Outsiders Pt. 06

Ben opened the door to his apartment and said, "Who put you up to this?"

Fitzgerald stopped himself from rolling his eyes and said, "Need I remind you again that this was official business?"

"I mean, who reported me?"

Fitzgerald started pressing the close doors button and said, "I'm afraid I can't divulge that information to you, sir."

The doors started closing and Ben said, "I'm filing a Freedom of Information Act request!"

Fitzgerald smiled and said, "You do that, sir," just before the doors closed.

Ben stepped back into his apartment and closed and locked the door. He turned into a Djinni and read the agent's mind.

The agent was feeling relief to be away from the asshat rich boy he wanted to strangle for daring to threaten him. He was tempted to go back and arrest him for threatening a federal agent and send him upriver for a long stretch, but he believed Ben's legal team would make mincemeat of the federal prosecutor in a trial. Especially since Ben had not, technically, threatened him. Ben had merely mentioned having bodyguards and asked to see his credentials again.

He opened his folder and crossed Ben's name off his list. He then thought back to the woman who had laid the accusations at Ben's feet and decided to add her name to his list. She might be a good candidate for a show trial. He was going to check out her background when he returned to the office.

Ben was relieved to read in the agent's mind that he was no longer considered a suspect.

Krista came back downstairs and said, "Is he gone? Ben? Are you still here?"

He changed back into himself and turned towards her. "Yes, I'm still here."

Krista smiled in relief. "Phew," she said, "that was a close one!"

"Meh," Ben said, making a face, "not really. They had no evidence that a crime had been committed in the first place. How would one prove that they were under mind control, anyway?"

Krista seemed to remember something and stood at attention. "Sir, I-"

"Stop," Ben said, interrupting her. He raised a hand towards her, palm out. "I'm sorry for all the shit I yelled at you girls earlier this morning. I didn't mean any of it."

Krista opened her mouth to say something, but Ben cut her off with, "I have to go back to my parents' place now. I want you to tell the girls that I'm sorry and that they're more than welcome to stay here for as long as they like, ok?" Krista looked unsure for a moment and then nodded. "Just ask them politely to remain here until this afternoon, when I'll come back and apologize properly. We'll talk then. All of us. Ok?"

Krista nodded, after a moment's hesitation, and Ben gave her a small smile of gratitude.

He teleported to his childhood bedroom and went downstairs to once again try and calm his parents down. He failed, but he did manage to channel their panic into more productive things than sitting around and bemoaning their fate. His mother cleaned the house and got rid of everything she deemed unnecessary for survival. His dad set about tuning up the Challenger and seeing to it that the car had the right amount of oil, the right tire pressure, etc.

Ben helped them as best he could. He hauled big items out of the house and loaded them in and on the Fiesta. He pressed the pedals of the Challenger when his dad told him to, so he could check the lights and brakes.

Finally, they finished what they were doing and reconvened for lunch in the dining room. Ben's mother doled out portions of a casserole and they all sat down to eat. Ben loved his mother's casserole. He tasted it and moaned in appreciation. "This is great, Mom."

"Thank you, dear," she said. She looked to be conflicted about something. She exchanged a long look with her husband; a look Ben didn't miss. He shoveled more food in his mouth and waited to see what would happen.

"Ben," she said and then hesitated. "You will stay here with us, won't you?"

"So we can keep you safe, son," his dad quickly added.

Ben took a good, long look at his parents' eyes. He could see their concern for him was genuine. They weren't fishing for him to stay and protect them. He gave a sad smile and said, "No. I won't be staying here." They looked sad to hear him say those words. "You two should focus on protecting each other," he said, "not waste your time worrying about me."

"We're your parents," his mother said, putting her hand over his, "we're always worrying about you."

Ben blinked back a sudden rush of tears and put his hand over his mother's. He patted it gently and said, "Don't. I'll be fine. It's the two of you that I'm worried about."

"Oh, we'll be fine," his father said. "Besides, nothing bad ever happens around here."

Ben's mother swatted his dad on the shoulder. "Jinx," she reproached.

"Sorry," he muttered and lowered his face towards his plate.

Ben's eyes flickered from one parent to the other in confusion. They had never before displayed any superstitions, not even once. He had never before even heard his mother say the word "jinx", and here she was, worried that his dad had jinxed them.

