Chapter 1

Abigael

Abby woke up in her sleeping bag to the early morning, bone chilling cold that had settled on her family's campsite. She checked her watch. It was 4:30. She cursed under her breath. No way was she going to get any more sleep in this cold. She laid down for a few more minutes, until she accepted that it was useless to even try to rest. She sat up and looked over at the small form of her sister, and could immediately tell that Morgan wasn't asleep either; her breathing was to fast. She shook her sister, who turned over to look at her with annoyance in her cold, blue eyes. Her cropped short, black hair matted her face, and she sat up groggily.

"What do you want?" she mumbled, making no effort to hide the irritation in her voice.

"Could you sleep?" Abby asked quietly. Morgan gave her a dark look.

"No," she replied.

"Then get dressed," Abby said. "We're going for a walk." Morgan didn't object. She had obviously been thinking the same thing. The two sisters got dressed in the warmest clothes they could find, and unzipped the tent. They were greeted by a blast of freezing air in their faces. 'Welcome to Washington,' Abby thought sarcastically, 'the state where the sun never shines.' She grabbed her cell phone, and they marched out of the campsite.

"Where are we going?" Morgan asked through chattering teeth. Abby thought for a moment.

"To the beach," she finally said. It's not like she had planned to go there in the first place, they were just on that path.

They walked along the frozen forest path in darkness. Abby mentally scolded herself for not remembering to bring a flashlight. It was five-o-clock in the morning! The days were much shorter now that it was winter. They continued walking until it got a bit lighter and they could see their surroundings. They were in an area where the trees grew closely together. They were mostly evergreen trees, but you could see the occasional bare branches of a sycamore or cedar. It all looked very sinister. As they walked, Morgan crept closer to Abby, her eyes darting about as if there were unseen monsters lurking just outside of their vision.

Soon, they could see a break in the trees, and they both let out a sigh of a relief. They walked a little faster until they reached the edge of the beach. Then they took their shoes and socks off and ran through the sand, forgetting about the cold as they sent it flying behind them. When they were about halfway to the water, Morgan sat down abruptly and began running her hands through the sand and burying them under thick piles. Abby continued to walk towards the edge of the water to pick up pretty colored stones that came in and out with the tides.

She walked for a long time until her pockets were half full with rocks, when her feet began to fully feel the cold of the water. She looked at her cell phone. It was almost six. She started to walk back, but then she saw something from the corner of her eye. It looked like a log. She instantly forgot about her feet and started towards it. Logs were always the best place to find shells and rocks, because the tide moved around them and brought rocks to the other side, where they got stuck underneath it. As she got closer, she realized something wasn't right. 'Wait a minute,' she thought, 'logs don't have arms and legs!' She started running towards the log, which she now knew was a person. She wished that she hadn't taken off her shoes. The sand was hurting her feet. She got to the person, and knew at once that he wasn't asleep. For one thing, he was drenched, and for another, he wasn't breathing. She tapped on his shoulders, hard.

"Are you ok?" she shouted. There was no response.

"Morgan!" she called to her sister, desperation creeping its way into her voice. Morgan looked up from where she was, got up, and started walking over to her sister.

"Run!" Abby shouted. Morgan began a steady jog. Abby didn't pay attention. She had already torn the little clothing that he had on his chest, placed her hands on his sternum, and began the thirty compressions, counting out loud.

"One and two and three. . ." she counted. When she got to thirty, she pinched his nose, tilted his head back, and breathed into his lungs. Then, immediately, she began the compressions again. Her sister finally got to her and squealed when she saw the apparently dead boy and her sister performing CPR.

"Take my cell phone and call 911," Abby said, never once hesitating or losing track. "It's in my back pocket." She then tilted his head, pinched his nose, and breathed into his mouth again.

"Eww," Morgan said as she reached into Abby's back pocket. Abby glared at her as she continued pushing.

"Just shut up and dial," Abby said. Morgan did as she was told. Abby began to count again.

"Come on, breathe!" Abby willed the boy. "Wake up and breathe!" Abby could hear her sister talking in the background. She concentrated on the correct technique as she tilted his head back again.

"Eww," Morgan said again. "Oh, not you ma'am," she said to the operator.

Abby was now starting to get nervous. She had been instructed in her CPR class to only do five sets, but she was on her fourth, and the boy still wasn't responding. They probably assumed that help would be there by then, or that the victim was beyond help. Well, she would just have to keep pumping until help arrived.

