Disclaimer: I don't own The Lost Boys or anything recognizable associated with it. I only own my characters and the plot of this story.

1. The Glance / A Prologue of Sorts

"Quincy, are you even listening to me?"

The older boy, still partially slack-jawed, tilted his head in her direction though he kept his eyes dutifully on the giggling woman's backside as she passed slowly with her friends.

"Huh?" he said intelligently.

Wendy licked her front teeth and counted down from five inside her head before swallowing down her annoyance.

"I said," she repeated with unsteady calmness. "If we budget your two paychecks this week and use the savings from my last paycheck, we can pay the two late fees for our electric and rent."

She held the pencil an inch above her notebook, ready to write down the numbers while waiting for his confirmation. When she heard nothing but the incessant ding-ding-ding we have a winner! of the high striker tower game behind her she turned her head and clenched her jaw when she realized her brother was once again not paying her a speck of attention. Quincy was running his fingers through his dirty-blonde hair, grinning suggestively at the woman he was ogling earlier. She stood with three other girls at the concession stand, smiling shyly back as her friends ordered.

"Quincy!" Wendy snapped. Quincy huffed before whipping around to face her, a scowl hardening his sharp features.

"God, what, Wen?" he exclaimed. She gestured to the notebook and bills splayed out over the blue mesh table.

"This is kind of important here! If we don't figure out how to pay our late fees we're going to get a warning from the landlord," she told him heatedly. "Which wouldn't be an issue in the first place if you hadn't forgotten to pay them."

Quincy rolled his eyes. "Is this really the best place to talk about finances?"

He waved to the flashing lights and echoing screams of the Santa Carla boardwalk. The scent of freshly cooked hotdogs and funnel cakes wafted in the air and though tempting, Wendy already had an order of chicken nuggets from McDonalds prior to making the trip down to the fair. The same couldn't be said for Quincy who had the biggest order of curly fries she'd ever seen piled high in a red and white plastic bowl next to what had to have been a 20 oz cup of orange soda. Wendy got heart palpitations just looking at it all.

"Well if you'd agreed to look at this earlier before I went to work we wouldn't have to worry about it but you insisted on sleeping in until one," she retorted. "This was the only time I could get your attention since these late fees were due, well, today. So," she said with a heavy sigh. "I ask again, you're getting paid tomorrow right?"

Quincy rubbed his hands down his face before nodding. "Yeah, I'm picking up my check from the shop tomorrow and Mac'll give me cash today for running the rides tonight."

"Okay," Wendy nodded in relief, finally feeling like they were making progress. "I'll write a check tonight for the rent and slip it under Betty's door when I get home. Make sure you take everything to the bank tomorrow morning because you know she'll cash that check the second the bank opens. I'll take the money out of savings and give it to you tomorrow after my shift."

"Yeah, okay fine."

Wendy exhaled tiredly. It wasn't that her and Quincy didn't get along, it was just hard for her to keep her patience with him still. And she'd had seventeen years of practice. Wendy didn't want to say Quincy conformed to all the stereotypes of someone who didn't finish high school but the evidence was kind of stacked against him. He worked part time at the auto shop down the road from their hole-in-the-wall apartment and over the summer he took night shifts at the local fairgrounds either tearing tickets or running the rides. It wasn't exactly the American dream and both of them felt the brunt of the poor pay, especially since Wendy's job washing dishes at the diner didn't exactly pay generously. And unlike her brother she had every intentions of graduating high school, which meant she could only hold a full time job in the summer when school wasn't in session.

Wendy ran a hand through her messy ponytail. She sensed a talk coming on (it was a weekly occurrence as of late) and she knew doing it in public would probably be the safest bet because then Quincy couldn't yell and throw a fit without looking like a threat to a minor. Wendy was used to his temper and knew he was all bark and no bite but the rest of the human population did not.

"Look," she said carefully but not before grinning mockingly at the girl and her friends who left once they realized they lost Quincy's interest. "You're not my official guardian. You never fought for custody of me because you knew you'd lose and as far as CPS is concerned I'm living the cookie-cutter life with Uncle Lewis in Milwaukee. We've got to keep as little attention on ourselves as possible if we don't want to be found out. As impossible and unbelievably infuriating as you are, I don't want to live with anyone else," Wendy leaned forward when Quincy looked away, clearly uncomfortable with the emotional turn the conversation took. "You've got to keep it together. I get that having to take care of your annoying little sister wasn't in your 'totally rad bachelor plans' but I don't want to be put in the system."

Quincy licked his lips. He reluctantly flashed his hard sea-green eyes in her direction and there was a fondness there, however suppressed and exasperated it was.

