Chapter 4: Hopeless Optimism

The tires of Ben’s car created friction against the pavement. The sun was getting ready to go down as all the living creatures were getting ready for the night. Ben and Sarah had a bit of a long drive ahead of them. Ben wasn’t getting tired in the slightest but the same couldn’t be said for his passenger who was drifting.

“Getting tired Sarah?”

“Uh god! We have been driving for hours! Haven’t you ever heard of a motel?!”

“A roadside hotel designed primarily for motorists, typically having the rooms arranged in a lo…” Ben was saying before being interrupted.

“I wasn’t asking for a definition! I was just asking why we aren’t at one!”

“Oh… well I saw no need to stop at one. I have the energy to drive the whole way. Though most the time I just switch over to Brea” Like Ben did just this moment to express his point “and I run the whole way. No biggie.” Brea said then switching back to Ben.

“Firstly, stop switching over to your female form unless you plan on getting fatter when you do so. Secondly, I don’t like sleeping in a car. It is incredibly uncomfortable.” Sarah as she tried to massage that crick out of her neck.

“Okay then, we’ll stop at the nearest motel.” Ben said.

“Thank you. We aren’t all superheroes you know.”

And with that they drove onward. Not stopping until they came across a motel. However despite her complaints Sarah still managed to fall asleep in Ben’s car. Ben glanced over at her noticing a small dewdrop of drool streaming down the bottom half of her cheek. Most would find that gross but Ben found it fascinatingly cute. Not that it was fascinating, more that he was fascinated by himself for finding it cute. He smiled before putting his attention back to the road.

“Don’t worry Sarah, I think that Cromwell will be on my side with this. Though I never noticed beforehand but he has always had a kind exterior. I am sure he can be reasoned with.” Ben said with assurance and a smile.

“Though what I am asking for is kind of immature. Am I doing what’s right?” Ben said.

Ben looked over at Sarah to find an answer. Not from her giving her opinion but by seeing her face. She was still asleep as he had expected. He looked at her and all of a sudden he felt a renewed energy to follow through with his plan. Though he never got a direct answer for his question he knew that what he was doing was wrong, and dangerous but he couldn’t help but feel it was what he had to do. He made a promise he would protect her. On top of that he didn’t want to do to Sarah what he inevitably had to do to Kelly.

It was then Ben felt this surge of urgency to get to Cromwell’s castle faster. He kept driving due south. Cromwell’s castle was on a hillside in the east coast. Ben felt that he was going too fast and remembered that there was in fact laws for how fast you could go. He felt a little dumb but he couldn’t help it. He just wanted to get there as fast as possible. He had thought about using telecommunication and contacting Cromwell that way but he felt the sudden confrontation from being face to face will put Cromwell’s decision in his favor.

The drive had officially been going on for nine hours and Ben has only needed to stop for gas once. The narrow country roadways looked so much different to him now. He had his girl in the car with him and he hasn’t driven these roads since right when he started changing in a big way. This was a fresh way for him to look at these road trips to Cromwell’s. It felt like there was more urgency this time around.

An hour or so later Ben had finally stumbled upon an old motel. It was very dirty and the parking lot was filled with litter such as pop bottles and empty cigarette packs to the point you could tell the owner just let the place go. It also reeked of pneumonia and the places “VACANCY” sign actually read “V CANCY” on account of missing an A. Ben woke Sarah up to show her the motel. And Sarah just looked at it in disgust.

“Uh… um. Well we can’t stay here… because they aren’t open.” Sarah said.

“Really?” Ben said as he looked up at the motel.

“Really! They are no longer in business.” Sarah said with a nervous laugh.

“But that lit up sign over there says that it’s open.” Ben said as Sarah got angry.

“We aren’t staying here! Just drive!” Sarah said as she rolled back over to sleep.

“Well okay then.”

Ben immediately got back on the road. He didn’t understand why Sarah didn’t want to stay at that obviously open motel but really Ben didn’t care. Ben had wanted to stay on the road anyways. Besides there wasn’t much driving before reaching Cromwell’s left to do. Ben was even still driving in the morning as Sarah woke up. She stretched and yawned before she noticed the small town they happened to be driving in.

