Get Lost

by Xavier Neal

  Grabbing another dress, this one purple, strapless, and puffed out at the bottom, he asks,“How about this one?”

  “You want me to look like I came from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?” the joke gets an even bigger laugh. After that one, he pulls a gold and silver star dress, which forces me to snap, “Do you only have taste when it comes to men’s fashion?”

  A saleswoman with dark black hair taps me on the shoulder. “Do you need help with anything?”

  With a soft smile, I decline, and she saunters off toward the counter, continuously glancing over her shoulder at me, I assume hoping to make a sale.

  My eyes cut back to Justin, who has finally stopped laughing. Sweetly, he insists. “I’m just doing it for the response. I know which dress I want you to wear.”

  “Oh, really? Which one?” I place my hands on my hips.

  Suddenly, Justin grabs a simple, black, off the shoulder dress that dips slightly as if to create a sweet heart neckline.

  My head bobs back and forth for a moment, impressed at the sexy simplicity and irritated that he didn’t just start with this one.

  “You want me to try it on now?”

  Leaning against the rack, he cocks a grin, tilts his hat up, and licks his lips, “Wouldn’t hurt my feelings any.” I snatch the dress playfully and strut to the dressing room. As he grabs out his phone—I’m guessing to check a voice mail from his best friend—I sigh. “I assume you’ll meet me over there in a sec?”

  After receiving a nod, I head the direction of the dressing room when the saleswoman appears once more, this time with an even less pleasant look than before. She adjusts her black over jacket and asks, “Would you like to try that on?”

  “I would,”I cautiously answer as we round the corner. She glances over her shoulder to see if Justin is coming before she tosses my body against the side of the wall. Immediately, I try to respond defensively but am trapped by the elbow jammed in my throat.

  Under her breath, she growls, “You’re really what Alex desires? Weak, worthless, and let’s face it, you’re not even that—”

  A small dagger soars directly through the side of her neck, only to come out the other side. Once the puff of smoke appears, my attention turns to Justin, who has a displeased and slightly panicked look on his face.

  “Just for the record, you really are that beautiful.” The comforting words are followed by me tossing my arms around him. “But we need to get out of here and now.” Allowing him to lead me away from the dressing room, dress still in hand, I say, “Justin, she mentioned something about Alex.”

  “I figured,” he mutters as we rush through the store; pairs of eyes that didn’t seem to be watching before are watching now. Grabbing a bag from behind a counter, he snatches the dress from me, tosses it into the bag, and continues forward. “He’s still hunting you.”

  “I’m not a deer.” My response receives a giggle.

  “I know but—” is all that he manages to let out before a dagger flies past us.

  Justin turns and spots a pair of Dark Watchers running toward us at full speed. With a yank, I’m thrust forward as my knight in shining armor pulls me along behind him, taking a sharp left out the emergency exit and heading to the stairs. The door flings open behind us before an arrow flies our direction. Justin yanks me against the wall, the sharp weapon soaring briefly in front of my chest. Digging through his pocket, he finally pulls out a ninja star and flings it in their direction. I watch as the star unfolds into numerous tiny stars that shoot through the Dark Watchers like mini razors, turning them into large puffs of smoke.

  Free for the moment, the two of us shoot up to the roof like rockets, eventually landing for a moment of safety. Panting, I place my free hand on my heart and allow the bag to hit the ground beside me.

  “What now?” I manage to ask, looking around. “We—” barely makes it out of his mouth before more Dark Watchers come the same way we did. Immediately, they toss knives his direction. Thankfully, Justin shoots the two of us into the air, dodging the weapons only by a hair’s breadth.

  Noticing a few Dark Watchers mimicking his idea of taking flight, he tilts his head down. “Grab the dagger from my hat, and when I say, toss it, okay?”

  I slip the small knife from underneath the ribbon of his fedora and do my best to hold it without shaking. As one approaches us from each side, I watch as they begin to reload their weapons.

  “You’re going fling it like a boomerang.” Justin explains. “Now!”

