#deceit fic

        Thomas sat at the witness stand in front of him, panicked and sweating. Deceit hid a smirk.

        “Stop stalling, and admit it!” he snapped. “What am I doing here right now, Thomas? Am I the snake come to trick you into sinning?”

        Thomas glared at Deceit, and Deceit smiled and shook his head.

        “Or have you had your mind made up since the moment you received the news about the callback? You didn’t even forget about the wedding, did you?! It was all an act!”

        “Fine! I want to go to the callback!”

        Deceit’s heart pounded as the room caught its breath. He couldn’t keep the grin from blooming on his face.

        That was it. Finally. I did it, he kept saying, over and over in his head, barely unable to believe it. I did it.

        “I was planning on playing WordCrush on my phone during the wedding ceremony to keep my mind off the fact that I’m single,” Thomas said helplessly. “I don’t want to go! I’m…afraid…to go.”

        The others all stared at Thomas in disappointment and disbelief. The pain on his face could have broken Deceit’s heart, had he not known from what he was protecting Thomas.

        Thomas continued to incriminate himself, but it didn’t matter to Deceit. He got what he wanted. Everything was going to be okay.

        Deceit let himself laugh as the others still sat stunned. “Yes! Prosecution rests, or whatever. Let’s just call it here and put him out of his misery.”

        Roman furrowed his brow and lifted a page on his notepad. “Does the juror have his decision?”

        Virgil sighed. “Yeah.” He stood up and glared at Deceit. Deceit barely felt the sting.

        “I hate to say it, but…the defendant is…guilty. On all charges.”

        Thomas hung his head.

        “Who knew convincing people to do something they really want to do could be so easy?” Deceit bragged.

        “This is a downer,” Roman sighed.

        Thomas bit his lip. “Well, Your Honor, what’s your sentence?”

        Deceit could barely hear them talking over the pounding in his ears, the elation swelling in his chest. Their disappointment was inconsequential. It would pass, and everything would be okay. Finally. Finally.

        Roman’s head shot up. He gingerly picked up his gavel. “I hereby sentence you…”

        Deceit lifted a hand. “That’s not really necessary. I think now you see that all of this is – ”

        “ – To one day at the St. Clifford’s Chapel on the day of Lee and Mary Lee’s wedding!”

        And with the bang of Roman’s gavel, Thomas’s eyes snapped open, and Deceit’s relief crumbled.

        His heart sank into his stomach. “Wait, what?!”

        This wasn’t supposed to happen. This had never happened before and Deceit had made sure that it wouldn’t.

        Virgil, he expected. Patton had also managed to ruin it before. And there was a reason Logan was deliberately kept away almost every time.

        But how could Roman do this to Deceit? How could he not understand?

        Roman sighed. “It’s my sworn duty to help Thomas achieve his hopes and dreams.”

        He scowled. “But Thomas wouldn’t dream of attaining his hopes through deceitful means.”

        Deceit fought back the frustration ebbing in his head, the nausea in his stomach, and the burning behind his eyes. He saw Virgil smile proudly at Roman and gritted his teeth.

        “But that’s not true!” Deceit cried.

        Virgil scoffed. “And you’re a beacon of truth?”

        “Did I say that?” Deceit snapped. “I missed the part where I said that!”

        Thomas shook his head. “I don’t understand. You got what you wanted.”

        They would never understand. Deceit had been through this more times than he could count and it always ended the same way. Nobody ever listened to him. Nobody ever believed that he wanted what was best for Thomas. It was foolish of him to believe this would have ended any other way.

        Deceit bit his lip hard. He wouldn’t cry, not in front of them.

        “But you’re still missing the point!” Deceit cried, voice dripping with venom. “Didn’t it seem kind of ridiculous taking this matter so seriously to the point of settling it in a legal setting?!”

        The others just shrugged. Deceit tried not to scream.

        “I am trying to teach you a lesson!” He yelled. “But it’s literally impossible!”

        “Falsehood.”

        Deceit just barely sidestepped before Logan rose up right next to him and folded his arms.

        “Why don’t you just leave the teaching to me?” He shot Deceit a look of contempt. Deceit refused to wither under it.

        “Great,” he snarled. “Well I’m sure Thomas’s friends would love to know that he’s forcing himself to attend their wedding.”

        Deceit knew that he had lost. Once again, they had ignored him. He should really have been used to it already. Deceit bottled up his hurt and put on an air of nonchalance.

        “It’s clear you all don’t want to listen to reason,” he sighed. Then his tone hardened. “But know this. I’ll always be a part of you. I’m not going anywhere. And there are smarter ways to get people to do what you want anyway.”

Deceit sank down, ignoring the scared and hateful faces of the people he wished he could still call friends.

        He popped back up in his room, sank to the floor, and covered his face in his hands. Deceit took in a few breaths, unable to keep a few hot tears from slipping out of his eyes.