"Will you at least come with us to church so you can receive a blessing," his mother asked.

Ben stared at her in shock. He honestly didn't know what to say. His mother, who had had the lowest possible opinion of all religions and churches for as long as he could remember, was now speaking of going to a church to receive a blessing. If George R.R. Martin finally finished "The Winds of Winter", Ben would be less amazed. His eyes flicked over to his father, but his face was earnestly awaiting Ben's answer, as well. Ben's mouth worked with no sound coming out as he fumbled for words.

"Of course you will," his father said, at length. "As soon as we dump all the garbage in the Fiesta at the nearest landfill, we'll swing by the church."

"Where can we buy crucifixes," Ben's mother asked his father. "And a Bible? Where are those sold?"

"What's going on," Ben finally managed to spit out. "What are you two talking about? You're going to church? You'll buy a Bible? You're atheists!"

"Well, it's never too late to repent, son," his father said.

"Yes," his mother added, "it's said that the church always welcomes lost sheep."

"Repent," Ben spat out. "Lost sheep? What are you two on about?"

"Ben, dear," Ben's mother said, in her best, patiently maternal voice, "this is no longer a matter of beliefs and faith. God and the devil are both real."

"The devil made the dead rise," Ben's father said, "and God smote them down to save the faithful. He even healed the wounded."

"And that awful business in Manhattan," Ben's mother asked before clucking her tongue in disapproval.

Ben's father nodded and said, "Yes. You must have heard it yourself, Son. Every expert agreed that that wasn't natural."

"The devil did it," Ben's mother proclaimed with certainty and finality.

Ben gaped at the two of them in utter disbelief. He hadn't given a flying fuck about not getting the credit for stopping the cultists, but now he was sorely tempted to reveal himself. He just couldn't allow his parents to make such big decisions on the basis of lies. He opened his mouth and tried to decide on whether to say he was a magician, or if he should lead with a demonstration of his power. He decided to first talk about it and then he remembered the many, many times he had walked past his mother and her friends, who had been sitting in this very living room, and overhearing one of them say, "Now, don't repeat this to anyone, this was said to me in the strictest of confidences..."

His mother and all her friends were horrible gossips and that gave him pause. He told himself that she would keep his secret, if he were to reveal it, and not gossip about it, since this was something entirely different. Yet, he remembered how his mother would not shut up about his every, little achievement, from winning spelling bees to getting into college. She was always nagging people about the latest brilliant thing her son had done.

Ben looked at his mother and found himself believing that she'd brag about him if he told her he had been the one that destroyed the rats and undead and healed the survivors. Her eyes betrayed the shellshock she was experiencing from hearing about the undead and Ben couldn't conceive her staying mum about the truth if he shared it with her.

He wanted to tell her, but he couldn't afford to, he finally decided. If they so much as hinted to their friends that their son had intimate knowledge of what was really going on, they'd be hard pressed to divulge any information. They'd probably buckle under the pressure and share the truth with a trusted friend, who would then blab to the entire world in a heartbeat.

Telling them would paint a great, big target on them, Ben realized. They could be abducted by the cultists to draw him into a trap. Or they could be arrested by the government in an effort to control him. He couldn't see a chain of events that would unfold after he told his parents the truth without it ending badly for all involved. He came to a firm decision. He was going to leave his parents in the dark about things. He had to stay anonymous above all else, so he could ambush the enemy come March.

Just as he ended his internal deliberations, his mother firmly grasped his hand and said, "Ben, you need to have your soul saved. The devil has come calling." Ben blinked back another gush of moisture from his eyes and cleared his throat. "You must come with us and get baptized."

Ben cleared his throat again and said, "Yeah, about that... I'm already baptized." His mother and father gasped as one. "I joined a church, back at college, and I didn't tell you guys, cause I thought you'd disapprove."

His parents' expressions quickly changed from shocked to delighted. "Ben, that's wonderful," his mother exclaimed.

His father patted him on the back and said, "'Atta boy, Son! 'Atta boy!"

"You're not mad," Ben asked, affecting surprise.

"No, of course not, Son," his father said.

"We're just glad that you're safe from the devil's clutches," his mother added.

