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Competitions < Virtual Popstar

ET: Deadly Sins - Writing

Private
National star

Lemon wrote:
Eyes sparkling with passion. Looking at the world like it belongs to her.
You couldn't see her smile until she got her pearls on her ears, her golden chain smitten with her pale skin. She knew that she could get whatever she wanted. Money, jewels; lovers she called with a slight move of her eyelashes. It wasn't a surprise, she was the fame itself. Looking at the mirror, seeing her wealth, even gods would get jealous. But it was nothing for her. She had everything on earth. She wanted everything on sky. She wanted what she couldn't have. One day after a classy feast with only angel's tears was missing, she went to her bed with her sly, pleased smile. She woke up to her queen sized bed, looked at herself in the mirror on the ceiling. She wasn't happy. It didn't feel enough. When she saw other artists, businessman, other successful people, she didn't feel complete. She wanted to be like them. No. She wanted to be even more of them. She wanted to be the one who controls them. She wanted the role of the god. Too bad for her, She was blind to the pits of the life. She fell in them. She lost her sly smile. She lost her fame. Her pearls, her chain. She lost her eyes but that wasn't the case,Since she didn't see when she had them either.

I'm not good at writing but worth to try

Thyme
Youtube star

Thyme wrote:

The first time Isobel saw a falling star, it was as though it tumbled and rained down from the sky and into her heart, setting a fire alight within her.
　
She was in her early years of adulthood, and some resentment bubbled underneath her that she had never witnessed such a thing in her youth, when she still believed in a star’s power to grant wishes. But it was the wanting that burned more than that frustration, searing a hole in her chest a she stared up at the heavens.
　
She was slammed out of her seething trance with a gentle nudge from a friend, Shana, at her side.
　
“Hey. Did you see that?” Shana smiled up at her, with lustrous white teeth flashing like the rays from the falling star.
　
Isobel swallowed before she spoke, suddenly aware of the dryness that had coated her mouth. Of course she had seen it. “I want more.”
　
“What?”
　
“The stars. If they can fall, why can’t they come to me?” She twirled strands of hair between the tips of her fingers. Her eyes were locked onto the path the star had torn through the sky, now dreadfully dull in comparison. “I want them all.”
　
Isobel didn’t know the way that Shana’s heart sank at that, or the simultaneous clawing of love that Shana felt for her in that moment. She didn’t know that Shana would do anything for her, and later still, she didn’t know how Shana plucked the stars from the sky, like flowers, just for her.
　
The first one came a few days after that. A light blinded them both and screamed all around them. A star was shrieking and twinkling between the two of them, shrouding their everything in nothing but white, and yet it sat so simply in Shana’s outstretched palm.
　
“What is this?” Isobel asked, scrunching her eyes up tight, but she knew.
　
“A star,” Shana said simply, “for you.”
　
And Isobel laughed and laughed, a joy that couldn’t be contained, just like the star’s light that was pushing away all boundaries, until she felt the warmth enter her, and she knew that it was hers.
　
The light faded, and the world was normal once again, or darker, without the piercing shine of the star in their presence.
　
Isobel was glowing.
　
“Can you get me another?”
　
Shana nodded, that familiar pit forming in her chest once again - but of course she could, and she would.
　
It continued on like this for days, and then weeks, then months, beginning almost as a test to the lengths that Shana would go. She could never reveal the way she would gather them up, but every night, pools of ink formed where lights once twinkled in the sky.
　
Isobel had never felt such a rush, and every time she was greeted with that blinding luster, it seemed to dim more and more.
　
Shana never protested, even when Isobel would shriek about needing more, pressing her to gather them faster. She was manic, on fire, iridescent, and desperate. Shana worried she would burn out in her passion, but Isobel’s terrifying brightness only grew.
　
It came about that twilight brought no sparkling to the sky, a black dress with sequins that have all fallen off. A scant few still littered the night in spotty groups. Shana and Isobel sat under that dark expanse, just as they had the first night Isobel had ever seen a falling star.
　
“Are you happy?” Shana asked Isobel, not able to look at her for the way she flickered and beamed. She was a white hot flame in the frame of a girl.
　
“How could I be?” Isobel sobbed suddenly, and gestured out to the empty welkin before them. “I’m all alone down here, as long as I don’t have them all. Someone else will take them from me, and I’ll be stuck here and unfinished.”
　
Shana bit her lip, trailing her hand up and down the grass in small circles, her knuckles outlined in Isobel’s luminescence. “I’ll get them for you,” she said in a soft and hoarse voice. She wiped away tears she didn’t know had formed. “I’m sorry I haven’t done enough.”
　
Isobel nodded sharply, but didn’t say anything. This was how it should be; every bit of her screamed out for more, and she knew Shana would deliver.
　
Over the next few days, the sky’s light continued to fade away. They blinked out of view, one by one by one.
　
Then, there was a single star left, and just as quickly as it had become alone, it too was gone.
　Shana pressed her hand into Isobel’s, star squeezed between two hands, one soft and warm, the other incandescent and searing.
　
And then there was only one hand, and no more stars. Isobel stood alone, the only light left in the world.
　Everything crashed down around her right then and there - Shana was gone, and she wanted more still. She wailed and bellowed and tore through the sky, her tears drying up in her own heat, and she left streaks of burnt up land behind her.
　The ache of her entire being consumed her, thundering up around her and pushing down immense force.　She carried on, for seconds or centuries, and then she fizzled out, exhausted, as dull as the starless sky.　And the world was left in darkness.

