Once Upon a Time: Ever After High (Book 10)

Ch.24 Untrustworthy

Now at the Lost Boys campsite, the Wonderlandians explained to the boys and Piper's parents about Piper being alive as Brenden showed them his compass.

"This is how we found out he was alive" he explained as Peter took the compass and examined it.

Wendy peered over her husband's shoulder as he flipped open the secret compartment and saw their family portrait.

"I knew it" Peter smiled proudly "I knew he was alive."

"Did you see him?" Wendy asked them with a worried look "How is he?"

"Well we never got a chance to see him cause of the whole abduction thing-" Brenden explained "But a friend of ours saw him."

"But by the way she described him-" Christina put in "It seems that Piper's changed."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked.

"He's been in Storybrooke for as long as we have-" Lauren explained "And we haven't seen him, it's like he's trying to hide from us."

"Why would he wanna do that?" Wendy asked with confusion.

"We don't know, we're hoping to ask him once we see him."

"You think this has to do with him lying to Blackbeard about the map?" Slightly asked.

"I don't think so" Peter replied "It has nothing to do with the Wonderlandians."

"Then what is it then?" Wendy asked "I know Piper would never hide from his friends."

"Unless he's hiding something himself" Ilene put in.

"You think he's avoiding us because he has a secret?" Christina questioned her.

"It's a possibility" she shrugged "But who knows?"

"So Piper's in Storybrooke right now?" Wendy asked.

"I guess so" Amanda responded "We got another friend of ours to search for him, but I don't know if she's found him yet."

"Considering that there's no service in Neverland, I guess we'll never know until we see him for ourselves" Ilene put in with a sigh.

(Flashback) By the time it had gotten dark, Piper waited in the storage room nervously until the musketeers entered.

"Okay" Blade said to him "The pirates shouldn't be in here for a bit so I say you hurry now."

"Great" Piper replied as he slid on the enchanted ring "Are you guys sure you don't wanna come?"

"We'll be fine" Antony assured "Don't worry about us."

"Okay" Piper sighed as he twisted the ring around his finger 3 times.

And at that point a portal suddenly opened next to them as they gasped.

"It's working!" Piper gasped with a smile.

But before he could go through it, the door suddenly opened as Blackbeard and his crew came down.

"Piper go!" Arial yelled as Piper quickly ran through the portal as it closed up.

"No!" Blackbeard roared with anger.

Even though they knew that they were going to punished, the musketeers were glad that Piper was able to escape as they hoped he made it back to Neverland.

By the time it was about 11:30, Chase started to wake up as he gave a sleepy moan while rubbing his eyes. And when he fully opened his eyes, he found himself on the bed with Darling who was still asleep and snuggled against him. Remembering what happened last night, he gave a small smile as he tapped her shoulder.

"Hey" he whispered "Darling."

Darling then gave a groggy moan as she forced her eyes to open as she looked into her boyfriend's eyes.

"Oh hey" she smiled in a tired voice.

"Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep" he said "But we gotta get up and look for our friends."

"Alright" she sighed as she sat up and rubbed her face.

"You do realize you slept with your bra on last night" he put in.

"Oh" she said surprised when she saw that she was still wearing her bra "I didn't feel that."

He gave a small chuckle "Let's just get dressed."

After getting dressed, they were about to head out when they heard a knock at the door, Chase went over and answered it to see Becky.

"Morning" she greeted with a smile "You two doing okay?"

"Yeah we were just about to leave" Chase replied.

"Do you know where to find your friends?"

"I think they said they were going to the Natives first" Darling answered.

"Oh okay, if you want I can take you."

"Oh thanks" Darling smiled.

"Let me just get my stuff."

But as Becky closed the door, she didn't noticed that her drawstring bag had fallen off her belt and onto the floor. But when it did, the bag had been pulled open as Night Roots stuck out from the bag as Chase picked it up and examined the roots.

"Hey Darling" he said a bit startled "Aren't these Night Roots?"

He showed her the roots as she examined them.

"They are" she gasped "Chase where did you find these?"

"They fell off of Becky's belt when she closed the door" he answered in a tremble "Darling you don't think..."

At that point they felt the hairs on their skin stand up.

"You think she's the one who put Night Root in Piper's drink?" she questioned nervously.

"What do you think?"

"I- I don't know" she mumbled "But now Becky is starting to look sketchy."

"You think it has anything to do with our friends? You think that's why she wants to show us the way?"

"Well let's not jump to conclusion, maybe it's just a coincidence."

"Nobody carries Night Root with them unless it's for evil" he put in "I don't trust Becky now, if that's even her real name, I say we turn down her offer and try to find the group for ourselves."

"But we don't even know where the Natives are."

"I still say it's better than going with her, maybe she wants to come with us so she can kill us all, you don't know what she could be planning."

But before Darling could say anything else, Becky suddenly came in.

"Okay I'm ready-" she started to say when she spotted Darling holding her bag and the Night Roots as she froze with her eyes widen.

"Becky..." Darling said while a concerned look "Did you put Night Root in Piper's drink?"

Realizing she was caught, Becky remained calm as she slowly reached for her gun that was hanging on her belt.

"Darling look out!" Chase screamed as he quickly pulled Darling onto the floor just as Becky pulled out her gun and fired above their heads.