BEN Drowned | Hopes And Dreams

N O W

"FLOWEY!" I roared, sitting myself up only to be restrained back to the bed. The sound of chains clattering echoed in the ward I was kept in.

Or, to be exact, the Lab I was kept in. Slenderman sat by my bedside, a limp leaf in hand as he lifts his head to meet my gaze. "You saw him, did you not?"

My breath hitched, and it was only then that I realized I had woken up crying. "This is the first time since your nightmares about him returned, Benjamin."

"N-No, no. That's.. He.. He's different now, Slend."

"I know." He replied solemnly, his slender thumb grazes over the leaf in his hand, "I know he is.."

I heaved in another breath, flashes of blood dripping from a fingertip, a chortling grin of madness as vines stuck out of his back.

"Benjamin?"

I gasped unconsciously, looking at him briefly as I held my head in my hands. And for so many reasons, I sobbed into it. My first one in nearly a decade.

"It's.. it's going to be alright, Benjamin." He told me; but I knew he was lying. The atmosphere tells me so.

Everything tells me so.

-

Jeff is distant. He has been for quite some time now. Often times, I see him sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night, but that's not my business.

Jack is gone. He has been for at least two months now, just before Asriel's abduction.

Masky and Hoody resides in two separate rooms. Masky sleeps in Jack's room now.

The house is mostly empty. Depressingly quiet all the time. Sally even stopped carrying Charlie around-or Charlie didn't want to be carried.

Everyone got so affected by the news, even Smile didn't return home. Jeff had looked for the dog over and over and simply gave up. It was hopeless to look for something that doesn't want to be found.

Gaster lives here now, so that's new. He's somehow always with Slenderman.

Me?

I've never felt so lost-so empty.. for how many years now.

There are times where I couldn't sleep-I mean, I'm a wraith so I basically don't need it, but like.. I wanna feel human, you know? And sleeping is the only thing I have close to it.

And when I couldn't sleep, sometimes, I sleep too much. And I know it isn't healthy, I've searched the web. And not only that, I'm a wraith.

Wraith's shouldn't have those type of problems. None of us should.

"Ben?" Sally's voice called, "Do you want to play? Masky and Hoody rarely plays with me together anymore. Jeff isn't here and As—" her breath hitched as my nonexistent heart stopped beating.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"Go away, Sally." There was a pause, before I added, "And it's not a Frozen reference, just.. leave me alone." 

There were footsteps that followed, slowly becoming distant until there was no more.

A groan left my throat then as I washed the palms of my hands all over my face in complete frustration.

"You didn't have to be rude."

My eyes automatically rolled itself out of its socket. "What do you want, G?"

"You." Gaster spoke with ease, "You are acting stranger than the time you—"

"Don't. Even think about it."