"I don't want you put in the system either," he told her and even though his tone suggested he was only saying it for her benefit, she knew it was true. "And you're not annoying," he quickly correctly wryly, "all the time."

"Thanks," Wendy cracked a half-smile. She waved her pencil at the notebook. "So are you okay with all this?"

"Yeah, yeah," he stuffed three fries in his mouth before frowning at the papers. "Now put that shit away before someone sees it."

"What?" Wendy grinned even though she did as he asked, stacking the bills before slipping them inside the notebook and closing it. "Afraid someone'll take them and pay our bills for us? What a tragedy that would be."

"Whatever," Quincy slurped at his orange soda and Wendy packed her things in her wool backpack before resting her arms on the mesh tabletop.

"What time do you work 'til?" she asked, drumming her fingers absently.

"Eleven," he said with his mouth full. Wendy grimaced. How he was so popular with girls she'd never understand.

She liked to think he adapted manners whenever he took a girl out but she knew better. He brought home girls all the time who were subjected to his disgusting room that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. It probably hadn't. He never tried to impress them but maybe that's what drew them to him. He didn't try to be someone he wasn't. That someone being a person with a sense of hygiene and decent self-respect. She liked to think she was the only human of the female variety he really cared about, not that he showed it much other than paying half the rent and utilities. As the unofficial adult of the household that responsibility should've technically fallen to him as a whole but Wendy had more or less gotten over it at this point.

She didn't know what her life would've been like had she been put in the system. Probably not very promising now since she was only nine months away from turning eighteen, but at the beginning when everything started she was only fifteen. Even though chances were high her life could've been a bit more prosperous had she been handed off to some rich family in the suburbs, she didn't regret her decision to stay with Quincy. He was family and nothing could beat that.

Even if she was counting down the days until she turned eighteen.

Quincy studied her face for a few seconds before swallowing the food in his mouth and pulling out a green bill from his breast pocket.

"Here," he said offhandedly, tossing it to her. She quickly caught it and her brows wrinkled as she stared down at the ten-dollar bill.

"What's this for?"

"Tickets," he said. "You should try to enjoy yourself for once. You know, act your age. Do stupid shit."

"I shouldn't take this," she told him, holding it back out to him. "This should go to the rent or something else important."

Quincy waved her off. "Ten dollars won't kill us. When's the last time you stopped acting like an old lady?"

"What?" Wendy asked, affronted. "I don't act like an old lady!"

"You remind me of Grandma Molly," he said with raised eyebrows, stuffing a few more fries in his mouth with no eloquence. "You balance your checkbook, you shop for groceries every Sunday… the only thing you're missing is a book full of coupons," he paused and squinted at the guilty look on her face she was trying to suppress. His eyes widened. "You do! Where is it?" he demanded.

"In the glove box," she admitted meekly. Quincy stared accusingly at her as if she'd personally wronged him and she quickly defended herself, "It helps! I've got two dollars off toilet paper coming up and you go through at least two rolls a week! You should be thanking me."

"Unbelievable," he muttered as he finished off his food. "You're seventeen, not seventy-one. You'll be a hundred before you even turn eighteen. Take the money."

"And do what exactly?" she waved emphatically at the crowds of people chattering along the boardwalk. "Walk up to a stranger and ask to join in on the fun? I've got no one to get on any of the rides with."

"Where's Naomi?" he asked, tossing his scraps in the trashcan near their table.

"She's with her family in New Mexico. She won't be back 'til next week."

"Well, as long as you don't take candy from anyone…"

"I'm not going to hang out with strangers, Quincy," she deadpanned. Quincy lifted his arms in defeat as he stood from the table.

"I don't care, do what you want with it. You can either take the bus home or wait until my shift ends. Up to you."

He gave her a noogie, which she did not appreciate because the hair he dug his knuckles into was pulled back neatly in a ponytail, before ambling down the boardwalk to his next set of rides. She scowled after him and pulled her hair out of the ponytail to readjust it.

With a sigh she glanced around the area, feeling awkward and slightly out of place. Groups of people passed by her, all laughing amongst themselves while carrying prizes and lines of tickets and having the time of their lives.

Naomi Watson was probably Wendy's closest friend. They'd only known each other since high school started; they were assigned the same lab table in Biology and were reluctantly forced to get to know each other. Naomi was more of a social butterfly than Wendy was in the sense that she had a lot more friends than Wendy did. But like Wendy, a lot of socializing exhausted her and she liked to sit down with a good book every now and then and just be. Wendy felt proud knowing Naomi spent most of her time with her when she wasn't with her boyfriend, Gary. They'd been together a little over a year and though Wendy didn't know Gary very well, she could see the appeal. He was an academic; pretty smart considering he didn't care much for studies. He was just naturally gifted upstairs and it paid to be best friends with his girlfriend, especially when he was an A+ student in math which, regretfully, was Wendy's worse subject.

