The Captive (First Book in the Neverland Bound Series)

Chapter 1 (Catherine)

Picture of Catherine attached! :D

"Bye Catherine! See you tomorrow!" my friend, Angela, called as she walked towards her car. "You sure you don't need a ride home?"

"Yeah, I'll be alright walking home. Besides, this is probably one of the last days I'll be able to do it," I reply, smiling.

"Well, alright. Call if you need anything," she says and climbs into her car.

I sigh. It had been a long day and all I really wanted was some time alone to think. I turn in the direction of my house and began to walk. It wasn't that far from where I worked, but the walk did tend to take a little while. I turned the corner down a dark alley way. I hate coming this way, but it's the most direct route to my home. It was then that I heard footsteps behind me. Without even turning around to see who it is, I take off running. In this part of town, it's the only thing you can do. Run. And pray that you are faster than the person chasing you.

Apparently my prayers go unanswered because whoever is after me is now on top of me.

"Stay silent if you would like to get out of this alive," a voice breaths in my ear.

The person then yanks me to my feet and whirls me around to face him. He has light brown hair and his clothes look as if he had just put a bunch of scraps together and called it good. But the things that attract my attention the most are his eyes. They are a vibrant shade of green and they seem to practically glow with mischief.

My eyes opened wide. This could only be one person. Peter Pan.

"Well, this is going to be easier than I thought," he says smirking. "Good night, love." He then places a cloth over my mouth and nose and everything goes black.

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When I finally come to, all I can hear is the crunch of leaves underfoot as we trudge through the forest. I can't see a thing and my captor's shoulder blade is digging painfully into my gut. He has me slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and my hands are bound tightly together. After what seems like ages, he finally dumps me onto the ground and I can't help but wince at the pain on impact. He then roughly removes the blindfold covering my eyes and I try to take in my surroundings. He has brought me to some sort of campsite and everywhere I look, I see boys dressed in shabby clothes with devilish grins on their faces. Then I look up at my captor himself and see that he is once again smirking.

"Mornin', love. Finally decided to join the living?" he says.

"Peter Pan," I state sneeringly.

"Yours truly."

"What do you want?" I growl.

"Oh please, there's no need for attitude," he chuckles.

I roll my eyes. "That doesn't answer my question."

"Well, love, that is for me to know and you to find out," he says, still smirking.

"You brought me here for some reason, didn't you? I believe I deserve to know why," I exclaim, glaring up at him.

"Hmmm... Let me think about this. No."

"And why not?" I ask.

Peter ignores my question entirely and turns to the boy standing next to him, saying, "Davis, take her to the cage." Pan then turns and strides away.

"Yes, sir," Davis replies coolly, smirking at me. Despite my protests, he roughly grabs my arm and hauls me away from the group of boys and into the surrounding forest. I wait until I'm sure we are out of earshot before I make my move. I stamp on his foot hard. He winces and loosens his grip just enough for me to break free. I then kick him in his midsection causing him to lose his balance and I snatch his spear away. I use the blade to slice the ropes binding my wrists and before Davis has time to call for help, I knock him out with one strategically placed blow. His unconscious form slumps to the ground and lays motionless at my feet. I grimace. He's going to have a huge lump on his head when he comes around.

"Sorry Davis," I whisper and I take off into the woods. Peter Pan brought me to Neverland for a reason, but he's forgotten one very important detail.

I've been here before.