12 Ben

Ben felt numb the entire time. He had no idea what was going on anymore. The agency had come and taken care of everything, and now he was sitting on the floor of a hotel room, leaning against a bed and staring at nothing. Thinking of nothing. He was still in a state of shock and disbelief. He hadn't showered yet, despite Ezra's and Lea's urges. They had left a while ago. They'd said where they were going, but Ben hadn't listened. He couldn't listen. He was blocking the world out. Wasn't it easier this way? Block the world out, block the feelings out, and then you would never have to hurt.

Oddly, losing someone special to him seemed familiar. The numb, sick, and disbelief all felt terribly familiar, and that scared him. Who had he lost before he ended up here? He let his head fall into his hands, closing his eyes against everything. But of course, it didn't work. The one thing he really wanted to escape right now was his mind, but that was impossible. If only he could just shut it off, just for a second...

Tears cascaded down his face, and sobs quickly racked his chest. This couldn't really be happening right now. How could Ivy just... be gone? He blamed himself. She had saved his life, fearlessly, effortlessly - she should have let him die. If anyone was going to get out of this weird hell and get their memories back, it was going to be Ivy. Not Ben. He wasn't loud, or bold or fearless like his companion was - had been. He was smart, yes, but that was about it. He needed Ivy at his side making sarcastic remarks, rolling her eyes, creating jokes out of terrible situations, and always, always fighting.

What felt like years later, Ben forced himself up to go to the bathroom and shower. He couldn't stand the smell of vomit anymore, and there was still blood - Ivy's blood - on him. Which made him feel even more sick. The second he entered the cramped bathroom, he regretted it. The mirror on the wall was giant, and reflected all the terrors of the past day back at him. His eyes were bloodshot, his face was puffy and swollen. There was puke on his shirt along with blood. There was more crusted blood on his arms. His blonde hair stuck out in all directions and his entire body was slumped down with the heavy weight of loss.

He turned his head away from the haunting image, but something caught his eye. The numbers on his neck - were they supposed to still say zero-zero-one? His eyes widened. That meant he'd failed a level. The card... what had the card said? It had simply showed the gargoyle. But maybe he had failed the level because... Ivy was dead? Or maybe he was supposed to kill the monster.

Yes, that must've been it. Lea had been the one to kill it. But, the more he thought about it, the less sense it made that she should have killed it. Clearly, if it was a level they needed to beat, Ben, or Ivy, would have to kill it.

With that information in his head, he took the fastest shower in his life, and snatched up his new clothes, still struggling with his shoe as he dashed out the door, almost bowling over the poor cleaning lady.

"Sorry!" He shouted over his shoulder as he ran away down the hall. He knew what he needed to do.

***********

Ben was nervous. Beyond nervous actually. The subway cart he was on was empty this time, exactly what he wanted. Lea's knife was pressed firmly in his palm. His hand was shaking, but he tried to ignore it. Fear was already making him freeze, but he was doing his best to contain it.

A long time passed. It was so long, that Ben started to doubt his decision. Maybe this was stupid after all. Just as he was about to leave, a loud screech filled the subway cart. There it was. The gargoyle, just as the card showed, was hanging upside down from the roof, leering at him with those red, haunting eyes. It seemed to grin in anticipation, before launching itself towards Ben.

This time, he dodged, but barely. He didn't know how to fight. He'd never fought anything like this before. He didn't even know if he'd ever fought a person before. Likely not. The gargoyle sailed at him once more, talons outstretched. This time, it scraped his shoulder, but he managed to get away. How was he supposed to kill this thing? All logic quickly left his head. He had no plan. No ideas. He had been stupid to want to fight this thing in the first place. What was wrong with him?

The gargoyle pinned him up against the wall using its talons, flapping it's ghastly bat wings and leering at him with the same evil grin it had worn when it killed Ivy. Screeching at him, it opened its mouth wide, wider than he ever could have thought possible, revealing a row of sharp little fangs, ready to chomp on his head. Ben squeezed his eyes shut. He tried desperately to wiggle on arm free, to stab the beast, but it had him stuck. No amount of moving could stop it. He was a goner.

"Get the hell off him!" A familiar voice yelled from behind it. Ben's eyes snapped open. He could only see the monster, but he would know that voice anywhere.

"Ivy?!" He shouted just as her short arms swung at its head.

Ivy's fear was clear in her summer green eyes, but she didn't back down, nor reply. The gargoyle, now on the ground, was flapping around like a little beetle, with Ivy's tiny feet stomping it. It was howling and twisting.

"Ben - your knife!" She screamed as she launched herself on top of it to pin it down. Ben unfroze, still terrified. Where was he supposed to stab this thing? "Ben!"

Ivy looked at him desperately, and Ben unfroze, forcing his body to move, to correspond with his thoughts. Using Lea's knife, he stabbed it - but not deep enough. The thing howled in pain, and in horror, Ben withdrew. Then shook himself out of the daze and stabbed it again, higher on the stomach and cringed as it screamed at him, still wriggling under Ivy's grip. It was about to escape. With a little struggle, Ben stabbed it again, this time leaving the knife in its body to help pin it down.

Ivy grunted in clear annoyance, snatching the knife from the wound and bringing it down into its body - hard. The gargoyle stayed still, then exploded into ash, causing Ivy and Ben to stumble to the floor. With perfect timing, the doors on the subway cart opened, allowing the two friends to leave.

Still in a shocked daze, Ben walked straight out of train, not sure if Ivy was following him or not. Gagging, he quickly ended up vomiting in a nearby trash can. Great. Second time today. Then he turned around, not daring to believe Ivy was standing just behind him, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"You really need to get that puking under control, Ben. It's really gross," she commented. Ben stared at her with an open mouth.

"Are you - you're really, wow. I mean, you're actually -"

"Yes, I'm alive. Careful when you start walking, you might trip over your words," she answered him sarcastically, but was clearly pleased with his reaction.

"What happened?" Ben demanded.

Ivy quickly caught him up on what he'd missed. She explained that she'd remembered some people from her past in the weird black world with the projector, how she'd seen her body get moved, and figured out that they had three lives to spend. Ben was shocked. Where had she gotten all this information? As if he'd answered the question, Ivy raised her eyebrows and made an L with her left hand. Of course. Lily. Ivy probably didn't want to mention her name. Clearly, Lily was breaking whatever rules were set out for them, and they needed to protect her.

"I see," Ben answered. Ivy ran her fingers through her strawberry blonde hair, pushing it off her neck for a moment, allowing Ben to glance the numbers. Zero-zero-two. "Ivy," he said, pointing at her neck.

"What? Oh," she answered, running her fingers over the black ink and scanning his neck to see Bens. They had done it. They had levelled up.

"We need to get back," Ben announced, looking around to find the correct subway. Ivy nodded in agreement.

"No gargoyles this time though," Ivy said and wrinkled her nose. "That's all I can take. And stab."

"Fair enough."

The two friends quickly found their way onto a new subway back to the hotel. Ben refused to let Ivy leave his sight the entire time. He felt very lucky to have her back. He wasn't sure what he would do without her.