Chapter 2 – What Was Left in Ashes

Ben had stared out the window for a while after that. He had tried on thinking about something else, but he ended up just dazing off, such as he did when he was in class. His gaze was fixed on what seemed to be the moving terrain. He listened to what was happening around him.

Although Julie and Ester weren't the best of friends, they could start talking about something that was SOMEWHAT similar and would talk about it for what seemed to be an hour or two. Ben forgot what the conversation was about, but he didn't bother listening. It was about something girly, like shoes or dresses.

Gwen had moved to the front of the RV to sit in the passenger seat next to Kevin, talking to him about something, whispering. Kevin seemed confused, as if he wasn't sure what he was talking about. And although Ben couldn't see Argit, he knew that the little devil was a having a fit about whatever Gwen had made him hush about. So, he had gone to the front, too.

While those three whispered about something, Tack, Maya, Gunnar, and Ghetto all sat together, talking about the lake. Like Ben, none of them knew where they were going. It seemed as if the only people who knew where they were going were Argit, Gwen, and Kevin. This made Ben puzzled. Sure, they wanted him to be surprised, but why not tell the others? This made Ben all the more worried.

The voice continued to buzz in the back of his head.

'I'm still here. I haven't forgotten.'

Ben tried to tune this voice out, knowing it was just horrible, horrible past experiences coming back to haunt him, but he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling. Sure, he would often hear the blood chilling voice, but that was normally in his nightmares or whenever someone or something suddenly remained Ben of the tragic yet horrifying event.

No one knew. No one knew what happened. They thought they did, patting Ben on the back.

"I'm so sorry Ben." they would say. "I'm so sorry for your loss. I know what you're going through."

But they didn't. Only Ben had seen it.

Ben's eyes closed, as if something had commanded him to sleep.

'You're asleep.' the voice said. 'But I've just awakened.'

A major chill went down Ben's spine. 'No.' he thought. 'You're dead.'

Ben was awaken by a soft hand, shaking his shoulder. Ben's eyes snapped open. Julie was leaned in over the seat that Ben was sleeping in, smiling.

"Wakey, wakey." she chuckled.

Ben then sat up, stretching and yawning. "Where are we ... ?"

"We're almost there." Kevin answered, standing by the RV's door. "We have about twenty miles left. We're just fueling up now and then heading back on our way. Might as well get out and stretch now while you can."

Ben nodded, seeming to look through Kevin. Noticing his friend's strangeness, Kevin raised an eyebrow. "You feeling alright, Ben?"

Ben just gave a slight nod. "Yeah. Just tired, is all."

Kevin gave a skeptical look, but then just turned and walked out of the RV.

Ben turned his head to see that Julie was giving her boyfriend a worried expression.

"What?" Ben said, trying not to look her in the eye.

Julie sighed. "You just seem strange is all."

"Oh, yeah?" Ben chuckled. "How so?"

"Well," Julie said, looking out the RV's window. "You talk in your sleep."

Ben blinked in surprise. He hadn't remembered dreaming while he was sleeping. Sure, he sometimes talked in his sleep, but that was when he dreamt of something. He couldn't even remember having the smallest dream while he was sleeping. His sleep seemed to be deep and dark, as if he were buried miles deep into the ground.

Ben looked out the window, too. The sun was already beginning to set. The sunset in front of them was pinkish and somewhat orange.

Looking behind him, Ben saw that he and Julie were the only ones left in the RV. Everyone else must have been outside, breathing in air that didn't smell like farts and Cheetos.

Julie read Ben's mind. "Yeah. Everyone's getting as much fresh air as they can before we hit the road, again. We should, too."

Ben got out the side of the seat, nodding. Anything to get off of their subject, then Ben would do it. Julie still had a worried expression, but she followed Ben nevertheless.

Once Ben stepped out of the RV, he was hit with fresh, spring air. He was hoping to have PLENTY of that where they were going. Where they were wasn't a gas station. It was a resting stop. There were park benches off in the distance and lots and lots of grass everywhere. Kevin was off in the distance playing fetch with his dog while Gwen sat on a bench, watching.

Argit, Gunnar, and Ghetto were all huddled together talking about something. Argit would occasionally look over at Ben, but would look away once he saw Ben looking in their direction.