        He took a moment to compose himself, then sniffed and wiped at his eyes. He stood back up and looked around his bedroom.

        Journal pages, sticky notes, pushpins, and pieces of string connecting it all covered every inch of the walls and ceilings and parts of the floor. Millions of attempts, millions of outcomes, all failed.

        Deceit had stopped counting how many times he had been through this scenario after about two hundred and fifty of them. For how long he had been stuck, it was probably somewhere near thirty million.

        No matter what he tried, Thomas always, always, chose the wedding.

        And every time Thomas went to the wedding, he never came back.

        Deceit pulled some pages down off the wall. He held onto a string by his teeth while he rearranged the papers, trying to create some path he hadn’t tried already.

        When Thomas died, everything reset. His life reverted to where it had been a few years prior, and Deceit was the only one who remembered what happened. He didn’t know why it kept happening, he didn’t know why he was the only one who wasn’t reset.

        It was like something, or someone, expected him to save Thomas, but no matter what he attempted, he always failed. Nobody listened to him.

        He tried getting close to the others, and sometimes, he succeeded. Those were the best of the attempts. Of course his priority was breaking the loop, but during those times, Deceit finally felt like he was a part of the group. He felt loved, he felt appreciated. He believed they would listen to him.

        But the moment he even suggested skipping the wedding, they turned on him. Virgil and Patton accused him of only pretending to be friendly to get what he wanted. Roman believed them and never forgave Deceit. That was the worst.

        He had tried explaining what he knew would happen, but they never believed him. Deceit couldn’t blame them. He wouldn’t believe himself, either. They all only saw him as a liar.

        Deceit pushed a couple pins into the wall. He squinted at the rough plan, trying to work out how every detail would fit with how the others might respond.

        At this point, Deceit barely cared about winning, about proving himself right. He just wanted something different to happen. And it wasn’t like he had anything better to do.

        He had spent eons reliving the same few years. He could repeat every conversation he had with all the others, verbatim. He knew their exact reactions and responses to every word or phrase. It was what made him such a good mimic.

        Deceit took a step back and folded his hands behind his head. This new plan was too similar to this attempt and not different enough from the previous attempt. He sighed and flopped back on his bed.

        He draped an arm across his eyes. Deceit had until April to figure out a new plan. He didn’t have to have it all planned immediately.

        Deceit stared up at the ceiling, and wondered, for the thirty billionth time, why the others wouldn’t listen.

        Thomas was a good person. Didn’t that mean, to some extent, that Deceit was, too?

        Deceit closed his eyes. He had gotten very close. He had never gotten this close before. Maybe it would end soon.

VIRGIL POV

I opened my eyes, the white room slowly coming into focus. Looking to my right, I saw Roman. Logan was wrapping a bandage on his arm. Roman winced, but didn’t make a sound.

“Logan?” He turned towards me, eyes opening wide. A dorky grin spread across his face. “Hey,

Specks,” I teased.

“Virgil! You’re finally awake!”

The memories came flooding back to me. Deceit. Roman. The smoke. I cringed, wishing me mind had stayed in it’s oblivious state, unaware of what had happened earlier.

I looked down at myself. I was attached to several machines, tubes sticking into my arms. Looking to Roman, I sighed. It was my fault. If it wasn’t for me, Roman wouldn’t be sitting in the bed next to me. He wouldn’t be hurt, tears brimming his eyes, trying not to cry as Logan pressed down on his broken bones.

I looked down at my hands, too ashamed to look Roman in the eye.  Suddenly, my head started to throb. Letting out a screech, my hands flew to my temples. My ears were ringing and I could hear nothing else. The ring got louder and louder. But as my brain began to process the noise, I realize it isn’t just a ring. It’s laughter. Horrible, inhuman laughter. It had a screech, high-pitched sound to it. Like it was computer generated, there was a buzzing to it. I looked up. My vision was blurry, but in the doorway there stood a figure. Dressed in black. Nobody seemed to notice him as they surrounded my bed, Roman looking helplessly at me from across the room. And as quick as it came, the ring, or the laugh, I should say, was gone. It disappeared, just like the man in the doorway had done.

My breathing came in quick gasped as I struggled to fill my lungs. I couldn’t stop thinking. My thoughts raced to deep, dark corners of my mind that I didn’t know existed. Logan shook my shoulders, bringing me back into the real world.

“Virgil, are you okay? What just happened?”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “There was a ringing in my ears and I just got a bad migraine. But it stopped now. Weird.” He looked concerned, but didn’t dwell too much.

Logan and Patton walked out of the room, closing the door. Roman turned his head to me.

“So,” he said to me, “How much do you remember?”

“All of it, somehow.” He looked surprised but didn’t pursue the conversation. It was my turn to talk to him now.

