I know, I know. I'm finally back, I feel awful for leaving you all with a cliffhanger for so many months and I apologize. I have big plans this year to wrap this up Fic and move onto others that I aspire to publish in the next coming months. I hope you're all well and forgive me for keeping you waiting or making you lose your interest in this story,but allow me to answer everyone's burning question by saying this: BEN IS NOT DEAD! I hope that relieves some of you for now, but be sure to keep reading to find out how things will play out.
WARNING: This Chapter is going to go to some dark places since it does have to deal with the Dark Room. So consider this a trigger warning since there's some M-rated subjects involved such as torture, implied child rape, suicide, nudity, and strong language. Just want to make sure everyone's aware before they start reading.
Chapter 16: "All Who are Weary and Burdened"
Flashback, San Francisco, 2008
"Let me take a closer look." A woman said as she knelt down to examine her son's face. "Oh, Benji. A black eye." She said with a sense of sorrow in her voice.
The woman had bared a Native-American resemblance, having a tan complexion with long raven hair that she worn down. She wore a red blouse and blue jeans along with a pair of round thick rimmed eyeglasses. She was Amanda Ferris, the mother of a young Ben Ferris who was just a few months shy of turning thirteen at the time. Though she was properly known as Amanda Miller, following the divorce from her husband.
"What happened, Ben?" She asked him as she still studied the black-eye on his face.
Ben only shrugged as a way of trying to tell her "I don't know." when she knew very well how he received his recent injury.
"Benji, you have to tell me. I only want to help you." She stated as she placed her hand on his shoulder.
"He hit me last night, while you were asleep." He said in an upset voice. His mother could tell that he wanted to cry. "He said that it's my fault that you and Dad separated and that Ronnie's in hell because he was…" Before he could finish, she embraced her son to let him know that everything was okay as long as she was with him. She sighed just before she said, "I'm so sorry. I didn't think he would hurt you. Not like last time."
"Mom?" Ben said in a faint voice. "Why do you still stay with him if he still gets mad and hits us." He questioned.
"It's hard to explain, Ben. He's just a difficult person, but I believe that all people can change. You'll have a better understanding when you're older one day." His mother said. "I bet you're hungry though. Why don't we both have a slice of that cherry pie that Grandma made us when she came to visit."
"Yes, please." Ben said happily knowing that food was always the way to his heart.
"I knew you'd say that." She laughed as she ruffled her son's hair. "I'm sure it's the best thing to help us both forget about..."
"Fuckin' ridiculous! Amanda! Are you home or what?!" A voice shouted from outside the apartment.
"Oh, no!" She said frantically. "Ben, go to your room." She instructed.
"Mom, are you okay?" Ben asked worriedly.
"Yes, just go to your room now and lock the door behind you. Don't come out no matter what happens." She instructed.
"But..."
"Just go!" She yelled in a frantic state.
Ben did as he was told and ran to his bedroom, which was located on the other end of their apartment's dining room. He shut the door and locked it but stayed close as he heard a loud thud from the other side.
The front door to the apartment had been slammed wide open, and in came an overweight man, standing six feet tall, with brown hair and a five o'clock shadow. He wore a construction workers uniform that had several stains on it, and he had wreaked of cigarettes and booze the moment he came in.
"What are you doing here?" Amanda asked.
"What do you mean? I live here with you." He snapped back. "I went out for a drink." He said. He was even wobbling left and right to show it. "Where is that brat?" He questioned.
"He's sleeping over at his friend's house tonight." She answered.
"Don't you bullshit me, Amanda! Where the fuck is he?!" He screamed furiously. "He's hiding in his room again, isn't he?"
"His school called me today. They said he came in with a black eye and bruises on his back this morning. And apparently, he mentioned something to the Guidance Counselor about you touching him? What the fuck is wrong with you Don? You were doing this all behind my back? In my apartment? What kind of man are you? Are you one of those child predators?"
"Of course not? I'm only straightening him out. Do you know how much of a fuckin' pussy he is whenever he's around me. His queer brother's been dead for five years and he still can't get over it."
"How dare you! Ronnie was also my son and it still hurts me just as much each day knowing that I never got to see him one last time before he took his own life. And what? All because he was treated cruelly by other kids just for being different." Amanda argued. "You better get out right now. And if you don't, I'm calling the police."
"Sorry, but you don't get to boss me around like I'm one of your students, 'Miss Miller'. I need to teach that boy a lesson about telling tales on me."
"My son is not a liar and you better stay away from him. From us!" Amanda screamed as she grabbed hold of one of his arms and tried to stop him from walking towards Ben's door.
The man made a 180 degree turn and smacked Amanda as hard as he could, causing to fall back and hit her head against the floor. Her long raven hair was covering the bruise on her face that she had just received.
"Don't ever fuckin' touch me again you Indian bitch!" He spat while looking down at Ben's defeated mother.
Ben heard the entire argument from his room and knew that he was next. Growing tired of the abuse he dealt with from this man who didn't even give the affection his mother deserved, Ben knew he had to fight back so he would no longer have to be a victim of his abuser's sadistic nature.
"Open the fuckin' door you little punk. I know you're in there." He screamed as he violently banged on the door. "You told your teachers at school that I was hitting you? That I 'touched' you, eh? Did you think that was gonna make me go away for good? We'll I'm still here." He taunted.
Ben listened to this while he sat against a corner with his hands on his head. He tears welling up, due to the fear of what was going to happen to him as soon as that door was broken down.
"Why do you think nobody's helped you by now, huh? Because nobody gives a fuck about you. I'm coming in that room of yours to make you think twice about telling tales. And it'll just be you and me like always." He said as he continued to harass the frightened boy and bang on the door even more. In just a few more hits on the door, he had hit the right spot and managed to kick the door open. "There you are! Get over here!" He demanded as he balled his fists.
Ben looked to his corner and saw the one thing that he quickly realized he could utilize for self-defense. His aluminum bat which he used for baseball practice. He grabbed the bat and held tightly onto it before asserting himself and shouted. "No!"
"What? What did you just say to me?!" He asked while almost laughing to himself. To him, the sight of a scrawny teenager attempting to defend their self from an extremely overweight forty-five year old alcoholic that had an extra 150 pounds on him was apparently amusing.
