Peter's Flame

Part 20

(Song above is what he places.)

Peter Pan never fails. Not even to a girl.

I walked around the campsite, searching for Alina but the darkness did not help me in my search.

I sighed and stopped at the campfire. A pit was filled with wood to the brim and I sat down on a log.

I snapped my fingers and the campfire lit up in golden flames. As it illuminated the surrounding area, I noticed that I was not alone.

And there she was...

Alina sat peacefully in all of her beauty, watching me. She eyes reflected the flames and I was stunned by her complexion.

We refused to speak or break eye contact, even as I got out pipe.

She just watched me as if nothing could even match my importance.

Boys raced out of my tent the second they heard me play but I did not look away from her gaze. Almost as if, I couldn't.

The song was slowly and steady but I didn't move my gaze from her beautiful grey eyes as they sparkled underneath the fire's stare.

I thought that once she got bored, she would look away. She never did.

I played on and on, hitting each note perfectly.

The boys began to dance around me and the fire until they stopped and sat down.

I finished a few minutes later and all of my boys stood up and cheered. But it was bittersweet.

I listened to the cheers but they were drowned out as I focused my attention on Alina. She was not clapping. She was not cheering. She didn't move away from my gaze. She just sat there, studying me. Watching me. Like only I existed in this small period of time.

"Sing!"

I turned my gaze away from Alina to Owen, the one who had called out.

"Excuse me," I asked.

One by one, the boys began to chant.

"Sing! Sing! Sing! Sing!"

I spun back to Alina who looked flustered but when she caught my gaze, she flashed a simple smile at me and looked at Henry as he came closer to her.

I watched as Henry stalked towards her, moving around the fire, ignoring all the roars and chants, before kneeling onto the floor in front of her.

He reached out his hands and gently touched her fingers.  She flinch and I felt a pang of guilt in my stomach for her.

I need to snap out of this.

I continued to ignore the chants as I watched Henry proceed in gently grabbing hold of her hands. He snaked his hands near her wrists and she pulled away.

Instead, he tried a different tactic. He gently and carefully snake his fingers with her's and pulled her to her feet.

She was much taller than him, that was obvious.

She bent down to listen to what he was saying in her ear. I tried to lean forward and tune in but with the roars and chants, that was impossible.

After a couple of seconds, she raised her head and looked directly into my eyes. They were cold now, as dead from the time we had fought.

She returned her gaze to Henry and nodded. He nodded back and led her to a log, allowing everyone to see her.

The chanting stop suddenly  as she sat down and the boys leaned forward.

That's when I realized it.

They wanted her to sing.

I was about to walk forward and stop her when a firm hand landing on my shoulder. I spun around to see Felix shaking his head.

"You're going to want to sit down for this," he said.

He pulled my frozen body down on a log easily. My eyes were locked on Alina.

She readied herself but I watched as she began to fidget with her fingers.

She was nervous. Why?

As she sat in front of the fireplace, her eyes began to glow.

An orange light was beaming out of them, almost becoming gold.

I shook my head and the light was gone.

Her body relaxed and that's when I knew.

It had begun...