Our town of Moon Mist quickly vanished behind us. Trees and the random small cottage dotted the landscape as we came to the border of our territory and Misty Pines. I grabbed her phone and scrolled through the music trying to find something to listen to while we drove the three hours to the next town.
"Oh! Look!"
"What?" I asked looking up.
"That place looks like fun! Let's stop."
I looked up and saw a rather interesting place. There were tall tracks with cars on them. Water slides and swimming pools.
"What is that place?"
"I don't know. I've never been before. Let's go!"
"This is what happens when you never leave your territory," I grumbled. "Let's go!"
She pulled into the parking lot and we headed up to the gates.
"Hi! Welcome to Wolfy's World!"
"Hi. Uh, how long has this place been here?" I asked.
"Oh, we're actually fairly new. This is just our 5th season! Have you ever been here before?"
We both shook our heads.
"New guests! Welcome!"
The very cheerful girl sold us tickets and handed us a map with all of their attractions. It wasn't a very large place, she called it an amusement park, but it looked like it could be fun for a few hours.
"They have a petting zoo!" Ashley gushed. "Let's go pet stuff!"
I laughed and agreed. We entered through large and extravagant gates. My senses were completely overwhelmed. There was more than just those from Moon Mist here.
"I didn't know so many different wolves came here," I whispered.
"I know. It's great."
"It is. We need more intermingling amongst the packs. This is awesome!"
"Look at that!" she yelled pointing towards a roller coaster, that's what the girl at the gate called it, that rushed past us. "Oh, my Goddess. Let's go on that!"
I laughed and followed as she dragged me towards the line.
"If this place has been here for 5 years why haven't our parents brought us here?" she asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. I mean being the daughters of the Beta and the Gamma we never left Moon Mist. Like ever. The furthest I went is like a mile beyond the borders of town."
"Me too."
"Dad did always say there were extra dangers out there for high-born children. Maybe that's why?"
"Maybe."
We walked through the entire park and rode as much as we could and spent what felt like hours petting all of the adorable animals they had. I loved the little bunnies. There were so many of so many different colors.
"I want one so bad," I squealed as an extremely fluffy black and white bunny snuggled into my neck. "She's so sweet!"
"I want goats!" Ashley yelled as a little goat chased her around the barnyard.
We laughed and ran around like we were just young pups again. For the first time in days, I forgot about the heartache that I'd felt.
As the sun waned in the sky we finally walked back to the car.
"I could spend like every day there!" Ashley said excitedly.
"Me too! When we get back, we will!"
"Yeah?"
"Absolutely!"
"Yay!"
We were quickly back on the road again, heading toward our destination. Misty Pines.
I stared out the window, holding my hand out, letting the air whoosh through my fingers, and watching the trees zoom past us.
We came to a T in the road.
"Which way?"
"Uh, go right. Misty Pines is right. Left circles back to Moon Mist."
"Right it is."
As she pulled out from the stop sign a dump truck barreled down the road.
"That truck is going really fast," I said.
"What?" Ashley looked at me as the car accelerated a bit.
"The truck! The truck!" I screamed as it slammed into the side of the car.
Ashley's screams were cut short as the metal crushed in around us. Glass cutting our faces and arms. The car turned on its side and flipped down the road, crushing the roof down on top of our heads. I screamed until we stopped. We rested on the roof, everything eerily silent.
I reached for the seat belt, releasing myself from the suspended state that I was in.
"Ash?" I called out.
She didn't respond.
"Ashley?"
Her arms hung down and she didn't move.
"Ashley?" I reached over and shook her.
She didn't move.
"Hey! Hey! Are you guys okay?"
The man who was driving the truck ran up to the car.
"Are you guys okay?" he repeated, pulling open my door.
"I think I am. What happened?" I looked at the man who's face was pale and ashen.
The collar of his shirt was wet and he seemed to hav blood on his head.
He shook his head. "I don't know. My brakes went out. My horn wouldn't work. It was a complete failure in the truck."
"Ashley, help Ashley," I grunted pulling myself from the twisted wreckage. "Please, help Ashley."
He ran to the driver's side and pulled open her door.
"Oh, Goddess."
"What? What's wrong?"
I pulled myself up and stumbled to the opposite side of the car and stared at the bloody, mangled mess that was Ashley. Her head was covered in blood and something was bulging out of the side. I stepped forward and saw that one of her arms was bent the
"Ash?" I dropped to my knees, crying. "Please, wake up, Ash."
She didn't move.
"This can't be happening."
"I am so sorry, miss. Please, come on. Let's wait by the truck until paramedics arrive."
"I don't understand why this is happening," I sobbed.
"I'm so sorry," he cried with me.
I sat on the ground, hugging my knees. Dad was going to be so mad. Gamma Arthur was going to be furious. We'd only been gone half a day and look what happened.
"We should have stayed home. This was such a stupid idea," I continued sobbing.
"What?"
"We were going on a road trip to all the packs. I felt bad about myself and we decided to leave."
"Oh come on now. It was an accident. An unavoidable accident."
"We should have just stayed home."
Sirens in the distance slowly came closer.
The trucker started to sway a bit as he stood in front of me. I wiped my tears and watched for a few seconds.
"Hey? Mister? Are you alright?"
"I'm...I..." His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the ground.
I let out a scream and jumped to my feet.
"Oh, my Goddess. What is happening?" I screamed.
I knelt over him shaking his shoulder. His head just lolled back and forth. Sweat beaded on his forehead as blood pooled beneath him.
"Mister? Hey, mister?"
He wasn't breathing. The blood spread down his shoulder and his neck looked like it has some kind of wound on it.
"Did he cut himself in the accident?"
I pushed my hands onto his neck, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Help!" I screamed. "Please, someone!"
The man let out a horrible gurgle sound, which I felt in the palm of my hand.
"Please, don't be dead. Don't be dead. I can't handle this."
I let go of his neck when his chest stopped rising and falling. My hands and arms were covered in his blood. My heart felt like it was about to just drop out of my body. I stood and stumbled backward staring at the wreckage before me.
I screamed the lights of the ambulance and police came into view. I closed my eyes as blackness took over.
Ashley was dead. And it was my fault.