Trapped in Neverland

4

"One will bring you love, one will bring you friendship, and one will bring you death,"  I whisper, sitting alone in my room that night.

There's a light tap on the door, and then Periwinkle walks in. She wears a blue-green tunic and light brown pants. She sits down beside me, and I tell her everything.

"So ... the twisted mage is likely Pan," she says. "But the exiled Prince? The desperate assassin? I don't know."

"I'll ask Felix tomorrow about it," I say.

"He's still up, though," she says.

"He is?"

She nods. "The light was on in his room."

We get up and walk over to his room, where Felix sits on his bed, reading a book. He looks up at us. "Yes?"

I tell him everything as well. When I'm done, he stands up and pulls a coat on.

"What are you doing?" I ask him.

"I'm going to show you two something. Come with me."

We walk to the backyard, and Felix looks at us for a moment,
before asking simply, "Do you trust me?"

"I do," I say.

Peri nods.

Felix takes his coat and shirt off, then, he turns around. And unfolds two massive, tawny wings speckled with feathers. He sighs and flares them, showing off their length and size. Felix then turns and looks at us.

"How did this happen?" I ask.

He shrugs. "One day, they popped out. I can't morph anymore, but I can morph wings into my back when I want."

Peri looks at me. "Maybe Pan took it back?"

"I don't think so," he says. "I think ... it's something else."

"Like what?"

He shrugs. "How should I know? I'm just saying, I don't think so. I think it is just something else, something ... more."

"Do I want to know what you mean by that?" I ask.

Suddenly, there's a shift in the air, like a certain ... energy that makes me feel uneasy. Felix and Peri both look at me, their eyes wide. Then, an arrow flies through the air, striking Felix in the chest. He collapses, swearing colorfully as he does.

"Felix!" I shout.

"I'm fine! It got me in the right shoulder, so I'm fine," he says. "Get your sister and go inside, Tink."

"No," I say. "I'm staying."

"Me too," Peri says.

"Then you will surely die together," says a female voice from the dark woods.

A woman with long, cream colored hair and strikingly blue eyes stalks forwards, coming at us. She stops walking when she reaches the edge of the forest. The woman looks at Felix, her expression looking very much bored and not caring about Felix's well-being.

"Who are you?" Peri asks her.

"My name is of no consequence to you," she says. She looks at me for a moment, before she raises her hand, and then, phantoms fade into existence, shifting and taking form into humans, all with crossbows raised, and then the woman tilts her head back towards the sky. She sighs, and closes her eyes, but then, something in her changes.

When her eyes open, they are pure black.

"Whoa," Peri says, grabbing my hand. She raises her other hand, and the air around the three of us goes cold, like wintery cold. I look at my sister, and she narrows her bright blue eyes, focusing on the woman.

"What is this!" the woman shouts, looking around like she's looking for something. But then, the ice that was creeping around her surges forth, and wraps around her and several of her friends, freezing them in place, at least so they can't move, but can talk.

"Who are you?" Peri demands. "Tell me, or I will freeze all of you."

"My name is Rain. We want that Lost Boy, he needs to die."

"Why?" I ask.

She looks at me. "Because ... I've come for you, Tinkerbell, and he will get in my way."

"Why do you want me? I'm not special," I say.

She scoffs. "Please, you don't fool me."

Felix slowly stands up, and holds onto the arrow's shaft that sticks out of his chest. He looks at Rain. "What do you want with Tinkerbell? And why are you willing to kill for it?"

She says nothing.

"Tell us!" Peri shouts.

The cold air gets worse, and I watch as Rain sighs and shakes her head a little. "Fine." She looks at me, then Felix. "Tinkerbell has a huge amount of power lurking in her veins. Something that is old and powerful, something dark and evil. But we can help you, Tinkerbell. Please, just listen to us. We have a lot of work to do, and I know that, but please, listen... We need to get you away from here, and away from Pan."

"How do you know he's still ...."

"Alive? Because I saw him. He was flying around Neverland, searching for you three."

"Oh no," Peri says. "Relle, Laurelai. Where are they?"

I look around, but don't see them anywhere. "Relle? Laurelai?"

"I think they're asleep," Felix says.

"Not through all this ..." Peri mumbles.

I look at them once, then I run into the house. Only to find Pan standing there, holding a glowing box, one that no doubt contains Relle and Laurelai's souls.