"I want you to get out, to leave me and my mom alone for good, and to never come back here." He ordered.
"You want? You're just a stupid kid. You don't get to call the shots." He said as he began to approach.
Ben took three panicked breaths as the man was getting closer to him. Moving up himself, he closed his eyes and swung the bat as hard as he could. He should have opened them because he would have gotten to see himself strike the fat bastard across his face. Feeling lucky, he swung again, attempting to hit him a second time, only for him to block the bat with one hand.
"Big mistake, boy!" He taunted. He then kicked Ben, knocking him over, while throwing the bat away. Attempting to crawl over to retrieve the bat, his only source of defense, Ben was unsuccessful as Don had forced himself onto Ben, placed all of his weight on the boy and preventing him from getting up.
"Get off of me!" Ben yelled as he desperately attempted to wriggle out of the man's grasp.
"That was a big mistake you just made." He said. He had his knee pressed down against one of Ben's hands and held the other hand down with his own.
"What are you doing? Just let me go." Ben pleaded.
"Shut up!" He shouted. As he began to slowly pull down Ben's pants.
"Please, don't do this! I just want you to leave me alone." Ben begged as he began weeping.
"Shut up and stop that crying!" Don barked. "You got no one to save you from me. Not even your fake God that you pray to at night." The fat bastard began to unbuckle his belt and unzip his fly. He was disgusting and sick for he was about to do to the innocent boy.
"Please, I'm begging you. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Ben cried as he felt the clammy hands of the man grab hold of his body.
End of Flashback:
Ben, Present Day 6:04 PM
Ben woke up in a state of shock. He realized that he was in a brightly lit room filled with expensive photography equipment along with set of large medicine cabinets that you'd usually see at a doctor's office. And standing in front of him was Mr. Jefferson.
"Mr. Jefferson? What's going on? Where am I?" Ben questioned.
"Oh, Ben. You're exactly where I want you to be. You're in my Dark Room." Mr. Jefferson said.
"Dark Room?" Ben repeated in confusion.
"That's right. I went through a lot of trouble to get you here too. The fact that you're responsive means that the effects of the dosage is starting to wear off." Mr. Jefferson stated.
"Dosage? What do you mean?" Ben said.
"I injected you with a sedative after your little death defying stunt you pulled off from last night. I mean, did you really think you'd get that far by jumping out a window on the first floor of a dormitory?" Jefferson mocked.
"Fuck you! What am I doing here and what do you want with me?" Ben said impatiently.
"I'm so glad you asked. You see Ben, ever since that day you and I were both in Principal Wells' office and you accused Nathan of drugging Kate at one of your little Vortex Club parties, that was when you first became a pain in my ass.
"What are you talking about?" He asked.
"Come on, Ben. Nathan Prescott may be an honored student at Blackwell, but he's no genius. He's been my puppet for the last three years that I've been teaching at Blackwell. When he left the party with Kate that night, he never took her to the hospital, which you figured out. In fact, he brought her here, to me."
"You son of a bitch! What did you do to her? What did you do to Kate?" Ben demanded to know while trying to break out of the restraints binding his wrists and ankles to the chair he sat in.
"I wouldn't bother trying to break free. I made sure to inject you with a muscle relaxer while you were still knocked. It doesn't matter how much you can bench press, you're not getting out anytime soon. At least, not until I want you to." Mr. Jefferson taunted. "But anyway, if you really want to know what happened to Kate in this very room then I suppose I'll show you." He said. Shortly after, the sound of the Dark Room's vault door had opened, which meant that another person was now entering. Ben tried to look around Mr. Jefferson, who didn't look phased at all and seemed like he was expecting someone to enter anyway. That was when Nathan had walked in.
"Ah, right on time." Jefferson said.
"Prescott, you bastard. You lied to me. You were working for him this entire time behind my back. I trusted you when I first met you and know..." Ben's words came to a halt when Jefferson quickly moved towards him. He grabbed a silver scalpel from a cart that contained syringes, vials, and other various medical supplies, and held it to Ben's throat.
"One more outburst from you, and I'll slit you're throat from ear to ear. Do I make myself clear?" He threatened. Ben only remained silent. "Does anybody know of his current whereabouts?" He asked Nathan.
"No. Principal Wells had a cop come to the school today questioning students and not one person has a clue where he is." Nathan answered.
"Good! You hear that Ben? No one's ever going to see you again. Not even your precious soulmate, Kate Marsh." Jefferson teased.
"What are you going to do with him?" Nathan questioned while looking over at Ben.
"There's only one outcome, for our mutual friend over here. I'm going to put him out his misery." Mr. Jefferson said.
"You're going to kill him?" Nathan asked confused. "But I thought you said that you'd..."
"That I'd what? Let him walk free after he already knows about this place. He's now a liability to our operations."
"But you can't just..."
"Maybe you don't remember what exactly happened, but when you decided to try and imitate my work, you took away someone that was very special to me. So know it's only fair if kill him just like you killed Rachel." Mr. Jefferson said.
"Rachel Amber? She's dead?!" Ben said after overhearing their conversation.
Jefferson looked over at Ben and back to Nathan while rolling his eyes in annoyance. "I think you should leave now. The entire campus is in a state of shock knowing that another student is missing and if neither of us is present, then someone's bound to catch on to something." He advised Nathan.
"Okay, sure." Nathan said sadly. He left the Dark Room.
Mr. Jefferson turned back to face Ben, who was still sitting in the chair trying to break free with no success.
"Well, Ben, I guess it's just the two of us. Again!" He said smugly as he picked up a syringe and a bottle containing some sort of clear liquid inside. He then extracted its contents into the syringe and held it towards Ben.
"What is that stuff?" Ben asked while trying to break free once again.
"I wouldn't worry too much. Just know that this is going to hurt a lot more than usual." He said as he slowly dug the needle of the syringe into Ben's neck. Feeling the sharp sting of the needle, Ben began to feel paralyzed, not able to move his fingers or limbs just before he shut his eyes and lost consciousness.
