The time was midnight. Klaus was fast asleep by then, as were the rest of the children. Amongst the silence, Ben's room was filled with his choking sobs.
As many people do or don't know, Octopi are very hard to care for. When they're too stressed they eat themselves, too depressed they die. Ben tries his best to tame the beast enclosed in his body but some nights it doesn't work. He feels the beast try and eat itself alive, he can't do anything to stop it. He's overcome with a pain he had never felt in his life before. He couldn't move, paralyzed in his bed. All he could do was cry, and wait it out. He wanted to scream, he wanted to call out for Klaus, for Five, for Diego. But he couldn't talk. He was in so much pain he couldn't move his lips to press out the words.
He lie in bed, glaring at the ceiling through his hot tears. This was all Reginald's fault. He had pushed Ben over the limits, he had forced Ben to become stressed enough for his own powers to kill him. He was just a boy, and yet he was faced with such horrid pain and suffering. He wanted to kill Reginald for this. He saw what he had done to Klaus, he hates it. He just wants to be a normal kid.
As the last tears fall down his cheeks he utters his last words.
"Fuck you, Dad" He hissed through the pain as he gasps for his last breath.
His eyes close, Death following him soon after. When his eyes open, he's stood in Klaus bedroom. He assumes he already died, and now is conjured by Klaus while his brother was asleep. He sighs to himself, wandering the house silently. It's not like anyone would hear him, he was dead now, and the only person that could hear him was fast asleep. He passed his bedroom, peeking in on his own lifeless body. The tentacles that he once used to defeat enemies had curled up on his stomach, encasing his body in his own powers. Blood had splattered across his chest, and some of it was pooling in his now breathless mouth. His fists were tightly compact, probably because he was so angry when he had died. Ben leaves the room, not wanting to look at himself any longer. He walks back to Klaus' room and sits on a chair in the corner of the room. So far, ever since he had died he hadn't said anything. It was tempting to wake Klaus up, but he knew Klaus was tired from everything, and seriously needed his sleep.
An idea popped in his head.
If Ben was dead right now, surely he could do whatever he wanted now. He could leave his house, he could eat ice cream at the shop down the road. He could go to Griddy's and steal some doughnuts. He could have fun and not care who saw. A wide grin spread across his face as he ran out of the house excitedly. Although now that he was dead, he could see ghosts like Klaus could. Ghosts passed him buisiedly and not one of them looked at him. A woman passed by, seeing young Ben look around scared.
"Oh you poor boy, had died so young, I'm so sorry, are you lost here?" She asks him curiously.
"I-I'm okay" Ben stutters.
She looks at him solemnly and hands him a box. He takes it, childish curiosity in his eyes. He wondered what was in there, but there was no need to. The woman explained what was in the box for him.
"It's a box of sweets, I collect them from all over the world. I've been dead for quite some time, and I've collected sweets from all over. It's my daughter I was collecting them for. You can have them though, she's far too old for the childish sweets now anyways." She explains, smiling down at Ben.
"Thank you" He grins at her as she walks away, waving slightly at the boy.
He giddily runs back home, running to Klaus' room, excited to give him the candy the woman gifted him. But then he remembers that he was dead, and Klaus cannot touch the dead. He poured but it disappeared the moment he opened the box. There were assorted colors, different chocolates, flavors, even sour candies. Ben had grinned so widely it looked like he was a Cheshire cat on Christmas morning. Of course his family didn't celebrate Christmas, but this seemed like the closest he could get.
He pulled out a candy, not caring what flavor it was. It was a dazzling blue, like a sapphire gem sparkling in his hand. He hesitantly tasted it, eyes widening in shock moments after. Ben had known what ice cream tasted like, he had it before when they were younger on their missions. But recently he never received any awards for his actions after missions. The candy was one of the most sweet things he had ever tasted. It brought him back to when he was younger and had treats after every mission.
He was truly happy here, sitting in Klaus' room as a ghost. He was very grateful of the woman and wished he could see her again one day. He wished he could thank her more for showing him what his childhood could have been like.
(I'm gonna cry ;( poor Ben my bby boi)
