Chapter Five: Can Never Catch A Break

WARNING: This is a slash story, and it's rated "M", we've been through this before. Haters, kindly press the left arrow.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Benny woke up slowly, drifting in and out of consciousness. He was comfortable...surprisingly so. It was soft and warm, but not too warm..and just a little sunlight shone through the dark curtains of Ethan's bedroom.

Ethan's bedroom?

He opened his eyes wide, staring around the room for a while, remaining still. He realized there was no one else in the bed with him and slowly sat up, glancing around the room, and then catching sight of the digital clock. 12:30pm. Wow, he'd slept in late...which was weird because either grandma or Ethan's parents usually woke them up around nine...but where was Ethan? He'd been sick last night...

'What if something happened?!' Benny thought frantically, painful images of Ethan, hurt and sick flickering through his mind. 'What if he's in the hospital?!'

In panic, he threw off the covers and shot out of the bed, then blushed as he realized he was only in his boxers...how the hell had his clothes come off? He vaguely remembered making a bed on the floor and then lying down, shoes and all. How did he get undressed? Unless...could Ethan actually have undressed him and lied him down in bed? Benny felt his face grow hotter. Ethan had been acting abnormal lately, and Benny really thought about it, he himself had been feeling odd lately as well. With how exhausted he was last night from all the emotional trauma, he could've slept through anything.

This bothered him. 'What if whatever attacked Ethan before came again?' He chewed his lip. 'I would've just slept right through it!'

These troublesome thoughts aside, Benny forced himself to just dress himself in some of Ethan's clean clothes -which he'd done countless times before- and lace up his shoes, which had been listing on the floor by the closet. Also by his shoes was his spell book -which he never left home without- and he secured it in his back pocket before exiting the room. As he made his way out of Ethan's room, his attention was drawn to a piece of paper taped to the doorknob.

"Sick. Please Don't Disturb."In big black marker, in Ethan's neat handwriting. Benny couldn't help but smile as he took the note off and crumpled it up, throwing it into Ethan's room before closing the door. As Benny made his way through the house, he stopped at every door, peering inside as he searched for Ethan.

"Benny?" Ethan's dad asked as Benny came into the living room.

"Hey Mr. Morgan." Benny smiled awkwardly. "Mrs. Morgan.." he greeted as she walked into the room, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

"Hey Benny." She smiled a little. "How's he doing?"

"What? Who?"

"Ethan." She said, smiling amusedly as though it was obvious.

"It was sure good of you to stay and take care of him last night." Ross said from his seat on the couch, and Benny looked away. He was humiliatingly reminded that Ethan's dad had seen him crying last night. It embarrassed him to no end that he had cried at all.

"That note was cute." Samantha added.

"Thanks." Benny quickly recovered, deciding to play along with whatever Ethan wanted him to, even if he didn't understand it. Ethan had obviously wanted his parents to think that he was still sick, and Benny was taking care of him, for whatever reason..but where was he? "Uh, have you seen E anywhere?" He tried to put on a sheepish smile. "I kind of drifted off earlier and when I woke up he wasn't there."

"Huh." Ethan's dad mused, furrowing his eyebrows. "I haven't seen him all morning...and I've been up since nine."

"I was up at seven, helping Grandma Weir with an event she was arranging." Ethan's mom chimed in, but Benny was already beginning to worry. He hardly heard anything she'd said, already grabbing his jacket that he'd spotted hanging on a hook by the front door. He slid it on and shoved the sleeves up to his elbows.

"That's alright...uh, I'll go look for him." Benny forced a tight smile and almost ran out of the house. As soon as he was outside, he was calling Grandma. He scanned the yard and streets, even rustling in some flower bushes that covered the front and sides of the house.

"Hello?"

"Cody?" Benny asked almost with distaste. Why was Cody still at his house? "Where's my grandma?" He asked rather rudely and jogged along the house. Where was Ethan?

"Right here, she-"

"Put her on!" He said impatiently.

"Yes sir." Benny rolled his eyes. 'Oh god...' He thought stressfully. 'If it came back for him, Ethan could be anywhere, damnit! In any condition...' He even went as far as to look in the garage and under the cars. He let out a loud sound of relief when his grandma finally answered.

"Benny?"

"Grandma! Ethan's gone!" Benny said, anxiety leaking into his voice.

"What do you mean, he's gone?!" She asked, her tone beginning to match his.

