A Missed Concert

Lost Boys

Jason's pov

I was on my laptop late at night, doing research on the place"It used to be a boys' home." I mumble to myself. That's when I find an article from the 70s!  There was a fire that killed three boys! "Holy shit." I whisper shocked. Then lightning flashed outside making me scream in surprise and Miranda to jolt awake. "What was that?" She mumbles, rubbing her eye. "I uh... Nothing. Just go back to sleep." I say, closing my laptop.

*the next day*

I go back to the place as a car was pulling out. "What are you doing?" He asks suspiciously. "Oh uh.... Just admiring the old house. What about you?" "I bought this place. I'm going to demolish it." He says driving off, and leaving me shocked! "He can't!" I whisper worried. I make sure he's gone before I creep up to the house. I look in a window and a shadow disappears around a bend. "That isn't a shadow." I whisper worried. I pick the lock and open the door. A boy in a coonskinned cap stood in the doorway, soot on his face and his right sleeve burned to the elbow. "Weird." He murmurs. Then he vanishes. "Wait come back!" I say. Then three boys appear at the top of the stairs. 2 being the kids I saw and one I haven't seen before. "You can't take our stuff! That's our stuff!" The unknown boy shouts. "Whoa, I didn't take anything kiddo. Come on down here so we can talk." He glares at me. "NEVER!" he yells then vanishes. The other boys look frightened. "I'm not gonna hurt you." I say. The coonskinned cap kid walks down the stairs. "Sorry about Robbie. He hasn't been the same since...." The poor little boy's voice trails off. "Do you... Do you guys know that you're dead?" He nods, looking away. "We don't get hungry... Or sleepy... And no one can see us.." He mumbles. The other boy vanishes and appears beside me. "Cept you." He says. "How come you can see us?" "I've got this gift." I say. "It's kinda confusing and hard to explain. What are y'all's names?" "My name's James and he's Paul." The coonskin boy says. He grabs my hand. "Can you... Read us a story?" He asks tugging my hand. James runs into a room and comes back with a story. "Peter Pan." I say taking it. "I read this to my youngin sometimes." We sit on the couch and I read the story to them. Poor kids. Never even got a chance at life. Robbie appears in the doorway, still glaring at me angrily. "Go away. You don't belong here." I stand up, making sure not to wake the other two. "Neither do you." "What? Yes I do. We live here!" I sigh and shake my head. "No you don't. Not anymore. Nobody has lived here for years. There's a much happier place for you." "I can't leave til I find out what happened to Ernie." He growls then vanishes. "Ernie?" I whisper confused. "He lived at the orphanage with us." I turn around caught off guard. "We haven't seen him since the fire." I remember the guy that wants to demolish this place. I wonder.... I walk upstairs where I hear Robbie muttering. "Robbie." I say. "GO AWAY!" He yells. "I can't do that! Your house is gonna be destroyed! You need to move on into the light!" He spins around. "I can't!" "Yes you can." "They wouldn't want me... No one wants me!" Oh man. "They will want you. I promise." "They wanted my brother." He whispers. "They adopted him and left me. I found out he died ten months later falling through an icy lake during winter." Poor kid. "I can't leave. I don't deserve it. My family died because of me. They counted on me. They trusted me and I.... Let them down! "What?" I gasp, walking over, thinking of Mason. "They... I... I was supposed to get them out... To save them but.... I failed... And... And they died because of me." "It wasn't your fault!" I gasp shocked. I take a deep breath, knowing finally what everyone has been saying. "It wasn't my fault that my little brother died. It isn't your fault that James and Paul died. You wanted to get them out. That's what matters the most." I fight back the tears. "The fact that you tried... Is all that matters." You tried Mason. You did so good. "B-But what about Ernie?" "If I find him, will you be able to cross over?" He looks behind him shakily. "Only if you promise it's good." I smile and nod. "Your brother will probably even be there." "He will?!" "Maybe." I say.

*a few days later*

I track the guy down. "Ernie Fitzgerald." He freezes and turns around. "Nobody has called me that in fourty years. Who are you? And how do you know that name?" I force a smile. "I talked to Robbie." Anger registers. "Robbie is dead." "Do you believe in ghosts?" He glares at me. "You're crazy." "Why are you demolishing that building?" "Because there's too many bad memories." "Just come with me. For one night. It'll do a world of good to a confused little boy." "You're insane! I'm not going back there!" Robbie appears beside me. "Tell him it's still there." He says. I raise an eyebrow. "Robbie says... It's still there." I say confused. "What's still there?" I ask. "His Archie comic book. It's still in the hiding place in the attic." I relay the info to him and his eyes go wide. "He.... Robbie... Is here!" The young boy smiles and nods. "You've gotten old Ernie." I laugh softly. "He says you've gotten old." He laughs. "You were always blunt and straight to the point." Paul and James appear beside Robbie. They all three were holding hands. "We're gonna move on now." Robbie says, smiling at the younger, no longer frightened boys. The soot vanishes from their faces. "Tanner." Robbie whispers. "He's waiting for me. He is wonderinf why it took me so long." He says then laughs through tears. He looks back at me. "Thank you." I smile and wave. "No problem, kiddo. Be free." They cross over and I have a newfound view on what happened to me. And what happened to my little brother. "It wasn't my fault either. Just like it wasn't yours Robbie."