#dark!ben

A huge warm hand rested on your upper thigh, squeezing it affectionately in time with the song coming in static waves through the radio.

Through the window, you watched the spattering of reds, yellows, and oranges that hung in the leaves, taking in all the luscious colors of October.

Your husband, Ben Solo, smiled over at you as he drove you deeper into the colorful wilderness, your happiness bringing a smile to his own lips. He gripped your thigh, drawing your attention back to him, allowing him to lean over to kiss you while on a straight stretch of road.

Ben smiled, pleased with himself. He had booked a week away with you during your favorite season so you could enjoy the beauty of October and his undivided attention. He found an isolated cabin, deep in the forested Cold Hollow Mountains in upstate Vermont, so close to Canada that the French stations had begun to crackle through the radio.

Your last stop in the tiny town that marked the final outpost of civilization was only to collect groceries and fill your gas tank.

The final gas station on your way out of town was tiny and rundown, no doubt few customers ventured down these back roads.

Only one other vehicle was parked at the single gas pump, a vintage van with camping gear strapped to its roof. Several laughing collage aged co-ed’s stood around the van as the gas pumped, stretching their legs and laughing amongst themselves.

Ben parked at the pump and started fueling your SUV before heading into the small convenience store. You lingered beside the pump, stretching your legs and enjoying the fresh air, briskly chilled by an autumn breeze.

You causally eyed the group opposite you. Three men and two women. All were attractive people, part of the popular clique and the jock club, no doubt. As you watched, it was plain to place the two couples together. A young perky blonde woman and a tan athletic man with a hipster style goatee. A preppy brunette woman and a slender overtly nerdy looking man with glasses. Oddly, the single man was by far the most attractive. Dark blonde hair, blue eyes, chiseled features, tall, muscled, and almost as large as your husband. Almost.

The handsome stranger caught your casual appraisal and walked toward you with a swagger and a cocky smile. Great.

You pulled your open sweater around you tighter, looking back over your shoulder in the direction of the store from which Ben would be returning.

Your back was facing the convenience store as you stood beside the pump. The man walked toward you until he stood between you and your SUV, closer than the length of the gas hose stringing from the pump to your gas tank.

“I’m Chad,” he said, extending his hand.

You took it awkwardly, feeling oddly impolite to decline a handshake. “Y/N.”

“We’re headed out camping in the Cold Hollow wilderness area,” Chad volunteered. “Not many people come out this way unless they’re doing the same.”

“My husband and I rented a cabin for the week,” you answered his unasked question.

“Husband? Lucky guy,” Chad said with a handsome grin, leaning in toward you further. “What’s a man gotta do to get a wife like you?”

“Ensure she never wants to look anywhere else,” a deep voice boomed threateningly from behind you as a large powerful hand came to rest at the nape of your neck. Ben’s hand was so large that his fingers could reach to the front of your throat from that position.

Ben advanced until his broad chest pressed against your back. You could feel the aggression radiating off of him in waves. He bent to whisper in your ear, “Isn’t that right, gorgeous.” He punctuated his statement with a pointed kiss to your neck.

You leaned into his mouth, sighing pleasantly, and bringing a hand up to caress his thick hair.

“Well, maybe we’ll see each other around,” Chad muttered awkwardly as he retreated to his van.

Ben led you back to the passenger side of your SUV, opening the door for you and holding it as you stepped back inside. Instead of closing it, he moved to stand in the open door, leaning inside to kiss you deeply.

“My lovely wife,” Ben smirked at you. “I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without some swinging dick trying to come and move in on my territory.”

“Don’t worry, Ben. Yours is only dick I want swinging around me,” you smiled against his mouth.

Ben kissed you again before closing your door and returning to the driver’s seat, sparing one more malicious glare at the handsome man standing beside his van, watching you both pull away.

“You’re too pretty for your own damn good, Y/N.” Ben said with mock annoyance as he pulled away from the gas station.

“No, but maybe for your own good,” you teased.

Ben had always been wildly possessive of you. He knew rationally that he never had anything to worry about, but that did little to dampen his impulses. Growing up and as a young man, Ben never had anything that belonged to him. The only things to which he could lay claim were his accomplishments, his skills. He built an empire with his own force of will so that he could have something that belonged to him. And then there was you. You were the only thing in his life that he felt had ever truly been his. And he would never never let you go. Not that you ever would go anywhere, you would never take a step in a direction that took you away from him.

Your turns through the forest quickly led you to dirt roads, growing progressively narrower and more winding as they carried you deeper into the wilderness.

An hour or so after the pavement ended you arrived at your destination. A beautiful cabin seated in an autumn tinged clearing. A small lake was only a few yards away. The surrounding forest was dense and picturesque.

Upon exiting the SUV, you stretched your back, reaching your arms high above your head. Ben had walked around to your side of the vehicle and he rushed you while you stretched, stooping low to scoop you over one of his wide shoulders. You yelped with surprise as he lifted you easily, smacking your ass for the hell of it.

He carried you into the cabin, moving through the the kitchen and past the fireplace in the living room, pretending as though you weren’t still slung over his shoulder and ignoring your fists hitting his back playfully.

“This is nice, isn’t it?” He remarked as he moved toward the bedroom.

Ben entered the bedroom with a twirl, spinning you dizzily around, before he flipped you back over his shoulder, tossing you on the bed.

Before Ben could pounce on you, you sat up to appraise the room. Ben walked through the space, hands in the pockets of his jeans, doing the same.

The bedroom was surprisingly nice and the furniture looked antique. The king sized bed was even a distinguished four-poster. It was filled with old tin-type sepia toned photographs, seated inside oddly ornate frames.

However, all this paled in comparison to the rooms’ centerpiece.

A huge mirror hung on the wall facing the foot of the bed. It reached almost the full height of the wall, floor to ceiling, and was nearly as wide as the king bed. It was framed in a thick silver gilded frame, blacked now with age and tarnish, even the edges of the mirror itself were tinged black with age. The body of the mirror was crystal clear and sharp.

Oh, this is going to be fun, you thought as you looked at Ben with an eyebrow raised playfully.

He grinned like an idiot back at you, looking between you and the gigantic mirror.

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Shadows grew long as evening approached when you had finally finished unpacking and getting settled.

Ben had fired up an outside grille and prepared steaks for you both. You reclined, drinking a glass of wine, watching his broad back as he worked at the grille and the marvelous autumn sunset, undecided as to which was the better view.

You dined inside, near the large living room fireplace that Ben ensured was alive with flames.

Music played from the small speaker connected to your phone. There was no service. No TV, phone, or internet. That was an aspect you were particularly enjoying, that nothing could take Ben’s attention away from you.