“Ha, yes! A small town! We have to find a diner Ben!” Sarah said with a smile as her face was glued to the car window.

“What’s at a diner?” Ben asked.

“Only the best pancakes ever probably! Well until the next small town we visit but whatever! It is an unspoken law that small town diners have great pancakes!” Sarah foretold with a splurge of excitement.

It wasn’t but three minutes later they were sitting in the local diner. Sarah and Ben were sitting there ordering as Sarah ordered four pancakes with bananas cooked inside and blueberries on top. Ben not knowing what to order as per usual just copied Sarah’s order. He then shook his head knowing that four was unnecessary and got one. Sarah stared intently after ordering as the middle-aged waitress in the pink outfit walked away for somebody else’s order.

“O-M-G! The small town waitress stereotype is real!” Sarah said with enthusiasm.

Sarah kept looking around the dull small town atmosphere and around the diner with such excitement. She practically hugged the old timey jukebox the diner had with her mind and took a deep breath and really inhaled the smells of everyone’s breakfasts as they were served everything from bacon to Belgium waffles. Ben caught wind real fast that this was indeed Sarah’s first time in a place like this.

“Um is this your first time in a small town Sarah?” Ben whispered.

“Haha, why are you whispering?” Sarah asked as Ben shrugged.

“Well yeah, sort of. The last time I was in a town like this I was on a road trip with my mom, dad, and my older brother. I remember it feeling like home. More like home than my actual home… the big city.”

“So you’ve wanted to come back to a place like this for a while huh?” asked Ben.

“Yeah, I certainly have.” Sarah said as there food was brought to them and she dug in.

“But we passed through two other small towns already. You didn’t get excited for those.”

“Well first off one was more of a village… that is just too small for my tastes. And second of all it wasn’t breakfast time.” Sarah said while shoving bites of pancake in her mouth.

“So it is the pancakes that remind you of your family?” Ben said calmly with great perception.

“How’d you know that that was why?” Sarah asked a bit surprised.

“Well back when we used to have our morning coffees you said that ever since your mom died that your dad has been traveling the world. And your brother has been enlisted in the service so you said you didn’t really get to see and or depending on what parts of the world they were in even talk to them. And you mentioned going on a trip with them so I put two and two together.”

“Wow… you remember me telling you that?” Sarah said with a bit of blush.

“Well of course, I’m a Heart Breaker so my memory is impeccable!” Ben bragged.

“Whelp, girl boner gone.” Sarah said no longer blushing as she took another bite of her fruit covered pancake.

“And because I care too.” Ben said as he leaned with a smile.

“Make up your mind jerk!” Sarah said as she punched Ben’s shoulder from across the table. “Touching or not touching, which will it be?” Sarah said.

Sarah then looked out the window and caught a glimpse of a local motel. “Oh my! Look Ben, it’s a tavern!” Sarah yelled out happily.

“A tavern? What’ that?” Ben asked dumbfounded.

“What’s a tavern! You seriously don’t know? Only like the most romantic motels ever. At least nowadays. In the olden times they were stinky wooden hotels full of dirty drunks, and fat little dwarves. But now they’re great! We have to stay the night here too! Can we?”

“I don’t know… we don’t really have time.” Ben said nervously as Sarah gave him puppy dog eyes, a technique was not yet aware of.

“Pleaaaaase!!!” Sarah said and Ben was also unaware of the cuteness of extended words.

“Um okay.” Ben said whilst rubbing the back of his head.

“We would like to stay the night please!” Sarah said.

“Okay, that will be two hundred dollars for the night.” The woman said.

Sarah then got super worried as she glanced back at Ben who was just blankly staring back at her. She was unaware of what the price for a room would be, and on top of that they just got a standard room. Sarah then got very worried of Ben finding it too expensive, and even if he didn’t she didn’t want to stress him out. What she didn’t know though was Heart Breakers have a massive amount of money usually saved up due to the lack of money they actually use.

