Chapter 8
The rest of the beginning of the night was spent in the common room, where I sang different tales to the boys, including Peter. They all sit with their legs crossed, heads in their hands, and eyes up on me. Smiles grace all their faces even as I speak in my Elvish tongue. After a little bit, the Lost Boys fall asleep on the floor, except for Peter who sits still with a wide smile on his face.
"Are you tired?" I ask.
"Only a little." He replies.
"Where will I sleep?"
Peter gets up and points to the ceiling. "In my room."
Heat forms on my cheeks. "Then, what about you?"
He crosses his arms and grins. "We will be sharing a bed. You can continue singing to me until I fall asleep."
"Is that so?" I question, getting up and heading for the ladder. When I reach Peter's room, the candle lights have dimmed down some, causing shadows of all the furniture and stumps to dance on the walls. It's peaceful. The wind blows subtly through the window, and the ocean can be seen from across the room. I sit on the bed, the leaves and moss squish underneath my weight.
Peter flies up into the room and makes his way to the side of the bed nearest to the wall. He slowly floats down onto his back, his hands behind his head and his feet crossed.
I roll onto my back and cross my feet as well but my hands remain on my stomach. My eyes shoot over to Peter. He watches me with a smile.
"If I am staying here," I start, leaning up onto my elbow and facing him. "Would you take me to Neverland one day?"
He's taken aback. His eyes are round and full of surprise, but the smile doesn't leave. "Of course. You'll need to learn to fly."
I frown. "Is there no other way for us to get there?"
"By boat," Peter says while looking away from me, his smile faltering.
"What's wrong with a boat?"
"Pirates travel by boat and pirates are my enemy."
"Not everyone that travels by boat are pirates," I assure, resting myself on my belly with my chin on top of my folded hands.
He looks down at me with a sadness in his eyes that I haven't seen before. It almost looks like tears are welling up in the corners of his eyes but I can't see them too well in this dim lighting.
"What's wrong?" A deep sorrow builds in the pit of my stomach, tangling all my intestines and making me feel ill. Though he's cute when he's sad, I don't like seeing him this way.
He quickly snaps his eyes away again. "Nothing."
For a brief second, we remain in silence, me watching him carefully as he stares up at the ceiling trying not to cry. He rolls over to me; his head being held up by his hand. "What is it that you want?"
"What I want?" I blink a couple of times in surprise. My mind swims with ideas but none truly catch me. Then I think of Peter and how he lies next to me so easily and comfortably. Until Peter, I have never been this close to anyone before. When I am around him I feel light and happy even though he kidnapped me.
My father pops up in my mind. I am his only child. The one who's supposed to take his place as Elder one day and take leadership over our clan. It's something I was born into but never wanted.
"Freedom." The word slips out.
"I can give you that," Peter smirks. "Just stay with me. You'll be free to do anything you want."
I chuckle, "I don't know if that's true."
Peter leaps up to his feet, his hands on hips and his head held high. "Of course, it's true."
"Oh, come down." I lean up and grab his wrist tugging him back down. He follows and lays back down with a smile returning to his lips.
"You don't have to worry about adult things ever again," Peter says.
I frown. "But I will grow up."
Peter's smile wavers. "Maybe if we go to Neverland, you'll stop aging."
My arm gives in and I fall flat on my side on the bed. I sigh. "Peter," I mumble.
Peter mimics how I lay but he scoots closer to me. Our foreheads are almost touching. I can feel his hot breath skim across my cheeks. He doesn't have a scent that I can pinpoint but it's not bad.
"Yes, Lahona?" He asks. His face relaxes and his eyes watch mine attentively.
"Will you still like me when I am no longer young and beautiful?"
"You'll always be young and beautiful," Peter assures.
Peter is not wrong. I will live frozen at a certain age for a very long time. It could take hundreds of years before I start aging again and that's if I don't get killed beforehand.
I rest my eyes, taking in deep breaths as exhaustion starts taking over my body. The sound of Peter's pattering heart fills my ears with how close I am to him. My sensitive hearing does me great justice on this matter. Images to faint to register play through my mind.
Something touches my cheek, it's soft and doesn't alert me. It moves along my jaw and up to my lips where it freezes for a second.
The images start to become uniform and I know I am falling asleep. I can no longer feel the touch anymore, and I wonder. Is Peter falling asleep too?
---
There is a cold breeze that sinks into my skin, awakening me from my slumber. My eyes gradually start to take on shapes and when they do, I see Peter sleeping in front of me. His right hand stretched out close to my face. He looks so peaceful in his sleep. I don't want to move, afraid of disturbing the image that I am seeing but my stomach growls.
As slowly as I can, I roll over and off the bed. A cold chill sweeps into the room from the window. I take the lone blanket from the bed and drape it on top of Peter so the breeze doesn't wake him. My arms wrap around my chest and I walk to the window. There are gray clouds on the horizon, causing massive waves on the ocean's surface. It's going to rain.
My ears flicker when the sound of shuffling can be heard from down below. I glance over my shoulder to the ladder. The boys must be up. Making my way to the ladder, I take one last glimpse at Peter and then step down into the common room. Turning around I spot all three boys sitting around the rectangular table, they are pretending to eat food from empty wooden bowls and plates that scatter the table.
"Why don't you eat real food?" I ask, approaching them.
"We don't have any food." Pint frowns.
The table doesn't have a piece of food or drink on it. How have they been surviving this long without food?
"Let's go find some," I suggest.
Without them agreeing or not, I head for the main door that leads into a hall that exits the tree. I hear their feet patting on the ground behind me.
"Okay. I know there isn't food nearby so we'll need to spread out. Don't go eating anything until you bring them back to me to be examined-there are poisoned berries out there." I order, turning towards them and wagging a finger in the air. "Be careful and don't be gone for long."
"Yes, my Queen!" They say in unison and then burst off in random directions.
As they disappear into the bushes and ferns, I head for the beach. My fingers glide over the leaves of low-baring branches. The birds sing and insects chirp, the wind whistles through the tree canopies and I can already hear the waves crashing onto the beach from the distance I am at. My feet are too light to hear as I carefully walk along to my destination. Occasionally, my hair or dress gets snagged on a touchy branch but I easily pull away and continue.
There is thunder off in the distance, sending chills through my body as I watch the clouds roll in. The faintest sound of thumping rings in my ears. I look around and I see something walk out from the bushes up ahead. It's a tall figure. I squint my eyes to get a better view of who it is. The mop of dirty blonde hair at first makes me think it's Peter and I start to smile.
But then I glance down at his dull brown eyes, and I frown. I stop in my tracks and cross my arms.
"Nick." I almost hiss.
"Lahona." He replies but a grin grows on his face. My brows furrow in confusion. A crack erupts in my ears, and pain swells at the back of my head. I lift my hand to feel the back of my head while slowly turning in the direction opposite of me.
Standing there is a small group of human men and one is close enough to grab me. His right hand is raised with a cutlass in his hand, a grimy smile on his face. He starts to blur and I shake my head to ward off the disruption of my vision. My head starts to hurt in the front and I fall backward. Before I land I start to see darkness at the corners of my vision.
"Peter...." I whisper and then nothing.