flames | The Lost Boys (1987) | revised

| ELEVEN |

Days passed easily after that, and though I was very happy with it, it also had me on the edge of my seat twenty-four seven. Most of my time was spent with the boys when I could, running around the boardwalk or their cave. We had run around town a few times, but there weren't as many things to do outside of the boardwalk. When I wasn't with them, I was with my aunt as she grew on me bit by bit. We had begun planting a garden in the backyard with some of the plants she kept around the house. I was surprised she hadn't had one already, but I was happy to help her with the task. My mother didn't acknowledge me much anymore, and I couldn't tell if I appreciated it or hated it.

Either way, I was having a good time, but I suppose all good things must come to an end, and it did. I had just gotten home after a night at the cave. It was around four in the morning. My mother had slowly let go of making me get home by a certain time, telling me to just be there before she woke up, and I certainly couldn't complain. After spending the entire night between David and Dwayne, I was ready to pass out in my bed, and the sluggishness soaking in my bones led to me being a bit more careless than I was.

I had my headphones on so I could listen to music while I drove. Dwayne had snagged me a few new albums to listen to on cassette, and I was incredibly grateful for it because he was helping me grow my taste in music as well as my collection. Since I was listening to music, and since I was incredibly tired, I hadn't heard them at first.

It was the sight of something in the corner of my eye that made me notice them. I parked my bike and cut the engine quickly, throwing my headphones to my shoulder as I turned my head. I could hear them running through the woods, tens of them from the sounds of it, and I could see shadows dancing in the treeline.

I gripped the handlebars of my bike tightly as one of them walked up and stopped at the treeline, a bird mask staring at me. Then, there was another and another and another until there were too many to count - staring at me. I was beginning to shake. There were more than I could count, all different heights, different body types, different masks. None of them were the same in any way.

Then, the fox stepped into my line of sight. His hands were in his pockets, and his head was tilted to the side. He stopped in line with the others and slowly lifted his hand from his pocket, showing a match.

I spoke before I thought, a firm 'no' leaving my lips.

His head tilted straight as he stared at me. Then, he began talking. "Do you ever wonder what we are, Ivy?" he asked. "Do you ever wonder what you could be if you joined us?" His finger barely twitched and then the match was lit. "Do you ever wonder what being lost would entail?" A shiver ran down my spine at the questions. "You can join us, Ivy. You can join and be brand new - reborn. You'll have a home." He dropped the match and stepped on it, extinguishing the flame. Then, he reached his hand out. "You're one of us."

"I am not," I responded, "and I don't need a home."

"Really?" he leered, leaning forward ever-so-slightly. "You don't need a home? Have you ever seen where you live? I certainly have."

"Leave me alone."

He took a step forward, and the others did too. I turned my bike back on, making it clear that I was ready to run if I needed to. When he took another step, I went flying, hitting fifty faster than I ever had. I would go to the boys, I decided. Part of my head told me that I was leaving my aunt and mother alone, but the other part of me, a stronger part of me, was telling me to run as fast as I could. So, I did. I tore down the dirt road and through the streets of Santa Carla.

As I grew closer and closer to the cave, I calmed down bit by bit, ready to see my boys. Things took a bad turn when I entered the small section of the woods I had to pass through. Stood right in the middle of the path was one of the masked figures making me jerk my handlebars to the side and flip my bike as I hit some tree roots.