Cold Heart - Book One

Chapter Two

He led her down a trail, somewhat deep into the forest. After about 10 minutes of walking, they arrived at a brown shack. "You're keeping him here?" Rey exclaimed.

"No," Finn explained. "It's underground. You wouldn't expect one of the galaxies evilest people to be kept in a shack, now would you?"

Rey shrugged. It made sense. She followed him through the door and down a sloping corridor. Soon, they came to a set of stairs that went quite a ways down. They trudged down the steps towards the prisoner.

At last, they had come to the end. Finn pulled out a card and swiped it under a mechanism and suddenly, the doors opened. The guard on the other side nodded to both of them.

Rey spotted him.

He was crouched at the back end of his cell, seemingly sleeping. His hair had grown longer and he now had patchy hair across his face, but Rey would never forget his face.

"Ben," Finn yelled.

He rubbed his eyes and groaned. "What have I told you, you imbecile. My name is Kylo Ren. Ben Solo is dead," he said, yawning.

He stood up and finally took a look at the pair. He was shocked, but tried not to let it show. "Ah, looks like you've finally completed my order." He looked Rey up and down, then smirked. "Finn, you may leave."

Finn started to protest, but Rey grabbed his shoulder. "Please," she whispered.

He let out a large sigh and went to exit. He looked behind him, at Rey for a few seconds and then left, closing the door behind him.

"So," Rey spoke softly, trying not to anger him. She knew how violent his temper was. "How long have you been here?"

Kylo edged closer to the edge of the prison cell. "3 months."

"How is your shoulder? From our fight?" She asked, more confidently. She had beaten him before and proven she was stronger.

He laughed. "I'm fine. The wounds were healed quickly. It wasn't a fair fight, that's for sure." For some reason, he said this smugly. As if he had won.

"Why are you smiling like that?" she asked, confused at his pride. "I beat you."

"I let you, Rey." He looked at her. His arrogant expression was gone, replaced by something else. Care? No. He didn't care about her, not all all. Kylo Ren didn't care about anyone.

"What?" she sputtered, visibly surprised. "That's not true."

He chuckled. "You were strong. I will admit that. But, does it make sense that someone who has just discovered the force inside them, now can wield it better than someone trained their whole life to use it? I went easy on you. I wanted to save you. I still want to save you, Rey. You were inexperienced while I was powerful."

No, she thought. It couldn't be true. Her entire mission here was fueled by the fact that she had defeated the almighty Kylo Ren and now she had nothing.

"Save me?" she snarled. "Save me from what?"

He locked his eyes into hers. "I wanted to save you from your future. They cannot give you what you need here, Rey. They cannot give you what you want. I can. The First Order can. We will help you."

"The First Order stands for lies. They torture anyone who does not abide by their own strict rules. They only want what is good for themselves, not what is good for the people. I would rather die than join them." she returned his heavy gaze. It saddened her how someone could drown themselves in such lies. The First Order was anything but good. They were evil in its purest form.

He punched the earthen wall next to him. "Rey," he spoke furiously, facing towards the wall that was now slightly dented. "Sometimes only thinking for yourself is the best way. I could train you. I could teach you things you would never learn here. You could be so powerful. People would fall on their knees at the mere mention of your name."

She took a few steps closer to the bars. Now, if she had stepped any closer, she would be inside the cells. Kylo was only a few feet away, still facing the wall.

"I am with the Resistance, Ben. You could be, too. We both know that part of you is light." Her voice was calm on the surface, but underneath, she was torn. She wanted to save this man. This monstrous, broken man. She knew could. He just needed someone to help him.

"That part of me is dead!" He shouted. "Ben Solo is dead. I killed him when I killed his father." He was facing towards Rey now, only inches away. They both had their hands clutched at the cells' bars.

A single tear leaked from Rey's eye. "Han Solo was killed by a monster. You aren't a monster, not deep down. Han died trying to save you, Ben. You can still be saved. I believe in you."

No one had ever said such words to him. Everyone said he was a monster, never able to be redeemed. "Nobody thinks that I can be saved. They're right."

"I'm not a nobody, am I?" she asked. "You can be saved. I can save you. Ben Solo is alive. He's standing in front of me, right now."

"Kylo Ren is standing in front of a foolish woman," he said coldly. "I refuse to be saved. There is no good inside me." He was lying to himself. He knew he was lying to himself. A small part of him wanted to be saved, it craved for redemption but he knew his mission. He had to do what Darth Vader couldn't finish. He had to stay dark and push the light away. But, the girl was light. She was a magnificent light and he thought that if his only prize was her, being light and not carrying out his grandfather's mission wouldn't be so awful.

He had to push those thoughts away. He couldn't let someone stand in front of him. He didn't need anyone, all he had ever had was himself and he had done just fine. It was easier by himself.

"I am not the foolish one, Ben Solo," she interrupted his thoughts. "I know who I really am. Do you?"

He did. He was going to be the one people would fear. He would be the Darth Vader of their generation.

In time, he would be pure evil. And that was what he wanted.