Chapter 8

Floor 5:Gula

"Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. " - Proverbs 23:2

Every step he took reverberated in his fear constricted chest. Gallows was five steps from the top and yet every step seemed to be heavier than the last. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall with a sigh. He wanted to pretend that he didn't see blood colored lights filtering down from the floor above him. He also wanted to ignore the stench of rotting flesh that invaded his nostrils, that would have been nice too.

(Well, this doesn't look good for our heroes..) Thought Gallows as he opened his eyes and started to ascend the stairs to the unknown once again.

Well, aren't we the master of the obvious…

(Apparently…)

A sudden cold chill ripped down his spine and a wave of nausea overtook him as his vision grayed out and then came back on line in gloomy grays and whites. He blinked, trying to make sense of it all. He tried to move his legs to continue up, but for some reason, his legs would not respond to his brains command.

(Why can't I move? What's going…)

He was interupted by a humming sound followed by an inhuman screech.

(Move…)

Still no response from his body. He sighed inwardly and was about to will movement again when he stepped up rather quickly, feeling the familiar rip of his spirit tearing itself away from his body.

Gallows felt himself start to walk, quite keen to the fact that he had no control of his actions, even his thoughts were not completely his own.

(He said he wanted to be my friend….I'm too nice…) came a feminine voice from the left side of his skull.

(Who are you? What's going on?) thought Gallows frantically as he crested the stairs.

(He was so sad…so sad..)

They were at the top now, focusing in on the blood soaked walls and the half eaten corpses with morbid fascination.

(He said that he was lonely and….)

A hulking form that had been partially covered by the cloak of shadows , stepped into the monotonous light, startling both the woman and Gallows.

"Friend?" whimpered the form, throwing down a half eaten leg that he had been munching on.

"Who are you?" inquired the specter in a lyrical voice.

(So I'm female….?)

Hush! Will you please stop asking such OBVIOUS questions!

"My name is Suillus and I want a friend…" whimpered Suillus, his huge stomach quivering as he took a step toward the woman and Gallows, his lower lip trembling.

"I will be your friend. My name is Zamaae, how do you do?" Inquired the kind woman, reaching out a delicate hand toward the quaking man.

(Idiot! Didn't she see him throw down that leg ? Damn, I could understand her being nonchalant about, say, a chicken leg, but NOT a human leg!)

…. You talk to damn much… Compassion can blind the most intellectual person..

(I just wanted to help…)

"You will be my friend?" whined Suillus, rubbing his ample stomach with a bloodied grin. Zamaae smiled and took a step closer, her hand still extended toward Suillus.

"My love, don't you remember me? I'm your wife… " She whispered as she locked eyes with Suillus, her slender hand caressing his bloated face lovingly.

Suillus blinked and put his hand over hers, blinking at this revelation.

"My… my love?" sobbed Suillus, pulling his wife into the folds of his stomach. Gallows cringed when the smell of rotting flesh pressed itself into his nostrils.

(For the love of Raftina, woman, pull away from him! Aughhh, the smell is horrid!)

For the record, you do not smell any better…

(Thank you for that lovely bit of information. No, really, I'll store that with all the rest of the dumb things that you have managed to spit from that tainted mouth of yours.)

(I just wanted to see him again….)

"Did you find him?" whispered Zamaae, pulling away from Suillus and looking up at him. Suillus shook his head "no" and sobbed a little.

"I couldn't get past HIM!" screamed Suillus, pointing to an unknown party further down the hallway.

"I see.. Then let's go! Let's get out of here before even more of our…" The rest of her sentence was cut off by the sound of ripping flesh and the crack of breaking bone, Suillus was holding his wife's arm in his hand, sobbing uncontrollably.

Surprisingly, Zamaae did not scream, instead she looked up at her husband with pity.

(I know HE made Suillus do that… It was not my husband that devoured my flesh….)

Gallows shuddered at that comment and felt a searing pain as the flesh from her neck was ripped away from the muscle with a satisfied grunt.

(Make it stop.. I don't want to feel the flesh being ripped from my bones…) begged Gallows as Suillus took a chunk of Zamaae's muscle between his teeth and chewed it like one would on gum.

(I don't want you to suffer..) Whispered Zamaae kindly, her eye falling to the floor with a wet thud and looking up at her distorted body.

Just as Gallows was about to scream he felt a tug at his spirit and all of the sudden he was back in his body again, sweating profusely.