After you both finished your dinner and the bottle of wine, Ben rose from his seat moving to stand beside you, extending his hand with a goofy grin. As soon as your hand landed in his, he pulled you up into his arms for a tipsy dance. You laughed against his chest as he swayed with you in his arms.

You raised your arms to wrap around his neck, pulling him down to kiss you deeply. Your bodies still moved together, vaguely following the beat of the music, as your kisses grew more passionate, quickly turning to sucking and biting.

You reached for the hem of Ben’s sweater, pulling it off of him and rendering his hair a wild wavy mess. He made quick work of removing your clothes, pulling off your top and throwing it to the side before sliding your jeans down over your ass and legs.

His mouth had now dropped to kiss your neck and bite your skin in that perfect way that sent goosebumps trailing down your spine.

You unbuttoned his jeans, reaching inside to palm his already hard cock through his briefs. He wasted no time in shoving both his jeans and boxer briefs down and kicking them aside.

Ben backed you into the bedroom, his lips biting into your neck and his cock prodding at your stomach as he removed your bra. You backed toward the bed, but Ben gripped your hips, steering you instead to the foot of the bed. In front of the giant floor to ceiling gilded mirror.

Moonlight streamed in through large windows illuminating the otherwise dark bedroom in an ethereal glow. The silver frame of the mirror shimmered in the moonlight and the mirror itself reflected the soft light back upon you and Ben.

Ben knelt in front of you. He was so tall, his head still reached the level of your throat, placing him in the perfect position to lick and kiss down your collarbone and chest, lowering himself until his mouth was on your tits. He pressed his large nose into the side of one of your tits, feeling your soft flesh surround him as he nuzzled down to your nipple. Your hands twisted into his thick hair, tugging it hard just the way he liked as he pulled your nipple into his mouth, teasing it with his teeth as his tongue flicked against you.

“Fuck, Ben, I love your mouth,” you sighed as you fisted his hair harder, earning a pleasured rumble echoing through his chest. He yanked your panties down in one quick motion.

Ben grabbed the backs of your knees, bending them toward him, encouraging you to kneel with him on the floor. You sank down to your knees in front of him, your tits brushing down his body as his lips trailed back up yours until you were both on your knees in front of the mirror. His cock was pressed between you both, throbbing as it rested against your belly, the tip just below your breasts, smearing precum against your ribs.

Ben’s lips were on yours again, kissing you hungrily as his tongue danced with yours. He spent minutes kissing you. He was never rushed with you, always reveling in the feeling of your body and the pleasure he could give you.

When he pulled away from your mouth it was only enough to whisper, “Turn around, beautiful” against your lips.

You turned so your back was pressed against Ben’s chest, kneeling in front of him, facing the mirror. Your body failed to obscure much of his massive frame as he loomed behind you, so much taller and broader than your smaller figure.

Ben’s arms surrounded you, holding you tight against him. He dropped his head to your shoulder to kiss and bite at your skin. When you were arching back against him, he loosened his grip around you, his right hand moving to squeeze one of your breasts as his left traced down over your stomach to your pussy.

You watched in the mirror as Ben’s huge body draped over yours, his wavy hair jostling as his mouth moved over your skin, and his powerful arms covering you. You were entranced by the reflection as his large hand covered your pussy, his thick fingers teasing along the outside of your lips. You felt his mouth turn up in a grin against your neck when he felt how wet you were for him.

You sighed with pleasure when he pushed his middle and ring finger into you. He loved fucking you with his ring finger since the day you were married, a reminder to you that he was yours. The cool metal band added a shock of sensation as it slid into you.

He raised his head now to enjoy your reflections in the mirror. “Look how wet your little pussy is. I love watching you drip for me,” he growled near your ear.

You watched as his fingers pumped in and out of you slowly, shining with your arousal in the moonlight. It would be quick work for him to make you cum on his fingers like this, but that’s not what you wanted. You bent forward, Ben’s hand slipping from you, and pushed your ass out for him. He groaned at the sight of your glistening pussy as you arched your back.

Ben ran the thick head of his cock through the wetness leaking out of your pussy before pushing inside of you, thrusting in completely in one stroke, pulling your hips back against him at the same time.

You fisted the carpet and moaned his name as he stretched you. No matter how many times you fucked him, that first thrust in always skirted the line between pleasure and pain beautifully.

Ben smoothed one hand across your back, the other gripping your hip roughly, as he thrust into you. “Fuck, how does your pussy always squeeze my cock so tight,” he huffed, head falling back in ecstasy.

After a few hard thrusts into you, his hand on your back reached to grip the back of your neck, pulling you upright from your position on your hands and knees. He raised your body until your back pressed against his chest again, one of his arms draped across your shoulder to return to squeeze one of your breasts, his other hand still gripping your hip.

“I want you to watch me fuck you,” Ben growled in your ear. “I want you to see how pretty your pussy is when it’s full of my fat cock.”

You watched your reflections as Ben’s thick cock spread you open, shiny with your slick as he fucked into you. This new angle had your pussy tensing after only a few drags of Ben’s cock, each thrust rubbing his entire length firmly against your g-spot.

Your head dropped back onto Ben’s shoulder in pleasure as he fucked you toward your orgasm.

“Head up, sweetheart,” Ben hissed between thrusts, “I want you to see how fucking pretty you are when you cum for me.”

You did as he commanded, raising your head to watch yourself as you shuddered and your pussy clenched around Ben’s cock, cumming in waves of pleasure while moaning his name. You watched as Ben’s face strained as he fucked you through your blinding orgasm, your pussy fluttering around his cock with every thrust.

Your body was limp and your thighs were shaking as you came down from your high, now needing the support of Ben’s strong arms to keep you upright. You reached one of your arms back to twist into his hair and grip his head for balance as he continued to fuck you.

Ben slammed his cock up into roughly now, bruising your hip as his fingers dug into you, grunting his praise into your neck as his cock began throbbing inside you. “I love your little pussy so fucking much. So tight for me. So fucking perfect.”

He trailed wet open kisses sloppily up your neck as he fucked you hard, “You were made for my cock. This pussy’s all mine. You’re all fucking mine.”

Ben raised his head to watch your reflections as he came with his teeth bared in a growl, thrusting his cock as far into you as he could as his cum pumped into you in thick bursts.

He reached a hand to your chin, turning your head around and up allowing him to capture your lips. His lips moved from yours to your cheek then to your jaw, where he nipped you gently.

You felt his cum begin to trickle out of your pussy around his cock. Ben felt it too, looking to the mirror again as he kissed your ear.

“Isn’t that a beautiful sight?” He said with a smirk, meeting your eyes in the reflection.

You tugged his hair playfully in response.

