Foreverland

Chapter 10

•Ara•

I walk with bare feet over the uneven ground, every sharp rock digging into my soft flesh. Although I held my shoes in my hand, I had no urge to put them back on. Peter often didn't wear shoes. If he was tough enough, so was I.

My eyes drifted shut as I walked and I let my other senses drink in my surroundings. It was comforting to be able to relax at times like this. I was always on edge. Always looking for a way to be one step ahead. Here I didn't even have to dwell over which way I should turn.

I stop. My muscles ache as the tension in my limbs come rushing back. Something isn't right.

Although the trees were quiet, I knew someone was out there. I felt the prickle of their stares across my skin like a shiver I couldn't shake. Although I assumed it was Peter for a moment, I knew it couldn't be. He was too busy moping around back at the hanging tree. It wasn't one of the boys either, they were still to scared to disobey Peter. They would still be in the training area- beating each other with blunt sticks.

So who was following me down the narrow forest path?

"I love a good game of hide and go seek as much as the next girl- but I already know you're out there. I'll find you eventually." I called and waited for the shadows to shift. Soon enough they did. From the bushes emerged a cloaked figure. They moved like the world was made of smoke and they were simply passing through

A long moment stretched by and neither of us made a move. I felt my fingers reach to where my dagger should be, only for me to remember Peter had taken it back. That snake. Eventually the person before me reached up with slow and prolonged movements to reveal her face.

A girl.

It was strange to see her after being surrounded by boys for so long. Although she was shorter than me, she wasn't any less intimidating. Her long hair was pulled back into four braids while small wisps framed her half painted face. The area around her eyes were smudged with a dark substance- and although it made her eyes pop, it reminded me vaguely of a raccoon.

"Well..." I glanced up into the trees, worried there was more of them out there. "Who are you? what do you want?" I looked her up and down again, faking a look of disgust on my face. In truth, I was trying to hide my surprise.

"I wasn't sure if it was true. I- I didn't want it to be true." I watched without warning as the girl's hard exterior crumbled. Her shoulders sagged forward and her chin dropped. A lonely tear rolled down her cheek, smudging the dark makeup. "I- I shouldn't have come here." Her voice was barely over a whisper and her eyes were filled with despair. Something in me wanted to reach out to this unfamiliar girl, to hold her and comfort her. It was a foreign feeling to me.

The girl started to turn away and I jumped forward, grabbing for her arm.

"No! Wait, who are-" My back was being slammed into the ground before I had the chance to finish my sentence. The girls face hovered inches above mine while her elbow dug into my chest.

"I-I'm sorry." The girl leaped up even quicker than she'd pushed me down. Her eyes farted around before returning to me on the ground as I groaned sitting up. "I... it doesn't matter who I am. It's who you are that matters. It what Peter is that matters."

"You know Peter Pan?" I questioned, eager to know more about the strange boy who thought himself my king. Another tear rolled down her face and I closed my mouth. I'd get more information if I let her speak freely.

"Of course I know Peter Pan... I know the real Peter Pan." She looked down and stretched out her hand, helping me to my feet. "Lets start over. What's your name?"

"Ara."

"Hi Ara, I'm here to tell you you're in grave danger." I opened my mouth to question her again, but she reached up to cover it with her hand, "I shouldn't be here so I have to make this quick. Peter Pan is a monster. You'll do good to remember that. Also, there is a good chance that you are on the way to your death."

"Excuse me?" I pulled her hand away only for her to twist it from my grasp.

"Ara, don't you wonder why there's only Lost Boys and no men? It's because he kills them- and- and I think that's why he can't die." The girl grabbed my arm and pulled me into the cover of the bushes where she'd emerged from. With every second her nervousness grew until it was flowing like waves off her skin. "Five years ago there was a fight. No, a war. There's no time to explain the details but there's something you have to know. On that day an accident caused the death of a boy... by my hands. His name was Thomas, and since Thomas's death I've been healing exceptionally fast and aging at a slower rate. Through the years it's started to fade but... but I think with enough death that's how he's able to do it. How he's able to stay young forever."

"You're meaning to tell me-"

"Ara," she cut me off again, "you can't forget this okay? Whatever you do try to keep your distance from Peter or else you're going to forget meeting me, just like how you've forgotten your parents."

My parents.

The term was familiar and yet I couldn't paint a picture it my head. For some odd reason, that didn't concerned me.

"Take this." She forced a small notebook into my hands, "Read it. Don't let Peter find it. Don't forget. And most importantly; stay alive until I can come back for you."

"Wait!" This time I didn't grab for her as she pulled away, "Won't you at least tell me who you are?"

"The less you know the safer you'll be, trust me." She sighed, the tears in her eyes fading just as fast as they had come, "just act like everything is normal, okay?"

"Nothing here is normal."

"You're not wrong." The girl pulled her hood back over her head and backed away into the shadows. The air was quiet and it was like she'd never been there in the first place. Maybe she hadn't. Maybe the encounter wasn't real and I was just going crazy. It wasn't that far of a stretch. I slowly sunk to the ground, my mind racing over the past five minutes. My mind was so foggy- everything was so confusing.

The girl said Peter couldn't die, and yet, I had a feeling I had been close to taking his life. The look in his eyes as I stabbed the dagger into his chest was one of fear. Like he was expecting a different result than he received. Something told me he'd never felt pain like that before. Like he'd never fear for his life before.

This girl obviously knew more than me, however there was something she didn't know. Peter Pan could die, we just had to figure out how.

I still hadn't fully processed what had happened and yet, I was already pulling my shoes back on. Already storming back to the hanging tree.

Peter Pan thought he was a king. A god. He thought himself an immortal being who should be bowed down to. He sat on his throne like a deity. Like an almighty saviour, when he was nothing more than a cursed boy with a blade.

I'd teach him what it felt like to kneel.

He'll learn dig his knees deep into the ground before me.

My lips pressed tightly together and a sort of grin spread across my face. It wasn't a smile, not exactly. It was a warning. None would dare step in my way. None would dare...

I stopped just a few inches before ramming into the person who'd walked onto the path before me.

"Ara!" Alex exclaimed and I had to clench my teeth to keep in my growl, "where are you off to in such a rush?"

"Oh just back home!" I broke into a smile and waved at the rest of the boys behind Alex, "I had a feeling Peter shouldn't be left alone for too long with Spencer. I don't trust him to be responsible enough."

"I'm not going to tell you you're wrong but- you really shouldn't talk like that." Winston spoke up from where he carrying Toby on his hip. I noticed the smiles on the faces of the rest of the boys had faded. They looked uncomfortable. Uncertain.

"The trees don't really have ears you know." I started to walk again, beckoning the boys to follow behind me, "As long as I'm around, you no longer have to fear the dreaded Peter Pan."