“Um, I hope that isn’t too much money.” Sarah said like a puppy with its ears down.

“Why would it be?” Ben asked.

“Well its two hundred dollars, that isn’t too expensive for you?” Sarah asked.

“No, I have enough money.”

“Even so how much money do you think you’ll have left when you’re done?” Sarah asked Ben as Ben may have taken that question too literally.

“Hum… subtract two hundred and…… I have one-hundred-thousand and seven-hundred and twenty dollars left in my bank account.” Ben said as Sarah and the person at the counter’s jaws dropped immediately, and even with his newly found emotions Ben didn’t have a great grasp on the concept of money.

“Wha, wow! I guess you are a writer after all.” Sarah said in reassurance despite that not being the reason for his wealth.

After they had checked in they both retreated to their room to unpack. It was only when they arrived to their room that they realized that unpacking was not something that was necessary to them. Why? Well because they didn’t really pack much of anything, not even an extra pair of clothes.

“I can’t believe we didn’t pack anything!”

“Well you didn’t expect this to turn into a mini vacation did you Sarah?”

“No but”

“Neither did myself.” Ben interrupted with.

“Well they have a sauna so I think I’ll go do that for now. See you soon!” Sarah said.

“Bye honey.” Ben said as both he and Sarah got embarrassed for a moment before Sarah then left for the sauna though she was already steaming with embarrassment.

It was just then that Ben jumped on the bed and turned the TV on. There wasn’t anything special (to him) on at the moment so his eyes started to wander. He notice the nice wood finished décor and the fancy wooden tables. And then his eyes finally wandered to right underneath him. The bed, the ONLY bed. He got a bit more embarrassed because he would now be spending his first night in the same bed as Sarah.

His face grew red as he tried desperately to focus on what was on TV. But thanks to the TV his mind kept getting mental images of him in Bed with Sarah and possibly doing some of the other activities involved with beds other than sleeping. Because the TV just spawned sex scene after sex scene or even at times just kiss scene after kiss scene. Allowing for those activities to stay present in his mind.

He finally settled down with a buddy cop movie despite not being a big fan of those. Though the good thing was with that type of movie is that is sported bromance instead of romance. Allowing him to keep his mind off of him and Sarah in the same bed together. Though it was odd. Ben now found himself thinking about Gail. This was the longest he has gone without seeing or talking to Gail since the inception of Ben’s new emotional state.

“I hope you’re doing okay Gail.” Ben said with worry in his voice.

Then back in the city Gail found himself running alongside Revy across the rooftops. They jumped from building to building to reach Kyle and Tina as fast as they could. Revy then insisted that Gail switch to his female form. Stating that he was having a hard time keeping up with Revy. So Gail switched over to his Abigail persona.

“Just what we needed! A second level Heart Swallow to arise without Ben here to back us up!” Revy said with fury and gritted teeth.

“I know how you feel but Ben feels he needs to protect that girl. And we can’t do anything to stop him. Though that doesn’t mean Cromwell won’t. I have a feeling when Cromwell hears what Ben has to say, it’s going to piss him off.” Abigail stated.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cromwell pissed off before.” Revy said.

“Yeah well it is a rare occasion. But to be fare Revy, it is a rare occasion for you to go see Cromwell too so the odds are you wouldn’t have seen him that way. Though one time he was pissed is when that old coot from back in the day survived a Heart Swallow and became a Heart Fiend. He was steamed!” Abigail said.

“Well that wasn’t anyone’s fault. That was just a huge dose of bad luck.”

For those of you wondering, there are Heart Breakers for all age groups. Children, teenagers, young adults and then varying ages around 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and a few in 50. Though as far as age groups go when it comes to certain factors you don’t need every interval of 5. Gail for example is a Heart Breaker with the designated age group of 35. That being said he can still take on prey in their late 40s.

