Chapter One

To be haunted by the past, and tortured in the present. Who will climb and who will burn? Jokes turn to attacks, pranks into crimes, and love into hate. Who will rise while the others burn?

During the day, seasons usually stayed the same. It was the beginning of October yet California still had the heat of the summer. But at night, the sun would go down and the cold would set in.

They were far from their homes, wondering as their teeth chattered. Block after block, everything looked the same. For hours, they could have been walking in circles without ever knowing.

It was well past midnight, but the city was still alive. Cars scurried down the road like cockroaches with the occasional blue and red flashing through the intersection.  Every bar that they passed was surrounded by people, many already drunk. They stumbled on top of each other and laughed at jokes so slurred only they could understand.

“Okay, I think we’re officially lost,” Eliot Hayes declared after passing the same bar for the third time. It was the only one they could distinguish since right across from it was a sex shop. At first, it was funny and they would tease whoever was closest to the door by pushing them inside and calling them a pervert. After about the third time, they were too annoyed to joke.

 “You guys are idiots,” Jaycey growled as his breath blew with the wind.

His flat hair was as black as the night itself and so perfectly messy. His were eyes so blue that they shined like the stars, or really, an eye. He usually wore some sort of accessory, like a hat or a headband, to keep his bangs in place, covering the right half of his face. If it weren’t for his pale skin, he would disappear into the darkness.

“How long until they tow your car?” Jaycey asked, pinching the bridge of his button nose. His voice had gotten much rougher since puberty and no longer matched his youthful face.

“The place closes at 1,” Eli told him through his chattering teeth. Eliot and Elijah were identical twins, both very lean with olive skin and perfectly styled silver dyed hair. “I think.”

“You guys are idiots,” Jaycey repeated.

“I don’t get how we could have gotten lost,” Alex whined with the wind whipping behind her. “From the garage, we went down one.” She spoke, referring to the intersections they had crossed. “We went right twice then up once more.”

Jaycey groaned before clenching his eye. His friends looked at him confused. “We were supposed to go down from the venue!” He began to shout.

“No,” Alex argued. “You flip the directions when going back.”

“No Lexi, you switch and flip. That’s down one, left two, and up one.”

“Damnit Alex,” Eliot groaned, searching for any way to pin away the blame.

“We’ve gone up, like, seven,” estimated Eli. “We won’t get to the garage in time.”

“How did you get here, Jaycey?” Eliot asked.

“Greyhound,” he answered.

“Think they run this late?”

Jayson shrugged.

“What about Uber?” Alex suggested.

“You got a credit card?” Eli chattered through his teeth.

She shook her head and took a moment to think. “Doesn’t your dad live in Mira Costa? Maybe he can get us.”

“We can ask.”

“Are we just abandoning the car?” Eliot asked.

“It’s going to be towed in a few more minutes and I doubt its registered,” Jayson explained. “Not to mention none of us have a license. You’re not getting it back.”

“It’s probably stolen too.”

“I have my permit,” the slightly older Alex announced.  

Eliot chuckled before reaching behind him and pulling his cellphone from his back pocket and lighting his face. His fingers were stiff and frozen, making them lag as he poked the screen. Eventually, it began to ring. He pressed the phone against his ear filled with piercings and waited just for it to go straight to voice mail.

“He probably thinks you’re Mom,” Eli suggested. “He’s not going to answer if he’s late on child support.”

“When is he not late?”

The friends were huddled close together on the side walk. They tried to leave enough room for anyone to pass by, but they were usually drunk and ended up falling on them. One girl was much too tipsy to walk on her heels. When she tripped, she doused Eli in her drink that reeked of strawberries, adding to his hyperthermia.

From the phone, all they heard were dial tones before finally being sent to their father’s voice mail strictly in Spanish. Elijah cursed before hanging up. “What now?”

“I guess we could call Bean,” his brother suggested.

Jayson snickered. “Good idea. Let’s tell a cop that we went all the way to San Diego to sell blow at a concert.”

 “Why not? It’s not like he’ll arrest us.”

“No, but he’ll laugh in our faces then hang up.”

“He can’t laugh in our faces from a phone,” Alex commented.

“Shut up Alex!” Jayson snapped.

“Hey, there’s no need to be pissy at Alex,” Eliot defended. “Snap at her next time she’s stupid. It’s bound to happen.”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed.

