Copyright © 2019 James Russell Stoakes. All rights reserved.
https://JamesStoakes.com
“What is gluttony,” Jarred asked. He had the rough idea that it was related to overeating, but why was Jenny so happy about it?
Jenny grinned broadly. “If your father had seen that, you’d get style points for sure,” she beamed.
“It was unintentional,” Jarred confessed. “When I perused through his thoughts and memories, I noted his hunger for young children. As soon as I noted his hunger, it became obvious to me how to stimulate his hunger…for food since there was plenty in front of him.”
“Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins,” Jenny explained.
What Jenny said caused Jarred to remember his time at the orphanage. “The nuns mentioned them,” he said and began listing them off. “Don’t be prideful, they always reminded us. I could never please them. Don’t be greedy! They always yelled at me. You’re a glutton, they would accuse me. Now I remember why I burned it down!” Jarred laughed loudly drawing a few stares. He stared back at the blue and green auras brave enough to continue to look his way. “Lust, envy, wrath, and sloth were the others they mentioned,” he said more controlled.
“Christians believe that each of those sins when acted on, slow, or stop spiritual growth,” Jenny said. Tina nodded her head in agreement.
“The penguins never put it quite like that,” Jarred said. “They believed in the stick more than the carrot. Explanations were unimportant and not to be wasted on children evidently.”
They were still walking through the common and passing by The Great Elm when Jarred observed three young men harassing a man and his wife as they walked towards Brewer Fountain. Look at those three,” Jarred said indicating the trio. “Just yellow, but they’re fair game!”
Jarred could just barely hear them at this distance, but it didn’t matter. “Come on, baby,” one of the men yelled. “Ditch this loser and the three of us will show you a real good time.” The others laughed.
“Lend her to us, mister?” another jibed at the man. The two of them walked faster to get away and get to other people. He was barely holding his temper in but knew a fight would end badly.
Jarred jumped into the minds of each of the antagonists. He raised the lust of the three young men, Derrick, Jimmy, and John, to critical levels. “They’re going to need some relief soon,” Jarred laughed quietly to Jenny and Tina. “So am I after being in their dirty little minds. Quite vivid imaginations those three have.”
Next, Jarred worked on the husband and wife, Danny and Bonnie. He raised Danny’s anger levels to a full boil and Bonnie’s fear up to complete panic.
Bonnie yelped when one of the young men, Derrick, grabbed her and tried to drag her off of the trail. She fought with him while the other two jumped on Danny to try to disable him. Danny turned as his wife was pulled from him and saw the other two coming.
Danny recognized the threat and had been praying to make it to a more public place before he was forced to react. He was ready and able to kill if necessary, and he was angry enough to do it. When the two assailants attacked, he backpedaled quickly as they reached for him. He drew his concealed carry pistol from under his shirt and fired into the center mass of both of them as he fell on to his back on the path. Both men fell on their faces on the path and were rapidly bleeding out.
Concerned for his wife, he stood quickly and moved towards her and her assailant. She had disabled him with a solid kick to the groin and was backing away crying. The would-be rapist was bent over recovering and did not see Danny approaching. When Derrick stood and stepped towards Bonnie again, Danny reacted quickly as he moved forward and placed three rapid shots into the advancing threat to his wife.
There was nothing left for Danny and Bonnie to do but wait for the police to arrive. Danny got his badge out, and they waited.
Jarred turned and walked away from the scene. “That’s four,” he said triumphantly.
Tina laughed. “Negative seventeen,” she corrected for which she received a scowl from Jarred.
“Nice use of lust and wrath,” Jenny complimented him. He wasn’t as happy as he thought he’d be, that set was not as satisfying as some of his other kills were. Her terror was delightful to watch, but he wished it had not ended quite so fast.
“Interesting, but too slow,” Jarred said as he thought. “To do this efficiently, I’d have to become a politician.”
“So is this going to be a signature move or something?” Jenny asked. “Are you going to keep killing by using deadly sins?”
“I’m an opportunist,” Jarred said. “If more situations arise where stoking emotions will get the results I need, then I’ll do so. If I need to possess and walk someone into traffic or off of a building top, then I’ll do that. It’s really going to depend on what presents itself unless we come up with a more decisive plan.”
Jarred walked in silence for a while. He was deep in thought and slightly distracted by his own carnal needs that had been ignited by the recent sexual imagery he saw in the young men’s minds. He had already forgotten their names, but the images they had of the cop’s wife were stuck in his head. Jarred lead Jenny and Tina back to his townhouse as he thought.
They were almost back to the townhouse when that irritating voice could be heard again.
“Emma,” Jason called as he approached from behind them. Jarred noticed he was not alone, so he stopped. Two uniformed officers were with him.
“Go away, Jason,” she said to him.
