Magic ➙ Ethan Dolan

chapter thirty four

"I need you to see something." Pan stated as he lead Annie through the jungle. It was weird to follow the boy, just because he knew exactly where he was going. Never once did he hesitate to go down a path or even have to think about which way to go. It was remarkable. Annie was starting to get the hang of which paths led where, but Pan knew the island like the back of his hand.

The route the two teenagers were on, Annie had taken so many times. She only prayed that Pan wasn't leading her to where she thought they were going. The tree stump in the ground and the tangle of roots sticking out of the dirt ground were all on the path to the mermaid beach, the last place Annie wanted to step foot on again. She cautiously followed Pan, waiting for him to take an unexpected turn somewhere. But he never did, and Annie continued to follow him as he broke through the trees and into the light of the sun. The crystal clear sea was calm, with gentle waves rolling to shore. The scenery would've been absolutely breathtaking to any normal person but all Annie saw was pain and blood. The thin scar on her neck was a constant reminder of what had happened on this beach with the mermaid.

"What are we doing here?" Annie asked, her eyes shifty and nervous as she looked out at the water, expecting a blue haired head to pop up above the surface.

"See that island out there?" Pan pointed out to the horizon, where a burnt umber coloured rock stood proudly. Annie squinted her eyes past the sun, noticing the rock was in the shape of a skull.

"Yes." Annie replied, trying to swallow her nerves. She felt her heartrate pick up as she realized what Peter's plan was.

"We have to go to it." The boy said, as if he had read Annie's mind. Noticing how nervous she had grown, Peter put a hand on her upper arm in attempt to comfort her. "Hey, it'll be okay. Nothing is going to happen."

Annie nodded, to say she believed him. Nothing would hurt her with Pan there, but then again, she knew the rules. They'd be in mermaid territory.

Pan walked to the edge of the water, and reached his hand into the sand. Annie stared at him with furrowed eyebrows, knowing he must've used magic to get his hand through the mud. With a loud squishing noise Pan pulled his hand out, a large conch shell in it. He blew into it, letting out a long and deep note. The shell was music to Annie's ears, and helped to calm her down.

A bubbling noise caught Annie's attention, and she looked back out at the water. "Pan." The girl said, assuming it was something harmful coming to the surface.

"It's okay, Annie." He replied. A small canoe appeared above the surface, with two paddles sitting inside. "Come on, this is our ride." Pan stated, walking over to the canoe. He pulled out the paddles and stuck them through two metal rings on the top of the canoe, before getting in. Annie carefully got in, at sat across from Pan. He dug the paddles into the sand to push away from shore, before starting to glide through the water towards the rock.

Annie looked over at her shoulder to see that the skull island was quickly approaching, and wondered just how fast Pan was rowing. The speed of his arms didn't match the speed of canoe and Annie assumed the paddles were just for show; he didn't actually need them.

Peter got as close to the shore of the island before hopping out of the canoe, and dragging it up furthur onto land. He then helped Annie out of the canoe, and led the way onto the island. There was a short set of stairs that led to a large room, with makeshift windows that were the eyes of the skull. Annie could see the water, and was happy she was inside and on land rather than out there. Right in the middle of the room was a large hourglass that wasn't draining, but all the sand was in the top.

As Annie looked around, she got a feeling like she had been here before but couldn't remember when. Everything seemed familiar, especially the hourglass. But Annie thought the last time she saw it, it was nearly empty.