Peter Pan The Killer

Chapter 14: Wendy Triggers Memories

Peter heard voices.

His ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton. The discussion around him barely audible. He felt claustrophobic, trapped. Urging himself to move, his eyes flickered open. A curved pane of glass greeted him. Beyond the barrier, several individuals covered from head to toe, save for their eyes, in sterile lab attire.

"...Cannot proceed."

"...Neural signals are affecting..."

He hardly picked up the words. Making sense out of them was tougher. He could vaguely see a reflection of himself against the glass. A pale child dressed in a hospital gown strapped onto a metal table.

"PXDST is unable to-"

He drifted away from the laboratory. His vision losing focus. Soon the surrounding images recollected into another scene. He was lying on something yet again. This time, it was a mattress. His body lurched and spasmed, excruciating pain surged his veins. He felt someone hold him down and a needle pressing into his skin. He felt no pain... This was of course... Just a dream.

The seizures ended. Coming around the bed, the familiar man pressed his palm on Peter's forehead. Startling blue eyes peered into his.

"It will be over soon, boy. You will awaken stronger than ever," The man said with a smile.

Peter felt his mouth move on its own. He was reliving a memory he had no control over.

"Father... What's wrong with me?" his own voice spoke. Peter hated the way his oblivious young self had spoken to the man before him with such respect and affection.

Gregory Skul sat at the edge of the bed. He peeled off his black gloves and pressed two fingers to the center of Peter's forehead.

"Nothing is wrong with you. You are a catalyst, a revolutionary piece in this puzzle of life... You and I, together, will change the world. Make it a better place," he removed his hand and stood up, patting his shoulder.

The scene dissolved. Now he was a little older, almost as tall as Skul. They were within an underground dome. Peter knew the place like the back of his hand, forced to spend hours honing his strengths as Skul would put it. The man had taught him everything he knew, raised him to be a jack of all trades. Peter had always questioned why. Skul would simply reply with the same answer... Catalyst, a revolutionary piece of a puzzle.

It made no sense to Peter. However, the young obedient boy knew better than to disobey his caretaker. After all, it was Skul who saved him.

Peter wiped the sweat off his brow, his breathing even. His endurance, agility and strength had increased and with necessary training, he hardly ever felt tired after. Skul came up to him, coat and gloves discarded, but he still held on to his peculiar walking stick. From what Peter knew, Skul did not need assistance to walk. The man was fit and tall, kept himself in impeccable condition, perfectly trimmed beard, slicked dark hair with prominent grey streaks. The stick was simply a treasure that hardly ever left his side.

Peter grimaced as he recollected this very day. The day that changed him. The day he turned into a monster.

"I have a special task for you," Skul informed, he was holding a plastic vacutainer tube.

The scene shifted. Now they were flashes. There was red. So much red. And Peter never flinched. Hypnosis cleared his hands of murder. His victims killed themselves. His duty was simply to fill the tube with their crimson blood.

Why kill them? He never questioned.

He had not realised his repeated actions had instilled blood lust. He enjoyed his special missions, more so than training in the dank basement. He could test the limits of skills, strategize routes of escape, hypnotise his victims into suicide. The rush of adrenaline after committing the crimes became ecstasy.

He was turning into a blood-thirsty monster.

Turn your head, Peter. Look at your surroundings. What was Skul doing with that blood? What was he doing in that room?

The Peter now tried to urge his past self. There was a bigger problem at hand.

Alas, he remained clueless.

The final memory replayed in his head, but this time it was longer than he had remembered. More of his memories were returning, what he once forgot was now coming back to him.

Skul had flicked open the skull figure at the top of his stick. He pulled out a cuboid pendant nestled within the space. Looping it into a silver chain, he clasped it around Peter's neck.

Skul had spoken words he hadn't remembered before, "I will return for you, boy, after necessary procedures. I need you to be exposed to the outside world or else it would not fully develop. I will be watching. I'm always watching. Everything that happens in your life... is under my control. All I ask for you to do, is keep PXDST safe, as if your life depends on it- which it does, boy."

With a snap, Skul's hypnosis had erased his memories, leaving Peter with a fragmented past.

Peter rose to consciousness. Something was triggering the return of his memories. Maybe it was because he lacked the fear of looking back into his haunting past. He had found clues.

The blood Skul had forced him to collect had to have a connection with the research Skul was doing. Possibly regarding PXDST. Now, Peter remembered, PXDST was related to the project he was involved with since the Neverland Bioengineering Foundation. Skul had never truly left his life. In fact, he was pulling the strings all along.

Instinctively, his eyes drifted to the girl curled on the bed beside him. She was still in deep sleep.

Wendy. Was she part of his plan too? The thought ignited a sharp pain in his chest. What if it was all a setup? It was too convenient for both Belle and Wendy to work together to find him.

How could he be so blind? He was playing right into Skul's plan. He could not trust anyone. Reminding himself over and over again, did nothing to stop him from taking the hand Wendy had reached out to him. How could he be so gullible? How many times must he make the same mistake before he learned?

Wendy shifted in her sleep, snuggling closer towards him. He forced down the urge to wrap his arms around her. He stared at her sleeping face, for god knows how long, until she had woken up.

Her warm brown eyes focused on him, and she gave him a lopsided smile. Her hair was a tangled mess, she had strands in her mouth. The band-aid on her forehead was peeling off, but she looked contented. Peter had seen nothing more beautiful.

"Morning," she said, then furrowed her brows as she pulled the hair out of her mouth before her fingers got tangled in a knot in her hair. She cursed to herself.

Peter could not resist the urge to smile. The urge to pull her into his arms. His heart thrummed with innocent joy.

This was bad. Stop.

But he couldn't. He just couldn't. The revelation struck him. Worse than that one time Skul's training dummies had thrown him across the training room. He could not help but wince as he realised...

He had fallen in love with Wendy.

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A/N: Hey, Lost Boys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 15 will be up on 6th April 2020, Thursday. 

 If you'd like to read ahead, come on over to my Patreon Page! Chapter 15 and 16 are available there now! Link to my Patreon Page in my bio.