Pan’s POV
Flashback:
My mum tucked me into bed like she always does and kisses me on the forehead goodnight.
“Mummy! Mummy tell me a story!”
She laughs softly at my eager persistence. She is the best storyteller and her soothing voice always rocks me to sleep.
“How about I tell you the story of-“
CRASH
“Marie! Where are you bitch! Get your ass over here!”
My daddy’s voice was vibrating off the walls of our house. The booming of is voice brought frightening tears to my eyes. My mum noticed and quickly picked me up to hide me in my closet. She grabbed my favorite crocodile stuff animal that I named Tick-tock and placed it in my shaking hands.
“I want you to stay in here no matter what you hear, okay Peter?”
“Mummy! Please don’t leave me!”
“MARIE!” His voice was getting louder and closer.
“Peter I want you to close your eyes and pretend you’re on an island. A place filled with other children your age to play with and beautiful waterfalls. Picture yourself flying over the vast forest and playing at night as late as you want. A place… a place you stay young forever and never have to grow up. You’re there. Not here. Go there for me and don’t come back til I come get you.”
My eyes close and nod my head in understanding. She kisses my forehead and walks away. From then on whenever daddy came home to punish mum I would go to my closet and I would go someplace else. A place my imagination and magic could one day take me for real. Neverland.
Lily’s POV
We walk back to the campsite in silence. Felix telling us that someone new arrived in Neverland made me confused and anxious. Pan is the one who has a say on who comes here. He was surprised as I was.
I noticed Peter had a vacant look in his eyes. A lost glassy stare. I nudge him softly making him blink a couple of times and look my way.
“You okay?” I ask gently. He takes my hand in his and pulls me along behind him with a harsh tug.
“I’m fine,” he spits out. I frown at the way he reacted but decide to let it go. He probably just has a lot on his mind.
We arrive at camp just around nightfall. The boys are chanting cheers and applause to someone. I look around to see what has captivated everyone’s attention. I’m shocked to see a girl standing in the center of the circle. She is smiling at her cheers from the others and takes a dramatic bow.
Who is she?
Her hair is a little darker than mine but she has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. She looks to be the same age as me and is quite beautiful. Her demeanor isn’t one of fear or innocence but of danger and mischief. Pan lets go of his hold on my hand making my attention shift to him.
His eyes ran over the girl in front of him and I saw fascination gleam in his eyes. A strange feeling was in the pit of my stomach making me on edge. Surely it wasn’t jealously… was it?
The girl’s eyes went straight to Peter’s and she gave him a delighted grin.
“You must be the emphasis Peter Pan I’ve been hearing all day about. Glad you could join the party.”
“What’s your name, love?”
I cringe at the sound of Peter calling her love. The feeling in the pit of my stomach twisted into an uncomfortable tight knot.
“Samantha, but everyone calls me Sam.”
“Okay, Samantha, what are you doing in Neverland?"
“Same reason all of us are here. To escape the clutches of time and be beautiful forever.”
Pan chuckles darkly at her vain response.
“You may have come to place that escape the clutches of time but that does not mean you have escaped death. Neverland is a dangerous place and I am the most lethal person here. Why should I let you live?”
She grins in response and replies, “I hear you like to play games. As luck would have it so do I. What do I need to do to prove I’m worth your time?”
Her voice changed from mischief to seductive. She was playing her own little game and the prize was my Peter.
Did I really just refer to him as mine?
One of the lost boys steps forward and says, “I’ve got an idea. Let’s bring the prisoner out here for her to have some fun with.”
My eyes widen in shock. They cannot force her to hurt Jasper. I won’t allow it. No one should have to hurt someone else against their will.
“Fine.”
I look over at Peter in shock, but he won’t meet my angry glare. My gaze runs over to the girl and she wore a bored expression. Not worried or anxious at all.
Two boys drag out Jasper in the middle of the circle. He looks sickly thin and I mentally slap myself for having forgotten about him. I should’ve been looking out for him and helping him escape. Instead I was selfishly focusing on Pan and what he needed.
Pan steps forward, eyes on Samantha, and pointing at Jasper.
“This boy tried to escape Neverland. Not that he ever had a real chance. He knew my rules and broke them anyway. Kill him to secure your place here.”
Shocking disbelief made my mouth wide drop open. Did he really think I would let him do this?
“Peter, no!”
He turns around and strides over to where I’m standing. His lips come close to my ear so only I can hear his voice.
“I can’t have the other boys seeing me look weak. Don’t worry she won’t do it.”
His hair brushed across my cheek and I met with his eyes, which are silently telling me to play along. There are many adjectives I could use to describe Peter and being weak was not one of them. The fact that he had to put on a facade in front of the others pist me off. Or was the façade just for me and the way he acted around the others was the real him. How will I ever know?
An ear piercing scream erupts through the silent still night. Both Pan and I break our stare from each other franticly trying to find the source.
I wasn’t prepared to witness the scene before me. You know when you witness something so disturbing that everything goes mute. People walking and lips moving but not sound can be heard. That’s the only way to describe what was happening on the inside.
Jasper’s mouth was hanging open in what would seem to be endless screams except I can’t hear a sound. His severed foot is in Samantha’s hand and she throws it in front of Peter.
Pan’s POV
Samantha throws Jaspers severed foot in front of me and smirks at my shocked expression.
“He can’t escape with no feet to run on. Don’t worry I’m just getting started.”
Never ever have I come in contact with a girl like this. Every girl brought to Neverland blubbered like a baby, begging to go home. Broken by the games I put them through. Death was always a mercy in the end. They never had the courage to fight back. How could they? I was their worst nightmare.
Lily was the only girl who fought against the monster and could occasionally tame him. This girl was different. She was not scared nor a stranger to violence. She wore her confidence on her sleeve and did not question her orders given by me.
I watch in a haze as she continues chopping off Jaspers limbs. His screams seemed to only heighten her excitement.
Life paused, and I stood still in a little bubble of reflection.
It was always a sobering realization, when I came across somebody else who listened to that demon voice that lives inside everybody’s head; and it does, no matter how much you deny it or ignore it or fight it, that voice lives inside every single person no matter how good and wholesome you live your life. It resides in your head, rising up every now and then, when you’re angry and mad. It whispers at you to punish the cause.
I believed it was there in everyone, but it always surprised me when I met someone else that indulged in it and enjoyed it as much as I did.
I never understood humanity. I lived by basic needs and wants. I held no empathy, so the pain and sorrow I cause others, were a phenomenon to me. It excited me and drove me to repeat the experience. Just like her.
Samantha was the female version of me.
A female shrieking and wailing diverted my attention from Samantha. The noise was high pitched and annoying. I snap out of my trance when I see that it’s Tiger Lily being restrained by Felix’s hold on her.
Tears are falling down her cheeks and she is struggling like a hellcat in Felix’s arms. I didn’t get it. I literally cannot comprehend where her tears come from and where the root of her fear grows from. I try and imagine what the scene before me would be like for a person who was not like me. But I can’t. You see… I see Jasper’s pain. I understand it. I just don’t feel anything.
We’re all monsters. Everyone. Including Lily. If you’re powerful enough like me, you just don’t have to bother hiding it.
Lily keeps trying to fix me but maybe it’s me who needs to fix her. This whole day for us was about making, producing, or forcing trust. Trust. The mere mention of the word made me laugh. We both knew there was nothing about me to trust. I almost drowned her for crying out loud. No…. there was no reason to ever brainwash her in thinking she could trust me. Look what happened when she let her guard down in trying to help me.
Trust was like dark magic, mesmerizing to the eye but cutthroat to the soul.