Neverland - Completed

Chapter 21

•Rose•

Time was scary. It slipped between our fingers and and it dragged us through the dirt. We spend our lives chasing time, trying to tie it down. Yet when we have time, when we're stuck with nothing but time, we wish it away. Time hurts. It stills our hearts and claws cracks in our skin. The movement of time kills us, the stop of time causes us to wish we were dead.

It'd been two days since we spoke with Peter. It was terrifying was two days did when you were stuck in a hole with a dying friend. Micheal barely spoke, his skin papery white. At least the bleeding in his side had stopped. He was sleeping now, he was usually sleeping. I often couldn't.

My back ached where it leaned against the stone walls, my legs numb where Micheals head rested. I hadn't moved in forever. I was sure I was going insane. Last night, when no light crept through the wall of water, I'd sworn there was someone else in the cave. Peter, I was sure. He'd been there, assuming we were asleep. Maybe he thought we were dead.

I'd made no effort to speak to him. I wasn't sure if he was just in my head or not. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to really be there or not.

But now he was back, silhouetted against the waterfall. This time I knew he was real. My mind couldn't have created the look on his face. He walked forward slowly, unsure. It was painful to watch him, although he wasn't chained to the wall, he still looked like a caged animal. Dangerous. Broken.

"How is he?" Peter asked, surprising me with the concern that flashed in his eyes.

"Alive, barely." I moved Micheals head off my lap so that I could stand. I hated having Peter look down at me, like I was nothing. My joints groaned and my muscles screamed, I didn't realize how weak they felt. "Why are you here?" I whispered after a long stretch of silence.

"Don't sound so ungrateful or I'll change my mind about this." He tossed a satchel at my feet, an apple rolling out as it hit the ground. It took all I had to not fall to the ground and take a bite. I would not show weakness, not to him.

"Why are you doing this? Why not just kill us now?" I stepped forward, as far as I could with the chains holding me to the wall.

"Because I don't want to. Because part of me wants to keep you with me. Then there's the other part of me that wants to tear the two of you apart for your betrayal. The part of me that won't break my promise. You will not grow old in Neverland." He stepped forward as well, almost close enough to touch.

"What were we supposed to do?" I cried, "we know what you've done! We were scared for our lives!"

"I'm just trying to save you." He reached out, fingers brushing across my cheek. "Both of you."

"I'm not sure what your definition of saving is, but this isn't it." I leaned into his touch, falling back into those days when all my feelings were faked, where I was just acting. I wasn't sure what this was anymore. I drew him closer, so I had enough chain room to wrap my arms around his waist. His clothes were still wet from his swim beneath the waterfall, his damp hair falling over his brow.

"Why is it that danger is so beautiful." He closed his eyes, allowing himself to be pulled in. My hands found what they were looking for just as Peter's forehead rested against mine. My fingers curled around the cool metal of a ring of keys. Now I just had to get him to leave without knowing I had them. I shuffled my foot to the side, hitting Micheal in the shoulder. He barely made a sound, so I hit him harder. I felt bad, he needed the rest. But what he needed more was to get out of here.

"Get away from her." Micheal groaned from where he lay, eyes pealing open, raging with weak determination.

"Stop pretending she's yours." Peter hummed, not even sparing Micheal a glance.

"You're just jealous she chose me." A flare of anger bloomed inside of me at Micheals words. I hadn't chosen anyone. Why was it I was always being asked to chose. Why did I always have to be somebody's, like I was just a toy that two children fought over.

"I'm not jealous, I'm territorial. Jealous is when you want something that's not yours. Territorial is protecting something that's already yours." Peter chucked, his laugh echoing in my ear.

"I'm not yours." I pushed him away, snagging the keys as I did so. "I'm not anybody's."

"I will strip away everything you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but me." Peter growled, his anger blinding him from the keys I hid behind my back.

"We're going to kill you" Michael tried to sound threatening, but there was only so much he could do from there on the floor, covered in blood.

"Are you trying to intimidate me?" Peter laughed again, that wicked grin spreading across his features. "Cute. But you can't kill me." He suddenly darkened, looking down at his hands, "Trust me, I know."

He turned on his heals, refusing to even glance back at us before he dived back into the water.

"Why do you let him come near you like that?" Micheal was hurt, and not just physically. I wished he hadn't of had to see that.

"To get these." I fell to my knees as soon as I was sure Peter wasn't coming back and started to undo the chains.

"You're brilliant." He grinned, the first smile I'd seen in days. "Absolutely brilliant." He seemed almost recharged as the chains fell to the ground. I felt so free.

My wrists were raw and my bones ached, but I knew it was nothing compared to Micheals pain. I wasn't even sure how it'd get him through the waterfall and to land.

"Can you swim?" I asked, helping him to his feet and allowing him put most of his weight on me. It was a good thing I'd started training to make pulling back the bow easier, now it allowed me to keep Micheal upright.

"I'm going to have to." I could tell the adrenaline of escape was the only thing keeping him going. I only hoped it would be enough to get us to the pirates.

I helped him into the water, grateful that he was able to get himself to float. I simply had to drag him along. All around us the water was turning dark. Days of dried blood finally washing away. This was a different type of freedom than the absence of our chains. This type of freedom was hope. Hope that we may actually survive.

"Come on, lets get out of here." I pulled him from the water, draping his limp arm across my shoulders. Of course it had all been too easy, I should've known there'd be another roadblock to our escape.

I ringing noise sounded in my ear, like bells, like laughter. My hand shot out, gripping the tiny fairy in my grasp. Tinker Bell. Her laughter turned into sudden anger as her small fists plummeted at my skin.

"Thought you were going to go tattle to Peter hm?" I grinned, shaking her above Micheal and I's heads. Our feet lifted off the ground effortlessly, taking all the weight off of Micheals wounds.

Tink screamed in my hands, but I knew we couldn't let her go. She'd fly straight to Peter and we'd have to time to make it to Captain Hooks ship. So, with her kept tightly in my grasp, we flew.

I tried to make it a soft flight, not too fast, not too high, not too many turns. However we were quite far away from the ocean, from safety. Micheal was already weakening, it was a miracle Tink had been the one guarding our cave. Without her, we never would have made it.

He was suspended in the air with tormented eyes, shivering against the wind. I pulled him closer, so that he was only a whisper away, "Stay with me." His head fell against my shoulder, arms dangling towards the ground. My gut twisted, we were so close. I could see the ship on the horizon. It's dark sails flapping in the wind.

All too soon, yet not soon enough, we were crashing down onto the deck of the pirate ship. There was an uproar at our arrival and as I lifted my head from where I face planted with the floorboards, I was met with multiple swords in my face.