AN: So, I need to get busy on trying to be an adult. :D I'm also trying to get started on one of my own books, and fanfiction has helped so much. Don't be worried; I still plan on seeing all of my fictions through to the end D: the bitter end! lol and I do have more MBAV stories to come.
I've been watching the series over and OMG I love the cast so much, but Atticus' new show "Young Drunk Punk" has terrible quality on the YouTube vids, when I could've sworn, I watched it in pretty good quality just last year...and I don't have Canadian City TV D: so I can't watch it on TV either, and the series not for sale online. Plus, IDK WTH Matthew Knight has been doing since "The GW's Wonder" in 2014 (which I can never find, so I haven't watched), and Cameron has gone off air as well but I'm so proud of him, like he is so smart and doing so well for himself, he got a degree in business, and...ah. I just mourn over the so-not-happening S3 of My Babysitter's a Vampire. I miss Benny, Ethan and Rory. I really do. It hit me a few days ago that the movie came out seven freakin' years ago and the series came out five years ago. How long must I pine over those dorks? The struggle is truly real.
Anyway, on with the chapter! :D
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"Four months ago...I was bitten by a werewolf."
Benny looked at him in silence, his expression unchanging. The spellmaster looked back down at Ethan's burned hand, held lightly in his own two hands, and then lowered his head until it was impossible to see what his expression was.
"So...that's what it was." Benny sighed, surprising Ethan. "To be honest...I kinda thought that's what it was the whole time. And if I knew...then I think Grandma must have too. Cody...and probably Senna, too, they aren't dumb. Maybe even Tyson..."
"Maybe especially Tyson." Ethan agreed, hesitant as to what to say next. "Benny, listen-"
"I just don't get it, E." Benny's voice was dull, and his thumb had gone still from where it had been absently stroking the discolored skin of Ethan's wrist.
"...I wanted to tell you." Ethan expressed sincerely, wishing that Benny would look at him.
"If that were true, then you would have." Benny's dull voice held just a bit of bitterness.
"You don't understand, Ben." Even so, Ethan knew that he was the one in the wrong, and tried to say so. "I know that-"
"No, you don't know." Benny's voice sounded a little stuffed up, and it scared Ethan. "You don't understand. I don't know what you thought I would do...do you think I'm that much of a coward? Or if you don't, and you just wanted to protect me, then do you think I'm that weak? Is that why you didn't tell me?"
"No! I don't think you're a coward or that you're weak!" Ethan plead, grasping Benny's arm with his uninjured hand. "Please don't think that! You're my best friend, I...I don't think I could have made it through if I didn't have you."
Benny took a deep breath and appeared to be struggling between wanting to spew his thoughts out and wanting to stay quiet. Eventually, he lifted his head and his eyes were still closed. When he opened them, his jaw moved as though chocking on words and he nodded once.
"Okay."
Ethan winced and grabbed Benny's hand in his own, realizing that he hadn't held the other boys hand since they were in second grade, but at the same time wanting to be close to him. It was true; if he didn't have Benny there to be his pillar of comfort, just by thinking of him, through all the pain and stress he'd endured, he thought he might have gone crazy a long time ago. To hear Benny answer him with such a normal response, yet to have him sound so...distant...he didn't know if he could take it.
"I mean it. I do." Benny's obvious doubt made his chest ache with emotional turmoil. With his face flushing hotly, Ethan gulped and brought Benny's warm hand up to his own face and pressed it against his cheek. The seer's chest felt like it was going to explode with a feeling he couldn't identify- even so, his vision swam and he felt lightheaded and shaky as he closed his eyes.
Ethan felt Benny's hand tremble under his own, but was determined to keep him there until the shaking stopped. He didn't want Benny to feel like he couldn't be close to him- to push him away had been the last thing he wanted! If he thought taking Benny and running with him would solve anything, than he would have! If he only knew and believed that he could keep his best friend safe with just his own strength, then he might have just run away with him...but...
