The Wrong Direction

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Adriana

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I found a calm stretch of water that was nice enough for me to bathe in and I told Ben to go play hide-and-seek with himself in the woods.  He eagerly obliged and raced away.  Once I was sure he was gone, I sunk into the water and cleaned myself off.  My skin practically had a layer of dirt on it.  I hadn't been in water since Niall, Zayn, and I had ventured into Larr's pink, inflatable pool days ago.  The wilderness should really come along with a free deoderant and transportable shower.

Just as I was starting to relax and enjoy myself, Ben burst out of the woods again.  He was coated in some red substance.  At first I thought it was blood, but then I saw all of the berries stuffed in his mouth.  I knew he had to have found a berry bush among the trees to feast on.  My mom always said Ben needed to wear a bib while he ate.  He is probably the only eighteen year old in all of Switzerland that wears one while he eats.  You never know, he could be the only "technical" adult that wears a bib in the entire world.  I wouldn't be surprised.

I shouted at him from the water to spit out all of the berries before he choked and died.  I didn't want to mention that he could already die if the berries were posionous.  He could have flipped out and  went on another violent rampage.

But instead of listening to my amazing advice, Ben stubbornly shook his head.  He opened his mouth, several bright red berries falling out in the process, and roared at the sky.  He was acting like a wolf . . . or maybe just like his usual self.

I wanted to spring out of the water and rush over to him and calm him down, but the fact that I was naked was keeping me rooted in my place.  There was absolutely no way Ben was going to see me like that.  Not even a sliver of a chance.

Ben's roaring came to a sudden stop.  The sound of sticks being broken in two by footsteps filled the air.  He raised his left foot backwards as if it was his tail, and he arched his back slightly.  He pawed at the ground like a bull, and his green eyes were in small slits.  He had officially lost it.

Louis stepped into the open, whistling cluelessly.  He looked carefree and oblivious of the disaster he was stepping into.  Ben flung into action and charged at poor Louis.

"Nom!  Nom!  Nom!" Ben shouted.

Louis's head snapped in Ben's direction, and his eyes flooded with terror.  He whirled around and tried to race away, but Ben sprang on top of him like a monkey.  Ben's curled fingers dug into Louis's shirt, and as Louis tried his best to get away, his shirt tore off.  Ben fell back onto the ground with the shirt still gripped tightly in his fingers, and Louis scrambled to his feet and bolted away.

This was one of those moments I desperately wished I could forget.  My own brother was acting like a vicious, psycho animal.  I had a horrible psychic feeling that it was only going to get worse.

The striped shirt that belonged to Louis seemed to fascinate Ben.  He brought it up to his nose and sniffed it.  A creepy smile formed on his face, and he sighed in delight.  He looked like one of his biggest dreams had just unfolded right in front of him.

After sniffing Louis's shirt for several more minutes, Ben stuffed it in his back pocket.  He actually wanted to keep the torn up shirt.  It was disturbing.  To make matters worse, Ben got back onto his hands and knees and chased after Louis.

Finally, I was able to get out of the river and slip on my clothes.  Next time I decide to take a bathe out here, Ben will not come along.  He ruins everything.  

I threw on my dirty tennis shoes and took off running after Ben.  I was hopeful that I would be able to stop him before he reached Louis or anyone else, but that never happened.  When I reached camp, he was howling at the sky once again.  He was only seconds away from attacking Louis, who was busy yelling at Liam and Sienna to get off the ground.  Harry was standing next to Louis, but he didn't look scared.  He looked like he was just freaked out, and he had a good reason to act that way.  I knew Ben wouldn't dare harm Harry, since he had this weird obsession with him, and I think Harry knew that deep down too.