His parents smiled at him and his mother stroked his cheek. His throat was feeling tight, so he cleared it. His father looked down at his plate and pointed at it. He said, "We forgot to give grace!"

"Oh, dear," Ben's mother said. "We have so much to learn! Ben! Can you lead us in giving grace?"

Ben nearly barked out an incredulous "what", but he managed to keep a lid on it. If he had indeed been baptized, then he should know how to give grace. He had seen it done on TV often enough. He gestured and the three of them joined hands around the small table, with him and his dad reaching across it. They bowed their heads.

"Lord," Ben said, "bless us and this bounty which we are about to receive in Your... uh, mercy, and, uh, protect us and our loved ones. Amen!"

"Amen," his parents echoed. They smiled at him and the three of them finished their meal in short order. His dad and he drove the Fiesta to the landfill, which was unattended, and they unloaded all the crap Ben had hauled out of the car. They drove back to the house and Ben's mother joined them on the front lawn.

"Ben, darling, are you really going to leave," she asked.

"Yes, I really should be going," Ben said.

"I just wish you would stay here, with us," she said. "The trouble is hitting the big cities. This is a small town. We'll be hit last, probably. You should stay with us!"

"I would love to, Mom, but I have to get back to the city."

"I'm so scared that this is the last time we'll ever see you," she said. Her lower lip trembled and her eyes moistened.

"It isn't," Ben said. He hugged her. "I promise you it isn't."

She hugged him back and softly sobbed. "Ben," his dad said, "I think I know why you want to go back to the city." Ben gave him a questioning look. "You've met someone, haven't you? Someone that convinced you to convert. You want to get back to her, don't you?"

Ben's mother gasped at the mention of the gendered pronoun and broke their hug. She held Ben out at arm's length and gaped at him in offended disbelief. "Oh, fuck me," Ben thought to himself.

"Ben," she said, "you mustn't! It's a sin!"

Ben rolled his eyes and extricated himself from his mother's grasp. "Yeah, ok," he said, "I'm not-"

"Promise me," his mother shouted at him, after grabbing his upper arm in a death grip. "Promise me you will not fornicate with this girl! It's a sin, Ben. A mortal sin. You will go to Hell for it!"

Ben affected a tight grin and pried his mother's hand off his arm. "Fine," he said, "I promise."

"You have to stay a good boy, Ben," she said. "It's the only path to the salvation of your immortal soul."

"Yes, mother, I promise I will."

"Promise me!"

"I already have!"

His father put his hand on his mother's shoulder and said, "He promised, dear. You know our Ben, if he makes a promise, he keeps it." His mother looked unconvinced, but she nodded and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Thanks, Dad."

His father nodded and said, "You just use protection and confess after each time and the two of you will be alright."

"Martin," Ben's mother exclaimed in shock. "How can you say such a thing!?"

"We need to be realistic, Judy," Ben's dad said. "He's young. She's young, too, no doubt. We can't expect them to not give in to temptation, every now and then. Particularly in such high strung times as these."

Ben covered his ears with his hands as his parents started arguing about him having sex with his imaginary, religious girlfriend. "I'm leaving now," he said, still pressing his palms to his ears. "You call me if you need anything at all! I have a friend that lives around here and she'll come over and help you with anything you need." Ben's original plan for taking care of his folks was to teleport here, whenever they needed him, in his guise of an Asian girl. "Anything at all!"

His parents looked shocked that he was friends with a local girl. He turned around and started walking away. They followed him. "Wait, wait," Martin said, "who is this girl?"

"Surely, we know her," Judy said.

"She's a friend of mine and you don't know her," Ben said, "she has just moved here."

"Give us her phone number," Judy said.

"No." Ben shrugged at his mother. "She insists I not give it out to anyone. I already promised. But, don't worry. Whenever you call, she'll be here within minutes, ready to take care of anything."

"You can't expect a young girl to be able," Judy started saying.

Ben interrupted her with, "She will bring her cousins with her and they can deal with anything that crops up. I promise you that! Besides, I'll be stopping by to check up on you once, or twice a week. I promise!"

"That doesn't make sense, Ben," his mother said. "It would be better if you stayed here with us full time and not spent half your week on the road, going to and fro."

Ben stopped dead in his tracks and hugged his mother close. "Mother, I have to go." He let go of her and looked deep into her eyes. "We'll see each other soon." He turned around and resumed walking.