"It's dangerous, Benny." Ethan muttered, breathing somewhat heavily and pressing Benny's invitingly warm and dry hand into his face. "I don't think at all that you're weak or unimportant...please, Benny, I'd never forget about you. I know you're strong, I...it's just...all the horrible things that I've seen and been through...for there to be a possibility that you could have gotten caught up in the same thing...I couldn't take that chance. The chance that you would be the next one to get hurt from it all."
No, he never wanted to drag Benny into this. Never, not Benny. Truth being told, Ethan was hoping somewhere in the back of his mind that by now he would've found a cure by this point in time. Now he knew what Sarah must have gone through when she first became a fledgling...
Absently, almost beyond embarrassment now, Ethan nuzzled the palm of Benny's hand against his cheek ever so lightly; and slowly, with a hitching of his breath, inhaled Benny's scent, as familiar as his own but so comfortably distinguishable. His nose close to Benny's pulse point in his wrist, Ethan inhaled again, slowly. How good he smelled...like coming home. He was so warm.
"I...I was hoping that I...would have found a cure by now." Ethan voiced his thoughts, and squeezed his eyes tight when he felt them sting harshly, a look of complete anguish filling his expression like clouds blocking the sun. "When I'm around you...I don't feel like a stupid werewolf. I just feel like Ethan, like the seer I was...before all this happened. The same with my family, and Rory and Grandma. Even so, the distances I've been forced to put between me and all of you are a constant reminder that I'm not that person anymore...All that lost time was selfish of me, but I can't take it back. I'm so sorry."
Ethan opened his eyes, and immediately wished he hadn't. Whether it was from Ethan's strange actions or his words, Benny looked devastated, and confused above anything. The spellmaster blinked and let out a soft, open-mouthed choking sound.
"I understand if you don't trust me." A tear rolled down Ethan's cheek and he sighed heavily, lowering Benny's hand down to his lap once again. Smiling a little, he noticed Benny wasn't shaking anymore. "I've been the absolute epitome of a warp-ten loser."
Benny was still looking at him with that wide-eyed and confused look, like he was seeing the seer for the first time.
"Listen." Ethan leaned forward and Benny blinked, sitting back a bit. Though his eyes were still wet, Ethan looked as certain now as Benny had ever seen him. "Ask whatever you want, and I'll talk. Ask me whatever, ask about my hand, or that blonde chick Danielle who's in those pictures. Ask about the pictures that Tyson took, anything, and I'll answer honestly. You can even use Grandma's special truth-telling powder she thinks we don't know about in the fake cinnamon jar downstairs. Anything, please, Benny. I can prove myself."
Benny blinked again and then one more time before he opened his mouth.
"You said Grandma's truth powder tastes like shoe leather."
Ethan smiled, a tired lifting of his lips. "Shoe leather it is, if that's what you want."
The two were quiet for a short while, tension in the air hanging like a thick, humid vapor. Then, the vapor began to dispel.
"I didn't mean to blurt all that out." The spellmaster drooped in on himself. "I didn't mean to make you come out and say anything you weren't ready to...I trust you, E." Benny nodded, as though to affirm it to himself. "I always have."
"I want to tell you everything." Ethan said earnestly.
"...Okay."
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"You know, Benjamin, there was a time not long ago when I was a young thing with best friend issues of my own." Evelyn Weir raised her eyebrows at her grandson, sitting stiffly on the couch, waiting for Ethan to get out of the shower. "Maybe this is something you two should confront on your own."
Benny had no idea what she was getting at, and said so. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Grandma." The young sorcerer huffed and sat back into the cushions, crossing his arms. "Ethan and I are fine. He said he was ready to talk about it...all of it."
Benny himself looked a little intimidated, and the old lady huffed before she sat down next to him.
"Of course you are, dear." Grandma looked at him with the barest of smiles on her aged lips. "I'm sure Ethan is jumping at the chance now more than ever to get the truth out. He's no fool." Evelyn blew the steam from her cup of hot tea and took a tiny sip. "He knows the more he puts it off, the worse it's going to get. I was beginning to wonder if his fear would ever let up enough for him to come clean."
