SEVEN: Cursed Souls

CHAPTER 30: SIN OF GLUTTONY

Before Logan's house burned.

Logan saw the letter in his bed. He had a clue of what it meant. He knew how he had been selfish in the long run and had been a glutton that devours, trying to fill the emptiness within him. 

He opened the letter, written was:

"Logan Solliven

Sin of Gluttony

14, Igado Street, Fiestas, Bukangliwayway, Corazon

Six people in a table. First one to stand up dies. 

A pain in someone's pocket,  fulfilling selfish desires! 

Killed by whom you loved, killed by what you love. 

Slowly you'll be poisoned. 

You're remaining minutes starts now. 

You shall soon vomit and black out.

Death be upon you!"

Logan sighed, still in disbelief.

"So my Aunt is really going to kill me?"

He thought through all that he had done throughout the years. Reflecting how he treated his family. Although his grandmother spoiled him, he finally understood that he should have seen their situation. His heart might have broken but he also broke the hearts of the people who cares for him.

He remembered the call he got earlier and the instructions they gave him to get to their lair. He hurried there before the sun sets.

Hours later at Skull's lair.

Logan knocked at the door of the abandoned building. No one answered him.

He knocked again, already doubting the call and the letter. But to his mind, he no longer cares if he lives or even if he gets trafficked.

No one replied to his second knock for seconds. He was about to knock again when the door suddenly opened. He was not shocked at all when what greeted him is a person whose face is hidden.

The person saw Logan's reaction so they took of the cloth that covers their face.

"You...!" Logan said, shocked by the identity of the person in front of him. "News said that you're either dead or missing."

The person pulled Logan inside. "No time to explain, follow me!" he took him to a room inside.

"Miss... is this how you escaped death?" Logan asked while the person is pulling him.

"They said that I was never meant to die, but your case is different."

"Miss Hope, I don't know about my case but..."

"We're here," Hope intervened once they entered a room.

A few people were already inside, arguing about Logan.

"Base on the information we gathered his tongue will be cut," Maya said.

"He'll die through poison right? How can we save him from that," James asked.

Logan stepped amidst the group. "It is okay, no need to save me, I have no one anyway," he said.

All the other members except Hope didn't notice Logan until he stood in front so it shocked them all.

"But Logan, there is someone who misses you!" Hope disagreed.

James acted fast. "Logan, it seems that you already read the letter. Just to be clear, that letter was not from us," he said, taking something from his pocket. "You must go back to your house and pretend to get poisoned later. Well you will really get poisoned but you must drink this before the poison could even take full effect!" he gave him the vial that he took from his pocket.

"The sun is setting. Kid, you must get back to your house and save yourself and your family members. You are not the only one that your Aunt will poison," Maya intervened.

"What?" Logan answered but immediately when he heard Maya confirming what she just said, Logan did not waste a second to go back home.

His Aunt is already preparing the table when he got back home. She saw him getting inside and smiled at him, Logan pretended not to see her.

Minutes later, all six of them are already sat around the table, exactly like how the letter mentioned.

"Logan, do you want a piece of cake?"

Logan only nodded at his Aunt Emily's question. He knew what lies ahead of him when he eats that chocolate cake.

Logan's hand tremble as the spoonful of cake nears his mouth. I have no one to live for anyway, a thought.

The heavy heartbeat and dense atmosphere, his long breaths as he accepts his fate that the cake will bring.

A bite then without chewing, the cake was swallowed directly. Logan took another bite but then he choked. It is then when he finally realized that he still wants to live. He stood up to get water, also remembering the letter stating that he is the first to stand up.

The poison that his Aunt put in the cake is strong because immediately when Logan stood up, he felt nauseous. Logan fell to the floor and just like what the Skull members told him, all his family members in that table are also poisoned. They fell one by one, his Uncle Javier falling last.

When he heard his Uncle Javier's heavy body falling into the floor, Logan knew exactly whom to save first. It is the person who truly cared for him throughout the years and that is his Uncle Javier. But just as when he was pulling his body towards his Uncle, he heard their door forcefully opened.

He took a sip of the miracle when he realized that it is not Skull who entered, but immediately after he did this, the group of men are already standing in front of his family.

They stood there for a while before they started to pour gasoline inside Logan's house. Logan pretended to be unconscious but when he opened his eyes, his Uncle is no longer where he fell.

He slowly moved his head to look around, witnessing one of the intruders igniting their dining table. Then when he looked at the door, he saw his Uncle Javier being pulled away by the intruders. 

The fire immediately spread and the effects of the poison already took effect, Logan fell unconscious.  

When he opened his eyes again, he is already outside their house, immediately witnessing it devoured by the blazing fire.