by Xavier Neal
“I don't remember making out with the imports being in your job description.” He smiles deviously. “But I could be wrong. You know things do change...quite quickly around here it seems. Might need to brush up on my law.”
“On your law or the law Pan?”
Peter shoots a finger at him before his ‘all knowing’ grin. “Excellent question.”
The tension is clearly rising, which is when Aiden rushes over to me and hugs me. “Thank god you're not dead!”
Thankful to see him, I hug back. “Nope. Alive. And clean actually.”
“Looked kind of dirty to me,” Peter mumbles under his breath.
Eiden adds with a wave. “We were worried sick.”
I smile at him before glancing at Justin who hasn't said a word. In fact he looks more pissed off than relieved. Fine. He probably saw Kendall and I kiss, which would more than explain the look, but I'm not totally in the wrong here! He abandoned me! I have every right to be just as pissed off, if not more so than him! Holding back my bubbling rage and resentment I sarcastically sigh, “Obviously.”
Aiden smiles like a child who knows his parents are about to go through a divorce, but has hope otherwise. The innocence warms my heart at the same time it breaks it. “How about we get you home?”
“Yeah,” Justin finally speaks, the word alone barely audible, but the undertone of fury crystal clear.
“Which is which way again?” the taunting tone in Kendall's voice clearly digs at Justin by the way his fist clenches.
Enjoying seeing him rattled I add with a shrug. “Hell if I know.”
Kendall shoots me a smirk, a clear indication the moments we shared mattered even if they're about to become just a faded memory. He slides his sunglasses over his green eyes I'm going to miss.
With the faintest smirk he declares, “See you around, Lost Boy.”
“See you around, Hook,” I playfully reply before turning to follow the group who is starting to cross the street.
Aiden attempts to say something to me and bumps against my wrist causing the bracelet to rattle. Not having heard a word he said, I quickly turn back around, darting towards and hollering at Kendall.
“Wait! Wait!” my voice shouts. “Kendall wait!”
Heading back down the steps of the courthouse, he tilts his head to indicate he's listening. Back to being the man of few words. One more thing to miss about the other version of him.
“Look, I want you to know I could say thank you a thousand times and it would still never be enough. You're a hero. It's time people knew,” I state with my hand extended for him to shake.
Confused, but curious he does, immediately feeling the object in the palm of his hand. “Is this―”
“I told you I didn't steal it. And won't say who did. But I am returning it...”
“Do you have any idea what this means?” Quickly I shake my head. “I'll get a promotion for sure. Maybe even a reward. Maybe a medal. Or both.”
“You deserve all of it.”
“I'd rather have you.” Kendall looks over my shoulder briefly then back at me. “But I guess that was never really a choice, was it?”
With a slow shake of my head, determined not to cry over the small fact a guy like him, wants a girl like me, I slowly begin to back away. “Bye, Kendall.”
“Be careful, Peyton,” he says sliding the gold cloud into his jacket pocket and his phone out with the other.
I hate goodbyes. In fact, that's the only thing that is guaranteed with this so called new family of mine. There'll always be someone I leave behind. Hurt. Sad. Someone leaving me longing for a different solution. Wishing that I could trade being a Lost Boy for a real shot at something better. In fact, I'm starting to get what Belle and Justin were saying about this not necessarily being better than my life before. And there's no way out of it now. The only thing I can do from here is figure out how to hold my own and be careful doing it.
Chapter 5
Arriving in a parking garage I notice there are two almost identical jeeps beside each other. One is black. The other is bright yellow. Eiden hops in the driver seat of the yellow one, while Justin hops in the driver seat of the black one. I watch as Aiden slides in the passenger seat beside his brother, while Peter rides with his second in command.
Justin starts the engine and tilts his head at me, words cold. “Get. In.”
I glare at the instruction. “I'll ride with the twins.”
“Peyton...” he warns.
Surprised he has the audacity to get testy with me, I scoff at him, open the door to the yellow jeep, and plop myself in the seat. Justin stares at me, jaw throbbing, veins in his neck strained. Without a word he rolls his head around as I buckle my seat belt with a similar attitude.
Aiden tries, “Uh...maybe you should ride with Justin?”
Leaning around the corner of his seat, I look Aiden dead in the eyes with peeved expression.
“Or not.” Aiden mumbles before looking over to the side where Justin is backing out of the parking space.
Eiden follows him out of the garage to the exit where Justin takes a sharp right and Eiden takes a sharp left.
“Two different vehicles. Two different routes.” Eiden calls over his shoulder as we arrive at a stop light. “Cuts down the possibility of being followed. Decoy routes. Decoy roads. We never take the same exact route in case we're being tailed.”
