Chapter 2

Gretchen waved bye to her dad hoping he'd leave a little faster, but she knew he would watch her until she got to the building. Both her parents liked to hover around her like mother hens. Waiting for her are her best friends Rebecca and Sarah. To everyone they are the three musketeers. Ever since first grade when all three of them stood up to a boy that had been bullying all the girls in their class, they had been inseparable. Gretchen linked her arms through theirs as they walked under the open archway into the school.

It was fun seeing the new faces of incoming students.Unless they had older siblings or friends already enrolled here, they would pile in like lost little ducklings trailing one behind another. The girls had lucked out their first day of freshman year, because Sarah's brother Michael was a junior at that time. He kept them from getting lost. That's all he did though. As is the case with most older siblings he was too 'cool' to hang out with his sister or her friends. He occasionally drove the group home, but only if it fits with his soccer schedule. Despite his indifference, Gretchen saw him through rose-colored glasses. Her goo-goo eyes are always a source of amusement and slight disgust for her friends.

Threading an arm through Rebecca's, Gretchen giggled softly seeing two kids bump into each other because they had their heads down looking at their school maps.

"Are we mean Becc for watching them like this?" Gretchen said behind her hand.

Rebecca shook her head and smiled. "If we are mean what do you call what Jakob and his goons are doing to that poor girl over there?" The three of them looked to where Rebecca pointed and gasped.

Jakob was the bully that the girls had stood up to back in elementary school. But while other kids had matured, Jakob stayed the same and progressively got worse. He'd grown a lot of muscle since then which he used often to physically intimidate anyone smaller than him. He was just as thick skulled as his muscles with a black mop of hair as dark as the evil intent in his eyes. He currently had a new girl pinned up against a row of lockers while his buddies ripped apart her backpack and let her stuff get kicked around.

Gretchen, Rebecca and Sarah looked at each other in horror and anger. Growling as one they pushed through the crowd and beelined straight towards the group. Rage built white hot inside them as they went to seek vengeance for the poor girl. Their focus so strong on the scene that Gretchen didn't see the water bottle that had rolled from the girl's open bag and stepped on it. With a sharp snap, her ankle gave way under her and she quickly saw the speckled hall floor rushing up to meet her face. She squeezed her eyes shut waiting for the painful impact.

Scrunching her nose she slowly peeked her eyes open when she didn't feel the cold concrete against her head. In fact whatever she was pressed against was warm and soft with a bit of lean muscle. She winced trying to hold back her mini-panic attack. It was obvious now. Someone had caught her but who?

Looking up she couldn't stop the gasp of confusion laced with fear. Unruly black hair and a scowl as rigid as stone greeted her eyes. There was no way it was him. Her rescuer looked down at her and she noticed the eyes seemed warmer and filled with worry. Not like the dark coldness that had looked at them from across the hall only moments ago.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Jakob?" The deep baritone of her rescuer's voice drew her in like a warm blanket. Sarah's brother Michael was quickly forgotten as she leaned into him wanting to soak up as much of his heat as possible. Her mind fought to grab her attention over the beating of her heart. A thought struck her as odd once she pushed through the hormones racing through her system. The guy holding her had yelled at Jakob. When did Jakob gain a twin?

It made everything Gretchen had known over the years come into question. Never once had she ever seen or even heard of their tormentor having any other family, Honestly she was beginning to wonder if he even had parents or if he had just popped up out of the earth like a weed.

Rebecca and Sarah rushed over to Gretchen's side and started fretting over her just like a mom would. "Are you alright Gretchen? What happened? One second you were walking and next thing you're sprawled out in some guy's arms." Sarah brushed some dirt from Gretchen's clothes while Rebecca stared at the person holding her friend.

Looking back down at Gretchen she frowned with a confused expression. Gretchen knew what she was thinking and shrugged her shoulders. She didn't get it either.

Above them the two guys were locked in a heated stare-off. Neither one backing down.

"I asked you a question dipshit. What do you think you're doing? You can't keep doing this crap and not end up dealing with the consequences. I refuse to protect you anymore even though you're my brother."

In front of them Jakob fumed. If he was a tea kettle he'd be whistling like crazy by now. He clenched his fists and shoved the girl he'd been messing with away from him and down the hall. She wasted no time in running as far away as she could. The three girls couldn't blame her.

"Just shut up Isaac! I don't need your goody two-shoes attitude or your pathetic protection! Just go back home. You're not wanted here!"

Jakob stalked towards the small group and raised his fists like he was going to swing. Within a blink of an eye Gretchen was no longer being propped up by Isaac's grasp. Rebecca and Sarah helped stand her up while watching the conflict.

Standing toe to toe the brothers stared at each other, both visibly trembling with hostility. With a sneer pulling at the corner of his thin lips, Jakob flicked his dark gaze to the three girls staring on in rapt attention despite the sound of the tardy bell blaring overhead and the emptiness of the hallway.

"I don't see why you protect them brother. They are worthless and pathetic. They don't deserve your faith or sense of honor." Snarling he pointed a long thick finger at them.

"Especially not those three imbeciles. They are the worst of the lot. Strut around here as if they mean something. If it wasn't for them ganging up on me when we were younger, they would have been knocked down off their puny pedestal."

