Peter Pan The Killer

Chapter 24: A Croc's Conviction

Crocker never meant to eavesdrop. In fact, he intended to give Peter and Gwen the privacy they wanted. But Gwen's crying was audible. Peter's voice betrayed his vulnerability. The killing machine Skul so proudly boasted about was bearing his heart and soul to the girl before him.

He was in love. It was obvious.

Crocker shook his head. He unconsciously fiddled with the little woven charm hooked to his belt. It did not belong to him. But she insisted he take it before he left. Just listening to Peter and Gwen made him inadvertently remind himself of her. Which was uncalled for. He was Skul's soldier.

Nothing was supposed to break him.

He returned to the helm. Belle had taken up the job of steering the boat, since he was occupied treating Peter.

"The defense mechanism kicked in?" She asked.

"Yes."

"Hm, those two are ready to die for each other," she said, shaking her head.

Then her lips set to a frown. "What's Skul planning, Croc?"

He stared out at the open sea, the rippling light of the waves. He was not allowed to answer that.

"I thought you couldn't care less. Your job was only to deliver a message to Peter," he stated.

Belle gripped the steering and stared head on. "Listen here, kid. Those two are my friends. I won't let that bastard hurt them," she said through gritted teeth.

She was more passionate than he had expected. But he knew he could not stop Skul's plan. He was getting closer to freeing Pauline from his shackles, and that was what mattered.

They had their priorities.

He could almost see the speck of the island on the horizon. She was waiting.

He unlatched the door and allowed memories to tumble in. Memories unnecessary for a soldier to keep- but he did all the same- of the three months which changed him forever.

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3 months ago

When Skul asked him to treat the prisoner, Crocker was mildly surprised. Hostages were his specialty. Most did not survive, but Skul wanted this one alive for the most part. Although, he did stab her with a poisoned dagger, triggering temporary paralysis.

He entered the sealed underground room. It was a small square living space with and an attached bathroom. Quite luxurious for a hostage. Skul was a cruel gentleman.

The hostage was lying on the bed. The paralysis had already begun to wear off as she turned her head, but the rest of her body did not seem capable of moving. She did not look formidable, in fact she was probably just a bystander who got caught up in Skul's affairs. Often times, Skul would bring in volatile hostages, spies tailing him, officers and whatnot. Those required caution. However, from Skul's summary, this one was far from deadly.

There was imminent fear in her eyes as he neared her. Crocker put down the first aid kit on the floor and pulled up the girl's shirt to expose the puncture wound just past her navel. It had turned yellow-green because of the poison's effect, and the blood had clotted. It was not too deep. He removed a syringe filled with the anti-toxin and injected it into the wound. Then, he got to bandaging her. By the time he was done, the paralysis effects had worn off.

He closed the kit and started to leave.

"W-wait!" The girl called out.

"W-what are you going to do to me? What happened to Gwen?!" Her voice shook.