"Wh-What the HELL was that?!" he groaned, standing up shakily, his eyes still glossed over with ghostly tears. There was no answer from Roka, nor did he expect there to be one.

(I must have fallen down as soon as my spirit left my body…)

While we are stating the obvious, might I point out that we may run into a slight problem up ahead.

(Point dully noted. Yes, I am aware that we might have to take on Suillus AND whatever is behind him. For some reason, I feel as if Suillus is a decoy…)

"And that decoy will lead us right into the fangs of the wolf.." Added Gallows out loud, looking to his left and right cautiously, he knew all to well that Simulacrum was full of surprises.

You are finally showing a semblance of intelligence, I'm slightly impressed.

"Now is not the time…" whispered Gallows, putting his right foot on the next step, he was about to ascend when he paused. Roka grunted with irritation and was about to ask him what was wrong when Gallows spoke in a dead sounding voice.

"He wants a friend…" Gallows unsheathed the Zanzir in held it vertically in front of him, looking at his battle weary face in the broad side of the sword. "Then a friend he shall have.." finished Gallows, closing his eyes and quickly twisting the pommel in his hands so that the sharp edge nearly touched his face.

"Let's rock…"

The walls were still covered with dried blood and the stench of death still hung heavily in the air, but, there was something missing. The corpses that had littered the floor were now gone, replaced by the heavy aura of the fallen "friends" that had met their ends at the hands of Suillus. Gallows whistled inwardly and sheathed the Zanzir, he had a feeling that talking to Suillus with your sword unsheathed would bring about an unnecessary fight.

(I know that we will probably have to fight Suillus, in fact, I KNOW we will have to fight Suillus but.. I'd rather try to talk to him before I fight him, he didn't seem to be that bad of a person.)

Damn it Gallows, unsheathe the sword! You are being naïve and…

"FRIEND!" roared a voice from the red, flickering shadows. Gallows took a deep breath and pressed forward, his right hand resting lightly on his dagger while his left hand swept silently against his pants leg.

"Yes, I'm a friend. My name is Gallows." Said Gallows quietly, fingering the wooden hilt of the dagger.

"Gallows? You're… a friend?" whimpered Suillus, stepping timidly out of the flickering shadows, causing Gallows to take a couple of precautionary steps back.

"Yes, and I wanted to know if you can help me." Replied Gallows, looking up at the man's face, noting that it towered a couple of feet above him.

"What do you need? Suillus wants to help his friend.." smiled Suillus, patting Gallows gently on top of his head. Gallows chuckled softly and took a step back, causing Suillus' hand to slip off and fall limply onto his ample stomach. Suillus looked at Gallows , sulking a little as he did so, and took a step back.

"I need to get to the next floor. I need…" Gallows smiled dripped into a frown. "To get out of this hell hole. Will you help me?" inquired Gallows, his eyes glowing intently into Suillus'. Suillus seemed to step aside and then , almost as an after though, reached for Gallows' shoulder. With a grunt and a tiny cry of surprise, Gallows batted his hand away and stepped back, readying the Zanzir. Suillus' face darkened and he clenched his pudgy fists to his side. Gallows was starting to feel uneasy, he was quite aware of Suillus' strength.

"Why do you want to fight…" Suillus' face twitched and a piece of skin slowly peeled off to reveal yellow fatty tissue and pulsating muscles. Gallows fought the urge to vomit and held the Zanzir diagonally in front of him, putting him into a defense to sudden strike stance.

"I don't want to fight… but.. I don't want to become your meal either…" Gallows replied mildly, looking at Suillus with both caution and pity. A bloody tear fell down Suillus' face and he wiped it away quickly, his once gentle blue eyes darkening to light green.

" You… want to fight…" growled Suillus, his face sprouting screaming, gore covered faces. Gallows narrowed his eyes, if it was a fight that he sought, then a fight he would get.

"I don't suppose you would mind putting your face away, it's scaring the children.." simpered Gallows, sliding his hand a little further up the pommel, giving himself a little more stability. Suillus' faces howled angrily causing the roof above them to shift and groan a little. Gallows looked up nervously and then back at Suillus, his face twisting in disgust at what he saw. Arms of all sizes had erupted from his belly and were waving at Gallows frantically, tying to get him to come closer.

(Oh no you don't, I ain't falling for that…)

An old woman's face screamed his name and then seemingly melted back into the mass of tortured visages.