"Wait, you knew? For sure?" Benny turned to look at his guardian. "Why didn't you say anything? And what do you mean Ethan's...fear?" The spellmaster suddenly looked unsure of himself.
"Well, think of it this way, Benjamin." Grandma sighed. "Ethan has been bitten by a werewolf. Bitten not just by vampire fangs, but the whole nine yards, almost down to the molars." Benny winced. "And considering the state we found him in, that alone might have been enough to make the poor boy timid to tell anyone. Then, there was all the illness he went through; the nightmares, the pain and the secrets he had to keep...he's more than likely has seen things that no boy his age should ever bear witness to."
Grandma stood up, then and sighed.
"Consider this before you make assumptions, Benjamin. What if you had been given the power of a terrible curse, and had no idea what to do with it? Imagine being lost and confused in your own head...and then being introduced to a new and dangerous world. Think, son...would you be so quick to drag Ethan into something so frightening? Truly frightening?"
Benny stared at his grandma and then shook his head to clear it.
What would he have done, if he were in Ethan's place? He knew it was lonely and confusing, the last few months...he'd gone through things that he was sure he's never have to go through, ever. He had actually thought for a while, for a few short instances...that Ethan might actually leave him behind. If there were two things he knew in life, it was that his grandma would never abandon him, like his dad did...and that Ethan was his best friend. To think that E could just up and leave him...it was a cold thought. Colder and more unsettling than he'd felt since the death of his mother.
Ethan had looked so sincere...he's sounded so broken, so scared. Now that Benny thought about it, he did look like he was about to lose something, when Benny had been trying to get his emotions under control. Suddenly, Benny had no trouble believing that Ethan had had the best intentions in mind when he had kept his secret from him. Back in the bedroom, he'd looked scared, he looked...
"Whatever you think about his decisions, you know Ethan, Benny." Grandma insisted. "Whatever Ethan was thinking, you know he had your best interests at heart. He's the kind of person who will do whatever it takes to protect those he loves."
Benny made no outward reaction, but hearing those words was like a drum had just pounded once in his chest- hard and echoing. Grandma was right, Ethan would have looked out for him...what had he been thinking? Of course, he knew that Ethan was and would be his best friend probably forever, but...
"Hey, guys." Ethan entered the den, a towel around his neck and dressed in nothing but a pair of basketball shorts. Benny felt the blood drain from his face at the same time that it tried to rush up. Suddenly, he felt lightheaded, and as he tried to stand, he fell back down on the couch.
"Did Cody get here yet?" Ethan asked, drying his hair with the towel and not having seen Benny's plight. He looked up form his dripping locks and eyed the other brunet with deep brown eyes. "Benny? Are you okay?"
Benny gulped. "Yeah. Completely. Never felt better."
"You sure?" Ethan asked, coming forward and placing a hand on the spellmaster's forehead as Benny tried not to squawk. "Listen, you look like you just seen a ghost...on the beach. If you need some more rest, I don't-"
"No, please!" Benny grabbed Ethan's wrist with both hands and dropped the limb as he caught Grandma studying them both. "I...I just need some water."
"I can-"
"I'll get it." Benny stood, and took quick steps toward the kitchen, as the earlier actions of Ethan and the words of his grandmother rang in his head. Absently, he reached for the tap and at the same time thought he might have heard the sound of Cody's motorcycle in the driveway.
"It's dangerous, Benny." Ethan had muttered as he nuzzled into Benny's hand, into his palm which suddenly felt warm and tingly with a strange sensation, like static electricity. "I...it's just...all the horrible things that I've seen and been through...for there to be a possibility that you could have gotten caught up in the same thing...I couldn't take that chance."
There had been utter pain and worry in Ethan's eyes. Those dark eyes that had never been able to lie to him- maybe that was why E had tried to avoid him so much.
Though, along with the darker emotions, there had also been something else, there among those silvery flecks that Benny was positive weren't there before Ethan's transition. Something soft and warm, and he got the feeling that maybe Ethan himself wasn't aware that his eyes held such...it almost looked like...
