Chapter Thirty-Five:

Empathy

The apartment building was completely empty. Every 'entity' that resided within the building was out killing or tormenting their victims in the cities or rural areas away from their home – it was extremely rare for all of them to be out doing their business at the same time, since there were so many of them living together and the odds of all of them being out was quite low; even Slenderman was missing from the apartment complex, which was even more of a rarity because of his position as 'landlord' of the area. He liked to stick around and keep an eye on the monsters who would decide to rest from their hobbies and hang around the complex, making sure they didn't loiter, make the place a mess or take advantage of their home in any way – Jeff used to like comparing him to a prison warden, but stopped because of the scolding's he used to get after making the comment.

Although, today was a different story. Since no one was in the building, he decided to take a break from his protection of the area and go out leisurely hunting humans – something that he hadn't done in a long time because of his duties. This would also be useful for taking his mind off of the fact that he hadn't seen Jeff in a while and was worried about his protégé. He knew that he would have to trust that the killer would return soon enough – hopefully while he was out – but the he didn't exactly trust Jeff enough to know that he would come back soon. For now though, he would go out and haunt while he waited for the teen to return.

On his way out, he realised that one monster still resided in his room. BEN. The young gamer upon learning that Slendy wanted to leave for the first time a long time, promised that he wouldn't do anything to the place and that he could be trusted to be home alone since he would mostly be on his laptop playing a horror game or stalking his victims inside if the machine – meaning that he might not even be in the building for most of the faceless mans absence anyway. This was good enough for Slenderman, so he left BEN alone; something that he rarely did. He may have trusted the Link-lookalike but after dealing with Jeff for so many years, he wasn't used to giving his trust to other entities.

"She did what?!" The internet stalker was laid on his bed, his laptop on the floor next to his mahogany, bedside table, speaking to his best friend – who happened to be residing in the UK. He had a great, big grin on his child-like face and colour swirled around in his cheeks. He was excited.

"Yep, she committed her first murder last night! That John guy and his shit-bird friends! I tell ya, BEN, it was beautiful! I almost wanted to join in but she had it all covered!" The tone of Jeff's voice reminded BEN of a father who was proud of his child for getting into a top-class university – not that he would really know what that sounded like or even wanted to. Those were other things about humans that he was oblivious about and couldn't comprehend: school and proud parents.

"So it was a revenge kill?! Awesome! I bet she was happy!"

"I'm gonna go and see her tonight and celebrate with her!"

*BEEP* *BEEP*

BEN glanced down to his laptop screen, which had a baby-blue notice on it that covered most of the screen space. It read: Call waiting! Jessie Walker!

This meant that Jessie wanted to speak with him in the depths of the internet for the second time and not on Cleverbot; his dark eyes widened as he saw who it was who wanted to speak with him. He knew that Jessie must've went onto Cleverbot and typed that she wanted to speak in person, since that was the only way that BEN would receive a call on his laptop like that. He also wondered why Jessie would want to talk to him after she had just committed her first murder. Was she going to tell him about it from excitement and gloat? Although, that didn't sound like Jessie at all.

BEN decided not to let his fellow killer know about this call until he knew what it was about. He didn't want him to worry or – God forbid – get jealous and yell at him and Jessie for no reason at all. Plus, he loved keeping secrets from Jeff. It was thrilling and gave him a dominant feeling, which he never had when Jeff was around.

"Um…Jeff, I'm getting a call on the laptop. I've godda go."

"Alright. See ya soon!"

BEN couldn't help but smile at his friend's happiness. He hadn't ever heard Jeff this cheerful before and hoped that Jessie moving with him back to America would help him stay that way forever.

"Yeah…see ya."

~:~

Jessie floated in the deep blue, electric covered void that she had only ever been into once, experimenting with her powers in this world; she didn't have an opportunity last time she was there to really explore what she could do because of the circumstances she was in and the panic that she felt; she couldn't understand the way that BEN's world was run, how she had gotten there or even how it existed, but she couldn't deny that she felt lighter here and more carefree there then in her bedroom. That was an upside to going there and speaking with her lover's friend.