Kate, 6:15 PM
For Max, Chloe, and Kate, the drive back to Blackwell was a quiet one. Kate could only look out of the window of Chloe's truck to see that the sun was already gone and they were now in the dark.
"Hey, we'll find him. He's out there somewhere." Max said to reassure Kate. She placed her hand on her best friend's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"It's all my fault Max." Kate cried out. "If I didn't push Ben away from me last night, he probably wouldn't be missing right now. I always talk about how I believe in forgiveness but I didn't stop to think about giving him a second chance." She said remorsefully.
"Look, Marsh, you can't get caught up thinking like that. Right now what we need to do is stay focused and trace back to the beginning. Chloe said.
"Chloe's right. I think our best bet to finding Ben is to go back to his room at the dorm and see if we can find any kind of clues that might have been left." Max suggested
As the girls arrived back at Blackwell and entered the student parking lot, they were beyond surprised to see a large mass of fellow students crowded outside the Prescott Dormitory. There was confusion on each girls face as they observed what was going on from the seats of Chloe's truck.
"What's this all about?" Chloe questioned.
"I'm not sure. But whatever it is, it can't be good." Max theorized.
As the they left the truck to investigate the crowd, they could now hear angry shouting from the students. The only question was what exactly were these kids so upset about?
"Max, Chloe, I see Warren." Kate cried out as she pointed to the boy located in the outer layer of the crowd. Maybe he might know what's going on." She said as she ran over to him.
"Kate, wait up." Max said chasing after Kate.
"Some fucking day this is this turning out to be." Chloe said as she followed Max.
"Warren!" Kate shouted with what hope she left in her voice. "What's going on? Is everything okay?"
"Hey, Kate. I don't think I'd use the term 'okay' if I should be honest with you right now." Warren said truthfully.
"Why? What's happening?" Kate asked worriedly.
"Well… you see this crowd out here. They're basically after Nathan."
"What did he do now?" She questioned.
"When Ben humiliated Nathan by showing his whole picture book to everyone yesterday, people were totally pissed at him. A bunch of students came forward to Principal Wells and argued that Nathan was basically stalking those girls that he photographed. But Wells tried denying it and didn't even take any action." Warren explained.
"Of course that drunk asshole didn't. He knows that disciplining Nathan in any way means Old Man Prescott will be all over him." Chloe chided in. "So I take it that the angry mob out here isn't a coincidence."
"That's right. They've been looking around for Prescott for almost an hour by now and they've had no luck finding him."
"Guys, I hope this isn't true but do you think that Nathan had something to do with Ben just disappearing all of a sudden?" Max wondered for Kate, Chloe, and Warren to hear. "I mean Ben embarrassed him yesterday and it's bad enough those two were at each other's necks for the last two weeks after…"
"Max, I know you're trying to help figure what happened to Ben. What really happened to Ben. But all of this wondering about what could have happened to him is only making me worry about his own safety right now." Kate interrupted.
"Kate's right you guys. We're wasting our time thinking about what could have happened to Ben. I think our first step to finding out what really happened to Ben last night is to find Nathan. He's got to have an idea as to what happened."
"Well then we better find that prick before these guys do. Cause they all look hella pissed right now." Chloe mentioned while referring to the angered cluster of students that were near them.
"Right. We know that he got kicked out of the boy's dorm so that's out of the picture. Where else could he be besides there?" Max wondered.
"What if we tried asking Victoria. She and Nathan are really good friends so she must know where he could be." Kate theorized.
"Good thinking. As much it pains me to want to do this, we're gonna have to go to Victoria's room. For Ben's sake." Chloe said in a not too thrilled voice.
Ben, 7:29 PM
Ben was still unconscious from the effects of whatever it was Jefferson had injected him. The bright fluorescent lights from the Dark Room along with its white walls and backdrops were enough to slowly wake him up. Being trapped down in that room without anyone knowing was enough to make him feel hopeless let alone being tied to that chair. The effects of the drug also made him feel helpless. I was almost like being trapped in purgatory. It wasn't since his childhood that Ben was in a traumatizing experience like this. In fact the situation he was currently in was more than enough to trigger flashbacks of his dark past. However, he no longer had time to think about it anymore as he felt something extremely cold splash against his body. He knew what it was all to well from being an athlete. Water, freezing, cold water. The kind of cold from having ice baths to recover from minor injuries. But why did he feel this all of a sudden. He only had to look up to find his answer. Standing above him was Jefferson holding an empty bucket in his hand. It was obvious that the bucket contained the source of cold water as Ben awoke to find himself wet and freezing. The fact that he was shivering before Jefferson didn't help him in showing the tough nature he had before during their earlier encounter in the Dark Room. But that was only just one matter. There was also the fact that Ben awoke to find himself tied to a different chair and stripped of all his clothes. He was now bound in front of his captor, wet, cold, and completely naked.
"I apologize for the rude awakening, but now I need your full attention." Jefferson stated. He was now dressed down in contrast to his usual attire from being at Blackwell. He had removed his blazer and wore the sleeves of his white dress shirt rolled up with his two buttons undone. He was even sporting a pair of white rubber gloves, no doubt to avoid getting his hands dirty or to prevent leaving any fingerprints behind once he would eventually dispose of Ben.
"How long was I out? What did you do with my clothes? Where's Nathan?" Ben questioned in a state of confusion.
"That's funny, Ben. You normally never have this many questions in class." Jefferson mocked. "I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that Nathan won't be joining us for now. So it's still you and me."
"Why are you doing this to me? Why are you keeping me here? Why didn't you just kill me when you had the chance instead of keeping me tied up all this time?" Ben asked, questioning Jefferson's choices.
"You don't get it do you Ben?" Jefferson sighed. "Why am I not surprised. Do you think that I have you tied to a chair butt-naked to scare you? To humiliate you? The answer to both of those are no. I'm doing this to make you suffer."
"Suffer from what?" He asked while chattering his teeth and still shaking. It was obvious that he was still cold.
