Complicated

Chapter 45: Banishment

Ben had materialized out of the shadows. He looked awful. His veins were still swollen and black, he still had the greenish pale skin, he was sweaty and breathing hard. But what shook me the most was his eyes. They were blood shot, and his normal gentle watery blue eyes were so dark they looked black.

I involuntarily took a step back, and bumped into Thomas. His hands grabbed my shoulders protectively pulling me close.

"It's Ben, right?" He asked, trying to be polite.

We both sensed danger, I glanced quickly up at him, he was already looking at me. I could see fear and unease on his face.

"Ben, you should still be in the MedHut."

"No! You're bad Charlie! Bad bad bad!" He screamed. Spit flying from his mouth.

"Ben?" Thomas called

"SHUT UP!"

Ben screamed, his wild black blood shot eyes snapped to Thomas. He snarled and took another step closer, into the clearing. Thomas backed up a step taking me with him. I could feel my heart speeding up, and the fear crashing into me in waves. Ben was unstable, I didn't know what to do. And what did Ben mean by I'm bad?

"You're bad! Thomas! You and your sister are bad! Bad bad bad!"

"What? What do you mean I'm bad? I have a sister?" Thomas asked, the surprise making him let go of my shoulders and stepping forwards.

"Charlie is bad! Thomas did this! You did this! You're both bad!"

"Ben what the shuck are you talking about?"

Ben didn't answer, just panting wildly, spit flying from his mouth, the knife in his hand flashed in the trickling sun.

"Tommy." I whispered, reaching a shaking hand out and grabbing his arm. "He has a knife and he's unstable. He's dangerous right now. He's not done the Changing."

Ben didn't seem to hear me. He was passing the knife back and forth between his hands repeating the same things over and over.

"Charlie is bad. Thomas did this! She wants to take us home. Thomas and his sister did this! I saw Thomas!"

"Ben? Come on, bud let's get you back to the MedJacks, okay?" I tried reasoning in a gentle voice.

"NO! YOU'RE BAD CHARLIE! I SAW YOU!"

"You're still jacked from the Changing, Ben, come on let's go back to the MedJacks!" I pleaded.

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE BAD!"

With a savage snarled he leapt towards me. I tried to back up, but my foot got caught on a branch and I went crashing to the ground. Which probably saved my life. Ben landed on top of me, but the knife stabbed into the ground beside my head.

Ben and I ended up rolling down the small hill the graveyard was situated on. Ben was snarling and snapping his teeth like a wild animal. All I could was keep his head away from me, by pushing on his neck.

"Ben! Stop!" I screamed.

He just snarled at me.

"YOU'RE BAD CHARLIE! I SAW YOU!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I pleaded.

Ben was stronger than me, the Griever poisoning giving him extra strength. He was pushing closer. He got his hands around my neck and squeezed. Immidiatly my air was cut off. I couldn't breath. Ben's hands gripped tighter. He was snarling in my face.

"You're bad Charlie! Your bad bad bad!"

I clawed at his hands. I wiggled and struggled trying to get free. My lungs were burning and my head was fuzzy. My clawing was now more like swatting.