Welcome to high school

A place full of dread

You'll either be thriving

Or wish you were dead

Everything you do

Is judged by your peers

You'll be living with labels

For four painful years

If you are athletic or pretty

You have the upper hand

Since those who are popular

Are the ones who rule the land

If you are none of the above

I'm sorry to say

You'll be living in misery

For one thousand four hundred and sixty days

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Abby handed Jules a bag and pointed at the giant cross image on her shirt. Both girls were currently inside one of the unoccupied rooms on the seventh floor.

"We can't have you going to dinner looking like that. You'll be an instant target. Also, you should remove the turtleneck. I know you don't like your Peccator mark, but you will need it to blend in."

Jules opened the bag to find a Dalmellington High sweatshirt smelling strongly of detergent.

Abby turned around to let her get dressed. "I made sure to find something modest for you."

"Thank you. I really like it."

While Jules changed her clothes, Abby gave her a quick rundown on the world of a Peccator.

"The first thing you need to be aware of is the importance of hierarchy. You must always respect and submit to Peccators who are connected to a higher level Dealer."

Jules was already starting to feel uneasy. There had to be hundreds of Peccators.

"How am I supposed to know everyone's rank?"

"It's something you pick up after being at the academy for a while. You will have me around so I can tell you who to avoid."

"I don't understand why everyone can't treat each other equally. I feel like I am living within a monarchy."

"A more accurate term would be corrupt monarchy." Abby corrected. "You must remember what type of place this is. It's full of selfish people who only care about their own gains. Equality is out of the question."

Abby turned around to examine Jules' appearance.

"You should untie your hair. The more you look disordered, the better."

Jules sighed before taking off her hair tie. Her light brown hair fell a few inches past her shoulders and curled slightly from being in a bun all day.

"Why the sigh? I think you look much prettier with your hair down." Abby took one more look and finally approved. "Alright, remember the double O's: be ordinary and be obedient."

"Yes m'am."

Abby turned around as they were about to leave the room and held Jules' face in her hands.

"I'm going to be honest because I want you to be prepared. New Peccators always get teased and bullied on their first week here. Don't let anything get to you. Don't show them fear. And please, for the love of all things good, do not recite the Bible. Okay?"

Jules nodded. At this point, she didn't even have an appetite and wanted to go to bed, but Abby was already pulling her downstairs.

The dining room was unbelievable. It somehow managed to be larger than the cafeteria at school. There were long wooden tables that seemed to stretch for miles and candle chandeliers hanging all over the ceiling. The pointed arches above made the ceiling look even more vast. The stone walls had crow statues and pillars carved into them. Each crow had a hanging lamp clamped in its beak. However, the true eye-catcher in the room was the humongous painting located on the wall directly opposite from the semicircular shaped entrances.

In the painting, there was a man plowing land, a shepherd watching over his sheep, and someone fishing in the ocean behind them. The painting was beautiful but Jules did not see anything special about it. It seemed ordinary and unfitting for a place like this.

Abby took notice of Jules' interest. "The painting is called Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. Are you into Greek mythology?"

"No. I haven't read much about it."

The room was starting to get crowded as more people walked in. The two girls were getting pushed by the flow.

"Alright, let's go find some seats before we get trampled. Commoners sit all the way in the back." Abby held her hand and lead the way.

It was easy to distinguish Peccators and Dealers with all the academy students still wearing their uniforms. From what Jules observed, Peccators sat in the middle of the room while the Dealers sat around.

"Seating is strategically thought out. If demons were to raid and come in, Peccators would be protected by a wall of academy students." Abby informed.

Jules examined the tables as they continued to walk down. Large copper plates with matching wine goblets were set neatly in front of each seat.

"Abby! Come here." A demanding voice called from behind them.

"Sh*t," Abby cursed under her breath. "Remember Jules, let me do the talking." Abby placed a fake smile and turned around. "Kylie. To what do I owe the pleasure of being noticed by you?"

The girl Abby spoke to did not give welcoming vibes. Jules even felt a chill go down her spine when the girl's eyes met hers.

"Abby, you know we don't like it when you hog all the new Peccators for yourself."

"This one is not special enough to be in your presence," Abby tried to block Kylie's view of Jules by standing in front of her companion, "She's the Peccator of a commoner. It would be disrespectful of me to even think of having her close to those of the Deadly Knights."

Jules remembered the term Deadly Knights referred to the student council. The group in front of her must be their Peccators. Now that Jules was closer to the them, she recognized two faces. The boy wearing a letterman jacket was the one Jules caught kissing Skye on her first day of school. The black hair girl across from him was the one she saw sleeping on Simon's bed. Both had distinctive symbols of the letter S on their necks.

The girl who Abby addressed as Kylie had the letter R.

"Abby, you're giving us a bad first impression. We love welcoming newbies. How about you both sit with us for dinner?"

Jules winced as Abby's grip on her wrist tightened.

"Thank you for the offer but we wouldn't want to intrude."

Kylie's smile dropped. "It wasn't an offer. It was a request. Are you going to refuse?"

Jules was surprised at how fast her friendly facade perished.