BEN copied the girl and floated with his legs crossed, more used to the way this world functioned and the flying abilities that he had than Jessie; he found her excitement and curiosity of his everyday life extremely adorable. He really envied Jeff for having already taken this girl off of the market; even if she was human, he wouldn't mind having her to himself.

"So, what is it, Jessie?" The blond asked softly, snapping Jessie out of her joyful daze. She became pink from her embarrassing and child-like display.

"Oh! Right!" She quickly manoeuvred her body to be in the same position as the Link-lookalike in front of her, with her legs crossed; she slowly lowered her head so she didn't have to look at him. Once again, BEN thought about how cute she was acting. "Um…I just wanted to talk…"

"About something that you can't speak to Jeff about?" Jessie jolted. It astonished her how BEN just knew that she had gone behind Jeff's back in order to speak with him; he must've known that if she told him that she went to advice to his friend instead of him – especially after all that they had now done – that he would flip out unnecessarily. He knew Jeff well.

"I need an outsider's point of view about something…" BEN tilted his head in confusion.

"And what would that be?"

The nervous teen swallowed some of her own saliva in an attempt to keep herself calm and prepare for her conversation with BEN. She had a feeling that this one was going to be more intense than the last one that they shared.

"I…I've…killed…" There was almost a hint of shame and doubtfulness in Jessie's voice, almost as if she felt disgusted with what she did, but wasn't sure if it actually happened.

BEN was puzzled. Jeff had sounded so full of whimsy and delight when he had called and let him know what had happened. He didn't expect for Jessie to be feeling down about it, although it did make sense. She may have been like them, but in the eyes of everyone in his world and hers too, she was just an ordinary human after all; her conscience wasn't completely gone yet and so she couldn't be classed as one of them just yet.

"Yeah…Jeff let me know." Jessie expected this. Jeff did seem to tell BEN everything after all. "Are you not happy about it? Jeff seems ecstatic."

"Of course he would be. He loves death." A stern tone took to Jessie's voice now, startling BEN.

There was clearly something very wrong here. Ordinarily, when Jessie spoke about Jeff, she either became embarrassed because of her clear feelings for him – a normal school girl with a crush kind of reaction – or she would have a cheerful tone to her voice. This serious tone alerted BEN and caused him to wonder whether Jeff possibly forced her to kill the night before and she was angry about it or not. That sounded like something that Jeff would do and not even feel guilt about later. He needed to ask.

"Did you not want to kill them? Did Jeff make you?"

Jessie's stomach grew tight at the question. "I…no, he didn't…"

"You don't seem too sure…" The child tilted his head slightly again to show his concern.

"He didn't force me…that's what I hate about it…" Jessie's hand was placed on her head, tugging at her shaded hair and her eyes became wide. "I was loving it. I can still see John screaming and bleeding, but I love the image. And I'm not sure if that was because of my need for revenge or just because…I love the thought of someone laying under me, dying…"

"Well, you're one of us, so that shouldn't affect you this much…"

"I'm beginning to doubt that I'm really like you or Jeff…because I still feel guilt and empathy…and facing the people I care about and pretending that I know nothing about John's disappearance is killing me inside."

BEN's dark, blood infested eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

Jessie's other hand joined the one on her hair and her head was buried in her chest. "I saw Anthony today…my best friend. He asked me about John and I…I couldn't answer him honestly. I wanted to cry while talking to him. I hated it…I hate it….I HATE IT!"

BEN jolted and jumped back on instinct, still floating in the air; Jessie's eyes filled with the tears that she so desperately wanted to shed when she was with Anthony.

"I DON'T WANNA KEEP LYING TO THEM! IT'S ONLY BEEN A DAY AND LOOK AT ME! AND JEFF…HE WON'T UNDERSTAND! HE'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND!"

