14 Ben

"Monsters?" Ben whispered, "like the same monsters that have been attacking us?"

Ivy nodded in response, then shrugged.

"I guess so. I don't know, why would monsters be doing this? Create an elaborate game, erase our minds, put us here, create this whole thing - for what? What could they possibly gain out of this?" Ivy grunted in frustration. Nothing made sense. For once, even Ben didn't seem to have any idea what was happening.

"None of it makes sense. Monsters are holding this agent captive, and they want me, you, and Ezra in return. But at the same time, monsters are the ones who put us here? Why would they do that? What's their motive?" Ben muttered. Ivy turned to look at him.

"Well who said all the monsters are working together? Nobody ever told us their some sort of organization. It's like all of humanity, not everyone is on the same team. Maybe the monsters are the same. Maybe they're at war with each other," she pondered. Ben's eyebrows shot up at her creative genius.

"That actually makes a lot of sense. So the monsters who are holding that agent are probably not on the same team as the ones who did this to us. But why are we here? I still can't figure out that part. What would monsters want with two teenagers locked in some stupid game?" Ben said. Ivy groaned and let her head fall against her chest.

"I don't know. Moreover, why would we agree to join this stupid game?" She asked miserably. Ben simply shook his head and put his arm around his friend, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. For once, he had no answers, and that bothered him over anything else.

***********

A few hours later, the truck started to slow to a stop. Ivy had fallen asleep again, this time peacefully. Ben felt wide awake, and the slowing of the truck only put him on edge. It wasn't long before they fully stopped, and the slam of the truck doors warned him that Lea and Ezra were exiting. Out of nowhere, the tarp was flung up and the back was opened, revealing the dark night sky around them. Ivy stirred awake, looking groggy and uncomfortable.

"Quick pit stop, kids. We're going to be driving all through the night so we can reach Agent Trainor as quickly as possible," Lea announced. Ezra stared at Ben with a piercing look.

"Where are we going anyway?" Ivy groaned, sleep making her voice sound rough.

"Vancouver Island. If you need to pee, now is the time," Lea answered as she walked off into the bushes. Ezra was gone quickly too.

Ivy and Ben shared a glance. Vancouver Island. Where they used to live. Could they find family there? Clues? Anything? What if Lily would be there waiting for them?

The same thoughts must have been going through Ivy's mind because her green eyes were suddenly wide.

Without a word, she hopped off the truck and disappeared into the bushes, Ben waiting a bit then following, making sure to give Ivy a wide berth.

Before he went out to the truck again, Ben pulled out the cards from his pocket. They felt oddly heavy, and he carefully flipped through them to find card number three. A new image was forming, but nothing solid showed itself yet. So for now, all they had to do was wait.

Once everyone was back in the truck, Ben laid his head down and decided to get some sleep. By tomorrow, they would be in Vancouver, and from there they would take the ferry onto the island. Ben was nervous but excited too. Hopefully, they could find something.

**************

Ben awoke with a start. Something had caused him to jerk awake, and he realized now that the truck wasn't moving anymore. Glancing around, he couldn't find Ivy next to him. He assumed it was another pit stop, but something felt off. The cards in his pocket felt terribly heavy now, and he groggily pulled them out. For a second, nothing made sense, then he suddenly sat up. Card number three now had an image on it.

It displayed some sort of leafy monster holding Ivy up by the legs over a fire. She was dangling upside down and looking quite upset about it. Ezra and Lea were shown tied to a tree branch - cut them down and they would fall right on their face. Ben spotted himself in the background with something weird and glowy in his hand. He looked ready to jump out. By shifting the card a bit, he could see he was meant to leap out and hit the monster in the back. Ben shuddered and put the card down. It was all in vivid detail, which he hated. Something told him that this card wasn't too far off in the future, so he put the deck back in his pocket and walked towards the ditch.

He had absolutely no idea where he was right now, but he knew it was slightly cold and remote. They were in some sort of truck pullout on a lonesome highway, surrounded by trees. Which wasn't very helpful, that could literally be anywhere in Canada. He didn't even know how long he'd been asleep. For all he knew, they could be in the Yukon by now.

To his surprise, the forest expertly concealed the fact that he was walking downhill, and he found himself tripping downwards and hitting a tree like a clumsy moron.

"Dumbass," he scolded himself.

The rest of the walk was pretty much the same, tripping, hitting things, swearing until he was completely sweaty and covered in bruises. Apparently, being outdoors was not his strong point.

Suddenly, a bright light emerged ahead. He could hear the crackling of a fire and started to stalk towards it. Sure enough, there was a big flame, its bright red-orange and white stripes licking the sky like tongues from hell. Sparks soared off in chunks, momentarily smoldering the wet leaves below their feet. With a quick glance up, Ben could see Ezra and Lea tied to their branches, gagged. There was Ivy, dangling above the fire by one leg, somehow attached to a huge leafy tree.

Oh. Ben thought to himself. This is easy. I just need to get them down. Stellar!

Then, the great leafy tree started to move, revealing that it was not, in fact, a great leafy tree, and rather a huge ten-foot monster composed of leaf and mulch with wide golden eyes, sheep horns, and ugly tusks. It had Ivy in its leafy grip - if that was even a thing - and seemed to be humming some sort of song. Its golden eyes skirted over Ben's head, who felt his heart momentarily drop.

The beast was dancing its own little jig, allowing Ivy to flop around in his grip like a rag doll. Ben's hopes started to slowly fade as he watched the monster move around in the clearing. How was he supposed to defeat this thing?

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