⍟ Broken Strings {A Chaos Theory x Male Reader Story - Ben}

𝟸. 𝚁𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚙

"Except..." Darius sits straighter.

"What?" Ben perks up.

"The raptors... They looked like Atrociraptors."

"But-- that doesn't make any sense. I don't think any were released from the Lockwood Estate."

"See!" Ben shouts, "Even more proof!"

"I wouldn't call that proof." Darius frowns.

"Right, because it was a coincidence they showed up at your door only 30 minutes after we did?" Y/N folds his arms in disbelief.

"Well, maybe..." Darius mumbles.

"Was it also a coincidence the bells and cans in your alarm fence were cut purposefully down?" Ben probes.

"...Okay," Darius gives in, "That was weird."

"I'm telling you," Ben grips the wheel, "Someone is after us."

"But why!?" Darius asks in frustration, "Who would even want to do that!?"

"I don't know for sure, but I've got some theories." Ben sighs.

"Why don't you go take a look." Y/N suggests, "They're in the back."

Darius nods and stands up, moving into the back compartment of the van.

Y/N groans, leaning back against his seat, "I sure hope it's not this hard to get everyone else on board."

"I think Sammy'll be a piece of cake, it's Kenji and Yaz that I'm really worried about." Ben sighs.

"Ben," Darius comes back out, taking his seat, "What are these theories?"

"Some of them are from that website, some of them are mine." Ben shrugs insecurely, "You can't rule out any possibilities at this point!"

"Those messages I got, they threatened all of us. We can't take any chances."

"...Fine," Darius inhales deeply, "I'll call Sammy." He pulls out his phone and Y/N cringes.

"Oh, you might want to--"

But it's too late. Ben grabs the phone from Darius' hand and tosses out the window of the moving van, leaving Darius' jaw on the ground.

"Huh-- H-- I-- Wha?" Darius stammers in shock.

"Phones are traceable." Ben shrugs, "They're not safe."

"You could've turned it off!" Darius argues.

"Well, phones are still traceable when they're turned off... I think... right?" Ben mumbles.

"No." Darius looks at him in disbelief.

"See, Ben and I had this conversation already, and I would've Googled if the phones would be traceable or not, but he had already run both of our phones under the kitchen sink." Y/N explains, glaring at his boyfriend.

"...Hm..." Ben nods slowly, "Well, uhm, it's kinda cold... so I'm just gonna..." He reaches for the window crank, "Roll this up..."

Darius takes a deep, frustrated breath, "How exactly do you plan to warn everyone if we don't have phones, hm?"

"You learn telepathy on that website?"

Y/N can't help but snicker.

"No," Ben responds flatly, "There's a care package from Sammy beside you. Return address is on the front."

Darius picks up the box and flips it around in his hands.

"She'll know where everyone is." Ben adds.

"So... we're going to Texas?" Darius asks.