The Shadow (Second Book in the Neverland Bound Series)

Chapter 4 (Catherine)

(Three hours earlier)

The darkness remains for what feels like ages.  We continue to hear the shadow's cackling that sounds like it's coming from all sides.  Nolan grips my hand tightly and I return his grip, comforted only by the fact that I at least have someone with me and I don't have to face my mother alone.

While we are stuck in what feels like an eternal darkness, I take the time to think about how stupid I had been not to think of Mother's pet before now.  I knew that he could pass through realms, I knew how dangerous and loyal a henchman he was to her, so why hadn't I thought of him before now?  Why hadn't I thought to include him in my mother's banishment from Neverland?  And how come Peter and I didn't feel his presence when he arrived on the island in the first place?  Then the thought hits me.

Maybe he never left.

I continued on with similar thoughts for quite some time when finally, Pitch's voice rings out in the darkness, "I'm so sorry, but it seems as though that we are going to have to take a slight detour.  You see, there has been a slight change in plans due to some unforeseen circumstances."

Just then, all of the darkness clears and the sunlight blinds me for a moment.  When my eyes finally adjust, I feel my heart sink when I see that I have once again returned to the Enchanted Forest, the one place besides Neverland that I vowed never to return to.  But what did I expect?  This was my home once and where I banished Mother to, so of course she would have her shadow bring me here.

Suddenly, I am jerked from my thoughts by feeling Nolan being pulled away from me.  My grip tightens on his hand as I scream at Pitch, "What the heck are you doing?  You said that he would be coming with us to our destination!"

"No, I never said that.  I said that he would be traveling with us.  That doesn't mean that I was planning on bringing him the entire way," the shadow rasps as he finally succeeds in jerking Nolan a good three feet away from me.

"No!  But he'll die out here on his own!" I continue to shriek, even after looking into Nolan's eyes and seeing how strangely calm he looks.

"I can assure you, your Highness, he is more than capable of looking out for himself.  Now say goodbye," he commands.

I stare at Nolan and the look in his eyes calms me into feeling as if it was going to be okay. 

"I'm sorry," I whisper and he nods in understanding.  Before I can say anything else to him, the darkness wraps itself around me again, this time without a companion to hold my hand.

-----------

It's not long before the darkness lifts again, and thankfully by the time it does, I have managed to calm myself further.  The sunlight once again blinds me, but this time it's not as bad because the sun has now reached its setting point on the horizon.  There are lots of things to be said about traveling between realms, but it being a quick endeavor is not one of them.

I am facing a familiar set of very large mahogany doors with intricate gold carvings along the edges and I know that Pitch has brought me to the throne room.  I never thought that I'd set foot in this room again, let alone this palace.

"Finally, you have arrived," a voice that still manages to cause my spine to go rigid says from behind me, further confirming my suspicions.  I refuse to turn and greet the woman who has once again managed to rip me away from the people I care about the most.

She takes my silence as confirmation to continue talking, so she continues on to say, "I trust that you had a safe journey home?"

"This is not my home anymore," I respond coldly.

She only laughs at this, saying, "Of course it is.  You were born here, were you not?"

"Yes I was, but just being born somewhere doesn't make it your home," I retort, still refusing to turn around.

"How right you are, my dear," she agrees and my guard immediately heightens.  Mother never agrees with people this easily unless she wants something.  "Don't you remember when this palace was your home though?  We used to have such fun here, you, your father, brother, and me."

"As I recall, it was just Ethan and I, since you murdered Father and then holed yourself off in your chambers for the majority of the time," I counter.

There is a long silence from Mother and I know that last bit struck a major nerve.  "I did not kill your father.  He died from that horrid plague-"

"Which you could have healed him from!" I cut her off, finally spinning around to face her, Father's extravagant throne framing her from behind.

Her face is turning red with rage and I can see that I have succeeded in ticking her off.  She then closes her eyes and bends her head towards the stone floor.  After a moment, she finally returns her gaze to mine and says, "Whether you want to believe it or not, I loved your father with all of my soul and I would have switched places with him in a heartbeat if I could have."

"Sure have a funny way of showing it," I murmur under my breath and her eyes flash dangerously.

"Enough," she hisses and I decide that this is probably the best time to change the subject.

"What do you want with me, Mother?" I ask and she immediately recovers her composure.

"Is it wrong for a mother to want to have her only daughter back?" she asks.

"What about Ethan then?  Wouldn't you want him to return as well if it really was because of motherly compassion?" I counter.

"Well that's a matter of perspective.  I could have just wanted some mother-daughter time before I brought him back."

"I find that extremely hard to believe," I say.

"Believe what you want.  Just know that it's the truth," she says.

I just purse my lips and nod.  "Well, if that's all you want from me right now, can I go to my room?" I ask, trying another tactic, since arguing with her isn't really working.

"Oh, of course, darling.  I am sure that you are absolutely exhausted from your trip," she says.

"Thank you, Mother.  Good night," I say, turning on my heel and heading towards the familiar double-doors that I recognized when I first arrived.

"Good night my love," she says, and suddenly, just as my hand is about to reach the handle, everything fades to black.