Chapter 6.3: Deceit

Ace and Candice were in his room, and they had once again made a very good impression of a monster with two backs.

  Ace was panicking because he didn't know how much time he had left until Fenton came back and didn't want him walking in on them again. Candice didn't care though. She stood, hanging her head out the window, smoking and topless, breaking several rules and probably several laws at once.

  "At least put your shirt on first," Ace hissed. "Fine," she sighed.

   She looked around for her bra while Ace quickly got dressed. While he was putting on his pants he looked at his calendar on the wall and swore under his breath. "What's wrong," Candice asked.

  "I have a test tomorrow," Ace grumbled. "I don't even know why they make us take this stuff. None of us go on to college after training anyway, and we stay here a year longer to finish training."

  "Then just skip class," Candice suggested. She found her bra in a corner of the room and put it on. She went back to smoking, savoring the nicotine on her lips.

   "I can't, I already failed this class last year," he grumbled.

  He really is stupid, Candice thought. The pretty ones are rarely smart.

  She took one last long drag and put out her cigarette on the back of her hand which made Ace grimace.

  "I'll help," she offered. "I got nothing else to do today anyway."

Ace grinned. "You're wonderful." Candice blushed and glanced away. "Don't make a big deal of this," she grumbled. After getting their clothes, and washing off anything suspicious from their hands in the bathroom, Ace finally decided to take class seriously for once in his very short life.

  He opened the drawer, looking for a pen and instead saw the strange watch he found in his father's closet. He had left it there the moment he came back from his father's house. He had long forgotten about it, his brain like swiss cheese.

  Candice saw the watch and immidiately recognized it. She tried to play it cool, to pretend that she had no idea what it was. She was so excited that she forgot that once she touched it, it would hurt her.  

  "Cool watch," Candice said. She grabbed it out of the drawer and suddenly, she felt very strange. Ace watched in horror as she suddenly looked younger, much younger, like a small child. She dropped the watch to the floor and looked around, her clothes too big for her.

Am I going to prison, Ace thought.

  Candice picked up the watch again, and Ace shouted at her not to touch it, but this time she instead became old. Ace gripped his desk chair and watched as she grew taller, her skin gained wrinkles, her hair turned grey, and her nails grew, curling and winding.

"Put it down Candice," Ace whispered. "Please."

  Candice put the watch down on the desk. "I feel very tired," she mumbled. "I think I should take a nap." Ace ran up to her and held her, careful not to break her old bones. "Don't sleep," Ace mumbled. "You might not wake up."

"Can you repeat that," Candice shouted. "I can't hear you!" Ace glared at the watch on his desk, wary of what it would do next. He heard it, breathing loud and fast, as if it were right next to him, breathing and grunting into his ear.

"Please stop," he whispered. "Please turn her back."

  He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the groans and whispers that came into his mind. The words were incoherent, and it sounded like many people were mumbling on top of each other, speaking at once, arguing and crying. "Ace, open your eyes," Candice whined. She shook him hard and he opened them in a fright.

  She was back to her normal self, none the wiser that anything had changed.

  "I feel kinda weird," Candice mumbled.

  "Don't worry about it," Ace barked.

   She eyed him suspiciously and went back to looking through the drawer. Ace's heart beat fast and he heard it in his head. Soon he realized that was not the sound of his heart, but the watch's. Reluctantly he picked it up from the desk.

Nothing happened and he breathed a sigh of relief.

  He put it into his pocket, making sure that no one else would touch it. Why didn't the same thing happen to me, Ace wondered. I should just admit that I stole this and give it back to Dad.

  Trying to forget the horrific scene he had just experienced, Ace tried to focus on studying. He and Candice sat on the bed, and she explained things to him, but he just didn't seem to understand anything, or even really listen.

  "Are you even trying," she groaned. "You look distracted. What's your problem?" Ace was still shaken up about everything, but he didn't want to talk about it. Candice saw the fear on his face and took his hand. "Don't be scared," she whispered. "It's just us." She smiled at him, and Ace started to relax, feeling her soft hands and smelling her perfume.

Don't trust her, said the voice. She is not as she seems.

  Ace looked around, paranoid that something obscene would happen next. "Tell me what's wrong," Candice insisted. Ace looked around the room, and decided to just tell her. He leaned in and whispered in her ear.

  "I think I'm going crazy," he whispered. "There's a voice in my head."

Candice did not expect that answer.

She looked away and tried to ignore what he said, but instead he continued on.

  "Someone is telling me not to trust you," Ace mumbled.

   "Is it Fenton," Candice groaned. "This bitch-"

   " No, I mean yes, but not him. Someone is whispering in my ear, Candice. I think I need to go to a doctor."

  "Yeah," she said in a mocking tone.. "You do. You're ill."

She is a demon, the voice whispered. It's true name is Deceit.

  Ace let go of her hand, and became increasingly paranoid. Candice saw the look on his face and became irritated. "Are you really hearing things," she shouted. He looked away, never meeting her eyes. Candice took a deep breath, and tried not to choke him.

Yet.

  "What are the voices telling you," Candice cooed. "Tell me, I can prove it's wrong."

  "Oh…," Ace mumbled. "That makes sense." He laughed nervously. "I'm being ridiculous!"

Candice laughed a long with him, and soon Ace felt quite silly at the preposterous claim.

Demons? Monsters? Magic Watches? What next? Vampires?

  "Yeah, it's just stress," she laughed. They laughed together and he immediately felt much better.

"I must be freaking out after what we went through," he sighed. "My stupid brain told me your name is Deceit."

  Suddenly Candice's smile went away and she glared at Ace.

  Ace stopped laughing and he scooted down the bed away from her.

  She stared at him, not blinking, as if she was frozen. It didn't look like she was breathing either.

  "I guess it's time to kill you," she whispered. "It was fun playing house."