"I would never dream of refusing you," Abby answered with a clench in her jaw. She then turned around and gave Jules a look of defeat.

Kylie grinned. "Good."

Jules and Abby sat down rigidly. Jules tried to make herself as small as possible with the group's piercing stare directed at her. She didn't want to be impolite so she started to introduce herself.

"Hello. My name is--"

"We know," Kylie cut in. "News has been spreading like a wildfire on how Jules Moore got rejected by Randall at the party. It must have been very embarrassing to find out you weren't worthy enough. I hope you're not upset about him choosing me instead."

"No, not at all," Jules replied truthfully. She was starting to get annoyed at how patronizing Kylie was being.

Abby cringed internally at Jules' blatant answer, knowing how it was going to make Kylie provoke Jules even more.

"How interesting," Kylie leaned in, "Since you are new here, why don't we go around the table and introduce ourselves and who our Dealers are. I'll go first. Kylie...Randall."

The letterman jacket boy went next.

"Dakota...Skye."

"Luis...Jake."

"Lexi...Ana."

"Janika...Ellen."

"Carlos...Alec."

"Autumn...Simon."

Kylie had a look of expectation, thinking Jules would show some fear by learning about who they were. "If you haven't noticed by now, we are all connected to the student council. Therefore, you should prioritize remembering our names. We are very important at the academy."

Whoops, Jules thought to herself. She was so sleepy and uninterested that she had already forgotten who everyone was.

Kylie was irked when the new girl still gave no reaction. Abby noticed and was chewing at her nails nervously as she watched the scene unfold.

"So which Dealer pitied you enough to claim you?"

Jules turned to Abby for help.

"David," Abby answered hastily, "David is her Dealer. He's a level one."

Kylie looked pleased to hear this. "Oh, I see...so she really is a commoner. Let me give you quick a tip Jules. Commoners aren't treated very nicely here. Luckily for you, we are a charitable group. If you stay on our good side, we can help you have a more comfortable stay."

The Dalmellington Academy tower clock began to chime.

"That means it's three o'clock." Abby whispered.

Waiters and waitresses began entering the room, placing trays of food on the tables. A mouthwatering aroma filled the air. Every dish looked heavenly. There was pasta, ribs, sandwiches, grilled chicken, and so much more.

Jules was going to reach for the pitcher of water but Abby held her hand back.

"Higher level Peccators get to eat first. We have to wait for their permission when we sit with them."

Jules wasn't surprised to hear this. She was too tired to deal with nonsense and took this chance to observe the room.

The tables for each type of Dealer was unique. The sloths had designated butlers hand-feeding them. Greed was already shoving food in to-go-boxes even though they haven't started eating yet. The table for Lust was filled with wine bottles, fruit, and a chocolate fountain. Anger only had plastic plates and silverware. Pride had fancier foods like lobster, foie gras, steak, and caviar. This contrasted greatly to gluttony's table where there was sausage links, turkey legs, beans, and donuts. Envy's table looked the strangest because everyone had a privacy folder at their seat.

"Ugh, I'm sad. Dixon isn't here tonight."

Jules couldn't help but tune in the conversation between Kylie and her friends when she heard his name.

The curly hair girl beside Jules looked her up and down. "I can't believe he defended someone like her."

"Janika, he obviously only helped her because he is a knight in shinning armor who fights for those who are weak, ugly, and pitiful." Simon's Peccator--Autumn--did not care about insulting Jules right in front of her face.

Kylie gave a long dramatic sigh. "Honestly, I think I could easily convince Dixon to be my Dealer but I don't want to start a war."

"What do you mean?" Dakota asked, suddenly interested.

Kylie turned her gaze towards the pride table where Randall's seat was empty. "Don't spread this news around because I don't want to embarrass him. After the whole mop ordeal, he personally asked me to comfort him in his room."

"No way! You got to go into his room?" Janika gasped.

"Yes. With the kindness in my heart, I couldn't say no. That's why I wasn't with y'all tonight."

Jules knew instantly Kylie was lying and was curious on her intentions.

"And while I was there consoling him...he said he was falling for me because I am too attractive and kindhearted."

Jules chocked on her spit and began coughing. The irony of this conversation was too much.

Kylie glared. "Did I say something funny?"

"Oh no Ms. Kylie," Abby answered nervously, "Jules just chokes on her spit a lot. She forgets how to swallow sometimes."

Kylie looked at the two suspiciously.

"You can start eating Abby," Kylie stated before giving Jules an evil smile. "Let me prepare your dish for you as a warm welcome gift."

Kylie took Jules' plate and placed a hamburger on it. She opened the bun and put in a handful of raw oysters, the fat from the chicken, and a chocolate chip cookie.

"Hmm...it looks dry." Kylie then poured water onto the buns and topped it off with spoons full of mayonnaise.

"Ew, that's disgusting," Dakota scrunched his noise and laughed.

Kylie placed the plate back in front of Jules. "Bon appétit."

Jules' stomach turned as she stared at the soggy bread falling apart.

