A New Generation of Pan

Chapter Sixteen

My heart stuttered in my chest as Pan and I turned to the intruding voice in paralleled unison.

I was with...who? The only person I was with was Hook, and he was on the other side of the-

My inner dialogue was abruptly cut short by the elegant man who stepped out from between the trees. His ebony hair gleamed in the early dawn light, and his jade eyes pierced straight through my very soul.

Pan, who had been punishingly crushing me into his side, unexpectedly shoved me behind him and drew his crude knife as Hook nonchalantly approached us.

"What do you want?" Pan hissed, his voice still filled with that lava temper as he pointed his small knife directly at Hook's smug face.

Hook merely smiled. A wide mouthed smile that flashed us his pearly whites.

What did he have to be so merry about?

I leaned around Pan to stare at the pirate, and he returned my stare. Then he suddenly dropped to his knee and bowed to me like he had done before.

Again?

"Gwen. I see you have made it back safely." He said this with a slight smugness underlining his words as if he had set a grand trap and I had merely been the mindless bait.

Had I been baited?

Pan glanced from Hook to me and then back again, his frozen eyes turning an impossibly colder and more rigid shade. He took a step back and effectively distanced himself from me with that small gesture. He sheathed his blade, a move Pan never completed in Hook's presence. "I see." He said coldly. He turned his back on me and spoke one last time. "Leave, Gwen. And don't return." His voice was more emotionless than a blank piece of paper. And then he was gone, heading off by himself into the awakening forest, leaving me behind in a stirring cloud of confusion.

My eyes grew wide as I gasped. Leave? But my little sister was inside! And what of the Lost Boys? What would become of them? What of Tinkerbell and the other fairies? What of Hook? And...had Pan just called me...Gwen?

I turned to Hook who had been watching me throughout the whole encounter. He had finally stood from his kneel and was staring at me with a smug smile tugging at his lips.

My mood switched from confusion to anger in a complete one eighty swap. He had planned this, hadn't he?! He wanted this to happen all along.

I had been baited!

Benny, who I had been clutching like a lifeline, slipped from my fingers and dropped to the ground as my hands tightened into fists. I had only taken a single step towards him before I was seized from behind. My arms were pinned to my back, and I was forced onto my knees in front of the filthy pirate.

Hook kneeled in front of me as the person holding me forced my head down. He placed a single finger under my chin and pulled my eyes to his. They were shining with a wicked sense of joy. "I bowed before you. Now you are forced to bow before me. An eye for an eye, or a hand for a hand if you please." He said with a wink. Then he nodded to the person behind me.

The person tied a thick rope around my wrists that prohibited me from moving at my own will. I was jerked to my feet as the slack of my rope was gleefully snatched up by Hook, his only hand tightening around it.

I was yanked forward by the vile pirate himself as he and his follower lead me through the early morning Never forest. Neither bothered to talk to me, instead the pirate lackey trudged along in complete silence while Hook's jolly steps were punctuated by the profound humming of a merry old tune. He was beside himself with joy. Too bad I wouldn't go as quietly as they expected.

Pan might not come to my rescue, but I was almost sure Tink or the Lost Boys would. They all liked me after all, not that I could say the same for their boy leader.

I dug my feet into the ground and prepared myself for the moment when the rope would jerk and I would be offset. It came not a second later and very nearly knocked me off my feet. I, fortunately, steadied myself soon after.

Hook stopped and glanced back at me, annoyance clear in his emerald eyes. So he hadn't expected me to rebel? He marched back to me and pulled my chin into his single hand. "What are you doing?" He mumbled, exhaustion and annoyance filling his words. Clearly the pirate had had a long night,

I glared at up at him, my eyes trying to convey the hate I was feeling. "If you think I will go quietly, then you are sadly mistaken." And then I screamed. It was a scream so loud that it hurt even my own ears as it exited my throat. The many colorful birds roosting in the forest surrounding us instantly took flight as my voice frightened them away. My scream bounced around the trees and echoed back to us. That was...until it was abruptly silenced by Hook's gloved hand.

But it was too late for him. The damage had already been done, and the whole of Neverland had heard my earth-shattering screech. They would be coming for me soon, and then it would only be Hook and me. I would get my revenge. Captain Hook could bet his trusty hook on that.

Author's Note:

Who stayed up all night to finish at chapter?? This girl did!! I am so happy that it's done...and so tired...

It's like 6 in the morning and I did not sleep a wink last night!

Just so you guys know, I have once again decided to take part in Camp NaNoWriMo. So for the month of July, expect many more updates!! I am hoping I can get this book finished soon!

=Anna

P.S. SO TIRED!!