Angel of the Sea

Chapter XIV

I was about to ask Ariel more about what my family knew about Peter Pan, but she looked up, and her attention was on something else.

"Did you see that?" she asked.

"Ariel, I have legs," I reminded her.

"So?"

"So, my senses are in the same level as a normal human being's. Your senses are more enhanced than mine," I explained.

"Oh," Ariel looked down in realization, but her head shot up again.

"There it is again," she said.

I looked up, and tried my best to see through the darkness of the late night.

"Alright, Ariel, give me a hint. What color is it? Shape? Speed?" I kept asking as my eyes were glued to the dark starry night.

"Uh..." Ariel was lost in thought, "dark color... sort of a human figure..."

Right when I was about to look away, my eyes caught something. It was a dark figure alright, and it was moving fast.

"Do you know what it is?" Ariel asked.

"Not sure, but you know me," I whispered.

Ariel finished for me. "You're going to go check it out, aren't you?"

"Yup," I stood up, placing the necklace over my head and around my neck.

Before I could walk away, Ariel called my name.

"Angel, wait!" I stopped on my tracks, and turned to her. "About the necklace-"

"Tell me later," I cut her off as soon as I say the dark figure moving closer to us, "right now, you need to leave."

As Ariel looked up, searching for the floating figure, I repeated louder. "Go now!"

She dove underwater, and swam away. To safety, I hoped.

When I looked up, the figure was closer than before.

"Damn."

I sprinted away, which later turned into running. I made sure not to look behind me. Whenever you ran away from something- or someone, you never look back, because looking back gets you killed.

I ran as fast as I could, not wanting the dark and floating creature to get its arms around me. As I kept running, I noticed that there was a gap up ahead. The more I reached it, the more I readied myself. Once I reached the edge, I jumped with all energy. The jump made me forget that there might've been something chasing me. It felt like flying, and it was the first good thing I found about legs. You can always jump.

The landing was harsher than I expected, and I fell as soon as I touched the ground. I rolled over on the dry leaves, but quickly picked myself up as I saw the creature flying closer. My eyes widened, and I proceeded my run. I jumped over logs, and dodged branches. Surprisingly, this chase sort of made me feel alive in a way. Even though there was something chasing me, I felt free as I ran as fast as I could.

Out of nowhere, I laughed at the energy and excitement. There was no telling if I could get out of hand, or get too into this chase. I realized this when I reached a cliff. I noticed a skull-like shaped rock out in the ocean, but I didn't pay much attention to it. I turned around, and saw the dark figure reaching me. The good thing about this spot was that the moon light was shining on us, and I could clearly see what was chasing me.

A shadow.

"Come and get me," I challenged.

I turned around, not being able to wipe this stupid grin off my face, and jumped. I jumped into the ocean. My legs pierced the water, and I was surrounded by it afterwards. I swam deeper into the water, hoping that the shadow couldn't reach me underwater. I swam around the island, and reached a beach. I was glad I didn't swim back home, because the swim made me exhausted enough. I fell on my knees and hands, and coughed out water. I was out of breath, and a little dizzy, but I could hear someone clearing their throat. I looked up, and I wasn't surprised. Peter Pan stood in front of me, as well as Felix, and a few other lost boys who were holding weapons and fire torches. I looked back down, and sighed.

"One second," I breathed out, "just give me a moment to catch my breath."

I finally stood up soon after.

"That was like a crazy exercise," I commented, trying to lighten the mood.

The boys muttered amongst themselves, while Pan raised his eyebrow.

"What is up with that eyebrow?" I asked. "You raise it too much."

With that, I walked past the Lost boys, and into the forest, heading for their camp. I could tell a few of them were a bit confused by how nonchalantly I acted after being found on the beach in an exhausted matter around 1:00 A.M. To be honest, I was breathless, amused, excited. Scratch any of those words, I was exhilarated! I always knew having legs would be exciting, but I never thought it would make me feel like this. It was something I knew I've never felt before.

The chase.

How could a chase like that make me feel so alive? So much energy I felt. I was starting to wonder where that little shadow had gone to-

With this in mind, I stopped on my tracks, and so many questions popped up. Why was a shadow chasing me in the first place? Where did it come from? Was it even a shadow? I was going to have to have a talk with Pan.

I kept heading towards camp. I noticed a shining light through the forest, and I knew the light came from the fire torches in the camp. I reached the camp, and noticed only a few Lost boys. The rest must be on their way here. I walked past the stares that the boys kept giving me, until I heard one of them speak.

"I still don't know why Pan would want that fish here. She's a mermaid, and we can't trust those things."

"Come on, Nibs. If she was a danger to us, Pan would've destroyed her by now."

They had gained my attention with those words, and I made a glare. My back was still turned to them, but I saw a few weapons lying on stump in front of me. I reached for the first weapon I saw, and acted. A dagger stabbed the tree trunk on the space between the two boys. They gasped, and their eyes were wide with surprise. They looked my way.

"Yes, I admit I am dangerous, but if I planned on doing something to you, boys, I would have done it by now," I said, and I ignored the stares that the rest of the boys gave us.

One of the two boys that talked about me looked at the dagger, and then glared at me. I knew what he was thinking.

"And no, the dagger doesn't count," I said, rolling my eyes.

The boy that wasn't glaring at me chuckled, and walked towards me.

"Sorry about the gossip. My name's Slightly," he pointed at the boy who kept glaring at me. "The boy over there is Nibs."

Nibs looked away when he saw me looking at him.

"What's your name?" Slightly asked.

My eyes flew away from Nibs, and landed on Slightly. I noticed that a lot of the boys had an accent similar to Pan's, including Slightly. They must have been from the same area before coming to Neverland.

"Angel," I answered, and we both silenced.

"Well, it was..." I searched for the right word, "interesting meeting you two."

"It was definitely interesting meeting you as well," Slightly said, gesturing towards the dagger I had thrown at them earlier.

"Sorry about that," I apologized, but I had to hold back a laugh.

"No, don't worry about it. That just proves how much of a Lost girl you are inside," he said.

I looked down in thought, and parted my lips to say something, but instead, I doubled over. I placed my right hand over my mouth while the other hugged my stomach. Slightly placed a hand on my back.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked in worry.

I shook my head.

This sudden headache shot into my head, and I felt as if an explosion was taking place inside of my stomach. I had to throw up, and at the same time, pass out. I couldn't tell what I did next. I could only feel my side hit the ground, and my eyelids covered my eyes completely.