Lost Girl: Peter Pan/Once Upon a Time

Part X: The Monster

When I open my eyes, my back aches.

I stare up at rows of beams made out of bamboo. Trying to sit up, I accidentally hit my head against them so I have to hunch over to prevent it from happening again. It isn't just one set of bamboo poles, however. I'm in a crate made out of them - a cage. 

To make matters worse, I see that I'm suspended above the ground from the tree that's only two feet away. How far up I am, I cannot tell.

Attempting to figure out where exactly I have been detained, I peer through the bamboo shafts and notice smoke rising off in the distance. The camp must be close. 

I sigh and lie back down, at a loss of what to do. Trying to disconnect the cage from the tree would pointless. Most likely I would end up with a broken leg - or neck - in the process. All that is really left to do is sit alone with my thoughts. 

I take time to sift through the details of every day, every hour, every minute of my recent experiences. As I do this, something occurs to me. 

Fairies? An evil queen? Shadows that steal children away from their families? It's almost like I've been living in a fairy-tale. What if I have been dreaming and all of this isn't real? 

I pinch my hand as hard as I can, but it starts to throb and sting.

I'm awake. 

But how can I be? 

How can all of this possibly be reality when it should be in a story book? 

All this time I've been walking around without a second thought, pretending it's normal. 

But it isn't normal!

How could it possibly be normal? 

Then I hear footsteps crunching through the fallen leaves. It's Pan no doubt. Who else would be twisted enough to cage me up in a tree?

I begin to descend and soon I'm on the ground, still encaged, with Pan staring down at me.

"Good morning, Lyv."

"Pan," I acknowledge him coldly. 

"Don't act so pleased to see me!" he says sarcastically.

"I'm not."

Frowning, he sits himself directly in front of me on a large boulder.

"What?" I question, uncomfortable with his ceaseless stares. 

He pauses before responding.

"You confuse me, Lyv."

I was not expecting this. 

"I...confuse you? How?"

"Many girls have come here to Neverland. All of them fell in love with me. Some needed encouragement, and some didn't. But you aren't like any of them."

"So what? I have conviction and they don't. Simple."

"No it isn't just that," he sharpens his tone. "No matter what I did, good or evil, they pretended not to care. They stayed by my side every second. I know they didn't really love me. They loved...well, I'm not quite sure."

He stops and stares at the ground. I'm not sure how I should respond. Honestly I am confused. 

Then he looks straight at me.

"I know you hate me, Lyv. You think I'm a monster. I can see it in the way you look at me. Sometimes I wish you would stop."

I can feel my eyes widen as he says this. Anger begins to well up inside of me. 

"How can I stop?" I spit the words out like fire. "You won't let me go back to the people who love me, you attacked me, and then stooped so low as to try and seduce me into falling in love with you. Can you see nothing wrong with that?"

As he tilts his head in a mocking confusion, I sit completely rigid. If I could jump out of the cage and beat the senses out of him, I would. 

"I don't understand," he says finally. 

"Go away Pan. Now."

"You can't tell me to do anything," he laughs. 

A swing across the jaw? Maybe an uppercut would do. 

Silence encompasses us for what seems like an eternity, and his incessant staring almost begins to drive me insane.

I do hate him. He knows nothing about how actual people feel or think. It's like he isn't even human.

He is a monster.

"Well, if you aren't going to leave, then I suppose I just won't talk to you."

"Fine by me. I have nothing else to do but watch you sulk," he shrugs.

Lying down, I close my eyes and try to picture the ocean - rough and harsh, but when the tide comes in, suddenly it is smooth and peaceful - and I fall asleep.