I let out a long and heavy sigh as I walked out of the restaurant. I turned and waved goodbye to my manager as I passed the windows, he responded with little enthusiasm. He was still figuring out stock numbers under the dim light and it looked like he would be there awhile judging by the way he snaked his hands into his hair and shook his head while he stared at paperwork.
I shivered as a sharp wind howled through me, I brought my jacket closer to me and began fastening it up, covering the food and drink stained apron that was the result in a 12 hour shift. I plugged into my iPod and tried not to let the poor amount of tips I got put me in a bad mood. I yawned as I quickly crossed the road, I was beat. I started my two week holiday tomorrow and wanted nothing more than to go home and fall asleep for days.
I let out a breath as I turned onto my street, avoiding eye contact with anyone that could be around. It was well into the early mornings and on this street, the last thing you wanted was to engage in conversation with suspicious looking characters. I glanced up as I approached my tower block, it was narrow and the stones made it look dirty, but I liked it. My flat had a large window which could be seen from the street, as I looked at it. I paused, the window was open. I was certain that I didn't leave it open, positive. Why would I have done that? There was no light on but I felt a drop in my stomach. I had been robbed before and with my wage at the restaurant, it took a long time to recover what was stolen.
I hurried to my door and grabbed my keys, I crept up the stairs in my block and stood at my front door, I waited a couple of seconds, I couldn't hear anything. I unlocked my door as quietly as I could and crept into my flat, closing the door silently. After the last robbery, one of my first purchases was a baseball bat, in case the same thing happened. It sat in the corner of my lobby, just outside my bedroom and I grabbed it, holding it up I listened, there was a muffled noise coming from the bedroom and a faint sound of wind chimes. This made me stop; I have never owned wind chimes. Was I going crazy? Was it the lack of sleep?
The voice sounded again and I had made up my mind. I burst through my bedroom door, brandishing the baseball bat. I saw the figure and I swung, hitting them. The person grunted and stepped back. I lunged forward and the dodged me.
"Get out" I gritted, "if you leave now then I won't call the police!" I cried, swinging again. They took an even larger step back. I stepped forward and again swung the bat. It collided with something and a small crash sounded as the object hit the floor. I bit my lip and searched for the outline of the figure; I aimed the bat and managed to hit them again.
"Wait" A voice called out but I wasn't listening, I was getting angrier, I gripped the bat tighter and moved towards the robber. I brought the bat back behind me and was about to meet him with a furious swipe when a sudden bright glowing light appeared in front of me, blinding me and taking me by surprise. I let out a gasp and stepped back quickly; tripping over the object I had just broken. I let out an 'ooff' as I smacked the ground, the bat rolling away from me. The light vanished and the figure slowly came closer to me. I backed up; any adrenaline I had felt had been wiped away. I cowered against the wall.
"Please," I pleaded, "just leave, I have nothing worth taking"
"I wouldn't say that" The voice replied. Defiantly Male.
He came towards me and I shook in fear, berating myself for doing so. He towered over me and I tried to hold my arms in front of myself in some sort of defense. There was an agonizing moment of silence before he lifted his arm; I squeezed my eyes shut until I heard the flick of the light switch.
I blinked my eyes open, adjusting to the sudden brightness of the room and tried not to gasp too loudly as I looked at the face of my robber.
He was beautiful. A beautiful thief. He appeared to be around my age, with dark auburn was messy, curling around his ears and falling into his eyes. His eyes, deep pools of lagoon blue with flecks of green and grey. I repressed a shudder under his stare.
"I didn't mean to scare you" He muttered, embarrassed while he rubbed his shoulder, "that's some swing you've got. You'd be great at fighting pirates"
"If you didn't want to scare me then you shouldn't have broken into my fl- pirates?" I blurted, cutting off my own sentence as I realized what he had said.
Was this guy deranged? Typical, I catch a robber who turns out to be the most beautiful guy I've ever laid eyes on and then he speaks about fighting pirates. Oh good lord what is he wearing? I let my eyes sweep up and down at his outfit.
Ripped brown trousers, they had marks and stains all over them and clearly needed a wash or a bin, he wore a green top with a ripped collar. His top was scruffy and it too needed the bin with all the stains on it. He wore a belt, on one side hung an object that I couldn't make out and on the other hung what looked like, a dagger. I felt my face pale as I stared at it. I looked up at him again, this time noticing the red feather that was entwined with his hair, falling down around his face. He had some marks on his face and around his eyes he had dark circles, but they suited him, he looked rugged.
"What do you want? Who are you?" I whispered. He bit his lip, as if he was unsure on how to answer. I was about to ask him again when the sound of wind chimes broke the silence.
I squinted my eyes as the bright blinding light fell in front of my face again. The light moved so fast I couldn't focus on it until it settled down on the ground right in front of me. I stared for what felt like hours, my mouth hanging open. I rubbed my eyes, I was hallucinating. I put my hand on my forehead and closed my eyes, breathing deeply. Did I hit my head when I fell? I slowly opened my eyes and stared at the faerie in front of me. I blinked at it multiple times.
