'The Lost Boys is a story about the supernatural, about love, music and friendship. When Joey Gray first meets this strange mysterious boy who never leaves the cemetery, she never imagined her life would be turned upside down. Together they will hav...
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My mom took charge straight away, taking off her long black coat and handing it to Miss Violet. "Here, please, cover him up, it's freezing cold!" I couldn't see his face very well from where I stood but I could see that he was trembling. But how could he be here? He'd said he was a ghost and now . . . ? Nothing made any sense!
I tried to steady myself and gather control over my churning thoughts. Now was not the time to panic. The three old ladies were whispering intently to each other. "We need to get him out of the cold first," Miss Violet said at last.
"What we need is to take Megan back home! You know she's not well and this has taken it out of her," Margaret hissed.
"But we can't just leave him. Not now," Miss Violet replied.
"Bring the girl over. She can help him!" Megan said, speaking for the first time. Her voice was melodic and very low.
All three old ladies turned to look at me. I took a step back, scared.
"Joey, come over here! Don't be scared, dear. It's all right, everything will be all right." Miss Violet said reassuringly.
I looked at my mom, and she nodded in consent. I walked over to Tristan and kneeled down on the grass, watching as his beautiful pale face contorted in pain. "What can I do?" I said in a small voice, feeling useless. I reached out and took hold of his hand, like he had held mine. Or had that just been a dream? Either way, this time my hand met solid flesh rather than going straight through.
When my hand touched his, sharp, hot pinpricks jolted through my fingertips once again. Tristan moaned but he appeared to relax, his convulsions easing. I looked at Miss Violet in surprise but she just nodded, looking relieved.
What had just happened here?
"Can you take him to your house?" Miss Violet asked my mom. "Until we sort this whole mess out."
My mom nodded. "O-okay. Joey, dear, do you think you can manage to get him to walk?"
"I don't know. I can try," I muttered.
"Just keep him close to you, and you two should be fine." Miss Violet advised as she turned away to help the eldest of the ladies, old Meg. She and Margaret were now supporting her, one on each side.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked as they started to walk away.
"Come on, honey. Let's get him home," my mom said, kneeling by my side.
I put the palm of my hand flat on Tristan's chest. My palm tingled at the contact with his skin.
"Tris, can you hear me? Do you think you can stand up?
For me?" I pleaded.
He nodded, managing to half-open his heavy eyelids. My mom and I helped him up and wrapped the coat tightly around his body. I hoped no one would notice we had a naked boy inside it while we walked out of there. We managed to stumble through the cemetery lanes, Tristan leaning on both my Mom and me. As we reached the gates, people were still coming and going, but no one paid any attention to us. They were all too drunk or too distracted to notice anything anyway.