Private
International star

Selby wrote:

Your thirst, your hunger, your insufferable chanting for more, more, more.
Creeping up were the thoughts you stored under your skin craving more, more, more.
More power, more fame, more glory and goods. Everything in this world you wanted more.

On the fifth on November, not a day that you'll remember. Bonfire night, starry and bright. And I'll stop with my rhymes.
What would be the matter for me to find, just for that night, what I wanted? Somebody to love, somebody to hold? And you stole it.
And you did it again and you did it again. Once more, once more, now I'm over.

But you know all those things that you crave? I'm starting to see what I want for myself even more, more, more.
I want more of seeing your insufferable soul, drowning in your chanting for MORE!
And when the timing is right I will take it away, in a glorious bonfire night!
More, more, more of your suffering, that's what I want, what I really want!

That's what I want and that's what I'll have. Even more, more, more, more, more.
Until the fires die out.

------------------

Idk what this is, I was thinking angsty musical number without delving too much into the song part lmao. About greed born from greed.

Private
International star

vig wrote:
There once was a lad, far at sea. As a young deck-boy, he always wanted to acquire as much wealth as long as he could live. He scoured the world, stealing treasure from every ship that sailed by. He was known as the most cunning of thieves. With every bounty he had gained, he would hear of a tale that told of a vast fortune, hidden among an area infamous for disaster. As risky as the tale had sounded, he believed that he was capable of finding this forgotten treasure.
He and his crew travelled countless oceans, tackled with dozens of monstrous creatures, until he reached near the end of the trail. A woman appeared, before his eyes. One of lustrous beauty, who sang such beautiful songs. He dropped a rope down, and pulled the woman up aboard the ship. The lad noticed his crew, in a daze, as if under a spell. The singing became unbearably louder; loud enough to cause nausea, making his head spin uncontrollably! The young lad tried to re-gain consciousness, as the woman kept on singing. As soon as the lad got to the wheel, he noticed that the ship was within an area he had never seen before in the map. Pillars of sharp rocks were everywhere, decorated with damaged and deserted ships. He noticed the figure of the woman became hazy, as if she were not human. The singing kept getting louder and louder. The lad, feeling uneasy, lost control of the wheel; causing the ship to crash into the rocks, dropping all his men off board. He too fell into the sea, realizing that his dream of acquiring wealth would have never come true.
No matter how much wealth a man acquires, none of it matters when you're dead.

Private
International star

Ainsley wrote:
Green Eyes

Jealousy is represented by green.
She always wants the brand new thing.
Her need for more taken out of a horror scene -
Girl even wants her own damn king.

The clothes she wears are always designer,
While gold literally drips from her ears.
Her car is driven by a stranger of hire.
But money can protect you from your fears.

Eyes sparkle with delight,
As she has everything bright.
But oh, she sighs, what a bore.
She will always want way more.

Zenyatta
Streetmusician

zenyatta wrote:

greed

i want the set
give me the set

do something for the set?

just give me the set
i want the set

MaxMalanaphyy
National star

MaxMalanaphyy wrote:

Roses are red

Violets are blue

I want everything you own

Let me steal it from you

Private
International star

bLNkBLrRY wrote:
i post it here or a message

Private
International star

bLNkBLrRY wrote:

Description:Vera thinks back to her greedy past. She wanted more clothing, more popularity, and more boys after her.