“It's one of the many ways we stay ahead,” his brother adds.
Once Eiden is confident we aren't being followed, he takes a highway heading away from the city. While the wind blows my hair around, hat wedged between my thighs, I relax against the seat thankful to just have a moment to enjoy the sights, even if they're moving by incredibly fast. Swiftly he takes an exit, weaves through a run-down neighborhood, and eventually drives around a dead end sign onto an off road path. At first the road is extremely bumpy while the scenery is glum like some sort of awful horror movie, but soon the terrain changes and I'm surrounded by tall, gorgeous trees. Intrigued, I tilt my head back, looking up at the explosion of bright neon green colored leaves that are covering a clear path to the sun. Everything is so beautiful. Suddenly there's a rough bump and we're on a bridge heading steeply downward like a roller-coaster, through fog so dense it's hard to breathe let alone see anything.
I wheeze covering my face with my shirt. “Geez, what is that?”
“Smog from the mines,” Eiden answers as the amount seems to get thicker.
“What are they mining?”
“Morlon. A mineral used to make just about everything here.”
Still coughing desperate for air, I'm thankful moments later when we are showered by palm trees on a different island. This one has no streets, no roads, and from the looks of it, no people. The bright green trees are being touched by glistening sunlight while shimmering birds with exotic colors of orange and red flutter through the air with their outrageously long tails and wings. Wonder what those are called. The wind from their wings seems to swirl around me, adding an additional breeze my direction. I take a deep breath and am pleasantly surprised by the sweet aroma of cinnamon and cupcakes. Is that coming from them?
At the same speed we've maintained, we continue towards a wall of trees, straight at the trunk of one. Nervous I ask, “Shouldn't we be turning?”
Aiden chuckles as Eiden shifts gears and increases speed. Terrified I clutch the door handle. We drive straight through the tree and land on the other side. Baffled I look around immediately startled again when I see Justin and Peter parking their jeep next to a palm tree the size of an oak tree. I'll admit it creates a beautiful shade for the vehicles. We park ours beside theirs before hopping out.
“That was incredible!” I squeal at the top of my lungs pointing to the tree we drove through. “That...that back there! How'd you―”
“Hologram.” Aiden beams proudly. “Lost Island is full of them. Created them myself.”
“Impressive.” I wink causing Aiden to blush. “Is it called Lost
Island because we're Lost Boys?”
“Lost Island wasn't actually named by us or for us. It got its name due to the fact it's basically invisible. Everyone has practically forgotten it exists,” Eiden explains.
Admiring the tropical like atmosphere I question, “It's so beautiful. How is that possible?”
“It's a mixture between the cloud and light alignment and of course the fairy dust that fell during The Great War of Worlds,” Eiden continues, until I prepare to cross a rapid stream by stepping on a rock path. Immediately he slams an arm in my stomach stopping me from moving another muscle. He shakes his head. “If you step on the rocks, you'll drown.”
“What?!”
“Another hologram,” Aiden says stepping into the stream, before helping my feet on top of his. “See it looks like a raging stream you don't wanna step into it. You wanna cross on the rocks. As soon as you do, they clink cuffs on your ankles and sink because they are actually in quick sand. When you step on the side we're on, it scans imprints of your feet and if you are programmed into the system you will be escorted down, like so.”
I nod in understanding as the floor lowers us down. In front of us Justin and Peter are grumbling low. My guess is arguing. Over what? Who knows?
My attention returns to Aiden. “You get more impressive every minute.”
“Thank you.” Aiden grins at me before glancing at Justin who's giving him a scowl.
Immediately he wipes the pleased look off his face and lowers me off his feet onto the floor. I turn to look at Justin who quickly turns back towards the door that's opening in front of us. We enter a giant living room with an equally huge kitchen directly behind it along.
“Baby we found her!” Peter yells at the top of his lungs as the door locks and shuts behind us.
To the left, Belle strolls down a set of spiral steps sporting a pink tank top that lets her wings flutter freely. With an uneasy expression, she rushes over and embraces me tightly. “Oh thank God! I was getting worried!”
“Sorry,” I sheepishly apologize.
“Don't give us a scare like that! Justin was up half the night looking for you.”
Pulling away from her I snip, “And what was he doing the other half?”
Justin leans against the side of the couch, his mouth twisting like it's too painful to even muster up a reply.
Peter stifles his chuckle. “What? You think just because you disappear our entire lives have to stop? Sorry princess, but business has to keep running. There's money to make and treasure to find.”
The image of their photos on Kendall's wall pops back into my mind. Suddenly the profiles he explained to me, the stacked documents about the effects of their troubles, the misery in his eyes caused by their exploits, causes an all too familiar anxiety inside. I'm going to have to ask about all that. Obviously not right now.
