Hooked

Chapter 2

          The clock struck nine and there it was. Blink and you would miss it. The bright flash of its tale shined only for a second after it. It was gone now. The sky now resumed its usual state.

          I got up from the seat. I quickly changed into my nightgown and laid the costume on my small desk. As I laid my head over my pillow, sleep over took me.

          BOOM! I shot up in my bed. Something from the nursery had made such a loud noise, the house seemed to shake. Quickly, I grabbed a robe and dashed into the nursery. Once I got there, I froze. Wendy, John, and Michael’s beds were all empty. Panic rushed through me when a dark figure caught my eye. It hung outside the window, with my siblings hanging onto it! It was in the shape of a person, but it certainly wasn’t human.

          “Wendy!” I yelled and ran towards it. The darkness tried to fly away but I grabbed a hold of it before it could. I had it now…but wait. My feet were no longer touching the ground. My eyes widened as I looked down to see the city of London far below my feet. This thing was carrying all four of us!

          “Clara!” John cried out, he was terrified. I was terrified. I searched desperately to find out where this thing was taking us. I looked ahead. My jaw dropped. We were heading straight towards the second star.

A gasp left my lips. It wasn’t a star! As we got closer and closer, the shape of an island came into view. Rainbows cascaded around it. Towards the north-east side of the island, there was a large mountain that plunged into the air, contradicting the rest of the seemingly flat land. To the left of that, I saw smoke rising from the trees as well as many small Indian teepees. Did people actually live here? I searched the rest of the island when something sparked my attention. In a cove on the far side, sat a large ship, and it had a pirate flag flying high and proud.

The dark mass went faster, and my hand started slipping. No, no I can’t lose them! My hand lost its grip on the mass and I found myself falling. I could hear Michael’s screams over my own just before I hit the crystal water. Where did the water come from? I saw the surface and tried to swim, but I couldn’t, my robe was too heavy. Frantically I tried to pull it off, but the knot was too tight in the water. My lungs started to ache. I was running out of air. I can’t die here. Wendy and the boys are still with that thing! My arms wouldn’t swim anymore. I felt myself sinking. Deeper, and deeper, and deeper.

The water was disturbed about ten feet to my right, and a man in all black made his way towards me. I attempted to swim away, but the lack of air forbade it. I felt his hold upon my waist as we now ascended to the sweet oxygen above. As my head came out of the water I drank in the air as fast as I could. I expected to see the sun; however, I was in the shade. To my right where the man had come was the enormous ship I had seen coming in. “Jolly Roger” was printed in black letters across its side. Oh no. Pirates.

A rope was flung from the deck of the ship. The man switched me to his left side and grabbed hold of the rope with me still in his grasp. Something was poking my side, but I was too dizzy to care. Whoosh, we were pulled from the water and I found myself to be on the hard wood of the ship.

“Well well, mates,” my rescuer said, “Look what the tide brought in.”

I opened my eyes to survey the man. He had dark hair, now sopping wet. His face was scruffy and rugged. He couldn’t be older than me. The most enchanting thing about him however, was his eyes. They were a chilling blue; they looked bluer than the sea surrounding us. His clothes were black. He wore a long, leather overcoat with the collar flipped up around his neck. My eyes traveled to the shiny object he was holding in his left hand. Oh god, he wasn’t holding anything. His hand was a hook! No way, they were just stories. Captain Hook is NOT real, and I am certainly not aboard his ship.

          I scurried away from him and he seemed to chuckle, “Oh come on now, this is how you thank me. Men,” he said, “calm her down.”

          I felt hands on my shoulders as I was heaved up to stand on my feet. I looked. Two large men were holding tightly to me. Each covered in their fair share of tattoos. One was shirtless showing his incredibly cut body, the other sort of fat with a vest on. Both were absolutely terrifying.

          “Now,” the darkly clothed man said, “Let me introduce myself. I am Captain James Hook,” he bowed mockingly, “At your…service.”

          “Please you have to let me go I have to find my-” I started to say but was cut off by a smack to the face from yet another pirate.

          “You will not speak unless you are spoken to, girlie,” the pirate said. He was short and fat and wore a striped shirt. He wore spectacles and a strange red cap. It was not a top hat; it was limp and hung around his gray hair in a very messy fashion. His white beard moved only a little when he talked.

          “Mr. Smee,” Hook said with an irritated look, “That won’t be necessary,” he turned to me, “What’s your name, love?”

          “C-Clara Darling,” I said timid. I hadn’t realized I was shaking until the words came out of my mouth. Although Hook didn’t look like he was supposed to in our stories, I didn’t dare doubt that he wasn’t just as malevolent.

          “Well, Clara, I can tell you one thing. You won’t be getting your siblings back anytime soon,” Hook said and turned around to face the island.

          “What! Why! What was that thing that took them?” I said and flinched as I saw Mr. Smee’s hand rise up. Hook cleared his throat and Smee lowered it.

          “That thing, as you put it, was a shadow. It was Pan’s shadow to be precise,” Hook said still not looking at me.

          “Who the hell is Pan?” I half yelled. The crew burst out laughing as I jumped. Hook turned around with the same amused look on his face. He walked towards me, his tall black boots thumping against the cracked wood.

          “Pan, my dear is the boy who controls that island. Peter Pan is what he is formally called. I can tell you right now, if he has your siblings, well,” Hook chuckled, “You can consider yourself an only child.”