"I can't find him!" He lowered his voice slightly, on the verge of panicking. "I woke up this morning and he wasn't there, but he left a note telling his parents to leave us alone and no one's seen him since last night!" He wheezed out in a single breath. "I'm looking around the house, what do I do!?"

"Calm down, we'll be over there in five minutes." He could already hear the static as she rustled around the house.

"Grandma, what if it came back for him again?" Benny said, more than a hint of fear in his voice. "I'm going to look in the woods."

"Don't fret dear, everything will be fine." She was trying very hard to sound comforting, but Benny could still hear the panic that lurked behind her voice. He knew Ethan was like another grandson to her. "Don't go running around in the woods until we get there...give us five minutes." Click.

"Five minutes." Benny said aloud, and on whim thought of a spell that would lead him to Ethan. He remembered reading something about a spell that would lead you to an (non living ) object you'd lost, and then another that would lead you to good fortune. None really applied to Ethan...or, did Ethan count as good fortune? Yes. But not in the way the book meant.

As Benny started to jog towards the back of the house, he searched for any signs that anyone had been back around the house recently. The fact that Ethan's dad had mown the lawn earlier and left everything out didn't help. Any sign of life could've been from anyone. After a brief look around the garage and yard, he headed for the woods, letting out a sound of frustration.

What was the use of being a magical being who could cast awesome spells if you had to read from a bloody book to perform them? Those spells were all from people before him. Those people had made their own spells. Why couldn't he?

For once, Benny decided not to risk trying.

A few more minutes of searching brought no results...and Benny wasn't sure that venturing too far into the woods was a good idea. Ethan could be anywhere. It was like looking for a particular piece of hay in a haystack. All he could think about was that he wanted to always know where Ethan was...if he was alright or not. If he was in danger...he could be in danger right now, and Benny wouldn't know!

Couldn't anything be easy? Couldn't the wind suddenly pick up to lead him in the right direction or something? Couldn't there be a footprint here and there?

When Benny saw it, he was just about ready to turn back and head for the house. It was...strange. Rippling like a mirage, it distorted the objects behind it, making the leaves and grass swirl oddly. When Benny tried to touch it, it dissolved, and then appeared again when his hand was gone. Forming sort of a messy, thick line, it lead in the direction he'd just come from, and having nothing to loose, he followed it.

About two minutes into following the rippling trail, it dissolved completely, on it's own. Benny gave a snort of disbelief.

"What?" He asked loudly to nothing in particular and spun in a circle. 'That was real.' Benny thought to himself. 'That was some weird, rippling, invisible line...I didn't just imagine that.'

"What?" Benny nearly jumped out of his skin, and gave a loud yelp. 'What in hell!?'

"What the hell?" Benny exclaimed, spinning around. Who said that? "Where are you!?" He asked, trying to sound forceful and not fearful.

"Benny? What!? Why am I in a tree?" Ethan nearly squeaked, and Benny nearly gave himself whiplash trying to locate the source of his best friends voice. His eyes landed on a flustered and shivering Ethan, who was perched dangerously on a collection of creaky boards up in a tree.

"Ethan! Thank God!" Benny yelled as he rushed over to the tree. It was a thick pine, and looked easy enough to climb...but why was there boards up there? It looked like the ruins of an old treehouse. "What are you doing up there? You scared me to death!" Benny's voice nearly broke and tinged with anger at nothing in particular. It's not like it was Ethan's fault.

"I don't know!" Ethan said, rubbing both his arms and looking around from his spot ten feet above Benny. "What am I doing here?" Ethan asked.

'He doesn't remember anything? At least this time, he's not hurt...' Pain jabbed at Benny's heart.

"That's what I'd love to know." Benny said, feeling his chest tighten. What happened? "Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere? Climb down! You don't remember anything?" Benny began to feel sort of lightheaded for a few seconds, before the feeling went away.

"One issue at a time.." Ethan said warily as he began to climb down, easing himself off of the unstable boards. "No I don't hurt anywhere...I think I'm fine, and no I don't remember anything."

"Sorry..." Benny said as he held his arms out, prepared to catch Ethan if he fell. "Be careful..."

'I'd probably just crash to the ground with him.' Benny thought, not for the first time cursing his small build. Nonetheless, he held his position. 'Oh well, I would break his fall at least...'

"Yeah." Ethan said, and then stilled as he climbed down. He looked at something on a tree's branch. "Hey, I found something."

"What?" Benny asked, barely paying attention as anxiety took over his mind. Wasn't the fact that he woke up in a tree without knowing how he got there, bothering him? What if Ethan was delirious? "Just come down, E..." He placed his hands on the rough trunk of the tree.

