Growing Up Solo

Chapter Thirty

Gasping for air as he woke up, Ben coughed, letting his forehead rest on the cold, wet and hard floor. Everything was numb and dark. Ben gripped on to his head, the front part pounding in his ears.

Where was he? Who brought him here? Where were his parents? Ben tried to make some kind of sense to this situation, but the facts didn't just add up. The only thing he could remember was his parents yelling at him that they didn't want him anymore. Could that be true?

"Ben Solo," an unfamiliar, gravelly voice rasped from the shadows. Weakly, Ben reached out with the Force to try to find the source of the voice. He felt the presence of someone or something else. Whoever it was didn't feel human to Ben—how could anyone be filled with so much hate and anger?! It almost felt like a mass of total darkness rather than a person.

"We meet at last."

A cloaked figure stepped into the meager light, standing over him. All Ben could make out in the dim lighting were two light blue eyes, staring unblinkingly down at him. For a moment, Ben was stunned into speechlessness. "W-Who are you?" Ben eventually stammered, squirming a little against his bonds. This...person didn't feel right to him.

For whatever reason, Ben's question seemed to please the man. "Your uncle never told you of me?" He asked, and Ben frowned, trying to remember if his uncle had ever told him about creepy golden-eyed guys in hoods. He couldn't remember that...

"My name is Snoke. Perhaps you'll remember me from this?" He started to question as he flooded a memory to Ben's mind.

Ben's head continued to frown as the memory was played back in his head. He could see...himself? At a very young age, no older than eight or nine. He was lying in his bed and a dark voice was speaking to him. He watched as his younger self sat up quickly in his bed, racing out of his room to find his parents. As the memory faded away from his mind, Ben returned his gaze up to the strange figure in front of him.

That got a brittle laugh that was more of a cackle than anything else. It sounded so evil it made the hair on Ben's arms and legs stand on end. "Oh no, my dear boy, I am no voice inside your head. I am, in fact, all too real." He paused, his golden eyes narrowing. "And now, I am your master."

Uneasiness settled into Ben's stomach while his mind swirled with confusion. "No," He began hesitantly, "My uncle is going to be my master...he's going to teach me the ways of the Force."

Snoke scoffed. "And do you think your uncle would want to mentor you now? After you killed your own mother?"

Every muscle in Ben's body stiffened. "She's...not dead." Even to his own ears, he didn't sound sure, because, truthfully, he wasn't sure.

Snoke shook his head with a sigh. "Poor, naïve little Jedi. I have agents all over the galaxy. I had them check on your mother after you attacked the Jedi Academy and leaving with your father's ship, but by the time they arrived, she had already died. Ultimately dying of a broken heart. Tragic. To be killed by her own son..."

Ben began to breathe hard, not wanting to listen anymore to the man. He didn't want to be near him. The darkness the man emitted seemed to reach out and swallow everything around him..."I didn't...I didn't mean to..."

"Oh, I believe you," Snoke said, "But, will your father, I wonder? He was ever so in love with her." Snoke's expression grew mocking.

Ben shook his head, willing with all of his might for Snoke to just go away. He even tried to use the Force, but with Snoke's powerful dark presence surrounding him, choking him, it was hard to maintain control over any of it. "You're lying!"