"He's the kind of person who will do whatever it takes to protect those he loves."
HUH?
Benny blushed so hard that a physical response was in order, and he nearly hit his forehead off of his glass as he ducked down towards the sink. His mind was suddenly in a frantic whirl. Love? No, that couldn't be. Friends...did friends...love each other? Could friends care about one another so deeply as to call it love?
What was love anyway? His entire life, he'd only ever cared about his grandma and dad (and earlier in life, his mother) enough to actually say it. He cared about his distant family, but not the way he cared about his grandma, who'd always taken care of him. He loved her- if there was ever any one person he could say that about, it was her. His dad had left him, and only ever came back to their hometown occasionally. No matter what snide comments Benny could make, he knew that he cared deeply for his father.
But Ethan?
Benny's eyes were conflicted, and he reached up with one hand, the same hand that Ethan had held just a while ago. He stared at it and then pushed his hair back before taking a long drink to try and cool himself down.
Ethan? Could he love Ethan? Well...yes, actually, Benny could. Even if his boyish conscience and the inner workings of his brain had trouble admitting it...he'd always cared for Ethan, like a best friend, like a brother...but suddenly that thought seemed disturbing. Oh hell, what was wrong with him?!
"Hey Benny?"
A hand came down on his shoulder and Benny chocked, suddenly coughing up water and reaching up to hit his chest.
"E-Eth-Ethan!" Benny grated out, still sputtering and probably making a complete fool of himself. Ethan stood there, stunned and suddenly holding a towel to Benny's face. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"I wasn't sneaking!" Ethan sounded appalled, and Benny's eye twitched and he growled when a tall and dark-clothed man walked into the kitchen with Grandma.
"Not a word!" Benny spun back around towards the sink and wiped his face violently with the washcloth Ethan had handed him. "I was thirsty! I-I needed to wash my face!"
"Huh?" Cody blinked owlishly, looking sideways at the elder lady in the room. "What's he on about?"
"What was on your face?" Ethan gave an amused little chuckle and Benny scrubbed harder, then wiped his shirt.
"Nothing." Just his idiocy. "I need more water."
"You need a straw?" Ethan grinned. "Maybe I should help you along. You don't look like you can be trusted to drink and socialize at the same time."
"Who made you the water police?" Benny shot back, still thoroughly embarrassed at his own little outbursts and trying to hide it behind the washcloth.
"Tsk, tsk." Cody ticked. "Teenagers."
"Yep." Grandma agreed, and then walked toward the living room. "Come along boys, we're burning daylight."
"Actually, it's like five in the morning." Cody shrugged. "The sun hasn't even come up yet."
"Don't whine." The two walked ahead of the teens into the living room.
"You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, E, I'm fine." Benny grouched. "Just tired."
"We could do this...later?" Ethan asked tentatively.
"Or we could do it now and then sleep on it." Benny gave a small smile to his best friend, and looked away before he could see the answering smile. At this, Ethan's eyebrows furrowed and he made a small, confused sound which was ignored by the spellmaster.
"Yeah, alright." Ethan agreed hesitantly. As they sat down on the couch, and Cody settled in, Ethan turned to the kitchen and Benny faintly heard the shorter brunet's stomach growl.
"Hungry?" Benny asked with a small smile.
"There's plenty to eat in the fridge, Ethan." Grandma smiled as she talked quietly with Cody. The raven-haired man had come at the call of Evelyn, who called Cody at the suggestion of Benny, who wanted this mess to be cleared up as soon as possible. As much as Benny wanted for Ethan to explain to him personally, he really wanted everyone to get off of his back about everything- and he sensed that Ethan wanted to wash his hands of all the secrecy as well.
"Thanks, I'll be right back." Ethan got up and Benny relaxed somewhat into the couch, relieved to be at a comfortable distance from his best friend. He knew he was being silly, he was just freaking himself out over this whole "Ethan loves him" thing...which might not even be a thing at all, Grandma could just be misreading things.
