Again In Neverland

Chapter 11: Companion

Lilith ran until her legs could move no more. They gave way under her and she collapsed to the floor. Her body hitting it with full speed and dragging along the grass and stones until she stopped moving. At which point she continued to cry, and rightly so.

Lil knew her parents would be strict about this, but boarding school?

This was a new level of cruel.

So she ran. She opened that front door and left behind all that bothered her.

She curled herself into a ball and cried more. The tears drenching her face and her sleeves. She knew by now that her hair was matted with sticks and leaves. There was no point trying to fix it.

Lil could feel a stinging in her legs and she managed to sit up. Wiping her eyes and looking at her legs, she could see they were completely scratched up. Bloody marks went up and down her legs, leaving brown smudges between them. She took a sharp breath of air as she looked at her arms and found the same damage was done. As she licked the salty tears from her lips, she tasted blood. She brought a hand up to her mouth and felt her lower lip. There was a long gash from her chin to her lip that seemed to be bleeding, as well.

Lil buried herself in her arms and cried more. That was the only thing that took her mind of the pain in her body.

Eventually, her tears stopped, for there were none left to cry. She lifted her head and wiped her nose.

It was then she surveyed where she was. Somehow, she had managed to run into some sort of... garden.

Though it was dark, there were dim lights hidden in bushes that provided enough light to see around. Lil used all her strength to stand up. Her legs felt like jello and putting weight on them only added to the stinging from the cuts. Slowly and through much pain, she managed to make her way closer to the garden.

For at least a mile in each direction, all Lil could see was flowers. It may have been night time, but the vibrant pinks, yellows, and blues of the flowers were not hard to spot. In between the flowers were pathways of fresh, green grass. Each path was connected and they all lead back to the center of the park. In the center, there was a fountain. There was a large statue in the center of the fountain but Lil could not make out what it was, so she decided to move closer. Cautiously, she made her way to the middle. She noticed that the grass pathways were lined with small, smooth stones. And that in the patches of flowers were trees that, in day time, must have provided for a great amount of shade. Lil could hear crickets chirping along with the sound of the water in the fountain. As she moved on the grass, she thought for sure that a somebody would come out of the trees and yell at her to get off their property, and yet, she kept walking towards the fountain anyway.

Finally in front of it, she examined the statue. It was a girl on a horse. The horse had it's front hooves in the air and the girl on it's back was holding onto the reigns for dear life, but she did not look afraid. She looked... prepared. Her face was focused on something and it looked like she was going to get it. Her hair was massively curly and it was frozen blowing backwards. The statue was as large as Lil, but surrounded by a pool of water. There was water coming from the top of the girl's head and it leaked down her sides, falling back into the pool.

There was a plaque in front of the statue on the other side and Lil moved to read it. It didn't explain the statue or anything to that extent. It only said two words.

'Wicklow Gardens'

"Wicklow Gardens?" Lil repeated.

She turned in a circle and looked around her, "Where am I?"

Exhaustion hit her and she sat on the edge on the fountain. Her head felt heavy and the pain in her legs became noticeable again. She leaned forward into the pool of water and dipped her hands in. It was cool, refreshing, so she cupped the water onto her face. It woke her up and cleared her mind.