"From the truth, Ben." You said it yourself that you wanted to know what really happened to Kate the night she attended the party. So now, I'm going to show you. But first, it only makes sense if I show you my vision." He said. "You see, it's best if I show you instead of just explaining." He walked away from Ben and wheeled a projector over to him. He then turned Ben's chair in the opposite direction, so that he would be facing the contents of the projector, which were now showing on the big white screen that Jefferson used as a backdrop for photos. Once he shut off the lights he was ready to show Ben just what exactly he was using this place for.
"You see Ben, just like I've told my students from my photography class, I've always been a firm believer of how innocence evolves into corruption. Kate knows that better than most people." Jefferson stated.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ben asked angrily.
"Patience, Ben. You'll know shortly. But now I think it's time you met some of my models." He said in a calm voice.
"Models? What are you talking about?" Ben asked nervously. He didn't like to hear how Jefferson was mentioning Kate's name either.
"Let's look at this one together." He said as he placed a hand on Ben's shoulder. Ben felt unsettled feeling the latex of Jefferson's glove against his skin along with wondering what he was about to see on the so called side show that was prepared for him.
"Meet my very first model, Alexis." Jefferson said as he pressed a button on a clicker that he was holding.
The slide depicted a black and white photograph of a young girl around Ben's age who had bore a head of long red hair and a face-full of freckles. However, it was clear that she did not pose for this photo willingly. She had her wrists and ankles bound together with rope and had a lifeless expression on her face. Ben had a feeling that she wasn't drunk but wondering to himself "Was she drugged?"
She was the very first individual I photographed for this collection. It was back in, when was it again? 2008, I want to say. Just two years before I returned to Arcadia Bay, the Prescotts gave me this Bunker. Of course, it was harder to photograph models like Alexis in the studio of my Seattle Apartment back then. So it only made things easier just let her go.
"Let her go? What do you mean?" Ben was afraid to ask about this stranger's fate but his curiosity got the better of him.
Don't act dumb Ben. Do I have spell it out for you? She's laying six feet under on a Native American reservation back in Spokane. That was five years so you can guarantee the maggots got to her before the locals did. Once Sean Prescott finalized the construction for this place, I had the opportunity to photograph Blackwell students that were very close to me. Like Megan for instance."
Mr. Jefferson then pressed the button on the clicker again, this time shifting over to the next slide which showed a similar black and white photo of a different girl with dark hair and tan skin. She had the same doped-out look on her face as the girl in the previous slide along with her wrists and ankles being tied.
"You're a sick fuck, you know that?" Ben hissed as he know felt squeamish from what he was seeing. He decided to shut his eyes so he wouldn't have to witness the horrific images that were in front of him.
"I'd open your eyes again if I were you." Jefferson advised in an ominous tone. "That is unless you want me to grab the scalpel and cut your eyelids clean off your face." Ben decided to comply and open back his eyes, only to await whatever slide he was going to be shown next.
"And how could I ever forget Samantha Myers. A straight A student from my first year at Blackwell. Can you believe that it was actually Nathan who brought her to me all by himself. And all because she trusted him. She thought that he actually loved her.
Ben could tell that this Samantha girl was different from the last two girls. She was wearing a blue sweater, tan pants, and a pair of brown loafers. While being bound in the photo, Ben could tell that she had a look of regret on her face, not knowing what exactly she had gotten herself into.
"Don't worry Ben, we're almost there." Jefferson said. "Just as soon as I show you the star of my portfolio. Rachel Amber."
"Rachel? Oh, God. What did you do to Rachel?" He asked.
"It was quite beautiful really. Have you ever seen something so gorgeous trapped in time before, Ben? Because that was what photographing Rachel was like. He explained while showing to Ben the first image of Rachel. It was a close-up of her lying against the floor unconscious. Ben couldn't exactly make it out. But he could tell that she had something in her mouth. A makeshift gag of some sort.
"It's actually quite funny, Ben. You see, she was in love with me. And she thought I reciprocated the same feelings towards her. I knew exactly about her relationships with Chloe Price and Frank Bowers from all of her venting. And when she finally felt that the world was against her, she let her guard down and I knew it was the perfect time to strike." Jefferson then showed Ben the next photograph of Rachel, which depicted her in the Dark Room awake and helpless as she was drugged and had her wrists and ankles tied together with duct tape. "She was my one subject that was here the longest." Jefferson mentioned. "I kept her down here for eight weeks. And while almost everyone in Arcadia Bay thought she was probably in LA auditioning for her big break, she was here the whole time. Right under everyone's noses. Unfortunately, your ex-bro Nathan caused some complications." He said as he showed another slide of Rachel lying in a junkyard passed out with Nathan, who was lying next to her knocked out as well.
"What do you mean?" Ben asked.
"Do you remember when I told Nathan that he took something special from me? Well guess who I was referring to?" Jefferson replied in frustration.
"Nathan and I had a very close relationship from working together. I taught him a lot of things from this line of work. But then he began to start imitating my work on his on. Photographing Rachel as soon as he would get here from after school. It didn't surprise me considering he had a crush on her ever since his freshman year. One day I come back to see that Rachel was sprawled out on the floor of this very part of the Dark Room that we're in right now. Her eyes are rolled to the back of her head and she's an entire shade paler than her typical complexion. And kneeling right above her having a panic attack is Nathan. He's constantly shouting at Rachel telling her to wake up and nudging her body. Well it turns out that he tried to drug Rachel but gave her an overdose instead. He showed me how much he gave her when I asked him. That idiot killed her in minutes."
"What did you do with her body?" Ben asked.
"I was the one that took the liberty of giving her an impromptu burial at the old junkyard and I even brought Nathan with me to take a few pictures. That's one of them right there. He said pointing to the photo of Rachel and Nathan at the junkyard. Ben now felt sick to his stomach after knowing the complete story behind this picture. True that was Nathan passed out in the picture but as for Rachel, it was only her corpse. Jefferson was even more sick than Ben thought. He had no idea what his fate would be but he wasn't going to be trapped here to find out. He needed to find a way to escape. To see the beauty of Arcadia Bay again. To tell someone, anyone who Mark Jefferson really was and what he was doing down in this evil place. To see Kate and let her know that was alright.
"But listen to me ramble on about someone else's fuck up that happened in the past. It's not like I can just rewind time and bring Rachel back to keep her here even longer. Let's get down to the real reason I wanted you see this. Let me show you some of the shots from my most recent model. Kate Beverly Marsh."