In the kitchen, he could hear Ethan heating something up in the microwave, and sighed. A few minutes later, he heard Ethan's footsteps approach the living room and straightened.
"Oh my god! Don't eat that!" Cody reached out with both hands as though to stop Ethan, as he took a bite out of what looked to be an ordinary steak. However, as Ethan sat on the carpeted floor near the coffee table, the spellmaster saw that while the meat was darked just on the outside of the cut, the inside was a vibrant red and glistening with blood that seeped onto the plate.
"Ethan! I tried cooking that yesterday and then turned it off and forgot about it. It's still mostly raw!" Cody reached for the plate, but Ethan held it away.
"It smells fine, and I heated it up." Ethan said around a mouthful, and ducked at Grandma's look she shot him and chewed quickly, then swallowed. "Sorry."
"It's quite alright, dear." Grandma held out a hand at a still grabbing Cody and looked at Ethan with a gentleness rarely found on her elderly face. "I put it away in the fridge yesterday, and as Ethan said, he heated it. I suspect he likes it rare."
"It's great." Ethan nodded between bites and Cody now stared at him with a dazed look on his face.
"So that bastard Tyson was telling the truth." The man said in awe, eyeing Ethan with fresh curiosity. "When he told me he thought you were eating raw bacon that morning a while ago."
"Yeah, I could've easily given myself away there." Ethan sighed. "I was so hungry, and raw meat just sounded really good. It still does." He stopped eating for a moment and then put down his utensils as though suddenly bothered by something. "Cooked meat is still good...just not as good. Fresh meat is better."
"Fresh meat?" Cody leaned forward, excitement in his eyes, while Grandma smiled gently and Benny studied the sudden look of insecurity in Ethan's eyes, while he thought back to their conversation just an hour or so before.
A look of complete anguish filled his expression like clouds blocking the sun. Benny's heart beat in his throat, and he swallowed around the lump suddenly forming there, shock just barely holding the better part of his emotions in check. "When I'm around you...I don't feel like a stupid werewolf. I just feel like Ethan."
"Wait, E." Benny gulped and forced a small smile, though his mouth was suddenly dry. "Just start from the beginning." The spellmaster coughed slightly and then shot a glare with no real heat at the raven, making the older man blink. "Don't pressure him!"
"Huh? Me? No pressure, I just find it really interesting." Cody gave a sheepish grin and then appeared to force himself to settle into the cushions, sipping his tea Grandma had made for him. Benny sighed and Ethan had a wary smile on his lips as he himself sighed and pushed his plate to the middle of the table.
"It's alright guys, I get it...so, really...where to start?" Ethan shut his eyes, and Benny felt a spike of sympathy for his best friend. He hadn't seen him this nervous since their first chess tournament back in seventh grade...or maybe, since he had seen his first vision. Benny's hand twitched, but even if he completely understood what he wanted to do...like reach out to E and comfort him somehow, he was sure he wouldn't have done it. Benny may have been stupid, and he knew he was, but even if the two qualities did come hand-in-hand, he didn't consider himself to be particularly brave.
"Well...this doesn't need to be all at once." Benny blurted, too worried about Ethan's mental health to want to continue. Suddenly, he just wanted to know that Ethan and he would be okay after all this. "I know we have everyone here, but come on...I mean, if you want, E...we could wait-"
"No, I think I need to do this now." Ethan nodded, seeming to have a change of heart as well, though it appeared to have did nothing to settle his nerves. While Benny had been all for hearing Ethan's story not fifteen minutes ago, and Ethan had suggested postponing it, their positions had reversed. "For some reason, I think this might be the only time I can."
"What do you mean?" Benny asked nervously.
"I don't know..." Ethan shook his head, and then looked at all of them, crawling over to where his backpack lie situated against the far wall and retrieving a notebook from it. "Okay. The first thing I want you to know is that I didn't know what bit me at first. I was being truthful, for the most part, I did have my memories taken from me...and I really was sick." Ethan looked down. "Some days, I still feel sick...I still have to deal with the aftereffects of the curse."
"Curse?" Cody asked, trying not to sound too anxious.
