7 Shades of Sin

Greed

Greed is fixated and obsessed, according to her siblings. She's practically blinded by her avarice and has tunnel-vision. She'll surely mess this up because of her infatuation with prizes.

But she'll show them that she's much more than a hoarder or the inspiration for some cliche characters that say, "mine. All mine."

Because when she messes with some human's life, she won't do so lightly, and then the title of most evil will really be 'all hers'.

Greed can't stand the thought of the prize being anyone else's but hers. After all, she deserves it. Well, she will. But right now, she wants it so, so, so bad. She'll daresay that she needs it.

Power-hungry, prize-happy nut basket or not, she'll do anything it takes to win this contest.

Farah Essa is in love when Greed finds her.

She's in love with her fairytale life, her future, and of course, her fiancée. She's head-over-heels in love. It's the kind of love that makes you stop and smile and hope that you'll find it one day. Greed wants that too; she wants it all.

Greed doesn't know what exactly draws her to the young woman. Perhaps it's her coffee-colored skin or her hair, as dark as the oil under her native land. Perhaps what makes this girl so noticeable is the sting of recognition she experiences everytime she looks at her. But Greed suspects it's because of her vibrant eyes, unlike any other pair. They shine like two molten coins of gold and reflect her desires.

Greed likes gold. She likes ambition. And so far, she likes Farah, so without giving it much thought, she makes her decision and intertwines their fates together.

But amidst the excitement of choosing a human, Greed is troubled. Farah is an aspiring writer who has directed all her energy towards getting her novel published. Her fiancée, Adila, is a teacher at a high school.

In other people's eyes, this is perfectly well. But in Greed's eyes this is a fractured life, one that has no real purpose. 'For if one lives not for riches and wealth, then perhaps one shan't live at all.' She thinks, then frowns. 'That sounds awful formal. Do they still say thee or thou?'

Whatever.

The point is, poor little Farah is wasting potential. Greed can help her, and she will. This pathetic little human will thank her, thank her for steering her away from those silly little dreams and back onto the path of selfish desire.

As Farah is walking down the street on a windy day with her fiancée, humming cheerfully and tucking her strands of hair back under her hijab, Greed slips into her mind. Farah stops suddenly, her eyes narrowing, then shakes off the weird feeling that comes over her.

Adila frowns and asks her if she's alright, and she looks up at him, pausing half-nod with her mouth open. Greed twists her thoughts and clears away some of those useless feelings like true love and warmth.

Something changes in Farah's eyes, just a little, and she squints up at him as if looking through a blurry window. He looks a little worried now and asks, yet again, if she's alright. This time, Greed temporarily lets go of Farah's emotions and the girl visibly slumps.

"Uh...yeah. I'm fine." She gives him an unconvincing smile and starts walking again. Adila follows more slowly, not sure what to think. Perhaps she just remembered something that she'd forgotten.

'Oh, yes.' Greed thinks gleefully, 'she has indeed remembered something: her sense of value; and I'm afraid you're not all that precious to her.' Farah hasn't just 'remembered' this feeling, Greed's going to make sure that she forgets Adila and her passion for writing in exchange.