Lost Boy 2: Return To Neverland // l.s

20. Here Beside Me

Louis frowned and lifted his head, checking their surroundings, but the boys were still walking the same, and there didn't seem to be anything lurking in the trees.

There it was again, the snap of a branch in the distance, a hushed whisper, the crunch of some leaves that definitely wasn't made by their company.

Louis' heart stopped. Something was wrong. He knew it. He checked the surrounding trees, but he couldn't see much.

For the next few minutes, his eyes were on the green bushes they were walking through.

Every now and then, he saw a blurry movement out of the corner of his eye, which only made him even more anxious.

Somewhere, a twig snapped and so did Louis' calm demeanour. He took a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair.

He stopped walking, and whipped his head around, his eyes becoming frantic as he tried to find the source of the sound. He wanted to convince himself that it was nothing, but he kept hearing it, and it was getting closer. Someone was coming.

He dropped his rucksack, and the boys all turned to look at him, wondering what was wrong.

"You right, Lou?" Liam asked, and he shook his head.

"We're being followed." Louis said in a low voice.

"What-" Zayn tried to ask but he was cut off.

"We're being followed!" Louis hissed. He paused, then stepped forward. "Okay, you need to keep going, get the antidote at all costs-"

Before he could finish, Liam was yelling and Niall was pulling him to the ground just in time as an arrow hit the tree where Louis had been standing.

"Fuck." Zayn huffed, just as they heard yelling from the trees.

"GET THEM!"

All 4 of them jumped up and started ran through the forest, ignoring the branches whipping their faces as they tried to get away.

The yelling was getting louder, as were the running footsteps. Louis could see the men now, large, burly pirates, they looked like, with weapons and very dangerous glints in their eyes. They weren't good.

Soon, Louis spotted a fallen branch with a cover large enough to hide them.

"Over here!" He hissed, pulling Niall towards it so the others would follow. He shoved the blonde in first as he waited for the other two to clamber over the large tree roots and follow.

Once they were all inside, they huddled together, keeping as silent as possible as they heard the pirates coming for them.

"Where are they!" Someone shouted.

"This way!" Called a second voice, and soon, the sounds were fading. The strangers were leaving.

"We can't keep going." Liam whispered as they heard leaves crunch away. "We need to go back. Tell Pan-"

"We're not going back." Louis shook his head. "We need the antidote."

"It's too dangerous." Niall tried to pleading with him, but Louis wasn't going to listen.

"Then you can all turn back, but I'll keep going." Louis whispered.

They all fell silent as they heard shouts in the distance and more leaves rustling. They stayed quiet for a moment, but as soon as they were sure it was safe, they decided it was okay to climb out of their hiding place.

"I don't think we should go," Liam began climbing out first, followed by Zayn as he stretched his arms up to the sky. "We need more protection. Its far too dangerous."