"No," she yelled after him. She ran to catch up and grabbed his sleeve. "No, you're staying with us, here, where it's safe!"

Ben sighed. This goodbye was becoming impossible, especially since a big part of him wanted to stay with his parents and keep them safe. He knew he couldn't. He may have been crazed with anger when he had yelled about it, but he did have a big battle to prepare for. He thought for a moment and came up with a story that would get his parents off his back. He said, "Mother, I've volunteered for watch duty at a graveyard in the city. I have to go."

He gave her another hug.

"At least let me drive you," Ben's dad said. Ben nodded and Martin ran off to the garage to start up the Challenger.

Judy stood still and rubbed Ben's back. He could see she was holding back tears. The car came roaring out of the garage and she said, "I'm proud of you, Ben."

"Stay safe," he said and got in the car.

Martin revved the engine a few times and called out to Judy, "Get back inside and lock the doors!" He gunned it and the Challenger burned rubber as it tore off down the street.

"Dad," Ben yelled out in surprise, "there aren't zombies chasing us! You can slow down a little!"

Martin lessened the pressure on the pedal only slightly. The muscle car roared down the empty streets of their small town, heading towards the bus depot. Ben braced himself through the corners as his dad took them at almost full speed, fishtailing out of them. He was quite a bit scared at seeing his father, who had always been the most sensible and calm of drivers, suddenly transform into a street racer, but he could see the gladness on his face. He looked like a kid in a candy store and Ben decided to disguise his unease.

When the car came to a stop in front of the bus depot, Ben said, "Thanks," and jumped out with his bag in hand.

"Wait," Martin called out after him. He got out to follow his son. "It looks deserted."

"I'm not taking the bus," Ben said. He was getting sick and tired of lying to his parents the whole morning long. His mother's interrogator ways had seemingly vanished with the coming of the apocalypse, but he still feared they might stage a comeback and subject him to a thorough and very circuitous questioning. He had an imaginary, religious girlfriend in the city, duty shifts at a graveyard and now he had to come up with a mundane explanation for going away without a bus. "I'm meeting up with some other volunteers nearby. They're giving me a ride." He decided to start writing things down so he could keep track of it all.

Martin nodded, but then said, "Well, let me drive you there."

"Nope," Ben said. "I have to show up all alone, without anyone following me. It's kind of a final test for new recruits, you know?" He bit the inside of his cheek at the flimsy excuse of a lie he had just put out. A quick glance to his father's face revealed that it might be accepted, but he couldn't risk any more questions. He turned around and jogged behind the bus depot building.

"Wait," his father called out after him. "You didn't tell us who these people are. Which organization did you join?"

"Bye, Dad! Keep Mom safe! Call if you need anything!"

It wasn't a proper goodbye, nor did he leave a convincing explanation for his imminent departure, but Ben couldn't stomach lying to his parents anymore. He turned the corner and did a quick check. No one was around to see him. He ducked behind a bush and made himself invisible before teleporting to his apartment.

He sighed in relief as he materialized at his place. "I need to become a better liar," he thought to himself. "That was pathetic."

He ended his invisibility and reached out to try and sense Lisa and Raven. The telepathic links to their minds had expired and he sighed. His heart started beating at the mere thought of walking downstairs. He feared that he would find the apartment empty, that the girls had changed their mind and left.

"Nonsense," he told himself. "I've read their minds. They want to stay at my side and help me fight. They want to fight." A grin crept up to his face and stayed there. He told it to go away, as he first had to contritely apologize for his outburst, but the grin just wouldn't listen.

He exited his bedroom and went looking for the girls. The other bedrooms were empty, so he lost the grin and descended the stairs. The girls weren't there, either. Ben's heart fluttered uncomfortably as he looked into every bathroom. He even dropped down to the carpeted floor and looked under each bed and behind the couch. The girls weren't there. He was all alone, except for a sleeping Felicia curled up behind the couch.

He shuffled over to the couch in the living room area, with all the energy of a man on death row, and sat down with a miserable grunt. His gaze was unfocused as he stared off into the distance. The empty, luxurious apartment seemed to be mocking him with the numerous, soft sounds an empty apartment filled with luxury electronics makes.