  My hand instantly flings it, and the dagger bends like a boomerang and cuts through the sides of the two Dark Watchers. I squeal happily with joy until the dagger comes back, like a boomerang is supposed to, and stabs me in the arm. In a flash, my arms let go of Justin.

  He stumbles, accidentally dropping me, causing me to plummet to what I will go ahead and assume will be my death.

  Shutting my eyes, I shriek in fear and clench my body tight. Astonished I haven’t hit the ground yet, my eyes open to see a sight I can’t say is any better than dropping to my death. A Dark Watcher is lowering me down to a limo, where I can see Alex leaning out wearing a bloodcurdling grin.

  I’m shoved inside the limo, which gets a pat from Alex before it takes off into traffic. My eyes lower as I try to process how I was just safe in Justin’s arms and am now in a harm’s way once more. Two burly Dark Watchers slide from Alex’s side of the limo to mine—I guess to keep me from attempting to make any sort of escape.

  “You know, it sucks we have to keep meeting like this.” Alex adjusts his black dress jacket and leans back. “Personally, I’d really like to just ask you out, but your pretend boyfriend and his friend keep putting a stop to it.”

  “What do you want with me, Alex?”

  “A lot.” He chuckles playfully, giving his hair a ruffle. “More importantly, you tell me the deal they are offering you to help them, and I’ll make you a better one.”

  “I can’t be bought.” I wiggle back and forth in a desperate attempt for space.

  “Sure, you can! Everyone in this wretched world can. That’s how it works.” He tousles his hair yet again and adjusts his jeans. “When will your kind learn?”

  “My kind?” I question, my head tilted in confusion.

  The car suddenly goes over another speed bump, and Alex rolls his head in the direction of the window. Doing my best to see around Mr. Muscles on the left, I start to notice a repeated pattern that you don’t see inside the city—lines of trees, similar to the kind you find in the country.

  “Where exactly are we going?” my voice chirps out. With a crooked smile, almost identical to Peter’s, he shrugs. “In theory, I’d like to take you home, but before I do that, I’m going to force Peter out of hiding. You make good bait.”

  In a whine, I ask, “Bait?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Alex gets excited and turns his attention back to me. Leaning forward so his arms rest on his knees, he continues, “See, Peter doesn’t like to come out to fight his own battles; that’s the real reason he has the Lost Boys. However, when you take something from Peter, he sends one of them to do his bidding, and you know how that tends to end up. But when you take something from one of the Lost Boys, they rally together and force Peter out of his shell to come do something about it.”

  “So, you don’t want me; you want Peter.”

  “Oh no, I want you as well.” His crooked grin grows once more. “Getting Peter is like getting that Christmas bonus you spent all year working on.”

  The car comes to an abrupt halt, and suddenly, my hands are shoved together by Mr. Muscles on the left. Within the literal blink of an eye, my wrists are bound together with a familiar, discolored, brown rope with glowing black threads.

  Alex buttons his jacket, dusts off the debris on his jeans, and allows another Dark Watcher to open the door from the outside. “And believe me, Peyton, I deserve that bonus.”

  My body is shoved out of the car by the one who tied my hands. Standing on my feet, I stare at what a
ppears to be an old, abandoned house on acres of land. With a heavy nudge in my back, the kind that’s probably going to bruise, I stumble forward behind Alex, allowing tears to stain my cheeks out of sheer hopelessness.

  Chapter Seven

  Sitting in a chair in Alex’s room across from his four poster bed, I watch as he paces back and forth in front of it impatiently. “Where is he? He should have come to your rescue already. You’ve been here for over an hour!”

  Overwhelmed with despair, I whisper, “Maybe he’s not coming.”

  “He’s coming.” Alex slips a hand in his pocket and twiddles around with something. “Justin would never let me keep you. I saw the way he looked at you. They’ll come. They have to come. I know them.” He pauses once more, and with a deep breath, he sighs. “Where are you, Peter?”

  Figuring my best odds against death are to keep him talking, I ask, “How do you know him?”

  Alex stops pacing and glances at me with his cold, brown eyes. His lips press together slowly before he speaks up. “What? He hasn’t told you yet?”

