Next chapter. Yes…finally! After all this time, it has finally come. Yippee! Well…I don't expect that much of excitement. It's probably just me who is excited for finally getting to it and posting it and pending for all your wonderful reviews. Just me, I guess. Even though it is kind of short…. its up.

All of you might think…. Chapter 7… and I don't know what the hell is going on! Or…. what the hell does this all mean?

I'm sorry if you feel that way, but explanation will come in the next chapter or the chapter after that. Sad…more waiting.

I must be crazy….

Cliffies, the wonderful world of cliffies, eh?

Anyways…thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Here are some little note to you:

Beautifully-evil: Sorry about the weirdness. To me, it fits Beast boy perfectly xD I should read your fanfic(s)….if I only had the time. There isn't enough time in one day! I'm sorry…so so sorry….

Mollykat: Answers. Answers. Here is your answer: I don't have your answer.

WindyDays: and better…and better…now that's creepy.

Chapter 7

"There is no way I am going in there!"

"Come on, Beast boy. A little broken down building isn't that bad."

"It's bad enough. Who knows? It could cave in on us and kill us!"

"Not this death thing again. You're exaggerating. Nothing is going to kill us except your stupidity."

"I'm not going in there," Beast boy said once again, ignoring Cyborg's side comment. "You can't make me."

"Come on Beast boy," Cyborg said, annoyed now of Beast boy's lack of cooperation. "We're all hungry. Just get out of the car."

"It could be empty…"

"No, it's not. Get out of the car!"

"Hell if I'm going in there!"

"You're hungry, right? Of course you're hungry. You are always hungry! You little…. eating out of my fridge…you little…" he shook his head, and focused. "Look. We're all hungry. Get out of the car. Now."

"I'm not that hungry. Let's go to the next stop? Please?"

"That won't be for another twenty minutes. I'm sure you can't wait that long."

"You don't know the amazing things I can do."

"I don't think I want to know," Cyborg said, raising an eyebrow. His stomach growled lightly, making him feel even more annoyed. "We'll let you starve, then, if you won't come with us."

"Fine then."

Beast boy was slouched in his seat, his arms crossed, and glaring at Cyborg who held the door open impatiently for him. The T-car was parked out in front of a broken down building that was somewhat a 'restaurant' from what they could tell. It had faded letters spelling 'The Restaurant' on the front.

It was not the best restaurant they have seen (the only one, actually), but it was the closest, and closest was good.

Everything surrounding them was broken down as if it was a ghost town, or better yet, a ghost rest stop. There was a sign somewhere on the way up to the little town that was squished between two greenish hills, reading 'Welcome To Ausshi', which really said 'W l ome o A ss i". The other greenish colored letters had faded away, though somehow it was still legible.

"This place is haunted," Beast boy said. "I'm not going to eat here...it's just too creepy. Which makes me not hungry." He grinned, as if he had won a wonderful victory, "I would be hungry in twenty minutes."

"Then your staying in the car," Cyborg said. "We're not leaving on your twenty minute in search of hunger adventure."

"Fine," Beast boy said stubbornly. Cyborg closed the door, locking Beast boy in the car with only his window cracked an inch.

"This place is kind of creepy," Star said carefully. "It seems to be so quiet. Is this normal for a rest stop to have no living thing in it?"

"I don't know," Robin said. "Haven't been to one of these places for quite some time."

"It's not that bad," Cyborg said. "C'mon, let's see what this place has got to eat. Maybe this place has some hidden food around here. Looks may be deceiving."

"Do you know if this is usual, friend Cyborg?" Starfire asked as Cyborg led the way through the door of the building that almost crumpled away at his touch. What they saw was no surprise to them, but a little disappointing, of course. The place was deserted. Not a chair was in the square building, only the millions of pieces of dust, a creaky floorboard, and a small opening at the other end.

"I do not think this is an Earthly restaurant," Starfire said, looking around suspiciously. "Usually restaurants are filled with humans who would like to eat the food."

"It sure isn't a restaurant," Cyborg said. "And to answer your question, I don't think this is normal."

Starfire nodded slowly.

"No hidden food," Robin said. "I guess we'll have to wait to go to the next rest stop."

"Is this even a rest stop?" Raven said.