Just as she had finished the last two breaths, they heard a siren coming down the beach, and the sand and water was illuminated with red, flashing lights. At that moment, the boy suddenly convulsed, and then vomited up water on the sand beside them. Abby almost cried with happiness as he groaned and lay back down, his eyes closed.

"Is he alive?" asked Morgan from over Abby's shoulder.

"Yes," Abby said breathlessly as she took off her jacket and slowly attempted to dry him with it. Morgan looked more closely.

"He's cute," she said. The boy, luckily, didn't seem to hear her. He struggled to get onto his elbows in the rough sand. Abby gently laid her hand on his chest and his forehead until he lay down again. Strangely, this gesture seemed very awkward, even though just a moment ago, she had technically been kissing him. He nodded slowly and set his head slowly on the ground just as the paramedics arrived with a stretcher. She stepped aside and allowed them to do their work, but had to forcefully pull Morgan back as she attempted to watch what they were doing. At first, the boy seemed terrified of them, but they explained what they were doing to him, so he relaxed and allowed them to put him in the ambulance. One of the doctors asked Abby and Morgan to come with them to the hospital so that they could ask them some questions. Morgan immediately jumped at the opportunity, and Abby said it was ok, so they piled into the back of the ambulance with the boy as it sped off. Abby pulled out her cell phone and texted her mother to let her know what had happened, and where she and Morgan were.

On the way, the boy was completely silent as the doctors dried and warmed him, and inspected his body for other injuries. It wasn't until they turned him over did they find the burn on his lower back. The doctors looked grim, but continued to inspect him, and found several scars all over his body, and what appeared to be a partly healed bullet hole in his left shoulder. The doctors all looked shocked at that, but said nothing. Abby took the time to study the boy herself. Her sister was right; he was cute; really cute. He had blonde, choppy curls and looked like he had spent a lot of time in the sun. He had soft, childlike features, but he was lean and fairly muscular. But the most dazzling part of his appearance was his eyes, a deep green with sparkle and a light that she had never seen in someone before. His eyes were captivating, and he looked her age. She felt something rise in her chest, but then shoved it back down forcefully. Not a chance.

She focused on keeping that thought in the back of her mind throughout the ride to the hospital. It was hard work, but finally, after a minute, they arrived at the big building with the Red Cross on the top. After that, it was all so chaotic that she couldn't keep track of what was going on, when. They got the boy to a room where they were inspecting his back some more, and they took Abby and Morgan to an adjoining room where they said a doctor would be with them shortly. There they waited for a few minutes. Abby felt very uncomfortable being at the hospital. It was all so sterile and bare. She felt cluster-phobic, like the walls were closing in around her. Then suddenly, the doctor came in and shut the door behind her. She smiled sweetly at the two girls. She looked very young, and she had black hair that was cut well to frame her round face. She had a clipboard in her hand. She pulled up a chair and took a seat right next to Morgan.

"Hello," she said. "My name is Tiffany. I'm going to have to ask you a few questions about the boy that you found on the beach."

"Isn't that why we're here?" asked Morgan. Abby gave her a look, but Tiffany just smiled and nodded.

"Yes," she replied sweetly. "Now, shall we get started?" Abby and Morgan nodded.

The interview lasted about a half an hour, and finally, Tiffany stood up.

"You are free to go," she said. "One of our ambulances will take you home."

"May we see him?" Abby asked. Tiffany looked puzzled, but she shook her head.

"Doctors are examining him now," she said. "He's possibly is in surgery." Abby looked confused.

"What for?" she asked. Tiffany looked conflicted.

"Doctors found a bullet in his left shoulder," she said. "They need to remove it, or it will get infected." Abby nodded, and took her sisters arm.

"Let's go little elf," Abby said. Her sister followed her out the door and to the reception room. There they waited until the doctor said that he could drive them back to the campsite. As Abby left, she thought about the boy, and wondered if she would ever see him again.

"Are you ready?" asked the doctor.

"Yes," Abby replied.

A/N: Opps! i almost posted this without the authors note, and i know how much everyone loves the authors note :). so this is the actual first chapter. Hope you like it. (by the way, just a fun fact. due to my selfish and vain personality, Abby is actually my name, and Morgan is my little sister, who isnt really 8, and i'm not really 12) teehee!

Disclaimer: like i said in the prologue, Peter Pan didnt come from my mind, he came to be by the wonderful J.M. Barrie.

Tiffany: Rock On Barrie!

Disclaimer: Yeah . . . um, okay -_- (note-this is the edited version of this chapter. I am going through fixing mistakes and such. By the time I repost this, I'll have the rest of the current chapters fixed and the 8th chapter done.)