“I’m sorry,” I said, “It’s my fault you’re here. It’s my fault that you got hurt, that you’re restrained to this bed. I’m so, so sorry, Roman.”

“Nonsense,” He said, without any hesitation. “I’d do anything to protect you, Virge. Even if it meant I’d have to run through fire, I’d still do it. For you.” I blushed, turning to face the other way so he couldn’t see.

That night, Patton gave us each some soup for dinner. Logan came in behind him and started unclipping me from the tubes.

“Virgil,” He said, suddenly serious. “Your conclusion was only mild, and all the broken bones are in your arm and hand, so you are free to go. However, I think it would be best if you didn’t sleep in your room.” The other two nodded in agreement.

“I’ll stay in here with Roman,” I said. Roman smiled, then snapped his fingers.

I could tell the motion hurt him, but his smile didn’t seem to fade much. When I turned around, my hospital bed looked just like the one in my room. I smiled back at him and climbed under the covers.

I fell asleep right away, but it wasn’t a good sleep. I woke up several times. Yawning, I turned to my alarm clock. It was 2 a.m.. I rubbed my eyes. But when I pulled my hands off my face, the room was...gone. I was sitting in a wooden chair, surrounded by darkness. I called out, but there was no reply. I tried to stand up, but found my arms and legs were held to the chair with rope. Slowly, a mist formed on the ground. A green mist. It rose, and rose, and kept rising until it was all I could see. It seemed to suffocate me, squeezing any and all air out of my lungs. My eyes water and my skin felt as if it were on fire. My head felt like it was expanding from the inside. A dark silhouette appeared, cloaked in darkness.

“Help,” I squeaked, barely gathering enough air to whisper.

THe person started to laugh. It was the kind of laugh you’d hear on a cartoon villain.

“Oh, Virgil,” they spoke, “You foolish dummy.”

The figures cloak blew behind them, their face still masked in shadow. But I knew who it was. I felt my lungs begging for air, but none came. The room went dark, and then, I was…..back in the bed? I looked over, and sure enough, Roman was there. He was sleeping peacefully, and I could see the ghost of a smile on his face. I saw that his bed was on wheels, so i pulled him next to me. I fell back asleep to the sound of his breathing.

When I woke up in the morning, it was actually not morning. Looking at the clock, I saw it was 12. I stretched my arms, remembering the events of the night.

Just A dream, I thought to myself. Ut when I looked down at my hands, my wrists were red and raw. Rope burn.

I went downstairs, checking each and every closed room and closet as I went. When I reached my door, I went inside, grabbed all the eyeshadow off my dresser, and ran out, fast as I could. I brought my makeup to the downstairs bathroom. I didn’t bother with mirrors, but I had nowhere else to apply it, so, bathroom it was. A picked up my phone played around as a half--heartedly smeared the powder under my eyes.

I walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Logan stared at me in awe, but quickly wiped the expression off his face.

“So,” he said awkwardly, “I see you’ve gone for a bit of a change.”

“What?”

“Your makeup…” He replied.

I ran to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. My eyeshadow was...red. I didn’t even know I owned red eyeshadow. I looked like…..him. As that thought crossed my mind, I wiped off the eyeshadow desperately. But it would not come off. No matter what I tried or how hard I scrubbed. Logan called my name, and I gave up, the skin under my eyes rubbed raw.

I walked into the kitchen to Logan.

“Have you seen Patton?” He asked.

“Not since last night,” I replied.

He looked at me worriedly, then ran upstairs. I followed in tow. When we arrived at Patton’s room, Logan opened the door. He froze in the doorway.

“He’s gone,” Logan said simply.

I laughed. I didn’t mean to, of course, but I did. But that isn’t what disturbed me. What did, was the laugh itself. Metallic. Cold. Evil. Deceit-like.

I threw my hand over my mouth, but the laughter wouldn’t stop. With each giggle, I became more frightened. Logan turned around, glaring. But his face softened when he saw the fear in my eyes. I wasn’t doing this voluntarily, and I had no idea why it was happening.

“It may be a side effect of the concussion,” he tried reasoning. Not that I bought it. And honestly, I don’t think he did either.

Before I even realized I was doing it, my hand swund up and hit Logan hard in the head, sending him to the floor. On his way down, he hit his head on the decorative table that held the candles, which knocked him out. It was like my mind screamed one thing, but my body tuned it out and did something else.

I picked up Logan’s legs and dragged him down the hallway to my bedroom, and opened the door. And there he stood.

The man invading my head. The man controlling me. The man behind Roman’s injuries. The man who made me do this to Logan. The man from the dream. The man who was standing in the doorway.

My mind flashed back to a video.

“You look like the Man,” I’d said, “I fight the Man. I want to fight you now.”

I didn’t exactly know what I had meant when I said that, but I do now. This, was The Man. I need to fight him. Fight him out of me, and away from my family.

I fight The Man. I fight Deceit.