A Found Girl (on hold)

Chapter Sixteen

^The video above is Shelter by Porter Robinson and Madeon. The video is so pretty and I just love the message! :D 

I turned to Pan the second everything calmed down. It wasn't long after the other boys had scattered about the room, many to make themselves as comfortable as possible.

They were lazed about, many flung across their beds as they drifted off to sleep.

How they could be so casual about the events they just witnessed, I had no idea. They acted like it was all completely natural for something like this to happen.

Only Josh remained near Pan and me. He was once more a ghost at my side, willing to defend me even against his own leader if the situation demanded it. Yet, instead of talking, he still shyly shuffled his feet around the dirt floor.

"That was not my brother." My words came out in a rushed blur as I tried to defend the odd actions of Daniel. I had to show the man before me the truth about my brother.

A single red brow arched above Pan's inquisitive eyes. Skepticism lived within their blue depths. "Was that an imposter, then?" Sarcasm laced his words in thick lines, blurring the question into a statement.

I wiped his sarcastic comment away with a small gesture of my hand. "No," I said incredulously. "Of course not. But my brother would never be so harsh. Not towards me."

Sure, Danny had never shown love towards one of the things that brought me such joy. He had stomped my love for fairy tales into the ground, but that never meant he would destroy my confidence as well.

Danny had used his words against me many times, but always as a childish last resort. He always made sure to apologize afterward and to make up for it with humorous gestures and silly games.

In other words, Daniel wasn't the best older brother, but he at least tried. He made sure to include me in his random adventures and rarely left me by myself. He was the best any younger sibling could ask for while still remaining as humanly real as possible. I wouldn't have wanted him any other way.

And the boy who had so boldly insulted me was nothing like the older brother I remembered fondly. That teenager was willing to destroy me even at the cost of his own life.

A shudder passed along my spine.

Shock or no, Daniel would never say such things.

And I needed a way to ensure Pan of this. He didn't know my brother's character like I did.

So I tried again. "Danny wouldn't do this, Pan." Desperation echoed from my words and bounced around Pan's head.

The man stared at me for a long moment, gauging my certainty with a calm focus. "Alright," he said softly, "But if what you are suggesting is true, then I'm afraid of what will happen to the brother you did know."

Confusion crashed over me like a wave, casting me adrift with nothing to keep me from drowning. "Why?" Was my singular response to his crypticness.

Pan turned away then and gazed across the cavern towards an empty bed. No words left his mouth, yet such emotion flowed from him. Guilt, sorrow, regret. Things that left a hole in one's heart.

It was the bed that Fin had previously been hunkered beside. Now that he was gone, the spot was left vacant, and the other children seemed to be avoiding it at all costs. They observed it reverently, as one would a deceased relative's spot at the table.

"Because," Pan began quietly, "This island will finally sink its claws into him. Then no one, including you and I, will be able to help him. The Daniel you knew will be as lost to you as this island is to the world."