His Precious Bird (Peter Pan/Robbie Kay)

Confrontation

I carry myself down the stone stairs that lead to the top of Skull Rock. I feel like every step I take could cause an earthquake in Neverland with how angrily I'm stomping. I'm gonna find Peter's shadow and give it a piece of my mind for what he did to Peter. You don't mess with the people I love. If you play with the bull, you'll get the horns.

I go to climb in the rowboat Peter and I used to get to Skull Rock, when suddenly, I feel a tug on my arm. I swiftly turn around and come face to face with Peter.

"Alaina, I can't allow you to do this" he says, holding on tight to my arm. "Its too dangerous for you to go on your own."

"What's so dangerous about a shadow?" I ask, taking my arm away from his grip.

"He can rip your shadow clean off your body, Alaina" he projects. "If he does that, you'll be dead instantly." I stare at him for a bit and realized he really doesn't want me to go alone.

"Fine" I say sternly, crossing my arms in the process. "You can come with me."

We both climb into the small wooden rowboat and row back to land. Once our feet are back on the grounds of the island, Peter and I head for my tree house. I grab my crossbow and Peter gives me a freshly sharpened hunting knife just Incase I might need it. I feel unusually powerful holding all theses weapons. I feel strong and confident and for the first time, I feel like a true lost girl.

"Okay, I think we're ready, Peter" I tell him, placing my knife in my pants pocket.

"Seems like we are" he replies, stroking my cheek softly with his index finger. "But first, I have to warn you about the place where the shadow lives."

"Okay then..." I say with hesitation.

"He lives in a place called Dark Hallow. In fact, all the shadows he's ever taken live there too." He says, staring out my window and resting his hands on the windowsill. "As the name implies, its dark, dangerous, and its not recommended for a person to go alone, unless they have a death wish."

"What will he do to us?" I ask, feeling suddenly scared of what we're about to get ourselves into.

"He'll probably try to mess with your perception, you know, cause hallucinations" he answers. "And no matter how real the hallucinations seem, you must never give into them Alaina, because if you do, you're as good as dead."

I then walk up to him and wrap my arms around his thin waist and bury my face in his chest. He hugs me back without hesitation and kisses the top of my head.

"Everything will be alright" he assures me, stroking my long dark hair with his big hands.

"I hope so" I mumble into his chest. "I don't wanna lose you."

"I know" he responds. "We should get going. It would be best if we get there before sundown."

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Peter and I arrive at Dark Hallow and its more horrifying than I thought it would be. Its like a forrest only its more of a forrest you'd see out of a horror movie. The sky is a blood red color and the air seems to be inhabited by some kind of black smoke. The trees are a dark lifeless color and they are brittle and dying. They also have no leaves on them. Their like a more terrifying version of trees you would see in the winter. I grip my crossbow tightly in my hands and fix my eyes on the path I'm walking. I'm trying my best to ignore the terrifying aspects of the place I'm in and concentrate on the reason why Peter and I came here.

Peter walks ahead of me because it would be better for him to navigate this place since he's probably been here before. Suddenly, we start to hear growling sounds and we realized the shadows found us. They all come at us in a swarm and look like they are ready to attack. Peter jumps in front of me and waves his hand in front of us. When they came close enough, all the shadows started to bounce off some kind of domb like force field.

"What did you do?" I whispered to him.

"Its a protection spell" he says. "It'll keep them far enough away so they can't hurt us."

Flying overhead, I see Peter's shadow, the only shadow we are here to see. He flys down to us and stops just before he could hit the force field.

"Hello, Peter Pan" he greets, pure evil evident in his voice. "Its nice to see you again."

He looks over and sees me standing behind Peter and his glowing eyes widen.

"I see you brought a friend with you, or should I say a lover" he says, adding a slight chuckle at the end. I step out from behind Peter and stand beside him. I'm not afraid of some trash-talking shadow that can do a few magic tricks.

"We'd like to discuss something with you" I tell him sternly. "Its about a deal you made with Peter a long time ago."

"You mean the deal where he gave up his only son for youth so he could break Neverland's rules and inhabit the island forever?" He says sarcastically, obvouisly knowing what deal I'm talking about.

"You cheated him, shadow!" I shout at him, growing tired of his games already. "When he made that deal with you, he had no idea that he was actually signing his life away!!"

"Oh, silly girl" he says. "Whatever are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how when Peter made the deal, he didn't know he was eventually gonna lose his youth and die!!" I shout while pointing to Peter who's staring at the shadow menacingly.

"Well, that was his mistake" the shadow claims while shrugging his shoulders. "Everyone knows that all magic comes with a price, so now he must live with that mistake."

"No, he doesn't have to live with any mistake" I growl. "Because you know something we don't."

"What are talking about you stupid wench?" he replies angrily.

"You know of a way to fix everything, a way for Peter to live and keep his youth" I suggest.

"Suppose I do know of a way" he suggests also. "What are you willing to do to get it out of me?"

"I'll do anything, as long as it means I can help Peter" I tell him, accepting whatever challenge he throws my way.

"Alaina no, its a trick!!" Peter whispers in my ear. Before I could react, the shadow waves his hand and the force field Peter had up diminishes.

"Oh Peter, you know I'm more powerful than you" he states, floating over to Peter. "You should have known I would be able to get past your protection spell."

"Don't you dare touch her" Peter growls.

"Oh don't worry" says the shadow as he floats over to me. "She'll make it out alive...maybe."

My eyes bulge out of my head at the 'maybe' part. What is he going to do to me?

"I'll give you a challenge, Alaina. If you win, I'll tell you what I know. But if you lose, your shadow is mine" the shadow explains, getting so close to my face I'm getting blinded by his glowing eyes.

"Don't do it, Alaina!" Peter interrupts, but I ignore him.

I told Peter I was gonna save him. Even if I have to put my life on the line, I will keep my promise to him.

"I accept your challenge" I tell the shadow. The shadow chuckles and backs away from me. He backs up a long distance then stops.

"Alaina, you don't know what you just agreed to!" he exclaims, taking both my hands in his.

"Shut it, Pan!!" the shadow scolds. "And get out of the way!!"

Peter looks into my eyes, fear was brimming his eyes as he backed away while slowly letting go of my hands. I look back at the shadow and he's flying towards me at the speed of light. He then enters my body and everything goes black.