  “I don’t feel the need to bore everyone with my life story.” Peter’s voice cuts through the conversation as he crawls through the open window. Alex turns his attention as Peter continues, “Thanks for leaving the window open for me.”

  “I know your signature moves.” Alex steps in his direction.

  “You should.” The comeback seems cryptic. Peter nods his head my direction, “Now, do you mind? You have something that obviously belongs to me.”

  “To you?” Alex laughs, adjusting his jacket. “I’m sorry. I thought Belle said she was the only one you could love.”

  Obviously uncomfortable, Peter quickly approaches my direction. “You okay?”

  “It’s a little painful.” I tilt my head back toward my tied hands. “I’m a little terrified, a little…”

  “It was a rhetorical question.” Peter shakes his head at me.

  I watch as Alex draws a small sword from alongside the bed and immediately points the tip at the side of Peter’s neck. “You can’t possibly think it was going to be that easy to take her out of here.”

  Peter cocks a smile, slips his hands in his pocket, and ducks a bolt obviously meant for Alex’s face. I peer around him to see Justin holding a crossbow with an agitated look on his face. “And you can’t possibly think I’d come unprepared.”

  “When are you ever going to fight your own battles?” Alex moves from his defensive stance as Justin joins Peter’s side.

  “When I have to,” he answers with a laugh as Justin hands over the crossbow and gives the tie around his neck a swift yank, immediately transforming it into a sword. “As for now, you took his girlfriend. You’re his problem.”

  Justin takes a swing at Alex, forcing him to stumble backward. The two of them swing their swords back and forth, dodging and thrusting. My eyes follow Justin’s sword as it takes a swipe the direction of Alex’s neck, only to miss and break a lamp.

  Peter slips a knife out of his back pocket and begins cutting away at the rope, inches from my face. “You know, I never thought I’d ever get the chance to be this close to you.”

  My eyes lower to Peter, whose head is on my shoulder. “Why would you want to be?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” His words ring in my ear as I feel the rope slowly begin to loosen.

  Turning my attention back to Justin, I see him staring at Peter with a look he normally reserves for Alex, who appears as if he’s about to knock the sword out of Justin’s hand. “Watch out!”

  Justin diverts his concentration back to Alex just in time to leap backward into the wooden dresser, receiving what I imagine is going to be a pretty nasty bruise in the morning.

  “Let’s go!” Peter orders, freeing the rope that had imprisoned me.

  I quickly stand up, shed the remainder of the rope, and follow behind Peter in the direction of the door. “What about Justin?”

  “He can hold his own.” His answer is followed by the sound of a lamp smashing on the floor. “Besides, he’s just being a diversion until I can get you out of here safely.”

  The two of us round the corner as a Dark Watcher rushes up the stairs. Without hesitating, Peter fires a bolt into its forehead. To my surprise, our escape route is relatively clear until we reach the bottom, where an ambush of dozens is waiting.

  “This is safely?” I squeak out, swallowing my nervousness.

  Peter cocks his head at me. “Would you like to lead this rescue?”

  “I would like to be rescued!” I lash out to my own surprise.

  As he reloads the crossbow, Peter clears his throat. “Working on it.”

  “Work harder!” I shriek as a dagger flies by my head, almost clipping my hair. Glancing over my shoulder, I’m relieved to see Justin sliding down the banister with a smile fixed on his face, sword drawn.

  With a dramatic leap off the edge, he lands beside me and winks. “Miss me?”

  After my quick nod, he pulls out a set of stars, tosses them, grabs my hand, and starts in, while Peter continues firing from a distance. I observe as Dark Watchers begin dropping from the back, thanks to Aiden and Eiden, who are surprisingly good with weapons. With his hand on my back, Justin weaves us around toward the door. A Dark Watcher attempts to swing at me, which is when Justin instinctively kicks a foot underneath me, tossing me backward. With one arm out to catch me, his sword arm pierces through the side of the Dark Watcher, dispatching it.

  “Thanks.”I sigh as I pop back, moving quickly toward the open door where the light is leaking through, while he shakes the sword into a tie once more and tosses it around his neck.

