Sins of the Soul:

Simone’s Notes:

The term 'addiction' appeared as far back as at least 1599, when Shakespeare used it in the first scene of Henry V; however it wasn't until 1906, in reference to opium, that it began to be used regularly. There is also an isolated usage, recorded from 1779, referring to tobacco. The first use of the adjective 'addict' was in 1529 and comes from the Latin addictus, pp. of addicere. Prior to the latter half of the 20th Century, addiction was primarily a pharmacological term that referred to the process of developing drug tolerance so that more of a drug was required, more frequently, for the same effect to occur. However, with the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1938, a disease-model of addiction was proposed, based on the work of Dr. William Duncan Silkworth, and began to gather support in the professional community, amongst medical and social services workers, and amongst addicts themselves. The disease-model concept led to a definition of addiction based on the continued use of alcohol or drugs despite negative consequences for the user. This latter definition is now thought of as a disease state by the medical community. Morse and Flavin summarize the disease-model definition of addiction commonly utilized by treatment centers and substance abuse counselors:

Addiction is a primary, progressive, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over use of the substance, preoccupation with the substance, use of the substance despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking.

Irene was slowly learning how to paint without the drugs. It was difficult, but it was coming along slowly. Dana was working with her step by step. She decided to try and get Irene to substitute her drug habit with something else to help her paint. The question was what could be used? After a few days of “research,” Dana decided to get Irene to use her bipolar disorder as a source. So here days now, Irene was painting were she was in her manic phase. Some of the love deities were questioning that method for sure. Dana just shrugged at them innocently.

“Hey, but it’s working,” she said. The girls couldn’t argue with her there. Irene had become more productive in the next few days. Her paintings were amazing. Irene however realized a change from not doing drugs for her artwork. She was coming to learn about her powers in her art. So much so that the girls began explaining their mission piece by piece to her.

“So you need my art to see how to stop the Fallen ones?” Irene asked Dana while she was painting another picture one day.

“That’s right!” the third-year student replied.

“All right,” the artist said. “I’ll help you.” Dana looked at her surprised.

“You will?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Irene said to her. “You lot have been really good to me. So, I’m repaying you.” Dana sat back smiling on the air mattress.

“You don’t have to,” she said. “But thanks.”

“Oh, but I must!” Irene insisted.

“Okay…” the love deity said uneasily. Then she went quiet to let Irene finish her work. A few minutes later, Irene froze trembling in terror. Dana looked up and noticed.

“Irene?” she asked. “What’s wrong?” Irene backed away in fear. Dana looked up at her painting. The truth was as clear as day. Irene had just painted a self-portrait. She was lying dead on her studio floor. Her chest was violently cut open. Her heart was missing from the huge gaping hole. Her eyes were open and blank. Her mouth was open as well. Irene was standing with the brush in her hand in terror. Dana looked at the painting and then at the artist. Then she looked at the painting once again.

“Irene…” she said trying to stay calm. “What does this mean?” Irene turned to her looking pale.

“I die…” she said in a small voice. “They kill me!” She sank to her knees in complete terror. She was really sick and scared to death. “I’m going to die,” Irene mumbled to herself. “I’m going to die. They’re going to kill me! They’ll take out my heart and kill me.” Tears were starting to form in her eyes. Dana looked at her in slight worry. “We can’t have her like this!” she thought. Then she forced herself to stay calm so that she could reason with the artist.

“Oh come on Irene,” she said. “You’re not going to die.”

“Yes I am!” she wailed out. “I’ve seen the vision already!” Dana knelt down to her and lightly hugged her to her body. Irene cried hard against her chest.

“Shhh!” the love deity whispered to her. “It’s okay! We won’t let anything bad happen to you. We will keep you safe at all times.” Irene looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

“You promise?” she whimpered to her. Dana nodded to her slowly.

“It’s okay now,” the love deity whispered to her. “Just take a break for a while and rest, okay?” Irene nodded in silence. Dana managed to give her a little smile.

“Good girl,” she said to her. Then, the third-year student helped the artist into her air mattress. Dana sat back in worry as Irene slowly fell asleep. This was pretty bad. Pretty soon, Manami and her fallen ones would learn about Irene, hunt her down, and kill her like an animal. They would have to work quickly to prevent her death. Dana pulled out her sidekick and began typing up the message.