"The night I was bitten..." Ethan smiled sadly and chuckled lowly. "I was trying to help Benny find his uncle's arrow. The one made of silver and white ash wood. I was stumbling around in the dark and it started raining...the lights started going out, when I was alone and a little ways into the woods. The streetlight went out, and then my back porch light like, exploded...and I dropped my flashlight." Ethan blinked and his eyes took on a haunted look that chilled Benny. He could tell it affected the others as well, as Grandma now had a worried look on her face.
"The first thing I seen were his eyes." Ethan swallowed. "They were glowing green and then I saw his...well, point is, I kinda lost it." He chuckled again and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I ran and fell down a slippery hill...and the next thing I knew..."
It was a minute before Ethan worked up the nerve to continue, and even then it seemed to be a little hard for him to get the words out.
"Sorry, I'm not doing so good explaining this." Ethan took a big gulp of Benny's water that sat on the coffee table. "I...didn't remember much beyond that for the first few weeks or so. Nothing except for the quick, painful visions I had of that monster in the dark..."
He paused again. "He was a huge werewolf with red fur, and eventually, I found out that after I fell down the hill, he came and began...breaking me. In the long run, I think most of my injuries had actually already healed by the time you guys found me. I remember so much pain I didn't even know where it was coming from anymore...or how I was still alive."
Cody winced and Grandma had long since closed her eyes while Benny eyed his best friend in horror. Ethan, who had now stopped his nervous twitching, just stared into his glass.
"When I woke up the day after, I thought it was all a joke...all the bandages...because there was nothing wrong with me, except for a few dull aches. I guess vampires aren't the only ones who heal fast..."
Hesitantly, and with a haunted look in his eyes, Ethan pulled a page from under the table and stared at it for a moment before turning it around with shaky fingers. On the page was a violent drawing of dark charcoal lines and deep red streaks, of a feral wolf's head with it's mouth open, looking to be dripping either with rain or blood. Benny could see the areas where Ethan must have stumbled and shook while drawing it.
"This is him. Sylvan..." Ethan said numbly, lying the picture down on the table while everyone looked on with varying degrees of horror and apprehension. "I don't remember drawing this one exactly, but I think it might have been one of the times that I was...hallucinating."
"Oh, dear..." Grandma looked at Ethan with sympathy in her eyes, and reached out with a hand to comfort him. If Benny had been able to think straight, he would have envied her.
"Anyway, uh..." Ethan tried to smile, but it was more of a grimace. "I learned about what was happening to me, and why I was so sick...mostly, thanks to three people." Ethan opened the notebook and flipped through it, now revealing it to have a collection of what appeared to handwritten maps and pages upon pages of notes. "I told Benny about one of them, and I'm pretty sure she mentioned you seeing her once, Cody."
Smiling wryly, Ethan flipped through the pages before pulling one page out and lying it on the table- a figure crouching in the trees, with rain beating down on her, and holding a big knife. Another page revealed her face, young and attractive, but fierce, and framed with spikes on one half of her head. What appeared to be lightning, ran between the spikes, the bolts being the only splashes of color on the page, other than her eyes of the same color.
"This is Tasha." Ethan nodded. "She's a sorceress who tried to save me from Sylvan...and she's the one who took my memories from me. Since she gave them back, she's been helping me. Her and two others; a vampire named Jason and another werewolf named Katee. Anyway, while they tried to fend off Sylvan, I guess there was no choice in it for me anymore, after the attack. I'd lost too much blood, and sustained too much injuries... was either become a werewolf, or die."
There was another long pause...and then, "I don't have drawings of them, but Jason is a tall, blonde vampire, and he's a great person. I trust him as much as I trust Tasha, and the same with Katee. She's a blonde as well, and a werewolf, and I don't think I've ever met anyone more kind...I think you already know what Sylvan looks like. Benny told me you saw us in the mall."
Cody blinked, not comprehending the topic at hand, and then a moment later he snapped out of it and dug in his bag he always carried around. Then he pulled out the picture of Ethan with the werewolf of his nightmares.
