A Shade Of Blood(10)

It didn’t take long for him to reach me and plunk himself right on top of my beautiful sandcastle.
“Ben!” I screeched.
He laughed. “Sandcastles always fall, Sofia. I thought you might as well bid it farewell sooner rather than later.”
I found myself transfixed by the smile on his face. I realized how much I missed him – the old him.
“What?”
I shook my head. “You seem happy.”
The smile on his face remained, but his eyes betrayed a concoction of varied emotions – none of them happiness. I reached out for his hand. I wanted him to know that I was there for him, but he withdrew from my touch. It was a harsh reminder that I could never fully understand what he went through at The Shade.
I wanted to ask him about what he was going through, about what was going on inside him, but Ben wasn’t the kind of person who talked much about feelings. Most of the time, we handled whatever issues we had by finding a diversion. If things were the other way around, Ben would’ve already found a way to make me laugh or divert my attention elsewhere. I wondered if I should do just that – throw a shell at him or something – but the brokenness in his appearance made it seem insensitive. So I just sat there, hoping that my presence would somehow bring him consolation.
“I feel numb.” He confessed a few minutes later. “Just numb.”
My gut clenched. What did she do to him? Images of Claudia, the gorgeous blonde female vampire who held Ben captive, flashed through my mind. Back at Derek’s penthouse, after Derek asked Claudia to give him Ben for my sake, Ben had already told me about how Claudia tortured him, healed him by forcing him to drink her blood and then tortured him all over again. It was punishment for trying to escape. Something told me however that it was just a glimpse of what Claudia had put my best friend through.
“What happened to you, Ben? Back at The Shade?”
I could never forget the look on his face the moment he heard me mention the island. All traces of the charismatic charmer that my best friend used to be disappeared. In his place existed a dark and broken character, whose features were openly screaming bloody murder.
“Do you really want to know?”
I hesitated. Do I? Still, the question had already been asked, so I tentatively nodded. “Tell me everything.”
“You asked for it.” He stood up and held out his hand to me. “Let’s take a walk then.”
I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up. As his story unfolded, I found myself wishing – for his sake – that I had never asked.

Chapter 8: Ben
 
As we strolled over the white sands beautifully complementing the clear blue ocean water, I told Sofia my story, not bothering to mention that by making me recount my tale, she was forcing me to live out the horrors of The Shade all over again.
I was distraught. I once again let Sofia down. Ditching her on her birthday for Tanya – total babe that she was – was on top of my growing list of screw ups when it came to the best friend I always managed to take for granted. It felt awful to see the hurt look in Sofia’s eyes, but I figured she’d take a walk and get over it. After all, I knew that sooner or later, she would forgive me. She always did.
I sneaked into her hotel room just before the break of dawn the next day, fully expecting her to still be in bed, with my five-year-old sister, Abby, snuggled against her. I was disappointed to find my mom lying beside Abby. It was clear to see that my mom was pissed off about something, because even while asleep, she had a firm scowl on her face.
I shook her awake. “Mom, where’s Sofia?”
She blinked several times and frowned at me. “I have no idea where she is. What time is it? She was supposed to be here. Abby was terrified about having to sleep here alone.”
“Perhaps she just went out for a walk or something…”
“At this hour? What’s gotten into her?”
“I’ll find her,” I responded, starting to feel worse about what I did – or didn’t do – to Sofia the night before. It was unlike her to just run off. Between the two of us, she’d always been the more responsible one.
Worried sick and knowing that I’d been a complete jerk to her, I set out to the beach to look for her. I walked about half a mile down the shore line before realizing that I was wasting my time. If Sofia wanted to be found, I would find her. I kept trying to call her phone, but just kept getting her voice mail. I was ready to turn back when I bumped into a gorgeous blonde girl, wearing – of all things – a black leather jumpsuit.#p#分页标题#e#
She approached me, looking at me from head to foot, a sultry look in her eyes.