SEVEN: Cursed Souls

CHAPTER 38: INDOLENCE OF A CALLOUS HEART (SLOTH)

The Anonymous executed their plan immediately the next day. Ryder could not do anything but to hope for the Skull to save the sinner.

"Why did you do this to me?" was Ryder's question when he was given the letter and the picture of the sinner, because the sinner is another person close to his heart--Lazaro who is now the addressee of the Sin of Sloth.

LAZARO

Years ago, Lazaro is just like any other kid who is full of enthusiasm. Viewing the world with all hope and innocence.

Lazaro looks up to his parents who are both successful in their own fields. His mother is an accountant and his father is a businessman, both are doing their job with dignity and pride, earning millions annually.

He wants to become just like his parents so he persevered in his studies. But there is a problem with Lazaro that was very evident during his pre-school--he is a slow learner.

His then preschool teacher, Victorya, always brings his son, Ryder, who became his only friend among the class. They would help each other in understanding their tasks and the then slow learner Logan was able to keep up. Ryder was his first and only friend but when he reached elementary school, he never saw Ryder again. Ryder's mother, Victorya was rumored to got fired from work.

Although he failed to gain another friend like Ryder, he hoped that when he grows up, he would still be able to meet the friend who was like a brother to him. Still as eager as he was, Lazaro worked harder, focused in his studies, and soon became a consistent honor student.

But Lazaro's efforts were invisible to the people he so eagerly wants to notice him. His parents are too busy in their own fields that they had neglected the child that looks up to them the most. During awarding ceremonies, Lazaro's caretakers attends in place of his parents.

Slowly, the enthusiasm in Lazaro's heart that once burned so intensely were dimmed by his own parents' neglect.

And one day when this burning fire was about to burn out, Lazaro met a friend at a park that made him see the world outside school. Lazaro could no longer hold the sadness he was feeling so he escaped school and hid at a nearby playground, crying beside the slides when another kid came towards him.

He was not able to contain his laugh when he looked at the face of the kid who is offering him a candy. His face is filled with chocolate. He teased the kid and thus the kid revolted to smear chocolate into Lazaro's face too.

Lazaro ran away but then the other kid is persistent. They ran in circles at the playground until they both felt tired. They both sat down and introduced each other. The other kid that Lazaro met is Logan Soliven, then when Lazaro introduced himself, Logan sneaked his hand into smearing Lazaro's face.

It was the first time in a while that Lazaro did not feel alone. He still wanted to play with Logan but he then saw their car just parked nearby. He knew the consequences if his parents finds out that he escaped school so he ran towards it before they could even reach the gate of the school.

"Ma, I'm here!"

"Oh Laz! We were just parking here...WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE!" his mother asked.

He lied that they were dismissed early so he went to the nearby playground and played with another kid. Lying more when he told her that he slipped and Logan accidentally smeared the chocolates in his hand onto his face.

"Yaya, prepare fruits for them next time. You shouldn't be eating too much sweats, Laz!"

It became his habit to escape classes and play with Logan until his grades slowly dropped. It no longer mattered to him anyway because he thought that his parents never saw his achievements.

His parents soon found out about his absences in school and he was reprimanded for it. He thought that he could still sneak out but then he found out that his parents had hired guards to wait for him at the gate if he escapes again.

He lost contact of his friend, Logan, but it is not the only thing that has been lost. He knew that the once blazing fire of enthusiasm and hope in his heart is already extinguished. He did not care about his studies anymore and was punished more into getting homeschooled.

When Lazaro grew up, he remembered his childhood friends and found ways to get in touch of them both. He was able to find Ryder's full name and social media account through his preschool records, but he had forgotten of Logan's full name and couldn't find it. Fortunately when he stalked Ryder's profile, he found a familiar face and a familiar name--Logan Soliven is Ryder's classmate.

The three of them got in touch again and an eagerness within him grew when Logan had a similar interest in video games. Logan wants to be a professional video gamer and Lazaro had used all the time that he had into playing video games so he knew that he would be able to help Logan.

"Life really is different when you all have the privilege and money. You can freely chose what you want to do!" Ryder told his friend.

Lazaro once again became eager to study and thus he enrolled for high school. Some years had passed and he found out that his parents has other plans for his studies, that they wanted him to enroll somewhere outside their province.

Lazaro knew that he could no longer go against his parents' demands so he asked both of his friends to go on a trip at Busilak before he leaves them, never realizing that it would be their last trip together.

At first, he attended the burial of Ryder's brother. But soon after that, the next that he attended is already Ryder's burial.

He and Logan then grew apart. Both blaming themselves of what they thought happened to Ryder. Lazaro thinks that if he only stayed with the two then maybe they never lost Ryder.

He grew depressed and locked in. The once rekindled enthusiasm blown out by the lost of his friends.

He spent his days sleeping, not caring of the world around him.