Pan's Redemption

Chapter 4 ~Pan's Call*

Wendy didn't know where she was anymore. She was cold, bleeding, and alone. She had long abandoned her bags in the alley. She now limped down the dark streets of London. She didn't want to go home. Considering the situation, that's where she's supposed to be running to. She knew her parents were worried sick. Her brother's wouldn't be able to sleep without her stories.

There were two things keeping her away. Those two boys that beat her in the alley knew where she lived. They could come after her again. Wendy was trying not to think about it, but would always look over her shoulder.

The other reason was her father. By now he had already called the police like a good father should. When she magically appeared on the doorstep, her father would kill her. He would bellow about what a fool she had made him out to be.

He would think she was crazy.

Why? Because they vanished. They were hitting her, kicking her, screaming at her and then, poof, gone. They disappeared. The only living proof she had of their fight was her throbbing rib cage. She might have one broken.

She was beginning to drag her feet. She was tired. She wanted so badly for a bed. She came across a small park that she never knew existed. She looked for anything she could sleep on and found a wooden bench. She curled up on the bench clutching her sweater tight to her frail body. She ignored the pain in her ribs and shut her eyes. Twenty minutes of tossing and turning, Wendy fell into a dreamless sleep.

The Shadow was finally able to detach itself from Wendy's body. He had never wanted out of a body this much in his long life. He felt everything Wendy felt. He felt the kicks, the punches, everything. Pan did too. The Shadow heard him cry out in pain on more than one occasion.

"I'm ending this." Pan had said and teleported to London with his everlasting supply of magic. The Shadow didn't get it. Why did he save her? Pan never saved someone who wasn't worth something. It was always a game. He would show compassion to his enemies. He would trick them into thinking he was just a boy. And then he would murder them. Now, The Shadow didn't see a point to his game. Wendy was worth nothing. So why did his master swoop in and save her.

When her eyes were closed, Pan grabbed both the boys and teleported them away from her. He didn't know what happened after that, but it wasn't hard to imagine.

The Shadow looked down on her sleeping form. She was curled in an umcomfortable looking position on a park bench. She was crying too. She was crying in her sleep.

"Mom," she whispered. The Shadow looked over his shoulder to make sure Pan wasn't here to hear it. If The Shadow's plan was to work, Pan could not know she still cared for someone in the human world until she was already in Neverland. This was one of the rare moments where his master wasn't in his head. The Shadow could think freely, but he still felt uneasy.

He placed a dark hand on her mouth. Her sleep talking ended with a sigh and she was silent.

"My shadow," He turned and faced his master.

"Master."

"This is the girl?" He didn't wait for an answer. He towered over her sleeping form. He pushed a stray curl away from her closed eyes. "Keep her asleep, I want to check something." The Shadow obeyed stared at her face. He kept calm energy into her aura. Meanwhile Pan lifted her from her side and placed her on her back. He sat next to her knees and lifted up her sweater from her stomach. The Shadow felt her shiver and pushed more relaxing thoughts into her mind. The flesh of her lower stomach was pale but as more and more of her stomach was revealed, it took on a purplish bruise. That boy really did know how to kick.

Pan hissed under his breath and gently pushed her sweater back down. The Shadow got out of her head. She sighed and curled herself back up in her ball. Pan didn't say anything for a long time. The Shadow knew that meant he was thinking hard. He stood off to the side and gave Pan room for his thoughts. He continued to stare at her. The Shadow looked from the girl to Pan. What was so special about her? What was making the decision so hard? Just take her, or leave her. Finally, Pan snapped out of it. He grinned and turned to his Shadow.

"Let's play," He pulled out his pipe from inside of his cloak. He walked behind the stone fountain where the young girl would not be able to see him. The Shadow got into position in the tree closest to Pan. Pan put the pipe to his lips and began to play.

Wendy awoke to the pitch black skies of London. She felt her stomach and winced in pain. All the memories came back to her. All of her emotions came rushing back her. Sadness because she would never see her mother again. Anger because of her father not loving her. Happiness because she was free of him. Abandonment because no one really cared about her.

That's when the a sound cut through the air. It was unlike anything she had ever heard before. She found herself not being able to hear anything else. It was criptic, but beautiful. She had to find the source of the music. She had to. Nothing else mattered. She followed the flowing music to the center of the park near a fountain. She stopped when the music did.

She was still under its trance. She did what the music had spoken for her to do. Somehow she knew the lyrics of the sad song. It spoke to her to look up to the sky. To wait for the Shadow Man to take her home. To take her to a place where she would never be alone again. A place where she belonged.

When The Shadow loomed over her, she wasn't scared. The music began to play again. The same slow, calming rhythm. The Shadow reached for her hand from the sky above her.

"Come, young Wendy," She didn't hesitate to take its hand. She wasn't scared even when her feet began to lift off the ground.

She was being called. She was being found.