BWHYB - Chpt 7 - Part I

Benjamin stayed for one reason, self-preservation. The end of the world was set in course like a pendulum it was only a matter of time before it sliced back in his direction. He had nowhere else to go. Sure it was just another prison, but it offered a roof over his head and a meal in his belly. Plus, if he had to choose sides, who better to align himself with than the antichrist. Of course that title was a matter of opinion. Abram interpreted the prophecy to be the warning of a coming antichrist to be stopped by any means necessary. Patricia, the rouge CIA agent, thought the prophecy was something she could bend in her favor.  She was obviously not a God fearing woman. What he couldn’t be exactly sure of was what the High Councilor thought.

His head hurt trying to sort it all out. For years he had be taught, no brainwashed, to think that the Order was a group to be feared, a group that was bent on mass destruction. Abram and now the government wanted people to believe that the Georgia Guide Stones were the Orders direct call for a revolution against humanity that would result in the death of billions. In truth, no one, not even Patricia, had been able to link the recent string of terrorist attacks to the Order. Everything he was led to believe from the moment he could string together an individual thought was laced with Abram’s agenda. Abram had been the judge and juror of his soul long enough. It was time he made his own salvation. So he stayed and did what now came naturally, he watched.

Benjamin watched as Samantha grew from a small girl to a young woman. In the solitude of the desert, Samantha grew up wild and raw. Jeremiah fought hard to keep her rage at bay. Her body was littered with the scars of his seals. Benjamin worried when those seals might break. In her eyes he could see a curiosity. There were questions behind those glassy orbs that her young age was unable to form into words. Soon she would become too much for Jeremiah to control. Memories would start leaking in. When the flood of questions came what would be first? Would she ask about her obvious powers or would she ask about her mother and father and ultimately his involvement.

Years past as he watched, worried and masterfully argued his innocence in his head. Samantha was maturing into a beautiful, intelligent woman with the help of Jeremiah and his supporters. All the while Benjamin kept an unwavering eye on the changing girl. He watched how the desert sun littered Samantha’s wavy black hair with brassy highlights and turned her pale skin the color of sand. He noted how when she was tired her almost black eyes would betray just a hint of emerald green. He watched how as she grew older her little button nose had lost some of its roundness and how her cheeks thinned out showing off her high cheekbones. How he hated those cheekbones Most of all he saw how as she neared sixteen her body changed. Long lean muscle from the physical training showed in her back and arms. Her fawn like legs that once seemed so awkward, now curved in a feminine way that made it hard for Benjamin to sleep at night. There was a curve to her hip and the small of her back that sent him into dreams of another. The new resemblance to Danny forced him into long hours of meditation, but still he woke many nights in a cold sweat.

Samantha seemed oblivious to his inner turmoil. He tried to distance himself from her but she was a rambunctious child always wanting to wrestle and play. The older she got the more she looked like her mother. Benjamin would wake up in the middle of the night, he mind full the vision of Danny dancing. He wished that Samantha was more like her mother so he could hate her. The isolation of the desert allowed her soul was untarnished and unburdened from any wrongdoing or regret. Regret he thought was what drug down Danny and what was bringing him down now. Benjamin wondered how soon her fairy tale would end and if he and Jeremiah would be seen as knights to be worshipped or dragons to be slain.

Jeremiah took pity on Benjamin and a sort of understanding developed. Something like a father son relationship began to blossom and soon Benjamin was learning the Rites. Jeremiah said he had a natural understanding of the rites and Abram was wrong to leave him unaided in his studies. It was the first time anyone had shown him any encouragement. Benjamin began to let his guard down. Samantha was sixteen and the prophecy was a distant memory. Life was easy, relaxed and free of all the judgments. Benjamin was unaware of the slipping power Jeremiah had on Samantha at that time or the questions that he had been fending off for the last year.

It was in the middle of the night when she left. Benjamin woke feeling suddenly cold. He walked to the door where Jeremiah was standing staring out into the empty desert, watching a cloud of dust settling in the worn out road to the highway. He turned to Benjamin “Go back to sleep.” He rested a reassuring hand on Benjamin’s shoulder. “She’ll be back.” He said but the words were hollow. Samantha had run away several times. She would take off to the desert any time Jeremiah tried to act too much like a father and the incidents were increasing as she aged. It was a power struggle that would that night. There was something different about this time. A small wooden box was open on the floor and the few valuables that Jeremiah had were strewn about the room. The only thing that was missing was a wad of cash saved for emergencies.

Author's Note

Again, only my second draft so not too worried about grammar. What do you think of Benjamin? Is there enough time spent on Jeremiah?

Reviews

[Anita]

damn... this story just keeps getting better and better. I think you spend the proper amount due to each character. great job once again. you said not to worry about grammer so i will not comment on it.
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