Monster

Chapter 4 - stone heart

Liliana had made up her mind, she was leaving and fast. She hated this Island and she hated the monster that looked so much like her brother. But he wasn't. He was closer to the wicked queen in the fairytale she had so liked when she was a child, or the blind witch from Hansel and Gretel or the cruel little man Rumplestiltskin. Her brother had read her all these stories and the villain never won, they were defeated by good. She didn't want to see her brother defeated by a hero but maybe he had to be.

It was first light and the sun shone up through trees, bright enough to blind her. She took a medium sized bag, not too small but moderately easy to carry, and packed apples, berries, some warm clothes, that her brother had given her, and two canteens of water. Then she crept over to a small and dark haired boy who was breathing heavily as he slept. She looked around her cautiously, the lost boys who had been left to guard the camp were now patrolling the other side and were therefor out of site, for now. She pulled the bow and arrows from the beside the boy, slowly to make sure that she didn't wake him and then his knife from the other side of him and ran, ran as fast as she could into the deep dark forest.

Breathless, though she was, she continued to run and not daring to look back. Her bag was draped over one shoulder with her her arrows and knife inside. The bow however wouldn't fit so she held it in her other hand. Peter had always shown a fondness for archery and taught Liliana how to shoot at a young age. She knew how to protect herself but she knew that shooting someone, someone even as dire as a lost boy, was for emergencies only.

Catching her breath, she remembered the prisoners that Pan kept not far from the camp. Rescuing then would certainly be a risk but she'd be just as bad as her brother if she didn't at least think about it. Though she heard no footsteps, no shouts, no sign of life, she couldn't be sure that they hadn't followed her or noticed she was gone. Still the cages would be the last place they'd expect her to go, surely.

"Think heroic." She whispered to herself, running back to the cages.
Every voice inside her was telling her to stop, to turn back, every voice except her own which told her to keep going.

When she reached the cages, she noticed that most of the prisoners were asleep, all except the Captain that wore all black leather. He just sat, facing one direction, not even noticing her approaching.
"Captain." She whispered. "Captain Jones."
Without turning to face her, he spoke quietly and unenthusiastic.
"What do you want?"
Liliana bit her lip hard and looked to the pile of things that had been taken off the prisoners. One thing she had noticed was this Captains love for rum, he drunk it like there was no tomorrow.  Maybe she could give his rum to him, to help pass the time.
"Listen to me, I want to help you escape!" She said getting slightly louder but still looking around worried someone would find her.
The Captain sat up in his cage, looking intrigued.
"Are you crazy? Do you want to start a war with Pan?"
"No. I want to do what's right." She admitted, nodding.
"Getting yourself killed is not what's right, it's okay kid, we'll be fine." The captain said softly.
"No you will not, don't lie to me I'm not a child anymore." She said fiercely, this made the Captain look amused but just before he opened his mouth to reply they heard footsteps approaching.
Liliana quickly turned and ran back into the forest where she hid behind a bush. The Captain sat himself back down and began to bite down on his thumb nail. The new girl, Wendy, opened her eyes and noticed the lost boys walking back. She looked disappointed at what was around her. Liliana supposed that she had been having a really nice dream or hoped that this place was just dream. All this only sparked the fire inside of Liliana and made her more and more determined.

The lost boys looked at each prisoner in their cage, one by one and then walked back towards the camp. Liliana snuck back over to the Captain, subtly retrieving an arrow from her bag and positioning it in her bow.
"These bars are enchanted, without a key you are getting no where." He said.
"Where does he keep the key?" Liliana asked.
"I saw it, before we was locked in 'ere." He keeps his key on skull island. There's no way in hell you're getting there sweetheart." A crew member that Liliana didn't realise was awake said, his tone of voice made it sound like he was mocking her and it annoyed Liliana very much.
"I can. You will just have to wait a little while, I'll be quick." As she said this, she noticed that the Captain had a few bruises on him that weren't there when he first came. Pan was evil, there was no doubt about that. Maybe his insanity could be cured, maybe it couldn't. But this wouldn't work on her own, she needed these prisoners to help her.
"Take care." She added and walked away from them, finding it impossible to stop tears from rolling down her cheeks. She was ashamed of her brother and desperate to fix his mistakes.