Checkmate

32. Photographs and memories

With this being the 32nd chapter, not only have I exceeded the old version with word length but now i've exceeded in chapters too!!

The next morning, I awoke in a luxurious magnitude of silk with the fresh breeze of the morning air coming through the window. The birds sang in the distance, echoing with the sound of the rowdy lost boys that somehow seemed normal to hear.

I clicked my fingers the moment I left the thick cushiness of the bed, replacing the silk pyjamas with my school uniform in the blink of an eye. I glimpsed myself in the mirror of the dressing table before I left, prompting me to glance a little longer at my appearance.

In the mirror, I saw myself. But I also saw someone different, someone that Pan would have recruited in an instant. I saw a girl that would have easily danced in the forest to the tune of the panpipes, her heart and her soul as lost as she was.

I gulped at my reflection and the sight of the damn hiding behind my eyes, the leaking crack growing bigger by the day. Putting on a brave face, I took a breath. "You will never hear Pan's music," I told myself in a quiet voice. "No-one will ever hear it ever again," I confirmed, taking a stance against something I wasn't really sure why I was angry at.

The sound of the boys in the kitchen pushed me to rush out, my feet almost silent on the thick carpet of the hall before I got to the top of the stairs. I could hear them muttering and clattering quietly, but not quietly enough as I snuck down the steps to appear in the kitchen unnoticed. Suppressing my smirk, I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe, a single brow raised in waiting.

Nibs noticed me first, freezing mid-sentence, his eyes wide. Curly noticed second, having turned to see why Nibs had stopped. Soon, all the boys had frozen in place, their eyes fixed on me as various items rested in their hands.

"Hey, why did you all-" Henry began, emerging from a cupboard. "Hey Annie, come help us with breakfast?"

"You all look like raccoons caught stealing in the middle of the night," I admitted, causing Henry to laugh at both the thought and the sight.

"Mom said we could make pancakes," Henry said before he glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall.

"How long have you lot been up?"

"Dawn," Henry admitted, trying his best to suppress a yawn. "They were confused about the bathroom." I bit my lip to stifle a snigger, that particular thought not having crossed my mind once.

"Did you all at least figure it out?" All the boys shook their heads slowly. "Better than a hole in the ground, right?" They nodded again. "All right, move aside. I'll make the pancakes. But you lot gotta put that stuff back before Regina loses her mind."

Various sheepish "Yes Annie" comments came from around the room as the boys returned the items they held before standing around the kitchen island. Tootles remained determined to hold on to the box of cereal in his hands, the boy still figuring out how to open the packaging.

I watched Henry assist him as the various items I needed floated out of cupboards and drawers around me before arranging themselves along the counter. An apron came to me, waiting to be tied around my waist as the boys celebrated the opening of the box, the lot of them tucking into the crunchy chocolate treats.

"Just promise me not to get too messy. I want a nice picture of you all for my wall." The raccoon boys slowly resembled hamsters as they stuffed their cheeks full of food.

Regina floated down a few minutes later in a black jumpsuit, ready for the day as the smell of pancakes permeated through the home. "Wake me up at dawn again and I'll hang the lot of you on my wall," she warned, her heels clacking on the tiles as she walked into the room.