Life Of A Sin

Chapter 3

Anastasia's POV

The next morning, I'm walking down the hallway while braiding my hair. I stop in front of Jamie's room and knock on the door. He doesn't answer, so I knock again. "Jamie, if you don't answer this time, I'm just going to come in," I say. I don't hear him say anything, so I open the door, and see him sitting on his bed and staring out the window. "Why aren't you getting ready to leave?" I ask.

"I'm not going," Jamie answers.

"Yes, you are. I already told you that Ms. Louella wants us to go, so we have to," I remind him.

"She's just an assistant teacher, she can't order us to do anything," Jamie responds.

"Well, start getting dressed. You're going whether you want to or not. So, you're either going in just your boxers, or you're gonna get dressed," I say to him while crossing my arms. Jamie then stands up from his bed and I hand him his hair brush. I then step out of the room and close the door behind me.

About ten minutes later, I hear a knock on the door and I run over to it before my mom could get to it before me. I answer the door and tell Ani I'll go get Jamie.

I rush over to Jamie's room and open the door. "Ani's here, let's go," I say while grabbing his wrist and dragging him out the door. We climb into the car, and see Hideki waiting for us in the back seat.

After a fifteen minute drive of Jamie and Ani not talking, we arrive in front of a small house surrounded by thick trees. "Is this where you live, Ani?" I ask.

"Yeah, this is where I've been staying," Ani answers while walking up to the front door, with Hideki, Jamie, and I following behind her. Before Ani gets the chance to knock, Ms. Louella answers the door, and holds it open for us. We walk into the room, and see a small couch and tv. Ms. Louella points down a hallway and says, down that hallway are the guest bedrooms and bathroom. I look around the small house and don't see anything else.

"Um, does Ani sleep in a guest bedroom?" I ask.

"No, she has her own room," Ms. Louella answers while walking towards the backdoor. She motions for us to follow, and we all walk out the back door. Ani closes the backdoor behind us, and Ms. Louella walks up to a tree. She pulls on the bark, and a door opens to the inside of the tree.

"H-how'd-"

"Don't ask questions, just follow," Ms. Louella interrupts me.

Inside the tree is a ladder that Ms. Louella starts climbing up. I'm the first one to follow her up the ladder, then one by one, everyone starts climbing up behind me. When we reach the top, I step into a room, with a large tv, a long couch, bean-bag chairs, anti-gravity chairs, and a table with a pile of games next to it. The walls are made from wood, and in some spots, the leaves from the trees peek through. Hanging up on the walls are pictures of all the sins. As I'm walking around the room, I notice that the picture closest to the door is Ms. Louella, and the picture furthest from the door is Ani. "Ms. Louella, are these pictures hanging in a specific order?" I ask.

"Yes, it's the order in which everyone joined the Seven Deadly Sins," Ms. Louella answers. "And please, when you're in this household, my name is Avalon," Ms. Louella requests.

"Okay, Avalon," I respond.

Avalon leads us outside of the room and onto a balcony. On the balcony, are three bridges leading to three different buildings in the trees. On the balcony floor, in front of each bridge, are symbols painted in different colors. I look up at Avalon and she steps onto the bridge with a green symbol painted in front of it. We all follow her, except for Jamie who hesitates. I walk back off the bridge and take his hand in mine.