“What were you like Vera?” My new friend asked. I stopped eating my fries and stared at Jasmine. “A lot of people say you’re changed and I’m really curious. Its okay if you don’t want to tell though.” She added the last part quickly. I chuckled lightly and thought about 6 months ago.

Flashback 1.
“Oh, em, gee. This dress is amazing! Can I please please please have it?” I gave my boyfriend my best puppy eyes. “That’s the millionth time you’ve said about the millionth piece of clothing you set your eyes on,” Blake sighed. “Oh come on, there’s only one left, pleeeeaaaaaase,” I dragged out the vowels He let out another long sigh and took the dress to pay for me. I squealed with delight and gave him tight hug. “Thanks you’re the best!” Then I scurried off to another store. “Vera, wait! Stop finding more…” His voice faded away as I venture further into the shop for things that I could lay my hands on. When I returned with armful off outfits and jewellery, Blake just stared at me with his mouth flung open. I smiled innocently and shoved them into him, “Thanks babe” I peck his cheek and looked around the big shop.After hours of shopping I finally got just a few bags of clothing and some accessories. Can’t wait to go home and try all of them out, I turned towards Blake and asked “Hey, are we gonna get food later?”. Blake barely looked up from his phone and just nodded. I rolled my eyes and walked towards the food court with him carrying all the shopping bags behind me. After ordering what I want, I walked towards the seat where Blake is sitting and scrolling through his phone. After finishing my food with only my strawberry smoothie left, I tried to converse with him. “Hey, who you texting?” I asked. He replied “Just Alec” curtly. I frowned a bit and thought to myself. Blake’s been distracted lately, and kind of cold, as I was about to think about the worst, I stopped myself. Probably nothing anyways. I continued to sip my smoothie and took out my own phone and scrolled through Instagram.
Flashback 1 End.

“I did change much,” I told Jasmine. “And I’m glad that happen, back then you wouldn’t even come close to me.” I popped another fry into my mouth and thought back into the past again while she picks around her salad.

Flashback 2.
“Vera, what do you think of this photo?” My best friend Kate asked me. “I don’t know you look good in everything” I briefly answered her before continue texting someone. “That’s what you said about the last three photos too.” She whined. “But I’m just stating the truth,” I sighed, putting down my phone to look at her. “You’ve been very distracted lately,” Kate sits down. “I just met some people and they’re so nice. Their fashion sense is so good. They have over 10k followers!” I exclaimed. “Really, that’s all you care about now? Wow.” She scoffed. “They’re really kind though, maybe they could join our friend group” I suggested but she ignored me.After a short while I spoke up, “Do you know how to get more followers?” I asked. Big mistake because Kate threw a pillow at me. “REALLY VERA?” She screamed. “That’s all you care about lately, what do you even get out of it?” I was taken by surprise, didn’t expect her to blow up like this. When I didn’t reply, Kate flung her arms up, exasperated. “Jeez, calm your tits woman, I was just asking.” I mumbled and she said nothing.After a while I broke the silence. “I think he likes me.” I said to Kate while texting someone. She looked at me, pausing her selfie session and gave me a weird look. “Who?” she asked. “James.” She laughed and I stared at her, confused. “He does, but poor guy, you’re already dating Blake.” “Well yeah, but won’t it be cool if I kind of have a collection of boys liking me though?” Kate furrowed her eyebrows, “I mean not actually dating them, just knowing the fact that they like me. She rolled her eyes, “Whatever you say, but don’t you dare cheat on Blake, he won’t-” I cut her off with a gasp, “Do you think that I would stoop that low? I love him.” “Honestly,” Kate coughed, “If you really do love him you wouldn’t even feel happy about people liking you. You won’t even care.” with that she walked out of her room leaving me feeling baffled.
End of flashback 2

“I had a best friend before,” I said to Jasmine. She focused her attention on me and listened. “Didn’t turn out so well, I kind of left her for popularity.” I licked whipped cream off the tip of my finger. “I was a bad person, if you want to run now you can. But listen first okay?” “Like hell I’m leaving now, you’re stuck with me like I’m chewing gum in your hair.” Jasmine laughed. “Ew, but thanks. I just kept wanting more, it never felt enough…” I trailed off as I remembered another memory

