Peter's Flame

Part 16

We went to Nick and Marcus first, they would be the easiest to understand and were always open to new friends.

Their reactions were pretty close with mine but Alina handed it well. I watched as they woke up, some rags were on some faint bruises, and they sat up the second they saw her.

It seems that Alina was true to her word, she was taking care of us while we were asleep.

Their main question was always, "Why?" Why nurse them back to health, why cook them breakfast, why wait around long enough to make sure that they were okay.

She answered all of their questions with a calm demeanor and I watched as they begin to match her smile.

After she had explained, she was attacked as Nick and Marcus hugged her. She looked widened eyed, not in confusion, but in terror. Her body slightly shook and I'm guessing that they felt it because they let go of her.

She just smiled, whatever thing that came over her, passed with ease.

She led them to breakfast before we went to go wake up Devin.

His reaction as he woke up was the same as mine and so was his reaction when all of his questions were answered. He did not touch her but he did complement her on her fighting skills and asked if she would teach him later. She just laughed and nodded.

We lead him to breakfast before splitting our ways at the door. We continued this ritual again with Felix, Thomas, Andrew, James, Leo and Liam, Scott, Isaac,  Brandon, Owen, and finally Robbie.

They appeared to all have questions but she handled them as if she was questioned all the time. After we led Robbie to breakfast, we saw the others holding out their plates.

I didn't think that she was going to laugh, but she burst out laughing at the sight. She just smiled when she regained her composure and began making more pancakes.

She make three in a row before putting it on a plate and handing it to me. I was not expecting this but I took the plate nonetheless and sat down.

I watched as Alina cooked pancake after pancake, filling up our plates full. Whenever we asked for more, she would never complain but instead, she would smile and nod before making more.

We asked for some water and she only nodded before leaving and returning seconds later with a jug of water. It appeared that she was more of a silent type but I had my suspicions that if she felt like she belonged, she would be much more talkative.

When she left, some of the boys began to discuss how uncomfortable she looked. This would happen time and again whenever she left but always, one boy would say thank you and she would smile and nodded before giving us what we had asked for.

She would leave from time to time into Pan's room before rushing out of there, grabbing something from a cabinet, and rushing back into the room.
She would then come back after minutes and return empty handed.

One time, Felix had gotten up from his seat to follow her. When he came back, he looked confused and bewildered.

"Turns out that Alina is taking different... creams and ointment before putting in on a rag and putting that on Pan's chest."

"That's weird. Wait... didn't she do that to the rest of us," asked Owen.

They paused before Felix continued.
"Anyways, when she was done, here's where it gets weird. She would rub his head."

"She did the same to me," I muttered. They all turned to me surprised before agreeing that she had done the same to all of them.

Alina entered the room and this time, all fell silent. She looked confused as her gaze swept over us before landing on me.

"Thank you for the food Alina and for taking care of us. It's really nice," I said, trying to cover up for the fact that we were talking about her.

She looked startled and gave us her one-of-a-kind smiles. "You're welcome," she said, her voice gently flowing through the tent.

We all stared in shock at her. This was the first time she had talked while at breakfast. She walked out of the tent entirely without another word and left us pondering to ourselves.

"Anyway, the last thing she did before she left, was placing a kiss on his head before standing up. That's when I came back," he finished.

Others began to talk as I glanced towards the entrance. Alina had not returned. She normally did return at this time but the flaps of the tent remained still in their place. I stood up from my seat, all heads swirling towards me.

"I'm going to go look for Alina. She hasn't come back yet."

"I'll come with you," replied Felix. "The rest of you. Finish up your food and then go check on the traps, weapons, and water supply. Devin, I want you to check on the cellar. We were low on food and if she was true to her word, it should be either full or packed. Make sure that your chores are done by the time we come back."

They nodded and Felix and I left the tent. We searched the campsite, the cliffs, the beach, anywhere we could look but did not find Alina for even a glimpse of her. Felix paused, his feet stilling. I copied his lead.

"Why are we stopping," I asked.

"Did Alina say anything to you that I should know about?"

I thought back to our talk, my eyes widened.

She wouldn't, would she?

"She may have left," I mumbled.

"What was that?"

I sighed. "She promised me that she wouldn't but I don't know..."

"Henry! What would she have done," asked Felix, a little bit furious.

"Left. She would have left Neverland."

Felix was silent, clearly in shock.

"She can't. She can't leave Neverland unless... no. She can't leave Neverland. That means that she's somewhere on the island." He put a hand on my shoulder. "She's probably back at camp. I trust her."
I nodded and we walked back to camp in silence.
A faint voice was coming from the camp. We paused as I recognized the voice.

"That's Alina," I whispered. Felix turned to me and I looked at him before sprinting back to camp.
All the boys were standing in the middle of the campsite and looking up. I was confused as I looked up to see what they were looking at.

Alina.

That is all for today! Thank you for reading! Ta taaaaaa!