𝐏ʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍs || ᵗʸˡᵉʳ ʰᵉʳⁿᵃⁿᵈᵉᶻ ˣ ᶠ ! ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ ⁽ˢˡⁱᵍʰᵗ ᵒᶜ⁾ || ˢᵇᵍ

(𝐒𝟏) 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟐𝟕

TW; May contain topics of violence

𝟏ˢᵗ 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖.

"𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐞, strangled Ben."

I felt my blood run cold. I could see the look on everyone's, they were horrified. They looked sick at the thought of someone strangling Ben. Aiden then continued.

"Not with the intention to kill him, but just enough to damage Ben's voice box, because.. he knew just how much Ben loved singing."

"Afterwards, Ben started spiraling into depression. The depression then turned into rage. When Ben finally went back to school, he confronted the group. But even after he beat the ones who hurt him, he still didn't feel better." I look over to Ben with a look of empathy.

"Ben didn't know what to do.. to make the anger go away. So, he started to pick up fights. Even picked up street fighting. He stopped going to school and he's always come home late. His parents didn't know what to do. Ben refused to go to therapy and he would sneak out the house. At some point, a kid he fought turned out to have an older brother that had connections with a gang."

"The gang found out where he lived and well-.." Aiden trailed off not wanting to explain that bit.

"-They ended up having to move away. Ben was ashamed of what happened and realized his temper was far out his control. That was when his parents suggested he come stay with us for a while. Since we were always traveling, doing new things, exploring new places, they thought it would help him find a new meaning in life."

"At least, something he loved as much as singing. He agreed and started to go to therapy. And that's how he ended up living with me. His therapist also suggested taking up calm hobbies like gardening and drawing in that notebook he always carries around. He calmed down quite a bit, but there are times where something can trigger his anger." He tells us as he plays with his food before looking at Logan.

"Like when he saw Logan and that other guy in the hallway." Logan stayed quiet.

'So.. he seemed to have some problems with his temper. I wonder how he would be if nothing ever happened to him..' I think to myself as i look over at Ben.

"Wait, so he can still talk, right? Just not sing?" Tyler asks Aiden. "I mean- he can, but he doesn't like listening to his damaged voice. So he just stays silent." Aiden replies, shrugging.

Aiden then pats Ben's shoulder. "..'ight bud, ya can turn off your music." Ben then turns off his music and there's a silence at the table.

Ashlyn then clears her throat. "Alright, let's move on then-.." I sigh and cut her off. "I'm glad you're better now Ben. I hope you're doing better and healing well from that experience and thank you, for letting Aiden share this with us."

"Yeah, thank you, for letting Aiden share that with us. You don't even know us that well, but felt like we should know as a team. I'm sure it wasn't easy.. so i wanted to let you know that it was appreciated.." Taylor tell him in a soft voice as she smiles at him.

Ben stay silent and nods as he looks then at his lap. I then grin sheepishly at Ashlyn. "Sorry, for interrupting you Ashlyn it wasn't my intention, i just felt that needed to be said."

"Oh, it's alright. I also agree it was considerate of Ben to let us know." She tells us. "M-me too.." Logan says as he stutters a bit. "Yeah." Tyler said in agreement.

"Um.. it's a little off topic-.. but i think i have a theory of what happened in Savannah... well- er.., not exactly what happened.. but how we went from Savannah, Georgia, all the way back here to Alto, Georgia on the second night." Logan says a bit nervously.

"Right.. that's something we've been stuck on for a while." Ashlyn says as she then seems to be in thought. '..Yeah, first few nights were not it..' I think to myself as i remember how scared everyone was.

"Okay, so what's the theory?" Tyler asks Logan.

"Well., because how our injuries work in relation to the dimension, i think the bodies we use here and the bodies we use in the phantom world are separate but also.. connected." Logan tells us. This perked my interest.

"So, if they are connected in some way.. what if there's a distance limit?.." I smile at his theory in interest.

————
Word count; 754
April 21ˢᵗ, 2024
————

EDIT;
Word count; 780
June 18ᵗʰ, 2024

————