Free Me (BEN Drowned x Reader) Part 8

"How did you possess the cartridge?"

"I'm not really sure. I kept fighting for something to keep me alive. The cartridge was there." BEN answered. "The cartridge being put in the water messed up the game. Terrible things happened."

"Oh." Was all you could say.
You could remember the horrifying, distorted, twisted things that happened when your brother played the game. Had BEN felt all of that?
The psychological and physical torture he must have went through...

"Why do-"

"My energy is low." He cut you off. "You should go downstairs and talk to your parents. I'll be in your phone."
He didn't let you respond. BEN faded away and entered your phone, the screen breifly flashing a bright red before shutting off.

You sighed and slowly got out of bed. You changed into a pair of comfortable yoga pants and a lose fitting grey t-shirt. 
That's when you heard the sound of glass shattering.

"Mom!?" You yelled, sprinting down the stairs and into the kitchen.
 Standing in front of you was your mother, her back facing you. There was a shattered plate on the tile floor.
You looked around your mother wondering what it was that startled her.

You almost fainted.

There... standing in the doorway...

"... Alex?" You whispered. You tried to keep your balance.
Was this real? 

"Hey Pipsqueak. You've grown up." He flashed a big grin.

Just hearing his voice was enough to cause a stream of tears. You took a tentative step towards him.

"You're home... you came back... you-"

You couldn't speak anymore, your voice gave out and you began to sob.
You swiped at your eyes and Alex held his arms out, closing the distance between you two. He leather jacket smelled like cinnamon and vanilla. It reminded you of when you were a child, and he would hold you when you had bad dreams.

Your mother started crying too.
You could hear someone running down the stairs and your father stopped suddenly when he noticed his son.

"Alex?" He asked, not quite believing his eyes. He stood next to your mother, beginning to tear up.

"Hey dad. It's been awhile."

"Where have you been?" You mother asked stepping forward. As much as you didn't want to let go, you did so that your mother and father could hug him. Which they did.

Here you were a family again.

"I was studying abroad. I wanted to get out and travel again with some kids from college. It was a good way to get out of my depression. But... now I'm back! Heh..."

He scratched the back of his head nervously as your mother pulled away and put her hands on her hips, your father mirroring her.

"You had me worried sick! When you didn't come home, or at least call, we thought the worst!" You mother looked pretty pissed off.

"But hes home now!" You said suddenly. "You're here." You turned to him and hugged him again.

He grinned. "Optimistic as always Pipsqueak. But you're not so much of a Pipsqueak now are you?"
He ruffled your hair. Normally you would be annoyed when he called you by that pet name, but right about now it was one of the best things you'd heard in years.

"Will you be staying here?" You asked.

Alex looked up at your parents. "If thats alright with you?"

You mother and father both nodded. 

"I'm gonna take Little Sis out for some milkshakes, I'll be back in a few, and I'll bring home dinner." Alex said, grabbing the keys from his pocket.

"Okay. Hold on one second I gotta grab my phone." You said running upstairs and quickly grabbing the phone off your bed.

You ran back downstairs and followed Alex out the door and into his black Toyota Camry.
When you hopped into the passengers seat and bucked yourself in. Alex put the key in the ignition and drove off.
After a few munutes you reached your favorite ice cream parlor. You ordered a (Favorite) milkshake and Alex ordered Oreo. As you sat down in the 60's style booth you sipped your milkshake, not removing your eyes from Alex. Afraid that if you did, he would fade away again.
Alex sighed and sat back in his seat.

"You're probably wondering why I really dissapeared, right?" He asked.

"You wanted to study abroad, thats what you told us earlier." You said.

He leaned forward.
"And you believed that?"

He now had your undivided attention. He was lying?
But why?

"Enlighten me. Where were you, really?" 
You raised an eyebrow and glared at him suspiciously.
"Oh god, did you kill someone?" You hissed, earning you a strange look from the waitor across the room.

"No, I didn't kill anyone." He rolled his eyes playfully.
Then his eyes suddenly turned serious.

"______ do you remember... years ago, when I was in college and you used to visit. I was acting pretty weird."

"Yeah, I remember. I thought you had gone mad." You said half-sarcastically.
Alex nodded and kept his gaze locked with yours.

"I've put you through a lot. I think you deserve to know the truth.
During that time, I was being followed, haunted really. I wanted to keep you and Mom and Dad safe. Do you remember the game I played? Majora's Mask. He was in there."

"Who?" You asked. You already knew the answer to that question. But you didn't want him to know that.

