Finding Peace

Chapter Nine

"Why are you still alive?" Pan questions as soon as I'm within hearing distance.

"Why, you can't accept that you're wrong about them?" I question back.

"No. I'm not wrong about them, mermaids don't have souls. They kill anyone who comes close enough to them so why did they spare you?" He walks around, examining me as if he can figure it out just by watching me.

I huff and start to walk away. I'm sick of his games. Pan always seems to think that he has the answers to everything. He needs to grow up and realize that the world doesn't revolve around him.

"Where do you think you're going?" He says, appearing in front of me.

I ignore him and continue walking off but before I can get very far, he grabs my wrist and turns me around. I clench my jaw and try not to roll my eyes.

"What do you want Pan? It's been a long day and I have a lot to think about." I sigh.

"I think you're forgetting who's in charge here. I let you have the day to do what you wanted. Now it's time to go back to camp.

"Why should I go back with you? You locked me in a cage." I respond cautiously.

"Yeah well, you don't really have a choice." He declares before grabbing my wrist and waving his hand in the air. Red mist surrounds us and he teleports us back to his camp.

"I am fully convinced you never graduated kindergarten! Did I not just tell you that I didn't want to come back with you?" I yell, ripping my wrist from his grip.

He just raises an eyebrow at me, "I just told you, I'm in charge here. It would be wise to listen when I tell you to do something."

I just glare at him but choose not to respond.

"Now that we have that cleared up, let's get you some dry clothes and some hot food." He says.

"No thank you, I'm not hungry and I can dry my clothes myself." I try to say with confidence but my stomach betrays me with a loud growl.

"You sure about that love?" He says cockily.

I don't reply, but I also don't leave. Where would I go anyways. I still have to figure out what I'm going to do. I mean Seraphina kinda dropped a bomb on me. I'm somehow supposed to save Neverland? That's ridiculous. But there's absolutely no way I'm going to let Pan kill an innocent kid when I could do something to stop him.

I turn to Pan and sigh, "Okay, I would appreciate some food."

He just waves his hand and a bowl of steaming stew appears. "All you have to do is believe in something and it will appear." He reminds me.

Nodding in disbelief, I close my eyes and hold out my hands, picturing a plate of french toast. My mouth starts to water and my stomach growls in anticipation. I haven't had a decent meal in years. Opening my eyes, I look down at my hands, almost dropping the plate in shock.

There, sitting in my hands right before my eyes, is a small plate of french toast. I can't believe my own eyes. I have magic. I have magic! This could have changed everything. I mean, James wouldn't have died! I could've saved him.

The joy and awe of it all fades away pretty quickly after the reminder of how I failed. If I hadn't been so needy that day, if I had just paid more attention to him, everything could've changed. I could hold my little brother in my arms one more time.

I blink and wipe the tear from my eye, remembering where I am. I must've looked pretty weird crying over a plate of food. Looking around I'm glad to see that Pan seems to be the only one to have noticed my moment of weakness.