The Lost

By Alan Gill

In The Lost, Julian soon learns a startling truth and must put his life in several strangers hands or perish himself. Learning about who he really is and what he was destined to do, Julian grasps for a sense of understanding in his own life while staving off the malicious advents of an insane, power thirsty murderer. After losing everything he holds dear, he must struggle to seek justice and find revenge before he loses himself on the way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 13, 2010
• ISBN: 9781453574324

Book preview

Contents

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 37

CHAPTER 38

CHAPTER 39

CHAPTER 40

CHAPTER 41

CHAPTER 42

CHAPTER 43

CHAPTER 44

CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER 46

CHAPTER 47

PROLOGUE

Fear. The word meant nothing until tonight.

His lungs filled with terror as he ran down the deserted, foggy dock. Fear pumped through his veins as he felt his heart bursting to maintain his desperate sprint. Beads of sweat flew off his face and with the willpower of a cornered beast he summoned the last of his energy and ran through the searing pain of his muscles tearing. The colors merged and streaked by his face as the icy air burned his eyes. Seeing his home, he burst through the doors. He looked back yet nothing except darkness lay there now. As his heart stopped beating upon his chest and his dilated eyes relaxed, he wondered what the hell just happened.

Hey Richard, Leyla anyone here?

As silence greeted him, he slowly opened the door to the living room. Blood soaked the walls and the furniture was ripped into pieces with two corpses of his aunt and uncle strewn across the floor. Their bodies bent awry, looks of abject horror filled their eyes. The uncle’s groan stabbed the boy’s heart and stopping the growing urge to throw up, he rushed to their side. He begged, No, no, come back please I have no one else.

His uncle eyes fluttered open momentarily and he lifted his head and croaked, The Lost as the light left his eyes. A blind anger crashed upon the youth and hot tears streaked his face as he held their mutilated bodies close.

CHAPTER 1

Hey Julian wake up, yelled Mr. Regly.

Startled, Julian gasped, I just had the worst nightmare ever.

Well maybe if you stayed up, you wouldn’t have had one, huh. Why are you even in school? Biggest waste of talent I’ve ever seen, if you ask me.

Sorry, sir.

The classroom bell rang and as Julian shuffled out of the class, a classmate walked beside him and said, Sorry, sir. Wow.

Shut up, he replied. He looked at who said it and of course it was Joyce Gibbons.

No really, you seem to be turning over a new leaf. A basketball star shows obedience to teachers and has nightmares in class. Really macho.

Julian let out a small chuckle. He realized, though, that this dream was different. It was real. Too real. Something was wrong. Shaking his head, he causally replied, Just trying to get some sympathy from the old guy, I can’t fail calculus you know.

Joyce raised one eyebrow and said, I’ve known you for, what, 15 years now. You are the smartest person in the entire senior class. With your brains, there is no way you are going to fail.

You’re right, I’m pretty awesome.

Letting out a gasp of exasperation, she replied, Ok, now you are back to normal. Wow, Regly was really on your case. I mean more than usual. You know, I think he might actually hate you more, if that’s possible. The bell rang, startling them both. Oh, and don’t forget about tonight, she yelled as she ran toward her next class.

Yeah, yeah, he said watching her as she walked away and smiling.

The bell for class had rung, but Julian looked around him and saw the faded red and yellow corridors. He looked back at the two columns of lockers, rusting and brown like they had been for years. Various students scurried around him chained to their own time tables and concerns. Everyone focused on themselves, only themselves. It was so small. Something suddenly troubled him about the dream and, without hesitation, he ran up the stairs and headed to the roof. His senioritis kicking in, he forgot about class and gazed at the sky thinking about the future. As always when looking up, Julian felt something wrong with the universe like he was destined for something important, but really he just drifted through life. He lost his parents, who were both biologists, when he was four but was raised by his mom’s brother and his wife in California. They usually let him do whatever he wanted and, as a result, school never held much importance. Well, he thought aloud, maybe I’ll find the answer at the party tonight. And with that, he walked off to his house.

Hey Rich, Leyla.

Hey back at your self, the man replied. I was wondering when you would be back, I need some help moving these cabinets.

Help!, Julian relied in mock-horror, getting soft in your old age?

Yeah, yeah just thought you needed a workout. And for a 60 year man that can still beat his kid in basketball, I think that this old man still has it pretty good. Julian the star player for the Elmwood Knights lost to someone three times older than him, the old man said jokingly.

You know yesterday was a fluke, Julian grinned. He looked at his uncle, now his dad, and felt content. I am his son, he thought. The horrible dream streaked across his mind. Shaking his head rapidly, he said, Okay, I’ll help right after dinner. He walked over to the kitchen. His aunt eyes watered due to the onions she was dicing. Julian noticed the light which reflected of the few grey hairs she had. Sad at how short life really is, he offered, Want some help? Leyla turned around and beamed. Here, dice the celery, we’re going to make something big, so you don’t get hungry at that party of yours.

