Seven Sins, Seven Swans

I opened my eyes to the soft hum of my phone vibrating on the desk. The screen glowed faintly in the darkness, flashing the alarm I had set the night before. I reached over, silencing it with a quick tap before the noise could build. No time for delays.

I threw the blanket off and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I tightened my hoodie and wrapped a matching scarf around the lower half of my face—just in case anyone saw me. I reached under the bed, my fingers closing around the hilt of the Kusanagi sword, now humming faintly with an eerie warmth.

I stood, took one look at my desk—and froze.

The Santa doll was gone.

Of course, it was. I already knew where it was heading.

I turned on my heel and made for the window. With one practiced motion, I slid it open and climbed out, catching a glimpse of something moving near the back gate. That grin, that hunched little frame. It was already on the move. Good. So was I.

Time to go curse-hunting.

By the time I reached the target’s house, the doll had already gotten inside. The streets were dead silent, cloaked in a damp cold that stuck to my skin. I crept to a nearby window and peered inside. I couldn’t make out anything. The glass was... murky? Fogged? No—thick, like looking into a tank.

What the hell?

I tried the window, but it was locked. Tried another, same story. With a curse under my breath, I slipped around the back and reached for the handle.

It opened.

And that’s when I saw it.

A wall of water.

It didn’t flow out. It didn’t burst. It just sat there, held in place like an aquarium pane had sealed it in. My brain reeled, trying to make sense of it. The whole house… submerged?

Seven swans a swimming.

Of fucking course.

They were going to drown him.

I sucked in a deep breath and dove.

The water enveloped me instantly. Surprisingly warm. Still, it wrapped around my body like a thick blanket, muting all sound, dulling my senses. I swam forward, kicking hard, searching for anything—dolls, the victim, anything that didn’t belong in a goddamn flooded living room.

I felt the current before I saw it—a slow pull drawing me inward, toward the heart of the house.

And there it was.

A giant whirlpool, swirling violently in the center of the room. Seven large swans cut through the water with terrifying precision, creating the vortex. In the middle of it—him. A man. Bleeding, barely moving.

I didn’t want to imagine what they were doing to him.

I didn’t have to.

I unsheathed the Kusanagi with one smooth pull. My body twisted as I swam, building momentum. I torqued my shoulders and let the blade fly forward in a wide arc, catching one of the swans just as it circled past me. The blade clipped it—just a nick—but blood misted out in dark red clouds. It drifted like smoke in the water.

That got their attention.

One of the swans broke formation, darting toward me like a bullet. I barely saw it before it slammed into my gut.

Pain detonated in my core like a bomb. The impact knocked the breath out of me—and worse, made me let it go. Silver bubbles erupted from my mouth, racing toward the surface. My vision burst into white stars, black edges creeping into my sight. I hit the wall hard, pain radiating through my back.

I forced my eyes open.

The bird was coming back around.

This time, I saw the glint in its wings—feathers like razors, gleaming silver in the dark water.

It swung.

I rolled to the side, narrowly dodging. The blades shredded the wall behind me like wet paper. I didn’t have time to think. It swung again—I blocked with my sword, the shock jolting through my arm. I kicked out, catching it square in the chest. It staggered back, and I lunged forward, driving my sword through its throat.

Another joined the fight. Then another.

The whirlpool churned harder.

And that’s when I saw it.

The swans—they were using their wings to slice the man apart. Blood and bone drifted in the current, his limbs diced clean, scattered like confetti in the spiral.

Panic clawed at my chest.

I was out of air. My lungs burned; my vision dimmed again. I started coughing—nothing but water sputtering from my mouth. My chest locked up, and I felt the spiral pulling me down.

Then, I heard it.

That voice.

"Come now, Wise. It can't be that easy for you to die."

It echoed in my skull like a bad dream. The Santa doll.

And with a snap—I could breathe.

Not through my mouth, not through my nose—but I could feel oxygen in my blood again, like someone flipped a switch inside me.

I didn’t know why it did that. Maybe it wanted to play with me. Maybe it didn’t want me dead. Not yet.

But that was its mistake.

The playing field was even now.

And I was going to take full advantage.

▪▪▪

I lurched forward, new breath burning in my lungs like fire and ice at the same time. Whatever the Santa doll did to let me breathe underwater, I didn’t care—I was going to use it.