And since there are sectors in the Heart Breakers universe other Heart Breakers usually travel to neighboring sectors on occasion. This is why the Sector that Tina, Kyle, Abigail, and Revy are currently apart of don’t have a teenage Heart Breaker, and or a Heart Breaker who is 40-50. On top of that Heart Breakers aren’t afraid to tackle older prey, often using their younger or older appearance to their advantage.

Examples of this would be best described using Ben and Gail as references. For the teenage group. It wouldn’t be uncommon for Ben to turn into Brea and use her great body as a 25 year old to lure in a horny sixteen year old boy. Just as it wouldn’t be out of the question for Gail to use his charm as a ladies man in his mid-thirties to collect an older desperate woman in her late-forties to mid-fifties.

But the last age groups are beyond the fifties. The sixties and onwards which are never usually worried about as far as Heart Breakers are concerned. Anyone who is older than fifty-nine can still have a Heart Swallow burrow inside them but like children it is extremely rare. Not only is it extremely rare but an older persons heart can almost never take the strain that a Heart Swallow leaves on their heart. Usually dying before the Heart Swallow matures.

The reason why this is relevant to Abigail, and Revy’s conversation is because Abigail is talking of a specific instance. An instance in which an old man baring a Heart Swallow survived the Heart Swallows entire maturing process into a Heart Fiend. The Heart Fiend was born and dispatched of the old man despite him surviving the original process. It was the first Heart Fiend that Gail had ever faced, and Cromwell was not happy that it was allowed to exist. Cromwell himself even led the attack on the beast.

Abigail and Revy kept running until they finally could sense the Heart Swallow II without need for concentration. As they jumped down from a building they stopped for a second to guess the beasts’ exact location. They felt it from inside the same park that Ben/Brea and Kyle/Kayla had fought just the day before.

“It’s in the park! Kyle and Tina must have lured it in there to get away from the regular human populace!” Abigail said.

“Well let’s go in after it then!” Revy commanded.

“Only if you don’t get tricked like last time!” Abigail said laughing to poke Revy’s buttons as Revy took the lead with a snarl as a reply.

As Revy and Abigail got up on the beast, they saw it was already distracted by Kyle and Tina. Tina was bouncing around like some sort of super powered ninja. She would jump out of the way of the beasts’ black shadowy flames as she landed on tree after tree as leaves fell to the ground from Tina ripping through the air causing wind around her. She would land on each tree while dodging and pushing off and jumping to the next before gravity even got the chance to kick in. It was getting to the point that as Tina jumped over it, the beast would become very much disoriented.

As the beast was confused, Kyle would step in and out like he was Mike Tyson, getting jabs and punches at the beasts’ sides. He kept looking for an opening to punch the beast in its face but found none due to the shadowy flames. Abigail and Revy with the element of surprise both came in hot. They crossed each other with a maneuver to gain momentum. As they were doing this Revy was coming in from the beasts’ right side to its left as side as Abigail did the opposite.

“When they both got shots in on the big robust beast they had each shot blue fireballs at each of the monsters’ hind legs. As each fireball struck one of the beasts’ hind legs the beast fell flat and forward. As it laid vulnerable, Kyle switched to Kayla giving a war cry as she ran up to the beast. Then Kayla seamlessly switched back to Kyle last minute. Kyle super manned the beast right in the face.

The punch was so brutal that the fist plunged the beasts’ face so far back it was almost as if the beasts’ body had consumed Kyle’s fist. As Kyle pulled away from the monstrosity, it bled from its nose a large amount of black, gooey ectoplasm-like blood. Of course invisible to the human eye and pupils. The beast screamed in pain from Kyle’s powerful punch with its mouth hanging wide open.

Noticing this Tina decided to cease this opportunity. She jumped to the tree directly in front of the beast as she changed course and plunged herself right down the beasts’ throat. Since the beast was somewhat transparent the other Heart Breakers could see Tina floating around in the ectoplasm of the Heart Swallow II. Not retaining the strength to push her hands through the ectoplasm as Tina, Tina decided to switch over to the Timmy persona.

“Everyone get back!” Kyle commanded.

