Protect Me by Nehan Shinzui
A/N: I know, I know, I know. Trust me--I know! It's been forever since I wrote last. After only getting one review for the last two chapters I fell into a rut and then went on hiatus. I appreciate getting faved and alerted but please guys, can you stop and review? Not to sound ungrateful but your input kinda gives me ideas. So anyway, I think this fic is coming near an end. I mean, I've pretty much thought out all that's gonna happen between Cash, Ben, and Kevin so...yeah.
BUT, I'm reconsidering what I did to Gwen. Haven't completely decided what's going down with her then. I tried to compromise since some people wanted an abortion and some wanted Gwen to go away. Someone suggested I make it Ben's baby but I never liked mpreg so...sorry to disappoint you. I also don't like abortion but I guess making Gwen commit suicide isn't much better, right? So anyway this is Chapter 11! Started writing while listening to MJ then Modest Mouse! WOOT!
Chapter Eleven: Shock, Then Grief
Ben sits in his room, reflecting. It had been almost a week since he'd heard from Gwen or Kevin. He was growing worried. The flowers kept coming for him, but they were continuously unmarked and had increasingly begun to say things that Ben couldn't relate to Kevin. One letter said that the
lake made him nostalgic everytime he passed it and that he longed for another night like it. But Ben could'nt remember having had sex with Kevin by the lake; he could've sworn it'd been near a park. The boy couldn't even recall going to the lake in forever. In fact, everytime he even thought of the lake, an ungaurded dread would fill him. A pair of enraged black eyes would obscure his vision and cause the hero to grow short of breath. What upset him the most however, was that the Eyes were eerily similar to Kevin's. But...Kevin hadn't looked that--manic since they had been mere children and Ben couldn't recall a time in recent history when Kevin had been that angry. So the Tennyson concluded that those eyes couldn't be Kevin's because the mutant didn't look at him that way anymore, didn't get angry with him anymore, wouldn't, couldn't hurt him anymore, because Kevin Ethan Levin loved him; he'd said so and he'd meant it and that was all Ben needed or wanted. He did feel guilty about Gwen however, and he swore to make it up to her any way he possibly could. He'd godfather, he'd babysit, he'd do anything to make that child happy. After all, could he do any less, when the baby was the spawn of the two he cared most about?
Julie was bent over the desk in her room when she heard a strange noise. At first, thinking the noise was coming from outside, she poked her head outside the window and peered around searching for the source. Seeing nothing but parked cars, suburban houses, and the occassional bystander walking her dog on the now twilit street, Julie returned to her almost-forgotten paper. She had a report on the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. She was deciding on an angle that discussed how the image of the "Tank Man" had an affect on...her mind was drawing a blank right now. She leaned back in her chair, pencil being tapped against her bottom lip and let out a sigh. Out the corner of her eye, in the mirror next to her desk that looked into her closet, she saw a pair of piercing crimson eyes beaming back at her.
BOOOM! CRASH!
Before the girl could even blink, there was an explosion that sent shards of wood, glass, and heat flying. Her hair whipped around her face and plaster and dust was flung into her eyes. She was thrust onto the floor, glass and wood raining down on her and slicing open her skin. Julie's shoulder was encased in a tight, strong, firm grip that felt as though it were attempting to rip it off. Still befuddled and dazed, the girl was slammed into what was left of the mirror. Her vision blurred, she attempted to focus on the arm that was holding her. She recognized the alien tech just when Cash tossed her head back and forced her to look into his cool, glaring eyes. The teen girl let out a sharp gasp and the gauntlet began to close around her throat instead.
