Neverland [Lost Boy Series #3]

✶The Purest Pain✶

 A thick silence engulfed the atmosphere as both Jack and I stood before the fence that blocked our entrance to the first sighted treehouse. Staring at the wooden pieces that toppled over me, tears began to well in my eyes. As if all of my burdens came crashing down on me at once, Jack quizzically raised a brow.

My vulnerability began deteriorating and eating away at my strength like an acidic substance, breaking down every last bit of positivity that took refuge within me. As strong as I tried to stay, my walls had taken too many blows to them. So naturally, so beautifully, tears streamed down my face as if it were its own personal waterfall for my pain. Sadness contracted the muscles of my stomach, making them pulse almost as fast as my very own heartbeat. The sobs of singularity seemed to stop all the presence of time and space, sending me into this void of darkness.

My frame ferociously shook itself as the cries escaped my lips. Leaning my forehead on the fence for support, I hid my face from Jack. As much as a pain that he is, he didn't deserve to see me in this state. He didn't deserve to see how broken Laney Riverdale truly is on the inside.

"Laney...," asked his masculine voice. Shamefully turning to face him, I used the back of my hand to wipe away the damp circles that the tears had left behind.

"I'm okay," I whispered. Those two words made up the biggest fib that I had ever uttered in my life. I was not okay, especially at this particular moment in my life. We just lost a friend who was so close to us- a brother. Thomas Shapiro deserved to live a happy and prosperous life and there he was lying in a stone cold hospital as his spirit was in a better place. But Thomas didn't deserve that. He deserved to grow old, to start a family, to have the pitter patter of little feet running around his house. Thomas deserved to leave his legacy behind on this Earth and to have people know his name. He always had such charisma, such grace that he carried around. Yet he had lost it all to a stronger force named death.

"I'm okay," I repeated again as my voice faltered in octave. My lips quivering from holding back tears, I turned to face the fence once again. "I'll get over it. Now is no time to be crying.."

For once, Jack was absolutely speechless. Taking a quick glance back at him, I noticed that there was a certain softness that touched upon his expression. He understood the pain.

With his hands in his hoodie pocket, he took a few steps closer. "I can go check it out and you can stay on watch. There's no way you'll be able to climb over that."

"No," I stuffily demanded, which made his eyes turn to little slits. "You're going to help me over because if Peter is in there, I need to see him."

He opened his mouth to hesitate, but he knew he was going to lose this battle. "Fine," he stated. "Take a step back."

Doing as he asked, he shot me a quick smirk. Sticking his hand out toward the fence, a pale blue mist protruded from the palm of his hand as bricks of ice began to form a staircase before the fence. Awestruck by his ability, I couldn't help but send him a smile.
As he finished up the staircase, he took a quick bow and motioned me to climb up them. Using his powers to give him a boost over the fence, he seemed to be able to jump over in one leap.

Walking up the stairs was a bit more trickier than it looked because they were super slippery. However, that wasn't the biggest challenge. The biggest challenge of getting over the fence was how many feet I was going to have to fall in order to get into this person's backyard. Staring at the ground with widened eyes, I became daunted by the distance I was going to have to drop in order to get back on level ground. "Oh boy Jack, I don't know if I can do this."

"C'mon!" He said, motioning his hand toward the treehouse. "Those stairs aren't going to last much longer! They're going to melt!"

"Ohmypixiedust, they melt too?"