A Piece of My Heart [Deacon]

[Miles]

"I'm back, Deacon!" Miles called out as he entered the Wesson, which was devoid of people. That seemed to be the case for the past month or so, but then again February meant the end of winter break for the majority of the world, which thereby meant the end of tourist season. And let's face it, not many people went out of their way to go on vacation to see Mount Rushmore in the off season.

Miles went upstairs, passed a few rooms and into his, dropping his backpack next to the door and kicking off his shoes before walking over to his desk and logging into his laptop. He let it start up and connect to the internet while he walked over to his closet and changed out of the shirt he had worn to school and into another, more comfortable one. Once that was done, he sat down in front of the computer, and pulled open a video game he'd become addicted to in recent weeks.

About fifteen minutes into playing, he received a message from an unfamiliar user name. Aware the game was known for its lack of spam and the dedicated staff to ensure that spam was prevented, he opened it to sate his curiosity. He was invited to a private match, and feeling that the competition was all in good fun, he moved over to that lobby and pulled on his microphone.

A female voice crackled into the speakers that were fit snugly on his ears.

"Hey, I'm new at school. Someone in class gave me your user name and said you knew how to get some starter gear without having to trade," she said.

"Oh, yeah, I think I know who you're talking about. I told him not to tell anyone I knew how to do that, but I can help you out, I guess. My name is Miles, how do you know Tim?"

"Oh, I'm in your Spanish class. The new girl that came today? Kerri," responded the voice.

"I must've been spacing out, I totally missed you coming in. Anyway, you should have the stuff now," Miles said, finishing the code he had been entering.

"Cool, cool. Hey, want to play against me real quick?"

"Sure, I'm almost about to level up, I can use the experience."

"Want to make it more interesting?"

"How so?"

"Let's make a bet," she said, a playful tone fairly obvious. "If you win, you give me a piece of your heart. And if I win, I get to give you a piece of my heart," she said. Miles furrowed his brow in confusion, not understanding the terms. "Uh...alright?"

"Cool. Let's go."

Ten minutes later, Miles was losing by a substantial amount, enough to the point where he didn't know how it was possible, but his coding told him she wasn't hacking anything. And the game she picked didn't have any script to hack and cheat with, so he couldn't even catch up. The timer ran out, and he heard her laugh.

"Nice try, kid. Have fun living life," a deep, demonic voice said. The user logged off, and Miles once more furrowed his brows. What the...? She put a voice scrambler on? No one did that anymore, that period of trying to remain anonymous had died with the fad with the first Xbox. But whatever. He pushed his chair out and stood up, his breath catching. Pain seared in his lungs, and he gasped for air. He stopped for a moment and tried to catch his breath, blinking a few times in order to focus. He walked to the door and opened it, his head spinning, and made it out into the hall before his vision burned white, and he felt some sort of motion.

When he woke up, it was because of talking next to him. In addition to the voices, he heard a repetitive beeping noise, as well as the sound of air. It took a second, but he realized that he was in a hospital, hooked up to various machines, and the voice was Deacon and a doctor, who was mentioning something about myocardiodystrophy, although Miles didn't catch the whole word.

"Deacon? What's going on?" Miles said sluggishly, noticing that the beeping hadn't been as regular as he thought.