Greatest challenge/Peter Pan (Completed)

Chapter 20: My heart in his hands

I had nightmares, hours of screaming, every time I saw the switch get flipped in my dreams. It was the very thing that forced me to do everything and anything Gus had demanded. The very tension, the very threat, lingered over me like a dark thunderstorm. It was my prison. It was my cage. It suffocated me in fear and drowned me in despair. 

When Gus finally pressed it, in real life. I actually felt somewhat relieved, despite the terror of my death in the next few seconds to come. Maybe it was better this way. Maybe it was better if I just died. 

I looked up at Quinton, his face contorted in anger and pain as he looked at me, as those seconds ticked by slowly.

"It's ok," I said, just before an intense pain exploded like a hammer through my chest. I gasped, and couldn't breathe. Then everything went black. 

Was heaven dark? I coughed, and the sweet sick taste of blood filled my mouth.  My eyes were opened, and I tried to sit up, but the pain was still there. I moaned.

"Finley?"

"Quinton...you die too?"

Quinton's face appeared, but it was blurry. He took my hand. "You're ok...you're alive."

"How...how? Those switches...they..."

"Should have killed you? Yes, it would have..." Quinton said. I tried to sit up and realized I was lying in a cot. I swung my legs and moaned, clutching my chest.

 "Why does it hurt so much?"

Quinton put his hand on my shoulder to prevent me from falling back. I looked up. His eyes were dark and red. He did not look happy.

"Peter Pan...he..."

I raised my eyebrows. "He did what?"

"He ripped out your heart....alive," 

I frowned and looked up at Quinton's eyes. I slowly flattened the palm against my chest. He was right.

I couldn't feel my heartbeat.

"Put it back!" I almost squealed. Quinton placed his hands on my cheeks. 

"Hey, hey, calm down, it's the only reason you're alive...."

"Yeah, except for the fact that my heart is in his hands...literally!" I almost screamed.

Tootles appeared, running into the tent, looking flustered. "You're awake!"

"Tootles, please leave, she's stressing out, and I don't want her passing out again," Quinton pleaded.

Tootles left as quickly as he came, and I gripped hard against Quinton's shoulder, trying to gain control of my panicked thoughts. "How long was I out?" I whispered, scared that if I spoke any louder than I would scream again.

"Just a day," Quinton whispered. I felt something wet and looked up. Quinton was in tears. "I thought you were going to die."

I gave a soft laugh, trying to ease my panicked thoughts and pain. "Well, I guess the switch is no longer a problem."

"You think?" Quinton said. "I'm so sorry, Finley. I failed you."

I only smiled, grimly, but it was the best I could do. "It's ok, soldier boy, I won't hold it against you...you tried."

Quinton chuckled and shook his head as he stood up. "In all my missions, I've never been so stressed..."

"Yeah..."

"And Peter Pan..."

"He's the greatest challenge.." I looked up at Quinton, then turned to see him. His dark green eyes gazing at me from the entrance. His arms were crossed, and he did not look happy, at all.

"Can I have a moment?" I asked Quinton. 

Quinton turned and spotted him. He sighed and slowly walked out. "Don't think for a second I trust you."

"Huh? Really?" Peter Pan retorted sarcastically. "I thought here you would be kissing my feet."

Quinton's jaw clenched as he left the tent, but I knew he would linger close by.

"So..." I muttered and wiped my red-stained eyes. I was a mess and probably looked like one. But I was beyond the point of trying to impress this villain. 

Peter Pan walked towards me and kneeled down, so he could look up at me. I wanted to stay quiet, and stare him down, but my thoughts were just bursting with anger.

"You ripped my heart out...huh?" I muttered.

"Let's say your life depended upon it, quite literally," Peter Pan answered. 

"Well, don't be expecting a thank you," I said. "Everything...it's just a game to you...even that kiss a game...right? It's all just make-believe?"

"Only if you want it to be," Peter Pan scoffed as he stood up and crossed his arms. 

"Even if it was true, I cannot see it going anywhere...you're the villain...I bet you can't even love," I said. 

"Love," Peter Pan muttered and chuckled. 

"Just explain one thing to me...why save my life when I was the one intended to die? What did I do that made you go against Gus?"

Peter Pan picked up a small box that lay next to the bed, toying with it. He looked at me. "Now that's the real question, isn't it?" He walked to the edge of the tent then back. "I don't follow other people's rules..."

"Of course not, you just steal their medallions to stop your impending doom,"

"Aren't you the clever one?" Peter Pan said with a smile, then pointed the box towards me. "You're right, I needed that medallion in order to freeze my doom but I got something far better with it."

"A girl with an attitude?"

"A girl that believes...I just found my lost girl, I wasn't going to lose her any time soon," Peter Pan chuckled as he leaned forward. I felt my stomach squirm at his gaze.

"Well, that's the thing...I don't believe, well not anymore," I said and crossed my arms. 

"Course you do," Peter Pan said without hesitation. 

I took a moment or two, before responding, "And what do you intend to do with my heart?"

"Thought you'd never ask," Peter Pan said. He opened the box and motioned with his other over it. I saw a spark of magic appear and then I heard it. A steady, even heartbeat. Peter Pan took it out, and I could see it glowing, a bright clear pink. I was astounded. That was my heart...my very heart.

Peter Pan looked at it, then at me. "Do you know what control I have, when I hold your heart in my hands?"

I clutched the blankets of my tent. No, I didn't know, and I did not want to know. However, judging by that devious's boy's smug grin, I could tell he was eager to demonstrate...with my own heart! I stood up, trying to ignore the constant throbbing in my chest and walked up to him. I was merely a meter away from him, looking up into his eyes.

"I bet you have as much control, as that switch did to me, and maybe even more...I bet it's a bigger prison than I could even possibly imagine," I said.

Peter Pan nodded and leaned down to whisper in my ear, "Total and complete control." He said, before shoving it straight back into my chest. I cried out in pain, and Quinton stormed in, just as Peter Pan vanished, and just as I collapsed.

"What the hell did he do?" Quinton asked as he grabbed my arm. "I'm gonna kill him..."

I frowned as I clutched my chest. "You can't...he's immortal," I whispered. "He's just returned my heart that's all."

"Finley..." Quinton softly spoke, gently, as if not to scare me. But now I was deathly scared.

"What?" I asked.

"Your eyes...they're ...they're glowing...I mean literally, they're glowing..."

Hey readers!

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