The Lost Boys

by Lilian Carmine

  “You’re here!” I exclaimed, and looked at Vigil. He waved his hand quickly in the air and everything stopped, the light ball frozen on its path in the sky. Vigil had done it again! He had side-stepped us “backstage” in time. Now I wasn’t in immediate danger from the boiling sun, I could talk freely, without worrying about time. Sky looked around curiously for a second, but she didn’t seem surprised.

  “Hi, Sky. Sorry about all the shouting and freezing time, and all, but I really need to talk to you!” I greeted her awkwardly.

  “That’s okay. We can talk here. I do love your visits, Joe. It’s nice seeing you again,” she greeted me back, walking over to me.

  “You don’t seem surprised to see me.”

  “I’m not. You are very persistent. I knew I would see you again.” Then she turned to look at Vigil. “Seeing him here helping you … now that is a surprise!” she said, raising an inquiring eyebrow at Vigil. “Breaking rules? How very unlike you, ‘Vigil’,” she said, putting emphasis on his name.

  “Milady.” Vigil bowed lightly at her in a formal greeting and watched her with his unblinkingly stare. “I have changed my ways,” he answered plainly and truthfully.

  “I can see that.” Sky smiled.

  “I asked him to bring us here so we can talk,” I said.

  She smirked a little and looked at Vigil. “Taking orders from her now, Vigil?” she teased, and he looked disgruntled for a second. I sensed Sky didn’t like Vigil very much.

  “I didn’t order him to do anything,” I cut in. “He agreed to help me, because he’s my friend. And today is my birthday, so I asked him for this as a present, and he was kind enough to agree,” I defended him.

  Vigil looked surprised at my description of him as a friend.

  “Is that so?” Sky said. “It is very kind of him indeed. The Gray Hooded ones are not famous for their kindness, you know. You must have had quite the effect on him, Joe Gray. I knew it’d be very interesting watching over you. You’re very good at changing people’s ways,” she said playfully.

  And that was a good cue for the script I had been rehearsing in my head. “Oh, yes, don’t you know? I’m very special and unique. And I like visiting you here. I want to be friends,” I said cheerfully and watched as she beamed happily at that. “And I also happen to be very entertaining, as I’m sure you must have noticed by now. I’m part of this big dramatic love story – girl falls for ghost. It’s got drama and romance and tragedy too. It’s all very exciting. And I get into fights, I cast dangerous spells, and I have these amazing friends. We’re in a band. Too. It’s fun 24/7!” I said like a TV voice-over announcing the most amazing series ever seen. “But now, I’m afraid I must tell you, that the show is over.” I dropped the excitement from my voice.

  Sky’s bright smile faltered as she heard this.

  “Yes, I’m done. It’s moping around all day long in the house for me now. No more jokes or fun and adventures for me. I’m through with it all. I’m quitting the band. I’m taking this show off air. You’d better start browsing for other channels.” I walked up to Sky and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. A bold move, I must admit, but I was a desperate woman.

  I continued my monologue. “But I have a proposal for you,” I said, leaning in closer to her. “Let’s make a deal, right here, right now, just you and me. You bring Tristan back to me, without any magic deadlines or tricks like last time – and in a way that Vigil’s people have no say over, because it won’t be a mistake that needs to be fixed. You bring him back and I promise you the best show yet for your personal enjoyment. It’ll be a life full of possibilities that you can watch and enjoy. Plus, you can always visit, whenever you want. When you’re off work, you know. That’d be cool. I’m sure no one has ever offered that to you before,” I said, watching for her reaction closely. She was impossible to read, though.

  “I know you said you can’t meddle in these kinds of affairs, but I know for a fact that you do it all the time!” I continued. “You do it subtly, trying not to draw too much attention to yourself, but I know there are sometimes miracles, cases where someone was dead one minute and came back to life the next … There are stories everywhere of people cheating Death,” I said, all excited. “But they weren’t really cheating you, were they? No one can cheat you! You let them live, because you wanted too. Right? You allowed it to happen! They probably all had interesting lives. I do know how much it sucks when there’s a good show you really like and then it’s cancelled!” I tightened my grip on her shoulder. I was pushing my luck now. “So I know you can do this one thing for me, if you really want to. What do you say, Sky? Do we have a deal?” I asked and held my breath, waiting for her answer.

