Rose Red

"Don't Call Me That" (Peter's POV)

After the fight, Felix went to sulk next to a tree far away from the rest of the boys, while the ones who had suggested the fight went to console him. The rest of the boys continued in their festivities, and Rose found a quiet place to herself.

I sat on a log and watched the celebration. The boys were entertaining, but they weren't entertaining enough.

No matter how I tried to distract myself, I couldn't drive one unpleasant thought away.

I'm dying.

I hated it. I hated it all. Centuries I had spent on Neverland, and knowing that it's magic was fading was too painful to register.

To avoid pulling myself into a hole of misery, I desperately tried to distract myself with something else. I was about to give up my internal pacing and surrender to sadness when I remembered.

Rose.

I had a new toy to play with.

Play with the toy, I thought, repeating the process in my head. Take it apart and find out what makes it tick, put it back together, and use it as a weapon.

Oh, this was going to be so much fun.

I looked at her. I hadn't been able to distinguish many of her features in the darkness, but next to the firelight, I could see the details.

Her red hair curled gently at her shoulders. Her pale skin was illuminated beautifully by the fire and the moonlight. Her face was oval shaped, and she had a set jaw. She watched the boys with an expression that was a combination of content and worry.

She had a very fragile looking frame, and she looked a lot thinner than she should be. Most of the boys probably made the assumption that she was very fragile, but clearly she wasn't. Beating Felix is no easy task, and this strange girl did it easily. Her struggle with my restraint was also well fought. No, she wasn't fragile at all.

She had a mature aura about her, as if she had much experience in dealing with beings from other realms. I did not doubt that. Her confidence in our meeting and the preciseness of her terms were intricately thought and planned out. No, she was definitely clever. She would make a worthy opponent.

But there was something else. She seemed...tired. Tired of what? I asked myself. It wouldn't be too long before I figured that out. And even if I couldn't figure it out, I could always ask Tinker Bell.

Besides, there were many unanswered questions. I just had to find the soft spots, and then either deduce or seduce the story out of her.

But she would be hard to break.

•••

Around an hour later, most of the boys had sat down around the fire. They told jokes and called each other out on stupid things. I had moved to sit by Rose after most of them had visited her. Many stared. I couldn't blame them though. If I was a daft as they were, I would stare too. Her green eyes were inviting and playful. I knew that I could get lost in those eyes...

I had also spoken to the enraged Felix. After several curse words, he stormed away from the camp with his supporters trailing behind him. As much as I trusted Felix, I had to keep an eye on him. With the dark looks that he was casting towards Rose, it was safe to infer that he was planning revenge.

He would warm up to her eventually.

She had charmed everyone else, other than Felix's group.

Several boys had begun to get ready for bed, and everyone else was exchanging yawns. I was ready for sleep myself.