiding any responsibilities, and spending days in sleep.
            “Tricia fell for her sin of envy. She was always jealous of others and never enough for herself, envious of their achievements, powers, personal qualities, possessions, anything and everything.
            “I-I fell for my sin of lust. I fell in love with a human and made the grave mistake of having sex with her. Through that act, I am now forever exiled here.
            “Are you happy now, Tia? You got me to expose one of the closest-guarded secrets regarding my kind," Christopher spat out, not sparing me a glance.
            Tia smirked, placing her hand on my arm. "I'm actually very happy, thank you for asking."

            Christopher sighed, sliding his eyes over to me and flashing a dimpled smile. Those goddamn dimples.

            My legs felt weak, my body betrayed. Was I only feeling this because of the sin he personified? I mean, it was as if I couldn’t control my own body whenever he came into the picture. Me! A vampire who has been alive for centuries, a vampire who has gained enough knowledge to fill all of the world’s libraries, a vampire who has experienced more physical and emotional pain then seemingly possible! Yet all it took was a flash of Christopher’s dimples, and I became almost humanized.

            “Christopher, I think you should leave,” I whispered, sinking back down to my bed. “I need time to process and understand all I’ve been told today.”

            His eyes closed at my words, opening to reveal the blue hardened to ice, before he nodded once and was gone.

            “Good decision Bella, all of the Fallen are wicked no matter the lies they tell. Marcus nearly drained me of all my power before I was found! If my coven had never discovered my location and siphoned my powers back from him, I would be dead right now. I should’ve known better then to trust that little piece of shit.” Tia’s hair lifted in the air, my empty glass shattering on my bedside table. “Sorry, power outburst,” she muttered, sitting beside me.

            With a wave of her hands the mess was gone, my stomach protesting at her use of magick so close to me. “Why did you never tell me about Marcus?” I asked, hurt that she would keep something like that from me.

            Tia groaned, looking down at her lap. “I was embarrassed, I mean the only people who knew what happened before today were those in my coven. Plus, it was so long ago, before I met you or Chase. I met Marcus at a bar around 1750 and we hit it off. I was only 25, a baby, and he became my closest friend. I trusted him with my life, and I thought he felt the same way, but around 1802 he tried to steal all my magick and kill me in the process. Then I met Chase in 1814 and you in 1820, and Marcus disappeared from my mind,” she replied, shrugging as if it was no big deal.

            I hugged Tia, leaning my head against her shoulder. “Marcus was horrible to do what he did to you.” Tia nodded in response, eyes unfocused as she thought. “I can’t believe I didn’t know the Fallen personified the seven sins! I mean I let myself be alone with the Christopher, the literal epitome of lust! I let myself be alone with the person who exemplifies a vampire’s greatest internal struggle!” I finally blurted out, unable to handle the silence any longer.

            Tia laughed, shaking herself out of her thoughts. “It’s not your fault, I mean you didn’t know he was a Fallen. Plus, you’re a vampire! It would be weird for you not to be drawn to Christopher,” she said.

            “Why?” Normally I was the one answering questions, not the one asking them.

            “When all the Supernatural’s were created, we were each imbued with the seven sins. Not only do we have a habit of committing all seven sins, we also each lean towards one sin in specific. As you can guess, vampires lean towards lust with their enhanced sense and emotions. Witches lean towards pride, in both themselves and their abilities. Faeries lean towards greed, they want and take all. Shifters lean towards gluttony, if you’ve noticed, they use a lot more than they have a right to use. Demons, obviously, lean towards wrath because they love causing trouble and pain. The Undead lean towards laziness, they’ve always been despicably sloth-like. And ghosts lean towards envy, especially when it comes to those still alive while they must roam the earth as only a specter,” Tia explained, smiling with obvious pleasure over her ability to know more than me for once.

            I rolled my eyes, stretching my body out on my bed as exhaustion seemed to suddenly hit. “I’m going to sleep, it’s almost three in the morning,” I said, and Tia glanced at the clock with heavy lids.

            “Same, I can’t believe time passed so quickly. Night Bella.”

            “Night, T.”

            The second Tia left the room, my head hit the pillow and I was asleep.