In which a young girl who doesn't believe in magic ends up on the most magical place in the world; an island called Neverland. After spending a few months on the island, she wants to go home. However, two years later, Annie Wood makes her return to...
Annie continued following Jakob and Nathan through the torch lit cave, a feeling of anxiety bubbling inside of her. The boys were leading her to someone, she just had no idea who. The stairs the trio were walking on seemed to last forever, spiraling deeper underground. Annie couldn't help but wonder if Pan knew about this cave, but of course he did. Peter Pan knew of every footstep and breath that occurred on his island.
A bright light came into view, and Annie could hear the happy chatter of the rest of the Lost boys. Jakob looked over his shoulder, smiling widely at Annie. A shadow was casted across his face from one of the dim torches, making only half his face visible.
There was a large room at the end of the staircase, where Lost boys were all talking and laughing with each other. They were talking to someone but Annie couldn't see who it was.
"Annie!" Troye greeted the girl with a large smile, and he came jogging over. "We're so glad you're safe." The boy said before giving Annie a small hug.
"I'm so glad you're all safe. But what's going on?" Annie looked around the room, taking in the wooden chairs that were scattered around the room, the carvings on the stone walls, and the group of Lost boys that were still crowded around someone. They had all turned to see Annie, but were still blocking whoever they were talking to.
"There's someone here that you might wanna see." Jakob stated, dodging Annie's question about what was going on. "Come on boys, let him say hi to Annie."
The boys started dispersing, revealing who had been hidden behind them.
"Long time no see, Annie." A man with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes came into view, a smirk toying at his lips.
"Tanner?" Annie asked quietly, studying the person in front of her. It'd been two years since she last saw the man, but he was still recognizable. His haircut was different, and he now had tattoos trailing up one arm, but his face hadn't changed at all.
"Well don't just stand there! Come give me a hug." Tanner smiled widely as Annie quickly walked over to him, pulling him in for a tight hug.
Annie laughed into his black shirt, her green eyes becoming cloudy with tears. "I never thought I'd see you again. What are you even doing here?" The girl pulled away briefly to look at Tanner, but he shook his head and pulled her back in for a hug.
"We'll worry about that in a minute. First, I wanna make sure you're okay." Tanner squeezed Annie tightly as they hugged before pulling away.
"I'm fine. I mean, I've definitely been better but I've also been worse." Annie replied. Tanner's smile had fallen, and he now held an expression of concern.
"You look exhausted, Annie. And you're so scratched up." Tanner pointed out, the older brother side of him coming out. Tanner had spent years protecting his own brother, Hunter, from the dangers of Neverland. Now he had to dedicate all his time to protecting Annie.
"Please tell me why you're here, Tanner. How'd you even get here?" Annie changed the subject away from herself. Before Tanner had the chance to say anything, someone came running into the room.
"Grayson's gotten worse. He collapsed in the jungle, and Pan took him back to camp. He's looking for all of you." A woman explained, her voice loud and frantic. Annie gasped at the news about Grayson while she turned around.
The woman had blonde hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun, and was wearing a ripped and dirt stained forest green dress. On her feet were laced up leather ankle boots.
"Thanks, Tink. We'll head back to camp soon. Annie just got here." Jakob replied, tilting his head over to where Annie stood with Tanner.
"Annie." Tinkerbell looked over at the girl, their green eyes locking together.
"It's nice to meet you, Tinkerbell." Annie said to the fairy with a small smile, having many questions about the woman. One of them being, where were her wings?
"Stay safe, my Darling. Neverland is about to become a war zone." Tinkerbell stated before turning around and quickly running back up the stairs, out of view. The warning Annie had received sent chills up her spine, not knowing exactly what the woman had meant.
"We've gotta go to camp. Tanner and Annie, you two stay here. Tanner, maybe fill her in on everything so she doesn't lose her mind." Jakob said before heading over to the stairs. All the Lost boys left the room, leaving Tanner and Annie all alone. An awkward silence had fallen between the two, anxiety pumping throughout Annie and concern radiating off of Tanner. They both were nervous for what was to come, not taking Tinkerbell's warning lightly.
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So for those of you that don't know, Tanner was a Lost boy in the first part of this book!! The next chapter will explain why he's back on Neverland.
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