Chapter 5, Settling in
“B-Ben… w-what are you doing here?” I stuttered, still trying to take every thing in. How did I end up here? Who helped heal my wounds? Why was Ben watching me? So many questions, so little answers. So many things to do, yet so little time. My father taught me that… foster father, not biological. “Err… I’m the one who helped you, just after you blacked out. With some help from Symphony, I got you to you’re bed and she did the bandages, cause there is no way I’m undressing a girl”, I giggled at Ben’s response. He laughed along, blushing a bit. I propped myself up against the headboard, still holding my throbbing chest. “Are you… feeling any better? God that’s a stupid question”, he asked, turning his head away in embarressment. “I-I’m fine, thanks to you… and Symphony”, he looked back at me, smiling.
I felt as if I’d been asleep for days, weeks even. “H-how long has been, s-since the whole… demonic thing that happened?” I asked, curious to know. “Umm… one day, two if you count today since… it’s almost midnight”, replied Ben. I let go of my chest, putting my hand ver my left eye. I tried to do it casually, but somehow… nothing gets past Ben without a double check. Sometimes because I’m a metal dragon, when we experience something traumatic the next time we open our left eye, five minutes after that it changes colour. That indicates a metal dragon (or any dragon) has PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). “Why’d you do cover your eye? Please do tell, you can trust me”, but could I? Could I trust him, or is he just another sleaze trying to eradicate me? I guess I should trust him since… he was one of the people to help heal me.
“Ben, my eye is about to change colour, now the thing is… that’s a bad thing”, I said, he just looked at me as if to say ‘what do you mean?’ “If I have two different eye colours, it means I have PTSD”. Ben just stared at me, a look of shock and sadness filled his face. I curled up into a ball, so many bad things happened in my life and the one thing that triggers it is a demon. I bury my face in my knees, I couldn’t bear face anyone like this… no wonder I’m a mistake. “I-I’m sorry… this is all my fault, if I would just disappear from from the world, it would be a much better place”, I muttered. I felt something land on my shoulder, gripping it tight, “No, it’s not your fault, don’t strain yourself, just stay calm.” I looked up, Ben was looking back down, smiling at me. But why? Why did people care about me? What’s so special about me? I sat up properly, trying to make sense of everything.
“So… you wanna go walk around, you have been asleep for almost forty-eight hours”, asked Ben, letting go of my shoulder. My eyes grew wide, is this… no, it couldn’t be. “Sure, sounds fun”, I said, trying to stand up… and instantly failing. He ended up carrying me on his shoulders. We ended up climbing a huge tree, sitting one of it’s branches. I put my arms around Ben, hugging him tight. “Thank you, you’re amazing”, I whispered, trying not to cry. He hugged me back, kissing my forehead. I’m always the one who needs protecting, and then comes along Ben. A guy who barely knows me yet still protects me from danger. Even if I am pathetic, with Ben I actually feel as if a belong here. “Hey, lovebirds! Get down here and take a look at this!” We heard someone calling from the ground.
We climbed down, somehow I didn’t fall out. When we reached the bottom, I noticed something peculiar about the person who called us. “You feeling better Cotton?” I turned to see Ben talk, so her name was Cotton. “Wait… aren’t you the one who was covered in those weird tentacles!” I yelled in surprise, who knew a girl as young and innocent as her could produce something as evil as that. Cotton nodded, looking away shyly. “If I’m gonna be honest, it wasn’t me… my demon side usually takes control, wreaking havoc to anyone who gets in the way… I truly am sorry fo what happened” She said, her voice sounded small, scared, alone… “Hey, it’s fine, I don’t blame you for it”, I ruffled her hair, giggling.
“Hey… what’s that”, Ben shook my arm, pointing forward. I looked up and gasped. There was a massive cloud of darkness, slowly creeping towards us. Whisps of dark fluff danced and swirled closer and closer in an evil, creepy sort of way. “That’s what I wanted to show you, we need to get back to the mansion, get in to lockdown… S-Slendy said so”, yelped Cotton, dragging us back. When we got back, we were rushed to our rooms, doors locked. What was going on here?