4 Ben

Back at the campsite, Ben waited patiently for something to happen. His fingers continued to brush over the zeros on his neck. He was also absentmindedly flipping through the notebook he had found.

You're not supposed to be here.

Lily

The words held no meaning to him. He already knew he wasn't supposed to be here, but he continued to look for a hidden message in between the lines, yet sadly found nothing. He shivered suddenly as a cold wind blew past him. For some peculiar reason, it immediately put him on alert. There was something in the air that didn't feel quite right...

Getting up, he looked around himself, slipping the notebook into the backpack he assumed was his.

"Ivy?" He called cautiously against the breeze. There was no answer. "Lea?" He wondered this time. Perhaps the girl that was supposed to help them was here? "I need to wait for her," he muttered to himself. The little girl in the alley had told him so. And if she really was some sort of supernatural being, Ben didn't really feel like pissing her off.

He suddenly felt like an idiot standing there, alert only because the wind told him to. He sat back down, still uneasy. He hoped Ivy would return soon - he missed her company a lot, and she was the only one who knew him and what he was going through, obviously.

Suddenly, the hairs on his neck stood up, and he whirled around. Standing behind him was some mutated being. It was humanoid, but so devoid of any warm human trait he could think of. Its eyes were hollow sockets and its mouth had no teeth. Its skin was peeling grey and yellow and its limbs seemed to drag on the ground. It groaned in his direction, and every muscle in his body seized up in fear. What was this awful thing?

His question was quickly dismissed as the thing lunged towards him, lashing out its clawed hand, which narrowly avoided Ben's shoulder. He screamed and dived to the side, fear coursing through every bit of his body. His eyes wide and panting, he kicked the thing backwards, but it was no use. it clambered on top of him, and he suddenly felt weak and sick. He couldn't believe that this was how he was going to die. He attempted to push the thing off of him, but it stayed stuck, howling in his face.

"Get off!" A voice shouted. Ben couldn't see where the source was. Someones boot slammed into the creatures side, and it fell off of him, screaming once more. Ben scrambled up and away, his adrenaline making choices for him. Picking up a stick he slammed the thing on its head. It whined and ran off into the forest.

"Nice one," the same voice congratulated him. Ben whirled around, hoping to see Ivy.

Unfortunately, it wasn't her. This girl was tall and lanky. Her dark skin was glistening with sweat, and her equally dark eyes seemed to probe into him. Her brown hair fell in frizzy ringlets to her chin. She tied it back, and it gathered into one little puff at the base of her neck.

"You must be Ben," the girl said. "I'm Lea."

Lea! Finally, they had found each other.

"Yes," he gasped. "I'm Ben. How did you find me?" He wanted to know. But all his words were slurred. For some peculiar reason, he felt sick.

"It's my job. Are you okay? Did it bite you?" She asked concerned as Ben dropped to one knee. He shook his head. The monster hadn't touched him at all, aside from hovering above him and screaming in his face.

"Ben!" A distant voice yelled. He knew it was Ivy without even looking. A memory tingled the back of his mind, just out of reach. He got up, swaying on his feet with his vision blurry.

Everything was so confusing. And it hurt. It physically hurt, not knowing anything. It was like the information was right there, but so far away. Like he was in a dark tunnel, constantly running towards a light that didn't get further or closer, and he didn't know if he was running in place or it was just really far away. He raked his hand through his hair, trying to quell the headache.

"Ben?" Lea's voice sounded far away and tinny. "Are you ok?"

Ben gagged, flinging his arms out to catch his falling body. Lea caught him.

"What's wrong?" She asked, concern colouring her voice.

Ben couldn't answer. There was a sharp ringing in his ears, and his vision was suddenly narrow and dark. He felt his knees hit the dry grass and his head roll.

Blackness surrounded him everywhere. Ben felt the pain in his chest tighten, like a snake coiling around his heart. He stuck his arms out in front of him like a zombie, trying to feel ahead of him into the... nothingness. There was absolutely nothing around him. It was an endless black sheen. Fear suddenly struck him, making his whole body vibrate. Where was he? A flash of light in the shape of a square soaked up his attention. Was that an old TV set? It flickered, struggling to portray an image.

Like an old habit, Ben crept forward on all fours, sitting in front of the set with crossed legs, leaning forward on his arms like a little kid. He observed the TV carefully, waiting for something to play. At first, all that showed was that weird grey, white and black image that makes that sharp hissing noise.

Ivy's face took up the screen, flickering unsurely. She was grinning mischievously. Up close like this, you could see the golden flecks in her hazel eyes. Ivy winked, and the picture changed. This time, there was laughter. A group of boys - Ben included, in first person view - walked down the empty street of a cheerful looking neighbourhood. Each house was painted a different colour, with some sort of personality giving you an opportunity to guess who lived inside.

"Ben!"

The voices sounded odd coming out of the TV. Tinny and strange. A boy slid up next to him. He smirked. An odd tug of familiarity and something... else. Ben wasn't sure what. Who was this boy? He reeked of mischief, even through the screen. His eyes were a glowing brown, and all his features were angular in a handsome way. Ben liked his hair. It was shaved short on the sides, and his brown curls fell in a lazy wave into his face. His skin was light polished bronze.

"Hey, Braden."

Ben hardly recognized his own voice in the video. It sounded quiet and shy. Braden smiled. A real smile this time, not a smirk.

"Hey."

The scene switched again. This time, he was watching Ivy walk downstairs into what Ben was sure was a basement.

"Ugh. Affection," she grunted before running back up.

"What's up with her?" Asked a familiar voice.

"No clue," Video Ben replied.

In the video, he angled his head so that he was looking at Braden... who was laying on his chest. With Video Ben's arm around him.

"What the hell?!" Real Ben yelled.

Was he gay? And he didn't even know it?

"That is so badass," he muttered to himself.

Different images made a painful blur of colour. There were too many to see. They all came together and Ben could only make out snippets here and there. Something that looked like a man in an orange jumpsuit. A woman with glasses and a tight bun. Ivy sticking her tongue out at him.

There was a cracking noise, and the TV suddenly started humming violently. Some sort of bright white light glared at him. The entire thing was in first person view, so whenever Video Ben turned his head it looked like a camera filming a movie.

"Stop it! Let her go!" Video Ben grunted.

Her?

Did that mean Ivy? Video Ben thrashed around. Loud clanks, like metal hitting metal, reverberated from the TV set. Finally, someone leaned over him with an odd tool in their hand. A sickening thud and squish emanated, as well as grunt of pain. Video Ben blinked a few times before tilting his head sluggishly to the left. Someone else was strapped down to a metal table. Someone short and angry. With strawberry blonde hair.

Ivy.

A loud shrill noise erupted from the TV, and the image flashed out. Noise, pain, light, and the taste of blood registered in Ben's mind, and then nothing but blackness.

Whatever he had just seen, it was over.