Return of the Queen

Chapter 9

---Flashback---

"And you believe all that stuff?"

I looked away from Henry's storybook and out into the ocean. Fairytales and magic. Exactly what I needed after a long days' worth of work at the diner.

"I have to believe. Can't you feel it? Doesn't it just feel right to you?"

"The only thing I feel are those leftovers I had earlier."

I clutched my stomach and turned away, gazing out into the ocean. There were clouds forming over the horizon.

I had stormed out of the diner and found myself heading here, wanting some peace and quiet away from Granny and Ruby's incessant fighting.

My first instinct whenever I was around them: to run away.

"I have to go back."

I jumped off the castle playground and started to walk away.

"What if I told you this book could grant you your deepest wish?"

I turned around and sighed.

"And how would that happen?"

Henry stepped off the castle and walked towards me.

"You've always told me that you wanted your own family. A different kind of family that never fought and were loyal to each other."

"What if I told you that you already had that?"

"Henry, this is getting ridiculous."

He ruffled through the pages of the book and handed it to me, "Here look for yourself."

I glanced down at the page in front of me. I could see an island, a bunch of trees, a campsite, maybe a few silhouettes.

"Henry, I don't see what you're trying to-"

"Just look."

I took hold of the book and looked down at the image of the campsite and the girls surrounding the fire.

I was about to turn away again when one of the silhouettes caught my eye.

It was a girl with red hair sitting on a log staring through the campfire's flames right at...at me.

I scanned through the lines underneath the picture.

'There was a group that resided on the island, a group that consisted of young, lost or forgotten girls who had made their way to their new home. The Lost Girls, as they were called, had a fierce and cunning ruler who protected her family at all costs. Her influence grew like the roses in the Neverland gardens, and she was aptly named Thorn.'

---End of flashback---

~Felix's POV~

"Come back here, Thorn!"

I ran through the trees, pushing through branches and roots and rocks and cutting down anything in my way.

This time I would find her, and I would kill her.

This little show of hers would come to an end.

"I know you're here, Thorn. Come out and face me!"

I came to a stop at a break in the trees and looked around. The forest was quiet. Way too quiet.

Then, there was shuffling right behind me. I threw my axe blindly only to have it lodge into a tree.