Helping Neverland

. return .

90194's POV

Two years. It had taken me a god damn two years and sixteen allies, all dead, for me to reach this god forsaken well. I clutched onto the handkerchief I made from their clothes, all with their numbers written on them crudely.

"Finally... we did it," I whispered into the cloth. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. My entire body stung and burned. It hurt as I climbed down and navigating my way through the underground facility.

I was close, so so close. Back to Isabella, back to Phil, back to everyone at Grace Field! I wouldn't — I couldn't succumb to the injuries I got from the demons and adults. I was right here. Steps away from reuniting with everyone.

Steps from what kept me alive.

I arrived at the portal and sighed heavily. It was there just as I remembered. Nothing had changed. Now what? What would I tell them? Should I tell them I came from the demon world? It would explain my lack of brains on the technological advances I'm sure was made over there. Do I find them? Can I even find them? Will they even accept me?

I shook my head. I can't let these thoughts consume me. It'll make me hesitate when I see them. I will see them. I stared into the water and without looking back I jumped in.

____________

Phil was walking along the beach, hand-in-hand with Emma and Gilda. He was listening to their conversation about boys, adding his opinions whenever he felt like it. It was a bit weird for them to list out their green flags though. He would have sworn some were redder than red. As they continued along the shore Phil stopped in his tracks. Emma and Gilda finally looked away from each other and towards Phil, then to where he was staring.

"What... is that...?!" Emma trailed off, staring in shocked.

"I'll go get everyone! You two check on them!" Gilda ran off to get the rest of the kids that decided to accompany them to the beach. Emma and Phil rushed over to the person lying on the shore, the saltwater lapping against their legs.

"How did he get so hurt?" Emma breathed out, doing her best to pull him out of the water. Phil gave the boy a quick look over, taking note of where he was injured and how bad it looked.

"Emma, do you think that he..." Phil didn't dare continue with his sentence. Everything was there. But... how? Why?! Didn't Emma, Norman, and Ray save them all? All the human cattle?! How come there was another person here? And the brand on their neck, there was no mistaking it. They were a cattle child.

"He has to be," Emma gulped. Her hands shook as she lightly traced the numbers on his neck. 90194. The last three digits were exactly the same as hers, Ray's, and Norman's, so this boy had to be the same age as them. Where was he? How could they have missed a facility?! Her fists clenched as Isabella ran up with the other kids. Emma let her take over, helping to carry him back to their car and into the hospital.

There the boy would lay asleep for days. Nights quickly passed and there was no sign of him waking up. Thankfully the rest of his body recovered well. The wounds healed and his body was cleaned by a nurse from the Ratri clan. The older children and Phil would frequently visit the boy, and sometimes Derrick would tag along.

"You're so much trouble," Derrick complained as he watched the boy. "But you look like them. Especially that neck tattoo. I can't believe you got something like that."

"Be nice!" Gilda chided.

"Come on, he's asleep! He can't hear me."

"He could," Ray piped in. "Instead of arguing how about helping me out with getting his medical costs down? Even though it's the Ratri's hospital, it isn't free."