At the dinner table, they were talking about what happened at school when Richard suddenly said that he had an announcement to make. I just learned at work, if I play my cards right, I’ll be the new assistant district officer in 6 months! A healthy round of congratulations was heaped upon the old man. Reflecting on the irony of the situation, he smiled. Moments ago he was thinking of the ephemeral quality of life, and yet at the age of 60 his uncle was still moving up to hill of life. Forgetting his earlier anger with the selfishness of his classmates, he realized he was just doing what he always did, finding something wrong just for the sake of it. Deep in thought, he heard the door rang. His uncle raised an eyebrow and shrugging his shoulders, Julian went to see who it was. As he opened the door, two flashes brushed by him. Let’s go upstairs, said the first. And with that the two ran up. Shaking his head, Julian looked at his uncle questioningly. With a grin he replied, Yeah, yeah go have fun. Scaling the stairs, he saw the duo setting up some videogames. Really guys. Now you don’t even say hi or anything. Sometimes I wonder if all I am is a pile of videogames to you guys. Spreading out over the couch the two replied together, And a nice couch. Ronnie and Kevin, Julian’s friends since first grade, were practically family, and his uncle and aunt accepted them just as they had Julian. Though fraternal twins, they were different in almost every way. Together, they made one seriously interesting friend. Giving up on the two, he sat down picked up a control and decided to teach them a lesson.

Half an hour later Julian contently left for the party.

The party was in full swing by the time he got there. Of course the first person he saw was Joyce. Dancing for a while, they jumped down on the couch. Nice party right, Joyce smiled.

It’s alright, he replied with a sly grin. You are so lucky, how many people do you know have parents who let them have parties?

Let me? Yeah right. They wanted me to.

Looking around at the giant house, he replied, Well it certainly would be a waste to let this go unused.

I guess that’s what they thought.

A voice screamed out of the kitchen, We need ice!

Sighing, Joyce looked at Julian, rolled her eyes, and stood up. Julian watched her leave as her shining brown hair flowed around her. Julian chuckled when he noticed that it wasn’t just him watching her make her way threw the crowd. Several head were following her path like robots. After that moment of amusement, he fidgeted. It felt like an anchor had settled in his stomach. Not even hanging out with his best friend could mask this feeling of terror. But suddenly of nowhere, his favorite twins popped out. Ronnie and Kevin were there usual selves. Shamelessly flirting and getting rejected over and over again. They were having a blast, though. Looking at his friend, Ronnie joked, You know, sitting at the couch all by yourself is not the exact method people use to enjoy a party. You really know how to life it up. Julian playfully shoved his friend and shrugged of his discomfort. Time to start enjoying this party, he thought.

Two days later, the squeak of shoes rubbing harshly against shining floor and the bright lights were getting ready to heat the soon to be dripping players. Julian sat on a bench, hands on his thighs looking at the floor. He eyes were barley blinking and only one thought was roaring through his head. With a few quick breaths, he readied himself. Everything was riding on this. Getting up, he hopped a few times up and down trying to pump himself up. Running through the doors, a deafening sound of pure chaos hammered his ears as bright light forced him to squint. Julian smiled. The basketball court always had a calming effect. It was the semifinals and the stands were packed although everyone was jumping up and down on the frail seats. Julian spotted his classmates in the stands and nervously eyeing the myriad people, he ran over to his coach who was yelling at the top of lungs, as usual. The score was tied in the fourth 59-59 and the time was ticking down. There were ten seconds left. Quickly gaining an offensive rebound, one of Julian’s teammates threw him the ball. Julian choked. Trying to shoot the three pointer, the ball weakly sailed and dropped two feet in front of the basket Right into the hands of his center who smashed the ball down the hoop. The crowd went ecstatic and the stadium felt like it was quivering from all the noise. Dozens of people ran into the court and all were hugging Julian and the center. Suddenly Julian realized that they thought he TRIED to set it up. Sheepishly, he said nothing and cursed himself for choking. After a few minutes in the hectic crowd, though, he forgot about the shot and started cheering as well.

Waking up the next morning and having the familiar battle between deciding if it was the weekend or a school day he eventually went with the first. Stepping out into the cool but not to brisk air, he prepared for his ritual jog. As he was running, he felt the familiar thump of the chain he wore around his neck. It was his fathers and it hadn’t left his neck in years. He kept up his jog and soon felt his muscles tire and with every breath his chest hurt more until he finally reached the local gym. Going to the weights, he soon felt his muscles screaming. Julian closed his eyes and pictured the image of himself years ago being bullied. His eyes snap forward, his screaming muscles now begged for a better workout. He finished and went to take a shower. Feeling the cool water soothe his painful aches, he soon got of the shower but he had no idea what to do now. Out of nowhere, a combination of fear and paranoia slammed into him and he knew he had to go to the place in his dreams. He sat on his bed and wondered why he was so sure. Procrastinating, he went to the mall to hang out and around 5 came home. At the house, he realized that no one else was there with him and he knew that it was time to go to the docks. He drove by and suddenly he felt as if someone dosed him with a bucket of ice. Screw this, he muttered as he made a u-turn and drove off.

The next day at school, Julian had an even worse time paying attention. Raising his hand, he asked, Mr. Regly, may I use the restroom. Only receiving a grunt, Julian headed off to the bathroom. Suddenly overcome with boredom, he went back to the roof. Yawning, he heard the door open behind him. Joyce emerged looking worried and asked, Why are you always so distant?

Don’t know, just feel that something is wrong. Where did you even come from?

I saw you pass my classroom and, hey, if you ever want to talk, I’m here for you. With that she left.

Giving up, Julian left and went home. Lying on his bed, he drifted asleep. All of a sudden he snapped awake and looked at the clock which read two a.m. Two a.m.! he yelled. Throwing on a shirt and an old pair of jeans, he looked around the house but his folks were sleeping, so he took the keys to his car and drove off. He didn’t know why he couldn’t just wait for the morning, but one thing was clear: he would find out exactly what was going on.

He parked by the docks as a thick layer of fog descended upon him. The area was now even spookier