"No!" Ben gasped.
He didn't want to come terms with the twisted reality he was trapped in, but he had no other choice. What he saw projected on the white backdrop made it feel as if someone placed a sharp knife into his gut and painfully twisted it. He finally saw Kate since their argument from last night, but not how he wanted to see her. She was photographed in black and white with her wrists and ankles tied together with duct tape just like all the other girls Jefferson showed him photos of. She was dressed in her usual attire except she wasn't wearing her cardigan. She looked completely unaware of what was happening to her due to being dosed at the party that night and later on by Jefferson when she left with Nathan.
"No, No, No! Turn it off!" Ben cried out. He began to jerk violently, moving the chair that he was tied to. He had tears in his eyes from seeing the horror that Kate went through that very night.
"You know, for someone who's so pure and full of faith, I was quite surprised to see what a satisfying model that Kate turned out to be." Jefferson remarked as he moved to the next slide. The next photo was again of Kate, laying against the floor with her hands tied behind her back. There was a distinctive look of innocence that could be seen in her wide hazel eyes. She was another unfortunate soul that had been pulled into the twisted perversions of Mark Jefferson and Nathan Prescott. Finally, Jefferson had decided to show one final picture taken of Kate. She again had her face against the floor but it almost looked as if she was peacefully asleep. Although peacefully was not the appropriate word to use in this scenario as she did not pose for any of these pictures with her consent, nor was she even aware.
That was the final photo of the sick slide show that Jefferson put together for the Ben. While it might have been over, the images were already burned into Ben's mind. He had been forced to see what Jefferson did to these girls along with knowing each of their fates. More importantly, he found out the truth about what happened to Kate the night she was dosed but it came at a price. Right now he was mentally scarred.
"I tried to warn you, Ben. I tried to tell you that finding out what really happened to Kate wasn't worth it. But you persisted and that's how you got yourself into this mess." Jefferson remarked while looking down at the broken Ben with disappointment.
Ben only sobbed and looked down at the floor. He could see his tears hitting against the white backdrop on the floor and dampening it as he felt so defeated.
"It's funny Ben. You could have actually prevented Kate from being added to my collection of red binders on that shelf over there." He said as he pointed to the direction of where the binders where, though, Ben paid no attention as he still had his eyes on the floor. "But where were you again that night of the party? Oh, right. Too wasted to walk in a straight line. Nathan knew that you, being the nice guy and all, would have intervened and crashed Kate's tongue punch session, which is why he kept giving you so many beers that night. If you were even the slightest bit sober you could have probably drove Kate to the hospital. So I guess we can both agree that it's your fault she ended up her." He mocked.
"FUCK YOU MARK!" Ben screamed at the top of his lungs. "You better just kill me right here right now you motherfucker! Because if you don't, I'll bust out of this chair you tied me to and I'll kill you. I'll kill you, you hear me!"
"You aren't really in the best condition to be making threats, Ben." Jefferson said with a smirk as he walked away from Ben to turn the lights back on. He began to walk towards the tripod to disassemble the camera. "And if it makes you feel any better, I am going to kill you. But not right now. I still have plans for you."
"What do you mean?" Ben asked looking up with his eyes still glassy and cheeks wet from crying.
"Oh no, Ben. You see…" Jefferson turned around in rapid speed and swung a tripod against Ben's skull, knocking him out. "That would be telling." He finished standing above his new unconscious subject with blood dripping from one end of the tripod.
Victoria, 7:41 PM
"You two are such fucking dictators!" Victoria shouted in outrage.
"Hey! We're only doing this to help you." Taylor defended.
"If you're really trying to help me, then why don't you just let me go and talk to Nathan. He needs me more than anything, and you two are too busy acting like my bodyguards!" Victoria stated angrily.
"Victoria, do you remember what kind of pictures everybody found in Nathan's scrapbook? We all found out his deepest, darkest secret that was hidden underneath that preppy rich kid side of him. And the last thing you need right now is to be near that creepy little perv." Courtney argued.
Suddenly a knock at the door to Victoria's room was heard by the three girls, who all looked in the same direction. They all stood there frozen, wondering who could be at the door. Another knock followed shortly after.
"Who is that?" Courtney questioned.
"I don't know. One of you go and check." Victoria commanded.
"Oh my god, you guys! What if it's him?" Taylor whimpered as she crept towards the door.
"Then we stay in here and call campus security." Courtney answered.
"One of you just see who it is already." Victoria said in a more annoyed tone.
Taylor was closer to the door this time and before turning the door knob to invite the unidentified individual, she cautiously checked the peephole to see who it was. "Oh, it's just them." She deadpanned.
"Who?!" Victoria asked. Taylor then opened the door to reveal Max, Chloe, and Kate standing in the doorway.
"What do you three want? We're kind of in the middle of something." Taylor scoffed.
"Don't worry, we'll be quick." Chloe replied as she pushed Taylor aside and entered the room.
"What the fuck? Victoria!" Taylor called out in reaction to the blue haired punk shoving her.
"Chloe Price. You're not supposed to be here. I wonder what your step-dad security guard would say if he found out you were here." Victoria mocked.
"Save it! Where's Nathan?" She said.
"How should I know? These two won't even let me be within a five-foot radius of him."
"Bullshit, I know how close you two are." She argued. "Now where is he?"
"Why do you want to know so bad you drop-out? So you can get a piece of him too. Girls, get her out of my sight." She hissed.
"Victoria please!" Kate cried out. Everyone in the room paused and turned their attention to her. "Nathan might be the only one who knows where Ben could be right now. Can you think of anywhere that he could be." She questioned.
Victoria sighed. "I honestly have no idea. He's been so distant lately. Like he's not himself. He's always in a hurry to be somewhere after school. He barely goes to the Vortex... socials that he plans." She mentioned, not wanting to remind Kate of the party. "We used to be close since Freshman year but now…"
The ringtone of Victoria's phone had interrupted her which had caused her to check to see who was calling her. Shockingly enough, when she picked up the phone, it was none other than Nathan that was calling her. But what did he have to say.
