I do as he says and walk into the room. I'm instantly hit with a homey smell and the scent of pizza and soap. I like it.

The inside of the room is quite big, but nothing too special. It's like one large rectangle with two beds pushed against the far wall on opposite sides of the room. Both beds have green covers and white pillows, but the one on the left is messy and wrinkled like the bed was made in five seconds, while the one on the right is neatly made, the covers tightly tucked in. Between them sits a window and two nightstands.

Up against the left wall between the bed and the wall against the door is a shelf stocked full with video games and different consoles. Several bags of different types of chips, empty and full, lay on the ground all around the left side of the room, and a couple of loose t-shirts and pairs of pants hang off the side of the bed.

"Sorry, I haven't cleaned." Ben mutters nonchalantly, sounding not even the slightest bit apologetic.

I turn and look at him, ignoring his statement. "I'm assuming the bed on the right is mine?" I ask, my voice an octave higher than usual.

He nods at me, then walks over to his bed and grabs a t-shirt and pair of joggers. "I hope you don't mind if I change?" He says, not bothering to look at me.

A blush creeps up onto my face. "N-not at all." Darn my stutter!

He snickers. "Are you wanting to watch?" He purrs.

My face instantly starts burning, making it obvious to me that it is most likely blood red. He turns and sees my blushing face, which causes him to chuckle again, but this time it has a devious tone in it that makes my heart skip a beat out of fear.

In the blink of an eye, he has me pinned to the wall by my wrists, my bag falling to the floor with a thud. My brain completely stops working out of pure shock, making it so I can't even form a complete thought. All I know is my heart is racing.

He leans in close to my ear, allowing me to get a big whiff of his scent. I can't really put a finger on what it is, but I love the aroma. Still, it does nothing to calm my nerves. "You never said no~" he murmurs into my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

ASMR much? I think, then correct myself. No! No no no! Now is not the time to be making jokes!

"B-Ben..." I try to say, but it comes out as a mere whisper.

Why am I so weak and pathetic? If he's going to do what I think he is, then I should be kicking him away! Why aren't I? Why can't I?!

Suddenly, he pulls away with an amused grin on his face. Wait, what?! "Wow," he merely says, then turns around and walks back to his bed where his clothes lie. "Your heart was practically thumping out of your chest. I could hear it!" He says, then bursts out into laughter.

Wait... why did he... why didn't he... what was that...?

Again, I can't seem to form a complete thought.

I look up at him and see him shucking off his shirt, so I quickly jump around and face the wall.

What was that all about?!

I hear some shuffling behind me as I fan my face to try to rid the blush from it, still trying to calm down my beating heart.

"Alright, I'm gonna go to the party downstairs. You, stay up here. If you leave this room, you'll get lost, and we don't want that happening," he orders. I hear him walk to the door, so I turn around to look at him and find him fully changed. "Yeah. Do not leave this room, 'kay?" He asks though it's obviously not a question.

Still at a loss for words, I silently nod.

He smirks and starts toward the door, but I quickly grab onto his sleeve to stop him, causing him to turn around and look at me questioningly. Why did I stop him? This is, like, the most cliche thing ever. (Y/n), why are you like this?

I feel like I need to ask him a question, but I don't know what to ask. Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? I have no idea, but I feel the question poking at the inside of my head, I just can't figure out what it is.

Embarrassed, I let go of his sleeve and take a step back. "H-have fun at the party..." i mutter.

He raises an eyebrow in question. "Thanks?" He says, then walks out the door, closing it behind him. I'm left alone in his room.

Well, what should I do now? I would say 'go over everything that just happened to try to wrap your mind around it all', but that would just give me a headache. I'll do that tonight when I go to bed, I guess. Until then... maybe I should look around Ben's room and try to find out more about him?

The door swings back open and I see Ben standing there with narrowed eyes. "And don't go snooping around my room!" He says, pointing at me to try to make his point more specific. Surprised by the sudden outburst, I quickly nod my head vigorously. He seems pleased by my answer, so he closes the door again. I hear his footsteps stomp down he hallway outside and soon fade into silence.

Okay, there goes that plan. What do I do now? I walk over to my new bed and flop down onto it, closing my eyes. Maybe I should just try to go to sleep. So much has happened today... I probably should get some rest before I try to process it all. But to my surprise, there's not even a drop of tiredness in me. I would go out and try to explore this mansion or something, but Ben told me not to, and I don't want to get lost. I also don't want to run into another one of those freaks downstairs.

Why were they so messed up? And why were some of them wearing masks? And how about that clown costume? It was scary as heck. Why would someone wear that to a party? Are those all of Ben's housemates? They all seem so weird... and scary. I don't want to stay here with them.

I sigh, then suddenly a realisation dawns on me.

I need to pee.

I sit up and look around the room, but there is no door other than the exit.

The exit...

There must be a bathroom somewhere in the hallways, right? But Ben said no...