"You're going to call Ben," Cash rasped quietly--quietly enough that Julie almost strained to hear. "But not today--later, when I tell you to. You're going to tell him that you want to meet him by the lake. And don't give me that look! You know where I'm talking about. That's all I want you to do for me okay? Jules? You understand?" Julie let out a pained nod, eyes filling with tears. Cash let out a soft chuckle and grinned at the girl's rapidly purpling face. He let her go with a soft sigh and sat almost remorsefully on the dust littered bed. Julie slid to the floor coughing, cowering against the wall. What could she do? It was clear that Cash had something terrible in mind for Ben but she didn't see how she could stop it. Her breathing rattled, she glanced toward the bed and was a little surprised to see that Cash looked...awkward sitting there, his head buried in his hands, fidgeting, his hair unkempt and being twisted in his calloused and metallic hands. As he looked at her he asked, "Where are your parents Jenny?" The question startled her so that for a brief moment, it was as though were back at school and they were having a normal argument.
"It's Julie." she emphasized impatiently. Cash gave her a look a child would give a too-stern teacher and the victimized girl very nearly felt sorry for him. The man didn't quite seem to know what he was doing.
"I'm sorry." he muttered and Julie was shocked at his apology. It was as if the Cash from a minute or so ago was an entirely different person than the one she was seeing now. He was almost child-like as he shuffled his feet around.
"Um...does Ben get those flowers I send him?" he asked shyly. Julie cocked her head at him. Cash was...gay? Surely he must be to send fucking flowers to the guy. She shrugged her shoulders at him and explained that she hadn't spoken to Ben in a while.
"But you must've! You're his friend! Friends talk to each other!" Cash spat, suddenly violent his robotic arm once again wrenching her shoulder. "Think how he must be feeling when his own friend doesn't even want to talk to him!"
Julie was smashed against the wall and knocked unconscious. She would wake later in the home of Cash.
In the kitchen of Cash's home, there is a small stove, rusting, that sits in the corner closest to the door. The gas was turned off weeks ago, or maybe it was months; neither occupants really kept track of such things. The floor is smudged and filthy. Rubble coats the floor. Tina--also known as Candy--is splayed on the floor, a smoldering hole in the center of her stomach, blood pooled around her cooling body, her glassy eyes frozen in a look of condemnation.
If Ben thought his worry couldn't grow anymore he was certainly proven wrong when Gwen's parents called.
"We were just so shocked and surprised...we just overreacted." Gwen's mother said tearfully. "She could've gone anywhere by now! It's all my fault! Andrew(that's what I'm calling Gwen's daddy.) wanted to let it go...but I--" That was all Ben chose to hear before he had to close his bedroom door. He began to feel cold and hot all at once, shivering despite breaking into a sweat. The hero felt as though he had to vomit. He just might. He figured he'd go to sleep for a while. As he buried his head under the blankets to try and suffocate his rising panic, he thought of Kevin, his fantasies plagued by that dreadful pair of souless eyes.
The teen had slept much longer than he'd anticipated; he'd slept a straight 48 hours. He awoke to his mother gently shaking him. As soon as he looked at her face, he knew he was going to hear some bad news. Tears immediately began to fill his eyes. shook as she explained how the police had found Gwen's car sunken into the lake. Ben really did vomit this time. His mother, determined to go on, added that when they pulled the car out, there was no body inside. She tries to sound hopeful, as though maybe things will turn out all right, but Ben knew that even if Gwen wasn't dead that she would never return. Why else would she do such a thing? Gwen's decisions were never meant to be taken lightly and Ben knew that with his cousin's smarts she'd make sure that they never found her if she could help it. Ben was silent as his mother emotionlessly began to get material to clean up the mess. He walked into the bathroom adjoining his room and locked the door. Pouring water on his face, Ben struggles to control his breathing. He didn't know why, but he fucking needed Kevin now. Sobs began to wrack his chest. Snot and tears streamed down his face as he filled the sink with water.
Julie's hand shook as she dialed Ben's number. The gauntlet was aimed at the back of her head.
"Um...Hello?" she asked tremously. This earned her a rough shove and she quickly adjusted her voice. "I need you to meet me by the lake--it's urgent." She heard the boy take in a sharp breath. She cringed as Cash's arm tightened around hers in anticipation. His breathing filled her ear.
