Page 8 of Lust
Mercy sat up, legs tucked beneath her and bat flat on the floor beside her. “Another one of you deity… things. God, I thought I was dreaming that. Or hallucinating. Am I still dreaming? What thefuckdid I take last night? Is it still last night?”
Eyes of endless perception flashed in Mercy’s direction. The woman picked up the back of her skirt and sat on the edge of the queen-sized guest bed. Suddenly, Mercy’s grandmother’s quilt paled beneath the weight of a perfect, godly being. Everything she touched was both beneath her and perfectly complemented her endless gaze. Mercy couldn’t look away. To do so was to go against God.
“Even if you are dreaming,” that honey-laced voice said, “does it matter?”
“Of…” Mercy stuttered, mesmerized. “Of course it matters.”
“Why?”
Mercy wrapped her arms against her chest, fingers clinging to the sleeves of her blouse and teeth baring down upon her bottom lip. “Because itdoes.How am I supposed to know what is real and what is all in my head?”
All she received was a knowing look and a smug smile.
“Who the hell are you supposed to be, anyway?” Speaking like that to a goddess was probably heretical, but Mercy didn’t care. Her heart raced and her palms sweat. What was she supposed to do? Prostrate before this human-like creature? All the warnings from church came back to her now.Don’t trust anything that doesn’t identify itself as a messenger of God. It’s probably a demon. One of Satan’s agents.Mercy hadn’t believed in Christianity interpretations of spirituality since she was a little girl having the shit scared out of her in Sunday school. Yet here she was, seeing the red, feeling the heat, and declaring this being a hedonistic demon. “Are you the one who would have sucked my soul into hell if I made that jump?”
A touch of blush only added to the pinkening hue of Mercy’s guest room. Yet that blush was fleeting, since the goddess sitting before Mercy soon scoffed. “I assure you, I am nothing likeher.No, I answer to Acedia. An Avatar of Acedia, to be precise. I thought I told you that I was coming tonight?”
Mercy battled with her tongue to speak. The thing was so shocked that it might as well have taken entire purchase of her shrinking mouth. “How was I supposed to believe that bullshit?” She reached for her bat. Somehow, it was always out of reach. “Besides, who wants to believe that you’re going to break into my house and hold me hostage? You’re already possessing people at my place of work!”
“To heal you, Mercy.”
“Oh, so generous of you!”
If the Avatar of Acedia picked up on Mercy’s cynicism, she did not let on. “We’re not coming all at once. That would be absurd.”
“Absolutely absurd!”
“Out of my seven sisters, it is usually best for me to arrive first.” The deity shrugged. “I love volunteering. You might say it’s one of my greatest virtues as a sliver of Acedia’s soul.”
“Whoareyou?”
“Right. I suppose introductions would be customary. Ahem.” The Avatar smoothed her skirt and daintily planted her ladylike hands in her lap. “I am the youngest sister of the Seven Sinners. I am the blood that flows when you see someone that you desire. I am the rush you feel when your attraction makes you quiver and melts into your arms. I am the fear inside of you when you realize that the one you love does not want you in return. I am everlasting love. I am unrequited love.”
That bit hit Mercy. Hard.
“I am Lust.”
Out of every name - hell, every word - she could have used to introduce herself, that was one Mercy did not expect. “Lust?” She couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s your name, huh? Oh, boy. I’m sorry.”
Those unfathomable brows furrowed once more. “What’s wrong with my name?”
“It’s… come on. Who names their kidLust?That’s up there with Areola and Clitoris.”
“Nobody named me.” Mercy got it now. The fires of righteous rage also burned red, didn’t they? The quilt was officially toast if Lust decided to light herself on fire from indignant rage. “I am what I am. And I am the sinning spirit of carnal desire.”
“Lusty.”
“Pardon?”
Mercy couldn’t stop giggling. “I will call you Lusty.”
The red deity gasped. “You will not!”
“Lustified.The newest Justin Timberlake album.” Mercy was cracking herself up with her own corny humor. “Or should I sayLustinTimberlake?”
“How dare you!”
By now Mercy was laughing hard enough that a desperately decent feeling filled her with a smile. “It’s okay.” Was this the most she had laughed in days? Weeks? “I don’t like nicknames, either. Lust it is, I guess. Or can it beLustina?”