Maya, Tack, and Ester were slowly walking off into the more grassy area together, talking and laughing together.

Things seemed normal enough for Ben.

Ben hadn't noticed it before, since for the rest of the ride to the lake he had talked with his friends instead of looking out the window, but he knew that something was off. So, turning his head, he looked out the side of the window. Gwen had noticed him looking, taking in a sharp breath, as if she had been hoping he wouldn't have looked.

Ben's heart seemed to beat a million miles per minute. He didn't get it right away, but he recognized the place, but from where? He wasn't entirely sure. There were burnt trees lining all along the side of the road. Each was tall, towering over the RV, pitch black and completely burned. In the sunlight, they seemed to shine, but instead of shinning or glimmering, they seemed to be leaking, be crying their sorrow and pain.

Ben felt his hands begin to shake. He remembered now. That voice suddenly returned.

'Do you see my pain, now?'

Indeed, the trees looked as if they cried, snowing endless pain, which would never stop.

"Ben?" Gwen said softly.

"Where are we?" Ben said in almost a whisper.

Kevin turned out of seat with a slight grin. "Can we tell him now?"

Gwen seemed as if she had reason not to, but she sighed. "Sure."

Kevin looked back to the road. "You know that old place that they used to have for camping sites up here? You know, Wolfe Ridge?"

Ben seemed to suddenly stop breathing. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Gwen suddenly look over at him with a worried expression. Ben opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Wolfe Ridge. He thought he'd never hear those words ever again.

"You know the place?" Argit asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ben tried to sit up straight and look Argit in the eye, but his vision seem to suddenly blur. "I've ... heard of it."

That was a fat lie. Ben had more than heard of it. He's experienced it.

Argit grinned, turning back to Maya and Ghetto. "Yeah, like I was saying, I went there when they closed it."

"Oh." Maya said, perking up. "That was what you were saying. I was confused."

"Why did they close it?" Tack asked, sitting next to Maya.

"No one knows." Argit shrugged. "Had something to do with this HUGE fire."

Everyone seemed to look out their windows. All the trees were burned, but as they got closer and closer to the ridge and it's waterfall, there was more lush follage and trees. Everything seemed to have grown back perfectly fine.

Maya seemed all the more confused. "Why didn't they just reopen it if it all grew back?"

Argit gave a sly grin. "Not sure, but there ARE theories."

"Theories?" Ester huffed.

"They say," Argit teased. "That the reason why they can't ever reopen Wolfe Ridge is because of an accident."

Ben began to prickle.

"No one knows how it happened, but they say that in the fire, someone took the advantage and killed as many people as they could." Argit said, in a low, creepy voice. "But, he got so into it, going crazy, that he didn't pay attention to the growing flames. He was burned alive."

Giving an annoyed grunt, Kevin rolled his eyes. "Bull."

"It could be true!" Argit cried out. "I heard it from a guy ..."

Gwen looked over nervously at Ben, but he was already staring out his window, his eyes in a daze. Gwen sighed. She seemed to be the only other person that knew, but yet she didn't.

All that Ben had ever told her was that Rook had died in a fire. Now a days, if Ben had to deal with any situation dealing with a fire, he would croak, or stutter, but yet would still get the job done. Gwen had hoped that this would be different. By the longing look in Ben's eyes, Gwen couldn't help but feeling guilty. Perhaps coming in the first place was a bad idea.

Ben knew that his cousin was staring at him, but yet he didn't care. She thought she knew, but yet she didn't. She hadn't been there. She didn't know the truth. Only Ben did. And harboring the secret was like knowing you had someone's murder on your conscience.

It wasn't the fire that Ben had felt sick about, it was EVERYTHING. It was the fire, the deaths, and most of all, Wolfe Ridge.

Coming back felt like facing your nightmares all over again.

You get to see where this story is going.

Yeah. I know I said this would be out in a week. That was two days ago. Deal with it. I'm horrible at telling when I'll post something. When I say I'll post something on a certain date, I'll either do it RIGHT on that date or earlier. Never later. I'm just weird like that.

I might just post my other fan fiction early, too. MAYBE. Maybe ...

((I OWN THIS FAN FICTION AND ALL THE IDEAS AND OCs I PUT INTO IT. THIS IS COPYRIGHT RED WOLF PRODUCTIONS))