Peter by day, Pan by night

Chapter 35

        “You’re a pirate!”

        He spins his scythe on his shoulder. “Not just any pirate, love.” Felix the lost boy disappears, replaced by a tall man with black curly hair and dark eyes. His clothes are worn, but elegant.

        A silver hook peeks out from his left sleeve. “Captain James Hook at your service.” His bow is followed by a wink. “Known to some as Jas. Known to most as the dreaded pirate Hook.”

        “Hook!” I scream. I try to fly off of the ledge, but I cannot move my legs. He has frozen me here, like Peter has done before.
        “A nifty trick, isn’t it? Taught it to Pan myself.”
        I glare at him, my heart beating wildly inside me. “Peter said you were dead.”
        “Dead? He banished me, he didn’t kill me. Silly boy.” Captain James Hook fingers his namesake. “But I am not a boy, I am a man and I was here long before that Peter Pan. This is my island and always has been. Your lovely Pan has been playing you, just like I’ve been playing him.”

        I was right! I knew there was someone else behind it all. Why wouldn’t Peter believe me? Maybe because Felix, the one he trusted the most, was poisoning his thoughts. “You cursed this island. You created this darkness!”
        “Of course I did.” Hook steps onto my ledge, the wind ruffling his long black hair. He looks like I imagined him-a rough beard and unruly curls, but his clothing has an almost gentlemanly look.
        How long has he been disguised as Felix? Since the darkness? “So there never was a Felix?”
        “Actually there was. He’s just been busy.” Hook’s pale lips stretch. “And now he is probably confused that I have momentarily returned his own body to him.”
        He switched bodies? Anger swells inside me.
        “You-!”
        Hook places a thin finger on my lips. “Ah-ah-ah. The only reason why I haven’t killed you yet, is that you played your part too well. Better than I could have wanted.”
        I strain against the invisible force that ties my boots to the slippery ledge. “What are you talking about?” I need to keep him distracted, surely Peter will be here soon.
        “No matter how much Peter Pan hurts you, you still love him and want to save him. But now the rules have changed, Wendy. You aren’t just saving him from himself, or from some faceless curse. You are saving him from me-or should I say, trying to save him. I am the creator of nightmares and this is the island of dreams. Neverland is mine. But you’ve become a valuable player. Welcome to the game.”
**
        I am confused. And worried. Why hasn’t Peter come yet? I know he’s distracted by the fire-but how long will it take for him to realize that both his second in command and his prisoner have disappeared?
        “No need to worry over Pan. He’ll come when I am ready for him.”
        I gulp and remind myself that he can’t hear my thoughts. I am just predictable, like Peter said. Of course I would worry about Peter.
        A scene flutters through my mind. A tall boy in an alley playing the pipe. My first glimpse of Neverland. I came here as a mistake. So Hook couldn’t have expected me to return.
        “I heard the music. I wasn’t supposed to.”
        “Actually that song was for you. Kelvin was merely the distraction.”
        Heat stirs under my skin. “Kelvin was a part of this all along?”
        “No, I was merely using him. He heard the music because he was a lost boy.”
        I roll my eyes. “And I heard it because I’m a lost girl. We’ve covered that.”
        Hook rests his hand on the sword belted to his waist. My heart catches in my throat. He is a dangerous, ancient enemy and Peter isn’t coming.
        “Oh, Wendy, Wendy. You are always several steps behind. There are many lost girls in the streets of London. I changed the music so that it would only draw you and Kelvin.” He sneers. And yet his face still looks strangely perfect. Handsome in a sick, otherworldly way. “I wasn’t looking for just any girl. The fairies knew that there was only girl out there who would love Peter Pan even though she saw how evil he was becoming.”
        He is lying. There is nothing special about me. Oh, right, except for being the daughter of a fairy queen and all that. But how could he have known when I was still just another orphan?
        “I am not the only one who has loved Peter. Tigerlily said she-”
        “Tigerlily loved him long ago, before the curse and darkness. Her love was never strong enough to be true. But you…you loved Peter Pan and the lost boys even when they pushed you away. You stayed to try and save them. You found a way to love Peter Pan during both day and night.”