They were nothing but scared children, brought up the same as those of my camp, now suddenly left alone with their own thoughts and allowed to wonder, to dread. Just scared children. Simple things raised in hell to know hell, but all still retaining that human instinct to fear that which stands unknown, just beyond the grasp of one’s knowledge, one’s perception. Whether this was by design or not I did not know, but it didn’t matter anyways. I could still see it, the fear in the eyes of them all, gently flickering, pulsating, driving their every whim, notion, action... I wasn’t sure where my disgust lied, in the others for exhibiting such pathetic weakness, or in the higher-ups for cultivating as much in children. It was easier to abominate my peers, I soon found, and did so with tenacity...
No suffering among them could I see as undeserved. No punishment dealt could I perceive to be too harsh. No hostility on the part of the officers could I recognize as anything but the result of some righteous indignation, the likes of which lowly creatures such as I could never hope to understand. I held such attitudes firm, however fabricated they were. I had to. If I sided with the officers, all was
according to plan. All was fine. If I sided with my peers, all was futile. All was hell.
What if...? Book One, Part 1: Neverland (A Peter Pan rewrite by Jae)
11 parts Complete Mature
11 parts
Complete
Mature
"Who are you?" I demand.
The boy in front of me replies, "That's not how this works, love."
I freeze.
That phrase.
That voice.
It can't be.
I look up but he's just a cloaked silhouette. The rustling stops when boys surrounding us step from their hiding spots and light lanterns. Every single one of them masked and cloaked. Except the one in front of me. The lamps lit, and I see his face.
"Whoa," slips from my lips as I stare at the boy in front of me.
His eyes widen and his jaw almost, just almost, drops. With his guard down for that one instant I lose all fear and gain control.
"You!" I yell suddenly overflowing with anger.
My stomach heats with rage. I fight to stand, stronger this time with anger as fuel. He backs up, his breath increasing. Obviously, uneasy, I take it as a win and almost stand all the way.
"You. What are you doing here? How did you find this place!" He switched to angry.
"You! You're the reason! They put me back because of you! It was all cause of you! It was your fault! All of it!" I'm so angry I yell only what I can.
My thoughts flying through my head I can only yell unexplained nonsense. I've never felt anger like this before. The red glow lightly pours off my own skin and I take notice to it. I compare it to the glow coming off of him. Suddenly, it's an instinct to allow the anger to explode and in doing so the red glow is taken from his chest as I absorb it all and throw it out in all directions. I yank down away from the boy holding me just as the red glow gets sucked from him, absorbed into my hands, and then thrown out in a sphere of red glow. All boys stumbling but not by much and the one holding me gets knocked back, I'm free.
"You die now, Peter Pan!"