Another swan dove at me, its wings shimmering like they were made of sharpened silver. I blocked with the flat of my sword, sparks flashing even underwater, and shoved it back with my foot. A second came in from above. I twisted, stabbing it clean through the belly. Blood and feathers clouded my vision as I yanked my blade free.

My limbs felt heavier with every move. The water slowed me, made everything sluggish, and the weight of exhaustion stacked like bricks in my chest. Still, I fought. Swing, block, stab, kick. It was relentless. They were relentless.

I knew I couldn’t keep this up.

Through the blur of combat, I saw him—the man. Limp, bloody, floating inside the whirlpool like a ragdoll. His left leg was gone, his right arm hanging by a thread, and his torso was sliced up like a fucking steak.

I didn’t think—I moved. I surged forward, knocking a swan away with my shoulder and grabbing the man under his arms. I kicked hard, dragging him through the water, heading for the back door. They came for me, slicing at my legs, tearing into my tendons, turning my kicks into limps.

I screamed underwater, bubbles bursting from my mouth. The pain lit me up like fireworks, but I didn’t stop. I pushed. I shoved him out of the water-logged house, his body tumbling out onto the backyard in a wet, gory splat.

Relief was short-lived.

Something yanked my leg. Hard.

I was dragged back into the house. My body hit the floor hard, but the floor was the wall now—because they tossed me like I weighed nothing. The swans descended. One sliced into my shoulder, another into my thigh. A third swiped my side open. I gasped but I didn’t die. Not yet.

For ten straight minutes, they diced me up—cutting, stabbing, mauling—but never killing. It was like they knew exactly how far to go to keep me alive and make me feel every second of it.

Then… the water shifted.

The whirlpool slowed. The swans pulled back. The room grew cold, still.

They arrived.

The dolls.

They strolled in like kings returning to their palace. Santa at the front, flanked by the elf and his sick wife, Mrs. Clause. They stared down at me like I was a spilled drink.

Santa tsked and shook his head. “Why did you have to go and do that?” he said, disappointment dripping from every word. “Now one of them got away.”

I grinned weakly, blood running from my lips. “Shouldn’t have given me that breathing buff,” I muttered.

A boot cracked across my face.

My jaw shattered. I felt teeth fly out. Blood poured into the water as I collapsed again, face-first. The elf stepped over me, wiping my blood from his shoe like I was something foul.

Santa crouched beside me, hand on his knee, staring at me with those eyes that glowed like dying embers.

“Yes, that may have been a miscalculation,” he said with a smirk. “But you’re going to pay for it.”

He stood, snapped his fingers.

Water rushed in.

Fast. Violent. Filling every inch of the room except the circle where they stood. It flooded my ears, my nose, my throat—but I could still breathe.

Until I couldn’t.

One more snap.

The power vanished.

I sucked in a breath without thinking. Salt, copper, water.

I thrashed.

I screamed.

I choked.

My lungs filled, pressure mounting in my chest like they were being crushed from the inside. I tried to fight, but my body had nothing left. I coughed, only pulling more water in. It burned so much worse than I thought it would.

In the final seconds, I saw their faces glowing with that sick, unholy light—twisting, flickering—and then vanishing.

Gone.

And everything went black.

▪▪▪

My eyes shot open, and immediately I lurched forward, choking. Something thick and sour rushed up my throat, and I barely turned in time to vomit a mixture of water, bile, and what tasted like stomach acid all over the snow beside me. I coughed, gagged, spat out what remained, and finally collapsed back onto the freezing forest floor, breathless and dizzy.

My head throbbed like it had been split open. My body felt like a wreck, sore in places I didn’t know could ache. As the world slowly settled into focus, I noticed two very familiar silhouettes hovering over me.

Belle.

Luca.

I groaned and pressed a hand against my forehead. “What… what are you guys doing here?” I managed to mumble. My voice sounded like gravel.

Belle didn’t answer with words. She just dove into me, wrapping her arms around me in a crushing bear hug. I felt her tears seeping through my shirt, hot against my frozen shoulder. She held me like she never wanted to let go.

Luca stood there, arms crossed, face unreadable. There was something in his expression—something I couldn’t quite pin down. Relief? Anger? Guilt?

I blinked slowly. “Seriously… how’d you find me?”

Luca finally spoke, his voice low. “You left one of the maps. The paper you used to track the curse patterns? It had an address. We figured out the next target.”

My eyes widened.

