AFTER THAT FATEFUL NIGHT in Risk, where Kerr had kissed him and they\'d had a falling out, events had happened very quickly. After hearing a speech he\'d tried his best not to hear (but how does a fledgling keep their sire out of their head when they had superior talent) and could only resent as he escaped into the night, a long walk home had been the only time he\'d taken to think things through. With a decision made at the end of it, arriving at the beachhouse several hours later, he\'d stayed in the daylight hours asleep in his bed until dawn, when he\'d risen earlier than usual. He packed one large and one small suitcase with necessary clothes, leaving behind a lot more than he could take, keeping his journals but not the computer, throwing whatever else he thought would be useful into his car, and saying as little to Kerr as possible, avoiding him as much as his sire would let him. He wouldn\'t have said anything other than \'bye\' and ignored anything else that was shot his way. Short of being Dominated by Kerr, there was nothing the other could do to change his mind. He was leaving, and that was that.
It had taken him weeks, hopping from motel to motel during the day, sleeping in the bathtub if the room\'s windows had shifty light-letting curtains. He\'d not really planned his destination, but he was conscious that he was still using Kerr\'s money every time he swiped his bank card. Eventually he ended up in the most anonymous city of all, New York.
His car earned him appreciative stares and that\'s when he realised what he had to do to really escape everything that had tied him to a past he didn\'t remember. The car had always been his, yes, but it had been a bomb, not the luxury he had now, and if he wanted to live here, in this congested city full of lonely souls living together, it was more so a liability. He would have to garage it and it would only end up costing him money that he didn\'t have. Selling it put a pang of hurt in his heart but it was a bittersweet decision, for it would truly make him free, it would give him the ultimate fresh start. An eternal future without a past.
Selling it turned out to be a great deal easier once he found a caryard he could park in front of. The caryard itself was closed, but housed similar cars - though the newer version. Those who came and looked mostly had the money to buy, and he turned down the first offer that came to him for his car, settling on the second because it sounded ridiculously overpriced. He\'d shown the papers for his car, he\'d shown his I.D., everything was in order, though he knew his buyer was suspicious but didn\'t really care, considering they\'d just scored a bona fide 1969 Dodge Charger in mint condition. He\'d walked away with a pile of cash and they drove away with his car. The only thing he\'d kept was one of the keyrings - the bat an old schoolfriend had given him, knowing his love for all things vampire. So much for letting go of the past.
He found a building that had apartments out to let that was tolerable. He didn\'t care how his place looked, but the smells assaulting his nose had told him when to move on and when to investigate further. It was early morning but New York truly was the city that never slept. He walked into a place where he was asked if he wanted a room for the week, night or hour. After a moment\'s silence as he processed the meanings behind such a question, he answered with the longest timeframe and handed over some of the money he\'d received from the sale of the car. Paying in cash didn\'t have the landlord batting an eyelid - something else Ben processed a variety of possible meanings behind - and he was given a key and some vague directions about the number of flights to travel up and which door to take that would be his room.
When he got up there (six flights of stairs and without a working elevator) and dumped his stuff by the door, closing it behind him, he was surprised that the furniture was of a much better quality than he\'d imagined, as well as the walls and carpets. It was clean, and though he could smell the lingering odour of fried food permeating the walls, it was something he could put up with. The most interesting thing about the apartment he\'d received, was whoever had this apartment before him had blacked out the windows. He considered what such a thing might mean, and was busy walking around the single bedroom apartment familiarising himself with everything when there was a knock at the door.
He hesitated before going to it, already tense on the thought that maybe someone wanted to help themselves to some of the cash they might have noticed he\'d paid with downstairs.
"Yeah?" Ben asked through the door, without opening it.