Later, you both laid naked under the sheets. Ben had you pulled against his massive chest, petting your hair with one hand while his other hand pinned your own to its favorite spot on his chest.

“What do you think of this place?” Ben asked as he kissed your hairline.

“It’s perfect,” you whispered into his chest.

“No, there’s only one thing here that’s perfect,” he punctuated his statement with another kiss. “I love you, darling. You’re everything to me.”

“I love you too, handsome,” you kissed his chest. “I’m yours.”

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The hand on the antique bedside clock struck 3:30am. The fall of the minute hand into place resounding like a hammer in your subconscious, rousing you awake from a deep dreamless sleep. Your eyes opened as if of their own accord, consciousness finding you by some internal compulsion.

The bed was cold beside you. A shiver ran the length of your spine as you saw Ben standing at the foot of the bed, facing the mirror.

An unnatural chill had settled in the room, you assumed a draft in one of the old windows was letting the frigid October air seep in. You pulled the blankets around yourself more tightly as you sat up in the large vacant bed.

“Ben, come warm me up,” you asked groggily, reaching out a hand to him.

His back still turned to you, you saw his reflection in the mirror was motionless. Not a breath. Not a blink. His expression stern as he looked into the eyes of his reflection. A light sheen of sweat glimmered on his bare chest, glistening in the moonlight, despite the chilled air in the room.

Moonlight creeping through the windows cast shadows in the pale glow throughout the room, reflected in the mirror with a seeming fluidity of movement that gave them a surreal edge as the shadows danced on the wall behind Ben’s reflection.

You rubbed your eyes as you told him more firmly, “I’m cold, Ben. Get your ass back over here.”

Ben turned to face you, a lopsided smile on his lips, and crawled up the bed, returning to his place beside you.

You were groggy, eyes blurry with sleep. Maybe you still were half asleep, still half entrapped in a dream... Because when Ben turned from the mirror to return to the bed beside you, you could swear that his reflection lagged behind, failed just by a second, a single heartbeat, to follow Ben’s movement. Lagged just long enough for you to meet the eyes of the reflection in the mirror. Eyes that weren’t looking where Ben’s had been. Eyes that were looking right into yours, boring into your very soul, and below them Ben’s face held a subtle upturned snarl.

The small hairs on the back of your neck raised, a shiver of pinpricks washing over you, as Ben pushed you back down onto your side on the bed when he came to lay behind you. He curled his huge warm body around you, kissing your neck where your hair still stood rigid, and fell asleep against you almost instantly.

Even though Ben slept deeply at your back, snoring lightly with his large arms holding you, protecting you, you couldn’t shake an irrational feeling that he was the only one asleep in the room. That, somehow, the room itself was awake now.

Light had begun to chase the black out of the night sky when sleep finally returned to you.

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Day Two.

You woke groggily, late the next morning to the sound of Ben noisily making coffee in the kitchen. Sunlight streamed in through the windows. You rubbed your eyes and stretched as the events of the previous night came back to you. What the fuck did you actually see in that mirror?

You sat up in bed, facing the mirror, studying it intently. Only your own disheveled reflection looked back at you.

“That was something last night, wasn’t it?” Ben’s deep voice startled you as he leaned in the doorway, admiring you as you sat up naked in the bed, sheets pooling around your waist.

He approached you with a mug of steaming coffee he had prepared for you. Setting the mug on the nightstand, he pushed you back down on the bed sideways as he crawled on top of you, burying his head against your throat.

“Did you see anything weird in that mirror last night, Ben?” You asked as he kissed your neck. “Anything off?”

“Sure did,” he mumbled against your skin before pulling back enough to look down at you with a smirk. “I’ve never seen your little pussy get destroyed like that before.”

You smacked his shoulder, only making his smirk widen into a grin, “I’m serious!”

“Sweetheart. There could have been a fucking parade going on behind us in that mirror and unless it crossed in front of your pussy, or maybe your tits, I wouldn’t have noticed a damn thing,” Ben huffed as he laughed at you.

He moved to kiss you, but you turned your head, “Why were you standing in front of the mirror in the middle of the night?”

“Was I?” He asked with a mildly confused look. “I don’t remember doing that, but you know I have trouble sleeping sometimes.” He shrugged above you, “It couldn’t have been too bad. I feel great today.”

He connected with your lips this time, kissing you sweetly. “What do you want to do today, beautiful?” He asked against your lips.

“I want to get out of here for the day,” you kissed him back. “Maybe we can drive around and look at the foliage.”

Ben hummed into your mouth as he kissed you.

“Where would you want to go?” You asked, pushing him back.

“Where do I want to go to look at the foliage?” Ben raised his eyebrows at you, “Right here. I’ll have a great view of it out of the bedroom window while I’m fucking you.”

You smacked him again, pushing him to roll off of you as he laughed.

“I’m taking a shower first either way,” you told him brusquely as you rose to make your way to the bathroom.

You paused at the bathroom door to look back at him. Ben had risen too and was now standing next to the mirror, stroking the frame, appraising it. He must have believed you and was looking for anything suspicious. He was always good about listening to you.

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The hot water steamed every surface in the small bathroom, making the tile slick and the mirror fogged. The view outside through a single medium sized window was also soon obscured by a dripping coat of fog.

You had begun to feel much better, standing under the hot water. You were being irrational about seeing things in the mirror. Furthermore, why would you ever be concerned about anything that goes bump in the night when you had a man like Ben taking care of you? He was huge and powerful, and entirely loyal to you. And you knew the things he was capable of, the things he’d done in his past. Horrible things. Just because he had given that up for you, turned a new leaf for you, didn’t mean that he was a new man. The beast in him was dormant, but hardly dead. You had nothing to worry about so long as you had him.

You sighed contentedly at the thought and let the hot water run over your head, soaking your hair. You squeezed shampoo into your palms and ran it through your hair, massaging it in as you let your face tip toward the water. You closed your eyes to enjoy the water running over your face, taking so much stress away with it.

You felt Ben approach you from behind, his large looming presence was hard to camouflage. You felt his fingers trail ever so lightly along your spine. They were cold. Strange for Ben who always ran hot. No matter, he’d warm quickly under the steaming water. You felt his hand make another swipe up your back as you worked the shampoo into your hair.

“Oh, that feels so good, Ben,” you moaned into the running water still hitting your face.

You jumped violently when you heard the bathroom door open and the floorboards creek under a heavy weight, rousing you from your pleasure. You turned quickly to grab onto Ben behind you, but you were alone in the shower. Ben stood in the doorway, still fully clothed, having just entered the bathroom.

“You can’t even take a shower without moaning my name?” He smiled at you.

You were too shocked to speak for a moment. Ben took the opportunity to begin undressing.

“Ben, there was someone in here with me!” Your voice shook as shampoo ran down your face.

