Chapter Two

5 hours.

5 hours I sat on my ass bored out of my mind, waiting for Abdul to finish and take me to that godforsaken ranch. I suppose it's my own fault, I'm pretty sure that's what Ben will say to me anyway, but whatever. Then there's Ed, I spent a matter of minutes with him and I can already tell it won't be friendship that'll blossom between the two of us, nonetheless he did offer his ranch for my protection so I can't be too much of a dick.

"Glad to see you made it." Ben snickers as I enter through the front door. The living room is right by the door, leading to what looks like a dining room to the left and the kitchen is to the right. I  glare at Ben, making it clear that I am not amused at all.

"Yeah, isn't that a surprise. Where's my room?"

"I'm so glad you asked, follow me." He gets up from the couch and walks towards the door in the kitchen leading to the outside, oh no...

I follow after him as he walks towards the trailer stationed under the very large willow tree. I know  Ben planned this shit with Ed, I fucking know it. With that in mind, it comes as no surprise when Ed comes walking out of the trailer with two blankets under his arm. I grind my teeth, tensing my jaw in anger, however I bite my tongue. 

"Low and behold, you made it here without dying...how unfortunate." Ed is the first to say.

"Excuse me?"

"Now now, Ed come on. It's been 5 hours, almost six now, surely the two of you can be civil?" Ben says, throwing an arm across my shoulders. I roughly shrug it off, fuming by now.

"It's really starting to piss me off that the two of you find it so funny to treat me like shit. Why the hell am I sleeping in some scruffy trailer? I was inside that house, I know for a fact it isn't lacking the room!"

Ed's eyes seem to darken as he approaches me, anger written into his  expression.

 "Listen boy, and you listen good now. You're not in them  big cities no more, so forget about that damn lifestyle 'cause you sure ain't fucking finding it here. I welcomed you here to protect you, true, but that don't mean you're gonna kick back over here  like you're on some fancy hoodley doodley holiday. I spoke to Ben when I left your ass back at that hangar, this here is my ranch, meaning as long as you're here, you'll be following  the rules I have set. You're gonna learn some respect through hard labor, boy. Kiss them luxuries goodbye, they're done. Far as I'm concerned, you ain't nothing more than a common city boy with an attitude problem." He says, shoving  the blankets into my chest.

"You have a good sleep now. Dinner's in the fridge." He walks away, leaving just me and Ben.

"That went well..." I  shoot a glare his way. I really don't like Ed, just my luck that I got stuck on his ranch.

"Yeah, great. You go on in now Ben, think of more ways the two of you can  make this even worse."

"You know, Ed comes off all rough and hard, but he has the best intentions, Marx. This could be good for you kid, just embrace it. He does it all for a reason.  Goodnight  bud."

I don't reply as I walk toward the trailer. At least I'm away from the two of them, that's a bonus I guess. It scares me to think that my life took such a turn in the blink of an eye, one moment I' there on that stage, the next I'm surrounded by dead bodies. Not long after I'm shipped to this hell hole. I go to the fridge, grabbing the plate Ed had placed there and scarf down the food. I'm a stress eater, I also haven't eaten at all today besides a sandwich on the plane. As soon as 'm done, I place the plate on the counter by the small sink.

With nothing to do, I unpack my clothes into the few tiny wardrobe closets that are available. They barely fit all my stuff, but I managed. I don't know how I'm going to stay sane out here, dead silence surrounds me. There are no horns from passing traffic outside, or obnoxiously loud music playing from the surrounding nightclubs. I'm not used to that, and it's when I close my  eyes, waiting for sleep to come that I realize, the silence is too loud because it gives way to my thoughts, allowing them to haunt me. What if they find me here, or worse...what if I can never go back.

What if I lose it all...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's all for this chapter, folks