Wendy bit the inside of her cheek before swinging her legs over the bench and standing up. She clutched the backpack tight over her shoulder and made her way off the boardwalk to the ticket booth where she paid for twenty tickets. She pocketed the cash she didn't use and headed down the boardwalk, walking slowly as she took in the sights.

There were ball tosses and water gun relays, most of which Wendy had already played dozens of times as a kid when Quincy used to take her. She had some good memories at this boardwalk, like the time their Dad bought them remote controlled cars and they raced them down the boardwalk. She had to have been about seven or eight at the time which meant Quincy was around eleven.

There was also the time Quincy first told her he dropped out of school. They were standing by the fish bowls when he told her. Wendy threw a fit, both out of shock and just a smidge of jealousy because she still had her entire high school education ahead of her, but Quincy said he'd buy her a goldfish if she swore not to tell Mom. She named the goldfish Ronaldo. Two nights later when he told their Mom he wasn't going to graduate she went on a second bender. It was probably the last real conversation she ever had with him.

She had her first kiss when she was sixteen by the Crystal Lil's mirror maze. It was with a boy she only talked to once after it happened, which Naomi still gave her grief for to this day. Naomi didn't like to consider Alan Wendy's first boyfriend but Wendy still liked to think he was. Even though the kiss was kind of awkward and uncoordinated and slightly forced it was still her first kiss. She could still taste the sticky cotton candy from his lips whenever she thought about it which wasn't exactly unpleasant.

She breathed in the crisp nighttime air as the crashing of waves beneath the boardwalk roared against the shore. She listened to the rattling of the winding roller coaster as it zoomed overhead and she stepped aside to lean against the railing, gazing out at the black sky with city lights twinkling in the far distance. She still had over an hour to go before Quincy's shift was over and she didn't really fancy another dirty bus ride home. Wendy opened her palm and glanced down at the sheet of red tickets that had Santa Carla's logo on the back beneath a faded black star.

She thought about looking for her brother so she could ask for the car keys and maybe take a nap in the VW Golf but since she already spent four dollars on tickets she figured she may as well put them to some use. She pushed away from the railing and slipped through the throng of people, looking for a game she hadn't played in a while. She found a dart board kiosk and found that it was mostly empty so she handed them her ticket and tossed a few darts. She didn't have the best aim and it clearly showed but towards the end she managed to hit one of the inner rings which apparently earned her a small prize.

She chose a pink stuffed monkey about the size of her hand and thanked the men working the booth before stuffing the monkey in her backpack. She wandered around the boardwalk another half hour or so, stopping at various booths to play their games. She won some sort of rubber bracelet at one point and tugged it onto her wrist before finding a bench to sit at near the carousel. The typical high-pitched melody played as the carousel spun, children either sitting with their parents or with their friends as they giggled.

She was about to call it quits when a group of boys caught her eye on the far right side of the carousel. They were weaving through a group of parents that were watching their children on the ride and something about them drew Wendy in, like they disturbed the air around them leaving the atmosphere buzzing and Wendy's arms feeling tingly.

The man in front seemed to demand authority in the purposeful way he walked. He was clad in a long dark coat with equally dark clothes underneath that contrasted wildly with his platinum blonde hair. Despite the youthfulness of his face he had light facial hair dusting his jawline and above his lip. There were two taller boys behind him and another on the shorter side. Two of them had blonde hair almost as bright as his except theirs was either wavy or curly. The tallest one had dark hair with some sort of tribal necklace dangling against his collarbone. She'd never seen people dressed the way they were before which spoke volumes considering it was the eighties. They were all mesh and leather, though the short one had a strikingly colorful jacket with sewn patches covering its surface.

It wasn't unusual to see new faces in Santa Carla, California. It wasn't a small town by any means and Wendy wasn't one to recognize passing faces, but she couldn't help but think their faces were some of the most memorable she'd ever seen and she couldn't figure out why.

Ironically they seemed to be walking in order by their level of seriousness. The man in front had a blank face, though his eyes were cold and calculating as they danced over the crowd as if in search of something, or someone. The one to his immediate left, the tall brunette, had a similar seriousness but his shoulders were less stiff and occasionally he appeared to crack a grin at whatever was being exchanged between the two blondes behind him. The tallest blonde seemed the most vivacious, a large smile covering his face that oozed cunning and wit. The shorter blonde who seemed to have a knack for chewing on his thumbnail was grinning behind his hand, his sharp eyes flashing a sort of wicked charm that caused Wendy's insides to churn.