“Right!” Both Revy and Abigail said.

Timmy had his hands fully spread out in the thick goop as he sparked blue flames in both of his hands. At first it didn’t seem as though there was that much of the blue flames emerging from his hands but that was only because there was anywhere for the flames to go. As the flames grew like a ticking water balloon the beast growled and screamed in pain. It wasn’t long with no exit for the blue flames that were being spun to start blowing the beast up bigger, and bigger, and bigger until POP! It burst with the blue flames shooting out in all directions and Timmy standing in the middle of the mess of black ectoplasm unharmed.

Abigail then switched back to Gail. Kyle walked up to Timmy as Timmy used the blue flames to clean the black gunk off of himself. Revy followed Gail up to go talk to Timmy and Kyle. “Wait up” Revy said to Gail as he slowed down. It was dawn and the sun was just getting ready to down. The gang hadn’t been expecting to fight a Heart Swallow II this time of day. Or without the help of Ben/Brea.

“I can’t believe a Heart Swallow exited premature just one day after Ben leaves with that girl to go propose his crazy ass plan to Cromwell.” Revy said while rubbing the back of her neck.

“Well it was no big deal. I still handled that Heart Swallow II no problem.”

“Yeah Timmy, but that concentrated beam that Ben came up with could have come in handy though. How did he do that anyway?” Gail asked.

“The better question is how did he even think of that in the first place?” Kyle asked.

“Isn’t obvious?” Timmy said like it was no big deal.

“Isn’t what obvious?”

“Well Revy haven’t you noticed? Ben had been acting weird, and he was during that fight too. He acted all smug right after saving you. He felt like a hero. His new emotions are obvious.”

“How dare Ben with this new emotion crap! He may have saved me but he risked it by doing something he wasn’t even sure would work!” Revy complained.

“Yeah! And now look at him, he is going on some stupid trip to Cromwell’s!” said Kyle.

“Why are you guys complaining so much? It isn’t like you two are so perfect. You are both what Cromwell would consider flawed products too!” Gail said angrily.

“Oh really!? How do you figure that!?” Kyle yelled as he was then hushed by Timmy.

“Be quiet all of you. Kyle, don’t you remember going off on Ben just before he left? And then you challenged him to a fight which was way out of the decision making parameters for a Heart Breaker so you aren’t exactly perfect.” Timmy said as Kyle argued back.

“But I was right! Ben was getting way out of line!”

“Just shove it Kyle! You’re flawed okay?” Revy said then quickly interrupted by Timmy.

“Well you are also too flawed to be a Heart Breaker Revy.”

“What are you talking about?” Revy asked with a snarl.

“Well, let us rewind back to that fight with the Heart Swallow II from before. You were tricked by the Heart Swallow an admittedly smart tactic for a Heart Swallow to perform. But even as you were dying you still refused to switch over to your Rock persona. You complain about Ben’s brashness when he saved yet you were being so brash that you were about to die.”

“That is! That is… irrelevant.” Revy said with nothing to add to it.

“What is your point Timmy!?” Kyle said as Timmy ignored him. “What’s your point!” Kyle yelled even angrier than before.

Kyle then went to go punch Timmy until his fist was grabbed by Gail saying “Stop!”

“What has gotten into you!? You are only proving Timmy’s point. We need to stop this guys. Cease and desist. Listen guys, I am the last one here who has the right to call themselves a Heart Breaker but I feel this needs to be said.”

“What are you talking about?” Revy asked.

“I am just like Ben… both him and I are victims of a drastic revival of human emotions.” Ben looks around his room trying to keep his mind off of Sarah. “But despite this I have managed to keep it under wraps for twenty years, and Ben kind of went over the deep end….” Ben flips through channels sporadically to find something that wouldn’t remind him of him and Sarah. “But Ben and I aren’t the only weird ones. If we want to survive this emotional revival we are going to have to learn to keep calm. For all Kyle’s concerns and for the lack of Rock in Revy’s routine we are all partners at the end of the day. So what do you guys say, can we just try to step forward as usual?” Gail said as he was watched intently.

