BXBX NOVEL Chapter 480 - Important Meeting
The bas.e.m.e.nt. He made his way into the room where the entrance was and then stepped down the rotary stairs all the way down to the second underground floor, and then went through this large hall to make his way to the entrance for the stairway to the third underground floor. The third underground floor was meant to be a ’Luxury’ item floor, with the most expensive stuff Benjamin had, so he wanted it to be doubly safe, since he wasn’t only planning on storing booze here, but some of his other expensive things as well, such as things that his Teachers made that he took with him as souvenir while he was travelling the world as a young man... Some of those were worth more than a hundred times what they did when Benjamin got them.
Really, the only downside to these three underground floors was to get the permit for it... But once that was done with, he just hired a company to dig everything out for him without disturbing the building above.
Anyway, with a smile on his face, Benjamin stepped up to the door that was there, but he soon saw a man step out from the space beyond, one that he didn’t recognize, "No entrance." The Man said, and Benjamin’s smile immediately disappeared.
"This is my house, bud. I think I can enter here." Benjamin reassured him and tried to step past the man, who just placed a hand on the old man’s chest and tried to push him back, "I said no entrance. Gone senile already?" The man asked with a light smirk, and Benjamin glared at him. He was angry as is having to experience this kind of stuff in a world where every second person was skilled at killing, but he didn’t want to experience it in his own home. So it seemed like he let out a little bit of Eisen to respond to the man, who seemed to be one of Nataly’s bodyguards.
"If you don’t step to the side right now, I’m going to crush your throat with a hand that has held tools every single day for 50 consecutive years, and then dispose of your body inside one of these many makeshift caskets that I have available to me. Now f.u.c.k off before that becomes more than just a threat." The old man glared with an expression subtly filled with anger, making the bodyguard flinch lightly in response, and before the situation escalated even more, Nataly stepped out through the door as well, seemingly having overheard what just happened here.
"Jimmy, what the hell are you doing?" She asked with a deep frown, and the Bodyguard turned around to her in surprise and started to stutter, "I-I erm... I wanted to give you all the space to talk in private like you asked for..?"
"We’re only gathering here like this to speak to that man in the first place, didn’t you listen before?" Nataly said with her arms crossed, but the Bodyguard looked at her confused, "I thought you meant to speak to someone called ’Benjamin’... Isn’t he already in there?"
With a deep sigh, Nataly shook her head, "That in there may also be called Benjamin, but he goes by ’Benji’. This here is the actual Benjamin we were waiting for, Benji’s Grandfather." The young woman explained, and the Bodyguard turned around with a shocked expression, "I’m sorry for being rude, Sir! It was a misunderstanding!" He apologized, and Benjamin just sighed a bit in response and shook his head.
"Don’t worry, my reaction might have been a little over the top as well." Benjamin pointed out, and then just stepped past the bodyguard before actually greeting Nataly.
"Thanks for the help, Evalia. It’s nice to see you." The old man said with a smile, and Nataly swiftly replied with a smile on her own, "Likewise, but sorry about that just now. He’s a bit rude, but he’s a good guy in the end. I trust him, so..." Nataly pointed out, but Benjamin just shook his head.
"It’s fine. Now, should we get downstairs and get started? Benji is downstairs as well?" Benjamin asked, before Nataly slowly nodded her head.
"Actually, it seems like everyone in the house is down here, with all of your grandchildren..." Nataly said, and for a moment, Benjamin didn’t really mind before he realized what she just said, "I literally have each and every single thing that I made in the past and didn’t sell down there, including numerous knives, swords, hammers, clubs, and other extremely dangerous items... Why are they all down there?" The old man asked with a slight groan and rushed down the stairs and entered the space beyond them, soon seeing everyone gathered in the more open part of the room instead of the area where Benjamin had been displaying his items lately.
With a slight sigh of relief, he just stepped into the room and properly greeted everyone again, especially Brody’s mother and sister who he hadn’t met before, and then took a look around at the makeshift beds and other sorts of furniture.