"It's Nathan." She cried out in awe as she looked at the other girls in her room. She hit the "call" button and immediately placed the phone to her face to speak to her best friend.
"Nathan?" Victoria said.
"Vic! Vic! You gotta help me!" Nathan cried out on the other end.
"Wait! Slow down, what's wrong?" She questioned nervously.
"They found me. The guys on the football team. I think they followed me around campus." He said in a panicked tone. The sound of him panting seemed as if he had previously been running.
"Where on campus are you right now?" She asked in a scared voice.
"I'm at the swimming pool right now. I don't know if I lost them but I'm freaking out right now. I don't know what to … Oh fuck!" He shouted.
"Nate! Nathan!" Victoria screamed on her end. There was utter silence as Nathan had hung up on his end.
"Victoria where is he?" Max asked.
"He said he's at the pool." Victoria whimpered. "Max, he said some of the guys on the football team were following him. I think they're going to hurt him!" She continued as she began to cry and had tears ruining her makeup."
"No they won't. We'll find him before it comes down to that." Max said bravely. Come on you guys we have to find him. He's the only one that can help us find Ben at this point.
Nathan, 7:46 PM
Standing in the large room that contained the school swimming pool, alone and trembling, Nathan only feared how the next moments of this night were going to play out. He felt that he was in a horror movie. Being hunted down and not knowing where else to hide. Things were getting far worse for him as he now heard a voice of someone that was in the gym with him.
"Prescott!" a voice shouted from the other side side of the pool. He looked to see that it was Zach Riggins, accompanied by Logan Robertson and a half dozen other guys on the team. "What are you hiding for? We just want to chill!" Zach taunted.
"Shit!" Nathan cursed underneath his breath. He darted to a set of doors that led to the boys locker room. As he slammed the door behind him, he then searched around the room for any convenient place to hide. Although, he clearly wasn't using his head as he forgot there was a second entrance that led to the room, and the Bigfoots let themselves right in. They each slowly walked into the room and began to circle Nathan, making sure that he couldn't leave.
"What do you want from me?!" He barked at the athletes.
"What are you doing still showing your face here, huh? No one wants you here anymore." Logan stated.
"This is my school. My family owns this place!" Nathan replied angrily.
"Is that so? You think just because some dorm has your name on it and that your daddy donates a couple hundred thousand bucks to the school every year, that you can do what you want?" Zach said as he punched Nathan right in the face. The quarterback's face quickly merged into the snobby rich kid's temple, causing Nathan to fall to the floor on his face.
"'Richie Rich' over here thinks he can get away with taking pictures of our girls and thinking we won't find out." Zach continued. As Nathan tried to pick himself and make a run for it, he felt someone kick him in his ribs, keeping him back down.
"Better yet, how about what you did to Ben Ferris last night?" Another guy on the team said.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Nathan said.
"Bullshit, Prescott!" A different football player said as he picked Nathan up from the floor. "We know you got the captains of the baseball team to help you jump Ben and record your shitty snuff film."
"We already paid those clowns a visit before we went looking for you. Let's just say they're gonna be out of the season for a little bit. We might have fucked up their batting and catching arms. And now they're not here to protect you." Zach stated.
The athlete who held onto Nathan threw him in the direction of the bathroom mirrors. Nathan was lucky that he caught himself against a sink with both hands out before he collided face first against something.
"We're here to teach you a lesson not to fuck with anybody on our team ever again." Logan said as he charged at Nathan.
"No, stay away!" Nathan screamed as he reached a hand out in self-defense. His effort was useless as Logan pushed his hand away and grabbed Nathan by the neck. He then proceeded to forcefully smash his head into one of the mirrors and then throwing him onto the floor once the mirror had been damaged.
As Nathan, was now down on the ground, the eight players began to serve a series of punches and kicks to him.
"Please, stop. I didn't mean to do it." He begged, wanting the beating to stop.
"Oh fuck, he smells." One guy commented about Nathan's body odor. It was most likely the result of him not keeping up with his hygiene after all the miserable events began to occur in his life.
"Yeah, he does." Zach agreed. "Yo, Prescott when was the last time you had a shower?" He teased. "No worries. We're in the locker room anyway, least we can do is help you out." They began to drag him to the other room which contained several showers. He clenched onto the door frame with what little strength he had but no such luck. As he was done being dragged into the shower room, they placed him underneath one of the faucets and turned the nozzle as far as it could go. Nathan looked up in fear, and in seconds he was met with a force of scalding hot shower water. He screamed in pain, wanting it to stop as the room echoed with the laughter of the Bigfoots.
"Oh man, if only Ben could see you like this now. Kate Marsh would probably love this even more." Zach said.
"Let's get our phones out for everyone to see this." Logan suggested.
"Get the fuck away from him!" A voice shouted angrily. The boys were unfamiliar of whose voice it was as they had not heard it in either years or never at all. All they did know was that it belonged to a female. They each turned around to see that the person who behind them was Chloe Price, accompanied by Kate and Max.
"Who's this bitch?" One of them questioned.
"Dude, that's 'Dropout Chloe'. She used to go here but got expelled a few years ago." Zach explained.
"You idiots remember me. I'm flattered. Now back off and get lost. Prescott's ours." Chloe said.
"You three can't be in here. This is the boy's locker room." Zach taunted."
"Wow, I didn't know you guys could read." Chloe retorted. "Prescott knows something that we don't and we need to have a chat with him. So get lost and go chase after some cheerleaders or something."
"It takes guts for someone to talk to us like that, punk." Logan said. "If you want that piece of shit then you gotta get through all of us first." They all stood next to each other shoulder to shoulder as if they were forming a defensive line.
"Fuck this." Chloe said impatiently as she drew a revolver from her jacket pocket, the same one that she stole from her step-dad's gun cabinet. She pointed the small gun and aimed it across all of them to let them know she was getting impatient and wasn't messing around.
"Oh shit! She's packing dude." One of the guys said scared as he began to make a run for the door, followed by the others.
"You're crazy, you know that! You can have him." Zach said as he ran away with the rest of the guys.
"Chloe, what was that?" Max said angrily.
"Me telling those guys to get lost." She replied.
