Prologue
"Charming, what are we going to do?" Snow asked her husband, throwing herself in his arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. He held her, no less upset or anxious. "The navy hasn't come up with anything and she's been gone for weeks!"
"I think we need to get some outside help." He finally said after a long pause.
"What do you mean?"
"The naval commander knows of a man who might be able to do a little more."
"Who? Why haven't we sent him yet?"
"Well, it's because he's not necessarily…" The King trailed off.
"Not necessarily what, David? Our daughter's been kidnapped by a magical teenager who was after our son! I don't care if he doesn't work for us-Hire him!"
"Snow he's a pirate."
"A pirate?" She finally asked curiously.
"Yes a pirate captain. Captain Hook."
Chapter 1
"Give me the bean, boy." The pirate captain snarled angrily.
"Please sir! It's all I have! I traded our cow for these beans!"
"Yes and now I'm trading you! You give me two of those beans and I let you live! That sounds like a good deal for both of us!" I knew where the princess was. The description of her captor made that fairly obvious. Not that it was a place I rather wanted to return, but I had made a deal with the King. Bring back their daughter and they'd tell me where they were locking up the Dark One. I would go to the end of every world to find her at that price. This boy had accidentally bought a handle of magical beans. How did you trade a skinny, underfed cow and end up with a handful of magic beans? He must have been the luckiest son of a bitch ever to walk the earth.
He called himself Jack but between the beans, the giant beanstalk and the name all I could think of was Jac the Giant Killer.
"I only have one left! I will give it to you but please! Don't kill me! I swear! I only have one left!" I could see the truth in his eyes so I pulled my hook back from his throat.
"Very well boy. Give me the bean."
Two hours later I was preparing my ship for the voyage ahead of us. My old crew was back together and I was buying as much rum as I could fit on this ship before we sunk from the weight. If I was going back I needed a little something to help me through it all. I hated that place. I hated that boy. And I hated the princess for making me face both.
How stupid did she have to be to get kidnapped by a person obsessed with finding lost boys? He had never taken a girl in all my years of knowing him. She had to be an idiot. And now because of her idiocy, I was about to venture back to the worst part of my life, to the most miserable place on the planet, to see a boy who was a monster about a girl I had never met but still hated just to exact my revenge. The sappy King had better follow through on delivering the Dark One to me.
After all, I was going to Neverland for him.