“Overlooking our shortcomings is what I have done all along. If Cromwell knew what really went on between each individual Heart Breaker he would probably have a heart attack. I am with you Gail.” Timmy said as he walked next to Gail.

“Not like I care! I guess things could go back to normal.” Kyle said as he shook hands with Gail. “It took guts to flat out tell us about your… well problem like that. I salute you.”

“I could switch over to Rock anytime I wanted.” Revy said as she walked up to Gail with a scowl, the scowl was soon replaced with a smirk. “But I am glad that you understand that I don’t always want to, or have to.” Revy said with a smirk.

“Well then what do you guys say? How about we support Ben all the way huh?” Gail said as the rest of the gang shook their heads.

Ben was still laying down in his room within the Tavern. Sarah was still in the sauna too, chatting it up with a few of the other girls in the Tavern. Bragging about how her boyfriend brought her here on the spur of the moment. Back in the room Ben was still just trying to keep his mind off of the situation that would soon come between him and Sarah when the perfect distraction arose, a telecommunication from Gail.

“Ben, how’s it going? Does this little activity still hurt ya?” Gail asked.

“Ow, Yes! What is up?” Ben said struggling.

“We just wanted to let you know that we are all on board in case Cromwell wants to know okay?” Gail said.

“You mean… you guys are going to be a part of the task force for the Heart Fiend?!”

“That’s right buddy, so how did your conversation with Cromwell go?” Gail asked.

“My what?”

“You know, telecommunication with Cromwell. You did warn him before showing up didn’t you? That may be a good idea.”

“Well actually, I was hoping to corner him with the question in person. If I ketch him with his pants down so to speak then there isn’t a way he would say no right?” Ben asked.

“You mean you were just going to walk right in there without telling him at all?!”

“Well uh… yeah basically.”

“But what if he does more than just disapprove!? This could end badly!”

“Don’t worry if that happens then I will just turn tail and run.”

“Um… I wouldn’t, uh… listen just be careful then. You think this is the best way then fine. Just be careful.” Gail said as Timmy intervened on their conversation.

“I don’t know exactly but I got the gist of your guy’s talk. Listen to me Ben, Cromwell is very crafty. He has to be, because he is in charge of all the Heart Breakers that preside around the entire world so I leave you with this. Approach him carefully, okay?”

“I promise Gail, Timmy. I will be careful. I really feel this is the best way.”

And with that they left Ben be. Ben sat back after the conversation, sure. He was sure that things would go well. Though after he sat there a little while longer his mind began to wander. Different outcomes and possibilities emerged within his own mind. He then started feeling sweaty and nervous. Tomorrow he would most definitely be at Cromwell’s in a matter of two to three hours tops.

He sat there feeling this ball of stress just well up inside of him. It suddenly hit him all at once. All the questions he had welled up inside of him. In his head like a sick tumor hurting him. He wondered things. Things like who am I? What am I? What is my purpose from now on? Was I born a Heart Breaker? And will I die a Heart Breaker? These were all questions that kept coming up in his mind. He knew no answers, only dreams and possibilities.

His paranoia was growing rapidly as he started to feel sick. He felt his heart jump out of his chest as the door to his room creaked open. He then saw Sarah drying her hair from being in the sauna. She then looked up at him and smiled. She looked like she just got out of the pool. Ben just looked at her as she entered the room. Suddenly all those questions didn’t matter anymore. The only question he needed to know was what he was doing right now. And that was so clear, he was protecting his friend.

“What’s wrong? You are staring at me all funny-like.” Sarah asked as she unwrapped the towel from around her hair.

“Oh nothing. Just glad you’re here with me.” Ben said smiling, Sarah continued smiling.

“So what’s on TV?” Sarah said as she sat next to him.

“Oh nothing interesting.” Ben said as she clapped surprising Ben.

“Nothing interesting my butt! Seven Guns is on!” Sarah said with excitement.

