Extra Darling

Chapter 4: Part of the Plan

A powerful bang echoed off the walls and snapped me awake. I gasped and tried opening my eyes, but everything was blurry. I blinked rapidly, trying to make the world focus. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and images.

Where was I? Why was I asleep? Wasn't I just... running through a jungle?

At the mention of a jungle, I felt myself jolt awake completely.

Pirates! I was running from pirates! And I fell down some hole before I was able to climb a tree.

When I sat up, everything went fuzzy again. All the blood that accumulated in my head spread to other parts of my body, and slowly I could see again. I turned my head, frightened, and saw that I was in a burrow looking place. There was nothing in it except for some candles lit in various corners of the room. Spaces were dug out in the dirt walls that also held candles, and I saw what seemed like a doorway big enough to fit a person. The ceiling wasn't very high, maybe a foot or two taller than myself, and the floor was made of a rocky soil. What in world is going on? How did I end up down here when I was trying to climb a tree?

After I fell into that hole I went down this slide thing and I..... I hit my head!

As if it was my body's way of reminding myself, the back of my head began to throb painfully. I groaned slightly and brought a hand up to touch the sore spot, only to find that I could not move my hands more than an inch or two. When I glanced down, I saw that both my arms were shackled with chains to the wall behind me. I pulled on them, creating a loud rattling noise, but had no success in freeing myself. I began to panic at the thought of who could have done this to me, and yanked harder at the chains. With each pull I felt the cuffs digging into my skin, but adrenaline overwhelmed me, and I kept struggling.

This place was just one nightmare after another.

"You're not getting out of those any time soon." A boy's voice said.

I gave a startled cry and spun my head. Directly to my right stood a boy with a stern look on his tan cheeks. A tiny mole sat above his scowled lips, and his brow was furrowed as he looked me over. I saw him leaning against the wall with arms crossed, looking annoyed at my presence. He had short brown hair that stuck up in all sorts of directions, and he was wearing a hat with a fox tail on the back. His eyes were a soft shade of blue, and they stared down at me in disgust. In one hand was a giant slab of wood, which he must have hit against the wall to make that noise and wake me up. He tossed it down on the floor which made another loud sound and I jumped.

"Good," He put one hand on his hip, "You're up. I was starting to think you were dead or something."

Fear gripped at my heart but I tried not to show it.
"Who are you? Where am I?"

The boy tilted his head, "The better question is, who are you?"
"Me?" I scoffed, "I'm down here because of your trap! Our paths wouldn't even have crossed if it wasn't for you. I think you should answer my questions first."
He laughed and shook his head, "That's not the way it works here."
"Where is here?"
"You don't know?" He asked.
"I know that I'm on Neverland, but where I am at the moment or why I am shackled up," I jingled the chains on my wrists, "No. I have no idea. Just let me free and we'll never see each other again."

"Until you tell us who you are, and how you found our hideout, you're not going anywhere, lady." He stated as he paced back and forth.
The boy said something that sparked my curiosity.
"Us? You mean there are multiple people down here?"
"Yes, many. So don't bother trying to escape." The boy pointed out as he picked at some dirt stuck to his furry vest.
I straightened my aching back, "As if I would even know where I was going if I got loose. I'm a stranger to this place. Couldn't you just... let me out of these chains and we can talk like normal human beings?"
"Don't like talking very much." He shrugged.
"But you haven't stopped since I woke up."