"You'll hurt my feelings if you deny a gift I worked hard on making. My friends are very protective of me. If you make me upset, they will get angry. And you don't want to see them angry."

In all honesty, Jules was not intimidated by them. She had experienced enough within the past few days that this was nothing. When she first met the seven council members, they were like wolves to her. In comparison, their Peccators just seemed like insecure chihuahuas who got self-fulfillment by brining others down. Furthermore, their intimidation level was no where near Alec's and Jake's who insulted her constantly.

So why did Jules find herself chugging down the disgusting, soggy sandwich? It had nothing to do with the supercilious group who were laughing as she gagged.

It simply was because she didn't like deliberately wasting food when she knew there were people out there starving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure you don't need to throw up?" Abby questioned for the tenth time.

Jules nodded her head. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just really tired."

"I don't understand why Kylie thinks she rules this place. She has literally been Randall's Peccator only for a few days. It's always the new ones who let their newfound power go over their heads," Abby complained.

The Peccator floor was below the main lobby. The two girls were currently sitting in the room assigned to Jules. The rooms for commoners were small with just a bed, drawer, and desk. There was also a community bathroom.

"This floor is so plain unlike the extravagant Dealer ones." Jules noted.

"They made it like that on purpose. Dealers don't want their Peccators too attached to the academy. If Peccators get too comfortable here, they might hold off on sinning so they can stay longer."

Jules had forgotten how temporary a Peccator was.

"How long does it usually take for a Dealer to move on to a different Peccator?"

"It's dependent on each pair, but on average a Dealer can feed off one person for seven weeks. Once a Peccator is consumed by the seven deadly sins, they don't have anymore innocence to eat off from."

Jules thought it was strange that people around here liked to gloat about their Dealer. Didn't they realize they were being used? Peccators were just food to the academy students. It seemed like everyone here was too focused on power and their own desires to even notice.

"I'm gonna go head to bed Jules. Knock on the wall three time if you need me."

The girls said their goodbyes before Abby went to the room next door. Jules didn't want to be alone but the beds were twin sized and she didn't want to inconvenient her friend. At least Abby would be close by.

Jules looked out the window, half expecting to see her crow friend. She frowned when there was nothing there and wondered where the bird went after she let him into the cafeteria.

A yawn escaped her lips. She would just think about it tomorrow. Jules was exhausted and snuggled in her soft bed sheets happily.

It was silly for her to think she could escape in her dreams.

Jules closed her eyes and when she opened them, she was back at a place she knew too well--the forest of Reville Oaks.

She was facing her favorite angel oak tree where there was a male child kneeling on the ground with chains attached to both his arms. He was facing away from her so she could see that the flesh on his feet was severely burnt. His soles were swollen and blistered.

"You should not have come here. It's not safe." The boy warned.

Jules tried to go around him and see his face but the forest floor would stretch as she walked and she would find herself in the exact same spot.

"Who are you?"

"He's coming for you. You need to run away."

"I am not leaving until you tell me who you are and why you keep appearing in my dreams."

"I wan't to tell you, but he hurts me when I try to."

Fire suddenly ignited from the boy's feet and he screamed in pain. Jules panicked and tried to run towards him, but she was stuck in place.

"Don't worry about me. Hurry! Wake up! He has already found you."

Jules shot up from her bed.

She froze. The color drained out of her face. A figure was standing at the corner of her room.

Dixon.

He was leaning on the wall with a devilish grin, only wearing grey sweatpants. Jules lowered her gaze from his enticing red eyes, but then found herself staring at his intimidating abs. She lowered it even further to look at the floor.

"I'm very pleased to see you here." His deep voice made her heart race even faster.

"What do you want?" She stuttered.

Jules was just about to knock on her wall but in a blink of an eye, Dixon pinned her on the bed, holding both her arms down with one hand.

Jules felt like she would faint at any moment.

The metal necklace of a feather hanging on his neck grazed against her flushed cheek. Her nose was filled with his intoxicating scent--one that she did not know how to describe other than saying it was dominant. Her eyes could not look away from his captivating face which was now only inches away from hers.

His mouth set in a hard line. "You been trying to keep our bond a secret. That's why they treated you like a disgusting dog today. Do you want me to kill the girl? I wanted to slaughter the boy who slapped you but there was a bothersome complication. I won't fail this time."

Jules had no idea how Dixon knew about Kylie, but that wasn't her main concern.

"No. I don't want you to ever kill anyone. I only want you to leave me alone."

"How can I leave you alone?" The corners of his mouth quirked up. "You have teased me by coming into my home. It is only right if I return the favor and tease you back."

His cold hand began roaming up her sweatshirt, leaving goosebumps on her hot skin wherever he touched her. There was a feeling building up inside of her that she had never felt before.

Amidst her squirming, panting, and panic, she felt the familiar anxious pull in her head. The same pull that gave her the vision of Randall's past. Was this finally her chance to reveal the secrets of the beast before her? Jules was hesitant to give in to the pull. She remembered the gruesome things she saw on the night of her birthday.

No. This was her chance. She couldn't back down now. As she was slowly accepting the pull in her head, Dixon wrapped his hand around her throat.