They passed by her without a fleeting glance, their attention obviously elsewhere. The air no longer felt electrified around Wendy but she still felt an invisible tug that pulled her eyes towards them, following their every move like a magnet. The people around them seemed to part naturally to let them pass, gazes lingering on their retreating forms from males and females alike. It wasn't until they were lost in the crowd that Wendy's gaze fell and she blinked in surprise.

Where did that come from? Since when did she develop a staring problem? She rubbed her stomach, still feeling the ghostly pull from before in her gut, a puzzled wrinkle in her brows.

Her curiosity towards the four boys lingered but before she could process it further a pair of hands smacked the tops of her shoulders and she shrieked, jerking back as an obnoxious laugh filtered in through her ears.

"Seriously?"

Wendy glared up at Quincy who couldn't pull himself together as he doubled over in laughter at the startled look on her face. She placed a hand over her hammering heart as if to steady it before shrugging out of his grip and standing from the bench.

"Having fun watching the underage children creepily?" he asked with a shit-eating grin. Wendy rolled her eyes.

"Bite me."

He laughed again. "I finished my shift twenty minutes early. I just need to fill out my timesheet and get the cash from Mac. You wanna join or are you still busy lurking?"

Wendy scowled at his mockery. "Lead the way, jerk."

"Ouch, Wen, watch the language. It might get you into trouble one day."

Wendy had fun glaring a hole into the back of Quincy's head all the way to the trailer on the far end of the boardwalk. Quincy pulled open the door and winked at her.

"I'll only be a minute."

Wendy smiled sarcastically and crossed her arms over her chest as the door slammed shut behind him. She waited impatiently as the wind picked up, rubbing her hands up and down her jacket-clad arms. She thought back to the four boys she saw before her asshole brother decided to give her a heart attack. Even just picturing them inside her head she felt something tingly race beneath her flesh.

If she'd known that chance encounter was going to be like a domino effect that would completely change her life, maybe she wouldn't have taken such an interest in them. With the advantage of hindsight, this was when the first domino fell.

"You at least had fun visiting your family, right?"

"If you call listening to my two uncles blatantly insult my mother every chance they got, the five thousand mosquito bites I have on my legs, and the night my grandpa got drunk and took his pants off 'fun' then yeah, I had a total blast."

Wendy's mouth hung open and she had an inner battle with herself of trying to decide what facial expression to use: amused or horrified. Naomi nodded at the conflicted look on her friend's face.

"Yeah, that's my life. This is why my parents and I decided leaving New Mexico for good was better for everyone's health. Mental and physical."

"No kidding," Wendy shook her head. "And I thought having an estranged Mom was exciting."

"Exactly," Naomi sighed and leaned against the counter as Wendy continued scrubbing the dirty dishes in the warm soap water. She sighed and rested her chin in her palm. "I would've called you but my grandma didn't want any out of state calls made on the landline for whatever reason."

"It's okay," Wendy chuckled, sitting aside a clean plate to dry. "I wouldn't have had anything interesting to say. Quincy was being his usual irresponsible self so," she looked up with only a slightly sarcastic grin, "everything's right in the world."

Naomi hummed. "You said something happened on the boardwalk the other night though. You never told me what it was."

Wendy's heart rate spiked at the thought of the four men.

She wanted to pretend that Naomi bringing them up was the first time she'd thought about them since that night but she'd be wrong. It was never anything major but she had fleeting images of their faces flash through her mind on the oddest occasions, like when she was walking home from the grocery and could've sworn she spotted one of their faces on the billboard outside her apartment building. Or the time a newspaper piece got caught on her shoe on the bus and she thought she saw a picture of them splashed underneath the latest headline.

It was all just inside her head but still, that was weird right? She didn't even know. What she did know was that it was widely out of character for her to be thinking so much about people that were complete strangers to her. Maybe Quincy was on to something when he called her a creep.

"Oh that," Wendy said with pursed lips. Naomi caught the way her mood shifted and furrowed her eyebrows curiously. Wendy finished the other plate in the sink before drying her hands on a ratty towel. "It was really weird," she said as she leaned against the counter next to Naomi. "I saw these four guys by the carousel. They looked like they were around my brother's age but I couldn't really tell. I don't know, there was just something really strange about them. The way they dressed, the way they carried themselves…"

"You think they were carnies?" Naomi asked. "There's a bunch of weird people that work at fairs. Including your brother."

Wendy smiled lightly before her frown returned.