"There's something here..." Ethan said, beginning to tug on the bark of a branch just beside him, throwing bits and pieces off. "It looks like a box."

'A wooden box?' Benny thought warily. 'He's tired...or high..or drugged.' "It's probably just part of the tree!" He called up gently. Weirdly, he felt tired...he suddenly felt like he wanted to take a nap. "Come on, we gotta get you home! You've been out all night." He tried to reason, and rubbed at his stinging eyes, annoyed. He'd just woken up.

"I'll be down in a second!" Ethan said, still tearing at the branch. "Ha!" 'Well what do ya know?' Benny thought dryly, half surprised and half annoyed as he looked at the small, black, piece of carved wood in Ethan's hand.

"Nice, now get down!"

"Okay!" Ethan yelled and Benny detected a little nervousness in his voice. As Ethan reached the ground, he saw that Ethan wasn't as calm as he tried to appear while climbing down. A bit of fear shone in his eyes, and Benny placed an arm around him, then took it back, eyes widening.

"I'm kind of cold.." Ethan murmured and fiddled with the box in his hands. Benny had forgotten about it, and gently took it from Ethan's shaking fingers, stuffing it into his pocket and then removing his jacket. He wordlessly helped Ethan into his jacket and kept an arm around him as they headed home. After about two minutes of walking, Ethan, who'd been glancing at Benny every so often, spoke.

"Sorry Ben." Ethan said, looking guilty and a little sad. "For the life of me, I can't remember why I was in that tree." He glanced up at his taller friend and the two halted their steps. Benny only smiled a little and tightened his arm around Ethan slightly.

"It's okay E." Benny rubbed his friends arm soothingly. "I...we...well, everyone's just really worried is all. I mean, things turned out alright this time, but everything's still pretty uncertain." They resumed their slow walk. "You could've actually been taken again, or you could've been sleepwalking..." He trailed off.

"At least I'm not in critical condition this time." Ethan said, reminding Benny of the last time something like this had happened. It made him visibly tense and Ethan shot him an apologetic look. It also reminded Benny of grandma, and his thoughts strayed to their earlier phone call. Shouldn't she be showing up? Shouldn't she already have found them?

"Grandma should be showing up by the way...I called her about twenty minutes ago, so her and the other ones are probably out here looking too. I woke up and freaked out when no one said they'd seen you since last night." Benny almost stumbled as, once again he got that dizzy feeling. It was strange, but even though he'd woken up not a half hour ago, he felt worn. His mind was still wide awake and alert, but he had that run down battery feeling, like a light getting dimmer and dimmer. All he wanted was to make sure Ethan was healthy and safe and then take a nap.

"I don't hurt anywhere, honestly." Ethan replied quietly, and snapped Benny out of his tired thoughts. He couldn't afford for his mind to be in a haze right now. "I'm just really cold, but that's probably from staying out here for..." He had a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, who knows how long I've been out here."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Benny asked and Ethan rubbed the back of his neck before opening his mouth to reply.

"Benny!?" Grandma called from somewhere in front of them. "Ethan!?" Benny froze at the voice, and then relaxed and then changed direction slightly to meet up with their companions.

"We're here, grandma!" Benny yelled back and felt Ethan tense slightly. "It's okay, E." He said for only Ethan to hear. "You feel like talking much?" He tried to sound understanding as he could still sense the fear and uncertainty in his friend.

"Not really." It's not like anyone could blame him.

"Then you don't have to." Benny said, thinking of removing his arm as grandma and her friends got closer, but deciding against it. If it comforted Ethan even a little bit, that was good enough. He wanted Ethan to know that he was there for him. "We'll just head back to my house, kay?"

"Kay." Ethan answered and smiled warily as grandma approached closer.

"Benny!" Grandma exclaimed coming closer and catching both Ethan and he in a hug. "I was so worried. Where'd you find him!?" She asked. Senna and Cody were a few paces behind her.

"A little more into the woods over there." Benny glanced back over his shoulder, refusing to let go of his friend. "He was in a tree, in what looked like an old treehouse." Benny gave a none too friendly glance at the two behind his grandma, who gave small smiles. Cody waved slightly and gave a once-over to Ethan. "If you don't mind, grandma." Benny continued, trying to keep his voice even. "Ethan's kind of shook up right now..."

"Of course." Grandma said, understanding almost immediately. "You don't seem to be hurt." She ran her hands down Ethan's arms, giving him a small but genuine smile. "Whenever you're ready, we'll talk."

