-On Hiatus- The Great Escape || Ben Hargreeves x Reader

Chapter 5

Gasping for air you quickly jolted up from your bed as shaky breathes escaped your lips. Your hands were shaking as you propped your elbow on your leg and you rested your head on your palm. Your eyes began to tear up again as the familiar feeling of fear and anxiety scourged through you whenever you would have these sort of nightmares. You tried your hardest to forget about what your brain just made you go through while you just hummed along to your favorite song.

After calming down a bit, you decide to head out, maybe go to the bathroom or the garden, anywhere as long as you can clear your head. You stood up and turned to grab your sweater on your headboard but then you saw something that made you scream.

There, on your bed, you saw yourself still lying down on the mattress with a peaceful look on your face.

"What the... " you whispered, unsure of what the actual fuck is going on. You stared at yourself, your chest rising and falling, at least your were still alive. You shook your head, this isn't the time to celebrate yet, you thought. This must be another nightmare, it must be. You've never experienced a dream like this before, however, so you had no idea what to do.

You tried to pinch yourself but it did nothing. How do you even know if this a dream, a thought suddenly popped into your brain but you quickly dismissed it, how exactly is this not a dream? You were pretty sure this was not something a person could just do. You didn't have any other explanation for this so you're sticking with the most logical answer. Nothing but a dream.

You looked to your roommates worriedly but you saw that they were all still there, sleeping on their beds. There's no blood, no screams, just snoring. You sighed in relief, perhaps this was better than your old nightmares.

You turned back to yourself, crouching down as you reached for your face. Your hand went through your head like it was nothing and your eyes went wide as you quickly retracted your arm in a panic. That's when you noticed a thin, red string tied to your wrist. Confused, your eyes trailed the red string until it reached out the door. You stood up and stared at the plastic rectangle anxiously. Slowly, you approached it and rested your hand on the knob before turning it.

The hallway was pitch black but red string was emitting it's own light making it clear as day. The red line kept going down the corridors until it disappeared into a corner. You told yourself to just close the door and stay in the safety of your own room but then you felt a soft tug from the string, beckoning you to come follow it. You stared at it for a moment before reluctantly following its trail. You were walking for a good 5 minutes or so, thankfully not seeing anything other than the red string, the trail stopped when you realized the the other end was tied to a figure hunched under a single lit wall light. He was leaning on the wall with his hands crossed, staring at the floor. His attire was entirely dark and the hood he wore prevented you from seeing his face. You felt the string tug again, more excitedly this time, and you walked closer to the man. You stopped at edge where light and darkness met and with a shaky voice you called out to him. "Excuse me." you said and he turned to your direction.

Ben felt shocked and confused when he heard a voice not too far away from him. He looked at the shadows and scanned for an outline but he couldn't see much in the dark. Suddenly, a girl walked into the light, she looked nervous and scared. Ben quickly pushed himself from the wall as he instantly recognized her. He stared directly stared at your face and you seemed to be looking up at him as well. Was she looking at me? He him mind raced. Could you actually see the phantom of Ben Hargreeves? Well, there's one way to find out. He inhaled in anticipation before breathing out your name "(y/n)?" he said and your eyes went wide.

"How did you..." before you could finish the man removed his hood and you gasped, covering your mouth as your eyes turned glossy. "Ben?" you asked, flabbergasted. Ben smiled wide and laughed, his eyes swelling with tears as he nodded his head. "Yeah, that's me."

Tears rolled down your cheeks and Ben cried too."Am I dreaming?" you asked as Ben closed the gap between you two. He gave you a smile that made your heart melt. "I hope not." he said but before he could place a hand on your cheek you were pulled back by a sudden force. The last thing you remember was Ben screaming your name before you were once again engulfed by the darkness.

When you regained consciousness you were standing in an alleyway with no recollection as to how you got there and why. You checked your surroundings and it seems like you instantly recognized the backdoor of  bar you frequently went to. You just thought that perhaps you got a little too drunk and the bouncer had to kick you out again. You shrugged and you started to make your way home before anything else unexpected could happen. Just as you reached the edge you could leave the alleyway, you heard familiar metal clank of the door as the bouncer threw out an angry drunk into the streets, telling him to come back with some money. You realized you were staring and decided to leave and mind your own business but you couldn't find yourself to do so. Instead you just watched as the man stumble up onto his feet and drunkenly sway as he yelled at the top of his lungs.

He then noticed you staring at him and he shot you a sneer. "What are you looking at, pretty little lady?" he laughed darkly, "Wanna lollipop or something?" he walked up to you and your felt yourself reach into your pocket. Your eyes went wide when your hands wrapped around a pocket knife. You finally realized what was happening. You wanted to scream for him to leave you alone but your mouth was as heavy as steal.

Not again. Please. No. Not again.

As the man quickly approached you you pulled out your weapon and stabbed him on the throat. The sudden breach in his jugular rendered him shocked and unable to speak, leaving him open to more attacks. You Stabbed him again, and again, and again, and again on the stomach and let him fall to ground. The man gargled his own blood and you watched as his fingers twitch as life slowly exited his body.

You felt a large lump in your throat, you wanted to cry but no tears left your eyes. You crouched to his chest and ripped his shirt open with your knife before carving your name on it. Blood splattered on toyour horrified face as you continued run your knife on his flesh. Once you finished you felt yourself smile and laugh at the sight much to your horror. You got up and wiped the knife on his pants before hiding in your pocket once more. With that you slipped into the darkness, escaping the line of sight of the lady making a phone call on the other side of the street just in time before she turned around and screamed.

Ben poked his head through the door of your room and somewhat relieved when he saw you lying on your bed, sleeping as you hugged your pillow. He walked over to sit by your side and ran his fingers on your head but they just passed through. He sighed in dismay before getting up walking out. He thought back to the hallway, you two were barely an inch apart from each other and he swore he felt his arms brush yours before you disappeared.

Was that all just a cruel trick of my imagination, he thought solemnly. As he walked back to Klaus' room he suddenly thought about his brother. He thought since Klaus was able to conjure the dead, perhaps he also had the power bring them to the physical realm as well. He's already been clean for a week so that would explain why his powers suddenly amplified. The more sober Klaus gets them more he can do with his powers. The more he thought about this the faster he moved. If Ben was right about this he might have found a way for you two to be with each other again but first he had to talk to Klaus about his theory.

AN:
Holy shit ya'll, 300 reads?! Holy Bentacles I didn't expect to hit 300 after a week. Thank you all so much for sticking around this long Btw. ❤️ Major props to ya'll!

Soo, it's May 4 (may the fourth be with you) and as promised here's the next chapter! Just finished taking the entrance exams Huhu. Don't wanna talk about it much since I don't wanna jinx anything.

Just got home tbh and I wrote this on the bus haha. Hope you all liked this chapter. It was really fun to write haha.

See ya'll lovelies in the next one!