VILLAINOUS (III) : peter pan ouat

When We United

Chapter 16

“You can’t be here.” Frank meets me at the border, and she stares down at me.

I laugh. “I got kicked out of their group. They figured out I was spying. Where is your guard dog?”

“Felix isn’t here.” She tells me. “He left with Pan hours ago.”

I look over her shoulder, and notice she is right. If I’m within a hundred yards of Felix, and Frank isn’t here, I know something is up. He won’t leave her alone no matter what he does. It’s awfully annoying.

“Are you with him?” I ask, trying not to sound angry, so I come off as indifferent.

I am not indifferent. He tricked that girl, and by extent all of us. You can’t just threaten someone into loving you, but that is what he did.

“Are you with Pan?”

I shrug. “I don’t know.”

I hear rustling in the woods, and up comes Blaize. She looks me once over, before taking off her cloak and whipping it at me. The fabric is as rough as I remember, and I feel sick putting it over Elizabeth’s sweater. I ought to give this back to her.

“Put it on to hide your hair.” She nods to my head. “Once you’re in a tent you don’t have to wear it.”

I slip it on quickly, before I nod to them. We stare at each other for a moment, before she nods at me to follow her into the tents behind us.
I slip inside what must be the med tent, and take the cloak's hood off. In the time I was gone, I had forgotten what the air felt like in here. Now, I remember.

I feel clean.

I hear a quick intake of breath, and turn to see Jared staring at me. His hands are on Elizabeth’s, and they hide together in the dim lighting. He lets go of her, and rushes over to me, pulling me into a tight hug.

“Charlotte, you’re still alive.”

“Did everyone think I was dead?” I chuckle, burying my hands in his hair.

The fabric behind us slips open, but I don’t let go of him.

He shrugs against me, before pulling back. “It’s been a long war. Everyone has been behaving oddly.”

I look around at everyone in here. Frank is gone, so now it is just Blaize, Elizabeth and I.

Elizabeth looks tired and worn. She has a gash from her chin to her ear, and she is not one for fighting.

On her neck are five circular bruises. Each is fairly small, one on the left side and four on the other. The
largest of which, a dark purple, is in the crook of her neck.

I know what that is from.

I run my hand along the side of my face where the scratch is, and somehow her frown grows.

Her eyes go down to her lap, and she hides behind her eyelashes. She shrugs the cloak around her up to cover her neck, while pulling the sleeves down to shrink behind the fabric. “Gregory.”

I turn around to exit the tent, but feel Blaize’s hand on my shoulder. She shrugs her head quickly.

“Don’t.” It’s an order not a suggestion. “I already took care of him.”

“He’s dead?” I ask incredulously.

She shakes her head, and I watch her hand move to the lighter in her pocket. Not dead. Just burnt. Her fingers reach for the oil lamp, and I watch as they daintily play with the fire. It burns brightly for a second, before she dims it again.