  Justin and I rush to his car parked down the hill close to a creek. With Dark Watchers following behind us, small bullets flying, I do my best to stay low near the ground in hopes one doesn’t hit me. Suddenly, I jerk to a halt because of the sight in front of us.

  A female Dark Watcher ruffles her brown hair and twirls her slender sword, which possesses a bright pink handle, and takes a defensive stance. “You must be Justin.”

  “I am.” He cocks a small grin.

  “Lola.” She raises her eyebrows at him. “I always hoped I’d have the chance to meet you.”

  “I’m sorry. How do you know me?” Justin’s body slides in front of mine with an arm extended to protect me.

  “I’ve been admiring you for quite some time,” Lola says slowly. “It was the Miller job that caught my eye. Those photos of you in action are remarkable.”

  “Excuse me,” I pipe in. “What is she talking about?”

  “Nothing.” Justin glances over his shoulder at me before smiling back at the Watcher. “Is that all?”

  “How could I forget the Francis job in France? The thing with the bread left me speechless, not to mention the Sauncra job in Egypt. No one saw that one coming.” Her flattery causes him to blush.

  “Stop.”

  “Don’t be so modest. You are quite an amazing man.” Another grin grows on his face. “So, Lola, my biggest fan, do you mind moving and letting me into my car?”

  “I would if I could.” The words sound flirtatious. “But I’m supposed to take the girl from you. Pity too. If it were up to me, I’d just trade places with her.”

  Feeling my blood boil, I wait for Justin to say something but am disappointed by his blushing and minor giggles.

  “Peyton, you know my policy.” He yanks his tie from around his neck, extending it to sword form.

  “I…I…I can’t do this! I don’t know how. I can’t even—” is all that gets out of me before Lola thrusts and Justin yanks my body out of the way. Immediately, he pushes my body down as the Dark Watcher’s leg swings a high kick in the air right for my face. Annoyed that I’m being attacked once more, I duck again as she swings her other leg the other way. “Justin!”

  “Swing!” he yells as her sword comes at me again.

  Terrified, I stick the sword out, which blocks Lola from chopping my neck. Justin runs his hand down my arm,
takes a defensive stance behind me, and moves me in a graceful motion, beginning my very first sword fight. Without hesitation, the Dark Watcher swipes at me once more, this time aiming for my shirt, and barely misses. Justin scoots me back and leans in for a quick but unsuccessful stab at the ribs. The two of us go round until we’re tangled up at close quarters.

  “You know, Justin,” Lola breathes heavily in my face, “I’m starting to wonder if there is anything you don’t do well.”

  Over my shoulder, he licks his lips and winks. “Lose.” My leg extends forward and shoves the Dark Watcher full force against a tree. Free for a moment, as the kick seemed to break a rib, Justin and I scramble to his car. Thankfully, an arrow soars past us into the tree beside Lola’s face. I glance back to see Eiden reloading a magnificent, dark blue and silver bow. Within the blink of an eye, Lola has vanished into the woods.

  Quickly, Justin throws his car into reverse, allows Eiden to jump in, and pulls back onto the main road where Aiden and Peter are waiting to hop in. Once we’re all secure, Justin switches gears and floors it down the winding, hilltop road. Doing my best to hold on for dear life and knowing this isn’t my first car getaway, I glance over, hoping it’ll encourage him to drive with a bit more caution. As soon as we’re closer to town, the three in the back get comfortable.

  Peter chirps up over the sound of the whipping wind, “You’re welcome.”

  “Thanks.” I turn around to look at him. “Really.

  Thank you all so much.”

  “No problem.” Justin places a hand on my thigh. “I shouldn’t have let that happen to you to begin with. It was my fault.”

  “I’ll say,” Peter pipes up.

  With a glare in the rearview mirror, Justin turns to me and smiles. “Really, baby. I’m sorry. I’ll never let anything like that happen to you again.”

  I smile softly and place a hand on his before turning to look over my shoulder, “Why does he hate you so much?”

  “We want the same things.” Peter chuckles, pulling a pair of aviator glasses over his eyes. “We’ve always wanted the same things.”