The Lost

by Natasha Preston

  “Totally. Thanks anyway.” I turn to leave, but Caleb captures my wrist.

  “Wait a sec. Are you on Facebook?”

  “There are still people who aren’t?”

  He chuckles. “I’ll find you, Piper…?”

  “Willis.”

  With a sharp nod, he lets go of my wrist and walks away.

  He’s going to find me on Facebook. What is my life right now?

  I head down the trail to look for Hazel, and the rain finally stops. There are people from all three high schools in the area. The size of the crowd is easily over a hundred, so finding Hazel isn’t going to be easy. She left before me and lives closer, so she has to be here already.

  It’s really warm tonight, so why anyone felt the need to light a damn bonfire, I’ll never know. Though I’m impressed they got the fire going with the drizzle. Hazel hates heat, so she won’t be near that. I’m the opposite; I’d rather be too hot than even a little bit cold.

  By some miracle, I spot her right away. She’s talking to three girls I don’t recognize. Her arms are folded, and one of her eyebrows is arched. She looks as if she’s giving them attitude.

  This will be fun.

  I power walk over to her, and it’s only when I get close that I realize what this is about: Lucie. Missing girl number eleven.

  “How do you not know? She was your friend!” Hazel says.

  The three girls look at each other.

  “What’s going on?” I ask Hazel, stopping beside her and smiling at the girls who look a little scared of my socially awkward friend.

  Hazel’s head tilts in my direction. “Lucie’s friends don’t know why she left or where she’s gone.”

  “Everyone wants to get out of this hellish town,” the one in the middle shoots back, firing one impressive death glare at us.

  Hazel might be a little blunt, but she’s my friend. “Still weird, though. I mean, she was your friend and you had no idea that she was going to take off?” I say.

  They turn their attention to me, and the girl in the middle, the spokesperson for the group apparently, huffs. “Get out of our business. You don’t know Lucie, so save your opinions.”

  “I’m not judging you, but who runs away without telling a single person where they’re going? Or at least leaving a hint?”

  “Well, obviously people who don’t want to be found, like Lucie.”

  I raise my palms. “Okay. We were just curious.”

  “Well, don’t be. This has nothing to do with you,” the girl snaps. She walks off first, and the other two follow like good little puppets.

  I turn to Hazel. “What was that about?”

  Shrugging, she raises her eyes to me. “I overheard them talking about Lucie, saying she hadn’t replied to their texts.”

  “And you couldn’t help yourself?”

  She turns her nose up. “I think it’s a disease.”

  Laughing at her, I nudge her toward the cooler. “Come on, let’s at least act like we belong here.”

  “You don’t think it’s weird? Lucie’s best friends know nothing about her wanting to leave town. I mean specifically. Where does Lucie want to go? What does she want to do? Surely those are things that her friends would know?” Hazel asks as we head to get a can of…something.

  “Sure, but I don’t think they’re going to tell us anything since you didn’t exactly make friends back there.”

  She scoffs. “Whatever.”

  “Do you think anyone here knows anything about the runaways?”

  “I bet they do.”

  I stop walking. “Ooh, maybe some of them are involved in human trafficking? Or doing some creepy, cultish sacrificing?”

  “Calm down with the horror movies, Piper.”

  “You never know,” I grumble.

  Hazel reaches down and grabs us two Cokes from the cooler. “I’m bored of this now. It was a mistake, it’s not fun. When can we leave?”

  “I just got here!”

  She turns her nose up, her curly hair bouncing in the breeze. “That’s your problem. I’ve already been here for ten minutes. The only people I’ve spoken to are those girls, who are super-hostile, and this guy who thought it was appropriate to kiss me.”

  “Someone kissed you?”

  “He tried.”

  Yeah, we’re definitely not going to make friends here.

  “This is a bust,” she says.

  “I did mention we wouldn’t be solving crimes by being stereotypical teenagers, if you recall.” Not a total bust, though, because I did get to meet the cutest guy on the way here. Why haven’t I told Hazel? She would relish the thought of me talking to a guy, even if I never see him again. Because I’m too young to go out with Caleb, but Hazel would try to convince me to do it anyway. I haven’t had a boyfriend in a year, and I can’t really call him a boyfriend since we were together five days and I only got a peck on the cheek. Apparently, I was too boring for him. I could have saved him five days if he’d just asked me if I was an exciting person at the start.

  “We should Facebook stalk Lucie’s friends,” I suggest. And also maybe check to see if Caleb has found me on there yet. If he even bothers to look me up at all. He wouldn’t be the first guy to say something and not follow through.

  “You know Lucie?”

  I turn to the owner of the voice. A guy, probably our age, glares at us. From the dark look in his eyes, I think it’s safe to assume he heard every word I just said.

  So now, not only are we accusing people of being terrible friends, but we’re also advertising the fact that we’re indulging in a little online stalking.

  Fantastic.

  Hazel takes a small step back. “Not exactly. We heard about her taking off, but we didn’t know her.”

  He watches me for, like, an hour. Well, it certainly feels like an hour.

  “Why are you questioning Lucie’s friends?”

  I shrug. “We just bumped into them.”