Benny started moving Ethan towards the house

XOXOXOXXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Benny, you okay?" Ethan asked. Benny had been sitting at his computer chair, dozing off, for about fifteen minutes now.

"Yeah, m'fine." Benny mumbled, sitting up and looking sleepily around the room. "You alright, Ethan?"

"I'm good." Ethan replied, worry beginning to gather in his chest. "You just seem really tired...you've been drifting off for a while now."

"Sorry, E." Benny apologized with a smile that was so genuine, even in his dreamy state that Ethan just had to smile back. "They haven't been bothering you, have they?" Ethan just grinned and got up to go help his friend out of the chair.

"Not at all." Ethan answered and ignored Benny's grumbling as he was moved to the bed in the corner of the room. "That speech you gave them about me being tired and all and wanting to be left alone must've stuck." He lied Benny down in the bed and slipped off his shoes before covering him with the blanket. He was reminded of the night before, when he'd done the exact same thing after he'd discovered his friend shivering on the floor.

"If they bother you tell me.' Benny murmured, fighting to keep his eyes open.

"I will, but for now, you get some sleep." Ethan smiled. "You look really tired."

"Just for a few minutes." Benny said, stretching out. "Wake me up in like ten minutes."

"Will do, B." Ethan said and got up to slip the curtains closed. He felt Benny's sleepy eyes on him as he walked around the room. He decided to take a shower, and started to grab random articles of clothing from Benny's closet, not really caring what they looked like. They exchanged clothes so much anyway that half of the clothes in either of their closets were each others.

"Are you sure your alright, E?" Benny asked, on the verge of sleep.

"Totally." Ethan turned to face him as he opened the door to exit the room. "I feel completely fine. Just get some rest and I'll wake you up in about an hour. Maybe we can do something."

"Kay." Was the reply as the young sorcerer fell into unconsciousness. Ethan closed the door lightly as he made his way for the bathroom.

Ethan was feeling remarkably better since he'd been woken up by Benny in the woods. When he'd woken, he didn't feel any pain except for a light headache...and he'd been freezing. Ethan had only been in a loose shirt and shorts when he woke up. He was glad Benny was there when he'd woken up, otherwise he wasn't sure what he would've done.

'Probably started to panic and run in some random direction.' Ethan thought with a blush. 'That was freaky, even with Benny there.' What had happened? The last thing Ethan remembered, he had woken up to Benny sleeping floor and having a nightmare. He remembered giving him a massage to help soothe his nerves and then slipping off his clothes so that he could sleep more comfortably. Wow, Benny had been a heavy sleeper that night...as a matter of fact, in all the nights they had spent together, Ethan had never witnessed Benny sleeping so heavily. After that -Ethan cringed- he'd gone down to the kitchen and ate a raw piece of steak. Then...well, he really didn't know what. That was the extent of his memory.

Ethan sighed as he stepped under the hot streams of water. He began to use some of Benny's body wash to scrub his body clean, feeling rather dirty after two days of not showering. Then he began to shampoo his hair clean, the familiar scent soothing his nerves that had sprung to life since he'd glanced at himself in the mirror upon entering the bathroom. Something was bothering him. He didn't quite know what it was yet, but something was different.

'What could it be?' He thought, closing his eyes and tipping his he'd back, letting the water wash away the soap. 'It's not...my skin. It's not my hair. I'm pretty sure it's not my body.'

Then, as he was contemplating the unknown change, he gasped and stumbled back in shock as he was assaulted with painful images.

A tall, powerful-looking creature, lifting its face to falling rain and howling. Lightning struck incredibly close and he could see the red in its spiky fur.

A woman -maybe in her early twenties- with a peculiar haircut and striking blue eyes, surrounded by electricity.

Ethan gasped loudly, brought back to reality by the pain of his skull connecting with the showers edge. Soap still ran down the drain...when he stumbled, he must've slipped and fell. He groaned and rubbed the back of his head, trying to shake the remnants of the mental pictures from his head. It didn't work.

He could taste blood in his mouth, could smell it in the air. He was looking up at the rain falling down, and the lightning that lit the sky.

He gasped as he suddenly felt hands on his shoulders, shaking firmly, and then running over his throbbing forehead. Who was that? As he glimpsed the still-running shower, he didn't see anyone there. He also saw no trace of red, no blood. Was this a part of the vision? It felt so real. Was this even a vision? He'd never had one so violent...