"Tyson took this months ago." Cody said and Ethan nodded, looking at the picture of Sylvan cradling his head, and himself looking so relieved. He remembered it with a confusing mix of irritation and an odd sense of...he didn't know what.
"Wait!" Cody nearly shouted, startling everyone there. "This bastard's the one who knocked me out at the grocery store and then left me there!" Ethan winced.
"Yeah. That's Sylvan..." His werewolf Sire. "The one who bit me. In the beginning, he said he wanted me to suffer so that his curse could be passed on to me. I remember him telling me once that he'd been watching me...maybe for weeks or months before he made his move." Ethan shivered, and reached a hand up to his right shoulder. Three pairs of eyes followed the movement. "There were...certain circumstances, I guess, that needed to be met if the curse was gonna take place, and I guess it just didn't happen...if it did, I don't know what really would have happened."
Ethan shrugged with a small smile as he pulled up his sleeve. "Personally, I think he's just crazy."
As Ethan pulled up his shirt, everyone did what they had been doing, and simply stared- stared at the jagged, white bite mark on Ethan's shoulder. Ethan had mentioned the werewolf being huge, but to leave a bite mark that big...the width had to have been four inches, and deep-looking.
"Gracious..." Grandma had her hands up to her face, and made a noise in her throat that made Ethan close his eyes in regret. Privately, he thought that showing them the bite was going a bit far.
Cody cursed lowly and couldn't help but to lean forward and examine it more closely. Ethan didn't mind, just let them look and let it sink in...and looked at Benny, who instead of looking at the mark, was looking at his face. Ethan blinked and his eyes widened when Benny scooted to the floor to sit closer to him. He barely glanced at the bite and then looked into his eyes, and smiled a little, sadly and gently. Ethan himself couldn't bear to look anyone in the eye in that moment and instead bowed his head a bit.
Benny would have apologized, but his inner turmoil wouldn't allow it- if he did, it would have meant owning up to the fact that the spellmaster himself might have caused the whole situation...and although a part of him screamed for him to apologize and own up to it in front of everyone...a much bigger part told him that doing so would break him.
So he held it in...for now.
"Oh, and...before I forget, I think I need to mention that I think Sylvan is part of the reason I took so long to tell you guys all this..." Ethan looked up, then. "Umm...see, there's this thing...kind of...well, sort of like...a bond between a werewolf and the one who...ss...well, he bit me, and so now I think he has more than a little influence over me."
At their confusion, save for Grandma's vague understanding, Ethan nodded towards the picture of he and Sylvan on the table.
"I was really sick that day...the whole month, I had kept getting nauseous...and I had terrible headaches and body pains, and a horribly fluctuating appetite and violent changes in temperature. With one touch, he was able to ease my pain...and make me feel like I could trust him." He looked up, only to see the three others puffing up to get ready to protest, and held up his hands. "Which I know I can't! I know! The point I'm trying to make, is that he can make me feel things...so maybe, since I know that I should have come out with this weeks, months ago, I think it's possible he could have used that ability to make me more anxious than usual...or something like that. I'm not sure." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Or maybe I am really just a coward."
"It's alright, dear." Grandma rested a hand on his cheek, from where she also had scooted closer to him. "We all get frightened of something. You've been through an ordeal. After all that...oh, Ethan, we can take a break if you like."
"I think I need a minute." Ethan nodded suddenly, agreeing quicker than any of them had expected, and stood up on shaky legs to stretch and face away from the trio. "I think I'll just head out to get some air...we can start again when I come back."
The three watched with sympathy and worry as the seer left the room, and then sat quietly among themselves. Benny himself was lost in a sudden bout of guilt...the same guilt he had felt when he thought Ethan would never recover from the damage he had taken on the night of the attack...the night his stupidity had gotten his best friend hurt almost beyond repair.
Silently, the spellmaster rose and headed to the kitchen jsut to get away from the other two, as his heart sank in his chest.