Jason looked hurt by her command. “This is her, officers,” Jason said to the two uniformed men.
One stepped forward carefully. “Emma Einhorn?” he asked.
“Yes?” Tina lied to move the conversation along.
“Mr. Goldfein filed a missing person report for you as soon as it was allowed,” the officer informed her.
“Isn’t that sweet,” she replied derisively, “and now that I am found…what? Honestly, how do I get that gum out of my shoe?” she asked the officer while pointing at Jason.
The officer frowned a little bit at her attitude. “Can we speak privately over here,” he asked and indicated an area away from the others.
“Sure,” Tina said. “Anything to be done with him,” she indicated Jason with a head nod. “I was on my way to get laid again,” she grinned and said loud enough for Jason to hear. “Let’s get this over quickly.” As Tina and the first officer moved away, the second officer stepped between them and the others. He stared at Jarred like he did not trust him. Jarred jumped into his mind quickly, he was a petty thief when opportunity struck, and he was on the payroll of a local crime syndicate, but officer Walsh was not evil, yet.
A yellow cab was winding its way up the narrow street. Jarred noticed the man behind the wheel. His aura was almost a perfect match for the exterior of his car. Jarred possessed him quickly and had him stop the car nearby.
Something new happened when he possessed the man. He had more control, and he knew everything about Yousef, the man he possessed. He instantly knew Yousef kept a large blade under the driver’s seat of the cab. Jarred, in Yousef’s body, retrieved the knife and exited the vehicle. He fixated Yousef’s vision on Jason and triggered him to scream as he ran forward with the knife extended slightly.
Officer Walsh saw the cab stop in the middle of the street. He wasn’t pleased that someone would so blatantly break the law right in front of him and his partner, but he was too busy at the moment to address it. He watched as the driver, a bearded man of middle eastern descent, five foot six inches tall, no discernable tattoos. It was only when the driver cleared the back of the car did Walsh see the knife.
“Knife!” he yelled, drawing his service pistol. Even as Walsh yelled, the driver screamed and rushed forward. Walsh commanded, “Stop!” but it was too late. Yousef’s blade penetrated Jason’s midsection, and he plunged it in and out over and over again. Walsh was so unnerved by the attack, he unloaded his Glock 22 into Yousef’s body. Jarred released his possession of Yousef as he died.
Jarred covered his ears before the gunshots went off. He was enjoying being able to possess someone and still move around at the same time. He tried to suppress his grin as he moved Yousef forward and stabbed Jason repeatedly. This encounter was a problem that would not happen again.
Officer O’Riley caught the look on Jarred’s face as he stood there with his weapon drawn. He couldn’t believe the carnage they had just witnessed. In all his years on the force, he had never seen someone react so indifferently to such a violent death. He shook his head and reached for the microphone on his shoulder. “Officer O’Riley, badge 9782, code 2, 10-57 Mt Vernon st near Walnut st. 11-41 Two civilians down.” O’Riley scanned the area as he spoke to be sure there were no other threats. “Area secured,” he said into the microphone.
“10-4,” the dispatcher responded, “Help is on the way.”
Officer O’Riley relaxed and lowered his pistol. He noticed Walsh was still frozen and staring at the deceased. “It’s okay, Walsh,” O’Riley said. “Relax and put it away,” he said nodding towards Walsh’s still extended pistol hand. O’Riley moved to check on the victims. Both were dead, there was nothing he could do for them. Before he could stand, he heard Emma’s voice behind him.
“Are we done here?” she asked dispassionately.
O’Riley couldn’t believe her demeanor. “We will need witness statements from all of you,” he said.
“No!” Jarred said forcibly. “Write down whatever you think we saw. We’re leaving.”
He felt weird saying it, but O’Riley responded with, “Okay, you’re free to go.” He knew it wasn’t procedure, but he couldn’t stop himself from saying it. He watched Emma walk away with the unidentified man and woman. “What a strange group,” he thought.
A crowd was gathering, and sirens could be heard echoing through the buildings. “Stay back!” he said. “Snap out of it Walsh, help keep these civilians clear.
Walsh began moving. “Stay back, people. The situation is under control,” he said as he pushed the crowd back.
“I’m glad that’s over,” Tina said, entering the building and immediately beginning to strip.
“That was an evil thing you did,” Jennifer said grinning and following Tina’s lead.
Jarred laughed. “There was nothing in the rules that said I couldn’t take an innocent life. Only that it would count against my quota. What if we decided to live here forever, rather than go back to Hell? Is there a time limit?” Jarred asked as he stripped and moved to Tina on the bed. “From what you have described, the pleasures of the flesh alone could be enough to convince me that I do not want to go back to Hell,” he said as he enjoyed the feeling of sliding into Tina and the groan she let loose as he did.