"No, I don't think so. There was just something about them that made me not want to look away."

"Were they good looking?" Naomi asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Wendy almost felt like she was going to flush but instead she managed to roll her eyes instead.

"Reasonably attractive," she relented even though it was a complete understatement. She didn't need any longer than the six or seven seconds she got of them strolling by to realize they were easy on the eyes. Everyone around her seemed to think so too.

"I want to see them," Naomi stated with a gleeful look on her face that worried Wendy. "We should go to the boardwalk tonight."

Wendy gave her a skeptical look.

"Do you honestly believe we're going to see them again? What are the chances of that out of the thousands of people that go there on a daily basis?"

"It's worth a shot," Naomi shrugged before she grinned. "I want to see who's gotten you so flustered."

"I'm not flustered," Wendy denied even though she wasn't sure she believed that. "What about Gary? Have you seen him yet since you got back?"

"No," Naomi said, her lips turning downward into a pout. "We have a date tomorrow night though which leaves me free tonight to search for some hunks with my best gal pal."

Wendy shook her head at Naomi's cheeky wink and opened her mouth to respond, only to hear a shout come from the other side of the wall.

"Number six's order's ready," the head chef called. Naomi groaned and slumped forward.

"That's my table," she pushed herself away from the counter and readjusted her apron before steeling Wendy with a determined glare. "We're going to the boardwalk tonight. No questions asked. Your brother's working again right?"

"Yes," Wendy sighed because there was no use arguing with Naomi when she wanted something.

"Good, we'll hitch a ride with him."

Wendy bit the inside of her cheek and went back to washing dishes. She didn't have high hopes that they'd find those boys. It's not like the only thing they had to do was parade around the Santa Carla boardwalk mysteriously all night. They probably had lives, unlike Wendy. But what Naomi wanted, Naomi got.

The rest of her shift went by relatively fast. There were plenty of dishes to clean after the dinner rush and by the time she finally left the back room Naomi was already gone, probably at home getting ready for the night. Neither one of them were very keen on parties or going out of their way on a summer night unless they knew the majority of the people they were inevitably going to meet but on rare occasions Naomi wanted to go out and explore and Wendy didn't feel it was her right to turn Naomi down. She didn't expect Naomi to dress to impress and when she opened the door to her apartment nearly an hour and a half later, she was proven right as she greeted the jean-clad girl who had an oversized grey sweatshirt covering her top half. It was probably Gary's.

Quincy huffed and puffed all the way to the boardwalk. He was never fond of Naomi, especially in large doses and close proximity, something Wendy never understood. If Naomi was four years older she would probably be exactly Quincy's type, what with her dark hair, olive-toned skin and equally dark eyes. Instead, the two of them argued over meaningless things every chance they got and if Wendy didn't know any better she'd think the two were secretly seeing each other. If it weren't for the fact that Naomi had Gary and Quincy didn't know the meaning of the world 'relationship'.

"Stop playing with my cassette tapes."

"I want to listen to this one!"

"I don't care. My car, my rules. Stop moving them around!"

"Can't I look at them?"

"No, you're messing up the order. Wendy, control your pest!"

"Wendy, control your test tube parasite brother."

"Both of you can shut up, we're here."

Wendy practically threw herself out the back door, rubbing her temples as Naomi followed suit with a smirk on her lips. Wendy scowled at her before flinching at the deliberate smack to the back of her head Quincy delivered. She rubbed her head with a heated glare as Quincy strolled past them.

"Have fun, losers," he smiled plainly before making his way towards the trailer to get his signature Santa Carla Boardwalk overshirt all employees were required to wear.

"I can't believe you're related to him," Naomi said.

"I can't believe the two of you have hated each other for three years," Wendy retorted as they approached the ticket booth.

"It's one of my many hobbies," Naomi grinned before paying for her half of the tickets.

The ticket handler passed them their tickets and they made their way down the boardwalk in search of a grease-filled concession stand for their late night dinner. They stopped at a classic stand with a selection of hot dogs, nachos, burgers and an assortment of fries and drinks. They ordered some food and waited for it at one of the tables nearby as a line grew at the window.

"Where did you say you saw them again?" Naomi leaned in to ask as the chatter of the crowd grew louder as more people arrived.

"Over by the carousel," Wendy said before glancing over at her with a raised eyebrow. "You don't really think they'll be there again, do you?"

"Of course not," Naomi answered airily. "Just trying to get all the facts straight."

"Spoken like a true detective," Wendy teased. Naomi made a noise in the back of her throat.

