[DISCONTINUED] I Believe

Prologue (Part 4)

"... but parents tell their children never to say those two words, I believe. They tell the children Peter Pan isn't real, that he's only a fairy tale, because every single grown up knew a kid who said the words and they were taken away to Neverland. They don't want their children to leave, so they act selfishly." I frowned slightly. "But my mother gave me your story. It was one of the only stories I was allowed to read. I always heard her telling my brother never to say that, warning him, but she never said anything to me. Ever. And that's why I hate her. She didn't love me enough to care if I left. So I did." The story was getting a bit too sad for my tastes.

"And I jumped right out the window! The shadow was really far away. I almost missed it and died, I could have been a splat on the pavement-" I slapped my hands together, miming it, "-but I made it! It flew me all the way here and dropped me on the beach this morning. And that's when you guys found me."

"That's so cool! Mine didn't go like that! Peter just came and got me himself," one boy piped up.

"Really?"

Peter stood, drawing my attention. "Yep. Brought everyone here myself. You're the first one to get here by shadow."

He reached out as if to touch my knife, but I pushed it further into my bag. "Get your own knife," I said. "This one's mine."

He drew himself up. "As the leader of the Lost Boys, I command you to give me your knife. It's mine now."

I shook my head. "But I know where we can get more. Dozens of bright shiny knives. I could show you if you want. They're back in my world."

He tilted his head, considering it. "Deal. But you gotta prove yourself first. C'mon! Let's go see the mermaids!" He jumped into the air and flew, the Lost Boys trailing behind him clumsily on the ground and through trees.

I looked around carefully before looking at my feet. I closed my eyes and thought happy thoughts, blindingly brilliant thoughts. I looked down. My feet were still solidly planted on the ground.

I though back, to one of my earliest memories. Just remembering brought all the fury back, white-hot and deadly. I lifted off into the air and swooped after Peter, silently praying that I wouldn't mess this up the way I did everything else.

The moon shone down on me, casting a shadow onto the ground. I hissed through my teeth, "Oh, shut up," and the glow dimmed to barely there.

Ah, much better. Now, to find a safe place to land...