White Lily - A Peter Pan Fanfiction [2/3]

Chapter 6

Pan, Felix and I were seated in the living room of my house, the two boys mainly conversing as I started into the reddened distance. For the past – well, who knows how long, they'd been debating about the current situation. And what situation was that?

We were still dead.

"You know we can't go to Hades," Felix grumbled and Pan nodded, sighing as he leaned forwards like he would do on Neverland; his expression was stern and focussed.

"I haven't seen my son around but I know he won't be of help."

"If he wasn't dead already, I would have killed him myself..." I mumbled and Pan chuckled amusingly, turning my way.

"That's my girl."

"The point is," Felix said, weaving us back on topic. "Pan, I don't think we can do anything."

"There has to be something," he said but my jaw clenched, a lump forming in the back of my throat.

"What if we talk to Hercules? He seemed to know what was going on," I said, looking to both of the boys. But Pan's eyes narrowed a tad, his face become tense.

"We don't need him."

Telling from his voice and expression, I simply nodded, his hand placing itself against my knee. It was strange to feel the warmth in it, when we weren't supposed to. Was hell giving us a taste of what our life could be, or rubbing it in our faces that we could never have a life together? Listening to Pan talk now... There was a feeling within me, something telling me that we could get through this. We could, couldn't we?

"There has to be a way," I said, turning to Peter and then to Felix...but he merely shook his head.

"I don't know of anyone leaving..." he grumbled and I sighed, rolling back my lips; Pan squeezed my knee.

"Keep an eye on things, especially Rumple. If there's a way, he'll find it. We'll have to simply follow him out, got it?" he demanded, just like he would do on Neverland; Felix nodded once, as he would usually do. "I'm getting us out of here."

+++

Felix left a couple of minutes after, explaining how he'd look into a few more books after his shift. It was strange to think that people had 'jobs', specific tasks that related to their life before death. The irony was Pan owning and running his son's shop and the strange thing was me not having anything. Were there others like me, simply roaming the Underworld and being free to do whatever they pleased?

I doubted that was the case.

"I need to get back to the shop," Pan grumbled, surprisingly morbidly. As he got to his feet, he placed a kiss against my forehead. My eyes closed for a brief moment, his touch awakening the memories I had long buried...but were finally resurfacing. It brought an ache to my chest, a desperation for us to escape. But how? How could we escape death?

I wanted to question Peter about the whole 'me not having a task' thing, but it wasn't the right time. My thoughts got disrupted as his fingers tucked loose strands of hair behind my ear as he stood in front of me. In some desperate way, I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed the side of my face against his lower hip, closing my eyes.

I felt his arms move and cradle my head, gently moving his fingers through my hair.

"Stay here until I'm back so I know you're safe." Safe...from what – or, specifically, whom? But I nodded. Pan always knew best so I didn't question it. Pulling away, I groggily looked up to him with a small smile.

"I love you," I said and he grinned, stroking the side of my face with the back of his hand.

"I love you too, my queen. I'll return when I can." And just like that, he was gone and I was left alone in my house.

Walking around in silence, I tried to keep my mind off anything related to the past: it would hurt my chest and give me that horrible agony I had been feeling since death. Pan, Felix and I – we could escape, somehow... we just didn't know how to yet. But pondering on it got me nowhere, and yet I still found myself thinking about it – thinking about everything. My mind was endlessly circling around memories and possibilities.

Disrupting my mind, there were two knocks at my door. I jumped, most definitely not expecting a visitor. Hesitating, I didn't move until there were another two knocks. Surely it can't be bad...right? I walked over to the front door and with my hand hovering over the handle, I paused and took a deep breath.

Opening the door, my bottom lip dropped and my eyes scanned the weirdly-looking man.

"Ah, so you must be Serena," his voice slurred and narrowing my eyes, I replied, "and you are?"

"Oh, how informal of me. Hades, at your service." I gulped, frozen for a moment. Come on, don't let your guard down.

"What brings you here?" I tried to reply confidently, but the shakiness in my voice said otherwise.

"Well, technically I can go wherever I please but..." he trailed off before raising an eyebrow. "Are you going to invite me in?"

"Um...yes...of course," I stammered, taking a step back and allowing the door to open wider as he took a step in.

"Beautiful house. You can thank me later." Huh? "Oh, I choose who lives where, who does what...ah, that's why I'm here."

I swallowed down the lump in my throat once again, slowly closing the door behind him. I can't seem to keep up with this man. What the hell is he trying to do? "I have a task for you."

"A task?"

"Yes, yes, a task," he smirked, tilting his head to the side a bit. "I could have you cleaning dishes or doing some other peasant duty, so you should be...grateful." My eyes remained in a narrowed expression, my lips pursed. "You see, there are...certain people who are going against my rules."

"Rules...what rules?"

"Since you're...fairly new, I wouldn't expect you to understand," he said and I lifted my chin just a bit. I'm not that new but I guess compared to others, I would be. He held out a pen and a yellow notebook, both seeming old and surprisingly frail; I took them from his grasp carefully. "Whatever is written in the notebook, you must do and tick when completed," he started and as he did, I started flicking through it.

"It's empty..."

"Give it a chance," he smirked and my jaw clenched, my eyes still locked upon it. "Think of it as...a happy game of hide and seek." Hades walked back to the door, opening it to reveal Pan. He stared at Hades in utter disbelief before looking to me. "Well hello, Pan," was all Hades said before walking down the front house steps. But then he paused, looking over his shoulder.

"Oh, Serena." I didn't reply. "If you don't do what is written...let's just say you won't be 'living peacefully' anymore." And then he was gone.

Peter was by my side instantly, questioning me but I was transfixed on the yellow book. I slowly lifted the first page to reveal a name that was crossed out...

Jane.