Witchs' Stripes and Candied Promises

[Twisted Desire]

A vengeful demon prince, a deal with the devil, and witchcraft? Sounds like fun, right?

Not when you're dealing with an army of numbskulls and exorcists 24/7! Meet Shade Carden, the sixth son of Satan, a half bred with a human woman. Put out of a home due to his blood, Shade now spends his days hiding out at a prestigious high school and slowly building his army, by dealing with their foolish desires. For what, you might ask?

To overthrow his family.

By his side is his companion Mary Chap, a girl in stark contrast to his dull, calculating personality, but that doesn't mean you can doubt her. As popular and bubbly as she seems, this witch hides a dark secret, one that keeps Shade ever on his toes. Morbid, playful, and quick on her toes, Mary is loyal to Shade and his cause, to the point where she lures others to join her in their ever tied fates.

But even with his great mind and Mary at his side, can Shade end this battle with a well placed checkmate, or will his father's inherited thirst for power overcome him? Will exorcists manage to get their hands on him?

_____
Shade-

Shade is a very quiet and manipulative teen with a one track mind and a lot of impatience. He has a brilliant mind and decent athletic ability, but he's very bad socially. He likes to spend most of his time in an old classroom, playing chess against himself. He leaves his heavy work to Mary. He sees Mary as his only true loyal companion, and even states that he trusts her with his life, and his wallet. His powers are underdeveloped, but he is a wish granter demon, a rare and numbered breed. His weapons are poison darts, and his favorite food is meat.


Mary-

Mary, on the outside, appears to be an average popular teen girl with a love for the supernatural and the cute stuff. However, she's a very manipulating girl who has a twisted sense of humor, finding it fun to lure others into Shade's grip. She's not a normal human, either. A great granddaughter to Abyss, the Lord of Chaos, she is genetically blessed with enhanced athletic abilities, and could easily be one of the most powerful witches alive, enough to kill Shade. However, she feels as if Hell's rules are biased, and will follow Shade to the end of his journey. Her witch's ability is fortune telling, and her weapon is a deck of Tarot cards that summon other demons. Her berserk form is a half demon, half snake with red-hot scales, and her favorite food is tuna salad sandwiches.

____

"Shaaaaade! Shadeeee! My prince ~! Get up!," Mary said as she straddled Shade's sleeping form, dressed in a baggy T-shirt and rainbow skull pajama pants. She beat him with a big feathery pillow, pouting as he simply shifted and grunted. She huffed, putting the pillow over his head and holding it.

Shade immediately began struggling against her, hands falling on his hips to push her off. Giggling, Mary got off and rolled from his bed,"Come on, we have to get ready for class. I got your breakfast cooking, but if you don't get up, I'll just eat it myself."

"I'm up, geez," Shade said with a yawn as he stood up, scratching his belly,"You don't even have your uniform on, and you're nagging me?"

"Damn straight. I change faster than most of your sisters do, so worry about yourself. We have to show around three new kids today as our Student Council duties," Mary said as she stirred the food in the pan as Shade moved to the bathroom with a towel on and a bundle of clothes,"And if you keep sleeping nude, I'll turn down the thermostat to 34 degrees Fahrenheit!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me."
___
Twenty minutes later, Mary fixed her black thigh highs and striped tie, admiring her reflection. Shade shouted,"Mary, hurry up!" Squeaking, Mary grabbed her bookbag and ran out the door, locking it with her key. Shade sat in the dorm hallway, looking snazzy in his male uniform. Mary grinned as she skipped down the hall,"Hi-hoooo!"

The two made it to school in no time, Shade being practically dragged by the ends of his hairs by Mary as they made it to the School Office. Mary dropped Shade as she saluted the administrator talking to the three new students, "OFFICERS SHADE CARDEN AND MARY CHAP, REPORTING FOR DUTY!"

 

[EquinoxSol]

Avery and Drew Everdeen were bored, exhausted, and annoyed. They'd had to wake up early to go to a dumb new school with dumb new teachers and dumb new students, and their parents hadn't been sympathetic in the slightest to their plight. Neither twin wanted to move in the first place, and yet their parents had forced them, telling them, "We've let you go to boarding schools, but you need to be acclimated to normal teenagers. As exorcists-in-training, how do you expect to deal with demons if you can't tell the difference between one and a normal teenager?"

And so, the twins were enrolled in a more public boarding school, and told that they would continue their training after school. Neither son particularly liked studying to be exorcists, thinking the practice archaic and meaningless, but they figured they could pretend until they turned eighteen and could move out. Until that time, they were stuck pretending.

As they sat in the school office, listening to one of the administrators prattle on about nonsense while another new student tried to actually pay attention, two other students walked in, one speaking far too loudly for the twins' tastes.

Avery scowled while Drew looked on blankly, both wishing, not for the first or last time, that they could go back to their private boarding school in Vienna.

Avery (left) and Drew (right). They normally have their hair tied back though.

 

[Twisted Desire]

Shade paused for a moment as he looked at them, feeling a shiver run down his spine. He then tapped on Mary's shoulder, who turned to look at him.

