Deep Like Water (Yandere!BEN Drowned X GN!Reader)

Don't Give Up, Okay, Samsa?

Your mother's head was neatly sliced off by the something that fell from above. Once your mother's scream had finished echoing around the room, the monster's body had already fallen to the floor, silently (and somewhat comically) falling backwards like it had been gently pushed backwards, your father's head no longer attached to his neck.

The 'something' turned to you, and for a brief second, you held up your arms to defend your face, ready to get up and push past it back into the maze of mirrors. But then...it spoke.

'(Y/N), are you okay? What're you even doing down here?'

Had you finally died and ascended to Heaven, or were you being tricked again? It looked like BEN was standing in front of you, concern covering his face, but you didn't trust your eyes anymore.

'Please tell me that you're real.' The words coming out of your mouth were out of your control, like your vocal cords had taken over, fuelled by a desire to find something that confirmed your safety. 'Please.'

BEN laughed, kneeling down in front of you like he did back in the alleyway. 'You think I'm a hallucination? Are you thinking about me that much? I didn't know you were such a romantic. Now, how do I prove that I'm real...? Remember when you played games all night after Sherry visited you? You got the twirl animation that you wanted. Oh! And when we played Scrabble for the first time, you won, remember?'

In your fear-stricken state, he didn't need to say anything else in order to convince you that he was real. You shuffled forward into his open arms, relishing the warmth and comfort that he offered. You completely abandoned the pretence that you were fine, shattering in his embrace.

'Where were you?' you demanded through sobs. 'I couldn't find you anywhere, and I was so worried that you were hurt so I went looking for you but I still couldn't find you and I don't know what—'

'It's okay,' BEN said, cutting off your rambling, 'honestly. I'm sorry for vanishing on you. I went into town to get you something to surprise you with when you woke up.'

Oh...fuck. 'I'm sorry.'

'There's no need to apologise.'

'There is. If I'd have waited, then maybe I wouldn't have fallen down here and caused so much trouble.' Wiping your eyes, you abruptly lurched back and stared BEN right in the eyes, your heart thumping erratically in your ears as you asked, 'Did you kill James?'

His reply came a few seconds later, but that slight pause felt like it had been dragged out for an eternity. You felt nauseous, and if he had waited any longer to give you his answer, you would have certainly thrown up.

'Course I didn't,' he said. 'Why would you think that?' His eyebrows were furrowed, like he had been given a physics formula sheet after revising for chemistry. 'It was Kyler. Mik and Željko said so.'

'But I got given something, it...it said that you control everything and that you tricked Kyler into—'

'Into killing James?' BEN's words oozed with annoyance, and it made you involuntarily shrink back into yourself. 'What did you get given? Who gave you it?'

Feeling like a young child who had taken an extra sweet without asking, you said, 'It's a notebook. It's in my coat pocket, but I left it in the maze.'

'You mean this one?' BEN gestured to a pile of fabric that sat in a heap about a foot away from him. 'I picked it up for you so you didn't get cold. It can be kinda chilly down here.'

'Yeah...that one.'

You watched closely as BEN shuffled over to your coat, holding it up by the shoulders as he tried to locate the pockets. Once the notebook was in his hands, he flicked through the first few pages, his face visibly souring the more he read, and he looked up at you to ask, 'Iskra gave you this, didn't she?'