"If it was, it was a long time ago," Robin said. "Let's go, before this building suddenly falls on us."

"You really believe it's going to fall on us?" Cyborg said sarcastically.

"No…. not really. You never know," Robin said.

"Let us not stick around and find out," Starfire said, now looking at the roof suspiciously. It obviously had holes from busy termites. "I wonder how long it has been…this way?"

"I don't know, Star," Robin said, turning around toward the doorway. Before he could reach the door, (which really wasn't a door anymore) a voice rang out all around him, making him jump. Everything seemed to shake for a split second, but the thought slipped away once the voice spoke.

Where are you going?

It was a frightening voice that rung in Robin's head after it had been said The chilly ting to it ran up and down his spine, like ice falling down his shirt by a mischievous prank planned by Beast boy. There was no trace of any gender, or if the person was familiar to him. He did not expect it to be.

"Who said that?" Robin asked, whipping around, his cape flying in the air.

There was no one there, except four familiar people staring at him as if he was going crazy.

"Robin, nobody said anything," Cyborg said. "Not a word."

"You heard that voice, right?" Robin asked, not wanting to be the only one to be hearing the voice. "Someone said, 'Where are you going?' You heard it?"

"No, we did not hear a thing," Starfire said, a little bit of worry showing in her voice.

"Then…. I must be hearing things," Robin said, shaking his head. He swore he had heard someone talking. Maybe it was just this building getting to him. Maybe it would cave in, maybe the voice asking where he was going would make the ceiling cave in on them if he did not answer. Robin new that was insane.

Anielle heard the voice, but a striking pain kept her from telling. She silently swore at her brother for doing this to her. To the Teen Titans…for everything…

As Robin began to turn around again towards the non-door, the voice spoke again.

Where are you going?

Stopping in mid-turn, Robin swiftly looked around for the source of the voice, knowing that he would not find anything. He saw the questioning stares of his teammates, and the blank stare from Anielle. He thought he had seen something sparkle in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

"Did you hear that?" he asked breathlessly to no one in particular.

"You're going crazy, man," Cyborg said. "Just keep walking, so we can get out of this place. You're blocking the doorway."

"I swear I heard something," Robin said quietly. "I swear."

"You shouldn't swear about something that isn't there, Robin," Cyborg joked.

"I would very much like to get out of this place now," Starfire said when Robin made no move to get out of the way.

Robin nodded slightly, deep in thought, and started out the doorway toward the T-car with its green passenger waiting within. Beast boy looked out the car window as they approached grinned at them.

"I knew you guys wouldn't stay there for five minutes!" he exclaimed.

"Shut up," Cyborg said, climbing into the driver's seat.

"I knew it was too creepy for you," Beast boy said.

"No, it was empty, not creepy," Robin stated. "Remember, you were the one who was too scared to even step in the building."

"Yeah, sure, whatever, but I was right! Now onto the next rest stop without all these forty year old buildings."

"More like a hundred," Cyborg said.

"And maybe this one will not be deserted," Starfire said hopefully.

"Let's keep our finger's crossed," Cyborg said, yawning a little.

"You guys should listen to me more often," Beast boy said teasingly, but more to himself than to the others. Everyone else ignored this comment.

Once everyone was in their seats with seatbelts on, Cyborg drove the car out back on to the main freeway, leaving behind the little ghostly rest stop called Ausshi, and hopefully everything else that could be in it. Except…. they did not.

Robin still was spooked about the voice he had heard, and that nobody else did seem to hear it. He still heard the echo of the genderless words that he thought he made up. Maybe they were made up by his mixed up imagination he was having since Anielle came into their lives, and maybe they were not. Just before he led himself once again to believe he was going crazy, the voice came back. This time to Robin's utter distress, it was not from all around him, it was inside his head.

Why do you leave me?

He jumped in his seat, startling Cyborg.

"Dude, you all right?" Cyborg asked. "You look you've seen a ghost. You hearing those so called 'voices' again, or what?"

"No," Robin said quickly. "No, just a…. thought startled me, that's all."

"This reminds me of something," Cyborg said distantly, "you know… on our way back to the tower yesterday? Dude, I swear that I saw something that you didn't see or hear. Or feel…it seems similar."