“By the time we got there,” he continued, “it was already over. The guy—he was lying out back, barely breathing. We went in and found you, just… laid out. Looked like you’d been shredded. No pulse. Soaked to hell. We thought you were dead.”

Belle tightened her grip on me and sniffled. “You were dead, Wise. Fifteen seconds. You didn’t breathe, didn’t move… we thought—” her voice cracked, “—we thought we lost you.”

I stiffened, heart hammering again. “Dead?” I echoed, looking to Luca, who nodded once, slow and grave.

“We carried you out, started running, but you kept getting colder. Slower. Your heart stopped. We had to drop you and try chest compressions and mouth to mouth” Luca said.

That actually made me smile for the first time in days. “Wait,” I croaked, glancing at Luca. “You weren’t the one who did the mouth-to-mouth, were you?”

Luca raised an eyebrow and smirked. “I mean, I was going to, but Belle practically shoved me aside. Basically stole the kiss from me.”

My face burned. I couldn’t even look at Belle.

Luca laughed. “Look at this guy—blushing like a tomato.”

I tried to glance up, but before I could even make eye contact, Belle tilted my chin up with her fingers. Her expression was serious. The kind of serious I’d only seen once or twice—the same look she had when I almost fell cutting that tree branch.

Before I could say anything, I yelped—loudly.

Belle had pinched the ever-living hell out of my thigh.

“What the hell was that for?!” I barked.

“For saying we weren’t useful,” she snapped. “Idiot.”

I rubbed my leg, muttering a quiet “oh” under my breath. Then I stood up, dusting snow off my back. “Thanks, both of you… really. But I should get going. My mom’s probably wondering where the hell I am.”

I turned to leave, taking only two steps before Belle’s hand wrapped around mine and stopped me cold.

She spun me around. That look was still in her eyes—firmer now. “I know why you said all that before,” she said. “You’re trying to push us away. Trying to make us hate you so we’ll back off, so you can fight this curse alone.”

I said nothing. Just stared at her, caught.

She didn’t blink. “Not gonna happen. As long as I’m alive, I’m not letting you carry this alone. I’m not gonna let you throw yourself away like that ever again.”

Luca sighed behind her and stepped up, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “Yeah, you’re not winning this one, bro. Trust me—I’ve seen that look. You’re stuck with us.”

I let out a long, slow breath. The fight left me. “Alright,” I muttered. “I’m sorry. For real this time. I won’t try that again.”

They both smiled. For a second, it felt like things were normal.

Luca looked to the trees. “So what’s next?”

I glanced at the sky. “Next? I get home before my mom figures out I vanished. I’ll hit you guys up later.”

I jogged backward through the snow, waving as I turned around and headed off. I heard Luca shout something about not dying again anytime soon.

The cold wind cut through me like knives, but I didn’t mind. I was alive. I had people. I had a plan.

Then, I tripped.

Just as I was about to faceplant, a hand grabbed my arm.

“Take it easy,” Belle whispered. She helped me up, stepping close, keeping her hand on my back. “You just died, Wise. Maybe chill for a minute?”

I laughed softly, catching my breath. “Yeah… fair.”

We walked in silence for a while, the snow crunching under our feet. Eventually, Belle broke it.

“About… that day,” she began.

I looked at her, ready to apologize, but she stopped me with a glance.

“You don’t need to say sorry. I know you were surprised. I guess I was, too.” She paused, brushing a lock of hair from her face. “But… the way I reacted? That was too much.”

I stayed quiet. It felt like anything I said would ruin the moment.

We reached the road, and that’s when it happened.

“I love you, Wise,” she said, out of nowhere.

I stopped. The wind stilled, and snow fell quietly between us. I turned to look her in the eye.

“I love you too, Belle,” I replied.

And for a moment, neither of us said anything. Then we both laughed at how stupidly easy it was to say out loud.

At her gate, I insisted she didn’t need to walk me further. “I’ll be fine. Go rest.”

After a little back-and-forth, she finally agreed. But just as she turned to climb her fence, she spun around and stomped right back to me.

Before I could react, she grabbed my face and pulled me into a kiss.

Warm.

Soft.

Perfect.

When she finally pulled away, a string of breath caught between us, her cheeks were redder than the snow was white.

“Mine was better, wasn’t it?” she said, smiling.

I couldn’t even answer.

She winked and disappeared into the snow