Somewhere In Neverland || FIRST DRAFT

Barred Windows (12)

[extremley sorry for dropping off the face if the world, I actually took a visit to Neverland, and you know Peter wanted me to say for a while, so I did, but as we all do (except for Riley and the lost boys) we all eventually have to go back, but Neverland will always be my home! But I digress, here's the new chapter, I hope you enjoy!!!]

The blackness swirled around Riley like mist, she ran her fingers through it before she was dragged back into her deep slumber. When she woke she still felt groggy and the area around her was hazy, her head felt heavy and her thoughts were like mud, sloshing around in her mind, still fuzzy but slowly focusing and clearing. Drugged she thought. I've been drugged. A person stepped from the clearing, tall and menacing yet charming, Riley's mind wasn't working fast enough to process who had stepped forward, a gleaming metal hook, shone bright despite the haze of fog around them, instantly clearing her mind. "Hook" she spat, trying to reel away from him, but she found that she could not move any of her limbs, she looked down to see that the fog was looming over Riley's limbs, like grey cotton candy, but it was anything but that, it wasn't happy or nice it was a dark magic that seemed to paralyse Riley.
"Now girly" Hook was right in front of her now, gently placing his hook under her chin, tilting her head up to face his, he was gentle, slow, the exact opposite of what he was last time, it was this that made her terrified of him, more terrified then when he was torturing her, for this calm was sure to stir a storm.

"Now girly, I'm only going to ask you nicely, because I really don't want to harm a girl" he stopped his pacing and appeared right in front of her, his hook tracing the plains of her face "especially a royal one" he licked his lips, and resumed his pacing.
"All you want to do is harm me you filthy pirate!" Riley spat, Hook flinched a little and then turned to Riley, suddenly extremely close to her face, his face hovering merely inches away, there was something in his forget me not eyes, revenge, sadness, bloodlust, anger, that seemed to swirl in those blue eyes of his and darken them, those sad emotions were clouding over his vision.
"I may be a pirate, but I'm not the one who's filthy" he resumed his pacing not facing her. "I'll ask you again girly, how did Peter Pan become king of Neverland?"
"I told you Hook," Riley spat his name, as if it were poison is her mouth "I don't know how he became king, and even if I did I would never tell you" he chuckled, as if he were expecting this.
"Oh Girly, I will make you crumble in my hands until you'll be screaming, screaming the answers to my questions"
"Never in a million years" Hook smiled maliciously.
"Wrong answer girly"

The fog had cleared so that Riley could see and feel her limbs, but there were invisible restraints tugging at her arms, legs and waist, there were cuts running all up her arms from where the hook had kissed her skin, Riley looked up through her curtain of hair at Hook who was cleaning the blood off of his hook. "Well physical pain won't do anything maybe emotional pain will" he stalked over to Riley, with the poise of a lion sizing up it's prey "So. Riley" he drawled her name, as if he were testing it, to see if it fit his tongue. "What does Peter do in his spare time" he was walking circles around Riley, he came to rest on one side of her "all alone, it must be terrible to be him," he resumed his circling, like a vulture circling his prey "to never grow up, to never grow old," he stopped in front of Riley and looked into her brown eyes "to never love" he smirked and continued circling her "you must know that of course. That the boy who never grows up can't love," he stopped on Riley's other side "it was the condition for him to keep his immortality and magic, he threw it all away for magic" Hook continued his pacing yet again.
"Shut up." Riley whispered, her voice hoarse from the torture that she had withstood.

"Why would he even be attracted to you in the first place" He inched closer to her, "You're just skin and bones. Look at those freckles all over your face, as if he would ever love someone with freckles!" Riley hid her face behind her curtain of red hair "Not to mention that red hair of yours, you remind me of that pesky mermaid friend of his, never did like mermaids" Hook shook his head playfully, as if he were having a normal conversation with an old friend. Riley was loosing her willpower with each moment that Hook spoke, each word a dagger, painfully piercing her heart, and soon, she felt she would crack. "Even if the boy could love, why would he love you?" Riley shied away from the Captain as he looked at her, twisting his hook in his hand "he has so many more beautiful women in his life," he inched closer and ran his hook gently down her cheek, as if he were caressing her, and not taunting her, "that pesky mermaid... Ah, Ariel! That's it! Or his little fairy, Tinkerbell, or maybe he might just find another girl and bring her here" he smiled maliciously at her. "It's not fair to you at all, opening your heart up to him, only for him to crush it between his fingers, and watching as the dust falls to the floor like sand," tears streaked down Riley's face. "So Riley, how about I make you a deal? You tell me the answers to my questions, and I won't kill the blasted boy, I'll let him leave, and I'll do you even one better. I promise, I swear on the Jolly Rodger that I will take the pain that Peter has caused you, away. As long as you answer my questions" at this, Riley felt her heart brake, and shatter, like glass into a million pieces on the floor, he circled her once more before stopping in front of her "how did Peter Pan become king?"
"I don't know" she replied, her tone dead, she felt numb, mentally numb, physically numb, just numb. Hook slapped her face, leaving a bright red mark across her cheek, but she didn't feel the white hot lance of pain that was supposed to come, she was numb, she felt nothing. Soon, Hook's shouts became white noise in her ears, as she started to feel groggy again as she slowly drifted off, one of Hook's sentence stood out from the white noise. "Where is she!" He yelled frantically, his eyes became livid and wild, nothing like the careful and calculating pirate she had been accustomed to. As she drifted off a females voice drifted in her ears, "Hook, no! She mustn't know" but Riley paid no attention to the words, just the voice as she returned back to the waking world.

