Unhappily Never After (Neverland Archives II) (ON HOLD)

Chapter 8 | Flying

I'm dreaming about a boy.

He's in my room, standing by my bed. He's cute, in a boyish, mischievous way, with a combination of bright red hair and green eyes that give him a dashing, fiery air. He looks down at me with a smile and I smile back because how could I not, when he is so... I don't even know. I just have to smile.

"Gwen." He says, and I sit up, smiling still.

"Yes?"

"I have something to tell you," he says.

"I'm listening." I look at him, and I don't understand why I do, except that there's just that something about him.

"When you wake up, you'll be alone in you house. Someone will have made coffee but it wasn't you and you won't know who it was. There will be a book on the counter, a book you found today, remember? I need you to remember this because it's very important: you can't open the Book. I'm going to come back after you've seen it and I'll help you, but only if you don't open it."

"What do I need help with?" I ask, very confused.

"To save the world." He says, and it sounds nice, that thought.

"Who are you?" I ask, and he smiles. "I'm Peter Pan."

"No way. For real?"

"For real."

"I've dreamt about Peter Pan before. He never looked like you."

He just smiles again. "That's okay, Gwen." He looks away, frowns at something I can't see. "You're going to wake up soon, and it's going to start again. You have to remember, Gwendolyn: don't open the book. If you open it, everything changes. Don't open the Book of Unhappy Endings."

I wake up confused and lost. Wasn't I talking to someone? Where am I?

Is that coffee? I get up, stretch, and walk toward the kitchen with the comforter wrapped around my shoulders. All the lights are on, that's weird, and what time is it anyway? I only got home at 1 AM, but there's no sunlight through the curtains so I couldn't have slept very long.

I most definitely didn't sleep long enough. "Stacy?" I call, because I don't know who else would've just walked into my house without my permission.

But I get no answer and when I walk into the kitchen, it's empty.

I walk toward the coffee pot, frowning when I see the little lights on and coffee flowing into my favorite cup. "Hello?"

I ask, but no one replies. I turn in a small circle, my heart starting to beat faster in my chest. Is there someone else here with me? Am I going to die?

I look around carefully, trying to stay calm--and that's when I see the Book of Unhappy Endings, sitting on the counter near the coffee machine. I didn't put it there. And isn't there something I'm supposed to remember, something I need to do?

Yes. I need to read it. I haven't read it yet, don't even know what it's about.

I reach for it, flip it open to the first page.

And everything fades away.

~~~~

"Whatever, Stacy." I say, beyond irritated. I'm tired, I'm hungry, it's one o'clock in the morning and all I want in the world is to go to sleep. "I'm going home now."

"Gwen! I'm not finished--" She follows me to the door, nagging all the way, but I just tune her out. I'm too tired to deal with this.

"It's not safe, Gwen! I want you to come back to live with me, please! Haven't you been listening to me?" No. I haven't.