"Well you didn't have to pull out a gun on them. What if those guys get security after us. We almost got caught wandering around this place once."
"And we won't because this will be quick." Chloe said confidently.
"Well then we should hurry. He looks really bad." Kate stated as she pointed to the injured Nathan, who was no longer underneath the running hot water but still soaked. The three girls slowly approached him as he tried to catch his breath.
"You. Why did you help me?" Nathan asked in confusion.
"Because it was the right thing to do?" Kate replied as she analyzed the bruises on Nathan's face from his scuffle.
"But more importantly because you know where Ben is." Chloe said as she towered over and gawked at him.
"Who cares? He's probably in Hollywood right now with Rachel Amber. It's all they ever fucking talked about." He scoffed.
"That's a lie Nathan. You idolized Ben but then you hated him when he started to pay more attention to Kate." Max said. "And you were obsessed with Rachel. You stalked her for weeks and then she just disappeared."
"I already told you I don't know shit. Now leave me the fuck alone. I'm going to have all three of you arrested as soon as I..." Nathan's threats came to a halt once Chloe had pressed her boot against Nathan's hand. Causing him to scream. "Get off of me you crazy bitch." He ordered.
"I want you to chose you're next few words very carefully. What was that binder full of pictures you took of Kate and all those girls about."
"It was for a project I was doing. It's called the Dark Room. And they were all models that consented." Nathan explained. Chloe pressed her booted foot harder against Nathan's hand as she knew he was lying.
"No, they didn't consent because you fucking drugged Kate like you did to me. Lie to us again and I'll put bullet in you." Chloe threatened.
"Chloe stop! You're hurting him." Kate begged. "Nathan, that night I was drugged and you said you were going to take me to the hospital, I remembered something. I remembered being in a bright room with two people. I thought they were doctors but since I never went to the hospital I know that wasn't true. One of them had to be you. But who was the other?" She explained.
Nathan was trying not to look Kate in the eye to evade her question, though her look of purity and innocence was enough to break him. And surely, it was enough.
"It was Jefferson!" He cried out revealing the truth.
All three girls were speechless as to what he just told them.
"It was Mr. Jefferson. He's the one that made me do all this shit. He... he made me drug Kate that night so that he could photograph her. And he did the same to all the other girls before Kate. I helped because he said he would kill me if I ever told anyone." Nathan confessed. "But the pictures in my binder and on my flash-drive where mine. I took those because I wanted to be like him. I couldn't find a way out."
"What?! No! None of that makes sense. Mr. Jefferson is a teacher. He would never do anything like that." Max replied. She certainly did not want to believe any of this since Mr. Jefferson was one of the biggest reasons she came to Blackwell."
"It's true. You have to believe me. He kidnapped Rachel and now he has Ben. And he's gonna kill Ben."
"No!" Kate said. "Where's Ben. Nathan, where is Ben?" She asked terrified.
"My family's old barn." He answered. "There's a hidden door underneath the barn. You need this to unlock the door to the cellar." He said as he handed Kate a key. "542. Remember that code."
"Code? Code for what?" Chloe asked.
"A think they're in here!" A voice shouted from outside the locker room. No doubt, that it was security coming to investigate the locker rooms.
"Guys, we need to leave. We're Ben's only hope at surviving." Max said.
"Nathan, please tell the police everything you just told us. It's the only way these other girls like me will get justice. I know you can still do the right thing." She said, firmly grasping Nathan's hand to convince him.
"Kate we gotta go!" Chloe said as she grabbed her arm and led her to the door. The three girls made a run for the entrance. They had what they came for and all that remained was finding Ben and getting him out of the Dark Room alive.
Flashback:
"Oh my God! Benji, no!" Ben's mother screamed in horror as she son the condition her son was left in. He was lying against his bedroom floor on his stomach, still in agony from what his mother's abusive boyfriend did to him just moments ago.
She picked him up from off the floor and held onto him. Her first instinct as a mother was to scan him and see if he showed any signs of responsiveness. He looked his mother with a fearful look on his face from what he had recently experienced. Seeing the only person in his life that still mattered to him the most, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly and began to cry.
"It's okay. He's gone and I'm here now." She said softly. "I'm going to pack our things and we'll leave tonight. We'll go live with your Aunt Julie and Uncle Doug until we can find a new place to live.
"I promise that from this point on, nothing bad is ever going to happen to us again Benji. I promise." She said as she held onto her son, not wanting to let go and lose him too.
End of Flashback:
Benjamin "Ben" Michael Ferris
1995-2013
Loving Son, Brother, Friend, Student, and Athlete
That was exactly what was read on the Gravestone of Ben Ferris. There was a mass of people that circled the black, wood polished casket that stood next to a large framed picture of Ben kneeling in his Blackwell Football uniform. Standing in the front row stood both of Ben's parents, together for the first time in more than ten years since they had split up. Amanda was completely broken, knowing that she would never see either of her boys again. Knowing the last time she saw Ben was the day she helped him move into Blackwell. It was the first time in years she felt happy, knowing that Ben was going to follow into her footsteps as an eventual alumni of her Alma Mater. It was also the last time she felt happy. Her ex-husband, John, made every effort to console her as he held onto her. No matter what they say about divorced couples, the death of their child can always bring them back together.
Standing on the other side of the casket and across the grieving couple were Kate, Max, Chloe, Warren, Victoria, Dana, Zach, Juliet, the list of his closest friends went on. All dressed in black suits or dresses, they couldn't believe just how fast their friend had been taken away from them.
As the funeral had come to a close and everyone was leaving the Arcadia Bay cemetery, Kate had stayed after to talk with Ben's parents. She wasn't exactly sure what she would say, but she just wanted them to know what kind of person he was and how much he went through to make her happy.
"Um, excuse me. Mr. Ferris? Ms. Miller?" Kate addressed them nervously.
"Oh, it's you. What do you want?" Ben's mother asked in a short tone. Her mascara running from both her tears and the rain.
"I'm sorry if this isn't a good time, but I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry. But I know what you're going through. Ben and I were very close and…"
"You're sorry?!" She hissed. "You know what I'm going through?!"