“No, but there will be someone in there with you real quick,” Ben said as he pulled his grey tshirt over his head and tossed it aside.

You were shaking as you moved to step out of the shower, shampoo still unwashed from your hair and streaming down your body in soapy rivulets.

Ben had moved to the shower door and stopped you with his hands firmly on your shoulders. “What’s gotten into you?” He asked as he gently pushed you back into the shower.

He stepped out of his pajama pants and followed you in, not giving you a chance to respond, “You need to relax, Y/N. There’s no one here. Only me.”

His warm hands guided you back under the stream and rose from your shoulders to gently work the suds from your hair under the water.

“Relax. I’ll take care of you,” he smiled down at you

You leaned against him, resting your head and hands on the thick expanse of his chest as he stroked your hair and back.

He brought his hand to stroke your cheek with his thumb, then moving it under your chin to tilt your face up to him so he could kiss you. Drawing back slightly to look down at you with a mischievous smile, he asked you, “How about you wash my hair for me and I’ll help you relax?”

Ben dropped his head to kiss your shoulder as his hands moved to your waist. He trailed kisses slowly down your body, stooping as low as he could before he had to lower himself to his knees to continue. His tongue traced down the center of your body, as he made himself as low as he could. He paused to kiss at your navel as he looked up at you wickedly.

You smiled down at him and twisted a hand into his thick hair, fisting it roughly and making him grin up at you. You squeezed shampoo into it with your other hand before moving both hands to rub it into his hair, scratching his scalp as you did.

Ben backed you against the tile and grabbed one of your legs behind your knee, hiking it over his shoulder. He gripped your ass with both hands, pulling your hips toward him, as he pushed his prominent nose against your folds and his mouth began hungrily kissing and licking your pussy.

Your head fell back against the cool tile. A moan escaped your lips as you arched your back, pushing your shoulders back against the wall and your hips further against Ben’s mouth as your fingers twisted through his hair.

Ben was incredible with his mouth, you could feel the warm tension building in your abdomen after a few short minutes.

You felt Ben’s lips smirk against you when your hips starting involuntarily bucking into him. He took the cue to press his nose against your clit, rubbing it as he sucked and licked through your pussy.

Your pussy fluttered as your orgasm hit you hard, Ben’s hands on your ass pulling you even harder against his mouth as you came.

Just as your eyes were falling shut in ecstasy, movement caught your eye. You jerked your head to the side as your pussy clenched.

A large shadow stood at the window, blurry behind the steam, but facing you square. Looking inside.

You shrieked Ben’s name, pulling his hair violently. He only licked into your pussy harder, thinking it was pleasure driving your outburst.

Your jaw was slack in a mix of fear, shock, and ecstasy as your thighs shook as you came in waves. What must have only been the span of a few heartbeats felt like long minutes as the figure stood at the window.

When you finally regained control of your body, you jerked Ben’s head up to face you. He smiled smugly as he looked up at you.

“There’s someone outside the fucking window!” You failed to hide the fear in your voice.

Ben’s head swung violently toward the window, seeing the figure too just as it moved away. But Ben wasn’t shocked or frightened, he was mad as hell.

He rose immediately with a snarl and shoved his way out of the shower, pausing only to grab his pajama pants off the floor, having significant difficulty pulling them up over his huge and fully erect cock. Once clothed, he charged out of the bathroom.

You followed as quickly as you could, pulling on Ben’s discarded charcoal T-shirt over your dripping body.

A knock at the front door sounded through the cabin. You emerged from the bedroom just in time to see Ben, fists clenched, chest expanded, and shoulders set, yank the door open violently, the doorknob slamming into the wall from the force.

It was fucking Chad from the gas station standing on the other side, wearing a handsome friendly smile.

“Good mornin-“ Chad was cut off by Ben’s snarl as Ben pushed through the open door, puffing his chest out as he advanced aggressively on Chad, pushing him back out onto the porch.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Ben growled loudly, “You trying to get a look at my fucking wife through that window?”

“No, no,” Chad said as he backed away holding his hands up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

Ben didn’t respond, other than a tooth-baring sneer forming on his lips as he lowered his head at the other man maliciously.

You reached Ben’s side on the porch, still slightly out of breath from your scare in the shower. You placed a firm hand on his arm, encouraging him to turn his attention to you and calm down. You had seen him lose his temper before. You knew what could happen if he snapped.

Ben calmed slightly at your touch. You saw his fists unclench and felt his muscles loosen just barely under your hand. Until he turned to look at you.

You were still wet from the shower, dripping onto the wooden porch. Ben’s gray shirt clung to you, hanging down just barely below your ass, the dampness sticking it against you and darkening the fabric. It clung especially to your breasts, the wet material accentuating the swell of your tits and your still aroused and pert nipples.

Ben turned on you then, growling louder. His arm that you held shot up to your chest, fisting the fabric of his own shirt you wore as he roughly shoved you back inside. Turning his back to Chad as he advanced on you, marching you back into the cabin with his hand at your sternum.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Ben directed at you. He was on the verge of yelling at you now, his eyes glaring down at you, “This fucking hard on wants a peek of you and you come out here like a little slut and give it to him!”

“Jesus, Ben.” You tried to stay calm yourself, bringing your hand to rest on his huge fist as it clenched the fabric of the tshirt you wore. “Calm down.”

“I didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” Chad said, loud enough to pull Ben’s attention back from you. Chad had returned to stand in the doorway. His posture was an attempt at casual non-aggression, but he was also poised to intervene if Ben escalated. Bad idea, Chad, you thought.

“I just came up here to ask if you’d seen a couple of my friends,” Chad asked with a forced lightness to his tone.

Ben glared maliciously at him over his shoulder, a twitch under his left eye.

Chad continued, “We’re camping out by the lake. About a half a mile down from you.” He directed his dialogue to Ben, but his attention was on you. “Two of my friends, you saw us all at the gas station, James and Sarah, wandered off late last night and they haven’t come back yet.”

“We haven’t seen anyone else,” you offered. “We didn’t know anyone else was even in the area.”

Ben turned back toward Chad, “There’s not supposed to be anyone else here. We’re supposed to be fucking alone.”

“It’s fine, Ben,” you say softly as you place a hand on his arm again.

“Sorry, we can’t help you,” you told Chad, hoping he would go away.

“Ok, well,” Chad spoke directly to you now, no longer trying to disguise his intended audience. “Let me know if you need any help with anything. We’re not far down that way,” he gestured with a large muscled arm along the lake as it stretched away from your cabin.

Ben stepped in front of you, his body shielding yours behind him. “She doesn’t need a fuckin’ thing from you, buddy.”