"His name is Ben. He's not human. I probably sound crazy right now. But I bought a haunted game cartrige from a yard sale all those years ago. He was tormenting me from it. He made me think that he was going to target you next. 
So I ran away. I thought that If I left you would be safe.
Before I left I accidentally released him from the game. After that he left me alone. He got what he wanted. Freedom."

"Not quite." You think. You look down at the phone in your lap. 

How would Alex react? How would he react knowing that the very thing he feared the most was mere inches away from him?

"You've been fine though, right? He never bothered you?" His voice sounded strange when he said that. You noticed his eye twitch a little.

"Nope." You lied innocently. "He's never messed with me."

The phone in your lap began to vibrate, and a childish laugh echoed from it.
You looked down in shock. There was a message of the screen.

"He's a nutcase. Watch out for him."

You frowned and turned the phone face down. 

"Everything okay? What was that?" Alex asked suspiciously. He was tapping his fingers on the table slowly and it kinda put you on edge.

"Oh! N-nothing! I just gotta text from a my friend." You waved your hand in a 'don't worry about it' motion.
Alex visibly relaxed.
You quickly drained the rest of your milkshake and prayed that BEN wouldn't try anything like that again. The last think you wanted was your brother knowing that you and BEN were in contact with each other 24/7.
Alex finished his milkshake and stood up, twirling his keys.

"All right lets get going." 
You stood and followed him out the door and back to the car.
He made a quick stop at the grocery store and picked up a few things for dinner.
Once you got home you helped him unpack and move back into his old bedroom, which was right next to yours.

For dinner he made chicken teriyaki, a meal he used to always make when he was home.
You didn't hear anything from BEN until bedtime.
He appeared on the edge of your bed, eyes gleaming wickedly. 

"What?" You whispered. Not wanting to alert Alex, who was sleeping a wall away.

"So, big brother came home. Are you happy?" He asked.

"Of course I am."

"How do you think he'll react when he finds out I'm here?" He whispered.

"Hopefully he never does." You hissed back folding your arms.

"He's paranoid beyond reason ______. I wouldn't be suprised if he already knows." BEN said, pointing to the wall.

"What will he do?"

"Whatever he thinks he can. I looked in his phone when you gave him your number at dinner. He still has notes about me, dating up until today. That guys head is a bag full of cats, you can smell the crazy on him. C'mon, don't tell me you didn't notice." He giggled a little.

You did notice that he was acting strange at dinner, asking everyone if they felt safe or had any strange experiences. You were thankful mom hadnt mentioned the cracked mirror. Thankfully it had been fixed yesterday before you went to the party.
But they had mention the events of the party. And Alex looked a little more than worried.

"Yeah sure. But why is he here now?" 

"I dunno. Maybe he thinks I'm gone for good. Or he knows I'm not."
BEN began levitating on his back lazily.
"Oh if only I had a physical body." He sang.

You scoffed. "Don't push it. I don't trust you."

BEN gasped dramatically. "You wound me ______. After I saved you from that scumbag yesterday and showed you my past. You still don't trust me?"

He did have a point. A little trust wouldn't hurt. He hadn't dont anything to harm you or cause you pain in a while too.

"Just a little. Fine. But don't let it get to your head." You stuck out your tounge.

"Of course not M'lady." He joked, lowering himself back onto the bed.
"You've had quite the busy day. I should let you get some rest. Sleep sound ______."

At that he faded back into your cellphone. You placed it on the nightstand and got under the covers, turning out the light.

Deep down. BEN wasn't that bad of a guy...

Gah, what were you saying!?
That guy had caused your years of grief and depression. You had every right to hate him.

But... you didn't hate him. You were grateful that he saved you and let you in on one of his darkest secrets.
Like a friend would do.
Was that what he was now? A friend?

Lost in thought, you slowly drifted off to sleep.


~Jadusable's P.O.V.~

I heard whispering coming from ______'s room. I swore I heard whispering.
Who could she have been talking to?
Maybe I'm overthinking things...

No!
If theres a chance that he's here, I have to find a way to protect my sister. My family.
Just then my cellphone lit up.

I looked down at the screen.
The blood drained from my face.
Cleverbot was open, and there was a message waiting for me.

Cleverbot: "Welcome back Jadusable."

My hands trembled.

He was here.

I typed slowly.

User: "Why are you here?"

Cleverbot: "I'm just having fun."

User: "Then leave my family out of this."

Cleverbot: "Too late for that."

User: "Why?"

Cleverbot: "Just give it a moment to sink in."

User: "BEN YOU LEAVE ________ ALONE!"

Cleverbot: "She is mine."