"Hmm, I would have made you something more comfortable... Can someone give me a hand?" The old man asked, and Benji looked at him with a wry smile immediately, "You think this is a good time to joke like that? Rather, finally tell us what’s going on, Grampa." Benji said, and the old man looked at his grandson with a light frown.
"You sure you want to hear it?" He asked, and Benji nodded his head as if it was obvious.
"Alright, then come with me. We’re talking in the control room. Brody, Evalia, Xenia, Jyuuk, Tony and Michael, come with me. Benji, only if you really feel up to it. It’s not a topic I necessarily want you to know about. And as for the rest... I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can let you come with us." The old man said, although quite soon, someone protested against that.
"And what a bout me? Why can’t I know about it?" Sophia asked with a deep frown, and the old man looked at her with a light smile, "Because Michael is here right now. You’re probably not in the right mindset to really listen to what I have to tell you all. I’m going to sit down with you and explain it some other time, alright?" Benjamin asked, and although Sophia still wasn’t happy being left out like this, she was at least fine with the fact that she would find out soon after all and ended up agreeing.
And then, everyone made their way into another room in the corner. It was a fair bit smaller, and currently there were some racks lining the walls that Drone Stations were meant to be attached to. Since this third floor wasn’t finished yet, the central ’Drone Station’ wasn’t ready yet either, but it was a rather safe room to talk about this kind of thing, since it was completely closed off and still had the same amount of protection as the rest of the third floor.
There were a few plastic fold-up chairs in the corner of the room that some people here swiftly grabbed and sat down on, before Benjamin sighed deeply and got started, first wanting to discuss what had been going on with one specific person in here.
"Michael." He started, "Now that you’re in the right mindset again, tell us about that dream you had the night before the barbecue." The old man told him, and Michael slowly nodded his head and nervously buried his fingers in his own arm.
"I don’t remember much of it, really... There were a lot of bits and pieces all intertwining with each other, all telling me that Benjamin was a bad person, that he was the Devil... That he was evil, and a Demon... I can’t really explain it, the imagery I have in my mind doesn’t really speak of such things at all, it’s just... That kind of dream-internal knowledge you have? Something that wouldn’t usually make sense, then makes sense if it’s in a dream and you take it as the truth..." Michael explained, and Benjamin then slowly nodded his head.
"And what happened during the barbecue?" Benjamin asked, before Michael slowly continued, "I was tense, and aggressive. I know that I was often like this anyway, but just never that extreme, and I actually called a little girl a ’s.l.u.t’... I just felt like everything was against me in that moment, that everything was something that the Devil I thought Benjamin to be was planning and orchestrating for the purpose of... I don’t even know what purpose... It seemed to me like everything was going to be alright at some point, and I calmed down. Until I saw that man..." Michael pointed out, and immediately everyone looked at him with curiosity over who that man was.
"I think he came up to me at some point and introduced himself as... Sa... Samuel? Could that be it? Samuel Morgan? Either way, the moment I saw him, heard his voice, and shook his head, all that aggression and tension just came bubbling up again... I didn’t realize it then, but he was the reason I thought of Benjamin as a devil, wasn’t he?"
With a scoff at how ridiculous this all was, Benji stared at Michael with an annoyed expression, "What, you think anyone is going to believe such a ridiculous excuse? You’re going to push what you did on Samuel? He’s just a cool, fun dude, what kind of reason could you have to get so angry when seeing him?" Benji asked, but everyone else in the room looked at Benji as if he was a bit in the wrong here. After all, he was the only one, beside Michael himself, who didn’t know what was going on in the ’game’.
So, Benjamin spoke up instead, "Thanks Michael, we understand. It doesn’t seem to be completely your fault. Just try to better yourself, alright? And don’t let Sophia coerce you into drinking that much wine again." The old man said, and Michael slowly nodded his head and then left the room, as was planned after he told them what happened exactly, while Benji just stood there confused.
"What? You’re really taking it as an actual excuse?" He asked with a deep frown, and Benjamin just nodded his head, "Yup, we are. And let me show you why." The old man said, and then swiftly closed his blue-gray eyes and opened them again shortly after, revealing their now golden color.