  I had given it all I had, used all my powers of persuasion. Sky wasn’t going to be convinced by pleas of how much I loved Tristan and wanted him back. She needed a good reason. For her. I was praying with all my might that I had judged her correctly. She did always mention how entertaining I was. And being Death for millennia must be a little dull.

  She looked thoughtfully at me. “You have been moping around a lot lately,” she mumbled, and turned to look at Vigil. “What about you?” she asked him, and started walking towards him, untangling herself from my hold. Vigil had been watching our conversation with an indecipherable expression on his face. “I’m sure you would want to report this to your people,” she inquired.

  “There is nothing to be reported here,” Vigil said with a slight bow. “As the girl said, this is a deal between you two. I have nothing to do with this.”

  “You are more powerful now because of the girl’s naming,” Sky reasoned.

  “I have more power than an individual alone. But they are many. I cannot subjugate them all,” he stated.

  Sky looked up thoughtfully. “But you won’t report anything and they won’t be coming to annoy me over any of this?” she asked, a tiny smirk playing on her lips.

  Vigil nodded.

  “So, let’s make this really interesting, shall we?” she said, grinning broadly now. “You have yourself a deal, Joe Gray! You can have your ghost boy back and a life full of possibilities! And you …” she said, turning back to Vigil “… should have an even bigger advantage to handle your fellow hooded colleagues now.” She pressed her thumb in the middle of Vigil’s forehead. His eyes widened in shock as a bright white light flashed inside his eyes. “That should be immensely entertaining to watch!” She giggled after taking her hand away from him. He stood still with shocked eyes, staring at her in awe.

  “What have you done to him?” I asked, really worried. He seemed fine, a little surprised but not harmed. Sky chuckled at my concerned glare.

  “Don’t fret, I’ve just upgraded his ‘abilities’. He shouldn’t have any problems dealing with his buddies now, one or many. Use your new powers wisely, now, Vigil,” she advised him seriously. “And you should go back to your ghost boy, Joe Gray. But I’ll keep in touch and pay you a visit, when I’m ‘off work’, as you invited me.”

  I ran and hugged her tightly and a cold shiver went up my spine as I embraced her.

  “Thank you, Sky,” I said, trembling with emotion.

  “No need to thank me. We have a deal. Keep your part of it and I’ll keep mine.” And then she chuckled, highly amused. “You’re so unexpected; nobody has ever wanted to hug me before!”

  I gave her an awkward smile. I couldn’t say it was a pleasant hug. Cold shivers were still running up my spine. I guess that was normal, when it came to hugging Death …

  “Where is he? When can I see him?” I asked, barely able to contain myself.

  She laughed at my eagerness. “I will go fetch him now. He should be there when you get back. Take care, Grays,” she said, bowing slightly at me and Vigil, and then she shimmered away without waiting for a reply.

  I looked at Vigil and he was smiling, his eyes glinting with admiration as he walked up to me.

  “Come on, Joe Gray. Time to go home,” he said, pressing the palm of his hand
over my chest, and a bright piercing light burst through my eyes and my heart pounded in my chest, hard and loud. I looked around and saw the walls of my room surrounding me. Vigil’s soft voice was right at my side, soothing and calm. His hand was resting over my arm.

  “Try to breathe slowly and relax, the discomfort will soon pass,” he instructed me. I tried to relax, while Sky’s words kept bouncing in my head. ‘Go back to your ghost boy,’ she had said. ‘He should be there when you go back.’ I had convinced Death to send Tristan back to me!

  Vigil was looking at me and smiling kindly.

  “You look happy,” he said.

  “I am. Thanks to you, Vigil,” I said, sitting up slowly.

  “You were brilliant, there. I was really impressed.”

  “Ah, you know me, I’m very special, unique and entertaining,” I joked.

  “Yes, you are very special.” He smiled softly. “I am proud to be your friend.”

  I glanced up and saw there was a smidgen of melancholy behind his eyes.