Chad held his hands up again as he backed away, retreating from the door. He turned to walk away but after a few steps, turned back to you with a seeming afterthought, “We’re grilling some burgers tonight. Why don’t you both come by. Burgers. Beer. Campfire. It’ll be a good time. Let me apologize for causing any problems.”

You squeezed Ben’s arm, “We were going to go for a walk later. Maybe we’ll stop by.” Your hand moved down Ben’s arm to lace your fingers through his. “And I’ll let your friends know you’re looking for them, if I see them.”

Chad smiled and waved at you both before turning to walk back toward his campsite.

Ben slammed the door and turned back to you, breathing heavily with the rage he was barely subduing.

You reached a hand out to him, but he brushed you aside, walking in long strides back to the bedroom. That was new. He never pushes you away. No matter what hell might be going on in Ben’s world, you were always there to help him through it. You were always his light in the darkness. He also never took his anger out on you. Ben had never before been aggressive toward you. Never.

You followed him tentatively. Ben was pacing when you entered. Still wearing only his pajama pants, you could see the thick muscles of his torso flexing and rippling beneath his sweat slick skin as he paced back and in forth in front of the mirror.

“Ben?” You lingered at the door. His pacing continued, fists clenching, chest heaving. “Ben.” You commanded more firmly.

This time Ben reacted as though you had slapped him across the face. His entire body jolted as his head jerked to face you, “Y/N?” He sounded confused.

Ben turned to face the mirror, studying it for a moment before running his hand through his wet tangled hair.

You walked to stand in front of him, placing your hands on his heaving chest.

This time he looked down at you and placed both of his huge hot hands over your small cool ones. He brought both of your hands to his lips, kissing them in turn. His expression was pained as he looked down at you.

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” Ben said softly. “I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

“It’s alright.” You stood on your tip toes, encouraging him to bend down to kiss you.

Ben kissed you gently before pressing his forehead against yours, “I’m not feeling like myself, Y/N. Why don’t you go for a walk. Take the car and head into town even. Get us some more wine.”

He kissed you again, “I don’t want to take anything else out on you.” He looked down at you with concern.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” you soothed. “I’m not going anywhere without you, Ben.”

Ben raised his head to look over yours, into the mirror once more. He seemed to calm himself. All signs of contrition and concern vanishing from his features, which turned stoic.

“I know you’ll never leave,” Ben cocked a half smile down at you.

He moved his hands to your waist, pulling you closer to him, “You said you wanted to take a walk later. Let’s combine that with catching the sunset. On the way back we can stop by those college pricks and their campfire.”

You raised a quizzical eyebrow.

Ben shrugged, “Maybe I overreacted. We should make an appearance so that cocky fucking do-gooder doesn’t think I’m keeping you chained to the bed or something.”

His fingers reached to the bottom of the tshirt you wore, teasing the hem.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, handsome,” you smiled up at your husband.

“Oh, I’d never threaten you, gorgeous,” Ben smirked before he ripped his tshirt off of you and threw you bodily back onto the bed, climbing on top of you and kissing you hungrily before you had even stopped bouncing from your impact onto the mattress.

******************************************************************************

A light misting rain fell as you walked hand in hand with Ben along the edge of the lake. You didn’t mind. The rain rendered all the colors and smells of October much more vibrant and lively. Your fingers laced with Ben’s, you felt the heat radiating off of him, keeping you warm at his side.

The walk to Chad’s campsite passed too quickly for your pleasure. You were thoroughly enjoying the company of your husband and the warmth of his huge body next to yours.

Chad and the tanned hipster knelt by the fire pit, struggling to light a fire in the misting rain. The petite blonde girl sat petulantly in the open side of the van.

After some brief pleasantries, introductions, and commiserations at the plight of the campfire, you were squeezing Ben’s hand, telling him silently that you could return to your cabin now.

Ben ignored your cue. Instead, he pulled you in front of him, holding you from behind and speaking over the top of your head.

He must have been in a good mood now because he invited the college crew back to your cabin. He insisted they could use your grille, given as how the likelihood of a campfire in the rain was not promising.

You tried to keep the shock from your face at Ben’s change of attitude and newfound hospitality.

The group looked between each other, before the couple, whose names you had learned were Jason and Cristy, nodded their agreement and thanks.

Chad looked much more hesitant, but assented.

******************************************************************************

Ben’s jovial mood continued into the evening.

After an entertaining dinner of burgers and brats, Cristy produced a bottle of tequila she began passing around to everyone in turn.

It was enjoyable enough, the shots seeming to lighten Ben’s mood further. He had always been a fun drinker, his roving hands never leaving your body after he was a couple shots in.

It had been so long since you had just cut loose with Ben and allowed yourself to let your guard around other people. You and Ben both always had to maintain airs and appearances. It was nice to be able to have a carefree evening among people you would never see again.

Jason was clearly not the jealous type, or perhaps they had an open relationship, because the drunker Cristy because, the more flirtatious she became with Ben. She started by touching his arm or chest lightly during a conversation. After a few shots, she was tracing her fingers over her pouting lips and arching and writhing to push her tits and ass out at him.

You would catch Ben’s eye and raise an amused eyebrow at him, laughing with your eyes at her pathetic advances. You were hardly threatened by a little drunk bimbo and it was a form of entertainment in itself. Ben would smirk or wink back at you.

Sometime after midnight, Ben flopped onto a chair in front of the fireplace, long legs spread in front of him. He pulled you into his lap, earning a pissy look from the blonde. His large arms wrapped around you and he rested his chin on your shoulder.

Soon after, the other couple took residence on the couch adjacent to you and began making out like the drunk college kids they were.

Ben had always loved showing off, showing you off. His hands soon began to wander and squeeze you in places that would have made you blush if you were sober. However, you were buzzed, and as such, it only made you swoon. He nuzzled his large nose into you as he unabashedly kissed and licked along your neck and jaw, making you moan and grind in his lap. He would alternate between caressing along your body and then grabbing your hips, pulling you down onto his thick cock as he bucked his hips up beneath you.

Poor Chad. He had resigned to sitting at the dining room table, playing on his phone that had no service and trying to ignore everyone else in the cabin.

It was closing in on 2:00am when you excused yourself, telling the room that you and Ben needed to get to bed. Ben cracked a toothy smile when you whispered to him, “By that I mean it’s time for you to make me cum all over your cock.”

Ben shot up from his seat, knocking you forward clumsily. Luckily, his arm was still secured around your waist, steadying you as he bent over you from behind, pulling your ass back against him as he nipped at the back of your neck playfully in a lewd display.

Ignoring the drunken couple making out on your couch, but casting a smug grin toward Chad, Ben shoved you into your bedroom as he all but ripped your clothes apart in his haste to get them off of you.