"Yeah…it does," Robin said.

Raven gave them a quick glance, and opened up to her book to the page she left off on.

Robin took a quick look in the back seat just to make sure none of them had said it, sighed, and met the questioning stare of green sparkling eyes. He gave her a weak grin, showing her that he was all right, and turned back to the front.

Why do you leave me, Robin?

Maybe he was crazy…maybe something is driving him to believe so…or…what if this was Ramka's doing? Robin shook his head, trying to think up other explanations to the voice.

Why?

His breath quickened as he noticed something distinct came out of the words. Female. It was definitely female. No male voice would say words so lightly with such yearning depth in every syllable.

Why?

A female in distress, a female crying out to him. Who, then? Who is speaking to me? he said into his own mind, but only to the cause of surprising himself. He had just spoken into his own mind, or maybe he was just thinking these things? It befuddled him way too much that he pushed the thought out of his mind, along with all the others.

Robin did not exactly expect an answer, and sighed again when one did not come. Was he going crazy? Is he crazy? Of course he was. I am going crazy… he thought, bemused.

"Cyborg, can you turn on some music? This silence is driving me beyond insane," Beast boy said from the back seat.

You don't know what insane is, Robin thought coldly, you don't even know the beginning.

"No," Raven said, completely entranced in her book.

"Oh, come on Raven! Why do you always have to read?"

Raven did not answer, fighting back all the sensation of hitting Beast boy on the head with her book.

"Don't you have anything else to do besides reading?"

"Ignoring your voice," Raven said simply.

"Please, friend Beast boy, leave her be," Starfire said. "We do not need to listen to this music right now. Silence is…very nice. Very nice indeed."

"It's too quiet! Cyborg, turn on the music."

"Not this again," groaned Cyborg. "Silence is golden. Especially when you're not talking."

"I wouldn't talk if you would turn on the music," Beast boy said, a little hurt showing in his voice.

"We don't need it on," Cyborg said impatiently. "Why don't you sleep or something? Do some quiet activity, like…talking to yourself…without…really talking. Just… be… quiet."

To everyone's relief, silence rang inside the car, but everyone wondered how long it would last.

"Car trips," whispered Anielle under her breath.

"What about car trips?" Beast boy asked to everyone's dismay. Anielle swore under her breathe again for even speaking a word. Why had she had to ruin the only quiet they had gotten from the beginning of the trip?

"Beast boy, can you please be quiet," Robin said. "Just to the next rest stop? Please?"

"What's the problem with me talking?" Beast boy asked dumbly, knowing what the exact answer would be.

"Everything," Cyborg said.

"Yeah, thanks a lot."

"Your very welcome," Cyborg said.

"Beast boy could you just be quiet," Robin said again. "It would be-"

Why?

The voice was back.

Why do you walk away as if you do not care?

Robin closed his eyes tightly behind his mask, seeing darkness, and feeling the deep pain and the dying passion within the words that were being spoken. A little thought sprung in his mind, but of course, it only lasted for a few seconds. He was walking?

Why do you do this to me? Why? Why?

"It would be…?" Beast boy said.

Robin did not hear him. He only heard the echoing voice of agony inside his head. His hands were clutched into fists, the pain he felt overwhelming. Who was this girl, if it was a girl? Or a woman? What is this madness?

Who are you? Robin screamed out into his mind. Who are you?

The voice did not answer. Not yet, anyway. It seemed like the pained voice left him a few seconds to give him a breather. He felt the irresistible hate for voices just then, even if it was crying out to him for help. Or just to annoy the hell out of him.

Robin.

Robin swore in his mind, his mouth was closed shut, as if it was always that way the day he was born.

Robin. Ignore it. Fight it.

To his relief, it was a different voice. It was full of hope and strength as if it was the sun on a stormy day. Robin heard that voice before, but he could not quite place it just then.

The words it spoke were truly a light in the dark place in his mind. The Light. Where the voices sang.

Don't listen. Fight it.

Fight it. How could you fight a voice?

Fight it.

The other painful voice came again, louder than before.

Why do you leave me? Why? Now of all times when I needed you most of all?

