Ben Drowned: A Glitchy Adventure

Human

Ben sat up feeling very sore. He rubbed his face and stretched as he let out an enormous yawn. He stumbled over to his drawers and pulled out a black singlet with a batman symbol, and dark blue jeans with a thin brown belt. He also traded in his usual green hat for a dark grey beanie. He bundled the clothes in his arms and walked down the hallway to the bathroom, still yawning. He showered, washing his hair and brushing his teeth. He then got dressed and put on a black and white wristband and a chain necklace with a gamer symbol on the pendant. He rubbed the back of his neck and walked downstairs slowly to join the others for breakfast. Nobody paid any attention as the small boy took his usual seat next to Sally, who didn't even notice him as she shovelled food in her mouth. He nudged her.
"Hey Sally!" He prodded. She mumbled something and kept eating, refusing to meet his eye. She had dark circles under her eyes, and the pale skin on her arms were mottled with multi coloured bruises. Ben frowned.
"Sally, what happened to you?" Suddenly Jeff looked up, and almost fell out of his chair.
"Ben?"
Ben stared. Did I remember to put clothes on? he thought, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks. Then he realised that that wasn't what Jeff- and everyone else- was staring at.
"B-Ben, what h-happened?" Hoodie stuttered in disbelief. Ben looked at him, then Jeff, then Hoodie again, and finally looked at Sally, who was still avoiding his eyes and had a very guilty look on her face.
"Sally..." Ben got out between clenched teeth. "What did you do?"
Sally froze, then burst into tears.
"He said the only way to save you was to make you human! And that if I tried to stop him he would hurt me as well!" She sobbed. Ben grabbed her hand and examined the bruises on her arm.
"He? Who's he? Is it the person who did this to you?" He questioned angrily. Sally shook her head.
"He's not a person. I don't know what he is," she sniffed.
"What's his name Sally?" Ben pressed. Sally looked at him with big eyes that were full of tears.
"Mr Widemouth..."

Ben sat in Slenderman's office with a bawling Sally in his lap. Sally wouldn't leave him, especially after she told them about the mysterious Mr Widemouth. She said that he would try to hurt both of them if she did. Ben was worried. Who or what could have turned him human, and hurt Sally like that? He hugged Sally as she cried softly into his shoulder. Slenderman finally appeared with Masky behind him. Sally rose her head off of Ben's shoulder. Masky came around to her.
"Hey Sally," he said gently, "could you tell us what Mr Widemouth looks like? Or maybe you can draw him for us?"
Sally slowly nodded, and reached out a small hand to take the pencil Masky offered. She bent over the paper, with her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated. Ben smiled slightly at the sight. Finally, Sally looked up and pushed the scribbled drawing towards Masky, who took it over to Slenderman. Slenderman took the paper, looking at it thoughtfully.
"Sally," he said, "this is Mr Widemouth?"
Sally nodded and sunk into Ben's chest. The drawing was of a small, furry creature with big ears, dark sunken eyes and a very wide mouth full of little razor sharp teeth. It was holding a large kitchen knife. Ben looked up at Slenderman.
"Slender? Do you know who or what this Mr Widemouth thing is?" He asked. Slenderman slowly nodded.
"I may have heard of him before, yes. He is a cunning little creature, playing games to lure children to their deaths. He likes nothing better than playing games and causing mischief. He should know better than to come here."
Sally shuddered. Ben looked at her.
"Sally, do you know where Mr Widemouth could be?" He asked. Sally was quiet, then slowly nodded.
"Shall I show you Mr Slendyman?" She asked nervously. Slenderman paused.
"Tomorrow," he said. Sally nodded and let out a big yawn. Ben moved her knotty hair out of her eyes.
"Come on munchkin," he said, picking her up. She snuggled into his chest as he bid Slenderman and Masky goodnight. He made his way slowly up the stairs, almost bumping into Jeff. Jeff looked at the sleeping figure in Ben's arms and smiled.
"She's pretty incredible to be able to live here, isn't she?" He asked, brotherly love in his eyes. Ben nodded. He had always found Sally incredibly tough and brave, living with a bunch of murderers and demons and all sorts when she was so young. Ben looked at Jeff. He seemed like he wanted to tell Ben something.
"Let me get this ratbag to bed, I'll be out in 10 minutes," he promised. Jeff nodded and walked down the hall. Ben opened the bright door and entered the dimly lit bedroom. He used his feet to push a pile of toys off the bed to make room for Sally, and sat her down. She yawned again and rubbed her eyes with her fists. Ben grabbed her pink night dress from her sticker-covered drawers and helped her change. He took her dirty socks and put clean ones on her. Then he grabbed her sparkly brush and began to untangle her long hair. As he brushed, he sang to her.

"Your thoughts become your enemies
When you're locked inside this cage
Life can feel dead to me
And all that's left is rage

Regrets for all the time we wasted
Thinking of ourselves
Holding onto pain you tasted
Living in this hell

Don't wanna go back home tonight
So I drive this road alone

Stay alive for the good times
Stay alive through the bad
Stay alive for the hopes and the fears and the dreams
The best that we ever had
I keep telling myself I can take you
From this God-forsaken place
Stay alive for the good times
Stay alive through the bad
Stay alive

Your fear controls everything
Never let you turn the page
We end up only settling
For when we both felt sane

Reaching out for something that
You can't quite hold onto
Say goodbye and start it over
When there's nothing left for you
Don't wanna go back home tonight
So I drive this road alone

Stay alive for the good times
Stay alive through the bad
Stay alive for the hopes and the fears and the dreams
The best that we ever had
I keep telling myself I can take you
From this God-forsaken place
Stay alive for the good times
Stay alive through the bad

I keep telling myself I can take you
From this God-forsaken place
Stay alive"

Ben finished singing and tucked the covers up to the now sound asleep Sally. He smiled gently and left the room, thinking about how much those lyrics described his messed up life, how much he wished Sally never had to live like this. Tears stung his eyes as he thought about the lives they would both never live. He still had tears in his eyes as he closed the door softly, and turned to find Jeff about 10 centimetres away from him, a wistful look of his face. He looked abashed when Ben caught him, and hurried to explain.
"I was coming to see if you were done, and I heard you singing," he said quickly. Ben laughed.
"It's okay," he said. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
Jeff glanced at the ground.
"I am really worried about Sally," he admitted. "I saw the marks that creature thing gave her, I hate that she's getting hurt. She's like my little sister."
Ben nodded. "I feel the same way. But what can we do about it?"
Just then, they heard a small scraping noise from inside Sally's room. The two boys shared a wide-eyed look and crashed into the room, just in time to see a small, furry creature with huge pointy ears and an enormous mouth full of small, sharp teeth, disappearing through the window with the still-sleeping Sally. Jeff swore and raced after the creature, jumping over and out of the window like a hurtle. Ben ran over to the window, leaning out over the sill, but since he was a human now, he couldn't follow. Instead, he bolted downstairs, banging his fists on doors and shouting for help. He turned the corner leading to the front doors, but skidded to a stop in front of the looming figure that blocked his way. It was Slenderman. Ben gasped for breath.
"Slenderman! That...thing took Sally!"
Slenderman quickly vanished, leaving Ben alone. He stood there blinking for a second, then bolted out the door after Sally and the thing that took her.

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Just so you guys know, the song in this chapter is Stay Alive by Andy Black- please check it out, it's a beautiful song!