“I’m never going to get enough of fucking you in front of that mirror,” Ben grunted into your mouth as he pushed you back onto the bed.

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Day Three.

Ben was fucking you for the second time that night. Your back was on the mattress with your head toward the foot of the bed. Ben hovered above you, fucking you ardently. He had just settled into that perfect rhythm, fucking you just roughly enough that each thrust of his huge cock made your nails dig into his back a little deeper, when the clock on the nightstand struck 3:30am.

Ben threw his head back, a feral growl rumbling through his chest, as his hips picked up their pace. His hands on you were bruising. He was slamming into you now. Hard. Pushing you toward the edge of the foot of the bed with each thrust. It was getting to be too much for you, growing painful. He was such a large man, powerful, and he was easily capable of pounding you into agony.

Your nails dug into his shoulders as you pushed him back, urging him to slow down. Your head fell back against nothing, now hanging off the edge of the mattress at the foot of the bed as Ben was on the verge of knocking you off.

Upside down, you looked into the mirror. You saw your body jarring with every hard thrust as Ben fucked you like an animal. He was hunched over you, biting at your neck, his ebony hair shaking wildly.

After a few violent thrusts, he raised himself up on his palms, caging you in as he pounded you. He lifted his head, his gaze lifting from your body to look into the mirror himself.

You watched in the mirror as Ben lifted his head. No, you watched as the creature above you lifted its head. Because it wasn’t Ben anymore.

Glistening teeth, seemingly too sharp, sat inside a mirthless feral grin, expanding with each panted huff of breath. The bridge of his nose wrinkled like a snarling beast. But, his eyes. Gleaming, wild, sinister. His eyes were now a void, black and cold, containing nothing but sheer undiluted evil.

His malignant gaze looked into the mirror, meeting the eyes of his reflection. Slowly, pointedly, the man in the reflection dropped his wicked stare to meet yours. His grin became a snarl and you watched as a powerful hand moved to your throat, tightening around it into a fist.

You gasped for air, choking and gagging, under Ben’s iron grip around your throat. Nearly his full weight was bearing down on you through the hand on your throat. You hit and clawed and bucked as much as you could, but you were powerless against such a huge man, especially once you were already pinned beneath him.

Blackness began to swirl into your vision, creeping into the edges of your fading sight. You choked, though no air escaped your lips. You tried to form Ben’s name on your lips, but the creature that stared down at you, lips upturned in a sickening smile, would not have responded, even if you could have forced the words out between your bluing lips.

A meek knock on the bedroom door pulled Ben’s attention from you, his head turning slowly to face the door, cocking slightly to the side.

He looked down at you as you were losing consciousness, grinning evilly, “Don’t worry. I want to take my time with you. Just like I always do.” Ben’s cruel smile widened, “You like that about me.”

Ben released your throat as he pulled off of you and moved quickly off the bed. Spasms racked your throat as you gulped for air, choking violently as your vision returned, blurred now by stinging tears. Ben pulled his jeans on as he strode to the door. Your limbs were too heavy, feeling as though they had been packed with sand, for you to sit up. Rolling over onto your side to face the bedroom door was all you could accomplish as you gasped for air.

Ben was emotionless and composed when he opened the door to reveal the blonde woman as she drunkenly leaned against the doorframe, an attempt at sexiness.

She reached a finger out to trail down Ben’s chest, “I thought you both might like some company...”

You had never been more grateful that some little skank was hitting on your husband, and you weren’t sorry at all for the fate she was about to meet.

Depraved malice gleamed in Ben’s eyes as he hooked his fingers through the waistband of the harlot’s jeans and pulled her into the bedroom.

Function was returning quickly to your limbs now. You watched as Ben pulled the girl into the room, his back to you now as he faced her. You took the opportunity to roll onto your stomach and move toward the edge of the bed closest to the door. You couldn’t make a run for it yet. Ben was still too near the doorway. You grabbed Ben’s discarded shirt, laying on the bed next to you, as you poised yourself to roll off the bed and make your escape as soon as he was fully distracted.

Ben backed into the room, dragging the drunk girl with him. It was when she reached to wrap her arms around his neck that he struck. The lust in his eyes turned to black feral rage in an instant. His right hand shot out to her throat, not just a grab, but a strike too. The girl’s body was lifted off the ground with Ben’s force. He lunged forward into the blow, pinning the girl’s body against the wall by her throat. Her feet kicked feebly as they dangled in the air. Weak fists pathetically struck at Ben, not earning so much as a blink or a twitch from him, as she flailed and gurgled in her final throws. Tears streamed down her distorted features, as her skin bloomed beet red from the blood trapped beneath it, unable to flow back down through her throat under Ben’s pernicious fisted vice.

She was pinned just beside the mirror and you saw Ben’s face reflected in it as he stared at her. His head was cocked unnaturally sideways, appraising his victim’s wide-eyed gasping terror with a sharpened grin. The powerful fist at the girl’s throat was white knuckled, thick fingers digging into the flesh with such force that purple bruises already spread from his fingertips on her pale skin.

Ice in your veins froze you to your spot for the span of a few heartbeats. Time enough for you to see more in the mirror. Ben’s face was contorted into a mask of macabre pleasure. Eyes a black abyss, flushed lips donning a snarling leer around ragged teeth, hair wild and tangled. As you watched, transfixed by horror, his reflection crackled, like static on a tv screen, and you saw something for a fleeting instant. Something else beneath the surface. Something black and shining, more pointedly venomous and sinister, writhing beneath the surface of Ben’s once handsome features.

You felt the room grow dark around you, not in light, but in hope. The room had transformed into an icy bleak sepulcher of horrors, and you felt it all around you.

The girl’s feet now twitched in the air, no longer in resistance but in her body’s last reflexive impulses as the final currents of electricity traversed her now lifeless body.

Ben’s eyes moved slowly, pointedly, in the mirror to look into yours through his reflection. Honeyed amber flickered back through them for the smallest portion of a second, before black malice consumed them again. You felt that blackness chill your very soul as they bore into your eyes.

Propelled by terror, you shot from the bed, running through the bedroom door.

A thump from the room told you that Ben had dropped the girl’s lifeless body to the floor and was now charging after you.

Just through the doorway you collided with the tall hipster. What was name? Jason? It hardly mattered. You shoved away from his confused grip and hurled yourself to the cabin door, pulling Ben’s shirt over your otherwise naked figure as you ran.

You yanked the door open as a muffled shout resounded through the cabin, preceding the sickening wet noises of flesh tearing, of meat being rendered apart by strong hands as bones caved in upon themselves.

