Mark My Words (A Carlos DeVil Fanfiction)

Chapter 4

Petra's POV

          I was 3 years old the last time my father mentioned his arch nemesis to me. The infamous Captain Hook, the one handed pirate that dedicated his life to catching Peter Pan. The scoundrel that kidnapped my mother and both of my uncles. The monster that tried to kill my best friends, the lost boys. It was adventures such as these that filled my bedtime stories as a toddler.
          I remember I would sit on the beach practically every day and gaze out at the Jolly Roger in the bay, wondering when I too would grow up and fight the evil pirates just like my father.
           Until one day, they were gone.
          I don't remember when, and I don't remember how, but they simply vanished. I was a toddler at the time, so I soon found new things to occupy myself with instead of watching a ship for hours on end. But for my whole life the pirates seemed like a childhood dream, a distant memory I never bothered looking into.
          But seeing Harry Hook in the flesh hit me like a truck. The pirates weren't some fantasy story that my mother would tell at night. They were real, and they were here all this time. I felt like a whole new part of myself had been opened up, a part that my sheltered childhood had locked away from me.
          "That old codfish had a son?" I said, whipping around to face Mal. "Why didn't you tell me?" Mal crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Because I didn't think it mattered!" She said. "You were supposed to just take me to the Isle, then go home! You weren't supposed to stay this long." "Well obviously I did." I shot back. "You could have at least mentioned it to me, don't you think?"
"Well now you know!" Mal said, throwing her hands up in the air, giving up. "Are you happy?" I sighed and rubbed my forehead with my forefinger and thumb. "I'm sure it's fine." I said. "I mean, just because our parents wanted to kill each other doesn't mean we won't, right?"
Mal looked as if she was about to agree with me, when Dizzy spoke up from behind me. "Well maybe you don't." She said. "But Harry despises you." I turned to face Dizzy and she continued. "You and your friends, actually. He came in here once all in a huff because King Ben let kids from Neverland come to Auradon instead of more VKs. His exact words were 'when I get my hands on that scrawny little daughter of Pan, she'll wish she never left jolly old London'. Not to mention all the times he cursed out your dad, remember Mal?"
At this point I felt like my eyes were about to pop out of my head. "Ok, maybe it does matter a little bit." I heard Mal say behind me. I couldn't even turn around to look at her. "But it's not like Harry knows what you look like, right? You should be alright." This only brought me a moment's relief when I remembered one tiny detail that I had yet to get Mal in on. "Mal, how long does it take the Auradon News Network to report a story?" I asked, praying I had more time then I thought I did. "About 4 hours, why?" She asked. I cursed to myself, louder then I should have in front of Dizzy. "Turn that Tv on." I ordered, pointing to the old television in the corner.
Dizzy quickly nodded and pulled out a remote from under the cash register, then pointed it at the television and turned it on. The screen flickered to life and, just as I feared, the twins' interview had already aired.
Screw and Nails had their usual goofy smirks on their faces as the reporters asked them multiple questions. One was 'how are you liking Auradon?' And 'how different is it here from Neverland?'. They asked how our band, The Neverlanders, was faring in Auradon to which the twins promoted our big performance coming up at Cotillion. Nothing that would out my identity, until one reporter asked "How are the rest of your friends adjusting to Auradon?"
I can never tell the twins apart, but it was the one on the left that answered the question. "Oh, they're all great!" He exclaimed. "They love Auradon. Here, I have a picture we took at our day trip in Sherwood Forest!" I shook my head and silently begged that the twins weren't that stupid. But when the twin on the left pulled out the picture from his wallet I knew it was true. "See, there's Nibs, Tay, Screw, Toodles, Slightly, me, and there's Petra Pan herself in the front!" The twin held up the photo to the camera of all of us in front of Robin Hood's old hideout, since Robin was such a good friend of my father and invited us to visit. And sure enough, there I was in the front clear as day.
I made a mental note to myself to strangle the twins if I ever escaped this place. Now I know how Mal feels whenever her face is displayed on Tv for all to see 24 hours a day. "Maybe he didn't see it?" Dizzy suggested, trying to stay positive. I shook my head and picked up my bag still sitting on my salon chair. "They repeat their stories at least 10 times a day." I explained. "If he didn't see it this time, he will very soon." I checked my hair in the mirror one last time before putting my sunglasses back on and heading towards the door. If Harry knew my identity, then I'm sure he'd come after me. And when he does, I'll be ready. "Where are you going? You can't go out there alone!" Mal yelled behind me. I didn't even bother turning around when I replied with "Try me." And headed back into the streets outside.