Ben was awakened in the middle of the night by a figure hovering over him. "Richard?" He asked sleepily, trying to focus his blurry vision and rouse his senses. "Shh." Was the reply he received before he was scooped up by the man. Ben grimaced as the sudden movement gave his side a twinge of pain. "What are-?" Ben was cut off. "I said be quiet!" The voice hissed in his ear, this time, Ben recognized the voice, it wasn't Richard Alpert, it was Charles Widmore. As they emerged from the tent, the moonlit brightened the scene, and even without his glasses, Ben knew that it indeed was Charles Widmore.
There was a sense of chaos, everyone was packing up things and bustling around. Ben looked around in confusion. The Hostiles appeared to be leaving, they were folding up the rest of the tents. "What's going on? Where's Richard?" Ben asked helplessly from Widmore's arms. "He isn't here. He's gone. Your people are in our territory…Someone found out where we are, so we have to leave. And you, I'm taking back to them." Charles answered shortly. "Where did he go? Where is everyone going?" Ben questioned desperately. He received no reply. Charles whistled, and his horse approached. Swiftly, Ben was thrown on it's back, and Charles climbed up behind him, grabbing the reins, he nudged the steed in it's ribs and it took off at a gallop. Ben gasped and grabbed on to it's neck for dear life as the horse started off suddenly. The trees seemed to fly by, as the horse ran at full speed ahead, tearing through the darkness as if it knew exactly where it was going. The motion of the horse went to one of smoothness, as if it's hoofs weren't even hitting the ground because it was going so quickly. Ben still clung on, too fearful to dare loosen his grip.
After nearly fifteen minutes of this frightening ride through the darkness, Ben relaxed some, actually enjoying the wind in his hair as they flew through the path through the jungle. Before he could enjoy himself too much, Ben gritted his teeth, grabbing the neck of the horse again, as he halted abruptly, skidding to a halt and whinnying as Charles Widmore pulled the reins, hard. Ben nearly felt as if he would go airborne over the horse, but it was lucky that he didn't when he opened his eyes that he had shut tightly in fear, to see that they had come to an edge of a cliff. The horse began to get fussy and uneasy. It reared. Charles Widmore quickly slid off to calm him down, grabbing on his harness and telling him to quiet down. Ben nearly felt as if he would fall off without the extra support of having the man behind him. When he quieted the horse, Charles came back to Ben. "Come on." Widmore grabbed Ben, picking him up and off the horse. Ben couldn't have been happier. Charles looked around urgently and Ben could sense anxiety in the man. He knew better than to ask why they had stopped as he knew Charles wouldn't answer anyway. Ben strained to see in the dark, but without his glasses, it was impossible to make much out except for shapes of the trees. The horse nervously pranced in place, snorting and shaking it's head. Ben felt as if eyes were on him, watching him somewhere unseen. Charles looked down at Benjamin, a glimmer of fear entering his eyes. "What's going on?" Ben whispered, feeling frightened and instinctively drawing closer to Widmore. "Danger." Charles replied, grabbing onto Ben's shoulder. "It's here because of you." Seizing Benjamin, Charles pulled him around to face him. "I told Richard it was dangerous. You're nothing but a bad omen. You'll bring death and destruction to everyone around you. It's who you are…What you are." Ben shrunk back at his biting words. He couldn't understand why he was being treated this way. "I would kill you and be done with you if I could, but it would be morally wrong to kill one of my own… But then again, you'll never be one of us." Charles Widmore's eyes flashed as he grabbed Ben, a madness entering his eyes as he pulled him over to the cliff edge. "Of course, if it looked like an accident…" Ben struggled, realizing what the man was trying to do. "No- Stop!" Gasping in pain from the wound on his side, he clung tightly onto Widmore who was prying him off to let him over the edge. Struggling for several minutes like this, made Widmore's frustration increase, and Ben was beginning to lose stamina. 'Help me, please, help me!' Ben thought desperately over and over. Widmore grabbed the boy's face, trying to suffocate him as an alternative plan. Ben squirmed wildly, and broke free of the man's grasp and pushed his grabbing hands away. "Come back here, boy!" Charles yelled, falling forward. Running as fast as he could, Ben fled into the dark jungle, the adrenaline pumped through him, giving him the strength to continue. He knew Charles Widmore was pursuing him and survival was his only instinct.
He ran and ran for what seemed like forever, fear of capture was the only thing that kept him going. Sudden déjà vu hit him as he tore through the trees. . . Hadn't he done this before? It seemed as if he were reliving something he had already experienced. Suddenly, Ben fell, his mind worked ten times faster as the world moved as if in slow motion as he made his descent, tripping over the tree root as he knew he would. He grunted from the collision with the jungle floor. He lay still for a few moments, breathing heavily. Exhaustion and confusion swept over him, as the intense pain from his injury returned to him. A crackling of leaves came to his attention and Ben pushed himself up doubled over, trying to balance himself so he wouldn't stagger. He didn't dare breathe. He remembered this… So, What happened next? He wondered, gazing around in the pitch dark, straining to see any sign of movement.
Whispers began to surround him, becoming louder and louder. all talking at once coming from all around him. Ben moved backward, frightened of these unseen voices that were trying to communicate to him. He turned in circles trying to find the source, he looked up at the tree tops where they seemed to be coming. Suddenly, a voice whispered in his ear, "Benjamin, I need you."
Frightened, Ben staggered backward, not seeing the large hill behind him, he lost his footing and fell, rolling down the hill side. The hill broke off and he rolled onto the hard ground, the impact knocked the wind out of him. Not letting that slow him down, He jumped up quickly, terrified. Suddenly, a bright flash of light went over him. He shielded his eyes, walking backward into a tree, blinded. This was it. His life was over. Ben sunk to the ground, his strength failing, feeling faint and overwhelmed from the pain. The last thing he remembered was a figure pulling him over, before he fell into blackness.