The Spaces in Between

You're all alone

Meanwhile on Chandrila...

****

"Ben, help me."

Ben jetted up from his cot and let out a shaky sigh. Not knowing if it was a nightmare again he focused his head to look for more proof she was in trouble. She had told him before that she would be okay. He wanted to believe that. He knew he needed to be the supportive boyfriend. The windows shed proof of the nighttime coming on, but he couldn't find the strength to shut his eyes again. Ben lay awake and his mind searched his own memories. He missed her. The feeling of having her here, knowing that she was safe. It was all that he was holding onto.

"Ben." A raspy voice muttered into his mind. He sat up quickly and scanned the room for a face.

He knew who it was. He never saw his face. He had been in Ben's head every night that she was gone. Everytime he felt alone, the voice was there. He started to feel uneasy as he clenched his fists.

"I told you my decision. I want nothing to do with the dark side. Get out of my head." He felt the uneasiness in his own voice. He was afraid. This voice came to him with baggage of his own.

"Are you sure you have made the right one, boy?" The voice surrounded his head. Ben clenched his ears as he tried to tune it out. But the voice just echoed in his mind louder.

"There's nothing for me there! I won't do it!" He clenched his ears harder, attempting to just rip them off. His heart ached.

"The dark side is in your nature. I feel it, the pull to it. You have nobody. You're all alone, my boy. Join me, and we can rule it all."

"That's not true," Ben said aggressively, "I'm not alone. Not anymore."

"Are you sure?" The voice said curiously.

Ben's staggering breath trembled. He didn't like the tone in his voice. The voice knew something that Ben didn't.

"As of now you are alone. You always end up alone. The people you love most, they leave you don't they? And they don't come back." The voice grew louder in Ben's head. His breathing was getting heavier. A disturbing feeling panicked his heart. His eyes began to water, pictures of her face appeared in his mind.

"Ben help me." Echoed in his mind. He sprung from his bed and ran his hands through his hair. Pacing back and forth he could feel himself beginning to panic.

"She'll come back. She said she would be okay." Ben insisted. His lips quivered as he spoke. He wasn't sure why he needed the approval of what he knew. He knew whoever was speaking to him would say anything to persuade him

"She's not coming back." The voice explained.

Ben stopped in his tracks and he paused, horrified. He could feel his throat swelling up and his heart grew fierce with fiery fear. He felt like a small blow would knock him down now. He struggled to get the word out of his mouth. As long as he didn't ask, she was okay. Ben closed his eyes and braced his heart.

"Why." The word stuttered across his lips. Though the voice was in his mind, it seemed to be muffled out by his own heart beat.

"She's dead." The voice sounded almost disheartened. Enough to fool Ben.

The world stopped. Ben's eyes gave into the tears falling to the ground. He dropped to his knees suddenly. The feeling in his gut told him it was true. But he denied the matter in hopes he was going mad. In hopes he was dreaming. That he would soon wake up and she would be home. He reached for any breath he could grab because in his breaking he forgot how to breathe.

"Liar." Ben's voice was now choked. A shell of the towering depth of emotion. He was now the boy awaiting his parents who would never come back for him. He was the boy who never made friends, who was always left behind. He was the boy who disheartened his uncle, never truly reaching his own potential. He was the boy who never loved until he fell in love with her. He was the boy who was nothing, who now had nothing, who for the first time ever, was truly and utterly alone.

"No, my boy," Said the voice, "Look further. You know it's true. Let me show you."

Ben's face shook with grief. His heart felt as though its been ripped out and torn to shreds. He closed his eyes and buried his face in his knees. Channeling every emotion to see her. In his search he was suddenly thrown into darkness, felt darkness, felt an infinite stretch of nothing, a void. She wasn't there. He reached farther, feeling the throbbing of his head, he reached into the void.

Surrounding him, a heart beat. He heard a heartbeat. It was hers. He could feel her warmth and smelt her skin from where he stood. He pulled a smile from his grief, sucking back the fear he felt by focusing on her heart beat.

Thump.. Thump.. Thump...... Thump....... Thump..

With every beat it got weaker. the thumps muffled out. slower spaces in between got wider and soon after, he heard nothing at all. The heartbeat stopped. He reached further into the void and felt himself running towards nothing. He shuffled and looked around him in panic. Darkness surrounding him. He ran further and soon in his search, saw a white light flickering in the distance. He sprinted towards it, it growing closer in his vision. He saw a body laying on the ground, he recognized your hair against the concrete. He picked up his speed.

"(Y/N)!" Ben called out.

He ran up and plummeted his knees to the ground in front of the body.

"(y/n)?" His hands reached down to touch your body. He placed his hand on your arm and rolled you over facing him. He searched your chest, noticing no breath was drawing in or out of it. Ben stumbled back and caught himself on the concrete next to you.

He whimpered as he let tears fall out of his eyes, he couldn't catch his breath. It was true.

He cupped your body into his and curled around it. letting out sobs, he closed his eyes.

He opened his eyes to realize he was back in his room. He quickly rose up to his knees. His eyes grew tired from crying and his lips quivered.

"Why should I join you?" Ben asked, his voice cracked.

The voice chuckled. "I'm all you have left, my boy."