A New Beginning

Ben sat on the sofa, desperately trying to sort out his thoughts.

"What am I supposed to do now?"

The documents clearly stated that he either had to vacate the apartment by the end of the month or pay for it by himself from then on.

Unfortunately, the latter was not an option. Although the apartment was small and located right next to the train tracks, the cost seemed astronomical.

On top of that, he hadn't shown up at work in the last few weeks. He feared he had already been fired.

Replacing someone like him wasn't particularly difficult; the job as a waiter downtown was quite popular and Ben was never particular talented. 

His fears were proven right when he found a letter of termination in his overflowing mailbox.

So he was kicked out of school, would soon have no apartment, and had no money. This situation in itself was nothing new to him.

However, this time he was alone. No one would help him. And it was clear to him that he didn't want to go back to the shelter. So what should he do next?

He needed money. He could try to steal something, but he had never had any talent for that and it wasn't very sustainable. So he needed a job. But it was impossible for a teenager without qualifications to get a job that paid well enough to allow him to live independently.

Ben looked out the window. The sun was already starting to set and his temples were pounding.

Today it was too late to worry about his future.

He laid down in bed and tried to fall asleep but he could not relax. His entire body was tense and the throbbing in his temples was getting worse.

After a while, Ben heard a murmur. At first, it was very quiet, but as time went by it swelled into a louder and louder chorus of voices. There were so many that Ben could not understand a single word.

"Is this what it feels like to go crazy?"

Ben didn't know. How could he? After all, a crazy person can't very well call himself crazy.

In an attempt to escape the voices, Ben pressed both palms to his ears. But instead of the voices become quieter, the noise only continued to swell until it droned in his head like a church bell and he could no longer grasp a clear thought. The skull on his arm grinned maliciously. His red eyes lit up briefly.

And then, from one moment to the next, it was gone. The silence that spread through Ben's head felt like pouring cold water on a burn. Ben sighed gratefully. What was that just now? Maybe he had just had a bad dream. Maybe he was going insane. He didn’t know and he was too tired to care.

The next morning, Ben struggled to roll out of bed. The tempting feeling of security and peace under the covers was too strong.

When he finally managed to gather enough strength to get up, the sun was already high in the sky. As he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and he saw himself in the mirror, he jumped back, startled.

His face was haggard and pale, his once full hair looked thin and lifeless, and dark circles stood out under his eyes. Ben backed away from the figure in the mirror, terrified. "That's what you get for not eating anything decent for weeks." He thought disgruntled.

The lack of sleep and near-total deprivation of food would probably have killed any normal person. But what did Claudia tell him? He was no longer a normal person. Unfortunately, she was probably right about that.

The thought reminded him of something.

He quickly ran out of the bathroom and searched his room until he finally found what he was looking for. With hesitance, he looked at the note Claudia had given him. Should he call? What else could he do if he wanted to continue to have a roof over his head? And hadn't she also said that he could sleep in peace at her place again?

With shaky hands, Ben typed the number into his phone. He took a deep breath and called.