Relentless (Book 3)

Chapter 24: Bethany - The Seventh Day

He was seeing his family. I knew this even before he spoke their names. His entire demeanor changed. He appeared completely resigned to his fate, completely out of fight. And he looked afraid, horrified would probably be more accurate. The terror in his eyes ran much deeper than the fear I saw when he faced a guard. It was the look of someone who was taught to submit or be beaten into submission from a very young age, and who was reminded of that lesson very frequently.

But it was also the look of someone who was desperate for the approval of the very people he feared so much. And that fear and desperation was ingrained much deeper into him than I thought.

It wasn't until I screamed for him to fight back that he finally snapped out of it and fought. But that didn't last long. Something in his face changed again soon after, and if I thought he looked afraid before, it was nothing compared to the complete and utter horror on his face when his hallucination morphed into Acer.

He submitted to whatever was coming his way again when he saw Acer. The terror on his face broke my heart in two and the air left my lungs as I watched him take hit after hit, blow after blow. But once I finally found my voice, I screamed at him again, this time begging him to fight for me if he couldn't fight for himself.

His eyes became focused at my words, and he whipped around onto his back.

Only for his expression to change again.

There was still fear there, but there was also something more. A deep longing. A longing for love and acceptance from the person who should have cared for him unconditionally, but who instead made his life a living hell.

The moment he thought he was seeing his mother, I knew immediately by the broken look in his eyes, that he had completely given up, and there was no hope of bringing him back. He would never lay a hand on someone he thought was his mother.

The guard raised his boot and brought it down towards Benjamin's face. He had just enough time to bring his hands up in front of his face before the guard's boot knocked him unconscious.

The last thing that came out of his mouth before he entered oblivion was an apology to his mother. The mother who beat him and instructed her husband and her other son to do the same. The mother who he thought was standing above him, raising her foot to knock his head in. And the only thing he had to say to her was that he was sorry.

And then he lost his first fight.

I felt guilty. I thought I'd done a better job of showing Benjamin his worth. A better job of teaching him that he meant a hell of a lot more than he was raised to believe. But it was clear that at least some part of him still felt worthless, still believed he was worthless. And that made me sick.

I could practically feel my blood boiling in my veins. "You sons of bitches!" I screamed. A few other guards had entered the room and were clapping the guard that had knocked Benjamin unconscious on the back. I tore my eyes away from them to look at Benjamin. I could see a trail of blood leading from his nose and his mouth where the guard's boot had made contact with his face.

I pointed my finger at the guard who just won the rigged fight. "The only reason your sorry ass isn't a heap on the ground crying like a baby, is because you drugged your opponent. None of you cowards could beat Benjamin in a fair fight. Hell, the rest of you haven't even been able to beat him in a fight that's been rigged for him to lose. None of you are even half as strong as he is, not in a fight, and certainly not as human beings. You're all weak, spineless cowards."

The guard who defeated Benjamin glared daggers at me for ruining his minute of fame. He stormed out of Benjamin's cell. A few seconds later the door to my cell flew open. I stared up at him. He wasn't as large or muscular as the guard who'd beaten me yesterday. Benjamin would have destroyed him if he hadn't been drugged with hallucinogens.