Pan's Tiger

Chapter 28: The Hard Way

'I won't tell you where Henry is.... ever,' I spat back in defiance.

Pan sighed, glancing at me for a long moment. He seemed skeptical, as if convinced that I would tell him anyway, regardless of what I said. Gently, his hand reached forwards and stroked my cheek lovingly, but it felt sinister. His eyes met mine and he said, 'Don't worry, I have forever, Tiger Lily, this is Neverland.'

'But that's it, isn't it? You don't have forever,' I reminded him and Pan glared at me, because he hated me being reminded of his mortality. He wanted to jump to the end, he wanted to be an immortal child forever.

Peter's eyes bored into mine, glaring at me with burning anger, but the corner of his mouth pulled into a sinister grin. He managed to grab onto my hands with a strong grip so that I couldn't wriggle away from him.

Suddenly I was on the floor, my body hugging the silent ground for support. I cried out in pain, my fingers clutching my red cheek as pain erupted throughout my body. I panted with the pain of elated breathing, my eyes finding Pan's to look at him with surprise and hatred.

I cry out as Pan threw another series of punches into my gut, punishing me for refusing to cooperate and answer his questions. He hit my jaw and I screamed, wincing in pain as a delicate tear trickled down my cheek.

Determined not to show weakness, I pulled myself to my feet, staggering in a drunken-like state, trying to rather awkwardly shuffle away from him.

I attempted to crawl away, desperate to escape Pan's wrath. A foot was placed on my back, between my shoulder blades and shoved me powerfully to the ground, even the arrogance of Pan was determined to asserted his authority. I groaned as his foot didn't retreat, pressing down with more pressure onto my spine. There was an ear piercing crack and I screamed out in mind-crushing, overwhelming pain.

Pan bent down and crouched down beside me, looking at me with satisfaction. He asked with delight, 'Done now, Tiger? Would you tell me where Henry is?'

'Never!' I spat, channelling all my anger and pain into that word.

Pan releases an animalistic growl, frustrated with my determination to not tell him where to find Henry. Like a tiger, I wouldn't bow down to him. He kicked the back of my head, making my world go black.

~

I shot awake, so violently that I sat up straight to attention, as if surprised. My ears twitched, working precariously to take in the deafening silence. I pried my eyes open, blinking in the light, and looked around curiously. My surroundings were familiar.

I wiped my cheek with my fingers, having felt perfect strips of mud down my left cheek, caking my cheek in dirt. As my fingers were the only use for a comb, I weaved my fingers through my hair and tousled it around a little. And then I looked upwards, rubbing out the tiredness from my eyes, to inspect my immediate surroundings.

I was in a cage in the forest.

I quickly deduced that the throbbing pains in my body was because of the uncomfortable night's sleep and the mud on my cheek was created by leaning against the bamboo bars.

And Peter Pan was standing, looking down at me in amusement, on the other side of the cage, free in the forest of Neverland.

'Pan?'

I rushed to the edge of the cage in a state of perpetual panic. My fingers wrapped around the bamboo, gripping the bars, my knuckles turning white. The cage was so small that I had to hunch my shoulders so that my head wouldn't hit the roof of the cage.

'Good morning, Tiger. Enjoying your cage?' He smirked and ducked down to look directly at me. I huffed and folded my arms across my chest, glaring at him. Of all the games Pan liked to play, locking people in cages was one I did not enjoy.

'What am I doing here?' I demanded angrily.

'Apparently, you are keeping information from me. I am led to believe that you know where Henry is and I am going to find out exactly where because you are going to tell me.' Pan explained, narrowing his eyes. I was stunned into silence at his words and glowered, angry that he must have inferred that I knew where Henry was.

Did he seriously think that putting me in a cage would make me want to help him find Henry? I thought he knew me better than that.

'This isn't going to work Pan,' I told him delicately.

'I beg to differ,' Pan replied playfully, looking directly at me with delight. 'You see, Tiger Lily, I have realised that perhaps this is merely a misunderstanding,' I frowned, but allowed him to continue. 'Perhaps you have merely been operating under the misconception that you are, somehow, in charge. You don't tell me what to do, I tell you what to do. I rule this land.'

'You can't make me tell you where Henry is!' I exclaimed, offended by him. 'I don't care what you rule over, I can leave whenever I want, just like I did when I went to Earth, remember?'

'This is Neverland, you can't leave without my permission!' Pan counter-argued angrily. There was part of me that felt like he was scared, scared that he would never find Henry and therefore would die mortal. 'You can't turn back, this is your life now.'

'If I escape from this cage, which I will, then I can leave the island easily. I know everything about this island, you can't make me stay here,' I threatened, glancing him up and down in disgust.

Pan looked at me and I had never saw such an animalistic glint in his eye. He was a predator, a carnivore, and I was his vulnerable prey. 'Go on, Tiger Lily, escape. With my pack of Lost Boys, I'm going to prey on you tonight, hunt you down and catch you alive.'

'I can hide!' I objected fiercely.

'Even if you run and hide, I can smell your scent for miles just like we're animals.' He said and his voice had never sounded more sinister and sadistic, like his entire happiness was reliant on someone else's pain and remorse. It was disgusting. It was sickening.

Quickly, I objected, 'I'll stay with Oliver, go to the pirates, leave Neverland!'

'You can go and run free with Oliver, convince yourself that it's meant to be. But I will always find you, follow you, track you down, mark you as my own. You see, something changes when I'm with you. Whenever I'm with you, the animal inside of me comes alive and you can't deny it, you can feel it.'

I swallowed heavily because something about him was true. Whenever he was with me, it was like there was a part of him at bay, silenced by my touch and kiss and love. The darkest beast that dwelled inside of him rarely appeared, and only when I hated him.

'You're a control freak!' I screamed back in horror, backing away into the edge of the cage in fear.

Pan grinned at me maliciously, with a shrug, he said, 'Everybody wants to rule the world.' It was his biggest desire, his biggest remorse.

'You will only ever rule land and sea! You will never rule over me!' I screeched.

He walked up to the cage slowly and hesitantly, like he was dragging out the time, allowing the fear to build up inside of him. He came closer until he knelt down so he was face to face with me. He could see I was frightened and he adored it. He was sick of playing the guy I fell in love with, he wanted to be powerful, to be feared.

'What are you going to do?' I whispered, my eyes meeting his. He smiled kindly at me and hope rose inside of me, until it was thrashed down as his smile twisted into an evil smirk. He got up and tied a knot to the top of the cage.

Suddenly, the cage snapped up and was airborne, soaring through the air and bouncing me around in the walls, crashing me and bruising me as it tried to level itself with my added weight. I screamed helplessly.

'PAN! MAKE IT STOP!' I screeched in horror.

There was no reply. I looked down in terror at the space where Pan had been, which was now completely empty. He had vanished, just like my love and respect for him had.