Disclaimer: Setting, concepts, world, etc. belong to the brilliant mind that is Garth Nix. The characters, however, are mine. MINE, I say, ALL MINE! Nyaha.

Author's Note: An explanation about the title: Well, originally I wanted something to do with children, and then I thought of Peter Pan and Neverland, a world where kids don't ever have to grow up, and the world of Shade's Children, where kids most often can't. Thus a long and cheesy title was born!


Welcome to Neverland. Population: Dwindling
Jessica "Jei" Lee

Chapter One : Libera Me


What she remembered most clearly about the night of her escape was the blood. It was hard to forget, there was so much of it, soaked in the sheets, smeared on her thighs, on the hands of the Drone who drew that horribly still, silent, crumpled ball of flesh out of her. There was a flurry of sound that might have been conversation, and the dead flesh was gone, as efficiently disposed of as a wad of soiled toilet paper.

Sucking air in through gritted teeth, she raised a badly trembling arm to push her sweat-soaked hair from her eyes. The world was blurry around her; through the smears of color that was the world, she could see dark shapes moving toward her and was suddenly afraid.

Then noise: a door slammed open, something fell, shattering on the floor, things toppled and crashed. Something made a shrill, pained sound that ended with a wet gurgle, and one of the dark shapes was abruptly gone from view. Someone grabbed her arm, warm fingers tight as a vice around her wrist, and hauled her out of bed.

A familiar voice, sharp now with impatience and fear, sounded from close by. "Let's go, let's go! Move your feet, girl!"

"Wait, wait..." She slammed against a cabinet, barely able to stand, and fumbled with the drawers. Somehow she managed to grab two handfuls of small plastic bottles that she dumped into a makeshift pouch she formed with the hem of her flimsy gown.

"Riley, come on!"

Oh, God, her legs were filled with lead. Someone had cut them open and filled them with lead. She pushed one bare foot ahead of the other, then again, and again. She stepped on glass and felt her skin break, warm blood oozing through the stinging lines. Somebody was screaming, again and again, always at the same high, piercing note. No, not a person; sirens. Who had set off the alarm? Oh, of course--they had. Lights, lights, lights, bright to blinding, then sudden darkness and cool air on her face.

She was half running, half being dragged by her savior, her friend, the blond demon-angel called Shiv. "Wait, wait," she kept panting without knowing why, and once that blond head turned, its voice irritable. "Wait, you say? What for? To die? I think not! Keep moving your feet, damn you!"

And she did. Breath strained and uneven, rivulets of sweat streaming down her face, she stumbled along after her rescuer. Each step drove a splinter of glass deeper into her left heel until she was leaving bloody, imperfect footprints across the pavement. Every time she faltered and almost fell, Shiv swore up a storm and jerked her back to her feet. They scuttled in this manner through the places the outdoor lights didn't quite reach, heading ever closer to the gates. Freedom lay on the other side. Just a few more meters...

Whistles sounded from the shadows behind them, the found signal of Trackers already dispatched. Ahead of her, Shiv cursed profusely, swerving to avoid a full maniple of Myrmidons headed toward them from one side. Then they were moving again toward the gates, through them, and out the other side. But they were hardly safe; the hunt was only just beginning. And she was so tired...

Her knees buckled. The dark was trying to pull her in She felt herself get dragged off the road, onto the grass beneath a clump of trees. Someone was patting her face none too gently. "Time to play your trick again, Riley. Camouflage, come on. Hide us. For the love of God, Faithful, hide us." The use of her nickname pulled her out of the sucking black long enough to remember her situation. Twining her fingers tightly around Shiv's, she gritted her teeth and concentrated as hard as she could, teetering precariously on the brink of unconsciousness.

We are not here. We are not here. You cannot see, smell, or hear us because we are not here. There is nothing here. You cannot see, smell, or hear us because there is nothing here. We are not... We are not...

Then her eyes closed and she fell into the waiting darkness like a stone to the bottom of a pond.