Crimson

Chapter 20: The Cloak

Lea's Perspective:

My vision was hazy as my eyes continued to open and close. They constantly felt heavy and weak, like they purposely didn't want me to wake up. I could tell I was dreaming because I felt a certain warmth that I hadn't felt in a long time. It was a familiar warmth to me that I hadn't felt since he died. Perhaps it was his faint scent left on his cloak that brought these memories back to the front of my mind. I had pushed them away for so long because of the pain they brought. But every once in a while he would come to visit me in my dreams. Old memories of him would visit me, letting me witness his smile for the first time in a long while. And when I would wake up he would drift away back to the corner of my mind where he resided. Though I wish I could say I was over him, there was still a piece of me that belonged to him, and him to me.

As my vision continued to fade in and out, I heard familiar voices speaking around me. From the timbre of the voices, I could tell that one of the voices belonged to Peter, one to Sam, and another to Julian. The last voice was eerily familiar and made my body tense up. Forcing my eyes open, smoke filled the dark sky and clouded my vision. Sitting up from the ground I felt my head become light, but I pushed past it. I noticed that in my arms I held the cloak I had grabbed from the vanity before it was consumed by the fire. Looking about myself I saw several people huddled around me. And indeed, my predictions were correct. Peter knelt beside me to my right, followed by Sam and Julian.

"Lea, are you okay?" Sam exclaimed as he looked into my eyes with fear. The world moved slowly in front of my eyes. "What happened?" He continued. At that moment I couldn't quite construct a cohesive response.

"Give her some air," Julian suggested. I could feel my head pounding as I hissed in pain. Through their questions I could still hear the rapid shouts of boys behind us, desperately trying to contain the fire. Pushing myself up from the ground my eyes panned across all of the people surrounding me. It wasn't until my eyes fell upon the person kneeling directly to my left that my suspicions were confirmed. My jaw clenched and her eyes widened when she saw my reaction. Beside me was Lily, who I hadn't spoken to in several years. The last time I spoke to her, I made it very clear as to how we stood. I had informed her that as long as she stayed away from me from then on, I wouldn't kill her. But the moment that she brings herself into my presence, I wouldn't hold back what I had in store for her. I grit my teeth and stood from my place on the ground. Peter grabbed a hold of my right forearm but I pulled away from his grip.

"What the hell is she doing here?" I spoke scathingly as I approached her. I watched the fear flicker in her eyes as she began to back away from me. Julian spoke up,

"Lea, stop. She came to help—"

"Help?" I scoffed. "You expect me to believe she was trying to help? She's a traitor—"

"Lea, if you could just listen to me I can explain—" Lily tried.

"I don't want to hear another word from you" I cut her off. "The last thing I want to hear from you is a thousandth apology. Because you know what? 'Sorry' doesn't fix anything—"

"Lea, stop! Just listen to her!" Julian pleaded. I scoffed.

"Don't tell me she's got you guys brainwashed. Don't you remember everything she's put us through? She can't be trusted." I glared darkly into her eyes. "Once a traitor, always a traitor."

"You know what, Lea, you're right. You have no reason to trust me, but I promise you this. Something is going on in Neverland that is bigger than anything we've ever dealt with." I chuckled.

"What cued you in on that? The disappearances of Lost Boys or the fact that there's a mystery girl that appeared from who knows where?" Lily stood with her lips parted.