Pain. Incredible pain. More rain and thunder...the figure lurking in the shadows..and then something white streaking across his line of sight, shooting straight towards the dark monster.

Ethan sputtered and chocked, coughing uncontrollably, having got water down his throat from the shower. His handsaw shook terribly as he turned the water off and slipped his way out of the shower, falling to the tiled floor. He heard the faint sound of someone knocking at the door, and fumbled to get a pair of shorts on, not caring if it got wet or not. He threw a shirt over his head and down his wet torso with great difficulty. He needed to open the door...was he going insane? Fear burned in his veins like acid.

"Ethan!?" That was Benny. "Are you okay?" More knocking.

"Fine, just-" He gasped, his hand on the doorknob but unable to move. Then he screamed, high and ear-shattering as white hot pain exploded first on his right shoulder, and then again just behind his right shoulder. He stumbled again, clutching his shoulder, and slipped, falling to his knees and thumping heavily against the wall. He couldn't stop screaming. It just hurt too much.

"ETHAN!" He heard Benny scream, and then pounding and kicking against the thick door. "Ethan, what is it!?"

"Benny!" Ethan cried out, blinded by pain. 'What are they doing!?' "Help!" Tears were really running down his face now. 'I can't be left alone!' He thought as he lie shaking on the floor. Truth being told, the pain was fading now, but the wounds still throbbed hotly on his shoulder.

"Open the door!" He could hear the desperation in Benny's voice. How was he here? Hadn't he been sleeping? "I can't do it myself!" The door shook in its hinges as it was assaulted from the outside. Ethan tried to make sense of his best friends words and forced himself to stand and fumble with the slippery knob until it unlocked.

"Benny!" Ethan threw himself at his friend, fully sobbing, and heard the sound of footsteps pounding downstairs. They were yelling, but he couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Ethan, what is it?" Benny was shaking him now, but still holding tight. "Ethan, what's wrong!?"

"It's killing me!" Ethan sobbed. All he could see was the flashing of lightning and red fur and claws. All he could feel was the pain and fear that accompanied it.

"Grandma!" Benny called as he started to haul Ethan towards his room. "It's alright, E, it's okay."

"Ethan! What is it? Benny!" Grandma shouted. Ethan could hear that she was upstairs now. He closed his eyes and whimpered in pain and fear, cowering in on himself and clinging to Benny. He refused to be sat or lied down, so the two just stood in the middle of the room.

"What's wrong?" Cody sounded as stressed as Ethan had ever heard him.

"Is he hurt?" Senna's anxious voice asked.

"I don't know, I don't know!" Benny replied, panicky. "He was in the shower and then he just started screaming!" There was a pause as Ethan felt several other hands patting on his back and arms. He let out a yelp as someone touched the sensitive part of his shoulder.

"It hurts!" Ethan yelled, breaking away from Benny. "What is it!?" He asked hysterically and began to pull his shirt off. With assistance from grandma and Benny, he finally got it off. "What is it!?" He repeated.

"There's nothing here!" Benny said nervously. "Grandma..."

"My shoulder!" Ethan sobbed. "My left-no, my right shoulder! What is it!?" The pain was lessening now, and he slowly felt the pain leaving, his hysteria along with it.

"Nothing's there, dear." Grandma sounded shaken, but reassuring and confused all at once. "Absolutely nothing." Ethan let out a great sigh, and collapsed to the floor.

It was weird...but besides the shaking in his hands and the fear from the memories, he felt absolutely fine. Nothing hurt anymore. Not at all...and he was left sitting on Benny's floor, soaking wet, in nothing but a pair of shorts while everyone stared at him. The unsettling feeling still sat sickly in his chest…but mostly, he was embarrassed.

"I'm not crazy." He stated, and felt himself being helped up, felt a towel being wrapped around him. "I'm not crazy." He repeated, and was helped to sit on the bed.

"Of course you're not." Cody consoled, and placed a warm hand on Ethan's now cold shoulder. Ethan felt Benny sit down next to him and wrap a light arm around his shoulder. "But...what happened?" He continued and Ethan sighed.

"Well, I think I just remembered-" Ethan began to answer. 'What?' He thought, in shock. 'Did I just say I remembered?'

"What is it?" Senna asked.

"What..." Ethan got up form the bed and began toweling himself off. "I thought they were visions." He said. "They just started happening, and it hurt, but these things were flashing through my mind, taking over..." Ethan grabbed another shirt from Benny's closet, since he's gotten the other one wet. "It was like I was actually there, the night it happened." His voice was excited now, and he was suddenly certain. They were memories.

