The Pan of Neverland

Chapter 3: Second Star to the Right

Over a month had passed since Roger and Alex disappeared, and the trail to find them had gone cold. Despite the families' pleas, the local police couldn't provide any meaningful assistance. With five boys now missing in London and no new leads, the case was transferred to Scotland Yard in hopes of making progress.

James found himself in a dark place. He couldn't return to work, and Lilith's mind had retreated into a vegetative state due to the loss of their son. Specialists and doctors were unable to find anything medically wrong with her, leaving James feeling helpless. They all advised him to care for her and wait for her to recover.

It was difficult not to sympathize with James, as losing a child is devastating, and losing a partner in the process is unimaginable. Lilith had always been supportive, and seeing her fall apart was unbearable. In his despair, James turned to alcohol, something he hadn't touched since their first tragedy.

Shortly before Roger was born, you see, James and Lilith experienced similar heartbreak. They lost their first-born son, James Jr., mere hours after his birth. The baby never left the hospital, and the couple endured immense hardship. The delivery had gone smoothly, and the boy appeared healthy, but tragically, he didn't survive the first night in the nursery. The doctors referred to it as 'crib death.'

James would forever carry the painful memory of the nurse bringing out his lifeless baby boy—a dagger to his gut. He vividly remembered how small and fragile James Jr. looked, thinking that he must have lost a pound or two in death. Lilith, understandably, was devastated by the loss. However, she eventually found the strength to carry on and gradually returned to her normal self after a few months. Then, they had Roger, and the pain from their previous loss seemed to fade into the clouds.

But the current situation was different, and James believed that Lilith's anguish over the loss of their first baby was resurfacing with even greater intensity in the wake of Roger's disappearance.

In the attic that was once home to Roger's playful pillow fort, James had created a makeshift briefing room. It still bore the marks of its previous occupants, with cushions and blankets scattered haphazardly across the floor, but now, on the south wall, an array of pictures depicting the eleven boys who had been abducted under remarkably similar circumstances, including his own son, hung with red tacks. James sat with one leg crossed over the other, a glass of rum in hand, chilled with a single large ice sphere. His gaze remained fixed on the photographs, serving as an unrelenting reminder of the heartless individual who had callously snatched these innocent children away from their families.

With Detective Hold's assistance, James had managed to track down and connect with the parents of each missing boy. Through their correspondence, he had gained a deeper understanding of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding each disappearance. However, despite their collective efforts, they were no closer to unraveling the mystery, causing James to gradually lose hope of ever finding his son.

Feeling a wave of desolation, James made his way to the opened window, drawing in a lungful of crisp winter air. The sight of the glittering stars scattered across the empty darkness of the sky mesmerized him momentarily. Yet, a profound sense of despair clung to his heart as he raised his glass and swiftly drained its contents in a single gulp. Weighed down by the heaviness in his soul, he contemplated the daunting prospect of enduring the remainder of his life without his beloved son and the deteriorating mental state of his wife. He couldn't help but ponder the extraordinary lengths he would go to in order to bring his boy back home.

James stood still as the chilled breeze enveloped him and brought on a surge of memories of his son, Roger. The echoes of their shared laughter, warm embraces, and tears now seemed like fragments of a distant dream. Aware that he needed to find a way to move on, he grappled with the overwhelming weight of his loss, each cold breath serving as a reminder of the void in his heart.