The Dark Days

One.

He begins to fly higher and I hold onto him tighter, the butterflies in my stomach flapping harder the higher we go. He stops about one hundred yards up from the ground and turns, revealing a small town, little lights twinkling all over the place. I gasp at the pretty sight. Henry's little chin is resting on my left shoulder, watching me as I stare down at the town.

"Wow," I whisper. "It's... It's amazing."

He hums. "Just like you under the moon's pale light."

I turn to him and press a kiss to his cheek. His cheeks flush and I laugh again, putting my forehead against his temple and closing my eyes. "I didn't know you could be such a romantic."

I hear him smirk. "There's a lot of things about me that are different from the me you know."

"You are the you I know," I whisper, kissing his cheek again. "You're just inhabiting the body of a twelve-year-old kid with weak arms." His smirk widens as I laugh.

I yawn a bit. "So. Where's the secret hideout?" One of his arms releases my waist and I choke on a gasp, my hands flying up and gripping the arm still around me. "Don't," - I cough - "do that!" I cough again.

He laughs and points to two smaller lights a reasonable distance from the rest of them. "There."

"What is it?" I ask.

"Just a place for you to stay until the plan gets further along."

"For me to...." I pause. "You're not staying with me?"

He sighs, a bit sadly, and shakes his head, putting his arm back around me. "No, darling, I can't." My lip pokes out. One eyebrow goes up and he smirks evilly. "But I can sneak into your dreams again. Maybe then we can have some fun...." His gaze flickers down to my lips and then back to my eyes.

My cheeks heat up. "Okay."

He chuckles and we begin to fly towards a small building - in the center of a cemetery. "You're gonna make me sleep in there?" I ask as soon as we touch down. He grabs my hand and pulls me inside. The small building is made mostly out of stone and has a strange symbol over the doorway. Inside is a big marble coffin, the name of the owner I can't see due to the darkness.

"You wouldn't have a torch by any chance, would you, darling?" the boy asks me, and I roll my eyes.

"Can't you just make one appear?" I ask, pulling off my backpack, setting it on the ground and digging through it. My hand clasps around a cold circular tube and I pull it out, clicking the button on the end and flinching as it turns on and shines directly into my eyes.

I offer it to him and he shakes his head. "Not yet," he says simply, and turns back to the coffin. "Let's move this out of the way."

He holds up his hand and begins to move it to the right, the coffin moving with it. I stare in shock as it moves over as far as it can, revealing a dark staircase. I can barely see it so I point the beam of my torch (you Americans call it a flashlight, right?) onto the set and follow him as he leads me down. The hallway is a bit long, and on either side of us are small gold boxes that line the length of the walls. "What are these?" I ask as I look around at them and continue to follow.

"Hearts."

"No, seriously, what are these?" I ask, trying not to laugh too much.

He just keeps walking.

"Wait, you aren't kidding, are you?" I ask as I look back at him.

"They're the Evil Queens's unlucky victims' hearts."

I nearly trip over my own feet. "Watch your step," he says without looking back.

"Thanks," I say sarcastically. "I'll keep that in mind."

As we reach the end of the hallway my gaze falls upon a mirror. The boy walks right up to it and just stares at it for a second before holding up his hand as if telling me to wait. Then a section of the wall opens like a door. He steps inside the bright room and I follow, my mouth gaping. The room is white with black and gray decor.

Wait a minute.

"I've been here before," I whisper as I turn in a full circle and soak in my surroundings. "In a dream."

He nods. "When the Evil Queen feels like being a coward, she comes here. Hides for a while."

I nod, but I'm not really listening. "Where will I sleep?"

"Well, there's a couch and some chairs, and there's pillows; One of these cabinets has a quilt in it, too."

I take a second to soak this information in and nod. "Okay." I go to the couch and sit heavily. "This is actually quite comfortable."

"Or..." the boy says, coming to stand in front of me, "I could put an actual bed in here so that when I return to my normal body we can have some real fun." He smirks mischievously and I blush fiercely.

"The couch is fine, thanks," I squeak out, looking away.

His smirk doesn't go away, but he nods anyway. "All right. You can have your way - for now." I can't hold back the smile that grows on my face as he mocks a bow and kisses the back of my gloved hand.

When I blink, he's gone.

I sigh, taking my backpack off and standing up. I check all the cabinets and find a thick quilt in the last one. "Of course it just has to be the last one," I growl as I shake it out and go back to the couch. About an hour after I fall asleep I'm vaguely aware that there's someone else in the room, but I'm too sleepy to acknowledge whoever it is. I feel someone kiss my temple.

"Don't worry, my love," I hear Henry's voice say. "I'll get back to myself as soon as possible."

"I love you, Peter," I whisper, but he's already gone.

Here's your late update (sorry)!! XD