Straight On Til Morning

Chapter Five: Family History

I went ahead to my mom’s house alone to prepare her for what was coming. She opened the door and welcomed me in with a hug.

“Hey, honey. Haven’t seen you in a while- you going to stay for dinner?”

“I don’t know, Mom. We’ve really got to talk. Can we go to your bedroom so we won’t be disturbed?”

I followed her to her room, and we sat down on the bed.

“What’s going on, Olivia? You seem awfully uptight.”

“I don’t even know where to begin.” I sighed. “How much do you know about mythology and fairy tales?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Not much, I suppose.”

“Well... Something’s wrong with Harlan. And a guy showed up in my room this morning, claiming he was Hades, and that Pan, also known as Peter Pan, stole Harlan’s soul. He said it had something to do with a curse on our family. The curse of the Darlings?” I spoke in a rush, wanting to get it all out, before I came to my senses and realized that I was crazy.

My mother’s face turned pale white and she swallowed hard. She looked away from me when she spoke.

“I’d hoped it wouldn’t be you. Your great-great-great grandmother was Wendy Darling, like in the story. She met Pan as a young woman, and she was possibly the only woman to ever resist his advances. She had great ties with her family, and her loyalty to them allowed her to escape his realm. But in return, Pan cursed our family, that no Darling should ever have true love. And that when one of us found it finally, he would return and grind our family into dust.” I could hear her trying not to cry. “All of us Darling women have had one child, always a female, and the father has never stayed around. We’re lucky to have survived as long as we have, being single mothers all. Up until you were born, it was pretty hard to live as a single mother. Anyways, I always assumed Harlan would leave you too. I didn’t tell you this story before now, because I didn’t want you closing yourself off the way I had. I wanted you to have the choices that I didn’t. I refused to fall in love, because I didn’t want to be the harbinger of the end. I suppose I should have told you, huh.” She was crying freely now, and I wrapped my arms around her.

“I’m glad you let me choose my own path. I wouldn’t trade Harlan for anything, Momma. And I’m going to fix this.”

She pulled back from me to look me in the eyes. “What do you mean you’re going to fix it?”

“Hades told me that I can kill Pan. I’m going to do it. I’m going to get Harlan back.”

“You can’t, Olivia! Pan is dangerous.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. But you can’t change my mind on this.”

Something in my expression must have told her that I wasn’t going to budge on this, because she just nodded.

“How did the Peter Pan story even become so fictionalized anyways?” I asked her, after a moment of silence.

“Well, this is what I was always told. Wendy met J.M. Barrie after she had grown up a little. She had a brief affair with him, and eventually told him of her past. He screwed her and she got pregnant, and then when they realized it, he decided to have her locked up in an insane asylum rather than tie himself to her. Eventually, she broke out with her little girl, and they lived on their own until Wendy died. We Darlings have always been strong women, if a little lonely. Barrie forgot about Wendy and her tales, until he became acquainted with a family who had little boys who liked to play games of imagining in Kensington Gardens. Barrie searched his mind for a story he could share with the boys, and remembered Wendy’s tales. He made them more family friendly, and then wrote a play about her, while not really caring what had happened to her or his child.”

“Wow. That was more than I expected.” I said, laughing a little.

“I know. It’s almost as crazy as the curse itself.”

I nodded, agreeing. Before I could say anything further, a knock on the door interrupted us.

“That’s probably Hunter and Harlan. I’ll stay in here while you let them in, because Harlan’s condition doesn’t exactly mesh well with me. Which reminds me, Mom.... We kind of need you to keep an eye on Harlan while Hunter and I go end this, one way or another.”

Her eyes got big, but she went to answer the door, leaving me to my reflections.