The distress dwindled in his mind, tearing him apart deep inside. The only thing that left him feeling real was The Light, repeating the words that kept him strong in his weak state.

Robin….do not leave me….please…..

The two voices swerved angrily in between each other in the darkness, the Sad and the Light. The words were not making sense as they blurred into each other. Robin felt as if he were the eyes watching a battle between the good and the evil. Though, he did not think the sad voice was evil at all, only…misunderstood, like all people in this day and age.

Why?

Fight it….

Robin….why?

Fight it….

Why?

Ignore it…

Why do you leave me?

Fight….

Leave me…

It…

Please…

Ignore it…

Why?

Voices.

All he heard were these….

Voices….

Feeling helpless, he felt that he had to say something, or do something. Deep within himself, he felt the urge to yell out, to gain control of the war, to be joining The Light and conquer the battle.

While the helplessness drowned him, trying to make him go down into deep, deceiving water, he gathered up all his will power from his soul that he had stored up from deep inside himself. He felt the strong sensation of power, but he knew he could only use it for a split second. With only a that much to spare…he said…

ENOUGH!

Silence.

"Would be, Robin?" Beast boy said.

"Huh?" Robin said, finally seeing the front of the car.

"Did you forget what you just said?" Beast boy asked.

"What did I just say?" Robin said, confused. Had he said something?

"Give it a rest, Beast boy," Cyborg said. "Stop harassing him."

"I wasn't harassing him!"

"Shut up," Raven said.

"What's the big deal?"

"You talking, now just give it a rest," Cyborg said.

Beast boy rolled his eyes, and looked out his window. The T-car was swiftly passing green hills that now faded in the last of the sunlight. The sun was setting. One day passed since they had started their journey.

A comfortable silence filled the car once again, leaving Robin to his own thoughts, and t rest of them to theirs. The slim hate of voices was still there, but Robin actually hoped to hear the voice that he had seen as The Light. The Light. He knew it was crazy, but he had to give it a try. He wanted to talk to that voice, privately, without interruption. He had questions, and he wanted answers.

Who are you?

His voice echoed in his mind, knowing that only the voice he wanted would hear. And hopefully answer. Robin had the feeling that the sad voice was gone for good. Robin did not get what just went on inside his head, but he believed he did something good, somehow, and he liked the after feeling of accomplishment.

A few minutes passed as Robin waited silently for an answer. He pondered about these 'voices in the head' being some kind of code or something, it taking awhile to receive and send messages. It was a crazy thought, he knew, but it was all he had keep him sane about it. He truly believed he had gone beyond crazy.

"Ten miles until the next rest stop," Cyborg said, reading off a sign that passed them swiftly. "Great. I'm starved."

"How long is this….ten miles?" Starfire asked, peering at Cyborg's back.

"Couple of minutes," Cyborg said.

"Yes, finally," Beast boy said. "Food."

"And maybe food will shut you up for the rest of the trip," Raven commented.

"Or maybe we can just buy duck tape at the store, if there is one at the next rest stop," Cyborg said. "Just to keep his mouth shut."

Beast boy childishly stuck his tongue out at both of them. "Don't get your hopes up." He was about to say more, but his stomach gave a noisy growl. "Are we there yet?"

"No," Cyborg said.

"….now?"

"Shut up already…"

"Come on, Beast boy," Robin said. "Give it a rest." Just as he spoke those words to Beast boy, they drained away from his memory as water evaporates swiftly in a scorching desert. The Light had returned, with an answer he had not quite expected, but it satisfied him deep down inside, within his soul.

No one…of importance.

He had asked the same question to someone, and that someone answered the same exact answer. Realizing that he had wanted the same thing from this same exact person, he thought t was all too easy, way too simple. Robin grinned to himself, fighting off the sensation to turn around and smile at her. He knew, just somehow, who it would be all along, but it never entered his mind fully until now.

What struck Robin dumb was exactly how it happened, why it happened, and who was the pained voice. To many questions unanswered…everything is just to…

"Vague," Robin said bluntly, not aware of the comfortable silence in the T-car.

"What is vague, friend Robin?" Starfire asked politely from the back seat.

"Everything. Everything is vague, Star."

"And so it will be until it happens," Anielle said too quietly for the human ear to hear.

And so it would be.