Flashback 3
The school bell rang and I walked to my locker to grab my math materials. Its one of my favourite subjects. But before I have to go greet Blake, his locker is just around the corner.Right before I turned around the corner I heard him talking to Alec, his best friend. Its wrong to eavesdrop but I just couldn’t help my curiosity.“What you going to do about Vera?”“I don’t know. I love her, I’d do anything to make her happy.”“Dude, you can’t just buy her everything. You’ll go broke soon”“What else can I do, she looks so down when she doesn’t get something”“No offence bro, but I think your girlfriend is spoiled.”I heard a light smack and Alec’s groan.“My girl is an angel, she deserves everything.”“Fine, whatever you say, has Kate told you yet?”“Tell me what?”The conversation went into whisper mode and I couldn’t hear anything. “No, she wouldn’t do that”“Would Kate lie?”“No, but Vera isn’t like that. You know her as well as all of us do.”“Do we really though?”“…”“She’s going to hurt you man.”“But I can’t leave her. I’ll break.”“But you’ll shatter if you stay.”“I’ll ask her”“Good luck bro, I’ll be here for you”I heard them doing the bro hug thing and Alec walked away to his class. Blake’s footsteps were coming closer and I freaked out and tried to act casual leaning against my locker scrolling through my phone. “Hey Vera, shouldn’t you be in class now?” Blake gave me a confused look. “Oh right,” I act surprised. “Just found something interesting in my sister’s snapchat story.” I lied.“Like what?” He asked, trying to look at my phone. “Have you heard of privacy?” I asked. “Do you have something to hide?” Blake asked. “No, why? Do you really think I’d cheat on you?” I looked at him in disbelief. “No but-” I cut him off, “Do you even trust me?” I whispered. “Yes, and before you cut me off again, Kate told me you’ve been going round leading people on?” I looked at him with disbelief. Kate swore not to tell anyone, how could she? “I wasn’t dating them.” I tried to defend myself. “Wow, so its true then. I was just assuming.” Blake shook his head. I opened my mouth to say something but he was quicker. “Vera listen, I know how many guy you’ve been friends with, maybe a little more. Its fine, but you could’ve broken up with me and not leading all of us on. Or is it like Kate said? You just want them after you and not actually being with them. You keep wanting things Vera, and its not turning out so good for you. I will be there if you need help but now, I think we need time apart.” I just stared at him with my mouth hung open.With one last disappointed look, Blake walked away. And I ran out from the school and away from everything.
End of Flashback 3

Giving Jasmine a short description of what happened before, my eye caught two familiar figures. I turned my head to look at them, slowly, they also did the same. Our eyes widen with recognition and I broke the eye contact. I’m too ashamed to even look at them after all I’ve done. From the corner of my eye I could see them whispering to each other and looked at me again. My head was hung low with shame and it took all of my willpower to not cry then. Jasmine seem to sense something’s off. “What’s wrong?” She asked after swallowing her lettuce. I looked at the two people and back at Jasmine. She followed my line of view and gave me a confused look. “Are they…?” She trailed off. I just nodded, Jasmine said nothing else and I am thankful for that.I broke the silence and said to Jasmine, “I used to want everything, but now I lost them all. So word of advice, don’t bite more than you can chew, or you might just end up throwing everything up and feeling sick.” I gave Jasmine a tight smile and walked to throw the trash away. Both of us walked down the street, no one said a word and there was just comfortable silence.

Account deleted

wrote:
Haven't been able to enter of these because of work ; - ;
rip

Cimorene
World famous

Cimorene wrote:
Once upon atime there was a little girl who lived with her parents and nanny in a large,
old house. One evening she asked her nanny:
“Nanny, tell me a story!”
Her nanny sighed but obliged.

