Ben stood in front of the whiteboard still trying to absorb everything that was happening to him. Where was he? Was he in a dream or an alternate reality that if Ciara had lived they would be living the life they always wanted.
"What's wrong?" Harley asked impatiently.
"I don't know? I don't know what to make of this? When I wake up will I remember any of this? Will I wake up and Ciara will be gone and you and your brother? If that's true, then I don't want to stay here with you and your mother. Where Ciara will be alive and you and Bo will be real." Ben felt himself breaking down.
"Daddy. I'm real and so is Bo and so is Mommy but we won't be if you don't get it together and find her. "Harley pleaded.
"So you'll tell me where to find her? Tell me what I need to do." Ben felt hope for the first time since Vincent Bellman took Ciara away from him.
"No. I can't." Harley solemnly revealed, "You need to find all of this out on your own in order for Mom to come back to you. I'm just here to give you strength and the will to keep fighting and not to give up. I'm here to save you from yourself because if you kill Vincent Bellman you'll go back to prison and you'll be no use to Mommy at all."
Ciara then stepped out of the shadows then stood next to Harley and spoke.
"Ben you need to think over again what I told you. Think Baby, long and hard and pull every piece of my message to you apart. But first you have to get past your anger and despair."
Ben swallowed hard, "I miss you so much. Ciara I'm lost without you. I can't breathe, I can't think. I'm paralyzed. I'm stuck."
Ciara stood in front of him, "Ben you need to move on and when I mean move on you need to free yourself because if you don't you won't be able to save me. You need to be without me to find me. You need to be the Ben Weston I fell in love with and that is a man who doesn't fall to defeat. It's the only way to clear your head and put the puzzle pieces together to find me." She caressed his cheek.
"I can feel you." He broke into tears.
"I'm always with you. You learned so much from me. And I definitely learned so much from you." Ciara gave him a broad smile.
Bo now came and put his arm around his father, "Dad you're one of the bravest and strongest man I know. You have overcome everything. You fell but got back up and put your life back together even after being completely on the ground and that led you to find Mom that night when she crashed her bike. You told us that Chad had thrown you out in the middle of nowhere and as you kept walking to leave town you put one foot in front of the other filled with determination. You said that one day you would come back to Salem better than ever to rub it in Chad's face. And you did that by being the man you are when you saved Mom that night. And after that you did it so many times before. Mom needs you to gather that strength and find her before it's too late. I know you can do it. Not because my life and Harley's and the others are counting on you. But that's who Ben Weston is. You never disappointed Stefan or Mom in the past and you won't disappoint us now." Bo then disappeared.
"Bo? Son?" Ben called out frantically.
"You're about to wake up." Harley relayed sadly.
"I'll see you again. We're all counting on you for our big family." Ciara kissed Ben softly on his lips, then disappeared.
Ben tears began to fall.
"I have to go now Dad." Harley announced and then gave Ben a tight hug.
"Will I see you again? Will I see you all again?" Ben's voice was shaky as he could smell Harley's lavender based perfume.
"Definitely. I'll find a way to let send you strength. I love you Dad." She then disappeared.
Bens started to wake up slowly muttering his future daughter's name "Harley. Harley."
"Son? Son? Are you Ok?" Clyde sat Ben up gently, "I didn't mean to hit you that hard. I just wanted to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life."
Ben was disoriented and looked around the room and then finally answered his father, "It's Ok." He saw the sunlight through the window and realized it was morning.
Clyde looked at his phone and saw the eighteen missed messages. He ignored them and put the phone back in his pocket. "Are you Ok? You were muttering the name Harley over and over again. You want to tell your old man who Harley is?"
Ben sat up completely on the bed and responded begrudgingly, "Nobody. It was just a dream." Or so he thought as he looked over at the nightstand next to the bed. He picked up the guardian bell that was now on a silver necklace. Ben then asked Clyde very confused, "Dad did you put this over here and put this necklace on it?'
Clyde walked closer to Ben and looked carefully at the jewelry, "No. I didn't."
"This was in Ciara's luggage the one Claire brought back. She showed it to me and I put it back in the suitcase." Ben felt his mind start to swirl.
"You know that's funny I didn't see it before when I put you in bed. I would have noticed it because I noticed these earrings." Clyde picked Ciara's earrings up in his hand, "She had good taste."
Ben recognized the scent on the bell which smelled slightly like lavender and started to scream enthusiastically. "Harley! She said she'd find a way to get in touch with me. Jewelry. She's just like her mother! Leaving jewelry like Ciara as a clue! Our girl is brilliant!"
Clyde was beyond bewildered by Ben's words, "Son. Are you sure you're OK?" he started to lead Ben back to lying down, "Ollie I'm very worried for you. You don't have children with Ciara."
Ben started to compose himself, "Never mind Dad. This means Ciara is alive and I need to find her." He stood up swiftly, "I need to get my head together."
"She's alive how?" Clyde didn't stop Ben and stood with folded arms, "You're not making sense."
"But I am. Something isn't right. I didn't see Ciara in the car before it exploded. I'm sure of that now." Ben started to pace, "The Fire Marshall said he found Ciara's rings in the car. But they weren't melted in any way. Or even singed. He ran to the desk and took Ciara's rings out of the draw to show Clyde, "See. How is that possible? Forensics said they found a melted shell casing in the car. Shell casing melts but not her rings? They also said they found DNA that she was in the car but no skeleton or even bone fragments."
"That is weird. Because when you burn a body there is one ugly skeleton definitely left. Trust me I know from personal experience." Clyde saw the semi shocked look on Ben's face and continued, "And you're right even if there was an explosion from a bomb there would be at least a piece or two in bone form of the victim."
"There is something else. There has to be something else." Ben continued to pace but now more erratically.
"Son, you said you didn't see Ciara in the car before it exploded. Are you one hundred percent sure?" Clyde sat on the bed.
Ben stopped pacing, "Yes. I looked for her in the car briefly before it exploded. It exploded, threw me back and then I took off my jacket to try and shield myself from the flames and went over to the passenger side of the car to try and get her out and then…. then…"
"Then what? Then what?", Clyde impatiently implored.
"I don't remember? I passed out and didn't wake up until Shawn found me." Ben felt discouraged," It must have been smoke inhalation.
"Passed out? How? Smoke inhalation? Ollie I read in the newspaper that the explosion happened at an airfield. An open airfield. You weren't confined in an interior." Clyde leveled boldly.
"That's right. How could there have been smoke inhalation in a ventilated atmosphere." Ben made a discovery, "There is something more. Something I am repressing or is being repressed. I need to speak to Doctor Evans."
Upon hearing the mention of Marlena's name Clyde was stunned, "Why do you need to see her?"
"To hypnotize me. There is something I must not remember." Ben was now determined.
"Oh, boy." Clyde lowly moaned.
"Oh, boy. What? What's going on Dad? Ben did not like his father's tone.
Clyde hesitantly revealed, "Might be a small problem with that. Orpheus may have her at the moment."