"Wait...the night?" Benny asked. "That night?"

"Yeah!" Ethan said and grabbed some shorts from Benny's drawer. "I thought they were visions, but they're not, their memories." He could see the others' faces shine with a new hope, a new light.

"Can you write it down?" Cody asked, excited now, as well.

"I feel like I could draw it." Ethan replied. "It was so vivid."

"I'd say." Benny said, pouting.

"Sorry Benny.' Ethan said earnestly. "I didn't mean for that to happen." Shame burned on his face.

"It's alright, E." Benny said, pulling a notepad and pencil from his school bag beside the bed. "You say you could draw it?"

"Yeah..." Ethan said, heading out the door before looking back sheepishly. "Sorry for the scare, everyone."

"Don't even worry about it." Cody said, giving two thumbs up.

"Just let me changed, and I'll get started right on it." He ducked into the bathroom. "Sorry for the mess, grandma!"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Benny and Ethan sat alone in Benny's room, Benny sitting on the bed, and Ethan sitting at Benny's computer chair. Ethan was jotting down all the information he'd received in the "shower incident" as Benny called it. Ethan had decided for himself that until he'd processed everything and wrote it down and gone over it with his best friend, he'd keep from telling the others. Which didn't bother them all too much, as long as they got to know at one point. Benny, after all, was closer to Ethan than anyone else.

They'd just been talking about the box that Ethan had discovered while up in the tree. The box had been some sort of black wood, with a nice flowery design carved into the front. It wasn't very large, about two inches thick and just large enough to fit in the palm of someone's hand. Nothing had been found inside it, save for an empty pouch.

"So, nothing?" Ethan asked as he twirled the pencil around his fingers.

"Nope. All anyone found inside the box after opening it was an empty piece of velvet."

"Like a bag?"

"Umm, like a small pouch. It was blue velvet, and it had a fancy button on the front. The box it came in had a bunch of spells cast on it...took grandma and Cody about an hour to get it open." Benny twiddled his thumbs as he waited anxiously for Ethan to finish up drawing and writing. Not wanting to be a pest, he kept himself from asking how far along he was.

"Hey E?"

"Uh huh?"

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Benny asked with concern. "I mean...it's kind of out there to shift from screaming in pain and fear to drawing and talking enthusiastically." Ethan gave a guilty look.

"Sorry Benny...I don't know what's up with me lately, I mean, this isn't the first time something like this happened." He chewed his lip, his expression dropping farther. "Sorry if it's weirding you out or anything..."

"Well, I can't exactly pretend like I'm not bothered by your...dramatically changing conditions." Was the spellmaster's reply.

"I really am sorry, Ben." Ethan said as he glanced down to the notepad he was previously sketching on. "I seriously...you know I would never do this on purpose, don't you? And I wouldn't just fake that?"

"Of course you wouldn't! I was just gonna say...you've been sick off and on lately, and then you disappeared into the woods, and now you're finally getting your memories back..." He sighed. "I just...it's all just strange, you know? It's stressful." Where was he going with this again?

"It's more than strange." Ethan agreed. "And very stressful.." He'd decided that, before telling anyone (besides Benny) he'd just write and draw everything he'd seen and felt down on paper.

"And E?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever just need someone to be there...if your ever afraid, or, if you ever need anything...you know where to find me." Benny was trying desperately not to sound too sappy. But he had to let his friend know that he would be there for him, for anything.

"Thanks, Benny…..same here."

As Benny watched his best friend continue his work, his thoughts drifted bitterly to the psychic downstairs. Cody. Benny's eyes narrowed.

What was up with him?

'What's up with me?' Benny thought. 'He's only trying to help...he seems friendly enough. He and Senna helped out a lot when Ethan was attacked...I should feel more grateful.' Well, Benny was grateful. Of course he was. He would've been grateful for anyone helping his best friend in a time of need. It's just that Benny didn't much like the looks of fondness Cody and Ethan seemed to give each other.

Well, they did seem to get along well...and Cody had been making attempts to make friends with Benny as well. Benny had to admit that he wasn't a bad guy, and he actually seemed pretty cool. So why didn't he particularly like him?

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

AN: How was that, peeps? DROP ME A REVIEW! I feel like this is moving too fast, and getting a little too tense, but I'll try and work on that...it just seems like the style is a little more different than it was at the beginning.

6.3.13

Much love and appreciation to anyone who reads and enjoys this story!