BeLIEve, Darling Dear

Chapter Twenty

Anger boiled in my veins. They lied to me. Straight to my face.

John continued to try to calm me down as I stomped toward the first place that came to mind- the Jolly Roger. I ignored his pleading and his puppy dog eyes. How could he even look at me in the eyes when he had known that they were going to kill my brother? Not only that but they didn't know every aspect of the situation. They couldn't jump to conclusions and act on a rash decision without being completely informed. They were so stupid.

He took me by the shoulders after pleading with me for about twenty minutes. "Cora. Please, listen to me. You have to understand-"

"I have to understand? Me? I'm not the one about to make a horrible mistake based on presumptions and incomplete information," I hissed.

"Cora," he breathed, but said nothing else.

"You said you wouldn't lie to me. And you did."

"I didn't lie. Tinkerbell and the pirate did. All I did-"

"Stop. You supported them. It doesn't matter. Now not only is my brother going to die, but who knows what that bond is going to do to all the Lost Boys and... and me." I shook my head, despair beginning to overcome the anger. "I actually trusted you. Believed you when you said that I wasn't alone."

"You aren't," he murmured, stepping closer to me.

My stomach twisted. "I obviously am."

"No, no." He took half my face into a hand and tilted my face up, pressing my forehead to his. "I only did what I did to defend my family against a monster. If I lamented it, I'd apologize." He rubbed his thumb on my cheek. "But I don't."

"I don't even know if you realize who the monsters actually are." I swallowed down the tears. I still had time, hopefully. "Move," I uttered.

I pushed away and continued on my path to the Jolly Roger. John cleared his throat from behind me. Leaves crunched under his shoes. "They aren't there. They're at the Lost Boys encampment."

"Why should I trust you?"

He shrugged. "I may not lament what I did, but I do still feel guilty. And because you're running out of time."

For whatever reason, I listened to him. I wasn't willing to risk anything. I stalked on with John trailing behind me like a scolded puppy. We marched in a tense silence, my anger simmering down to anxiety. What if I didn't get there in time?

A weird sound rose from the distance as we neared the camp. It was like the gurgle of boiling water, interrupted by the occasional whine. Behind it there were the coughs of drowning hundreds. I sped up, my heart in my throat. The sight that we came upon at the camp was horrendous. There are no words to describe the disgust, anger, or shock that I felt.

Every Lost Boy in existence was floating midair, just a couple feet off the ground. Their hands either clawed at their throats, or twitched at their sides. Dressed in the uniforms, they looked like dying flies, twitching and buzzing fruitlessly. Beside a hut was Tinkerbell, a half fist risen and pointed at the boys suspended in the air around her.

She wore a merciless look of utter determination, her hair whipping in the wind. The muscles in her arms flexed constantly, like liquid steel flowing beneath her skin. Small branches of the black marks tattooed on her skin swelled and disappeared, always reappearing thicker than before. The curls crept up her jaw, tangling themselves around the sharp contours of her mouth like unmanageable vines. Her entire being seemed to be in constant motion, always moving, even as she herself remained completely still.

I wove around the hundreds of dangling feet, making sure I didn't touch any. "Isabella?" Despite my anger I took cautious steps toward her, afraid of what she would do if I took one wrong turn. "Why are you-"