Wailing was coming from this teenage girl now; she sat cross-legged in the air, water flowing from her eyes like a couple of shower heads. BEN's mouth became dry from the awkwardness and seriousness of the situation he was in. He had never had to deal with a crying girl before – being an internet entity and all. Human contact wasn't the number one mission on his agenda, and whenever he did see a crying girl, it was usually one of his victims, so he never had to comfort them and – in fact – he enjoyed watching them cry.

All he could think of was Jeff's happy tone when telling him about this exact subject that Jessie was now crying about; he couldn't understand how a couple who seemed so close and in love could have such poor communication skills with one another – once again, this was something that BEN couldn't understand about humans, even if Jeff wasn't exactly human anymore either. Although, he knew Jeff better than anyone of the other monsters that they lived with and he had to admit that he wasn't known for listening to what others wanted and he was pretty stubborn too.

There was one solution that he could suggest, even if it wasn't the one that Jessie wanted.

"Move in with Jeff now."

Jessie stopped her babbling for a moment and glared up at the blond in front of her.

"Move in with him…?" She wiped a few of her tears away and stared at the child before her with awe.

What BEN had just said echoed in her mind.

"What do you mean?" Her lips trembled as she let the tears flow even more – a sight that BEN couldn't take anymore. Jessie crying had to be one of the most depressing and aggravating sights that he had ever encountered in his long life; cute girls that he wasn't stalking or trying to kill crying wasn't his favourite thing in the world. He gracefully floated over to her and attempted to wipe her tears away as best he could, her eyes still red, which he couldn't help.

"Jessie…the way I see it, you have two options." Jessie touched the hand that BEN had placed on her cheek and enjoyed the embrace for as long as she could, wishing that Jeff was there instead of BEN – not that she wasn't glad that BEN was with her, listening to her problems. "You can either let Jeff leave you at home, which would result in you going bat-shit crazy and probably going on a killing spree and you would also be stuck lying to the people you care about by yourself…"

"No!" Her grip on BEN became tight and desperate. BEN sighed and continued.

"…Or you can move with him." This statement was much calmer than his previous one, mainly because he wanted her to choose this option, for her own sake as well as Jeff's. "You won't have to be around the people you love and you won't have to lie to them. You won't have to hear about the kids you killed from anyone and you won't even have to talk about it. And a bonus. You can be with Jeff forever."

Jessie wasn't looking at BEN. Her gaze had drifted into the distant, electronic background that surrounded them. She had blurred her eyes and had not been expecting to look at anything in particular, but she needed a moment to drift and think. Eventually, after a moment of tense silence, she grabbed BEN's hand and carefully pulled it off of her face, signalling that she'd had enough of his touch and needed some kind of space.

"You're forgetting something." She muttered, causing BEN to immediately know what she was about to say. "I'd have to kill my friends and family…to move in with Jeff..."

For a minute or two, the two who resided inside of the internet sat in the quite atmosphere and only the electric sounds coming from their environment being heard by them, before BEN finally broke this long and dreadful silence.

"I know. It all depends on what you want to do…"

"I don't want either…" She gripped her hands together. "I wish that I'd have never become like this…that I…I…"

"Hadn't of met Jeff?"

Jessie gasped.

Had she actually thought that? Did she mean that? No. She couldn't have. She loved Jeff. She loved him more than anyone she had ever known; he was the person she wished to be with more than anyone. He was the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

The young boy noticed her panicked face.

"It's okay to think that. He is the reason that you're in this situation. After all-."

"NO!" Jessie interrupted. "I don't think that! I could never think that! Never! I love him! I love him!" She began to strike the young gamers chest while continuing to cry hysterically. "I love him! I love him! I love him!"

BEN's large eyes relaxed as he expressed such pity for Jessie; such a cute, creative and fun girl, and she was crying and destroying herself inside over something he thought was an easily solvable problem. He wondered why Jeff wasn't dealing with this – not that he didn't want to make sure that Jessie was alright or anything – and why he had no idea that Jessie felt this way. He clearly hadn't asked her what she wanted or what she felt was the best idea and, as he tended to do, ran forward without thinking. BEN had always told him that if he kept doing that, it would bite him in the backside one day, and he was right.