Naomi's father was a detective for the Santa Carla sheriff's department who seemed eager to have Naomi follow in his footsteps even though she wanted to carry a more artistic route with her paintings. However dismayed Joseph Watson was every time Naomi turned him down, he always managed to pick himself back up. As much as Naomi detested her father's career—or rather, the way he constantly pressured his career onto her—Wendy found it fascinating. Especially since there'd been an elevation of reported missing persons in the last two months. He always managed to slip a few details of the cases to her even though she had a feeling he probably wasn't supposed to. Wendy suspected he wouldn't if she were anyone else. He was one of the detectives that followed her mother's case back when it was still active a couple years ago.

Their orders were called and they retrieved their food before scarfing it down. Once they were finished they tossed their scraps and then meandered down the boardwalk with no destination in particular. They chatted about menial things, making theories about what senior year would be like and what kind of cars they wanted to save for after graduation. Naomi's parents had a fund set aside for a car of her choice once they received her final report card. If she finished off the year with at least a B average they'd offer to match whatever money she saved and put it towards her first car.

"I haven't really been able to save much for a car," Wendy admitted once Naomi asked her what she wanted to get. "When I'm not paying for half of the rent or spotting Quincy for the electric I'm paying for groceries or helping him with repairs on the Volkswagen."

"You shouldn't have to do that," Naomi said with a sour look marring her usually pretty face. "You shouldn't have to pay for rent or electricity or water or any of that stuff. Your name isn't even on the lease, it's his. If he's old enough to buy beer, he's old enough to man up and pay for his own place."

Wendy bit her lip.

"You've got to remember, Nomi, it was our Mom's apartment before ours. It was either he took up the lease or we found someplace else to live and there was nowhere else we could afford. It's crappy, I know, but we have no choice. And I think he had to grow up a lot faster than he wanted to just like I had to."

"He's the one who dropped out of high school two months before he was supposed to graduate. There's a limited number of brain power at work there if you decide to do something so stupid," Naomi told her as they turned down a strip where a selection of stores were located. "It's his own fault. I don't get why you defend him all the time."

"Because he's my brother," Wendy said simply. She looked up at Naomi who paused mid-step. "He's my brother and he's all I have left."

Naomi was silent for a moment as she considered her words. Then she twined her arm with Wendy's and pulled them forward again with an exaggerated skip in her step.

"Well you got me," she said in a much lighter voice, smiling crookedly and showing the dimple in her left cheek.

"Yeah," Wendy huffed a laugh. "You want to help pay rent?"

"I can't even afford to buy a box of ramen," Naomi snorted and they paused between two shops as a crowd of people left through one of the doors.

"You've got like nine hundred dollars saved," Wendy deadpanned though there was a smile playing on her lips. "If we split the rent into thirds you'd have your half paid for until October."

Naomi inclined her head in false consideration. "Tempting but I think I'd rather have a new car."

Wendy chuckled before stealing a glance around the area. Naomi followed her example as they leaned against the building, staring at passersby without really seeing them. There were so many people crowding the fair that they all seemed to skirt by in a blur.

"So do you see them anywhere?" Naomi whispered conspiratorially.

"I haven't even been looking for them," Wendy confessed laughingly. "I don't think mentioning them is going to magically make them appear. I'm pretty sure it was just a one-time thing. And I was probably delusional from lack of sleep since I worked the late shift the day before. I bet I imagined the whole thing."

"Please," Naomi scoffed. "We'll find them. Mark my words," she turned the other way as Wendy hummed a doubtful 'mhm' and then she felt a nudge in her side. "Hey Wen, remember that guy you were crushing on last year?"

"What?" Wendy's forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"You know, that guy you had to sit next to in Geometry. The one who always asked you for pencils and you kept having to buy new ones?"

"Todd Pilkington?" Wendy asked in a strained voice. Her cheeks reddened at the thought of him. Even though her crush had mostly dissipated her heart still jumped in her throat whenever she saw him in person and that was the last thing she wanted to happen in front of Naomi. Naomi would never let her hear the end of it.

"That's the one," Naomi muttered, smirk evident in her voice. "Sweet of you to remember his full name, by the way."

"Shut up," Wendy said through clenched teeth, eyes scanning the area quickly.

"He's heading this way."

Wendy followed Naomi's strikingly obvious gaze and her cheeks warmed at the sight of the boy who was playfully shoving one of his friends as they headed down the strip in Wendy's and Naomi's direction. There was a girl not much taller than Wendy with red hair clinging to his side as she laughed along with him and he wound his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his side. She was very pretty. Wendy hated the fact that her gut churned at the sight and, ignoring Naomi's giggles of delight, she tugged them into the store closest to them to escape Todd's path.

