Seven Deadly Sins

Chapter One

Tao shivered and looked around. That was odd. It was currently hot as hell outside and on top of that, he felt like he was being watched. He turned back just in time for the volleyball to smack him in the face. He stumbled back and landed hard on his butt. Pain flared from his nose and he quickly checked to see if he was bleeding. Thankfully he wasn't.

"Tao! You've been zoning out all day, what the hell man?" Tao's bestfriend asked, walking over to inspect his friend. "The least you could do is help me up" Tao muttered. Joshua rolled his eyes but stuck out his hand anyway to pull Tao up.

"We've only got two more practices before the game. We can't lose this. You know we need that scholarship and if one of us looks bad then all of us look bad!"

Tao simply sighed. Joshua had a lot riding on the upcoming game and for the past few weeks he had made it everyone's problem. He was not one to start or engage in a fight, always submitting and trying to pacify his friend.

"I'm sorry man, I'm just not feeling good today. I'm going to call it quits and head home. I'll see you guys tomorrow" he said as the rest of his teammates gathered to see what was wrong. Tao didn't give Joshua time to retort and simply walked away.

Lately their friendship had been strained and he had tried talking to Joshua about it and even planning activities for them to bond but Josh always brushed him off, telling him that he was worried about nothing and over thinking. However, he knew the dynamic had changed. They used to be equals but somehow, Josh was now dominant in their friendship. Most things had to turn out the way he wanted and because he hated fighting, Josh usually got his way. A few other friends of theirs once pulled him to the side to warn him about his toxic friendship but Tao wasn't about to give up on Josh. They had been best friends for seven years now. He couldn't just throw that all away without a fight.

As he thought this he made his way to his car. The college he learnt at wasn't far from the house he inherited from his father. Usually he walked to school and back but lately he had been feeling like something or someone was watching him. He couldn't tell Josh. Josh would just make fun of him or something so he was stuck on high alert most of the time.

He entered the car and began to drive out the school. His heart picked up when he spotted a strange man standing by the large open school gate. He stood to the side, shrouded in black with a strange black hood. Tao couldn't see his eyes, only the creepy unsettling smirk he wore. Quickly, he sped up and out of the gates and headed straight home.

His heart was racing and honestly he couldn't wait to enter the house and lock everything that could be locked and sleep with the array of guns he had also inherited from his father, as well as a bow and quiver of arrows. His father had been a deer hunter and made it a point to teach him how to use the weapons. Of course his dad had only hunted the deer to feed the local community and only with a licence given to him from the small town he had been born in before they both moved when he was fifteen.

Once he reached his house, he gathered all his stuff and quickly made it inside, immediately locking the front door. It was only then when he turned and everything in his arms dropped to the floor. His mouth hung open in shock and terror.

The house was trashed. Tables and chairs broken, anything that could be shattered was laying on the floor in pieces. The walls were spray painted in red and so was any other furniture that was still intact. Tao's heart sped up when he heard the sound of something falling and breaking upstairs. They were still here!

Without a second thought, he whipped around and reached back towards the front door, yanking it and cursing under his breath because in his panic he had forgotten that he'd locked it. Just as he had managed to unlock it and get the door open, something grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him across the room.