Hush

Ace: Within the box

Ace had been called to the girls' dorm. Gemma had walked with him, her make up smeared from her lips and her hair more than a little ruffled. Ace had received a call from a distressed kid who was practically screaming down the phone. Betty clearly hadn't returned with Elliot yet, which meant Ace was still in charge. He didn't like being in charge, going by past experiences, things went wrong with him in charge. He knocked lightly on the dorm room door, Gemma pushed past him her eyes rolling at him, she opened the door to the girls all huddled up in the opposite corner to the box they had opened.

'She did it.' Was the first thing out of one of the younger girl's mouth. She pointed an accusing finger at Charlotte, who sat staring wide eyed at the box.

Ace followed her gaze, his dark brown eyes resting on the open box. He moved towards it, his heavy booted steps causing the floor to groan and creak.

'Watch out, the black stuff burns.' Offered the girl who told them to keep the box closed. She was the only one not with the horde of scared girls. She had been sitting on her bed carelessly brushing the hair of one of her dolls, her name was Amèlie, she was another kid like Jack, she could see and hear things too. She didn't yet know that a scientist from the research prison had paid a lot of money for her adoption, and name change. With the intent to wash clean her memory of ever being in this dive of a place. Her mother was a Spirit Master, someone who could communicate with the unknown. How she got put in to the orphanage instead of the SMRP with her mother was still a mystery.

Ace turned his attention back to the aged mysterious box, back when he had been in the clutches of the orphanage rumours spread about the things it held. Nobody ever dared use the key to open it, in fact the last time he saw the key was when it was placed around a teddy bears neck, a kid named Pritchard had made all the residents promise never to use the key. Then a week later he was adopted, but he must have forgot to take the bear with him. Ace had always assumed the boy had took both the box and the key away.

He couldn't help himself, he had to ask. 'What was inside?'

Gemma came up behind him, her heels rapping noisily on the floor as she approached. She looked over his shoulder at the box and snorted unladylike.

'Who cares, it's just a box.' She flipped her hair and turned away, announcing that she was going for a shower before disappearing into the other room.

'Black globs and screams.' Amèlie whispered eerily from her bed.

The other girls had loosened up in their hoard and were now relaxing at the presence of someone who apparently gave off the aura of someone who knew what they were doing.

Ace picked up the box, empty. But he was sure in the past that it rattled with something inside. He felt a ridiculous wave of disappointment inside him. All these years of speculation, to find out the only thing interesting about the box was nothing more than over active imaginations and some prank.

'The voices say it is Pandora's Box.' The girl said still sitting on the bed, watching him.

Pandora's Box was originally a jar that contained all the evil of the world, once released all that was left inside was hope. Ace knew about this Greek belief. But there was no evil here, he would see it in the shadows, he had experienced evil first hand. A sudden thought occurred to him as he placed the box down, if evil had been inside the box, then it would seek out the easiest child to manipulate. Ace scanned the girls room, all of them were waiting for him to give the all clear so they could go back to bed. But he knew now that it wasn't this room that had been threatened. He threw the box back on the table and rushed out of the room, racing to get to Jack's room.

'Please, please, please.' He repeated frantically until he reached Jack's partially open door. His heart was beating overtime, he pushed open the door but never stepped inside. Jack's padded room was empty to the untrained eye, however Ace knew darkness. He felt the power it had given him when he indulged in it. He saw the dark remains of what was probably shadow demons still lingering in Jack's room. He scanned under the bed knowingly, memories of being pulled under when he had been sleeping. He seen the scratch marks close to the bed where he thought of Jack struggling desperately with his own bloodied nails to escape, just as he had. Then Ace knew he had reached tipping point. That cliff he had felt his mentality lingering at the edge of had suddenly shook and he found himself tumbling over the edge down into what his memories could never forget, he felt the mental crash of his body hitting the surface of the blood red sea, and he felt the person he had kept locked inside, stirring, waking.

A scream pulled him back, putting his insanity on hold. The girls, he rushed back to the dorm the girls were in, this time they all pointed to the shower room where Gemma was supposedly taking a shower. He hesitated but he knew he had to intrude.

Pushing through the door he was greeted by a wall of steam. In such a large communal area he wondered just how hot the shower was. Then Gemma came into view. Her skin was raw and blistered, dark shadows held her on the wet surface as they sliced her apart bit by bit. Ace knew that to the girls and to Gemma that there would be no dark shadows to explain the appearance of cut after cut. He rushed to her swiping at the darkness and pulling her away. Noticing too late the deep wounds in her Achilles tendons, she flopped against him withering in pain, her wet body victimized by the things that lurked in the darkness. Ace knew it wouldn't be long until the demons of Requirden would claim her. However unlike Jack, Gemma wouldn't be considered a damned soul. Instead she would be devoured, her flesh and blood would be made part of the realm that currently tried to feed from her. He pushed her out of the mist and into the bedroom where girls shrieked at the sight of their room mate, rushing to her aid as they realized she was burning.

Ace's mind finally snapped free, he felt the façade of his current self wash away as his true nature warmed through his blood, an awakening to everything he had done, all that he knew, and what he needed to do gave him clarity. He knew how to get out of Requirden, he had done it before, but he had unfinished business. He closed his eyes and willed the shadows to claim him. He conjured up every dark memory from the place he vowed never to think or speak of again, and opening his eyes he met the eyes of a familiar stranger from his past, Akira. Her smile spread deviously across her face as she approached him, shackling his hands in black tendrils.

'Hello Wally.' She greeted playfully as the dark shadow of a hand choked him. 'Want to come and play? Master doesn't like to be kept waiting.' She never waited for a response, she gripped his face in her hands and on her tip toes she sucked out his breath, he could see his essence leave in the inches between their lips, almost breathless he pushed himself forward, forcing his lips against hers and together they were claimed by the dark tendrils of Requirden.