“Long ago there was a young prince who
grew up in a castle, as princes usually does. The castle was big, and old, but
it was a beautiful castle with rose windows and ivory friezes. The royal family
was rich, and so was the country. Everyone was happy, or, well, at least on the
outside. As the young prince came of age his parents held a huge party to
celebrate. Nothing was spared, and all the powerful families were invited. But
the prince didn’t think it was enough, so he ordered there be sent invitations
to all the neighbor kingdoms as well. His parents obliged.
    The day of the party came, and theprince dressed up in his finest clothes. His cloak was made of the finest fur and
his shirt of the finest silk, both with gold and gemstones woven into them, and
on his fingers were rings of gold with precious stones. When all the guests had
arrived, he went straight to the presents. There were riches enough to feed an
entire village for a year and still have something to spare. There were magical
objects of the finest quality, each more spectacular than the other. All evening
he stood there, looking at his new riches, not really taking in the party.
    At one point, late in the evening,his attention was drawn to a beautiful young woman, with long, shiny dark hair
and a face as perfect as that of a porcelains doll. Around her neck was a
necklace with a beautiful pendant. The necklace was all of gold and the pendant
a large, teardrop-shaped sparkling diamond. The young prince walked up to her,
and she smiled at him. He stopped, staring at her.
    “Give me your necklace.” She lookedat him in surprise.
    “I’m sorry but I can’t,” she saidwith an uncertain smile.
    “I’m the prince,” the prince said. “Iorder you to give it to me!”
    The young woman looked him in theeyes and her smile faded. “Just because you are a prince doesn’t mean you can
have everything you want.”
    “Well, yes it does,” the young princeanswered. “Now, give it to me or I will have you thrown in the dungeon.”
    “What for?!” The young woman was nowclearly angry.
    “For not showing your prince therespect I deserve,” he said haughtily. “You didn’t curtsy, and now you refuse
to do as I will. Your necklace is too pretty to be wasted on a person such as
yourself! It deserves to be admired by royal eyes,” he said, reaching for the
necklace.
    The moment he touched it he froze, asif turning into stone. His quarrel with the young woman had drawn a lot of
attention, and people rushed towards him to see if he was alright. He didn’t
move, though the young woman took a step backwards, eyes filled with rage. A couple
of guards tried to grab her, as they, rightly, thought she had something to do
with the prince’s inability to move. The young woman muttered a few words and
the guards froze as well.
    The King and Queen came towards thecommotion. “What have you done to our son?!” the King asked, furious.
    “Only what he deserved!” the womansaid. “For his greed he deserves much worse than that!”
    “Please,” the Queen begged. “We will do anything!” She fell to her knees,crying, and the sorceress felt a little pity. She waved her hand and the guards
started moving, taking some hasty steps backwards. She thought for a moment,
the waved her hand again. The prince started moving and his mother began crying
again, this time with happiness. The young prince started to look more and more
panicked, hands fumbling. “Where… where am I?” he asked, terrified. “It’s so
dark!”
    “You’re here,” the Queen answered,confused. “Here, with us.” She looked into his face and made a sound halfway
between a gasp and a scream. After amoment to collect her wits she turned to face the sorceress, eyes full of a
wrath to match the sorcerers own. “What did you do?!” she demanded.
    The sorceress just smiled. “His eyesare full of gold. Isn’t that what he wanted?” She laughed, the turned and disappeared.”

There was asilence. “Was that it?” the young girl demanded.
    “Yes,” her nanny replied. “Are youdisappointed?”
    “Yes!” the girl said. “You can’t justend it with him being blind!”
    “I can’t?” the nanny asked. “Who saysthere even is a ‘rest’?“
    The young girl thought for a moment,fingering with her golden necklace. “There has to be! It’s a bad story! Tell me
a new one!”
    “But, this was already the thirdstory tonight!”
    “I don’t care! I command you to tellme a new one!”
     Her nanny sighed, shaking her head and muttering something unintelligible about some people never learning. “One upon a time there was…” The young princess moved a little to get more comfortable
while her nanny told yet another story. Such was their routine every night. She
got story after story after story. She wanted to hear them all. She glanced up
at the big rose windows. When she looked closer she could almost see friezes in
the ivory walls.

Basil
Youtube star

Basil wrote:
I am still taunted with the thought there was more that I could have done; iterations of 'You could have saved her.' is the mental soup du jour. Though perhaps my pitfall is that I fancy myself—someone who had only known her for a handful of months—strong enough to change her ways. There was a deep desire inside of me to feel important to her that I can now recognise as I deficit I found within myself, a need to be needed. She drew out the most clandestine qualities from me, she drew them out and threw them back in my face as pointed insults any time i reproached her.

In that intricate mess of a woman I found solace I didn't know I had been seeking. She had a way of talking that exposed the core of any interaction, while deep black eyes that watched my every movement, every microreaction to the world at large. She was constantly observing, constantly absorbing, each new facet that she gleaned of my personality would be stored and used later. That's what made her so appealing; her veritable wealth of knowledge about me gave her a nebulous nature—what before I could only see as the perfect woman, I now see a carefully crafted doll, attuned to my every desire and never exposing anything about herself.

She could feign connections that took years to build between human; I have no doubt that the spark I felt with her was fabricated, and yet still I can feel that electricity that set me alight. In our tumultuous affair I would have gladly sacrificed any person in the world for her because she managed to encompass all other types of relationship. I loved her, yes, but not just as a partner. Like her personality so too were my feelings towards her: neverending, amorphous, perfect.