She awoke frantically, a cold sweat dotted her forehead, it was just a dream she thought, Hook can't hurt me, not here with Peter. His name set alarm bells off in her head, what Hook had said to her, real or not, it still scarred her, he couldn't love, how could he not love? Riley looked down at the scars marring her arms, criss cross patterns of red torn flesh it looked like one of the lost boy's games of noughts and crosses had been carved into her arm, and yet again as soon as she touched the scars, just to make sure they were real and not a figment of her wild imagination, they vanished, slowly fading away from her arm, as if they were sinking into her skin. Riley gasped in shock this time she new she wasn't crazy, she knew that those scarred had marred her perfect skin just moments before, and she knew that... knew that Captain Hook had tortured her. Quick to rescue, Peter heard Riley's exclamation of shock and rushed into Riley's bedroom. "Riley! You're awake, I was so worried!" He hugged her tightly, he can't love the sentence floated around in Riley's head, it must be a sad thing to not be able to love, it would feel like having a hole in your heart, one that Riley already had, but didn't yet know of, for we all have holes in our hearts, it's all just a matter of time before they crack and shatter, then and only then will we know that we have a hole in our heart. "You hit your head pretty badly Riles, those bloody mermaids, I'm gonna have to talk to Ariel" suddenly as if a switch had clicked in Riley's head, her brain began spinning, all the tiny clockwork pieces fitting together, turning to make a thought.
"It's okay Peter, I'd actually like to go, and I'd like to thank her for saving my life, I don't think I've ever gotten a chance to do that yet" Peter smiled, not his cocky, arrogant smile but just a childish smile, Riley felt as if someone was squeezing her heart, and yet the same question swam around in the clockwork pieces of her mind, why can't this boy love?
"Okay, just make sure you're back before dinner" Peter leapt up off the bed and bounded out of the room. Riley had quite a few questions to ask Ariel about the last time she paid her a visit.
As Riley sat down against the lake's edge she called out Ariel's name and the little mermaid rose out of the water, to sit next to Riley, her tail lounging in the golden sun.
"Did you find any luck with the fairies?" Riley asked excitedly, Ariel's face explained her answer before she even opened her mouth.
"Unfortunately no. With Tinkerbell currently missing they refuse to help anyone whilst they look for her," Riley frowned, as badly as Tink had treated her, she still felt bad for her, no one, not even a fairy should deserve to vanish. Ariel's face turned from sad to concerned, "why, did something happen?" Riley sat forward.
"I had a dream," Ariel's face encouraged Riley to go on "which wasn't a dream" Ariel was about to open her mouth when Riley continued. "I was being tortured by Hook, but there was someone else there, but I woke up before I could see them,"
"That proves what Grace said, that there is someone Telling Hook what to do" Riley nodded and continued,
"And when I woke up I had scars, all over my arm from his torture"
"And let me guess, they vanished again?" Riley nodded her head.
"I didn't find anything from the fairies but, I may have found something in my mermaid history and mythology book that might be able to help"
"What is it?" Riley asked, perking her head up to meet Ariel's.
"Mermaid blood, whilst not as pungent as fairy blood, always leave a bit of residual magic behind on the person, but it's never caused permanent healing powers before," Riley looked puzzled, if this wasn't the cause of her sudden 'powers' then why was Ariel talking about it. "Except in one person. But they had their own type of inner magic, it hadn't be used before, or even known in them, until a mermaid saved his life by pouring their blood into him" Riley still looked at Ariel puzzled,
"Are you saying that I might have 'inner magic'?" Ariel nodded taken aback Riley's kind became a flurry of thoughts. "What even is 'inner magic'?" Ariel, rolled her eyes at the young girl's sarcasm.
"Do you see Peter has outer magic, it helps him win battles, and defeat his enemies, but it can't heal him or any of the inside sort, he could even throw a fire ball at you if he wished," Riley, shocked by this news gasped slightly. "Where someone with inner magic can heal, it can't aid you in a fight of physical brutality but it helps you deep in your soul, on the inside" Riley shook her head in disbelief.
"And you're saying I may have inherited this 'inner magic'?" Ariel once again nodded.
"Is there anyone that you think you may have inherited it from?"
"No, my family is so... normal, so... mundane"
"Not everything's as it seems" the two girl's fell into a blissful silence.
"It just feels like everything's being forced upon me, like I don't get to choose your own destiny any more"
"You never do" Ariel replied sadly, thinking back to the life she could've chosen, and her destiny that was chosen for her.
"But still, it feels like someone's forcing my hand in this. And I hate when someone forces my hand"