'Don't cast any spells, Mary.,' Shade warned, his eyes stern. They had mastered reading each other's eyes and body language long ago, from previous and other throwdowns.

'Oh. Oh!,' Mary replied, looking back at them. They didn't look like any former exorcists she eliminated, probably because they were young. And handsome. Hm. She grinned brightly and clasped her hands together,"Sorry, Shade here thought it was good to have coffee this morning, and that's also why we're a little late. Its nice to meet you two. "

She gave a small curtsy, before gesturing to Shade,"I suppose you'd rather go with him, considering the look in your eyes. He'll skip it all and just get you straight to class."

 

[EquinoxSol]

The administrator stopped talking once she noticed the other two students, and introduced the twins for them. "This is Avery and Drew. They're identical twins and they've moved here from Vienna. That's in Italy."

Both twins rolled their eyes at the woman's mistake, and Drew said, with just the slightest English accent, "Austria. Vienna's in Austria." Avery, meanwhile, was still staring at the boy sent to give them a tour. Shade, the girl had said his name was. If Shade wasn't a demon's name, then Avery didn't know what was. Besides, he could practically feel the demonic energy oozing off of him, and was certain Drew could, too.

"Just showing us our dorm assignment and our classes would be lovely," Drew said. He had always been better at hiding his emotions than Avery ever was, and would probably be better able to figure out this demon than his brother ever could.

"Right, well, here's your schedules and your dorm assignments. Per your parents request, I have arranged for you two to share a room. Have a nice first day, you two!" She handed Avery and Drew their schedules and dorm number and left them with the other two students alone.

"Our room first, please," Drew said, holding out their dorm assignment sheet for the other male--Shade--to take.

 

[Twisted Desire]

Shade, who took the note and nodded, looked at it, before flicking his eyes up, "Luckily you two got very close dorm arrangements. Follow me." He looked at Mary, who nodded back and turned to the administrator, " May I have a pass to class? Mrs. Sylvia would have my head if I have another unexcused tardy."

Shade led them out of the hall, and held open the doors,"Its a five minute walk, depending on how fast you are. Its one block south." He led the way, folding the paper and handing it back to Avery, he thinks his name is, before shoving his hands in his pockets as he strolled down the street,"You'll need your IDs constantly; to check into the dorms, to get lunch, you know the deal."

When they arrived to the building, he nodded to it,"Your room will be on the third floor, and the directions are clear on the wall across from the elevator. Once you find it, head back to the school and Mary will show you two around."

 

[EquinoxSol]

As the slip of paper with their dorm assignment was handed back to Drew, not Avery, he shoved the piece of paper into his pocket. Sharing a look with his brother as the demon led them to their dorm, he sighed as he mentioned that it was a five-minute walk to the dorm. "How tedious," Drew commented. In Vienna, the dorms were all on the grounds, and it was easy for the brothers to get to their classes.

Once at the building, Avery and Drew gazed up at it, placidly bored expressions on both of their faces. "Right," Avery told Shade as he said that they should find Mary after they found their room. They stepped in unison into the dorm, following the directions to their room.

Soon, they were standing in a medium-sized room, just barely big enough for the two of them. Their suitcases were already there, as well as a few boxes containing their other belongings.

"That guy Shade's a demon," Avery immediately said as the door shut behind him.

"Are we gonna tell Mum and Dad?"

"No. They'll just come in here and screw everything up. They'll probably just put us in a school worse than this. If it tries anything, we'll just kill it." Avery reached up, tying his hair behind his head with a ribbon. Drew left his hair down, deciding that it would make it easier for people to learn their names. "Let's go find that girl..."

 

[Twisted Desire]

As the bell rung for break, Shade sought out Mary, grabbing her arm as she walked passed, and leaned down to whisper in her ear,"You fool! They probably already know about our business! "

"Calm down, Shade! I'm sure they won't try anything! They don't seem like the type!," Mary said, moving closer to Shade to whisper back. Students giggles and whispered as they saw the two, which happened often. Mary pulled away,"Besides, we already have half the school under your thumb. We can lay low until we figure something out." She flipped her hair before someone called out "HEY MARY! A COUPLE OF GUYS ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!"

Mary smiled, "I'm coming!" As she ran away, making Shade frown.

 

[EquinoxSol]

Avery and Drew were sent to wait in front of the office after coming back to the main building, and were simply standing there, intensely bored. Avery sighed, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned back against the wall. Drew showed him his schedule, and Avery let out a curse: Drew had a few classes different from his.

This was unacceptable. The Everdeen brothers were not to be separated. They might as well have been joined at the hip, they were so codependent. At the previous school, there had been an arrangement that the twins would be allowed to take the same classes, as long as they had separate sessions with the school psychologist, in order to identify why they were so attached, but seeing as the new school had no such adult there, no arrangement was made.

Grumbling, Avery shoved the schedule back at Drew, deciding that they would find a way out of it. "Where's that girl?" they both said at the same time.