Extra Darling

Chapter 36: A Thimble

There was a splash of water as the compass plummeted down, and then, silence. Complete and total silence. The fire of cannons stopped, the roar of sword fighting subsided, and the sway of the ship settled. It was as if all the sand had run out on a timer and suddenly the world was at peace. The only thing I heard was the deafening drum of my heartbeat pounding through my skull.

"Fee?"

I startled at the break of silence, my surroundings rushing back at me all at once, and realized that the world was not as quiet as it seemed. My arm dropped to my side, no longer holding the compass, and I looked down at my fingers. They were still clenched together, my knuckles white from the strength. I felt a pinch between them and realized that there was something in my hand.

Unfurling my blood-stained fingers, I narrowed my eyes at the tiny, silver thimble laying on its side in my palm.

"Ophelia?" A voice asked again, stronger and more worried.

I looked up, my back to the ocean, and connected eyes with Wendy. She was paused at the top of the stairs. Behind her, the gang of Lost Boys waited nervously to see what had become of the epic battle.

"The pirates?" I asked, my voice foreign to my ears.
Wendy took a step closer, her normally kept hair a tousled mess around her head, "Gone."
I nodded.
"And... Hook?" She asked when I fell into a lapse of stillness.
I shook myself from the adrenaline-pumped coma and took a breath, looking down at the shining thimble again. "Gone."

The Lost Boys shouted a gleeful warrior cry and ran up onto the deck beside me, congratulating each other on a successful fight and waiting for an equal sign of happiness from me. Despite the relief I felt at disposing of the compass, I couldn't shake the fog clouding myself from celebrating. The Lost Boys were unaware of my hesitance as they squealed all sorts of victorious little boy things, but it was Wendy who noticed my hidden fear.

"Are you alright?" She asked, standing in front of me and staring at me with her wide eyes.

I held up my palm, the thimble standing proudly. "This was with the compass in his pocket."

Wendy gave a short gasp, one hand clutching the acorn necklace around her neck, and lifted the thimble with a transfixed look on her face.

"I wasn't aware that he even still had this." She gaped, turning the thimble over between her fingers, "I gave it to him on the first night we met, and in return he gave me an acorn. A kiss."
"Wendy, don't you know what a kiss is?"
"Yes," She chuckled, shaking her honey colored curls, "But this is something better."

Wendy lowered the thimble and looked me in the eye. Although I stared right back at her, I felt a million miles away. My mind racing with thoughts I couldn't place.

She lightly touched my cheek and grimaced, "This doesn't hurt? It looks like it could use some stitches."
I shook my head, not even feeling a wince of pain at her touch, "It's fine."

She took my hands from my sides and held them in front of her, gasping at the amount of blood covering them. When I saw the red stains, I was equally as baffled. I had seen the color before, but now I was beginning to understand the meaning behind it. I turned my hands over and ogled at them, tracing a finer along a particularly deep streak of color.

"Ophelia!" She shrieked, "All this blood! Are you quite sure you're not injured?"
"No, it's not mine." I softly replied, the memory coming back to me as panic blossomed in my chest, "Oh, God, it's not mine!"

I shoved Wendy out of my way and tore through the gang of Lost Boys, running to the other side of the helm.

I dropped to the floor beside Arthur's body and ignored the sting of salty tears as they streamed down my face.