The Trials of November

Chapter Eighteen

"How could you do this?" Ben cried. "You're a monster." He said. The pain in his voice was obvious. David let Ben go with a laugh, and Ben stood up quickly, running to the edge of the dock.
He looked over the edge, and watched his tears fall onto the broken ice.
Ben was suddenly filled with a kind of rage that he had never known. He wanted to make David feel a lot of pain. He wanted David to feel the loss of the person who was most important to him.
Ben whirled around, with eyes like fire.
"How could you do that?" Ben asked, running at David. "She never did anything wrong. How could you possibly do that?" Ben shouted, grabbing David by the collar of his jacket.
David reached for his gun.
"Don't." Ben said, with all of the rage and anger that he had within him. He grabbed David's gun and pointed it at his chest. David froze with fear.
"Please." David said. "Don't do this."
"You are a coward." Ben said, pulling the trigger. The bullet shot straight through David's chest, and he fell to the ground. Ben dropped the gun and took a few staggering steps backwards.
He then looked at the ice, and jumped in, swimming straight for the bottom as fast as he could. He felt around the lake floor, and he felt nothing but rocks and sand and vegetation. Ben swam to the surface and took a deep breath before plunging back into the cold water again.
He went back down all the way to the bottom, and he felt around again. Ben tried opening his eyes but everything was too dark to see.
He was about to go back to the surface again but then he felt her jacket. He knew that it belonged to his girlfriend, and he gave one big tug, pulling Victoria to the surface, breaking through the thin layer of ice that was above them.
Ben pulled Victoria up onto the dock, ignoring David's body that was only feet away. The water that covered the two of them was beginning to freeze, but Ben didn't care.
"Please, Victoria." Ben begged, but his girlfriend had no life left within her. Her face was pale and her hands were cold. Her eyes were closed, and her wet clothes and hair stuck to her. The place where the bullet penetrated her leg was not even bleeding anymore.
Ben knew that she was gone, and it tore him apart.
Ben let out a blood curdling scream, that was so filled with pain that the wind itself stopped blowing. He was crying and screaming, curled up in a ball on the dock, between the two casualties of the night.
He could not believe that that had happened. Just yesterday everything was perfect. Now his world was completely shattered.
Ben did not realize how quickly his whole world could come tumbling down. How fragile life actually was. He never had realized before that the things that matter most in the world are just as insignificant in the end as those who cause all of the pain and suffering in the world.
Victoria and David were two totally different people, with two totally different histories. One of them a criminal and a murderer, and the other one was someone who was willing to give up her own life for the sake of a small child. But, in that moment, those two people were in the same state. They were both cold, and they were both pale, and they were both dead.
Ben was completely overcome with grief. It felt as though nothing could ever make him happy again, now that the love of his life was dead. He was bent over on the dock. He felt as though he was being consumed from the inside out by some unrelentless bacteria.
Ben let himself cry. He didn't like to cry. He did not like to show that much weakness. It made him feel helpless, but in that moment, he was helpless. She was dead. She was gone, and there was nothing that he could do about it.
Suddenly, he heard a tiny voice from behind him.
"Ben?" Anne said, taking in the whole scene. Ben turned around and saw her, and her grabbed her and turned her the other way, praying that she did not see all of the things that he had done.
"Anne, please go back." Ben said. He just wanted to be alone. He did not want to have to deal with his younger sister. She made him happy, but she did not understand his pain like he needed her to.
"No, Bennie." Anne protested. "I am here with you." And in that moment, Ben dropped to his knees and began crying. Anne grabbed him around his neck and squeezed tight, and Ben hugged her back. Tears were sinking into Anne's jacket, but neither of them really cared. He was suddenly happy that he was not alone. He was happy that he had his sister, even though he was not before. Ben felt a migraine coming on, and he closed his eyes, trying not to cry.
"She is gone." Ben said. Anne was obviously very sad, but she had a way to her that was much more mature than he had ever seen in her before. It was amazing, and he was very happy that she was channeling her mature self in that moment. He needed it desperately.
"I know Bennie." Anne replied, still hugging her brother. "It's okay. I miss her too." She said, so innocently that it amazed Ben, and he was suddenly overcome with sadness. He began bawling, sobbing harder than he ever had before. Anne didn't let go of him, and he didn't let go of her.
After a while, Ben decided that they needed to go.
He did not want to stay there next to the love of his life who was not living. It was much too depressing for him.
He stood up, and picked up Anne. They looked back at the two bodies there, and turned around. They began to walk away then, and Ben pulled out his phone to call the police.
She was gone. The love of his life was gone. Ben could not get it out of his head. He was so overcome with pain and grief that it was hard for him to walk. He and Anne walked away together, off the dock and through the beach, both thinking about Victoria, and wishing that she was there with them.
Once the sound of sirens was heard far away but was nearing, Ben put Anne down slowly.
"This is going to be a mess." Ben said, rubbing his eyes. He knew that the police would make a big deal about it, and he really did not want more drama than there already was. He had lost the love of his life that night. He did not want to have to deal with some nosy police too.
"I know, Ben." Anne said softly, holding his hand. "It will be okay. I will be here with you through the whole thing. And wanna know something?" Anne asked with a gentle smile.
"What?" Ben asked.
"Victoria will be there with you too."