Crimson

Chapter 8: Unplanned For

Hannah's Perspective:

Sticks and branches crunched underneath our feet as we walked. There was still plenty of light for us to see as Julian and Sam led me through the forest.

"What do you mean 'training'?" I asked in a confused tone.

Julian chuckled;

"You don't actually expect us to just let you roam freely around Neverland without knowing how to defend yourself, do you?"

I scoffed and looked at him like he was delusional.

"I know how to fight" I countered in a snobby tone.

Julian rolled his eyes;

"If you're such a good fighter then why did you lose against Pan in the challenge that nearly led to your death?"

At first, I didn't quite know how to reply. But as my fuse began to shorten I spoke;

"Maybe because he's a spoiled dipwad that cheated."

Both of the boys scoffed.

"He played by his rules Hannah" Sam said.

Ding ding ding!

"Exactly. Any rules created by him are automatically BS" I countered.

The boys both laughed and smirked at each other.

"Boy, Pan's really gonna love having you around" Julian spoke, his voice drowned in sarcasm.

I rolled my eyes;

"How could he not? I'm adorable..."

At this point, I recognized the area around us. Before I knew it we stood before the large wall that guarded the camp.

"It's just us Connor!" Julian yelled to the tower above.

I watched the boy holding a hand-made crossbow ready to fire as he examined the three of us. He skimmed over Julian and Sam when his eyes fell upon me. Looking down at me he spoke quietly;

"I take it this must be somewhat...unplanned for..."

Julian scoffed;

"Tell me about it..."

I shot him a look as sharp as a dagger and elbowed him in the side. Julian laughed it off.

"You're free to go..." Connor declared as he just looked at me in shock.

Why can't people here just keep their eyes to themselves?

Julian began walking through the entrance to the camp, expecting us to follow. As I followed behind him I instantly felt sick to my stomach. I'm the dead girl. Nobody knows I'm alive and expect me to have already been decapitated or something. At first, nobody looked at us when we walked through camp. But one by one, boys began to notice. None of them spoke aloud, just whispered in awe and confusion. My heart rate began to increase. There were so many eyes on me. But a few moments later everyone's eyes fell back to whatever they were doing.

"Come on cupcake, we gotta show you where you're staying..." Sam said.

Cupcake?!

I shot Sam a nasty look of hatred.

"Don't call me cupcake. No nicknames. Just Hannah."

My stern expression must've scared him because he put his hands up in defense.

Yeah, that's what I thought...

I didn't even think about where I was gonna stay. I had the whole 'get the hell out of here' mindset going for me for a while. We passed by the campfire and Pan's hut before approaching some other huts. As I observed the camp around me my eyes fell upon something I hadn't noticed before. There grew a large ash tree with deep carvings in its bark. I squinted my eyes in an attempt to read what was carved, but it was difficult due to it being so far away. As I neared closer I was finally able to recognize the writing.