"Your lights not going out, that's a good sign" The boy muttered down to the…faerie.
"Oh god, I need sleep" I breathed out, panic was beginning to fill me.
I looked up at the boy, confused and scared. He smiled, reaching out his hand to pull me up.
"Im Peter, Peter Pan"
I stared between him, the faerie and his hand. The silence was growing lager by the second but I couldn't fathom anything to say.
"Okay Peter" I said slowly, "Are you lost? How did you get here? Is there anyone I can call to pick you up, take you back to where you live?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow at me.
"How about you sit here, be a good boy and I'll call your parents, yeah?" I smiled, slowly standing up, making sure I was flat against the wall.
"But, I don't have any parents" he replied, confused at my reaction.
"Alright then, your guardian? Carer? Do you have a number I can call?"
"Uh, no."
"How did you get here then?"
"I Flew" he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I stared at him for a second and he rolled his eyes before taking a small jump and flying off the ground and around my living room, coming to rest on one of my book shelves.
"See?" He grinned, his arms outstretched.
I let out a gasp and a scream, clambering backwards, almost knocking the faerie into oblivion.
I began blurting out obscenities and disbelief; he flew back down towards me and grabbed my hands.
"Please don't get scared, you just need to calm down" He said soothingly. I stopped talking and bit my lip, my eyes darting between him and the faerie that was now hovering beside his face, enhancing his features.
He watched me looking at the both of them before letting out a shocked 'oh!' and slapping his hand against his forehead.
"I completely forgot. This is Tink!" he cried, pointing at the faerie.
"As in, Tinkerbell?" I asked and he nodded. She hovered in front of my face and I stared at her.
"Hello" I whispered, "my name's…Faryn. Faryn Wolfe"
Peter grinned at me before flying off again, back to the shelf and Tinkerbell flew towards my desk, filled with make-up and jewelry. I immediately sat on my bed.
"This…is a lot to take in"
There was another silence.
"Why are you here? What's going on? Is this a prank?"
Peter looked down at me, grinning.
"We were flying by one night and heard you singing and we stayed for a while, we kept coming back and tonight, we realized the window was unlocked and took it as an invite. It's not a prank that would be a rubbish prank." He said, frowning at the end.
"You've been spying on me?"
He thought about it for a while, "More like, listening"
"So…it's all true, lost boys, Neverland…captain hook?"
Peter nodded enthusiastically and Tink glowed in response.
"So…the book? Wendy and the other darlings?"
"The book is mostly true; I did take Wendy and her brothers on an adventure. When I visited her after, she confessed how a man was keenly interested in her stories about me and then when I came back after that, there was a book and a play."
"Right…but in the book you're a lot younger than you look right now"
He chuckled, "It seems rather…frightening that a boy my age wanted to take a girl Wendy's age away from her family"
"You have a point…so how old are you?"
"I'm…looks wise I'm 17, but years…I'm not sure. I can't remember. How old are you?" he asked, eyeing me up and down as if he couldn't figure it out.
"I'm…I'm 17 too, only a month away from my birthday" I muttered.
"And your parents?" He asked, I looked down at my hands.
"I'm an orphan" I mumbled, "I've been living here since I left the orphanage, I was 16 when I left"
"I don't have parents either" He said, although he said it chirpier than I would have liked.
"And the lost boys?" I asked, he nodded, smiling.
"The ones that the darlings met all went back to London with them."
"Really? Why?" I gasped, Peter shrugged.
"They were ready, they had been at Neverland for so long and they were much younger than I. I sometimes felt bad when their lives were endangered. There are a new bunch of lost boys now"
I nodded and was about to ask another question when a sudden yawn escaped my mouth, I stretched and fell back onto the bed.
"Me and Tink can go-
"No please don't! I still have so much to ask"
He slipped off the shelf gracefully and fell to the floor without a sound.
"What's it like to fly?"
He grinned, his eyes sparking at the question,
"There are truly no words" He called, as he took off into the air, circling around my ceiling light and landing at the open window.
I sat up, taking in the sight of him. Peter Pan was standing in my flat, my little, cheap flat. I couldn't believe it, and yet a part of me prayed that this just wasn't a dream.
"And captain hook?" I whispered.
His eyes sparkled again and he jumped down onto the seat at the window,
"He's still there with his crew, still trying to find our hideout." Peter chuckled.
I must have asked him a million and one questions; each answer just fuelled something else to ask him. It was well into the morning and I was growing so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open. I moved to sit by the window, just below him, hoping that the cool breeze would keep me awake. It did, but only for a little while. The last thing I remember was looking at Peter; the light from Tink glowed behind him.
"Goodnight Faryn" He whispered in a voice that tugged at my soul and caused my eyes to fall completely, sending me into a blissful sleep, filled with dreams of flying amongst the stars.