Hello again! I have to say I impress myself at how quickly I uploaded Youth but I'm so excited about it I just couldn't wait any longer!
Anywayyyy! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much as I do. Thanks again for reading me!
She coughed. Twice. Expelling the sand from her dry mouth. She tried to open her eyes but could only see shadows surrounding her. She heard the soft sound of waves breaking on land, a few steps away from where she was laying, unable to move. She coughed again, tried to remove the annoying grains with her fingers, attempted to spit it out, but despite her efforts, she could feel them grit in between her teeth.
Rachel was shaking. She was cold, she was scared, she was alone, but more importantly, she was not in her bedroom at all. She could clearly remember being attacked, but none of it made sense. Who, how, why? So many questions pirouetting in her head but only darkness for an answer. Where was she? Geographically speaking she couldn't have known, but she obviously was on a beach, and it was nighttime, explaining the hundreds of shadows all around her.
A bird flew past the moon, making her yelp of surprise. Her heartbeat gone crazy, Rachel sat down to try to cool it down. There's absolutely no use of freaking out, she told herself. Calm down youngster, it'll be over soon. But she just couldn't convince herself she was having some nightmare of a sort. Everything felt too real. From the cold bite of the wind to the touch of the sand under her frail body. Her clothes, mostly made of cotton, did not do much to protect her, and so she decided she could not stay there, waiting for something to happen.
She headed in direction of the nearby forest, hoping to find firewood. She walked for what seemed like hours but nothing came onto her view. Her head still pounding she sat on a dead tree to examine the situation she was in but couldn't find any more answers than before. She figured the situation had even worsen since she was now lost in an unknown forest. She looked back. Maybe she should have stayed near the water. She shook her head, intensifying her headache. She was not thinking straight of course, she would have died back there. Her strength slowly leaving her body, she slipped to the ground and put her arms around her legs, trying to warm herself up a little, which obviously did not work. The night was cold as a winter blade, she almost felt it cut her through.
A dry branch cracked somewhere. She blenched out of terror and thought of running away, but because she was so weak she stayed in her hunched position in hope to stay hidden. Which turned out to be completely useless.
"My my... " said a joyful voice right before her. "Isn't it the new recruit that had me run all around the island to search for. "
Rachel refused to look up. "It's a dream, it can only be a dream." she repeated to herself.
The boy burst out laughing. At her, she presumed, but she couldn't face the fact she had fallen in such madness. Once again, what was happening to her?
"My dear, " laughed the voice "this is no dream. This is just about to be your worst nightmare. Now get up. " he ordered.
But even if she had wanted it, Rachel could not have obeyed, frightened and weak as she had become. The boy figured that out quite quickly.
" Well, if you're not a pain already. "
And with that said, he threw her on his shoulder and walked away, like she was no weight.
The boy walked a long time, and Rachel was not feeling so well. She had almost thrown up a couple of times, and quickly fainted at some point, but it did not stop him. He just kept on walking to some mysterious destination, never hesitating on the path he had to take. He had obviously been living in this forest for quite some time.
Rachel could not see much, except for his back, his heels and the dirt he left behind. With her headache getting worst as time flew by, she decided to let go, and went loose against the boy's shoulder. She could almost hear him mock her for that, although he did not make a sound. He was one with the shadows : silent, quick and efficient.
Eventually, Rachel heard the sound of a drum getting closer, and as the boy kept on walking, she started to hear human voices savagely singing in some ethnic language. The music brought back the pounding in her head, loud as never before. Once again, her mind fell into oblivion.
/
" Have I not told you to get up, girl? " she heard a voice say right before extremely cold water was shot to her face. She sat up straight, craving for air. Her action gave rise to laughs around her. She observed her surroundings and was quick to find she was surrounded by people wearing dark green capes. Some of them even wore large hoods.
" I won't command you three times. " said the same voice from before. Its statement provoked a chanting from the people around her.
" Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. "
Rachel had no choice. She got rid of the water streaming down her face and tried to get on her feet. She almost succeeded but lost balance and fell right into someone's arms. The group laughed again, mocking her. The arms she had fallen into pushed her away, sending her against someone else that did the same. From arms to arms, Rachel couldn't control her body and ended up on the ground again, dizzy. Some of them shook their heads and finally walked away. Only one boy stayed back, the one that had carried her. How she knew it she couldn't say herself. Maybe was it the way he looked pissed at her.
" You're making a fool of yourself, girl. You've already tired the boys. That's a record if I may. "
He paused.
"Get up. You're late."
Rachel tried to speak but her words got stuck in her throat. She closed her mouth and tried to walk again. This time she succeeded and followed the dark figure through what seemed a camp. What was the meaning of all this?
The strange boy led her further into the woods, apart from camp and suddenly stopped, surprising her greatly enough for her to bump into him. He growled.
"Learn to control yourself, girl, or you won't last long around here."
She opened her mouth again but didn't find anything clever to say. He turned around, observing her with piercing eyes that shone with the moonlight. That's one cold glare, she caught herself thinking. Why was she not freaking out ?
"At least you're quiet." he approved. "You are to listen to our rules, and behave according to them. Do I make myself clear?"
The glare got closer. Rachel stepped back. Now was a perfect time to freak out. She gritted her teeth.
"Rule number one." the boy started "You do not make any attempt whatsoever of escaping camp. You are to leave only under direct orders. Rule number two : you are to call us by the name we will introduce ourselves with. No exception. Rule number three : you do not lie. Ever."
"Or else what ?" Rachel finally spoke, apparently amusing him. She caught his white teeth breaking into a hysterical smile.
" I was hoping you'd ask." And he pushed her in front of him.
She almost fell from the cliff that had appeared in a second before her eyes but the boy caught the fabric of her shirt and brought her back to safety. Rachel took a minute to find her breath. Had he not had such great reflexes she would have ended at the bottom of that cliff. Thanks goodness she was alive !
"Now that you know what you are risking by breaking the rules, you may mingle with the others. Or at least try."
He then casually walked away, like if he had not just risked her life, and disappeared, leaving her alone in the dark.
It took her a moment to come to her senses. She needed answers to her questions. She walked back to camp, just to see the boys had made a gigantic fire, illuminating the night. She stayed in the shadows, unsure of what should her next move be. She couldn't just burst in there and act bossy like. After some time, movement brought her out of her cogitation. She looked up and saw the boys take their long coats off and gather around the fire. They started dancing around it while someone she could not see started playing drums again, in an infernal rhythm. This is when she heard it, the lovely sound of a pipe, coming from what seemed everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The music messed up with her mind, making her want to dance with the others and have fun, but she didn't move. The pipe got closer, and as the sound got louder, bigger was her urge to join the group. But suddenly the music stopped, leaving the crazy beat continue alone. No one seemed bothered by it.
A boy she did not know walked out of the shadows on her right, lowering the instrument he had apparently just played. So he was the piper, Rachel understood.
At first he did not seem to see her, although she was just inches away from him. The girl did not dare to move. She didn't like the way he was looking at the others, with satisfaction in his eyes. She held her breath. The boy turned his head to look at her and smiled, but his smirk only darkened his already devilish face. Rachel definitely chose to fear him.
"So you're the rookie... " he began, almost laughing at himself for some reason.
Madman, she thought.
He then looked straight into her eyes, immobilising her with his look only. He smirked again.
"Be welcomed to Neverland."