Found

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO: ALEXANDER

"He ran away?!"

"Please, don't rub it in, Fabs."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But, wow, Xander. You must've really spooked the kid." Then he started snickering.

He's actually laughing at me? I look over at Sebastian. He's been wearing the same worried expression on his face since this afternoon when we found HIM. When we told Fabian what happened, he didn't even blink. It's like he knew that something like this was going to happen. Then again, who really knows what goes through Fabian's head but Fabian? The guy's a nut! I love the guy and all, but jeez! Anyway, I'm more concerned about the little cutie that gave us the slip a few hours ago.

Why didn't I try to stop him? Even if he is faster (and that's a really big "if") I'm stronger. I should have grabbed his arm when he jumped up. I should have called after him when he turned away. I should have got off my ass and chased the kid down when he ran for crying out loud!

But I couldn't.

I wanted to. I knew that if I let him go it would break my heart, but I still couldn't get up the strength to try and stop him. Just the look in his eyes... He was so scared of us. I mean, there's the kind of scared you feel when some stranger runs into you on the street, and then there's the kind of scared you feel when you think your life is in danger. This kid was terrified. The question is of what, or who, he was afraid of. It couldn't have been us. We only saw him for about 45 seconds before he bolted. So... what was it then?

Sebastian stood up from the kitchen table where the three of us were having our meeting. I lifted my eyebrow at him. "What do you think, bro?" He just sighed and shook his head.

"First things first: a name. We need to find out who he is and where to find him. I don't know about you, but I'm not about to let my first and probably only chance at true love get away from me. We can worry about making him like us after we know where he's staying."

I nodded. Then my heart sank. This city may be small compared to New York or Miami, but it was still big enough to make tracking down one person, especially such a small person, extremely daunting and difficult. I mean, we know absolutely nothing about him for starters. What are we supposed to do, knock on every apartment door in town?

Sebastian must have felt my dismay because he pulled me out of my seat and wrapped me in a hug. "It's okay, Alex. It isn't as hopeless as you think it is." That's what I love about my brother; whenever he thinks that someone's upset or in trouble, he'll just walk over to them and comfort them. But still --

"How is it not hopeless?"

"Well, I'll bet you think that we don't know anything about him, right?"

I nodded.

"Well, although we don't know anything affirmative yet like a name or street address, we do know his approximate age."

"He looked like a teenager. But I don't think I can guess a correct age. Maybe fourteen?"

"Exactly! Which means he attends high school. And we know one more thing: his violin. It's summer, so why would a fourteen-year-old need his musical instrument on a day that he doesn't have school?"

I thought about that one. "Huh. He must be taking private lessons with someone."

"That's what I'm thinking. So all we have to do is track down the number of private violin teachers in the city and flash our boy's discription around until we get a winner. There can't be too many violinists in the area where we found him, and even if there are twenty or even fifty music teachers in town, that's still a smaller number than the thousands of homes in this entire city!"

I nodded as a small smile started growing on my face. "Yeah. We've waited this long for him, tracking him down shouldn't be that hard. At least now we know who it is we're looking for --"

"-- after all these years," finished Sebastian. As usual, he knew just what was going through my head.

Suddenly I was so happy, I tackled Sebastian and lifted him off the ground, throwing the two of us onto the couch laughing. "WE FOUND HIM! Can you believe it?! We're finally going to have everything we ever wanted!" Sebastian laughed, and I knew that he knew what I said was true. I pulled myself over him, grabbed his face with my hands holding it in place as  I pushed my lips against his. He kissed me back, and the two of us wrestled a little while longer when Fabian coughed behind us. Damn, I forgot he was here.

"Your guys' plan is such an insult to me. I mean, c'mon! Did you guys completely forget that your best friend can track anyone as long as I know someplace they've been?"

I looked down at Sebastian, and I knew that the same dumbfounded look on his face was being mirrored on mine. That's right, not only can Fabian teleport, but he can also locate lost objects. Something about how everything has energy and all energy is unique and leaves its own trail, or something, I never really pay attention to Fabian's rants, especially when the topic of discussion is himself. But still, he was right. All we had to do was take Fabian to where we last saw Mr. Cutie and he would be able to tell us where he went, where he was coming from, even where he is now.

I looked over at Fabian. He was leaning against the kitchen counter with the same carefree attitude and smug smile he always had. "Why the hell didn't you speak up before we started in on stalking?!"

He cocked his head to the side, and in a pensive voice he said, "I guess I forgot about it."

Of course you did...