Naomi laughed outright the second they were out of sight.

"You're still gone for him, that is so adorable," Naomi cooed and Wendy swatted her hand away before she could pinch her cheeks.

"You're unbelievable," Wendy snapped, though a smile was threatening to break across her lips. Naomi tossed her head back and laughed again as Wendy tried recovering from the full-body flush she just experienced, taking in the sight of the store they practically fell into. It appeared to be some sort of video shop with neon glowing lights and retro accents.

"Anything I can help you find, ladies?" an older gentleman with floppy brown hair and round glasses asked at the front counter. Naomi seemed startled by the question, having not been paying much attention to where they ended up, but Wendy shook her head politely.

"No thank you, just browsing," she answered for lack of anything better to say. The man nodded with a quick smile before returning to the newspaper he had in his hands. She turned to Naomi. "Why do you always have to embarrass me?"

"Come on," Naomi opened her arms a bit. "It's like you don't even know me."

The two girls shuffled through the store and began sifting through the tapes on display. They migrated from the humor section to horror and Naomi pulled a few tapes from their shelves to read the excerpts on the back.

"You think we should rent one of these for tonight?" she asked as she skimmed the text set over a gloomy dark background.

Wendy made to peer over Naomi's shoulder when she caught sight of a haze of bright blonde hair out of her peripherals. She whipped her head around and her eyes widened at the sight. She leaned at an angle to see if all of them were there and when she counted all four she nearly tripped over her two feet as she yanked Naomi behind one of the shelves.

"What—"

"That's them!" Wendy whisper-shouted as she ducked down to watch through the large slit in the shelf.

"Where?" Naomi exclaimed, looking in every direction but the right one.

"At the counter talking to the old man," Wendy said, perching her chin on the shelf. There was a moment of silence as Naomi studied the four from head to toe.

"Reasonably attractive," Naomi snorted. "More like stunningly attractive. Where are these guys from? And more importantly: can we go there with them?"

"You are in a relationship," Wendy scolded though her voice trembled as a laugh threatened to escape her throat.

She squinted at the scene taking place, surprised to find that the stern blonde one seemed to be in a heated argument with the man behind the counter. The man was waving his arms emphatically while the blonde stared at him with something akin to annoyance. His three friends only seemed partially invested in the discussion as the two other blondes were prowling through the magazines nearby while the tall brunette stood rather closely to a girl with black hair.

"Wonder if that's his girlfriend," Naomi mused as she caught sight of the girl as well.

"Do I sense disappointment?" Wendy asked, cracking a grin. Naomi didn't immediately reply.

"Maybe," she eventually settled with.

"You're in a relationship," Wendy repeated except this time she did laugh.

"Shh, I'm trying to hear what they're saying," Naomi whispered, swatting the air near Wendy's face.

Wendy strained to listen to the argument but knew she wasn't going to hear much other than muffled voices. She directed her attention to the two blondes and analyzed their outfits more closely. The taller one had a black jacket on that seemed to have some patches sewn onto the left sleeve, but they were very subtle in comparison to his friend's jacket that was all colors and designs. Wendy spotted a hint of leopard print on the right sleeve and there seemed to be some sort of portrait sewn onto the jacket on his left shoulder blade. She never realized before how long his hair was, cascading in tight curls down his back.

"I can't hear anything, can you?" Naomi asked quietly a few seconds later. Wendy had hardly been trying but she shook her head anyway.

"Nothing."

The tall blonde one said something that must've been funny because the shorter blonde one laughed before turning in the direction Wendy and Naomi were hiding. Wendy's eyes trailed over his features. He had somewhat of a baby face but that seemed to make him even more charming, like his delicate face could get him out of any trouble. Or possibly into it. He had a perfectly smooth complexion with large blue eyes and a grin that promised danger and excitement. Wendy only managed to break her stare when the blonde was turned away by his friend slapping his back and they trailed out of the store with the first blonde slowly following, appearing to have some sort of a stare down with the older man. The man inclined his head ever so slightly and the boy gave a miniscule nod before slipping out the door as if the last two minutes never happened.

"We should follow them," Naomi suggested, a certain thrill to her tone. Wendy turned to face her.

"What—no that's not—"

"Come on," Naomi tugged her out of the aisle and back into plain sight of the store, hurriedly snatching the tape Wendy had in her hands and slapping it on a random shelf. "Forget that, let's go!"

The man seemed surprised to see them rushing out of the store but he quickly regained his wits and called after them, "Have a good evening, ladies!"

Wendy barely managed to wave to him in response before they were outside and jogging down the strip into the heart of the fair. Wendy sort of felt like her arm was being ripped out of its socket but she let Naomi drag her anyway knowing it was fruitless to try and argue.

