Neverland

Chapter 1

I was fifteen years old when I was taken.

I fell asleep that night and dreamed of a world I hadn’t dreamed of in years. A land of flying and endless possibility. A land where you never grow old. Think. Maybe you can remember when you used to dream about it. It’s known to children everywhere as Neverland.

But this time, it was different. In this dream, I wasn’t alone.

“Peter!” I laughed as he kissed my temple. I turned to the boy, who grinned impishly back at me. He had a sort of punk-elf look with light eyes and dark thick lashes. But despite their bright color, there was something about those eyes that intrigued me. There was a darkness in them. But despite that, I felt happy looking at him. Just… happy. The way he made me feel, well, I’d never felt that way about anyone. The sunlight warmed my shoulders as we sat on the hill. He put his arm around my shoulder and I leaned into him and sighed. This life was all I had ever wished for, and I never wanted it to end

I was woken suddenly from my dream by a pounding on the window. No, I thought. It can’t be here. No. That was a nightmare from my childhood, but I wasn’t a child anymore. I was fifteen! But that didn’t seem to matter, for there it was banging on my window, begging to be let in. The Shadow. Maybe said a little voice in the back of my head maybe this is my way out. Maybe it’s my way to that boy! I shook my head, That thing’s not natural, and that was just a dream. I’m not going anywhere with that thing. I shuddered. 

My window burst open, the drapes thrashed in the wind. “NO! I shouted, “No, that doesn’t happen! You can’t get in here!” It lunged for me, grabbing me by the ankle. “I’m in my P.J.’s!” I screamed grabbing onto my bedpost, but it kept on pulling. I felt as if my arms were going to be pulled from their sockets. My grip was slipping, and with one last tug, the Shadow pulled me free, and I banged my head on the foot of the bed. I woke up as we were flying over the ocean. The Shadow continued to pull me along with a tight grip on my ankle. I knew I would have a bruise there later. I looked up at it, “So I suppose we’re going to Neverland, right?” No answer. “Hello? Do you speak at all? No? Well then…” This was going to be a long trip.

            My head was killing me, and apparently I had fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I was spitting out a mouthful of sand from where I’d been tossed on to the beach. “Really?” I shouted up at the shadow as it sped away, “You just take me from my home, and then drop me on some random beach with a mouthful of sand?” I screamed, “Thanks for nothing!” I spat out sand, and stood up, brushing off my clothes.

“Alright, Kate,” I said to myself, “let’s go find someone else on this God forsaken island.”

I trudged up to the thick foliage at the end of the beach, and wandered around in the trees for about ten minutes before I really started to get frustrated. the heat and humidity was almost too much for me too bear. It was like being in Charleston in the middle of the summer on the hottest day of the year.

but worse.

“So many freaking bugs on this stupid ISLAND!” I screamed into the air. “That’s our home, you’re talking about there,” said a voice in my ear. Instinctively, I swung backwards, but my arm made contact with only the air. “Not bad reflexes… for a girl,” said a boy, popping up in front of me. He was tall and lanky, with long, straw-like, hair. I stumbled backwards. “Now now, is that any way to treat a lady?” asked a second voice from behind me. I turned towards him. Our eyes locked, and his whole expression changed from dark and mischievous, to looking as if he’d had the wind knocked out of him. The world began to spin around me, “Are the trees supposed to be all squiggly?” I murmured before passing out.