Belle questions, “Where did you go?”
“Where did you go?” I snap back putting a little space between me and the group that's gathered around.
“We flew home.” She folds her arms across her chest. “The signal was given so we all bailed-”
“The signal? And no one thought that maybe I should be told what it was! Prepped before we got off the ship?!” my voice squeaks a little bit of a higher tone.
Aiden tries to argue, “Justin was supposed to-”
“Of course he was!” I cut him off. The force from my response causes him to stumble backwards a little to a position beside Justin. My newly discovered desire to no longer play the victim mixed with pent up anger finally explodes. “Just like he was supposed to be there to get me out of jail! He was supposed to be there when I was released to bring me home! He was supposed to be there to give me dinner, shelter me from the rain, and make sure I had somewhere to goddamn sleep last night!”
“So this is my fault!?” Justin raises his voice as Peter bites down loudly on a shiny green apple.
“Come on guys. Let's not do this right now,” Belle innocently pleads pushing a strand of hair out of her face. “Peyton just got home-”
I glare at Justin. “Yeah, no thanks to you.”
“Fine! Blame me! Every time something goes wrong in this damn group it's clearly my fault!”
“To be fair...it usually is,” Peter grumbles.
Belle points a stern finger at him before she sighs to us, “How about you two do this in private?”
“Why?” I shrug at her before looking back at him. “Nothing seems to be private between us. Why start now?”
Peter chuckles under his breath. “Yeah, why start now?”
“Shut up Peter!” the three of us snap in unison.
“Blame me Peyton! Blame me for being up half the night searching for you, worried where you were! Blame me for asking all around town even in parts I had no business being in! Blame me for stalking Dark Watchers last night in hopes of finding you! Blame me for you kissing Hook this morning!”
Belle gasps. “You did what?”
Ignoring her question and the low, slightly deserved, blow, I keep pushing. “So what? You want a medal for that?”
“How about we start at thank you?”
“How about you had no right to leave me in the first place!”
“I-”
“How about the fact I was in jail for you twice in the same damn day!”
“I-”
“How about the fact I could've been kidnapped! Raped! Murdered last night!” My shrill voice causes jaws to drop.
He calmly tries again, “Peyton-”
“God, you feed me lines about always being there to save me, to catch me when I fall...” Abruptly a harsh thought bombards its way into my mind. “But they're just more false promises aren't they?”
“No.”
“Just more things you say to insure you get what you need from me.”
“No!”
“You lie for a living, Justin! That's what you do! You lie so well to everyone that I'm starting to think you have no idea how to be honest...especially not with someone you say you actually care about.”
Caught in the blinding light of my truth, Justin lets his head fall forward. While one hand grips the back of the brown leather couch, the other adjusts his disheveled black tie, completely loosening the knot.
Peter’s loud chomping continues. “Well, since you're throwing Justin to the wolves, why don't you tell us all where you spent the night.” That raises Justin's attention back at me, rage rapidly returning. Great! This is like the one time Peter is actually coming to Justin's aid. “Tell us about spending the night with Hook-”
“You spent the night with Hook?” Belle squeaks.
“Tell us how he invited you into his home and his bed. Tell us who was better in the sack, Hook or Nick.” Peter's words cause my body to shake in irritation.
Justin breathlessly asks. “You slept with Nick?”
“No!”
“How do we know that?” Peter shrugs having another bite. “Take a little-”
“I'm not drinking anything to tell the truth! I don't have this lying complex that you two seem to! I can tell the truth! You want to know the truth? Here it is!” My head whips around at Justin. “I made out with Nick! It was my job! It was my part of the con! And you know what? His hands wandered around my body and wanted to take me to bed, but I made sure that didn't happen!”
Peter mumbles, “So she says...”
I snap my face around to him. “I didn't let things get out of hand with Nick and I didn't with Hook either! Kendall took me out of the rain, gave me dry clothes, WASHED the ones I had, fed me, and got me papers so I could be a part of this sick twisted thing I'm now supposed to call family! You don't believe me? I. Don't. Care.”
“And that kiss?” Peter's cocky grin gets under Justin's skin as it does mine. “The one that probably would've led to more had you not been caught?”
“Was the only one we had.”
Peter scrunches his face as he mutters, “I find that hard to believe.”
; I stomp my heel on the ground. “Well that's too damn bad!”
Silence fills the air before there's a high pitched ding. Belle tries to put on a smile. “Lunch is ready.”
Calmly I ask, “You cook?”
“I love to cook,” she gushes, welcoming the subject change.