"What if they see us?" Wendy called ahead nervously.

"They won't," Naomi replied over her shoulder. "There they are, there they are."

The two of them ducked behind a kiosk and Wendy flushed at their position.

"We look ridiculous," she hissed. "People are going to notice."

"Are those their bikes?" Naomi asked, clearly impressed as she gazed ahead near the railings of the dock.

Wendy reluctantly followed her gaze and narrowed her eyes. Sure enough, the boys were congregating near a set of bikes and as Wendy counted them, she realized there was one for each of them. Aside from the inside of their back wheels displaying a different color, they all looked the same.

The same girl from before with her short black hair was standing next to the brunette while he exchanged words with the blonde who seemed to be the head of their group. She leaned back against the curly-haired blonde while she waited for the brunette's attention to return to her and she swatted the blonde when he said something cheeky in her ear and squeezed her hips. Wendy flushed again.

"We shouldn't be staring at them," she whispered to Naomi. "This is an invasion of privacy and I'm pretty sure stalking is against the law."

"I get what you mean by them though," Naomi ignored her comment, still watching them with an awestruck look. "There's something about them, it's like you don't want to look away," there was a pause. "They're probably from England," she surmised as if that made any sort of difference.

"What are we looking at?"

The two of them shrieked at the third voice that joined their conversation in an exaggerated whisper, jumping back at the head that appeared suddenly in between them. Quincy glanced at them innocently but not without his signature evil smirk as he scoped out the area trying to figure out what was so interesting to them.

"Nothing," Wendy said quickly, stepping around the kiosk trying to appear nonchalant as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Shut up," Naomi snapped at Quincy for good measure. He rolled his eyes, unaffected by her temper.

"I'm on my break. You guys hungry? 'Cause I'm starved."

"No," they answered simultaneously, following after him as he searched for a vendor even though they didn't really have to. Wendy exchanged a look with Naomi and the two laughed quietly as their senses returned. Naomi stepped ahead of Wendy, probably to annoy Quincy, and Wendy chanced one last glance at the boys who were just starting to mount their motorcycles.

There was an instant after the curly-haired blonde swung his leg over the bike that their eyes met. It was so brief the blonde probably didn't even really notice her face but the momentary eye contact struck a chord deep in Wendy and she felt something inside her shift. The gaze broke as quickly as it was met and the blonde grinned out of the corner of his mouth, his tongue poking through his lips as he raised his eyebrows at the taller blonde next to him before they revved their engines and took off down the boardwalk, whooping and hollering as they went.

Wendy didn't stop watching them until their taillights disappeared into Santa Carla traffic and when she finally did her chest felt heavy and her head was swimming.

Hello! Yes, it is I, back with yet another story I'm mildly obsessed with. I watched The Lost Boys for the first time in years not too long ago and became infatuated once again with this brilliant film. Because I am what I am (sad, lonely, a fan fiction writer) story ideas immediately started flowing within the first five minutes of watching it. Marko always was my favorite vampire, probably because he always looked so cheeky and angel-faced/baby-faced and it kind of drove me crazy. So of course my brain decided I had to write a story about him RIGHT THERE AND THEN or else I'd never sleep again and so this story came to be.

Let me just start off by saying I wrote the majority of this chapter while listening to the Labyrinth soundtrack. And I know, completely different film, but the music seemed to fit so well for this story and I realized that "Underground" by David Bowie has really set the tone for this fic. I've pretty much dibbed it the story's unofficial theme song because it works so perfectly, both in lyrics and sound. If you've never heard it, give it a listen (and make sure you watch Labyrinth if you haven't - brilliant film in so many ways).

In other news, this is (obviously) my first fic for The Lost Boys. Even though I first saw this movie probably ten years ago I still consider myself new to the fandom, at least on this site, so hopefully you guys don't want to throw eggs at me or anything after reading this. I had fun writing it all the same and I'm excited to write more so hopefully some (a few?) of you are eager to read more. Maybe? This story takes place roughly a year before the events of the movie. I'm not sure if I'll write Wendy into the movie or not, it just depends on what seems best for the story (and what you guys want to see). As always it's my number one priority to make all canon characters true to their personalities so hopefully in later chapters I will succeed with that. And just as an FYI, no I didn't intentionally name her Wendy because of "The Lost Boys" but once I realized the connection I laughed cleverly to myself because it's kind of perfect.

Let me know what you think and if you're at all interested in reading more! Hopefully there aren't any spelling or grammar mistakes, I'm awfully lazy right now since it's Sunday night and all. Until next time! xoxo