Helpless

38-Perfect Strategy

  I enjoyed the intimacy that I'd been longing for since I ran out on him. A part of me felt guilty about being with him while he's kidnapped Henry, but I couldn't resist.
  We didn't get too far, no one lost their clothes and hands stayed above waists, but it was all I could've asked for.
  But I couldn't stay with him. As I went to hug him goodbye, I unleashed my magic.
  "Audrey? Audrey! What've you done?" He tries to regain his mobility, but all of his attempts fail. My magic is too strong.
  "I'm sorry. I had to do it," I admit. His eyes are full of betrayal. "You're hiding something, and I have to be with someone I can trust now."
  "Who will you go to?" He asks, seemingly in disbelief that I trusted someone else on the island.
  "Baelfire." And with that, I vanish into a cloud of purple dust.
  Baelfire appears beside me in the middle of the forest.
  "What did you do? Henry was there! We could've-"
  "No, we couldn't. He wasn't there. You think the lost boys only have one camp? Trust me, I know what I'm-"
  "Take me to the camp he's being held captive in."
  "Listen to me, Bae. We can't just swoop in and take him, Pan will figure it out and get him back. We need a plan. We'll reunite with Emma and the others, and then we'll be able to devise a perfect strategy to break Henry out."
  Baelfire remains silent. I can tell he still wants to go back and simply reclaim the boy, but I can also tell he knows I'm right. After giving into the fact that we both know Pan's games, Bae sighs and pushes forward without saying a word.
  He leads the way back to the others. He angrily pushes the branches away when they block our path and huffs out of frustration every now and then, so I hang behind. I look up at the sky only to notice that the beautiful vibrant blue has leaked out of it, and all that remains is a dull grey. Now that I'm noticing, the leaves and vines aren't their luscious green color anymore either. They look brown and almost rotten, hanging weakly off of the branches seemingly by a thread. I stop to rip one off of it's branch. The once smooth, firm texture has been replaced with a rough and somewhat sharp one. I frown. The magic is nearing its end.
  I decide to test out my magic. Maybe I can make it work again. I close my eyes and focus all my energy and thoughts on my belief. I lift up my hand and make a continuous swirling motion around the dead leaf in my opposite hand. I feel a rush of vigor surge through my body, starting with a tingle in my toes and washing over me like a wave on a sandy shore. The feeling surrounds my body, like a gust of wind being bent around me. Like I'm caught in the center of a tornado where I'm the control center.
  Once the feeling dissipates, my eyes pop open. The leaf that was dead just a few seconds ago has a newly restored color and health. The green is so vibrant that the leaf practically glows. Running my thumb over it, I can feel the refurbished smooth texture that'd been missing for so long. I can't help but smile. I feel Baelfire staring at me.
  "Wow, it looks like someone learned how to use her magic."