My heart pounds frantically in my ears. I watch him closely, my eyes glued to his smirking face. Hatred boils inside my stomach and I grit my teeth. He laughs smugly, throwing his head back in total rapture, and rises off the ground and into the sky, already flying out of Skull Rock. But we can't let Pan get away. Henry's life depends on it. I catch Arida's eye and nod. She dives toward Henry, and I shout loudly, distracting Pan.
"Hey, Pan!" I called, running over to the side of Skull Rock, below the gaps in the stone that Pan had just flown out of. I search for a handhold, spotting a small rock ledge and using it to heave myself up to the holes. I sling a leg over the side of it, straddling the stone. I turn to see Pan, and find him hovering in the air nearby, arms crossed, eyebrow raised in amusement as I pant for breath. He stares right at me, narrowing his eyes. I smile at him.
Then I disappear, gasping as the pang that always comes with using magic cuts through me. I reappear behind Pan, hovering over in the air with apparent ease. But I know I'm stretching my magic. Flying takes up a lot, and I've never been particularly good at it. My hands shake from the effort, so I stuff them in my pockets nonchalantly.
"So, Peter, how's it going?" I say.
"Who are you?" he snarls, spinning around to face me.
I smirk at him, "Oh, did I forget to introduce myself? I'm Violet. Violet Wood." I extend my hand toward him, "And you are Peter Pan." He watches me carefully for a second, no doubt going through his mental list of facial expressions. In the end, Pan settles on his usual smirk.
"So you have magic," Pan remarks casually. "But what are you doing here in Neverland? Trying to save Henry like the rest of this pathetic band of misfits?"
I raise my eyebrows and grin devilishly, "You think only boys feel lost? Well, there's lost girls too, ya know."
He crosses his arms skeptically, "Who's your leader?"
I imitate his stare, crossing my arms, "Well, I don't have a leader. I am one of the leaders. Me and my bestie Arida. But really, she's more of a second-in-command. Like Felix."
"You're lying," Pan says confidently.
No, I think, believe your lies, Violet, they won't be lies if you believe in them.
"Nah," I say. "Unlike some people, I don't lie to children for fun."
"Why should I trust you?" he retorts.
"Why not?" I shrug, holding back a hiss of pain as my magic wavers. I drop a couple of inches in the air, hoping Pan doesn't notice. I can't keep up this nasty flying business for much longer.
He rolls his eyes, "Because—"
"I'm like the female equivalent to you. Think about it, Pan. Not too hard, though. You might hurt yourself," I say even though the thought of being his so-called "female equivalent" disgusts me.
He hesitates, and I glance out of the corner of my eye, locking eyes with Arida.
Ready? I think. Ever since we first met, Arida and I have been able to communicate with our thoughts. Telepathy is the fancy word for it. I call it my imaginary telephone network.
She gives me a thumbs up, Pantastic!
"Ponder that, Panny boy, I gotta go," I turn and press my lips gently to his.
He definitely wears lipstick.
I yank Henry's heart from his chest and laugh at his stunned face. "Thanks for the donation," I say as I fly away, back inside Skull Rock.
"A kiss?" Arida asks incredulously, looking up from where she is bent over Henry's limp body. "That was the only distraction you could think of?"
"Like you could do better," I snap. Arida laughs.
"Actually, it would have been far more logical to-" she begins.
"Never mind that," I snap, grimacing at the memory of the- ugh -kiss. "Regina, here's Henry's heart. Get him to Hook's ship as soon as you can and don't let him out of your sight. Pan is bound to come back for him. We'll do our best to keep him away from Henry, but we can't take any chances or make any promises. You can never be too sure with Peter Pan."
Regina nods, gently grabbing Henry's heart. She clasps it with both hands and presses it gently into his chest, a glow of red and gold light blooming as the heart enters the body of its rightful owner. I turn to Arida, "Get the others," I pause for effect, raising an eyebrow in a mocking imitation of Pan. "We've got a Pan to beat."
"A Pan to defeat," Arida corrects. "Beat sounds so childish."
"No, I actually mean beat," I grin. "Like with a wooden stick. Or a heavy brick. Or even better, Felix's club."
"Second-in-command," Arida grumbles to herself, pulling out a packet of papers with weird symbols and complicated diagrams on them. "I'll show you who's second-in-command when I hack into your Facebook account and post that you think Peter Pan is gorgeous."
xxxxxxxxx
I sit on top of Skull Rock with my chin resting on my knees, bored, waiting silently for Pan to appear and get all Peter Panny in my face. He does that.
"You're clever," a voice says behind me. British accent. Annoying confidence. Threatening tone. Whoever could it be?
"I already know I'm clever, Pan, I don't need you to tell me that," I say without turning around. He laughs, not like a your-fail-is-so-funny laugh that he normally has, but more like an I-like-you-so-I'll-laugh-at-all of-your-jokes-even-the-bad-ones laugh.
"Call me Peter," he says lightly.
I turn to him, "What's with the personality change, Pan?" I raise my eyebrows, "Peter."
He clears his throat and shifts his feet, clearly nervous, "Well," he starts, "if you are my girl equivalent—" ew "—then it would be pointless to fight you, because I never lose," he hesitates and clears his throat again, "And I, uh, like myself so I, um, decided to, uh, like you," he looks up at me, his eyes pleading, "So. . . yes or no?"
Holy . . . holy cuss words.
"I—I—"
He smiles mischievously, "Ponder that, Violet, I gotta go," he blows me a dainty kiss and floats off into the dark, night sky.
Well, damn.