Caged • Robbie Kay/Peter Pan •

Chapter Twenty-Five

I awoke to the sound of shouts outside the door of my tent so I dressed quickly and cracked open the wooden door slightly; light flooding my vision as my tired eyes adjusted.

Owen and Caspar held both of James' arms as he struggled to gain freedom. What was going on?

I swung my door open completely and rushed to Nolan's side as he stood watching with arms crossed.

"What are you doing?!" I questioned, grabbing Peter's arm and turning him around to face me.

"He's being punished for his actions." Peter snapped, pulling away from my grasp. "Take him to the cage." he commanded with a nod of his head.

"You can't do that!" I stated firmly.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Peter scoffed and turning to me. "Did you just say I can't?"

"We both tried to leave, Peter. You can't punish him for something we both did. Either you let him go, or I'll go with him."

Peter remained silent, glancing at James and then back to me. "Alright then. So be it." he spat. "Put her in the cage too."

James looked at me with confusion. "Meadow, you don't have to do this." he said shaking his head. I only offered to my wrists to Peter. "Tie me up or whatever it is you do." I seethed. I had hoped that Peter would back down. Last night was almost a blur, feeling like a dream, but I had remembered the words Peter had said.

Peter raised an eyebrow then clenched his jaw. "Nolan, tie her wrists together."

Nolan was hesitant of Peter's request, but pulled a coil of thin rope from his pocket and glanced at me before looking down at his hands as he ran the rope between his fingers.

"Did you hear me?" Peter shouted, causing Nolan to jump.

"I can't do it, Peter. She doesn't deserve this." he admitted, throwing the rope at Peter's chest.

I was as surprised at Nolan's actions as Peter was. Peter furiously approached me, grabbing my arms forcefully behind my back and wrapping the twine tightly around my wrists. It dug into my skin and cut off my circulation. "That hurts, Peter." I muttered, turning my head to the side so he could hear me from behind.

"Maybe you'll remember that next time you decide to leave." he breathed against my ear, pulling the rope tighter.

I glanced at the boys, whose faces were full of confusion and shame. Owen refused to meet my gaze and Liam's eyes filled with tears. They all remained silent. They were afraid to speak.

I couldn't understand. The Peter I had seen last night was gone. Not a trace of sympathy or gentleness emanated from the boy behind me.

"Let's go." Peter said, leading on down a trail that I had never dared to travel..

•••

-Peter-

I was full of anger. Jealousy, perhaps. Why had Meadow been so quick to sacrifice her freedom?

Was she still in love with James?

I hadn't meant to say what I said the previous night, but something snapped when she was close to me. Many times had I almost talked to her. Told her exactly the way I felt, but each time I feared rejection. She had once said that I was unlovable and perhaps she was right. Perhaps, I was a monster in the eyes of those around me, but when I saw her there, prying into my mind with her brown eyes and hair still wet from the water I had rescued her from, it didn't matter if she knew the truth or not. Somehow, I felt that she cared. Somehow, I felt that maybe she could love me..

And now I was sorry that I had told her what I had. The events seemed to be a repeat of one I had experienced before. Back when I had loved Hope. I had only hoped that things would be different.

Meadow walked beside James, brows furrowed with determination. I wasn't about to let James go unpunished, but I couldn't show my weakness for the girl that I had secretly grown to treasure so deeply.

I was perplexed as to what her actions meant. If she despised James as much as she had expressed, why would she try to leave Neverland with him and then submit to being caged along beside him?

The thought of her having feelings for him made my stomach drop and my fists clench, but I knew that if I tortured James, Meadow would be his protector.

We neared the end of the path, where the dark beams stood and formed the haunting sight of the cage that had once held Hope. I tried to ignore the memory as I unlocked the door to the cage.

"I know why you're putting me in here, Peter. You don't care that I tried to escape. You just didn't want me taking her with me." James said as Owen and Caspar threw him in.

My fists clenched tighter.

"Cold water does things to your memory, Peter." he said, smirking at me through the bars of the cage.

He remembered Meadow. It took everything I had to keep from punching the smug expression off of his face. I kept silent.

"Oh, and she's amazing in bed." he whispered, winking and chuckling. "But I guess you wouldn't know about that."

Something snapped and before I could control myself, I grabbed his shirt, pulling him against the wooden bars and throwing my clenched fist against his face, again and again.

"Peter!" Meadow shouted as James dumbfoundedly stumbled backward, his back hitting the other side of the jail cell.

I knew his face would be bruised later, but he thoroughly deserved it.

Meadow ran to his side and then looked back at with me with a look that could cause me to shatter like glass. "How can you be this way? she questioned.

I locked the cage behind her and drowned out everything else as I trudged back down the trail, the look of hatred and fear that I had seen on her face, burned deeply into my memory...

•••

A\N

So I updated! Sorry it's kind of short and stuff but I haven't had much motivation to write recently.

I love you all deeply and I will try to update as often as I can!

Love love love