  “You’re a good friend. I couldn’t have done this if it weren’t for your help, Vigil. Thank you so much,” I said, truly grateful.

  “I am glad I could help. I did not like seeing you sad.”

  “Will you visit me some times?” I asked him out of the blue. He looked surprised for a second.

  “Do you want me to?”

  “Yes! Of course! You’re my friend. I hope you keep in touch,” I said with a smile.

  “I will. You know how to find me if you need me,” he said and stood up.

  I looked down as my wrist started hurting again because he had stopped touching me, and then the pain ceased and I glanced up. Vigil wasn’t there any more.

  I bolted from my bed and ran downstairs, calling for Tristan. I looked everywhere, the living room, the kitchen, all the rooms. The house was empty. Where could he be? The cemetery popped in my head. The grass circle, that was the place he’d first appeared.

  It was the strongest magic spot in Esperanza.

  I ran into the cemetery as fast as I could, passing its iron gates in a blur, my boots scratching and slipping on the icy paving. I speed through the lanes, jumping over snow banks, my hair flapping wildly over my face and hot breath puffing from my mouth. I only stopped when I reached the lawn circle and looked around urgently, but there was no one there. I called out for Tristan and nobody answered. Had Sky lied to me? Maybe she needed more time …

  I stomped my foot impatiently and stared at the ground. There were footprints in the snow! Someone had been here, and it was recent. They started in the middle of the lawn circle and headed to my left. I followed the footprints, walking fast, keeping my eyes focused on tracks. After a few minutes I recognized the path I was following. The footprints were leading to Tristan’s tomb!

  Now that I already knew where the footprints were headed, I started to run, and in seconds I was at Tristan’s tomb. I looked up.

  And then I saw him.

  He was sitting on his tomb, looking at the cold horizon. So much sadness shone in his gray beautiful bright eyes.

  “Tristan!” I shouted.

  He snapped his head in my direction, his eyes wide in surprise, shock and joy. He leaped off his tomb, his feet stomping loudly on the snow. “Joey,” he whispered, his breathing heavy with emotion. He began to run in my direction and I ran towards him too, and we both stopped a few inches apart, looking at each other in wonder. “I knew you would be able to see me, even though I’m a ghost again,” he said with a mix of happiness and sadness in his voice.

  I looked at him, puzzled. He thought he was dead. He must have woken up in the cemetery and thought he’d come back as a ghost.

  “Of course I can see you. I will always be able to see you,” I said, cupping his face in my hands and leaning in, kissing him deeply. His eyes shot wide open in utter shock and he stopped breathing for a few seconds in surprise. “And I can touch you too, so you know,” I said, laughing at his shocked face.

  He grabbed me by the shoulders, to make sure this wasn’t a trick. Then he kissed me so fiercely like he had never kissed me before. We were both out of breath when he stopped and he wrapped his arms around my waist and spun me round until we were both laughing like we were little kids again.

  “How can this be?” he asked, amazed, after he’d got his breath back.

  “I convinced Sky to bring you back. We just need to be very entertaining from now on!” I chuckled at his puzzled face. “I’ll tell you all about it later. I just need to hug you right now.” I squeezed him with all my might.

  He laughed his sexy laugh and my heart almost burst at the sound. I looked up and locked eyes with him. He was crying. And so was I.

  “Your eyes … are still … really … gray,” I said, sniffing. It was the very first thing I had said to him when he’d woken up over a year ago on my living-room couch. He smiled and his gray eyes crinkled and sparkled brightly with tears.

  “Yours are still black as night,” he replied softly.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Like the happiest boy alive,” he said, and kissed me again, deeply and lovingly.

  And I felt like the happiest girl alive.

  I had my ghost boy to love, my band of brothers reunited, and together we were ready for anything – life was again full of possibilities.

  Read on for an exclusive look at two deleted scenes from

  The Lost Boys:

  Strip and Egg Routine

  and

  Harry’s Prize

  Strip and Egg Routine

  One day I was walking down the corridor on my way to the cafeteria when I heard yelling and some people talking excitedly, so I turned to see what was going on. That’s when I spotted Bradley and his team of jock buddies in a circle, harassing some poor kids in the middle. Bradley was famous for ganging up on younger kids with his awful pranks. I’d heard plenty of nasty stories from a lot of people during my first weeks here.

