Wendy and Her Lost Boys -- The Lost Boys 1987

Epilogue: Wendy and Her Lost Boys

– Wendy –

By the end of summer, things had changed in Santa Carla. Some changes were expected. We were all a little wiser and a little older than we had been, although the lost boys never did show their true age on their skin.

There were a few good things to come from this little adventure. I had an amazingly brave girlfriend by my side, one who would do anything for me.

I had my lost boys too; and it turns out, I'd get to stick with them for a long, long time. Some distant future stretching before us.

And, there was Lucy, too. At the end of it all, she took Ellie and Cody into her home and officially adopted them. It hadn't been because the siblings had no one left to care for them. No, she'd made this decision because they had become family, in their own way. And they didn't need the legacy of the Ellis name hanging over their heads. It was better to leave some things in the past.

Other changes were harder to stomach. I wasn't human anymore. There was some small part of me that raged against this knowledge, but that too fell away.

It wasn't as though I had truly changed. I was still the person I had once been. Although, I think I used to just be an outline — a flat drawing with tinges of color at the edges.

Now though, more of the drawing is filled in, an array of vibrant hues and twisting shapes coloring in the blank spots.

I am more than I once was.

➺➺➺

Soon after we killed the wolves in our territory, the eldest Emerson woke up in the hospital surrounded by family. He was expected to make a full recovery. The first words out of his mouth when he woke was to demand to be told what happened after that night in the woods.

And so, we sat down and took turns telling him. We told him who the creatures in the woods were and how brave Ellie and Cody had been. They betrayed their blood for us, for me, and that wasn't something to be taken lightly.

We told him how Cody saved Michael — taking a stake to the shoulder that was meant for the new vampire — and how Ellie saved me, changed me.

Something like regret flashed in his eyes at these words. But he took all that I was in stride.

➺➺➺

The sound of a roaring engine brought me back to the present. My hands gripped the handle bars, gloves pressing into the cherry red paint of the motorcycle. The moon reflected off the bike as Paul pulled up beside me.

"When I said you owed me a motorcycle ride, this isn't what I meant!" He called over the rushing wind.

"Oh, and what did you have in mind?" I yell back.

He shrugged before saying, "Not this!"

In answer to his words, the others appeared around us. A chorus of roaring engines dulling out whatever he was going to say next.

The lost boys boxed Paul and I in, forcing us to cruise down the street in close proximity.

David and Michael kept to one side, Marko and Dwayne kept to the other. And trailing behind us was Ellie. Cody sat behind her clinging on for dear life. His eyes squeezed shut against the sight of the black cement speeding underway.

Cars honked around us, swerving to avoid as the drivers yelled out their windows, faces flushed and angry.

Changing gears, I gave my bike a bit more gas. Rocketing forward, I let a laugh bubble past my lips.

In that moment, it was us and the night.

The sky held us down and pinned us to the fabric of the world, but we never let it slow us down.

The lost boys whooped and hollered around me and I smiled as Ellie turned her face to the moon and howled.

We turned off the main road and reached the edge of the forest. The light of the full moon shone upon us. We left our motorcycles behind us. Ellie and Cody took off in a run beside me. One by one our skin fell away and revealed bright, shining coats. The moonlight caught the gleam of our eyes and magnified the sound of our voices as we yipped and howled, joyfully running through the redwood trees and into the woods.

The lost boys leaped from branch to branch, high above our heads, watching our progress through the woods. My ears were highly attuned in a way they hadn't been when I wore my other skin.

The sound of creaking branches and the short puffs of my breath dulled the other sounds of the forest. But there was something underneath it all that sounded odd — another heartbeat where there should not be one.

As a group, we moved towards the heartbeat. Whoever it belonged to must have heard us coming — the pulse rabbeted frantically, looking for a way out.

It wasn't long before we came to a grove. The lost boys dropped from the trees and walked between us, cracking their knuckles as if preparing for a fight.

But they needn't have worried. Before us lay the cowering form of a werewolf pup. I could smell the animal crawling underneath her skin even if I couldn't see it. She looked human save for a gleam of yellow in her eyes.

She was shaking like a leaf, willing herself not to change skins. The rational part of me wondered why. The animal part of me smelled the blood on her torn sleeve.

I shrugged off my pelt. The ache of my bones popping back into place passed quickly. I stood upright saying, "I don't think I'll ever get used to that."

Behind me, David muttered a quiet, "Neither will we," before peeling off his trench coat and hanging it over my bare shoulders. I pulled it closer before crouching down to the little girl.

Ellie was next to fall back into her skin. Cody followed soon after. Each of them took a coat from one of the lost boys before moving down to the girl's eye level.

"If you're like me, you have to run. They're coming." The girl croaked. Her voice sounded small and brittle as though she hadn't had water in days.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" I asked, trying to coax her into trusting us.

"That's not important right now! We need to run! They're almost here!" She said, voice straining.

Ellie cocked her head, looking at the girl. She inhaled sharply through her nose. Recognition dawned as she said, "Who's after you, Etta?"

"Hunters," Etta said. "The hunters are coming."

I looked to Ellie for an explanation and she gave one all too willingly. "She was one of the wolf pups from the rival pack in Newport."

"Ethan and Mirabel," I say, nodding gravely. Looking back to Etta I say, "But that doesn't explain why you're here. What happened to your pack?"

The girl was crying now, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I couldn't save anyone when the hunters came. They trapped us. They were following a trail of murders from other towns. They thought it was us, but they wouldn't listen when we told them it wasn't. They hurt the others. They made them scream for hours. I didn't think it would ever stop. I don't even know how I got away."

Ellie swore under her breath. Horror flitted across her face. This was her family's doing. The hunters had been searching for them and found another pack instead. They used them for information, discarding them just as easily.

Whatever they learned had put them on a path to Santa Carla.

Just then, Etta whimpered and pointed towards the sound of twigs snapping underfoot.

Paul tossed a wink in the quivering girl's direction before he took a protective stance in front of her saying, "Don't worry, little wolf, you've got us now."

And Etta did.

We faced the hunters head on. They never stood a chance.