Perdita (A Peter Pan OUAT Fanfic)

CHAPTER THREE: Whispers in the Dark

A/N - Hello, everybody. And by 'everybody' I mean like the six people who have read both chapters. So, I have a basic idea and concept for this chapter but no clue how it's going to be written or what the details are going to be. So... enjoy, I guess!

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The door was open! But how? I had literally spent all the possible energy I had on attempting to force it open just hours earlier. So how could it be that now, it swung gently free of its lock as though it had never once been shut. No one had touched the thing, so it was, by the laws of natural physics, impossible for it to be open. Yet, still, there before me, it stood agape, almost beckoning me towards the outside world.

Something odd was going on here.

Not only had Peter disappeared so quickly that had I have blinked, I would have missed it, but now the door mystery had occurred. It was all so very confusing and I could not think of one possible solution which would explain it.

Well, I suppose, there's no use trying to explain the unexplainable. And either way, whether I could explain it or not, the door was open, and there was no one in sight... the perfect time to escape!

I placed my hand cautiously against the wooden bars of the cage door, carefully pushing it just a few inches outwards to make sure that there was no trap that might swing into action and ensnare me, before shoving it all the way open. It pivoted effortlessly on its hinges, leaving just enough space for me to crawl out.

Once on the floor again, I looked around, checking all of the nearby branches and tree trunks for possible spies. There didn't seem to be any, yet I had this awful sense that somewhere, someone was watching me. Again, I searched as thoroughly as I possibly could whilst staying on one spot, coming to the same conclusion; that no one was there. My eyes told me I was alone, but my gut told me I was not. I decided to trust logic and presume that my gut was deceiving me. After all, I'd been through quite a shock; it would make sense if my instincts were a little muddled.

Once I had ascertained that I was indeed, alone, I began stretching out my limbs, relieving the muscles of the cramps they had gained whilst I was locked in the minuscule prison. Once this was done, I glanced up around myself once more.

What now?

I was free, alone, and with nothing but my own lack of directional sense stopping me from going wherever I wanted. But the trouble was, on my way to The Cages, apart from the beach, I had seen nothing but immensely dense forest in every direction I turned. It all looked the same. Unnavigable. How was I meant to know what which way to go?

It was obvious to me that I should return to the beach; it was the place I first woke up. I had no knowledge of my past life or how I had come to be here, so the best place to get answers would most probably be where it began.

I remembered that I had entered the clearing with The Cages in from roughly opposite where my cage had been but beyond that, I was lost. Regardless, going that way was my only option. I couldn't just stay here all day - the chances of being captured again were too high. The boys, or Peter, were likely to return sometime soon, so I decided it was probably better to wander aimlessly amongst the trees than to await their arrival.

I set off, pausing only briefly at the edge of the clearing, afraid of what might lie beyond the mass of darkness. Quickly, though, I ventured in, spurred on by the threat of the boys' return.

I had not gone further than twenty feet into the forest when I was completely immersed in blackness. I found myself unable to see my fingers as they reached out in front of me, feeling for anything that might trip me as I stumbled about blindly.