"Well, Mr. Carradine, how do you like my "pet"?" inquired a smooth voice from behind Suillus' quaking form. Gallows spat at the floor and moved the sword in front of him, the wicked looking blade facing the still developing monster.

"It's disgusting, and you're disgusting for creating something like this from a HUMAN!" snarled Gallows, waving the sword a little in front of him, taunting the creature to make its move.

The fingers were beginning to sprout little tendrils of red energy that started to slowly crawl up Suillus' arm. Gallows looked at the monster with pure hatred now, knowing that there was nothing to pity now.

"I don't have time for you…" growled Gallows, pulling the sword into a high thrust position, his eyes glimmering with malice. Suillus howled and lumbered toward Gallows menacingly, his arms held above his head, fist clenched into a human hammer.

(No time…)

With a cry of rage, Gallows charged the hulking form, the sword a couple of inches away from his flowing hair. The hands of the damned reached toward Gallows longingly and with swift motion he cut them away from the main body. As Gallows shoved the sword though Suillus' throat he saw the creature mouth the words "Thank you."

Gallows nodded and quickly pulled the sword from Suillus' throat, feeling as a light mist of warm blood coated his flushed face. Suillus stood frozen in a grotesque pose, his faces screaming silently as the final bit of blood sprayed onto the floor. Gallows sighed, closed his eyes, and sheathed the Zanzir.

"Impressive, Gallows, I was not expecting you to be this good!" boomed the smooth voice from down the hall. Gallows snorted ,opened his eyes, and looked down the hallway with irritation.

"And I did not expect you to be so cowardly.. Step out and face me…" Snapped Gallows, reaching back to unsheathe the Zanzir. Laughter boomed down the narrow hall way and a shadow formed on the wall. Gallows swallowed hard and stumbled against the opposite wall, unsure of what to do.

"What's wrong? Do you not like me?" laughed the shade, its black teeth showing hauntingly.

Gallows composed himself and smiled, causing the smile on the shadows face to fade a little.

"It's not like that at all. You see, you think that you have me fooled but you really don't." laughed Gallows in an almost insane tone. The smile was now completely gone from the shades face, it was replaced by an angry sneer. Gallows once again shut his eyes and slowly shook his head back and forth, a small smile crossing his face. He could feel the shadow's presence moving around him.

"You were expecting me to fight you with my eyes open. That was your first mistake. Everyone knows that a shadow is cast by a solid object, as such, all I need to do is lock onto you and your finished."

"Do you think it that simple? Unlike most of the phantoms here, my shadow can deal damage to you and.."

"Shove it, let's dance…" spat Gallows, opening his now golden eyes, a cruel scowl on his face. The shadow laughed and leaped to the other wall, reaching for Gallows as he did so. Gallows evaded and slashed in the opposite direction of the arm. There was a spurt of blood from seemingly mid air and the shadow retreated a little.

"Impressive.. no one has been able to evade that attack before.." huffed the shade, retreating to the far end of the right hand wall. Gallows smiled once again and brought the sword back into the defense to sudden strike stance. The shadow once again rushed him, this time splitting into two different beings and running against the wall. Gallows shut his eyes , locked on to the form to his right and swung the sword into a graceful upward arc followed by a series of light thrust to the abdominal region. A film of butchery was now covering Gallows' body, sighing inwardly he sheathed the Zanzir and looked down at the eviscerated form of the shadow. Except, it was no longer a shadow, now, it was a middle aged man with writing on his hands. It was written in Elwian verse but he understood it just fine.

"Gluttony is a trap that wise men stumble into. Sometimes it is but a shadow of a doubt that makes us want more. We fear that we don't have enough friends so we force ourselves onto others. We fear that we will starve so we eat until we are ill. Gluttony is a demon that is hard to beat because we, ourselves, create it."

Gallows sighed as he stepped over the demons body, looking back to give it one more pitiful glance before he walked down the bloodstained hallway and toward the rickety stairs that lead to the next floor.

"Humans, by nature, fear the unknown. This fear, this plague, has swarmed into the minds of the frail and poisoned them with illusions of grandeur. Humans need to be fed, so they hunt. Humans need shelter, so they build. Humans need companionship, so they mate. It is not surprising that some humans desire to be overly aquatinted with the luxuries of life. The purposely ignorant call it "Comfortable Living". While the wise man calls it "Gluttony"… Gluttony has lead humans into catastrophic demises. Just look back in history and you will see a sordid past indeed…"