Neverland

Chapter 28

I'm back!

Sloan stalked into the circle, as silent and smooth as a panther stalking its prey. Her black hair flowed out behind her in a glossy curtain, and every eye was trained on her, some mesmerized by her cold beauty, others tense and ready to pounce. I watched her in shock stuttering and confused like  a babbling idiot, but Pan had a reputation to keep up. He walked forward to meet her, seemingly unfazed. I however, knew differently. Underneath that cool façade he was as shocked as I was.

“Come to play, Sloane?” he asked. She threw her head back in laughter that echoed through the hushed clearing. “I think you’ll find, boy, that you’ve been playing my game for quite some time now.”

“You,” I said, stepping out of my stupor, “You did this to us.” “Oh, please,” she waved her hand, “You two did this to yourselves. All that lovely pent up jealousy and passion was bound to come bursting through some time. All it need was a little push, a crack in the dam, so to speak.”

“Why?” I asked, “Why do this to us? I don’t see how this benefits you.”

She shook her head and in that sickly sweet, condescending tone of hers answered, “This whole little experiment has planted a little seed of doubt in your minds. And that seed will grow into a lovely flower of distrust that would look beautiful in my garden. You see, Kate. You’re destined for things, the two of you. I want to make sure that you never make it that far. And you won’t, not now that you’ve seen what the other is capable of. Like I said, all that it took was a little push from me. Soon, the two of you won’t even need that push to do things like this. Katie, dear, you know that Pan is evil. Pan, you know that Kate is stubborn enough to jump off a cliff rather than give into someone like you. And your faults will consume you both. It’s only a matter of time before I watch you two burn to ashes. Good luck Pan,” she said, “You’re going to need it.”

And with that she twirled and vanished in a cloud of dark smoke.

The boys looked around in confusion, muttering.

Peter took hold of my arm.

“We need to talk,” he said as he dragged me away from the circle. I sat down next to him on a log and put my head in my hands. How could I have not noticed what was going on? Sure I was angry and caught up in the moment, but there was no way I would make out with a random kid, not like I did at least… Would I? That’s what bothered me the most about this whole situation. Would I have done that if I had been in my right mind?

I liked to tell myself I wouldn’t.

He took my hands in his, and lifted my chin so I looked him in the eye.

“Kate,” he said quietly, his voice catching, “You have to leave the island.”

I knew this was coming. There was no way Peter would want me to stay after what I’d put him through. “I know,” I said, “I’m so sorry, Peter, I… I understand why you don’t want me here anymore, it’s just that-”

He cut me off, “Are you kidding me? of course I want you here, Kate, but it’s too dangerous. I’m too dangerous. I don’t trust myself, not after what just happened. Sloane’s right. Any minute I could snap back into old habits and treat you like I did before. I can’t risk that.” He turned away. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not afraid of you, Peter,” I said.

His eyes were stormy when they turned on me.

“You should be.”

I called after him as he walked away.

“But, Peter, where am I supposed to go?”

“Just go back to your tree house for now.”

I ran after him. “You know this is what Sloane wants. She said the two of us were destined for things. If we do this we’re playing directly into her hands. She’ll win.”

He whirled on me. “Your safety is more than a game to me, Kate.”

I was shocked, frozen in my place. He huffed, and turned away.

“But I thought the safest place for me was with you.” Now it was his turn to freeze. He looked back at me, despair written across his elfish features. “So did I.”

“Besides,” he said, “I can take care of Sloane by myself.” “No, you can’t” I said, yet again running after him, “You underestimate her all the time, and it’s why she’s able to do these things. You need to stop seeing her as a child, and start seeing her as an actual threat. You need me to remind you because you won’t. You won’t remember. You’re too proud for that.”

“Dammit, Kate, it doesn’t matter! Just go. Go to your tree house.”

“Peter-”

“GO!”

The look he gave me was frightening. It was something I never thought he’d turn on me, and it reminded me of his true nature. I held back the tears threatening to pour down as I stared at him in shock for a moment before turning and running away into the trees. I didn’t want him to see me cry.

I collapsed against a tree, sobs heaving out of my chest, everything that had been building up inside me pouring out hot and steady down my face, and I curled up into a ball on the cold, hard ground.

Peter’s POV

I could feel her misery as strongly as I felt my own. Sending her away like that had killed me, but it had to be done. My chest ached in an odd sort of way, just one of the human emotions that had returned to me since Kate’s arrival.

Sloane was wrong. It wasn’t Kate I was now unsure of, it was me. I knew I was a monster. I knew what I was getting myself into, and yet I still fell for Kate. How many times had I told myself that I wasn’t capable of being loved, or that it was too dangerous for me to fall in love? These emotions would get jumbled up in my brain, just like they are now, and eventually I would give up. I would give up trying to make sense of everything. I would turn on them, and I would show them the monster I was inside.

If Kate didn’t hate me already, it was only a matter of time before she did.

This was what Sloane wanted. She wouldn’t touch Kate if she thought she were getting her way. The last thing she wanted was for me to swoop in and save Kate, and have us reunited. In her tree house with Tinkerbelle was the safest place for Kate. I was sure of it.

I had to take a break from writing to focus on schoolwork. That and the fact that I would fall asleep every time I sat down to write are my only two excuses. I apologize heartily for the long wait, and I hope to finish this over the summer. Wishing you all well and hoping you'll forgive me, Kat <33