  I tried to peek through the mob, to find out who was going to be humiliated this time, but the crowd was too packed, and I couldn’t see past it. Curiosity got the best of me and I pushed some jocks out of the way and stuck my head inside the circle to get a better view. There, in the middle of the circle, all hunched together, were Josh, Seth, Harry and Sam. Oh, my God! The poor kids were my guys!

  They all looked scared and had adopted defensive stances; only Seth was trying to show some courage, sticking his chest out and trying to intimidate Bradley, but it wasn’t having the effect he wanted. Bradley only laughed at Seth and bullied him some more. Brad had his whole basketball team backing him up, so he was quite cocky, there.

  “Come on, Seth, my boy! You know it’s going to happen; either you want it or not! Start taking it off soon, or we’ll do it for you! For all of you!” Bradley yelled.

  “Fuck off, Bradley! You’re only doing this out of spite, cos I won’t be on your stupid basketball team any more! They have nothing to do with this!” Seth shouted, positioning himself in front of the band. “That may be, but you’re still gonna have to do it! You and your boy band here! Off with it all!” he shouted, a little more energetically this time.

  I saw Harry flinching a little at Josh’s side, his red spiked hair falling over his face. Harry was the most sweet, peaceful guy I had ever met; seeing him coerced like that made my blood boil like an erupting volcano. I punched the jock in front of me on the ribs, making him recoil in pain, and pushed past him, joining the band in the middle of the circle.

  “Hey! What the hell is going on here?!” I shouted, joining forces with Seth, right by his side. “If you numbskulls don’t have anything better to do, I’m sure the toddlers in kindergarten can help you find some fun activities. Well, at least ones that won’t hurt your little brains too much, that is!” I said, sneering at Bradley and his buddy bunch.

  Bradley looked teasingly at me and stopped a few inches from my face. Apparently, he was a whole lot bolder with his buddies at his side. If it had
been just me and him alone on the mat, things would have been very different.

  “Well, well. What do we have here? Joe Gray. Another boy for your boy band there, Seth?” Bradley said mocking my name and my band.

  I was used to people calling me a boy, because of my name and the way I dressed. Any other day, I would have just shrugged it off and walked away. But Bradley-Jerk-Face made me see red.

  I glared at him, my jaw clenched. He was big. But I could do some damage, even throw a punch or two, if I was fast enough. I was training with Sensei Kingsley, after all. But there were the rest of the jocks to worry about. I was good, but I was only one. And they were many.

  I started to make a move, but Seth caught my arm before I could launch myself at Bradley. “Don’t, Joey!” he said, pushing me away from Brad-Jerk-Face and setting me behind him with the rest of the guys. Sam and Josh held me so I couldn’t get back up front.

  “Enough with the chitchat, Seth! Time’s up!” Bradley howled, looking at me in amusement, like I was nothing but an annoying gnat.

  “Time’s up for what?” I asked from behind Seth.

  “It is time for Sagan’s most famous prank! Start stripping and prepare for the eggs. Guys, prepare the eggs!” Bradley shouted to a chubby boy by his side. “And remember, after the eggs smash, it’s gotta be all the way up to the end of this corridor. Everybody has to see you!” he sneered evilly.

  Oh. Oh. Strip and eggs? Down the whole corridor? I looked over at the guys; they were glaring at the jocks with a mixture of hate and fear. I leaned on Harry’s arm and he turned briefly to me, giving me a worried, tense smile. Then we heard someone clearing his throat, right at Bradley’s side.

  “Brad, man. Would you care to explain this to me?”

  Everybody turned to look at Tristan standing beside Bradley. Tristan eyed us coolly in the centre of the circle, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Bradley jumped a little, startled by Tristan’s sudden proximity. “God, man! We’ll have to put a bell around your neck or something! You are always sneaking up on me like that, appearing out of thin air!” Bradley yelped, putting a hand to his chest.