A World of Another Kind

Chapter 15 The Lost Boys

     "I can't believe you would want to work for him!" I retorted. "Pan won't win. The prophecy says that he will be defeated!"

     "Shut up girl; you won't disrespect our leader," he snapped, slapping me hard on the face.

     Suddenly, a boy, smaller in stature, who I guessed looked to be around sixteen too, approached the tall Lost Boy's side. He laid a hand on his shoulder, and the tall boy dipped his head respectfully. The smaller teen turned a sneering gaze onto us and said to the tall boy, "Felix, my brother, you can join the others now."

     "Yes, Pan," Felix returned with a dip of his head, then he walked away.

     "I am much surprised that children are the prophesied ones," said Pan with a sneer. "How comical. What are you, like ten?" he added scornfully. "I expected you to be older."

     "Fourteen," I corrected coldly.

     Pan then smirked and cocked an eyebrow. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this day. This calls for a celebration." Pan turned around, taking out his pipe. As he played a tune, all the Lost Boys who were gathered around the bond fire were instantly up on their feet, dancing around it in a wild frenzy.

     "You brainwash them with that pipe!" I exclaimed. "Why do you trap them here?" I questioned indignantly.

     "I don't trap them, Girl," replied Pan irritably. "I give them a home and happiness that others can't provide. They were alone, abandoned, unloved, and unappreciated. I am the only one who truly appreciates them and the only family that they will ever have and need. This is where they truly belong."

     "You can't keep them here forever!" I shouted furiously.

     "Shut up, Girl!" demanded Pan. "It's time I finally get my victory, the moment I have long waited for. I finally get to kill you and prove that prophecy wrong," he added, smiling maliciously. "Time to die, Purehearted Ones." Suddenly, Pan abruptly stopped short and fell to the ground, then all the Lost Boys who danced around the fire fell as well. They had all been struck by tranquilizer darts. We curiously gazed around. Just then, a young Indian woman emerged from the bushes and hastily approached us.

    "I'm getting you two out of here," she said, quickly cutting our ropes with a knife.

     "Who are you?" I asked. "And thank you for rescuing us."

     "No time to talk; we have to go now," the Indian woman urged. "Pan and the Lost Boys will wake up very soon." After she cut us free, we ran into the forest. "My name is Tiger Lily, and you're welcome," she said as we dashed through the forest. She was very pretty and wore orange and white feathers in her long, black, braided hair and had a red, beaded necklace around her neck to dress up her simple Indian attire.

     Of course, there's a Tiger Lily as well, I thought, not too surprised, and Aubrey and I glanced at each other, reading each other's thoughts. We then told her our names.

     "I know who you are," said Tiger Lily. "You are the purehearted ones who are destined to defeat our greatest threat, Pan. We have awaited your arrival for so long. Once Pan is defeated, those Lost Boys can finally go back to where they truly belong." We then slowed our pace into a walk.

     "What's the whole story behind the Lost Boys?" I asked. "And why did Pan become evil?"

     "Pan longed for companionship; he hoped to gain himself brothers that wouldn't age as himself," Tiger Lily replied. "Neverland used to be a beautiful, free place where any child could come and go freely. Pan couldn't accept that many left, so he found a way to trap them here, with his pipe, and he continues to brainwash them until they cannot think for themselves. Anyone who calls upon Pan's shadow is awaiting a trap. Now ever since Pan heard of the prophecy, he has been trapping boys here only to build himself an army in preparation of your arrival."