What she did tell me of herself therefore felt like important information. For all she listened to me, I too obliged an ear. The first truth she told me was not the first secret she divulged; she crafted webs of half-truths-part-lies, all held together by tenuous string. She had never kissed another man. (Lie.) She had never been in love before. (Lie.) She was hungry. (Truth.)

'Hungry?' I repeated, surprised by the turn in conversation. 'I can make you something, but I want to know what it is you wanted to tell me.'

'I'm hungry,' she repeated, softer this time. She turned away from me as if in shame, as if this weren't calculated. 'But it's not a hunger food can sate.'

'Tell me darling and it's yours,' I enthused. There was no doubt in my mind that I would go to the ends of the earth for her. She turned further inwards, shielding her face. 'Please my love, let me help.'

'There's something wrong with me,' she began. 'Something very, very wrong.'

What followed made little sense at the time. She drew from figures in history I might recognise, words I might perhaps already know. For all she said to me I ought to have turned coat and ran, and yet I couldn't, because even as she told me that she had to eat, what she had to eat, I was entranced by her beauty.

'But I love you too much, so I could never do that to you.' She finished. 'That's why I might need to see more men.'

That gave me pause for thought. My lover, my pride in the arms of another man threw me for a loop. We fought, we cried, and by the next morning I had conceded.

What followed was a precarious bliss. I waited for her to tell me that she needed to step out to eat, but she never did. The longer it went on the less I questioned it; perhaps I was satisfying her. Perhaps I was enough. But though I questioned it less, the seed inside of my heart began to take root; twisted gnarls that warped my love for her. If I was so devoted to her than she ought to be to me; if she was enough for me then I should be for her. This circular reasoning carried on in my head, boiling beneath the surface of my love for her. Soon enough it seeped into all conversations we had.

'Did you tell that joke to someone else first?' I asked, cutting her off mid-sentence. She looked up at me, wide eyed in surprise that gave me pause then.

'I don't know what you mean.'

I don't know. became all she could say to me, all she could offer to my incessant inquiries. Do you love them? Do they love you?

I found myself losing sleep over this thought, pacing our bedroom and watching as she slept. Surely she was feeding. Surely she was getting what she needed somewhere, somewhere that wasn't here.

'You're greedy,' I spat at her. 'You're not satisfied with just me, you won't ever be satisfied. You're greedy.' I would never know how true those words rang.

'You're paranoid.' was her reply, softly. Over time the more I berated her the smaller she became; she had drawn even further inwards in recently, was even more frail and sickly than before. 'You want all of me, but I'm afraid there is no more to give.'

There was a monster rampaging inside of me, bursting with betrayal and fear. Fear of change, fear of losing the one who had consumed my life; I was dependent on her, I needed her, all of her. I was entitled to her: because I would give my all for her she should return it the same.

That panting desire stirred emotions in me I didn't know I was capable of; I needed more and more of her, as much as I possibly could consume.

The night it all came crashing down was a Sunday, Sunday at mass those word echoed around me. 'Non occides...Non concupisces domum proximi tui nec desiderabis uxorem eius...'

She was mine, in her entirety, sweet Charity and her wide eyes. I wanted to share everything with her; she shared her hunger with me by telling me of it and now it gnawed in my stomach, sharp and painful. That night I couldn't bear to look at her, to see her angelic face. The feat played in my head for hours before I did it. I knew what I would do, how she would look as she looked up at me.

I did it in her sleep, quietly. She looked up at me and gasped, could do nothing more than gurgle as I lapped at the blood squirting from her throat. My hunger awakened, I went for the delicacy she so treasured, that she was so desperate for that it lead her to men beyond me. Glistening, her heart beat dully in my hand—red and delicate, like a forbidden fruit.

She was mine in her entirety, sweet Charity; I knew her in ways nobody else could. I could have saved her from her greed, could have turned her away from that path but I was but a man. Greed begets greed—she had as much fault in her death as I.

But now, with more clarity, with time between us I can see her for what she was; she used me as I used her. Her love was another lie she spun me, another whisper to keep me placated. That I now live with regrets in what price I paid for my transgressions—what collateral damage comes with loving a woman who could see nothing beyond her own desires. I know now what greed can do to a person, how it can twist them.

Avarice stole my love from me, nothing more.