The Devil's Playmate

FOURTEEN

Still, he grabbed the letters and carefully placed them inside of a container with the other letters he's gotten. Benjamin doesn't think about throwing them away. He thinks letters are sort of fun and strangely sentimental, so he figured it'd be a waste to get rid of them.

Just as he was putting the container away, another letter dropped on his desk. Benjamin sighed, wondering what Eligos was complaining to him about this time when he noticed how small the message was.

Don't forget to eat!

There was a smiley face at the end.

It should've made him crack a smile, but Benjamin simply stood there for a while, thinking about the demon's message.

How long has it been since he last ate?

He ate last night, but it wasn't by much. He was careful and didn't overindulge, otherwise Benjamin would've thrown it up.

It took him quite a long time to get up as well. He even stayed in the tub for who knows how long?

Benjamin placed the letter down and clumsily checked his phone, wincing at the time. 4:14 P.M.

He hadn't eaten any breakfast or lunch, and he was hungry.

But he can wait until dinner, can't he? Benjamin can wait until Lucy's back home, and she can make him one of his favorites... but Benjamin doesn't like food.

Benjamin gets up and goes out of his room, tiredly opening the fridge to find absolutely nothing. Typical.

He checked the cupboards and doesn't see anywhere there either. Benjamin doesn't even have the luxury of owning snacks or candy. Emma snatched them up a long time ago and advised him not to eat junk food. If he wanted some, Marcus could provide them himself.

He hasn't eaten any chips for a while despite Lucy's questioning looks. It was always strange seeing Benjamin so skittish in the grocery store, always buying just the necessities and never treating himself.

Benjamin slumped down on the couch, mindlessly turning their junky TV on and ignored his gnawing stomach. He'll wait for his sister. He doesn't want to go and buy anything from the market with Lucy's money if he can help it.

But hours pass and Benjamin's stomach began hurting. He's still on that uncomfortable couch of his, though the TV has been long turned off since he wanted to save electricity.

It's almost nine, and the sun has set. This is the time where Benjamin should get up and prepare the table for Lucy, but his sister hasn't come home yet.

She's swamped with work and texted him how she might spend the night at the office.

He needs to eat something. Anything really. Benjamin didn't even have any food to pack for lunch tomorrow. If doesn't eat anything now, he'll starve for some time.

But out of everything he can think of, just one item runs through his mind. It makes Benjamin clench his jaw, growing jittery and depressed.

He gets up and finds himself back at the fridge, looking through it once more until he realizes he's already done this earlier. Benjamin searches through the freezer and every cupboard again, but he doesn't find the thing he's looking for.

There's nothing for him in the house. Because of that, Benjamin stalks back into his bedroom, not even bothering to properly fix himself up before walking straight into the mirror, and right in the bedroom the devil had gifted him.

He doesn't stop here though. He goes outside into the hallway, still sluggish with his stomach churning. Benjamin thinks he's getting a bit of a headache, too. It's kind of hard for him to focus where he's going.