This was the first time since he had met Jeff that he so wanted to punch him in the face for anything. He had annoyed him on some occasions – for example, when he said he would play a video game with him and instead, he would head to the city and kill someone. Another example would be when he had even made him want to cry a few times through taunting him without meaning to or pressing too deep into his past, which he was sensitive about, however this took the metaphorical cake.

BEN stretched his arms around Jessie, causing her to stop her attack, but continue to cry. "I know… I know…"

Jessie gripped the child's back and nuzzled his small chest, causing him to go slightly pink despite himself; he was so tempted to steal Jessie from Jeff. He didn't feel as though Jeff really deserved her and he knew he could make her happier than he could, but he cared too much about his friendship with the killing moron to even try and act on that feeling. Besides, he knew that Jessie loved Jeff too much to even think about being with him. Instead, he held the girl who was almost twice his size in the air, stroking her hair as he knew Jeff would do and praying that she would stop crying soon enough.

The guilt in Jessie's heart couldn't be calmed by this point; not only had she killed, but now she had nearly admitted that she wished she had never met the man she claimed to love. Everything about her life seemed to be falling apart. She couldn't handle this for too much longer. BEN was right. She had to decide what she wanted to do soon.

She pushed closer to BEN, her head now next to his, her ears within touching distance of her mouth; he went even more red, but didn't speak, knowing that if he did, he would give away his embarrassment. He hadn't ever been this close to a cute girl before since he didn't go to the cities like Jeff did. The way Jeff described sex and girls made it sound like the best thing in the world, but BEN was too scared to be in the city and experience those things for himself. He had spent most of his life in his computer, away from other people; even getting him to come out of his laptop and live in the Creepy Pasta apartment complex was difficult enough for his fellow monsters.

He could feel Jessie's breath on his skin, causing him to become hot from the sensation. Of course, Jessie was oblivious to all these feelings that he was having, as she usually was. She wasn't the brightest crayon in the box when it came to relationships and guys who liked her, or even guys she liked. She never had been.

She pulled away, calming the boy down and wiped her face with the back of her arm. "BEN…I'm sorry…"

"I-It's okay!" BEN stuttered, still embarrassed by what had happened a moment ago.

"No, it's not. I shouldn't have yelled at you…I…" She sighed. "Please just take me home…"

The dullness of her eyes was unmistakable. BEN had seen it so many times when he was about to kill his victims. That was the look of someone who didn't care what happened to them anymore. The look of someone suicidal. He didn't want to, but he had no choice. He couldn't exactly keep her there forcefully. Well, he could since she didn't know how to get out of his world, but he shouldn't. It wasn't right. Besides, Jeff said he would go and see her later, so maybe he could take responsibility for once and comfort her and even talk this through with her, although BEN really doubted that would happen.

"Okay…" He mumbled quietly.

~:~

Jessie awoke on her bedroom floor, her laptop sat next to her head with the Cleverbot webpage open; she tilted her head towards it, eyes still dulled from her encounter with BEN. Her head had been throbbing, just like when she first ever went to BEN's world – not that this mattered to her at this time around.

Now that she had actually spoken to BEN, she knew what her options were and exactly what she wanted to do, and if that meant that she had to deal with a small migraine for a couple of minutes, then so be it.

As soon as the migraine wasn't bad enough to fill her head with pain every time she moved at all, she sat up and grabbed her mobile phone, which was sat on her desk.

She scrolled through her contacts and brought up Lavinne's number; she then clicked on it and placed the phone to her ear, waiting for her friend to pick up.

"Jess?"

Success.

"Hey Lavinne."

"Jess! Are you alright?! You haven't been in school!"

"Yeah, I'm just a little sick…"

"Have you heard about John?!"

Jessie jolted at his name.

"Ye-Yeah…but that's not what I wanted to speak with you about."

"Oh."

"Yeah, can you and Ann meet me at the bus stop near my house?"

"Ann? Why? It's quite late you know."

"I know. I just wanna show you something."

"What?"

Jessie closed her eyes and sighed, muttering with a great amount of sadness "That's a surprise…"