The three of them scoffed and growled under their breaths only moments away from showing him how they could truly gang up on him.

"Hell Isaac. You were the one who refused to come to school cause you couldn't stand being around these childish things." Chuckling darkly he patted his twins cheek in mockery.

"Don't tell me that now you've become soft and want to see what these lowly beings are all about. That would just make my day." Shaking his head Jakob turned away from his brother and nudged his buddies shoulders. "Come on guys let's leave our dear brethren with his pathetic posse."

Isaac stood there long after his brothers back retreated down the corridor. His body was rigid and his fists clenched. Rebecca, Sarah and Gretchen stood as silent statues as they watched this poor guy struggle for composure.

Slowly his shoulders drooped and his hands unfurled to rest beside his hips. With a soft sigh he turned to face them. For a moment Gretchenn caught the tide of anguish, anger, and sadness that had built behind his eyes before he slammed down a wall and blanked his expression. Giving them a small shrug of his shoulders he looked each of the girls over.

"I'm sorry for his behavior. Are each of you ok? Nothing bruised or broken?" His last question aimed towards Gretchen. Rebecca and Sarah shook their heads while Gretchen muttered a soft 'no'. An awkward silence developed around them before Isaac suddenly cleared his throat.

"I'm glad to hear you girls are alright. I'm sure I'll see you around school at some point." He smiled timidly and waved then headed towards a set of stairs disappearing from view. All three of them looked at each other with raised brows and frowns. What the hell just happened here? And what was all that crap about pathetic lowly beings. It's as if Jakob saw them as less than he was. Bugs to be squashed under his feet.

Picking up their bags that they had tossed against a set of lockers in their rush to help that girl. They hurried off to join their classes. It was no surprise that each of them received a detention after school for their tardiness. Gretchen guessed now she didn't have to worry about finding that ride.

Isaac watched the girls grab their things and hurry off to their destinations. Concern marred his expression as he rested his shoulders back against the stair well. He had to close his eyes and breathe through his nose to fight past the nausea roiling around his stomach. Jakob had no idea the fire he was playing with this time. He was right that Isaac generally stayed away from having anything to do with the rest of the world. But this time he couldn't avoid it. He was sent to watch over his twin's actions as well as to see the welfare of one red-headed girl. When an order was issued from up high he couldn't ignore it.

The feel of her skin still burned where it touched his own. The sweet and tangy smell of her body lotion, kiwi and strawberry, lingered in his nose. The two girls with her were supposed to be keeping an eye on her, and keep her from getting into situations like the one moments ago. They had been instilled as her guardians since they were small children.

Once the ones on high heard of today's incident Isaac feared for his lost brother and for the children left behind that were around him. Brushing his dark hair out of his eyes he pushed off the wall and walked down the same hall his brother had and out the main doors. The school's staff, all of whom were special in their own way, could feel when his presence left the building.

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Staring out through the partially slatted blinds, covering the window beside her desk, Gretchen thought she saw the strange guy from earlier rush out of the front doors. Not a single teacher went running after him. Sitting up straighter at her desk she watched him and wondered what his story was. Where had he been hiding all this time? If she was honest with herself she really just wanted to see him again. The brief touch they shared felt like lightning. Charged and a pure energy boost. Even the smell left behind was like ozone. She'd so hoped she was above the whole teenage crushing drama. By the time she refocused out the window he had disappeared out of view. She chewed the inside of her cheeks at the crappy turn of events.

When the last bell rung for the day, Gretchen headed towards the small library their school housed. Along the way Sarah and Rebecca joined her. Sarah had already told Michael what had happened and that he would have to wait for them after practice. He had grumbled his displeasure at being at their beck and call. But once he heard what had made them late Sarah had to keep him from hunting down the lowlife that had plagued them for so long.

Pushing open the libraries heavy wooden door, Gretchen winced at it's loud squeaky hinges. Looking over her shoulder the three of them giggled nervously and walked thru the doorway allowing it to close with a loud bang. They each jumped forward and scurried to an open table. None of them had ever been in trouble before so they didn't know what to expect.

After a while of sitting​ quietly they began to wonder where the teacher was that was supposed to keep an eye on them. They hadn't even seen a librarian. Waiting another ten minutes in perfect silence Gretchen stood up and stretched. Nodding her head towards the small rows of books, she let Sarah and Rebecca know where she was going. Rebecca smiled and pulled out her iPod and popped in her earbuds while Sarah tugged out a heavy textbook and waved at her.

Slowly skimming her fingertips along the dusty spines as she walked up and down the rows of books she wondered why it appeared that this section of the school was never used. Everything looked antique even the books. Straining her eyes in the dim light she looked closer at some of the dusty fading titles littering the shelves.

She began to notice a theme. Any other normal high school library would have the same titles long taught and forced upon its students. Shakespeare, Twain, Dickinson, all the classics shoved down a kids throat. The further she went though the more confused she became. Frowning to herself she saw not one title that made sense. And the closer to the back she got the heavier the air became and darkness slipped around her like a thick blanket oppressing her senses. Not a sound penetrated the dense fog around her. It was other-worldly.

The tips of her fingers tingled as they rested on gilded lettering that despite the aging of the surrounding binding still glimmered like new and cut through the darkness.

The Lost Children.