[DISCONTINUED] I Believe

Prologue (Part 5)

"Do you trust me?"

Peter's blade had just broken during a battle with Hook. He wanted mine. I wanted to keep mine. So I proposed we go get more.

He eyed me. "Why do you ask, Lee?"

Lee. Stupid Lee, I can't remember my old name anymore, but I can't always remember Lee either. "Because I know where we can get more swords. My-" I broke off, trying to remember what I was going to say. It was somebody important. "-I used to have knives. A whole lot, larger than this, even! Dozens, no, no, hundreds! We can get enough swords to last forever!" I jumped and punched the air in excitement. "All we have to do is fly back to where the shadow got me, and there a room with a wooden block and a strip of metal on the wall, and they'll be there."

Peter looked impressed. "Alright. I'll go get some pixie dust!" He flew off to go get Tinker Bell, and I gathered the Lost Boys.

Their- I should say, our ranks hadn't grown much over the time I'd been here. We gained a couple, and lost a couple of fingers in the process, including me.

Half of the top joint of my right middle finger had been cut off in a game, the nail still slightly there but not all the way, and it never grew. The cut was clean but on an odd angle; it was my main identifying feature besides all my stories and knowledge, and of course being Peter's lieutenant and second in command.

If I wanted wake someone up in the dark or pull them back for a special mission, I would press that finger somewhere, like in the hollow between their collarbones, where you could clearly feel it was not a regular finger. Or I could freak someone out with it.

I barely even noticed when I got it; it had happened in one of my first games, and I quickly adjusted and practiced so it wouldn't happen again.

"Oi! John*! Get the others!" I whisper-shouted, my finger in the soft spot behind his ear. I felt him nod and he ran away to get George, Sam, Robert, Rascal, Joseph, and our most recent addition, Amos. We had lost a couple of boys -hehe, Lost Boys humor- and we'd only been able to replace one. No one believed enough to come here anymore.

I ran back to the beach where I first arrived at Neverland. I tightened the straps on my backpack and started cleaning my blade, sharpening it a bit as I watched them run from the tree line.

Peter swooped over the jungle and landed in the sand, facing me and the other boys. "Okay boys! Take some dust!" He shook Tinker Bell's pixie dust over our heads and we started to rise into the air. We flew after Peter, into my world.

Once we passed through the veil separating the worlds, I took the lead, instinctively flying down to my old house. I crouched on an open windowsill and looked in. It was still my family's. It felt so weird, thinking of families and houses, warmth and love.

I shook off those stupid thoughts and pushed the window open silently, holding it open as everyone flew through. They landed on the tile and I propped the window open.

I walked over to the magnetic knife holder and started yanking knives down, wrapping them in dishrags and putting them in our belts. Everyone followed my lead and soon they all had new knives. We ransacked the knife block and the pantry as well, taking backpacks and bags from the closet and filling them with goods.

There was a slight shuffling sound and we all froze. I ushered everyone back to the window, but someone walked through the door, an innocent expression on their angelic face, pausing mid-yawn. The water glass they were holding slipped through their fingers and shattered on the floor.

I stopped helping and stared at the boy standing in the doorway. I took a step forwards, broken glass lodging in the soles of my bare feet. "Ethan?" I whispered in shock.