"Amanda, don't. Let's just go…"
"Shut up, John." She shouted. "Do you know what it feels like to bury both of your sons? Do you?"
"I didn't mean to…"
"And don't think I know who you are. I know all about you. What you were doing that night at that party. I bet you're some kind of junkie, getting completely trashed at parties and throwing yourself around so many boys. That's probably how my son met you in the first place." She taunted.
"No, that's not true." Kate cried out.
"I don't care what's true or not anymore. All I know is that if you just stayed away from my Benji, he would still be alive and that's the truth." She stated. "I'm ready to go now John." She said as she walked away from Kate, who just stood in the rain in silence.
'Maybe she's right.' Kate thought to herself.
Later that day, as it continued to downpour, Kate thought about everything that had happened. About her fight with Ben. About losing him and never telling him how she felt about him. About what his mother said to her back at the funeral. She thought about these things all while she was back on the rooftop of the Dormitory of Blackwell. Feeling at fault and in pain for the death of the boy she loved when she knew she wasn't. She took a step forward on the ledge of the rooftop and closed her eyes. And not wanting to feel hurt by anyone's words or actions ever again, she took one last step and began to fall forward towards the pavement.
Ben, 8:12 PM
Ben, still unconscious, was being dragged by Jefferson to yet another area of the Dark Room. As he began to reawaken, he now realized that he was still the Dark Room and that he just dreamed of his own death and funeral as well as Kate's suicide becoming a reality. As he was finished being dragged, Ben found himself in the photography space of the Dark Room, lying on his stomach with his hands and feet tied together with duct tape.
"Well, Ben. This is where we part ways." Jefferson said. "But before I dispose of you, I need you for one last shot."
"Fuck off! I'm not playing any more of your mind games." Ben spat.
"Oh no, this is different. You see, you're going to help me shoot a photo for Kate Marsh."
"Leave her out of this, you hear me. This is between you and me." Ben warned.
"Oh, Ben. You haven't learned anything from being in here have you. Let me explain to you what I'm going to be using you for. You are going to be my model for a photo that Kate we will see. And your perfect for it. Naked, beaten, broken, humiliated, and tired. If she were here right now, the sight of you would almost remind her of Christ when he was crucified."
"You need help, Jefferson." Ben commented.
"And since I know you won't cooperate with me, I'll just have to use your corpse as the subject." He said as he pulled out a handgun from his back pocket. It looked completely similar to the same handgun that Nathan pulled out on Ben. "It's like I always say, Ben. 'Always take the shot'." He said as he stood up and aimed the gun right at Ben's head. "Just think about, Ben. After poor Kate hasn't seen you in days, I'll show her this photo of your bruised corpse with a neat hole in your head. She'll see the horror in your eyes as half of your brain is pushed to front of your skull." Jefferson described grotesquely. Ben stared at the floor, now feeling even more helpless than he did in the past few hours.
"You know, it's funny, Ben. Given the unfortunate circumstances Kate has been through in the past few weeks, showing her an image of you like the one I'm going to create will be just enough to push her over the edge, and most likely causing her to go insane. It'll be at that very moment when she'll have her guard down and then I'll bring her back down here to finish what I should have started that night." Jefferson explained. "It's a shame that she's going to die a virgin, but soon enough, you two will have all the time in the world to catch up and fuck each other in heaven or whatever afterlife you guys believe in." He commented. "So, let's not waste anymore time. It was truly a pleasure having you Ben. It really was." He said as he clicked off the safety of the gun and was ready to pull the trigger.
Ben shut his eyes and tightened his stomach. His fists clenched and his toes curled as he foresaw his fate. And in less than a second the Dark Room echoed with the loud shot of a gun.
"AHHHH!" Jefferson screamed.
Ben looked up to see that the psychotic teacher had dropped the gun and he was tightly gripping his left shoulder, trying to apply pressure to a gunshot wound as blood stained his white shirt and seeped through his fingers. But who exactly shot him.
"You stupid cunt! You fucking shot me!" Jefferson shouted angrily as he was in pain.
"That's right. And I'll make sure the next shot is gonna be right between your eyes." A familiar voice that Ben knew threatened. It was Chloe. And the next set of voices that Ben heard meant that she didn't come alone.
"Congratulations, Ben. You needed a bunch of girls to rescue you." Jefferson mocked as he sat against a wall to tend to his wound.
Ben then turned his head to see that Chloe was holding a six-shooter and was accompanied by Max and Kate.
"Thank god you're okay, Ben." Chloe sighed with relief. "I'm gonna keep my gun trained on this fucker in case he gets any ideas. Kate you help Ben. See you can find his clothes and then find something to cut those restraints off him." She ordered. "Max, I need you to get your camera out."
"For what?" Max questioned.
"To take pics of this place. Everyone in Arcadia Bay needs to know about this." Chloe replied with a disgusted look on her face.
"Ben!" Kate shouted out as she ran over to him and knelled down to help him. She tried to stay calm, although her hands were trembling seeing him in the condition he was currently in. She acted like a professional, ignoring the fact that he was naked. and used a pair of scissors that she found to cut the duct tape wrapped around both his wrists and ankles. She then turned him on his back, and removed her cardigan to cover up his genitals.
"Kate!" Ben said in a weak voice.
"It's okay Ben. I'm here for you know. We all are." She reassured him. She closed her eyes, even though tears still managed to escape, and held his head in her lap."
"I was afraid Kate." Ben said. "Not because he was gonna kill me. Because, I thought I'd never see you again." He said. He lifted up a hand and placed it on her cheek. After everything he had been through tonight, he needed to know if it was really her. "I knew we were meant to find each other." He said.
Crisis averted, people! Ben has been saved by the fierce ladies of LiS. I know I kept a lot of you waiting, but I hope that I delivered in terms of the length of this chapter and how it progressed the plot. I'm hoping to have the next chapter up by next weekend the latest, where we'll see the aftermath of such a horrific night. Like I mentioned before, I have plans to finish up this Fic shortly so I can move on to writing other stories I have planned. One being an original story based on another series dear to my heart: Uncharted. Like always please be sure to leave a review and favorite or follow if you haven't. There'll be more to come soon.