  “You here to gossip? She’s not just another runaway, a number. She’s my friend.”

  This is going swimmingly. “We don’t think she’s just another runaway. It’s weird that people keep disappearing. No one else seems to be all that concerned.”

  He folds his arms and looks at me the way Hazel was looking at those girls.

  He can bring it. I’m not intimidated.

  Straightening my spine, I gain an inch and stand almost as tall as him. “Do you think Lucie ran away?”

  His left eye twitches. “No, I don’t. But she obviously wanted out of here more than she wanted me.”

  Oh, she was more than a friend to him. He’s hurting. Of all the people who could have overheard us talking about Lucie, it had to be him. My traitor of a friend seems to have lost her voice. How convenient.

  “I’m sorry your friend isn’t here,” I say. My words are sincere. I am sorry.

  Shaking his head, he turns on his heel and walks off like he doesn’t want to waste another second on us.

  “Well,” I say, turning to Hazel. “Is there anyone else here you feel like insulting, or can we leave?”

  “We can so leave.”

  In unison, we turn and head up the path.

  “Thanks for the backup there,” I say sarcastically, tossing my Coke can into a recycling bin.

  Hazel laughs. “You seemed to have things under control. I didn’t feel like you needed backup.”

  I glance over my shoulder to take one last look at the group at the lake. Around the back of it is the river that runs through town. Lucie’s boyfriend stares at us with folded arms and a deep frown. Whatever.

  “What do you think is going to happen if we find her? And the others?” Hazel asks. “They might not want to be found.”

  “I don’t know. But I can’t imagine it’s easy for the people who love
them not to know where they are and if they’re okay. Besides, what are the chances of us actually finding them? Because I’m thinking it’s an absolute zero.”

  “We’re not trying to solve crimes; we’re looking into the weirdness of all the runaways, and it still beats sitting home all summer, remember?”

  As we walk, I twirl the cotton friendship bracelet on my wrist. Hazel and I made each other one when we were ten. Mine is black and purple, and it’s a basic braid with black beads at each end where the knot is. Hazel’s is black and pink.

  Neither of us like purple or pink anymore, but we both keep them on.

  We reach the end of the path, and a car pulls up beside us.

  The dark window slides down.

  “Caleb,” I say, my heart doing a little flip. Beside him is his friend Owen, who lifts his hand in a lazy greeting.

  “Get in, Piper. I’ll give you a lift.”

  “Err,” I say, turning to Hazel…whose mouth is practically sitting on the road.

  Maybe I should have mentioned meeting Caleb to her, after all. She’s going to have a lot to say when we get back to my house.

  Caleb laughs. “Both of you.”

  “We have our bikes,” I start to explain, looking back.

  “I know, but more rain is forecast anytime now. You can get your bikes tomorrow.”

  Hazel’s mouth snaps shut. She nudges me. “Yeah, we can just get them tomorrow, Piper.”

  “Okay,” I concede. I don’t really want to get soaked anyway.

  Hazel walks around to the other side of the car.

  I open the back door and get in. “Thanks, Caleb.”

  He looks at me in the rearview mirror and smiles. “Anytime.”

  Hazel shuts the door.

  Caleb drops his eyes and pulls out onto the road. I watch him in the mirror, though he’s now focused on the road. His eyes turn hollow, and his smile falls. He presses something on his door, and the car doors lock.

  3

  Don’t. Panic.

  How humiliating would it be if I freak out and he’s just locked the doors for safety? My mom does that. No one is going to carjack us because our car is old and there is never anything valuable inside, but she insists on having locked doors at all times.

  He’s not your mom.

  Hazel either hasn’t noticed or she’s not worried. Her eyes flit between Caleb and Owen like she’s not sure which one of them to crush on more.

  I swallow. He hasn’t asked either of us where we live.

  “So, my house is on Park Lane,” I say, tugging at the sleeve of my top.

  Owen looks over his shoulder. “We’re going somewhere else first.”

  “Yeah? Where?” Hazel asks. She sounds unconcerned and intrigued.

  Why isn’t she concerned?

  “Don’t worry, you’re going to love it.” He grins. “Where are my manners? I’m Owen. Caleb told me about meeting you, Piper, but he didn’t mention your friend.”

  He told Owen about meeting me? Is that good or bad?

  “I’m Hazel. Nice to meet you, Owen.” She’s all smiles and long, lingering looks. So, I guess Owen is the one she likes. I should be relieved, but I’m not sure how I feel about Caleb at the moment. I don’t know where he’s taking us, and he’s not exactly forthcoming with information.

  “You look alarmed,” Caleb says. I glance up, and my heart jumps. He’s watching me in the mirror again. Gone is the dark expression from before. Was I reading too much into it?

  Maybe I have watched too many horror movies.

  I shake my head, but inside I’m screaming yes.

  “Don’t be, Piper. I’d like to get to know you better, and I can’t do that if we never hang out. Was it the lock? It’s a habit I picked up from my mom.” He presses the button again, and the car unlocks.

  My stomach settles, and I breathe. Also, I feel a bit stupid now, too.

  “Sorry,” I mutter. “My mom does the same.”

  “No need to apologize. I didn’t think how it would look to you.”

