Pay the Price (Pan x OC)

Lost Boys

Pan leads me through the forest expertly, his grip on my hand never faltering enough for me to slip it out of his grasp. I didn't speak or ask any questions, not wanting to listen to Pan's mesmerizing voice anymore. I knew that he could've been leading me to my death, that was most likely the case, but I didn't care, I wanted to know Henry was ok.

The sound of young boys laughing and having fun started to become more evident, growing louder the more we walked on. The flicker of a flame started to come into sight as Pan lead me towards an opening in the trees. I fixed my hood on my head, keeping comfort by hiding my face. I didn't know what to expect - savage beasts, young boys - but I knew it was going to be something.

It was something alright.

There were boys - kids and teenagers - dancing around a fire, while others sat on logs that had been placed around the fire. There were tents set up here and there in the empty space of the forest, most likely where the boys slept. Between the trees, a fair distance from the other tents, was a tree house. It sat high enough in the tree so whoever lived there could see the camp and it's entirety.

Henry was sitting on a log, looking down at his hands in thought. Pan held onto my hand, dragging me towards the boy. He sat on the ground, leaning his back against the log, and pulled me down to sit beside him.

"Don't even think of running" Pan whispers menacingly in my ear.

"Seraphina?" Henry asks, aware of mine and Pan's arrival.

"Hey Henry"

Pan pulls out a pan flute, playing something that couldn't be heard. It was like a dog whistle to a humans ear, except I wasn't sure there was any sound being created. As he started playing the boys started to dance around more in sync, the boys who had been sitting on the logs joining in. I was almost certain that there was music coming from the pan flute in Pan's hands, I just couldn't hear the music.

"That's an odd instrument" I say, watching the boys dancing around.

"Only lost boys can hear it" he explains, taking the flute away from his mouth.

The boys kept dancing even though the music had stopped, or I guessed it had stopped since Pan stopped playing.

"So you're saying I can't hear it because I'm a girl?" I ask, not offended just curious and confused.

"No. It's because you aren't lost"

He goes to play again but I stop him with another question. I looked him in the eye, completely serious now. I could see the fire reflecting in his eyes. I could tell there was a hidden intensity to him just by looking past the reflected fire, something I didn't want to get near, a fire that would burn everything in its path if it was ever let out.

"Can you hear it?"

He freezes then drops his hands with the flute. He turns to me, his face no longer calm. It was filled with enjoyment, almost like the question was something foreign to him.

"Why do you ask that?" He asks with a smile.

"Because I do" I say, mocking his british accent. I repeat my question, "can you hear it?"

"I can, just as much as all these boys here"

"Why do you look so... happy that I asked you that question?"

He shrugs. "Nobody's ever questioned me about anything other than rules, it's different"

"So none of the boys question anything about this whole island? They don't ask about what it was like before you were here or how it's still habitable?"

"They don't question anything, they just enjoy it"

He stands up, looking over the group of dancing boys with a smirk on his face. He had a plan, one that undoubtably involved me.

"Alright boys! I say we play a game!" He shouts, getting the attention of the loud boys.

"A game?" I mutter to myself.

"It's like a hunt, except instead of hunting animals we hunt something much more aware that they're being hunted" he explains to me.

My eyes widen in surprise. "You hunt people?!"

"We don't kill them, we aren't savages, we just track them down and bring them back to camp. Whoever gets them back here wins"

I stand up, keeping a wary eye on Pan and the lost boys. I had a hunch that I was going to end up being the one hunted, thanks to Pan's disturbed mind. The smirk on his face grew when he turned to look me in the eyes, pretty much approving my thought.

"The boy has run off" he says to the group of boys beside him while locking eyes with me. "Go hunt him down!" He shouts.

The boys cheer loudly and all take off running in different directions after grabbing their weapons from a large assortment of weapons. My eyes shift away from Pan's to where Henry had been sitting. He was no longer there, the apple he had been giving sitting on the trunk. I look back up at Pan, agitated.

"What are you going to do to him?" I ask in horror.

"Nothing" he replies. "I'm just bringing him back to camp, where I need him"

"What's so important about him anyway? Why do you need him?"

"He holds the heart of the truest believer. I need the heart to restore the magic on the island"

The war cries of the boys were distant but still perceptible. They mixed with the crackling of the fire in my ears, my ragged breathing slowly becoming more noticeable. I understand what he meant when he said he needed Henry's heart, it meant Henry would die. Pan took a step closer to me, fallen leaves crumpling underneath his feet. He had a devilish smile on his face, he was enjoying watching the air in my lungs dissipate.

"He isn't the only one I need"

"Why do you... need me?" I ask with great difficulty, pausing between words, trying to keep focus on what I was saying.

"Magic isn't easy to find, unless there is someone powerful who contains it"