Grim (A Peter Pan Fanfic)

Chapter 14: The Wolf and the Man

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." –Helen Keller

***  

                "Don't touch me," Sahara warns one of the Lost Boys for the fifth time. He backs down after that. "It's sad that I had to say that five times. Do you know the meaning of 'no'? Or do I need to send you back to preschool?"

                "That's enough you two," Felix snaps. Peter sighs, and he hears Elly sigh, too. The Lost Boys and the Wayward Women aren't getting along too well. They can barely stand next to each other long enough to listen to Peter without pissing each other off.

                "If you guys can't get it together, we're going to go nowhere with this," Elly adds. "Just don't look, touch, or glance at each other. Pretend there are walls in between you." She feels like an impatient mother.

                Once everything is silent and still again, Peter continues. "As I was saying, magic is not going to be easy for anyone. Don't get frustrated or discouraged; that'll make it harder. We're going to break off in pairs and start some defensive spells. I'll put you into groups to avoid conflict."

                Elly waits for Peter to make the groups. The girls are all paired with Lost Boys, and they couldn't look more displeased. Elly hates to put them through this, but they need to learn.

                Peter explains the basics for shoving someone back with magic, showing the motion and telling what they need to focus on for it to work. "Can I talk to you?" he asks Elly one everyone is at work. She nods. They stand off to the side to avoid being overheard. "I just wanted to clarify something."

                "What is it?"

                "Do you have feelings for me or not? I know I do, but I feel like you don't. And that's fine; I'm not going to start a war if you don't have feelings, but I'd like to know."

                Elly frowns slightly. She has no idea how she feels about Peter. Sure, he was a total jerk to her when she first came to Neverland, but without him, she wouldn't've survived and started her group that she's grown to love. "Let me think about it."

                Peter nods, turning away to observe.

***

                Devin needs alone time. He's been needing more of it lately. He's been flustered ever since training; he thinks it's because his partner was the one called Menthol. She wasn't too bad looking. And he kind of likes her attitude.

                What's he saying? Snap out of it. Devin shakes his head and continues on, walking along a path he made himself. Only he knows about it. It skirts around the island completely, but he's only made the whole trip once. He usually turns back before he gets too far. It's nice to hear the ocean nearby, and sometimes he can hear dolphins squeaking. He focuses on the sounds now, letting them clear his mind.

                A rustle in the bushes makes him stop for a moment. He looks carefully at it, because it was a big rustle. Not some squirrel or small bird rustle, he's talking a bear size rustle. Devin knows better than to assume that it's nothing and walk away. He should run because he doesn't want to die and because whatever was behind that bush is now in front of him, and it is huge.

***

                "Where's Devin?" Peter asks after counting heads. The girls had just left, and the boys are gathering around a fire.

                "Probably on a night stroll," someone says. "He'll be back soon."

                Jinxing must be active around this time of year because the moment he says that, a shriek cuts through the night that is followed by a foreign growl. The boys immediately jump up, grabbing weapons and running in the direction of the continuous screams that eventually tone down to groans.

                Peter and the boys find the girls surrounding something on the ground. They must've heard it, too.

                "What's going on?" Peter demands.

                "Help us carry him!" Elly demands of him. Peter looks down and sees a very bloody Devin on the ground, writhing and twisting in pain. Felix and Griffin spring into action, both of them carrying Devin back to the girls' shelter, which is closer.

                "What happened?" Felix demands.

                "He was bitten, look." Elly points to his leg and indeed, a nasty bite mark is the cause of the oozing blood. There are also claw marks raking his chest and back, his sword his broken in two, and dirt litters his face and hair. "I think it was a werewolf."

                Peter stops, grabbing Elly's hand to stop her. "There are no werewolves on this island."

                "What else could've made that big of a mark? And I saw it. It couldn't have been anything else."

                Peter follows her back to their base, still unsure. They lift Devin in their elevator and get him inside. The girls take over and lay him down in one of the rooms.

                "Joro and Menthol have a little bit of medical training," Elly says once she comes out with Cyanide and Bubbles. "They're taking care of him. He should be fine."

                "A werewolf," Peter says because it finally makes sense to him. "That makes sense. But at the same time, shit. Because I know what's going on."
                 "What?" Sahara asks.

                Peter takes out his flute. Before he plays, he says, "Hook's shadow is waking up ancient monsters."