Bonding
Ciara was sound asleep when Ben returned with the supplies they needed. He placed two full bags on the counter along with two jugs of water.
He walked over to the bed, moved the cup, and pulled the blanket over Ciara.
As he was pulling the blanket up, Ciara woke up and pulled the knife from under the pillow.
" Get away from me. I mean it, stay back."
" Hey, hey, it's me. I'm not going to hurt you."
" Why am I? Why are you?
" You fell asleep while I was out getting supplies. I had to walk, like, ten miles to the nearest store. When I got there, they were closed. I hid out until they reopened."
" I got you some acetaminophen for your leg, some bandages, food, some gas for the generator. And a portable phone charger just in case you decide you want to call home."
Ben handed the charger to her.
" If I charge my phone and turn it on, it can be traced. Assuming anyone wants to find me."
" Of course, they want to find you."
" Well, maybe I don't want to be found. You didn't call anyone, did you? When you were out just now?"
" No, I promised you I wouldn't tip anybody off in Salem, and I didn't. Look, you have the charger use it. don't use it. It's up to you, but in the meantime, you gotta be starving. I'm gonna make us some breakfast."
Ben walked over to the counter and started cooking. Ciara sat on the bed holding the phone charger in her hand.
" I hope you like pancakes. Come on, Ciara, they're good. You need to eat."
Ciara took the plate from him and started cutting into the pancake. She picked up a piece and put it in her mouth.
" Wow, wow, these are really good. Where did you learn how to cook?"
Ben sat in the chair next to the bed. He folded a napkin and handed it to her.
" I taught myself. I had to help out my mom when I was, like, six years old."
" That young?"
" Yeah. Like I said, I used to help my mom. Anyways, my sister always said they were the best."
" Donuts were the thing in my family. My great-grandmother had this amazing recipe; when I was little sometimes she would let me help her out."
" You mean she would let you make a giant mess and pretend it was all good?"
" Exactly. My cousin Jen is the best baker out of all of us. My mom, not so much."
Ciara continued eating the pancakes Ben made.
" Speaking of which, no one's heard from you in, like, 24 hours. People are definitely getting worried, especially Hope."
" Um, if my mom had it her way, she'd have you thrown right back into that mental hospital. I thought you'd be glad she's suffering."
" So, is that why you brought me here? You're using me to get revenge on my mom and all the other people in Salem that hate you?"
Ciara handed her plate to Ben, and he put it on the table.
" Back in the day, that's exactly what I would have done. I would have enjoyed it, making people suffer."
" That's sick."
" Yeah, that is sick. You're right. I had a lot of anger in me. That's not me anymore."
" Why should I believe you? You say you've changed, and I'm supposed to believe you."
" Well, I think I did more than that. I brought you here. I fixed your leg. I gave you a knife to stab me in case I got out of line. You like my pancakes."
" Now see, it's that smile right there. That smile that makes me feel like you're playing me. Like you're trying to make me forget that you're a serial killer."
" Why would I do that?"
" So that I would trust you. Then you would flip on me, make me your next victim."
" So. After all this, you still think I'd hurt you?"
" I don't know what I think."
" I don't think there's much more I can say to convince you, but I get it. That feeling of wanting to trust somebody so badly. Then you finally take the risk on them, and they just..."
" What?"
" Nothing, never mind. It's dumb."
" No, no, you can tell me, tell me."
" I was just thinking about when me and my sister were little kids. We found this little stray kitten; we took care of it for months. We played with it, we fed it. We loved this cat. Then, one day, it went missing."
" What happened?"
" My dad said that we probably left the door open, and it ran away, but Jordan and I knew we didn't. Then he said you better go, check the road, and then there it was dead. Hit by a car."
" That's so sad."
" He sees my sister and I crying, two little kids devasted. He starts laughing. Thought it was funny. Maybe that's why I am the way I am. Maybe? That's why I got pleasure out of people's pain."
" I'll tell you one thing; my dad may have been a sadistic jerk, but that mad had power. He could make me feel exactly how he wanted me to feel, and he knew there was nothing I could do about it."
" After that happened over and over and over again. I just decided that was it. I didn't want to be a victim anymore. I wanted that power for myself. I didn't know any other way. Sorry, I am so, so sorry."
Ben wiped his eyes and sat on the edge of the bed. He stood back up and walked to the table away from Ciara.
" What your dad did to you was terrible. No child should ever be treated like that."
" I didn't tell you that story to make you feel bad for me. God, I just wish someone could understand what made me this way when a kid grows up, just feeling worthless and powerless all the time."
" Ciara, I had no desire to hurt you. I have no desire to hurt anyone. I'm not that monster anymore, I swear to God."
" I'm not that monster anymore, either. I mean, I hate knowing that my mom is worried about me. I'm just not ready to go back yet. Just thinking about seeing Tripp and Claire together."
" I get it. I get it."
Ben walked over to the counter and pulled something out of the bag.
" When I got that portable charger for you, I grabbed a burner, phone, for me. You can use it to call your mom. It can't be traced.
Ciara looked at the phone in his hand before he placed it on her lap.
He went back to the counter and started putting things away.