Trapped in Neverland

5

I look at Pan for a moment before I run the other way. He yells after me, but I don't stop. I just keep running. When I finally return to where the others were, they're gone.

"Periwinkle?" I call into the darkness. "Felix?"

Then, I sense someone behind me. I turn and freeze. Because standing there, right in front of me, is a man with longish brown hair, bronze eyes that are hidden behind his hair, and pale skin, standing tall before me.

"Who are you?" I ask him.

"My name is Zaine. I am a prince of a far-off kingdom, one that I can never return to, unless I had an army." He smiles then. "Or a Faerie girl who lost her sister and boyfriend."

"He's not my .... wait, what?" I ask.

"I have them, the people you call Periwinkle and Felix. And the only way you're getting them back is if you come with me," he says.

"I don't have time for this, Zaine," I say. "Please, Prince Zaine, free us. We need to be here, right now, not in some far-away place where there's a war going on."

His eyes flash. "You're coming with me, Faerie."

"My name is Tinkerbell, not Faerie. And no, I'm not coming with you, Prince Zaine."

He glares at me as he walks closer to me, lowering his voice. "Okay Tinkerbell, tell me something. How long does it take for a Lost Boy to bleed out? Longer than it takes for a stubborn Faerie to admit she's outnumbered and surrender? Or is your precious Lost Boy going to bleed out before you admit that you're coming along?"

I have a choice to make, but really, it is no choice at all. Peri is there. Felix has a damn arrow sticking out of his chest, he needs my help. Zaine here knows that. And he's using that against me. Damn him. Damn him straight to hell.

"Fine," I growl. "We'll help you, but if Felix dies, the deal is off."

Zaine nods. "He will live, on my honor."

"Good."