Sparing one fleeting glance over your shoulder as you moved through the doorway, you saw a gruesome arabesque of gore. You watched as Ben lunged at Jason, who’s mouth was open in a shout, shoving his open hand into Jason’s mouth, gripping down on his jaw and yanking violently across, easily ripping the jawbone from its hinges with no more effort than pulling a turkey leg on Thanksgiving. Blood splattered in a spurting gurgling fountain from the gaping hole where Jason’s mouth had once been as his convulsing body fell in a broken heap to the floor.

Cold air hit you like an electric shock as you pushed through the door. Where the fuck were you going to run? Ben had the keys to the SUV in the pocket of the jeans he was now wearing.

Your mind raced faster than your body as you tried to figure out how to survive even the next few moments. The road was your only actual way out and away from the cabin, but Ben would overtake you in seconds.

Instead, you darted along the side of the cabin, rounding to the side of it that held the grille. You crept along it quietly, looking for a place to hide while you figured out a way to escape. At the back of the cabin was a neatly stacked woodpile. You ran toward it.

Crouching as low as you could between the woodpile and the cabin wall, you listened for any sound to alert you that Ben had followed you. Slowly, your eyes adjusted to the darkness and your surroundings came into better focus. You scanned the trees for any movement.

As your head turned slowly, you saw something that made your hand shoot to your mouth, containing your scream before it could push past your lips. In the middle of the woodpile, stacked neatly among the logs, were disembodied limbs. You registered a bloody mangled male leg and a female arm before you tore your eyes away. I guess Chad’s friends didn’t go that far after all, you thought darkly.

Chad! Where the fuck was fucking Chad!?

As if summoned by your thoughts, you heard heavy footsteps running toward you from the opposite side of the Cabin. Chad rounded the corner, panting and terrified. He was, however, holding a gun.

You rose and ran to him.

Chad reached out to you, pulling you into him. His voice shook only slightly less than his hand holding the gun, “He fucking killed them, Y/N. He killed them all!”

You grabbed his arm firmly, digging your nails in enough to get his focus. “He’s going to kill us too if we just stand here. We need to move. Now!”

Chad grabbed your hand and ran a few paces with you before stopping, an idea forming in his mind.

He reached into his pocket and retrieved his keys, handing them to you. “He’ll follow me. He’ll think we’re together. I’ll make him think that,” Chad panted. “He’ll chase me and I’ll fucking shoot him. You run for my van when he comes after me.”

You nodded as you told him regretfully, “Don’t hesitate. If you hesitate, he’ll kill you.”

Ben growled from the front of the cabin and you heard his thundering footsteps as he gave chase toward you both.

Chad turned and sprinted away from the cabin, leaving you pressed against the woodpile, as hidden as you could be.

“Run, Y/N! Go ahead of me! Keep running!” Chad shouted loudly as he gestured with a hand, pretending to wave you on ahead of him.

His ruse worked. Ben charged past you without a glance, a snarling beast raging in pursuit of his prey.

Ben was so so fast.

Ben overtook Chad before he had even out distanced the faint light of the cabin.

Chad turned to face Ben as the larger man easily ran him down. Chad pointed the gun at Ben in a shaking grip, clenching his eyes shut tight as he pulled the trigger, jerking his hands as the hammer fell. Flinching like that is why amateurs miss their shots, you knew.

Chad’s shot went wide, failing to hit a vital spot on Ben’s broad chest, even though he stood only feet away as Ben rushed him head on. You saw a small plume of blood erupt from Ben’s left shoulder below his collarbone as the bullet struck his meaty chest, landing too high to cause any fatal damage. Ben didn’t flinch or slow, his only reaction was the deepening of his growl and the clenching of his jaw.

Ben collided with Chad with the most violent force you had ever seen him command. Head lowered, Ben’s forehead slammed into Chad’s nose in an eruption of blood as Ben’s left hand pushed the gun aside, simultaneously locking Chad’s wrist in his iron fist. Ben’s right fist landed powerfully in the center of Chad’s chest, knocking the air from his lungs. The force of Ben’s lunge carried both of the huge men backward several feet until Chad’s back collided with the trunk of a spruce tree, the back of his head hitting the bark with a wet resounding thud. Chad was reeling and useless after the concurrent series of blows, his bleeding head lulling sideways, barely conscious.

Ben ripped the gun from Chad’s loosening grip with a ferocious growl, bringing the gun held in his left fist to the top of Chad’s chest, pressing the barrel hard into the base of his throat just above the hollow between his collarbones. Ben’s right palm slammed savagely down onto the grip of the pistol, driving it into the other man’s throat and crushing his larynx with a resounding sloppy crunch.

Chad’s body fell limp and lifeless to the ground, twitching, glassy eyes open and vacant.

Your own hand clamped over your mouth hard enough to bruise your cheeks to keep the screams and the terror from spilling from your lips.

You watched as Ben straightened. He rolled his shoulders back, clenching and unclenching his fists, as he looked down at his defeated prey. Satisfied with his newest kill, Ben ran a hand through his blood and sweat matted hair as he looked around the forest. Looking for you.

Ben stalked ahead into the darkness heading away from the cabin and from you. You waited until he had been swallowed by the insidious night before moving. Your mind was racing as you tried to ensure your survival. Chad’s keys were clenched in your shaking fist. You could try to sneak to his van. A half mile away. Ben would figure out quickly that you had not in fact outpaced Chad ahead of him and he would turn back to hunt you down. The odds were not in your favor that you could even make it to Chad’s van. And even if you did, Ben had the SUV that could easily run you down and off the single road. No, you couldn’t outrun him successfully and escape.

You had to make a stand here.

As silently as you could, you crept back along the wall of the cabin, keeping yourself low to the ground and pressed to the wall. Moving quickly across the open porch, you darted back inside the still open front door.

You immediately went to the kitchen, grabbing the two sharpest knives you could find, one large butcher knife and one smaller carving knife. One for each hand.

You sneaked back to the bedroom, the darkest room that would conceal a shining blade the best. Moving quickly behind the open bedroom door, you pressed yourself to the wall. You would have a shot at him. One shot at sinking a blade deep into his wide exposed back when he entered. You had a fighting chance. That is, if you followed your own advice, and didn’t hesitate.

Your attention was pulled to the mirror, looming menacingly a few feet in front of you. The reflection of the darkened bedroom seemed to swirl inside in, shadows dancing like flames. An unnatural compulsion seeped into your mind. You’d be safer standing in front of it. You felt as though the mirror was summoning you, trying to draw you closer.

A heavy creak on the porch drew your focus with a jolt. You knew it was Ben. Coming to finish you. To take his time with you as he ended your life. You tried to control your ragged breaths. Your grip on the knives tightened.

None of this was right. You knew it. You knew this wasn’t Ben. Not your Ben. He would never hurt you.