"Gwen's dead," came the reply."She drove her car into the lake." Julie nearly dropped the wireless Cash had let her borrow. She apologized then told the green-eyed to hold on a minute. Putting her hand on the mouthpiece she whispered to her victimizer,
"Well, what am I supposed to do now? He won't wanna come here so soon." Cash thought about that. It was true...Ben wouldn't want to associate himself with this place. How could Gwen do such a thing? Didn't she consider how this would affect her cousin? Could that bitch think only of herself?!
"That bitch could've at least told me what she was going to do! Then I wouldn't have hurt his feelings like that! Fucking Jupiter's cock!"(1.) Cash slammed his hand into the ground forming a small crater in the ground. Julie stumbled, praying that Ben couldn't hear how loud that was.
"JUST TELL HIM TO FUCKING MEET YOU AT YOUR HOUSE THEN!" Cash snapped furiously, spittle flying from his mouth. "TELL HIM IT'S URGENT, I DON'T CARE JUST GET HIM OUT OF THE HOUSE!"
Julie, in fear, hastily did as she was told. Surprisingly, it didn't take much haggling, though Ben was concerned about the noises he'd heard. They hadn't been overly loud on his end, and the dialogue had been unintelligible, but he was wondering if anyone was there all the same. She told him not to worry he'd see when he got there.
Ben wasn't thinking. He'd tried to call Kevin but the line had been busy and he was too weary to try again. At this moment he'd do anything to get his mind off things. And besides, his parents had left him at home to rest, but at the moment he didn't feel like being alone.
Julie had only a few precious moments to herself. It was becoming apparent that Cash's mental state was detiorating rapidly; he had been muttering to himself, blowing things to pieces at random and all the time rambling about how he and Ben were going to have another perfect night. Now, as she was locked in her room with her parents in the room across the hall, she could hear Cash rummaging about, setting things up. Clutching the house phone in her quivering hand, she called Kevin(2). It took him thirty seconds to pick up. She wasted no time in her cry for help.
"Kevin,please!" she half-whispered, half-shouted. "You have to come now! It's Cash he--"
Julie never got to finish her sentence or find out if Kevin's voicemail was the voice that had spoken to her. Cash, his eyes glowing red once again, stood in the doorway. Once again, Julie was struck speechless as a metallic arm struck out at her, swatting her across the the room, her jaw snapping as she landed on the floor. She attempted to scuttle away but there was no place for her to go. Cash reached her and pressed his foot down on her throat. As she writhed and screamed he raised the gauntlet and fired at point blank range. All that was left of her face was a large gaping hole and a crater in the floor exposing the first floor and weakening the structure. Hearing the girl's parents sobbing in the next room, Cash stoicly moved on to his next victims.
Ben didn't live that far away from Julie's house and it took him less than maybe ten minutes to get there. He walked with his head lowered, biting his lip. He couldn't believe Gwen and her baby were just...gone. After he found out whatever it was that the Japanese girl wanted he'd go see Kevin. Reaching the door, he should've heard the noise. He should've had some form of premonition. Point blank, he should've listened to his instincts. But he didn't.
And that's how he finally remembered who those cold black eyes belonged to.
A/N: Okaaaaaaaaaaaay! Finished up writing listening to some Serj Tankian. Omg, he's foyne. As you can see, I've tried to make Cash a more emotional character and develop him some. Sorry if I offended people by killing Julie. Anyway, I gotta make this note kinda short cuz it's getting reallly late and I'm sick and weak and tired.
1. Ok, I watched this show the other day--Spartacus:Blood and Sand. That show is fucking vicious,dude, like hella hardcore and shit! You. Must. Check. It. Out. anyway that little quote happened cuz the people in Spartacus live in like the Roman era and one of the people--Batiatus, I believe-- was all like Jupiter's cock! It was fucking funny dude. They say a lot of funny things Like this other dude was like, "You submit, like a fucking woman begging for a cock to split her open!" idk why that's so funny to me! But yeah....
and Julie called simultaneously.
I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK. AND IT FEELS GOOD! READ ANDS REVIEW! LOVE,
NEHAN SHINZUI