There was a moment of silence between the group when Alex finally reached into her purse and pulled out her own phone.

“Who are you calling?” Jayson asked sounding concerned.

She placed the phone to her ear before answering. “My sister. You know, someone reliable.” Before Jayson could say anything else, the two lines connected.

“Lexi, what’s wrong?” Asked a tired and groggy voice. “Is everyone okay? Are you hurt?”

“We’re okay-ish.”

“Ish? What does ish mean, Alex?”

“Ish means we’re stuck in San Diego.”

“San Diego?” The shocked Veronica repeated. “What the hell are you guys doing in San Diego at 1 in the morning? How did you even get there?”

“The twins drove me down for the Attila concert.”

“Oh my God. Which one of those idiots needs bail money?”

“Jayson!” One of the twins yelled into the phone while the other laughed hysterically.

Alex waved her hand to push them away. “No one needs bail money. We need a ride home.”

“From San Diego?” Veronica asked sounded much more awake. “You have to be joking.” She paused to sigh. “What the hell Lexus? Does Dad know? Where does he think you are?” 

“He knows exactly where I am, Vee. You know I would never lie to Dad. I just thought I’d have a ride home.”

“Okay, well, I’m leaving right now. I’ll see you in two hours. And seriously, go wait somewhere safe. I really don’t wanna drive all the way down there to find your raped and decapitated corpse.”

“There’s a 24-hour Subway across from the venue,” Jayson stated, overhearing the conversation. Alex repeated what he had said. She hung up the phone and they started their walk back towards the venue.

When they were searching for the parking garage, they went in circles and constantly passed the same bars, the same smoke and sex shops, and the venue where they came from. But now that they were looking for it, it seemed to have completely vanished despite every other place being exactly where they remembered them.

By the time they finally reached the Subway, they were telling jokes of Veronica already being there and waiting for them worried. But when they entered the sandwich shop, it was empty. Even the employees couldn’t be seen. Likely, the restaurant was not busy at 2AM so they were waiting in the back.

The door rang when they opened it and a moment later a worker came out and put clear plastic gloves on her hands.

“Hey Jaycey,” Eliot said after the friends were sitting together at a table against the wall. “How about you be a good friend and treat all of us to some sammiches?”

Jayson smirked. “Nope.”

“You ordering anything?” The woman behind the counter asked, sounding annoyed with the teenagers.

“Yes,” the friends yelled out together despite Jayson disagreement. Jayson stayed in his seat while the others went to order food. One by one they ordered and their sandwiches were made but Jayson knew exactly what was going to happen. The food was already made and he would have to pay.

“Thank you Jaycey,” Alex smiled before taking a large bite out of her foot long.

Eliot had a habit of talking with food in his mouth, but at least he had the decency to cover his mouth as he talked. “How much did you make tonight, Jaycey?”

“Probably a million dollars,” Alex said after swallowing a large bite. “He got, like, the whole crowd kicked out.”

Eliot had finished his bite so he no longer needed to cover his mouth. “Who would of thought that Attila was cracking down on drug control.”

“There were plenty of people smoking weed,” Elijah complained. His lungs were weak so he never appreciated when others smoked in enclosed areas.

“Smoking weed and snorting blow off a thirteen-year-old’s butt crack are two completely different things,” Alex half joked half judged.

All the friends started laughing when the door opened. Veronica had arrived, looking like a clone of Alex if she were brunette instead of blonde. Both girls had striking green eyes and freckles scattered around their plump and rounded cheeks.

Veronica hurried to her little sister and hugged her tightly before grabbing the side of her face and checking her for any injuries. “Are you okay?” She asked like a mother.

“We’re fine,” Alex said with her cheeks pressed together.

“Why don’t you care about us?” Elijah teased.

“You went to the concert to sell drugs, right?” Veronica asked.

Elijah shook his head. “Jayson did.”

“Okay, twins, are you okay?”

“Yes we are. Thank you.”

Veronica clapped her hands together. “Alright, come on. Parking here is a nightmare so I just left my car in the middle of the road.”

They all left the sandwich shop to see Veronica’s silver 2008 Honda Acord parked at the side of the road with its hazards lights flashing. The two girls hopped in the front while the boys packed themselves in the back like sardines. At 3 in the morning, they were starting their journey back home.