The hinges on front door groaned as it was pushed open wider to accommodate Ben’s large frame passing through it.

Ben wasn’t in the room now, but you still felt the evil. The oppressive presence. And the prurient draw of the mirror.

A muddled footfall sounded in the living room, so close to you know.

You made your decision.

Reversing the large butcher knife in your hand, you pushed yourself off the wall, lunging across the bedroom toward the mirror.

Ben saw you from the living room and charged, closing the space in long strides.

He burst through the bedroom door as you reached the mirror, hammering the handle of the butcher knife into the center of the glass as hard as you could.

The glass splintered under your first blow, spiderwebbed under your second, and would have shattered under your third. Had your third blow landed.

Ben had reached you. His hands gripped both of your wrists tightly, immediately immobilizing your arms in his hold.

You raised your chin to look at him defiantly. You’d be damned if you’d show any fear. If you’d beg.

But as Ben looked back down at you, his monstrous gaze softened, the savagery in his black eyes falling away as they returned to vibrant amber. He shook his head, trying to clear it. He looked between you and the partially broken mirror.

A vicious growl thundered through his chest as he turned and punched his wide right fist brutally into the mirror. He drew back and punched through the glass again and again shattering it under his crushing blows. He didn’t stop until only a few lingering shards clung to the frame, and his hand was a bloody torn mess, pieces of glass decorating his gory knuckles.

Ben’s chest rose and fell in heaving breaths when he withdrew his hand from the glass for the final time. He shook it roughly, sending the more shallowly embedded pieces of glass flying from his knuckles.

Shame, horror, and regret contorted his handsome features as he turned to you. He reached his good hand to your cheek, but you flinched away instinctively, pinpricks of adrenaline still coursed through your veins. Ben’s face fell even further when you shied away from him, his eyes dropping to the floor as his hand dropped to his side.

“Y/N, I-“ Ben’s voice cracked as he tried to speak to you.

You cut him off from a second attempt by flinging your arms around his neck and pulling him into you. Now sure that it was once again your husband standing before you, you collapsed against his body, holding him tightly. His arms wrapped around you, pulling you as close against his sweaty bloody chest as he could.

Ben’s lips rested on your head as he held you, placing kisses to your hair as his arms squeezed you so tightly it was difficult to breath.

Your mind cleared in his embrace. Your situation came into stark focus. The bodies of five mangled college kids littered across the cabin and property. And you didn’t think the true story, one of possession and madness, would be very convincing to any authorities.

You knew what needed to be done. You had helped Ben clean up ‘messes’ before. You knew you would have to smear the victims’ blood and hair onto Chad’s body, under his fingernails. The victims would have to be dragged into the lake, where Chad had disposed of them before he had come to finish the two of you. You knew you would have to sweep away your footprints from your chase. Your current clothes would have to be burned. And, of course, you would have to cleanse yourselves of all DNA and evidence.

There would be time for apologies, assurances, contrition, even tears later. But there was no time to indulge in such things now.

You took Ben’s face in your hands, directing him to meet your eyes. “We have work to do,” you told him firmly.

******************************************************************************

Dawn filtered into the bathroom through the steamed over window. Water ran thick and red as it swirled down the shower drain. It was beautiful, really, the way the blood contrasted against the white tile. Like a macabre strawberry sundae. 

The mud had already been washed away from both of your bodies. You each took your time washing the other, scrubbing the grime and the evidence away with meticulous detail, interspersed with loving caresses.

Once again, Ben knelt before you. This time he was on his knees at your command so you could ensure that all the clots of blood and meat were rinsed from his hair. His forehead rested on your chest as his head was bowed against you. His powerful arms wrapped around your waist, holding you tightly, almost desperately.

“I’m so sorry, darling,” Ben spoke into your chest for the hundredth time this morning, smearing his words into your skin. “I love you so much, Y/N.”

“I love you too, Ben,” your voice was soft as you scrubbed shampoo through his hair. “But, you know you owe me another vacation.”

Ben huffed a pained laugh against you in response.

He held you tight, breathing in the scent of your skin, grounding himself in you as you cleansed you both of the night’s events.

After your shower you went to work on Ben’s wounds.

You carefully removed the glass from Ben’s hand and thoroughly cleaned the gashes, as well as the gaping bullet hole in his shoulder. It had gone all the way through him, which was good because there was no bullet to dig out. He had known worse injuries. His wounds couldn’t be bandaged correctly yet, only wrapped and amateurly tourniquetted. It couldn’t look like you had taken the time, or even had the composure, to care for them properly.

******************************************************************************

Day Four.

The local police were shocked to learn about the events in the Cold Hollow Mountains. How the seemingly wholesome college kid, Chad, had snapped and killed his friends before trying to kill you in a jealous rage. How he had even shot Ben in the upper chest as he shielded you from harm. The surveillance from the gas station even showed how Chad had advanced on you days ago.

They agreed that Ben had no choice but to kill Chad in self-defense. That Ben had saved your life.

Local paramedics had patched Ben up nicely. Stitched and bandaged his hand and chest. A sling now supported his left arm and his right hand still leaked blood from his knuckles through the layers of white bandages.

As you drove away from the small town, the vibrant sunset shining your eyes, a huge warm hand held yours tightly, gripping yours as though you were a lifeline in a storm. Holding you as if you were the last thing anchoring him to reality. You were.

Ben had fought darkness within himself before and won. He can do it again. Especially with your help.

Was it even the mirror itself? Was the mirror possessed by some ancient evil that set its malicious gaze upon Ben? Was it a gateway to something terrible beyond our ordinary perception? Did the veiled evil inside Ben himself feed something in the mirror? Or was the mirror just a mirror. Was it nothing more than Ben having the time to do nothing but reflect on himself, on the monster that lived deep inside of him? To see the beast that simmered just below the surface looking back at him in his reflection, daring him to free the monster from its cage once more?

Perhaps it was both. Maybe, once you had been consumed with darkness the way that Ben had for decades, all it took was a push to fall over that edge again into the abyss.

One thing you knew was true. After someone has looked into the darkness the way Ben has, after they’ve let it utterly consume them, they can never really step away, never truly step back fully into the light. You knew that for yourself now. You had now felt it for yourself. You had now seen, felt, and been touched by pure black undiluted evil. You had now felt the cold sinister grasp of the abyss as it pulled you close. Ben had been shaped by evil, forged in darkness. Now, a part of you had been shaped by it too.

Now, you and Ben shared more than you ever had before. Connected by darkness. Connected in a way that no one else would ever be with either of you.

Even if Ben was destined to live with one foot in the darkness, you would always be there at his side, keeping at least a part of him in the light with you. The same way that he would always keep a part of you in the darkness with him.

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