Alice's plan to overthrow the Queen of Hearts is thwarted by a dashing pirate with a hook. Years later, after the curse is broken, they reunite once again.
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The Dark Hallow turned out to be far worse than I had expected. I anticipated a jungle so dark that not even the little bit of light from the moon could reach it. But instead, it's an area with barren trees and a strange red glow, with winds so strong that our lanterns can't stay lit. We follow behind Neal, since he's been here before, the twigs snapping under our boots.
"So this is where the victims of Pan's shadow reside?" Killian asks, breaking the eerie silence.
"Yeah. Forced to spend eternity in this darkness," Neal answers over his shoulder.
"Not a very... homey place to spend eternity," I breathe out, trying to lighten the mood to no avail.
"Come on. Let's be sure not to join them." We continue to follow Neal until we reach a small area where the trees are more sparse, which will give us room to fight if necessary. Considering our track record, it will be.
"So are we supposed to just wait here until Pan's shadow shows up?" I ask, raising a brow. There are about a million questions running through my mind right now, but I refrain from asking them, trusting that Neal knows what he's doing.
"Yeah. And when it does, we'll be prepared," he replies, pulling a coconut from his bag.
"You wanna tell me how that coconut works?" Emma asks.
"We light the candle, and the shadow's drawn to it," he says, taking the top part of the coconut off and setting the bottom half down on a stray log. "When it gets close enough, the flame will suck it in. We put the lid on, and it's trapped inside this bad boy."
"Sounds like a plan, except for one thing: our lanterns went out. How the bloody hell are we gonna light that thing?" Killian asks, echoing one of the million questions I have. Neal pulls out a piece of metal—a lighter.
"Welcome to the twenty-first century," he says before bending down to light the candle that sits inside the coconut. Unfortunately, the winds are too strong, whipping stray hairs around my face into my eyes. I bend down, cupping my hands around the lighter to attempt to block them. Nothing. Not even a spark.
"Here." I say, reaching for the lighter. "It's too windy; let me try."
"I've got this," he says, and I roll my eyes.
"You clearly don't," I snap back, but he doesn't budge. I feel a tightness in my chest the more stubborn Neal gets. "I promise you that lighting a candle isn't going to win over Emma's affections." I go to grab the lighter once more, but Neal grasps my wrist, preventing me from moving. Before I can yell at him, Killian grabs the hand that's grabbing me and yanks it back.
"Don't grab the lady like that," he demands, and Neal glares at him.
"I've got this!" He insists, yanking his arm out of Killian's grip, and the lighter goes flying out of his hand. I groan loudly when I see the lighter drop into a crevice in a tree nearby.
