A.N. I'm sorry chapter one is so short. This is a modern day Peter Pan fic. No offense of religion is meant. I'm sorry if it offends anyone. Please enjoy! :)
I
The day was normal. A bunch of yawning adolescents stuck in a stifling room, learning the history of our country and other such "life" skills. The day was normal, ordinary-boring even.
Xavier Finnick Clemese-Talihini was trapped in maths, staring at the clock longingly as he tapped his pencil to the rhythm of the clock above.
The scratching of pencils rattled his eardrums. He groaned in frustration, cursing the person who had invented tests.
Willing his paper to miraculously be done for him-correctly, he let his eyes flicker to his sister's, Victoria. Her book was propped open, her quiz long completed.
Unable to bear the pathetic sight of his half-filled quiz any longer, Xavier stood to grab a drink of water from the nearby water fountain.
That was when the gunshots began.
...
"Do you think it's likely he'll wake up anytime soon?"
The voices bounced around the room hushed and frank, careful not to let the girl reading outside the room to hear.
"It looks like a permanent coma," another voice added, full of pity. "I don't think he's ever going to wake up."
A sniffle followed this statement.
"When do we have to-"
"Unplug him?" the first voice said in a businesslike manner. This wasn't the first coma, and it certainly wasn't going to be the last. "When you feel ready."
Unbeknownst to the adults, the girl outside could hear every word sprouting out of their mouths.
Her name was Victoria.
Victoria clutches her book to her chest, nestling herself back on her chair, away from the door. She had heard enough to know. Xavier wasn't coming back.
The door creaked open and her mother stepped out, Victoria steeling her expression.
"Ready?" she asked wearily, eyes rimmed with red.
Victoria simply nodded and followed her mother out the door.
She climbed in the car and slams the door shut as the engine sputters to life.
One look at Victoria's facade and her mother knew she had heard every bit.
"Victoria, I'm so sorry," her mother said, angst written across her features.
There was that word again, sorry. Victoria had heard it too many times this past month Sorry for Xavier's coma, sorry that the shooting had even happened, sorry that she had had to watch the whole thing, and sorry about her face.
Truthfully, she hated the word. Sorry was meaningless.
Victoria shut out the world, opening her book once more. There was a time for despair and sorrow, but now was not it.
"Are you reading Peter Pan again?" her mother asked.
Victoria flashed the book cover at her mom. "It's my favorite book," she said. She had another reason, of course but she knew better than to talk to anyone about it. She had learned that the hard way.
To Victoria, Neverland wasn't just an island. And Peter wasn't just a boy. In her mind, Peter was an angel who guided children to Neverland after they died. Which made Neverland Heaven, or wherever you believe you'll go after you die. To an outsider, her visions seemed slightly warped. But to Victoria, they made perfect since. Peter was an angel who guided children to Neverland. Children like Xavier.
In the case of Wendy Darling and her siblings, she supposed that not everyone who went to Neverland had to stay there. Some could return. And as crazy as it sounded, she hoped that Xavier would be one of them.
Violet was sitting on Victoria's front steps when their van screeched to a halt on the front steps.
"Hey," Violet said, slipping her phone into her pocket. "Hello Mrs. Clemese," she added as Victoria's mother swept up the stairs.
Violet gave her friend a hard once over. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."
Victoria released a shrug, her inner thoughts carefully concealed in her guarded expression. "Fine. Xavier's not coming back."
Violet's eyes cloud with sympathy. "Tori-I don't know what to say."
"Then don't say anything," Victoria said not unkindly.
As it happened when most people saw Victoria, a glance was spared to her face, where a fresh, ugly looking scar ran from her left temple to her just above her bottom lip. That was where Violet's eyes traveled as she shoved her hands in her pockets.
"I guess I should go," she said. "See you."
"Yeah, bye," Victoria said, relieved. She had never possessed extraordinary social skills, and the few that she had seemed to have vanished.
Victoria climbed the stairs to her room, flipping open Peter Pan as she went.
...
The window flew open with a tremendous burst.
Victoria sat bolt upright, gray eyes flashing as she rose to close it.
"Hello?" she asked the open air. "Anyone there?"
Nothing but the wind answered her question.
Victoria yawned and firmly latched the window, climbing back into bed. Her eyes were shut before her head hit the pillow.
A swift shadow drifted over the sleeping girl, a glowing light hovering by their left shoulder.
Their intentions were far from malicious, but for the moment they were content to simply watch.
...