Peter Pan The Killer

Chapter 13: Peter Pan's PXDST

There was no hesitation for Peter to reveal PXDST. In fact, he himself was confused why Skul was willing to use hostages to retrieve it. Peter pulled out a thin silver chain with a cuboid metal pendant- about an inch long- from underneath his shirt. Gwen had noticed the chain a couple of times before, but it had been mostly hidden underneath the collar of his hoodie or jackets. She had not even paid much attention to it.

Now knowing the silver accessory was the reason Pauline was kidnapped made her insides churn.

"That's PXDST?" Belle remarked, incredulous. Peter nodded.

He sat on the stool, dangling the pendant. A pensive expression on his face as he recalled receiving it. "It was just a day before the bastard left me for the cops to trace. He gave me the chain," he murmured.

"Keep PXDST safe, as if your life depends on it- which it does, boy," Peter recited the exact words Skul had said to him.

"What is it? How does your life depend on it? Did he mean that literally?" Gwen bombarded him with questions.

Peter twirled the sleek, metal cuboid in his fingers. She noticed engraved on the cuboid was a series of numbers, like a code. Peter brushed his thumb over the numbers. He stared hard at the engravings as if hoping something would reveal itself. There was conflict in his eyes as well as confusion.

"Well whatever he meant, we get this to him and we get your friend in return. I say it's a good deal," Belle announced. She slid out of the stool and grabbed her bag.

"I'll head back to the motel. Gwen, let's go," she said.

Gwen's gaze flickered to Peter then back to Belle. She pondered for a moment. Noticing her hesitation, Belle rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Stay. I'll check out tomorrow and come by," Belle muttered. She placed her hands on the metal pole and hoisted herself up onto the opening. Within seconds she was gone. Gwen realized Peter was watching her with narrowed eyes.

"You don't trust her?" Gwen asked. Peter let out a sigh.

"I don't trust anyone. But Belle has been useful for a while. It would be a loss if she betrayed me," he turned to her.

If you think staying over in my place for the night is a good idea, you're really naïve," he said as he cleared the tabletop.

"You used to come over to my place all the time. What's the difference?" She retorted.

"True," he said with a shrug. Gwen still felt like something was off since the mention of PXDST. He seemed like he was holding back information.

"You're not telling us something..." Gwen said as she followed him to the couch.

He plopped onto it and his fingers went back to the pendant. She scooted closer till they were pressed against each other, shoulder to shoulder. She looked up at his troubled face. He was not looking at her, his attention solely focused on the metal.

"It's... Not that I'm not telling you something..." He replied after a while.

"Instead, I feel like I'm forgetting something... A lot of things," he continued.

Gwen was quick to piece it together. "Does hypnosis work on you? If it does, maybe Skul must have forced you to forget some crucial information about PXDST or-"

"I have very fragmented memories of my time with Skul. Being a child during the experiments at the labs, I hardly remembered the details of them too. Everything is just a blurry mess of torture in my head," he said, shaking his head.

All Peter remembered vividly were the emotions. The fear, pain and betrayal. But the crucial details were blanked out. What were they experimenting on? What is PXDST? What did Skul do to him?