The Prophecy Of The Black Day

Chapter 34

Benjamin's mother, Beth walked Selene to her car. Once they were seated, she rummaged around her bag for something.

"You look peaky. Would you like some chocolate, dearie?" Beth asked.

Her kind voice was too much for Selene. She burst into tears.

"Oh no. I seem to have a bad effect on you. I think I have some tissues somewhere. It's hard to find anything in this bag." Beth sighed.

"Why are you being nice to me? All of this is my fault." Selene sobbed.

"Your fault? Why on earth would you possibly think that?" Beth sounded genuinely perplexed.

Selene looked at her in shock. She had thought it would be pretty obvious. She was the reason Larry had gotten so riled up. She was the reason Benjamin had a black eye. She had torn their family apart because she was selfish.

She'd never stopped to think about how awful what she had done was. All she'd ever wanted was for Benjamin to look at her like she mattered. No one was ever supposed to get hurt. Her tears overflowed.

"I broke up with Larry and started dating Benjamin the next day. I'm a terrible, selfish person." Selene sobbed.

"Oh honey, none of this is your fault. It was an overdue fight. I'm amazed it's taken Laurence so long to let it out. He's been angry for far too long. Here love, have a tissue." Beth said nicely.

Selene took off her glasses so she could dab her eyes. She knew she was a despicable person.

"I should break up with Benjamin. It was wrong to agree to date him in the first place." She sobbed.

"You will do no such thing! You'd be cutting off your nose to spite your face. It's exactly what Laurence would want! You and Benjamin share a special bond. It was foolish of Laurence to think he could break it." Beth said sternly.

Selene frowned a little. It sounded like Beth knew something she didn't. Surely, no mother could be that cool.

"Special. Bond?" Selene sobbed as she looked at Beth.

"I might not be as young as I once was but I'm certainly not blind. I've seen the way he looks at you and the way you look at him." Beth said evasively. Almost like she knew she had said too much.

"And you didn't get mad? Don't you think what we did was wrong?" Selene asked.

"There's nothing wrong with two young people loving each other. I should be apologizing to you since I'm partly to blame." Beth sighed.

"You? Why?" Selene stopped crying long enough to look at her.

"I knew that Laurence sought you out simply out of spite. I saw him in Benjamin's room stealing a poem from him. I knew what he was doing, I confronted him but I never told anyone about it." Beth said.

"Isn't that...wrong?" Selene asked.

"I'm in a difficult position, Selene. I love them very much and I hate the idea of being in the middle. I want to slap the shit out of Laurence for what he's been doing but I also want to protect him. He's filled with more pain than he can handle. Besides, I've always expected Benjamin to fight his battles. I'm surprised it took him three years to finally have the guts to do the right thing." Beth rolled her eyes.

"Surely, you're not actually in support of....him stealing someone's girlfriend?" Selene gasped.

"You can't steal what was never yours. Benjamin took what was his—not that I'm calling you an object or anything. Laurence is full of so much spite that it scares me. When I look into his eyes, I see a young man with potential completely buried by hatred. I only hope Edith and Marcus would be able to talk some sense into him. He's been like this for too long." Beth asked.