Peter by day, Pan by night

Chapter 20

        It has been an hour or so since sunset. I look around the empty room. Maybe Peter will leave me alone tonight.

        "Or maybe not." Peter Pan steps out of the shadows, his arms folded over his chest and his smirk hanging crookedly.

        I stand up. "Peter."

        "I thought you were only going to call me Pan."

        "I-" I gulp, but cannot swallow my fear.

        "I know, I know, it is a promise you cannot keep." Peter crosses his legs and floats a few feet above the ground.

        Pain slices through me. How strange to look at one boy and see two people. Peter by day, Pan by night.

        "Does that really help you deal with the insanity? Dividing me into two." Peter's words mock me.

        "Nothing helps. But I can still pretend."

        Peter materializes in front of me. I gasp and step back, but his hands hold me in place. "Don't do anything crazy. You belong to Neverland now."

        "So you've said." I keep my words steady, but avoid his eyes.

        "The moon is a sliver away from full. The Indians are out of time. Thanks to you." Peter lets me go and paces the room, his hands clasped behind his back.

        I grind my teeth. During the day, Peter makes me want to roll my eyes, but at night Pan makes me want to rip my hair out. "You said it wasn't my fault."

        "I did, didn't I?" Peter shifts his weight from foot to foot. "Believe what you want, Wendy Darling. The lost boys need me now." He stops pacing.

        Then why would he even bother coming down here? "Take your leave."

        "Tonight will be a busy night." Peter tilts his head. He disappears.

        I groan and massage my forehead. Tonight will be a busy night. The same words that Kelvin told me. He heard our conversation. He knows. Kelvin is in trouble. Which means that there is no escaping.

        I leap into the tunnel, but don't fly up yet. What if it is a coincidence? What if Peter didn't hear the conversation? Am I just paranoid?

        My blue dress rustles against my legs. I am no warrior. No fighter. How can I even think of escaping? Of helping Kelvin or the Indians I have never met? I am no one.

        No one at all.

        I clench my fist. I may not succeed, but I won't give up yet. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

        When I open them, I fly up the tunnel. Still alone, still scared. But willing to try.

        And for now, it is enough.

        Peter wasn't lying. Tonight will be a busy night.

**

        "What's going on?" I step towards the campfire.

        The lost boys are scattered around the clearing. Every one of them is working on a pile of weapons. Knifes, bows, arrows, scythes, swords.

        "You don't need that much!"

        "Ah, but I do. This is about more than one island, Wendy Darling." He lowers his eyes so that they connect with mine. Chills attack my spine. "It is about a world."

        My world.

        He wants my world. The world that forgot him, forgot me, forgot every lost boy and girl.

        "No!" I scream. I lunge forward, my fingers clawing the air next to Peter's face. "No, you can't! You can't!"

        Peter nods and arms jerk me back. I struggle against Felix's hold. "Let me go! You can't do it! This is wrong!"

        Felix holds me back, his grip tight. I kick at the air, my screams ripping through the night sky.

        The lost boys pause and look up. Behind the shadow of their hoods, I can see their eyes. I can see them.

        Bert who made me laugh. Daine who made me listen. Jacob who made me think. Kelvin who...Kelvin who made me feel again.

        All of them who made me believe. Believe that something-someone-lost could be found.

        "Don't do this." I sob. Tears streak my face, but I stop fighting. Felix pulls me away. Peter glares at me. And the lost boys watch. But they don't care. They are gone, lost in a curse that has no end.

        There is no hope for them.

        Unless...I catch Kelvin's eyes. He nods slightly and I know it is time to lay down my weapons. It is time to choose silence over words.

        I am not giving up. I am merely waiting for the right moment.

        Felix props open the tunnel door.

        "No." Peter crouches next to the fire, his fingers fiddling with the row of weapons on the ground. He doesn't look up. "Take her to my place."

        Felix frowns. "She'll fly."

        This time Peter does look up, but his eyes stay away from mine. "Are you questioning me?"

        "No." Felix shakes his head. "Well, Wendy-bird, you heard Pan." He tucks his arms around my waist and flies up to the tree fort.

        As soon as Felix drops me in Peter's makeshift room, he looks down at me. "I don't know what he sees in you, Wendy. But don't be fooled. Pan is unbreakable. You are still nothing but a tool to him."

        "If that is so, then why hasn't he already gotten rid of me? I found the Indians. What more could I possibly do for him?"

        "Not even he knows who you are." Felix grins. "But trust me, your part in this story has barely begun."

        Felix shifts out of view. The sky is open and free. The stars burning against the black velvet. I bend my knees. This Wendy-bird is ready to fly.

        The trees start to sway. Their branches stretch and begin to knit together. The whole treehouse trembles as the sky disappears and I find myself in a cage of branches and leaves.

        "No-no!" I gasp and turn around. I can see no stars, no moonlight. Darkness surrounds me. I drop to my knees and wind my fingers around Peter's blanket. No, no, no.

        Why does he have to win every time?

        "Peter!" I scream. "Peter Pan!"