  Owen watches our exchange with curiosity. Does Caleb not talk to girls much? That seems incredibly unlikely. With his movie-star good looks, charm, and charisma, I would have thought he had girls falling over themselves, eager to spend time with him.

  I’m too young for him, and my ex will attest to the fact that I’m not very exciting.

  Caleb could have his pick of girls, so why choose me, who he shouldn’t actually date? Unless that’s it. He likes that nothing can happen. Some people want something they can’t have purely because they can’t have it.

  Okay, there’s a chance I’m overthinking the crap outta this.

  Holding my hands up, I say, “I’m done being an idiot.”

  Hazel arches her eyebrow, and I want to whack her. We both know I’ll never be done being an idiot. My mouth engages before my brain too often for that.

  Caleb chuckles and shakes his head, but he watches the road. “You’re not an idiot, Piper.”

  Hazel snorts, and this time I do whack her arm. “Violent much, Pipes!” She turns her attention back to Owen, who is still craning his neck to see into the back of the car. “Where is this place we’re going?”

  Owen’s toothy grin widens. “A place that isn’t full of high schoolers.”

  “We’re high schoolers,” I say, folding my arms.

  “Yes, well, Caleb seems to have made an exception for you, so I will, too.”

  All right, then.

  We turn off the main road and head down a dirt road. I’ve never been this way before. It’s private property, according to the passive-aggressive signs pinned to a post at the entrance, and as far as I can tell, it’s just open fields and overgrown woods.

  “Are we allowed down here?” I ask, adrenaline starting to tell me this is going to be exciting. I’ve gone from barely leaving my or Hazel’s house to trespassing in the space of twenty-four hours.

  Owen laughs. “Caleb’s family owns it, so I would think so.”

  Hazel’s wide eyes meet mine, and her expression is screaming marry him. She’s buzzing over this. I knew he had money; he drives around in expensive cars and wears nice clothes, but I didn’t realize he owned a lot of land.

  Sure, Caleb is good-looking, duh, and knowing that he might like me back is making my heart leap with excitement and nerves. But I’m certainly not thinking about marrying him just because he’s rich.

  Relaxing into the seat, I look out the window. We’re surrounded by acres and acres of cornfields. The light splattering of trees around start to get thicker just outside of town until it turns into forest.

  I watch the clock on the dashboard. There’s plenty of time until I need to be home; my parents are just happy I’m getting out. But I don’t know how far we’re going and how long Caleb intends to stay there.

  “Where do you hang out, then? You know, to avoid high schoolers?” I ask Owen, earning a chuckle from Caleb.

  “There’s a place here that we’ve kind of fixed up a little.” He turns to Caleb. “I feel like we’re committing some sort of sin bringing them here.”

  I roll my eyes.

  “You’ll get over it, buddy,” Caleb replies flatly.

  He turns around. “No offense. We just have rules.”

  This should be good. “And what rules are they?”

  “No outsiders.”

  “Hazel and I are outsiders.”

  “Caleb’s breaking the rules, not me.”

  Caleb keeps his eyes on the bumpy road and shrugs.

  Owen chuckles. “Right. You actually like her.”

  “Can you shut up now, Owen?” Caleb growls.

  I press my lips together because I can feel the strength of a smile fighting to come through.

  We drive for a few more minutes in silence before pulling
up at a decent-sized, single-story building made of brick and metal siding. It’s one level but easily bigger than my house.

  “You built this?” I ask.

  Caleb cuts the engine. “No, it’s been here for years. We renovated the inside a while ago, so we’d have somewhere to go. In case you haven’t noticed, there isn’t a lot to do around here.”

  Oh, I’ve noticed.

  Owen is out first, so I follow. Caleb smiles at me as he gets out and locks the door. Hazel is looking around, her eyes flicking back to Owen every few seconds.

  “You brought me to the place you renovated so you wouldn’t get bored?” I ask.

  Caleb takes a step closer to me but keeps a respectful distance. “It was this or turn to petty crime.”

  “Good choice.”

  “Do you want to come inside?”

  Laughing, I reply, “You didn’t give me the option to come here, but you’re asking if I want to go in?”

  Resting his arm on the car casually, he reaches for my hand. “You could have told me to take you straight home at any point, and I would have.”

  “I’m kidding. And yes, I want to go inside.”

  His Hollywood smile makes my stomach flutter. “You’re going to love it here.”

  4

  I glance up at the building. It’s not much to look at from the outside, it’s been neglected. There are dents in the metal siding, and it looks like something has cut into it. An axe maybe? I don’t know.

  The sun dips below the roof and the sky darkens around us.

  My arms prickle with the chill from the breeze.

  Caleb doesn’t drop my hand, so I don’t bother pulling away. Owen and Hazel are a little ahead of us, just going through the door.

  “When do you have to be home?” he asks as we slowly walk toward the door.

  “Ten.” I suddenly feel very childish having a curfew. I wonder if I can talk to my parents about staying out later since school is over for the summer. Though, if I do, they’ll start asking questions. And if they find out that I’m talking to a boy and getting into a car with him to go hang out somewhere, they will never let me leave the house again.