Author's Comments: Ok... so this was an idea I hatched up for an RP character I play. Basically, it's Ghost Rider... but with a twist that came to me in a dream the other night. Just keep watching, and you'll find out what happens ;D

Disclaimer: Ghost Rider and all associated characters are (c) to Marvel Comics. The only things I have any claim on are Rocky ( the main character) and the plot.

Chapter 1: Recollection

They say those who sleep in moonlight become lunatics…

So maybe I was, but I knew for sure that, to some degree, I was sane. I knew that these dreams (or rather, nightmares) that always left me lying in bed, breathing heavily, covered in a cold sweat… They were real. Not at that exact moment, mind you… but they had happened, or were going to. Of those facts, I was absolutely sure.

They were always different… the most recent one, though, had left me more shaken than any of the preceding ones. It would start out with me waking up in the middle of the night… This, I supposed, was why I always thought it was real. Though I always seemed to be in a strange place, never where I'd fallen asleep. I'd be looking out the window, as I always seemed to, laying in a pool of silvery moonlight. I seemed much smaller than I should at seventeen… but that was one reason I'd branded this one as more of a memory than just a dream. It was about the time that I'd realized then when the voices started behind me. And even though I never took my eyes away from stars and moon before me, I knew whose voices those were, arguing in whispers muffled by a closed door.

My father's voice was present, that I was positive of. But the woman arguing with him I could only guess as my mother. Assuming this, I was sure that this was more than just a dream… after all, I had no conscious recollection of my mom. I'd never known her…

She'd died when I was barely a year old.

And this nightmare I was reliving was the day she'd been murdered.

"How could you not tell me, Roxanne?"

"Well first of all, Johnny, you're not exactly the easiest man to get a hold of. You've been on the run for almost two years now... How in hell did you expect me to tell you?"

"I know... I guess I'm just surprised to find this all out. God...how?"

"You know perfectly well how it happened."

"I know!"

"Shh!"

"Sorry. So what's her name?"

"Alexis Roxanne. After your mother and I."

"Simpson?"

"Blaze... after you."

"Damn it, Roxie! You should know better!"

"What"

"Do you have any idea the danger you've put yourself in? That you've put her in? Associating her with me is like suicide for the both of you!"

"I thought that's why you left... to keep me safe. So isn't it a risk for you to be here anyways?"

"Yes! But I didn't know about her! Roxie, you know what you're up against... she doesn't. She can't defend herself... And besides... it's been nearly two years, Roxie... You know I can't stay away. It's hard enough for me to be here now, knowing that I have to leave again."

"And you think it's not hard for me, Johnny!? Every day, I'm reminded by that little girl of what I can't have! No matter how much I wish that you were here with us, that she could know her father, I know it could never happen! And when she gets old enough to realize that she's missing something, I'm going to have to look her in the eyes and lie to her face about her own father. I can't exactly tell her the truth, now can I?"

"No... you're right."

"Of course I'm right! Someday, she'll realize that I was lying and she'll want to know! She's so much like you already, I know that when that day comes I'll lose her too..."

"I thought you said she looked like you?"

"She does, for the most part... But she's got your eyes."

"Oh..."

"That's the hardest part... I see so much of you in her..."

"Roxie..."

"You should probably go, Johnny. You've been here too long already..."

"You're probably right..."

"I'm sorry, Johnny."

"I'm sorry too, Roxie."

Then the door shut softly. The next thing I knew, it was cold... so cold, even though I knew (somehow) that it was the middle of a humid Texas summer. I heard a scream from the other room. My body froze with fear. Then, a sound that I'll never forget in my life... the howl of some inhuman creature. Another cry joined the fray, and between the calls and the screams I couldn't tell what was going on. The fighting lasted only a few short seconds, but it seemed like an eternity as a burst of heat engulfed everything and I too screamed.

Then, amidst the fire, I felt two strong, muscular arms wrapping about my tiny body. I had only enough time to catch a glimpse of my father's blue eyes... the wreath of fire receding from around his head... and then I blacked out.