The Lost Boys by Lilian Carmine Read Free Book Online Page A

familiar with the supernatural,” she said, trying one more time.
    I just stared at her. She was clearly a little crazy.
    “She’s saying only we witches can see him,” Margaret elaborated. “Your boy over there, he’s a ghost, dear.”
    “What? He certainly is not!” I shouted. Everybody could see him and talk to him, for God’s sake! I walked towards Tristan, upset by all the nonsense going on. “Mom, come on, stop joking around, you can see him, right?”
    I stopped right in front of him and turned to look at my mother. “Mom?”
    She looked at me in alarm.
    “Oh my God! What is wrong with you people?” I yelled, and turned to Tristan.
    He looked back at me and his eyes were filled with desperation.
    “Joey, please don’t hate me. I’m so sorry …” he whispered softly to me. “I was going to tell you tonight. I lied so you wouldn’t be scared of me. And … I was just happy … being with you. Even if it was only for a little while.”
    Fireworks started to explode in the sky. Hundreds of colorful fireworks dancing in the night.
    The New Year had arrived.
    “Are you freaking serious?” I screamed over the noise. I pushed angrily at his chest. My hand passed right through him! I stumbled forward and regained my balance, staring wildly at him.
    He reached out for me, and, scared, I flinched away, staggering backwards. My foot got caught up in a tree root and I tripped, falling head first to the ground. I felt an intense, sharp pain in my head and in the palm of my hands. I heard my mom’s voice, but I couldn’t understand what she was saying. It was too distant, hundreds of miles away.
    I opened my eyes and tried to focus. A chill wind was blowing and the candlelight flickered but didn’t go out. I could make out a dark silhouette standing far away. It wore black heavy boots. I felt the earth beneath my fingertips. And somehow I didn’t feel cold any more. Or scared.
    Everything seemed to move in slow motion, like we were all submerged under water. No more loud noises, even though I could still see the fireworks dancing in the sky. Everything was silent and peaceful. It was so beautiful. Was it still midnight?
    And then Tristan’s face appeared next to mine. He was lying right by my side, smiling at me.
    “Don’t be afraid. You’ll be fine,” he whispered to me, wiping away tears that I didn’t even know had begun to fall. He looked so calm and ethereal.
    “I’m not afraid,” I said softly. I felt calm and secure now, because he was with me. He reached out and held my hand lightly and I felt sharp pinpricks over my skin where his fingers touched mine. It felt weird, but in a good way.
    “Do you hate me? For lying?” he whispered in a broken voice, so full of sadness.
    “Of course not. I could never hate you, not in a thousand lifetimes,” I said to him, and though this was a really weird thing for me to say, I also knew it to be true. But then he slowly vanished from sight, engulfed by darkness that seemed to be wrapping itself around everything.
    Everything was dark. Everything was silent.
    Was he really gone?
    Dead and gone , something whispered ominously inside my head.
    “Tristan?” I whispered. It was all so quiet, I couldn’t hear his voice any more and I missed it. I missed the warmth it brought to my heart; I missed his silvery eyes and his mesmerizing smiles. I missed him . “Tristan?” My voice wavered in the dark.
    “Don’t be afraid,” he whispered near me, his lips brushing my ears like feathers in the air. “Even if you cannot see me, I’m always be right here, by your side.” Once again, his fingers intertwined with mine. My heart fluttered at his delicate touch. “I feel like I have always been by your side, and that I will always be. Does that make any sense?” he asked me, and his hand squeezed mine lightly. But I did know what he meant. Because I felt the same way. Like I’d known him for as long as I could remember, beyond time, even. “Wow. Joey. Can