Red-Handed Jill (A Peter Pan Fanfiction)

Chapter 20~ Visiting the Mermaids

Peter's POV

"Fine then," Jill whispered, and then she turned on her heel and sprinted out of the hideout.

Suddenly my brain clicked and I realized what I said.

"Jill!" I yelled, and darted after her.

I flew through the forest at top speed, trying to find where she went. All of the other boys ran after me, their shouts echoing through the jungle.

"JILL!!" I yelled, "JILL! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

I flew at speeds that I didn't think possible. The skies were darkening and swirling in a maelstrom above the jungle. The trees waved violently in the wind, cracking and groaning sickeningly.

Vines whipped through the air like giant pendulums, threatening to snap at any time. I saw a flash of green and a searing pain in my right cheek and suddenly I was tumbling through the air. I couldn't stop! Panic took hold of me and I began flailing my limbs but I was falling.

Suddenly my side erupted with pain as I slammed into a large tree branch and it exploded beneath me. The wood splintered like shattered glass and littered the mossy, jungle floor where I landed.

I laid there for a while, tears streaming down my mud-caked face, mixing with the snow that was falling around me.

How could I have said that to her? I thought. I had never felt such an anguish, not even when she was hurt, because at least then I had someone else to blame. I could point my anger at them and tell myself that it was all going to be okay. I couldn't point the finger this time. I hurt her and now she was gone.

"PETER PAN!" Screamed a small voice.

"Go away Tink," I sobbed fecklessly.

She yanked on my hair angrily, pulling me up to a sitting position. The snow was becoming thicker now, layering a sheet of white on the ground and attacking the floor that I had revealed when I sat up.

"OWCH! Tink! OW! That hurts!"

"Good!" she snapped, "What do you think you're doing!?"

"I lost her Tink," I whispered.

"Then go and find her and fix what you've done!" she snapped. Her glow was a bright scarlet as she glared down at me.

"Why?" I snapped, wallowing in my despair, "I've already messed things up too much."

"WHY?!" she screeched, making me flinch, "BECAUSE YOU LOVE HER PETER PAN!"

Her words hit me like slap. My heart beat was ringing in my ears. I felt the steady thump as her words coursed through my body like a virus that sent a burst of energy to my limbs.

"You're right," I whispered.

The snow stopped falling around us and the wind died down. I got up to my feet, my fists clenched at my sides.

"I love Jill," I said, my voice stern with determination, "I love Jill and I am going to get her back!"

"That's the Peter I know!" Tink cheered, flying in circles around me happily.

"I need to pay a visit to some old friends," I felt my feet lift off from the ground, "If anyone knows where Jill went, it's the Mermaids."

"Let's go!"

"Oh, and Tink?" I smiled.

"Yeah Peter?"

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

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