Chapter Four
I glared harshly at the target before me that was clung against a tree. I held up the arrow and slammed it against my bow, before releasing it and it whizzed into the air and smacked the target.
A bullseye.
Lock arrow, pull string, aim, release.
I repeated this process multiple times as Pan stood to the side, watching the Lost Boys and I triumphantly.
The bastard was still smug after victoriously winning the battle against me.
I locked my jaw and gritted my teeth before aggressively releasing another arrow, hitting the centre of the target once again.
After losing to Pan, I had no choice but to practice with the boys.
"That's enough for today, lads. Back to camp for dinner." He called out as he slowly walked back to camp, his back facing us.
I glared at his back harshly, fighting off the urge to shoot an arrow at his back and snap his spinal chord so that he'd be paralysed for eternity.
We trudged back to camp. I walked silently on the dirt beneath me that started to contaminate my black boots as the Lost Boys chattered noisily and talked about what could be for dinner.
We made it to camp, and Pan was standing next to a lit up bonfire in the centre of the clearing.
"It's your turn to cook, Luke. Take Elisa with you so she can learn a couple of things by the time it's her turn to cook."
Luke rolled his eyes but said, "Yes, Pan." And started walking towards a hut that wasn't occupied by Pan or any of the Lost Boys.
I gave Pan a look of disbelief. "I don't cook, Pan."
Pan only grinned in response. "Which is why Luke will teach you!"
I grunted but stomped my way towards the hut that Luke went through.
I pushed the door open and sighed heavily. Furrowing my eyebrows, I realised that this wasn't an ordinary hut. It was more like a storage place where they kept all the food and drinks. I spotted Luke near the meat section and I shuffled over to him, not minding the putrid stench of raw meat - I was used to the stench of blood anyway.
"So what are we cooking today?" I asked as I stood behind him, watching him chop off the rope that was tying the animal to the rooftop with a sharp blade.
"Deer." Luke stated simply and I hummed in response.
"Need help with anything?" I asked as I crossed my arms and watched him intently.
Luke snapped his head back towards me and gave me an irritated glance.
"Pan wants you to stay out of trouble, which is why he put you in cooking duty with me. He doesn't want you to 'learn' how to cook, because he already knows you can. That lie you said back there? Yeah, he knew you were lying about not cooking." Luke muttered inaudibly, but I heard every word he said as he heaved up the deer and carried it on his back.
I raised an eyebrow. "How'd he know I was -"
"You're an eighteen year old thief who lives on her own in a forest - meaning, you're independent. That means you must have learnt to cook for yourself. You can't exactly enter the village markets because you're wanted and everyone knows your face. That means you hunt for yourself and you cook for yourself. Any person with a sensible mind could figure that out, Elisa. Don't try to outsmart any of us - especially Pan."
I clamped my mouth shut, not having anything to say back, for the first time ever.
"Now if you really want to help, grab the spices from that cabinet and let's head outside."
I did as I was told, not exactly pleased with how I was being bossed around, but I had to be smart if I wanted to escape this place alive.
I had six boys against me.
Luke is bulky. He could take me down any second before I could even blink. He doesn't mess around and he doesn't try to enjoy himself. He stays quiet, monotonous and obeys Pan.Felix is cocky. His tall, lean figure could be destroyed by me easily, but he always had a weapon on him at all times, so I have to be careful not to mess with him.
Connor's okay I guess. He's got an average body and he seems far less menacing than Pan, Felix and Luke so I could easily get through him if I tried a little.
Jason is frail. From the looks of it, his body is fragile enough for me to break within seconds, so he isn't a threat to me.
And Jake? Jake is only eight. He can't harm me and I can't harm him. I don't harm children.
Which leaves me to the end - Peter Pan. He isn't as bulky as Luke, and his body definitely isn't like Felix's either. Peter has a body that was always alert. He is also incredibly smart and therefore, he is my main threat. I needed to work my way through all of this if I want to escape, and that I shall do.
I watched as Luke cooked the deer silently at the bonfire as we sat on a large log. No one else was in sight and I guessed that the others were in their huts.
"So why do you think Pan's hut is forbidden for anyone to enter?" I asked thoughtfully and watched Luke's head snap towards me and an alarmed expression on his face.
I raised my eyebrows amusedly. That's the first time I receive an interesting expression from this guy.
Luke regained his composure straight away and he was back to being expressionless.
"We do not question Pan's rules and orders." He drawled out the words uninterestedly as he looked back towards his feast.
I pursed my lips. "What do you think is in his hut that he doesn't want us to see?"
Luke rolled his eyes at my question. "Perhaps it's not about hiding something, but more of wanting to have his own privacy and I guess we can all respect that request." He spat annoyedly at me and I huffed and crossed my arms.
"I will get inside that hut one day." I stated out loud and jumped in panic as I heard a thick english accent speak behind me.
"Oh I'm sure you won't." Pan said behind me as I looked at him with wide eyes out of surprise.
He had a large smirk on his face as usual as he eyed me. My gaze lowered to his hands, where he was holding on to some fabric.
He extended his arm where he was holding the clothes in and shoved them into my chest - not so sweetly.
"Get dressed into these. You're one of us now, so you'd better start looking like one of us too."
I stared at the clothes in my hands for a few seconds before looking at Peter with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't wear brown and beige." I stated.
Pan chuckled. "Of course you don't. How could I forget?"
He then snapped his fingers and I gasped as I watched the clothes turn into a dark shade of green.
All the Lost Boys wore brown and beige - except Pan; he wore green.
I cleared my throat. "I only wear black."
"Too bad, because now you're wearing green."
"What, so you just want to match clothes with me now, magical boy?" I scoffed and Peter stood there with an irritated look plastered on his face.
He pointed at the clothes while glaring at me. "Get changed. Now." He commanded me and I heard Conner's words ring in my ear.
'Whatever he tells you to do - you do it.'
I glared at Pan. "And if I don't?" I challenged him.
Peter two a few steps closer to me until he was towering above me, with his dangerous hot breaths igniting up my skin on fire.
He chuckled darkly as he his dark green eyes bore into my brown ones, both of us never blinking.
He brought his hand up and ran his fingers through a few strands of my coal black hair.
"If you don't," he spoke in an extremely low voice which somehow managed to make me feel insanely weak and pathetic. "then you'll have to be punished, and trust me love, it will not be pretty."
Shooting him a venomous look, I pushed him away from me and stomped my way towards my hut and slammed the door shut, changing into the dark green heavy cloak and the a lighter shade of green on the pants that fit around my thighs and legs perfectly, almost like magic.
*****
Later that night, after everyone had dinner and everyone went to their huts to get some sleep, I lingered around the campfire for a while as I watched the flames crackle and sizzle around the peaceful and quiet atmosphere around it.
I stared at the flames in wonder and slowly brought my hand closer to the fire, inspecting it. Something about this fire seemed to daze me, because I shifted my hand closer to the heat but yanked my hand back in pain when my index finger received a slight burn.
"Son of a ..." I whispered to myself before I stood up and sighed.
I looked back at Pan's hut, where his window revealed a light from the inside, indicating that Pan was still awake.
I bit my lip and started walking towards his hut slowly and cautiously.
I finally made it to his hut and I etched towards his window, in hopes that I'd get a peek of what was inside his hut, but the smart boy had blinds covering his window and I mentally groaned. Building up the courage, I lifted my arm and extended it towards the blinds, but before I could pull it open, I gasped and felt my heart sink to my knees.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"