Meanwhile, Bette and Mother Superior had found Alessia. She was sitting up in her room in the clinic drawing at her table. She was off in her own little world at the moment. The child was working on another picture at the table. The inside of her room looked very gloomy. Bette and Mother Superior were looking inside at her. They were dressed up as nurses so not to be escorted out. They turned to each other in silence.

“Ready to do this?” Bette asked the headmistress.

“After you!” Mother Superior said to her. Then, Bette slowly opened the door and went inside. The older woman followed in after her. Alessia was still drawing when she heard footsteps. She looked up and saw the two nurses walking over to her. The girl kept her stoic face. She knew who and what they were already. She had nurses come see her a few minutes ago. So, these had to be the “angels” that she had drawn in her pictures that had come to see her. The girl even knew what they wanted already. Bette and Mother Superior came up beside of her gently.

“Hi Alessia,” Bette said to her. “We’re the nurses sent here to check on you today.” The girl didn’t answer her. She just went back to her latest picture. She knew otherwise.

“How are you today?” the deity went on.

“Fine,” she mumbled as if talking to herself. She didn’t even bother to look at the “nurse.”

“That’s good,” Bette replied. Alessia kept on with her drawing. The graduate student looked up at the headmistress for the next part. Mother Superior gave her the go ahead and nodded. Bette looked down at the girl’s drawing. It was all beautifully done in crayon.

“Ah,” Bette spoke up. “That’s a lovely picture you have there.”

“Thank you,” Alessia mumbled without looking up.

“Do you mind telling me what it is?” the love deity asked her. Alessia didn’t answer at first.

“It’s another realm of the their world,” she said.

“Whose world?” Mother Superior asked. Alessia didn’t answer at all. She just reached over at another one of her drawings with her other hand and slid it towards the “nurses.” Bette and Mother Superior looked at it for a long time in silence. Alessia had drawn Manami on her throne surrounded by all of the incubi and succubi. They all looked dark and twisted with sexual details to them. Bette and Mother Superior looked at each other in nervous fear. This child knew too much about what was going on. But first, they had to test her a little bit to see if this was just a nightmare or if she really knew the dark truth of the storm that was coming.

“Alessia,” Bette spoke up kindly. “Do you know what you drew in this picture here?” She lightly shown the other picture to the young artist.

“They are the devils with their queen,” the girl said. “They are going to take over us all. The queen will lead man into a world sins and darkness. The innocent like me will be their food. Our souls will all die because of them. Their sins will tear us all apart. The only way we can be saved is if the angels come along and banish them back into the gates of Hell.” Bette and Mother Superior went really pale. There was no way a kid could imagine all of this! She knew too much. They had come to the right place. Then, Alessia stopped drawing and looked up at the two “nurses.”

“Are you the angels sent here to save us all?” she asked. Bette and Mother Superior froze at that question. The girl really knew so much now. She could even see through their disguises. But how? Most humans saw the fake human image that deities took on to show themselves to humans. They had no choice but to tell the truth now. Mother Superior sat up straight and took a deep breath.

“Yes,” she replied. “We are the angels. But we need your help.” Alessia already knew why.

“Because of my pictures?” she asked.

“That’s right!” said Bette. “Will you help us?” Alessia thought about that for a moment.

“Okay,” she said. “Anything to stop worrying Addi so worried about me.” The two love deities looked very relaxed with her reply.

“That’s good Alessia,” Bette finished up. “We will protect you and see to it that nothing bad will happen to you.” Another thought crossed Alessia’s mind.

“But what about this place?” she asked.

“You’ll be safer here than at the apartment because the demons are there,” Bette told her.

“Okay,” Alessia said easily. Then, there came a knock on the door. All three of them looked up. A doctor was peeking in at them.

“He’s back!” Alessia whispered quickly. Bette lightly put her hand on her shoulder.

“We’ll handle this,” Mother Superior told her. The girl nodded. Then, the “nurses” stood to their feet and walked over to the door. The headmistress lightly pushed it open. The doctor looked at them confused.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I thought Alessia already had her evaluation for today. What are you two doing here?” Mother Superior stepped forward.

“The doctors wanted a second opinion, so they sent us,” she explained. The doctor nodded at them without any questions.

“Fine then,” he said. “How is she?”

“Just fine,” Bette answered. “But we do need to see her weekly for more evaluations.”

“Understood,” the doctor agreed. They exchanged a few more words and parted ways. Mother Superior and Bette had done their part of the mission. Now it was up to Ella and the others to get Irene straight so that they could prevent many more tragedies happening to increase the Fallen Ones’ power. It was only a matter of time.