Well, too bad. I jump up and run to the door, swinging it open and stepping out into the hallway. I recall walking to Ben's room from the left, so I turn right instead.

So many doors... are all of these bedrooms? Does Ben have that many housemates? That seems like it would be crowded.

I walk down several more twists and turns of the hallway, becoming more scared and lost by the second, but then I hear two voices.

"C'mon, Toby! Don't be such a baby!" A feminine voice whines.

"Noooo... Kate, you-you know I-I hate alcohol." A soft , slightly high pitched masculine voice says.

"Then don't drink any! Just come with me!" Kate, I assume, says.

Silence.

"Come with me~ and you'll be~ in a world of pure imagination!~" 'Kate' sings dramatically. It makes me smile.

They seem nice. Maybe they'll be 'normal'? Should I try to talk to them? Do I risk it?

Yeah, why not?

I walk around the corner and see two people: a girl with brown hair that's dip-dyed red who wears red skinny jeans and a black tank top with 'nope' written on it in white, and a boy with fluffy brown hair who wears a white t-shirt with a black palm tree pattern all over it and jeans. They both turn and stare at me as soon as my eyes land on them.

They remain silent, making me become more and more nervous by the second. Why aren't they saying anything? Why aren't I saying anything?

Suddenly, the boy rises to his feet and storms over to me faster than I could say 'Sweet Martha's Cookies' and grabs me firmly by my throat, slamming me into the wall and choking me. I let out a cough as the pain forms on my neck.

"Who are you?!" He shouts, anger seeping through his voice. "How did you get in here?"

I try to answer, but the pressure on my throat silences my voice and makes it difficult to breathe. Tears start to form in my eyes as my heart pounds uncontrollably.

He's going to kill me. He's going to kill me. First Ben, now him.

'Kate' sashays up to us, pulling a pocket knife out from her pocket and holding it up to my cheek. "Loosen your grip. She can't talk." She says, her voice overridden with seriousness.

'Toby' does as she says and loosens his grip, allowing me to breath and talk. I take a few gasps of air before answering. "I-I'm Ben's proxy..." I squeak, my voice still recovering from being choked.

They both give me blank stares, then 'Kate' pulls the knife away from my cheek and starts giggling while 'Toby' let's go of my neck. I quickly bring my hands up to my neck, rubbing away the ghost of his touch.

"B-Ben's really done it th-this time..." 'Toby mumbles with a grin as his head jerks to the side, only to come back up again. What was that?

'Kate' stops giggling and smiles. "Yup!" She starts. "Sorry about that! I'm Kate." She sticks out her hand for me to shake.

Wow. One second they're trying to kill me, and the next they're trying to be my friends? What if they're trying to get me to let down my guard and as soon as I take her hand she's gonna stab me? Or what

if—

"Well, are you gonna shake my hand or not?" Kate says, interrupting my thoughts. I look at her suspiciously, still wary. "Don't worry, I won't bite." She giggles.

I hesitantly put my hand in hers, giving it a weak shake. Her smile grows wider at the gesture, then she lets go of my hand and motions towards the boy.

"C-Call me Toby," He says with a warm smile, offering his hand as well. I shakily accept and shake his hand. "Sorry ab—" He does the neck thing again. "--about attacking y-you, by the wa-ay." What's with all the tics and stutters?

"Y-Yeah..." I mutter. I would say 'it's fine', but it really isn't.

"So, where're ya headed?" Kate asks.

"I'm looking for the bathroom..." I say shyly looking between the two and silently begging for them to show me the way.

"Oh, h-here, we can sh-show you where it is." Toby says, waving his hand in a way that says follow me, then walks down the hallway with Kate following suite.

I follow.

Aside from them trying to kill me at first, they seem nice. I just need to make sure not to get on either of their bad sides. I wonder why they seemed to change into being friendly so quickly though. What about me being Ben's proxy made them suddenly be so welcoming? I really don't understand, but I guess I should be thankful for what I get and not question it. Like that one saying: never look a gift horse in the mouth.

"You know what?" Kate suddenly says, drawing both Toby's and my attention to her. "I wanna watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory now. I say we go camp out in my room and watch it after..." she turns and looks at me. "You never told us your name, did you?"

Oh, right. I never did. I mentally facepalm. "Oh, I'm (y/n)." I say.

"Alright, well us three should watch that movie after (y/n) goes to the bathroom." She says. Wait, all three of us? Does that mean me as well? Why would she invite me to come along? I just met them!

"Hold up, do you mean... us three? Like, including me?" I ask, pointing at myself for clarification.

Kate nods her head and Toby shrugs. "I guess s-so." He says.

I can't help but let a smile creep up onto my lips. Have I found... friends?

"Well, anyways, let's hurry because I really wanna watch that movie!" Kate starts skipping ahead, which makes Toby laugh as he chases after, leaving me to have to run to catch up with them.

Toby and Kate... these two seem really nice. I think I'm going to like their company.

(Word count: 2188)