Hook and Angela: A New Story of Neverland (ON HIATUS)

𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒢𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝒫𝒾𝓇𝒶𝓉𝑒

     "𝒯ell me everything," Angela said with anticipation.

     "Certainly, my dear," Hook said. "More wine?"

     "Oh, no thank you, Captain, I'm fine," she said with a smile. She found him extremely charming.

     "Very well," he said, and poured himself more wine. He took his time, thinking about what he was going to say while tasting the dark red liquid.

     "Once, I was a Lost Boy myself," he began. "I was born into a wealthy family who hired a certain governess I thoroughly disliked ... Miss Hogg was her name, I'm surprised I still remember. She was in her forties and had the misfortune of never marrying. I suspect it was due to her very strict and choleric temper. Anyways, one day, while going on a playdate in the Kensington Gardens, I disobeyed her curfew and ended up stranded in the vast park, for I had met a very peculiar boy who flew, and it fascinated me so much, that I also wanted to be like him. I was so intrigued, you see, and so curious, that I had forgotten about everything. We had a fabulous time playing together, and then he asked me if I would like to come with him to Neverland. I asked what that was, and he said, 'a land where you'll never have to grow up, where there's mermaids, Indians, and endless adventure.' Once he taught me how to fly, I was too excited to think logically—so off I flew with Pan, leaving everything behind, just like the countless other boys he took with him."

     "The Lost Boys," said Angela.

     "Precisely," said Hook, then took a long swig of wine. "While flying to Neverland, he would routinely forget who I was, however. He would disappear for a moment, and I'd feel preoccupied and lost, flying by myself amongst the stars. Then he'd return like nothing ever occurred, and asked for my name several times. I started to question whether this was such a good idea, but by the time I did, we were closer to Neverland than to the Mainland ... and I wouldn't have known my way back home by myself. But the real trouble occurred just before entering Neverland. A pirate named Blackbeard from The Neighboring Star  captured us and put us on his ship. This was not the way I had envisioned things, but it was adventure, and it excited me. Blackbeard was a fearsome pirate who was recruiting everybody that could be of use to him. But he was terrifying. Peter and I didn't want to be anybody's slaves—we wanted to be free, and play, so Pan taught me how to fight, and before long, we conquered Blackbeard's ship, that would later become my Jolly Roger."

     "Excuse me for interrupting, but there's life on The Neighboring Star?"

     "Aye, my darling," he said. "Lots of islands, civilizations and landscapes. You have no idea."

     "Wow, how amazing," she said, imagining it, but then felt guilty for interrupting. "I'm sorry, you can continue."

     "It's perfectly fine to have curiosity," he said, removing a strand of hair from her face. "This is all so new to you. Not even Wendy knew all this."

     "She really didn't ..." she said, and looked up at him, enjoying his brief touch.

     "Anyways, Pan and I took the ship here to Neverland, but he quickly got bored of it—he needed new boys to play with. So he would often go back to London to lure stray boys into Neverland, until he found himself a sizable team of rascals. It was fun at first; raiding the Indian camp, teasing the mermaids, playing pretend with each other, until some of the boys remembered their old lives and wished to return to their parents. But what really infuriated Peter was their desire to grow up. So whenever any of the boys rebelled ..." Captain Hook took a pause, then continued.

     "He killed them. Thinned them out like lame animals."

     "Oh no," Angela whispered, horrified at the mental image. She felt immensely distraught at the fates of the innocent young boys.