Benny had thought Ethan was okay...and it was that thought that had kept his guilt in check. But now, it was becoming more and more clear that Ethan wasn't okay, and that he was still struggling, still suffering.
"Oh, Ethan..." Benny breathe, eyes lost, guilty and angry at himself, and confused among everything else. What had he done to Ethan? No matter how he looked at it, E's distance from him, all of the secrets...he deserved it all. He deserved worse.
"...I wanted to tell you." Ethan expressed sincerely, while Benny couldn't bring himself to look at him.
Maybe he couldn't, because of this Sylvan person...if he could control Ethan's emotions, could control his hormones, or other bodily functions, based on what E had said in the living room...
"You're my best friend, I...I don't think I could have made it through if I didn't have you."
All the trouble Benny had given Ethan when he was trying to explain himself...how could Ethan still call him his best friend after he had been so insensitive?
"It's dangerous, Benny." Ethan muttered.
E had been worried for his safety.
"I...I was hoping that I...would have found a cure by now." Ethan closed his eyes tightly, yet a few tears escaped and ran down his cheeks in slow trails.
He didn't want to be a werewolf.
"I can prove myself." Ethan had said with so much conviction.
Benny's vision swam. But why? Why should Ethan need to prove himself to someone like him?
Ethan should hate him.
If it hadn't have been for Benny's stupidity that night...Ethan would still be human. What had Benny done? And what could he do to fix it? Nothing! He couldn't-
"Benny?" Ethan's voice asked from a little ways behind him, and Benny gasped lightly, startled and suddenly frantic to hide his tears. Instead, Benny turned halfway to eye Ethan through the dark reflection of the windows on the far side of the kitchen. The sun was just beginning to break dawn, and he could see E clearly, see the concern clear on his face.
"Yeah, E?" Benny tried his best not to let his voice break under the barrage of guilt he was feeling, and closed his eyes. He could hardly stand to look at E...couldn't understand how Ethan could still look at him with such kindness, like he was actually worth something. Right then, Benny felt as though he was worth nothing. Opening his eyes, he saw something that looked like smoke raise up behind Ethan in thick tendrils. His eyes widened.
"Are you-"
"Ethan!" Benny shouted, and spun around, realizing in a moment that whatever barriers of protection the house had, it didn't include the front porch...and Ethan was halfway out the front door.
"Huh?" Ethan's eyes widened comically, and he stepped further in. "What-"
"Step inside!" Benny yelled, and raised his hands to cast a spell just as a smoky appendage reached out and grabbed Ethan around the ankle. Ethan exclaimed in surprise and the solid smoke seemed to slam against him, sending him flying forward, hitting his head against the door frame. Just as suddenly, his feet were ripped from underneath him and he fell forward.
It all happened in a matter of about two seconds, and Benny wasn't fast enough to do anything more than stumble over his own feet and watch in horror as Ethan fell. Blood dripped alarmingly quick from a deep gash on his forehead, and Ethan's eyes rolled back as his body dropped to the floorboards. Violently, he was drug out of the doorway as Benny screamed and the door slammed shut.
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AN: 7,030+ words! May be my longest chapter yet? Whatcha guys think?
I've been working on this since the end of the last chapter, and wrote over half just tonight but I wanted to update. I think it turned out well...but the end was a bit of a surprise for me lol. It wasn't planned, but makes a lot of things more interesting. Anyway, do you think it was a little slow? A lot of angst :D and a bit of drama.
It's four in the morning and I'm gonna go to bed lol (probably not until six). I tried to get this up by Easter -.-" but that didn't happen. Anyway, happy late Egg Day! I'm looking forward to the summer! I hope I can find my lazy ass a job. Anyway, wish me luck guys because although I'm the top student in Composition (the teacher's told me himself!) I am ALWAYS freakin' late with my work. I am so late that three essay assignments were due last week and I haven't started on any of them. Well, my uncle did pass away last week :C so I had a funeral to help pull together ($900 for their cheapest casket, like HELL it shouldn't cost so much to fucking die) but I'm alright.
Review's make me cry tears of joy. xoxox
Uploaded 04.22.17 :)