Seven Guns is another TV show a band of seven mercenaries. Ben had seen it before but he was just waiting for his favorite sitcom to come on. He never really gave any other TV shows a try. But right now he didn’t really care. He saw her smile and the way her face lit up when the TV shows opening credits came on. And suddenly he found himself not caring what was on TV. He was no longer worried about being in the same bed with Sarah, because it just seemed to come so natural.

“So you like this show huh?” Ben said softly.

“I love it! Don’t you!?” Sarah said with her face still glued to the screen.

“I love it too. I just didn’t see it come on when you walked in.” Ben said with a soft voice and a very gentle smile.

He remembered how he felt when Sarah accidently bad mouthed his show. He figured it was inherently human to garnish an emotional attachment to something like a TV show. That then brought up that previous question. Was he a human? He had thought about this again as Sarah snuggled up next to him. He looked at her again and decided it wasn’t that important, at least right now. So Ben laid back as Sarah laid back with him.

“Well good night Sarah. We have a big day tomorrow.” Ben said as he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. Still holding that gentle smile from a few seconds earlier.

“Goodnight… Ben.” Sarah said blushing as she kissed the cheek of the already sleeping Ben. “I forgive you… I know I haven’t been showing it yet but I was very scared. It isn’t your fault that I have one of those Heart… uh whatever’s inside of me. And now that I do you are going against everything right now to help me. Because of a stupid promise you made the night before. And I am sorry for dragging you into this.” Sarah then said while crying just a little bit.

“Thank you so much.” Sarah said as she drifted to sleep along with him.

The next day Ben and Sarah were back on the road. The progressive lack of civilization as they drove made it painfully obvious that they were about to stumble upon a Victorian castle out in the middle of nowhere. Though Ben already knew how close they were. Sarah just looked around all over the place. She had rarely had an opportunity to see so much wilderness.

“So are we almost at this Cromwell guy’s place?”

“Yeah, almost.” Ben said as he drove.

“So you are going to ask him for help… about my situation?” Sarah asked.

“That’s the plan.” Ben said but he wasn’t so sure. He was thinking on what Timmy had told him.

Back in the city Gail started feeling weird. He kept having this feeling that Ben should have called ahead. Like something may go terribly wrong. He just went about his business. Though the more he thought of the situation the more the whole thing stunk. It finally got to the point where he couldn’t take it anymore he was contacted by Cromwell directly.

“Oh uh sir. What do you need?” Gail asked.

“I was just wondering the status on Ben/Brea. You skipped out on yesterday and didn’t get ahold of me. So what is his status?” Cromwell asked impatiently.

“Well he is…”

Gail suddenly felt a huge conflict. He wanted to let Ben do things his way but he just kept seeing things end badly in his head. If he lied right now and or gave no answer to Cromwell things would end badly for Gail. Then he looked towards the truth. If he told the truth he could gage what Cromwell’s reaction is and warn Ben. If Cromwell wasn’t so thrilled then he could tell Ben that. If Cromwell seemed open to it then he could tell Ben. But no matter how Gail thought of it, it wasn’t going to end well.

How could it? How could any of it!? Gail thought these things and saw only a dead end for Ben. How could this possibly end well? It was then Gail realized the horrible mistake that he has made, letting Ben do something so crazy, and him accidently suggesting something so crazy. He saw no other option to tell the truth. And even that sounded bad. The only good thing to do would be to kill Sarah and he knew that, but it was too late.

“Ben is currently on his way to you!” Gail cracked and told Cromwell.

“What!? Why!?” Cromwell said. “Is this like the time before?”

“Not exactly. I am sure he is almost there. He was going to ask for your help.”

“My help for what exactly?” Cromwell asked, not sounding happy as he asked.

“Uh he… uh whelp um he” Gail said words but couldn’t get the sentence off the ground.

“Spit it out!” Cromwell yelled and it was then Gail realized there was going to be trouble.

“Ben has this girl with him, and he uh… he wanted to try something new. He was going to ask you for help in taking down the girl’s Heart Fiend.” Gail said.