Pan's Redemption

Chapter 14 ~Let Me Out*

Pan had kept himself busy, surprisingly. He elaborated a tight rout for the little bird to weave through his maze of jungle. He posted his Lost Boys everywhere. He only gave them one task, to not come back to camp without his Wendy. If they were to return, he promised a certain death.

Pan was as bloodthirsty as ever. He would not fail tonight. No matter how hard she tried, Wendy would not escape him. As long as she had his heart, he would never let her slip through his fingers.

Wendy's cage lowered to the ground and the door swung open. She stumbled out of it and tried to stand. Her knees wobbled, but she was able to stay on her feet. She turned to see nobody had freed her. Pan's magic green mist still lingered around the tree which meant he was already deep in the jungle waiting for her. Maybe she could run. Run for her life. Run away from him.

What if she were to fail? Well, so what if she were to get locked up again? If she got lashed?Beaten? If he were to hurt her? Wendy would always try to escape. Nothing would stop her from getting out of Neverland.

She waited for the signal Pan talked about. Maybe she was so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn't hear it. Wendy panicked. Did she miss the signal?! Did she already loose the game?!

Just as she was about to take off into the forest a map appeared on the ground along with a sword and a canteen filled with water. She took that as her signal and bolted into the opposite direction of the X.

Wendy was anything but stupid. If she followed the path on the map, the Lost Boys would snatch her up and deliver her to Pan on a silver platter before she had even taken ten steps into the jungle.

So she sprinted away as fast as her wobbly legs would allow, which was pretty fast considering the circumstances. After flat out running for about twenty minutes, she knew she lost their trail. She knew she had outsmarted the one and only Peter Pan yet again. It seemed like only she would dare to challenge him these days.

Despite only have been sitting in a cage the whole day, she was about to drop. Her eyes refused to keep themselves from drooping. She needed to find a place to rest for a hour or two. She looked around for a cave or something, but there was no caves where she was. It was mainly just marsh trees. Some leaned so low it wasn't even considered a tree anymore, just a lump of wood. But then Wendy saw one that was tall enough to hide her. Its branches were low at the bottom, but then they narrowed at the top. It was actually two trees wrapped around the other. Many branches to cover her in the darkness, perfect.

She half walked, half swam through the warm salty waters to get to the base of the tree. She carefully placed her feet on one branch and pulled her body up to the next. Soon Wendy rested on the highest branch. She overlooked the ground before going asleep in the little knot hole dividing the two trees from intwining. She couldn't fall out now.

She was safe for tonight, but tomorrow was another story....

Pan was shocked beyond belief. It was as if his rules were all but thrown out the window. When given a map with a big, bold black X on it, you follow it. You do not start running the opposite direction!

When Wendy took off with the map and sword in hand, Pan was too stunned to follow. All of his careful planning, all of the arrangements of his boy soldiers, all if it became completely useless. She must have known he wouldn't play fair. Even if there was no magic involved, she knew.

By the time Pan got a hold of himself she was already a far distance ahead. As much as he hated to admit it, she was fast. Almost as fast as him, which meant she was gone. He had lost his Lost Girl yet again. He was fed up with her little games.

Pan marched through the jungle and let out a sheer boyish howl. It was instantly answered by hoots and then running feet. Soon, all of Pan's Lost Boys gathered around him looking slightly confused to why they had to come of of their expert hiding place.