3

Coretta

I'd placed his mask above my bed on a shelf. Henry was a mystery to me… I fiddled with my hair at the mirror of my mahogany vanity. The only thing on my mind since last night was Henry, I'd never seen him before and he told me I most likely would never see him again. I was confused to where he may live, maybe he likes being indoors and hardly goes out… I was snapped out of my thoughts by Slightly's voice.

'Hey, you've been awfully quiet today.' He said, I smiled and shrugged. 'Like your head's in the clouds.' He laughed. 'Could that boy you were with last night have anything to do with that?' I looked up from my vanity and straight at Slightly.

'What? How did you know?' I asked.

'Everyone's talking about it…' He smirked. 'The mystery guy with scruffy brown hair.'

'Yeah well, it was just a little thing last night. Nothing really.' I did not like Henry in that way, I was simply intrigued by him, curiosity was what it was. Plain and simple curiosity. Nibs, Curly, Tootles and the twins then rushed into my room as well. 'What is it?' I asked taking one glance at their reddened faces.

'Pirates. They were at the masquerade last night.' Tootles panted dabbing his brow with a dirty hand.

'How'd you know?' I quizzed.

'We were at mermaid lagoon and they told us they heard Pirate Youth talking about the masquerade and going to it, they said they took a boat there. They were boys, no girls went with them.' Nibs said.

'And we didn't even know because they had masks on! Who knows what they may have found out or done?' Curly said. Something then occurred to me… was Henry a… No he couldn't be, he was too kind and sensitive. He would never be a pirate.

'I'm sure it was nothing, we'll send a warning to people to keep an eye out for any suspicions.' Slightly said. 'Right Ettie?'

'Yeah, I'll go talk to mermaids today, see if they know anything more.' I nodded and gestured for them to leave my room. How the hell did Peter cope with all of this?

I flew down to the lagoon and whistled a tune, letting the mermaids know it was me. I sat on a rock and dangled my feet into the water, splashing slightly as they fidgeted in the water. I caught glimpses of flickering tails and smiled. Their heads finally bobbed up to the surface revealing their pretty faces. 'Hi ladies.' I smiled.

'Hello Coretta!' They cooed back. Everyone knew how in love the mermaids used to be with Peter. It took me a great deal of effort to get them to even tolerate me. I gained their admiration with small gifts, usually pretty things like make up and jewellery. Sometimes I'd give them a bit of treasure we stole from Hook.

'I need your wise knowledge.' I said to them.

'That would come with a price.' A black haired mermaid giggled.

'Yes, which is why I have brought you these.' I pulled out hair brushes and combs from my bag, as well as some hair clips and jewelled rings. They awed in delight at their gifts.

'What do you need to know?' A red headed mermaid said whilst combing her hair with her new sparkly comb.

'Those pirate boys that came last night… who were they?' I asked.

'Oh them! We've been listening in on their conversations. They talked about last night a lot…' A blonde giggled.

'They have, have they? What did they say?' I smiled.

'You kissed one of them…' The black haired one smiled slyly. Henry… I didn't want to believe it but all the things he said to me made sense now. You probably won't see me after tonight. You'll hate me.

'Was one called Henry?' I asked and they all burst into fits of giggles. 'What? What are you laughing at?'

'The one you kissed was Henry?' The red head said wiping tears from her face after giggling so much, I nodded. 'Henry Hook…' My blood ran cold, not only was Henry a pirate, he was related to Hook…

'How is he related to Hook?' I asked, frowning.

'Henry is the Captain's son.' It wasn't even a distant relation… he was his son. How could Henry be related to that vile codfish? Why was I so shocked? I met Henry once. For all I know he could have been trying to soften me up… and I let him. I let Hook's son trick me into thinking I liked him. He was going to pay for that. No one messes with me. Ever. As all the other pirate boys have discovered. I marched away from the mermaids with my fists clenched. How dare that stupid boy think he could toy with my feelings? I stormed through the small Lost Village centre, Zack walked up to me.

'Can we talk about last night?' He asked; his eyebrows furrowed.

'Go away before I castrate you!' I screamed and carried on stomping to the den. I slid down the tunnel and slammed my bag on the long dining table. 'LOST BOYS!' I bellowed and they all ran in, it was rare I would be this mad but they knew when I was angry to obey.

'Anyone familiar with Henry Hook?' I asked as I paced up and down the line they had formed.

'I thought he was a myth…' Tootles shrugged.

'No, he's real.' I snapped, worried they wouldn't believe me.

'Yeah I heard of him.' Curly said.

'And?' I pressed on.

'He's meant to be pretty lethal fighting wise, and close to his father of course. Hook trained him himself so he must be good.' Curly explained.

'Hook's not that good so Henry mustn't be all that scary.' I scoffed. That stupid old man or 'Codfish' as the boys called him wasn't that good at fighting, or at least I told myself that. He had only ever caught me once… or twice… well a few but I knew he would and I had a plan in my head.

'What's so great about Henry?' Stan said.

'He's most certainly not all that great but the reason I brought him to our attention is because he was at the masquerade last night.' I said. 'He's playing us for fools.'

'Sly little bugger! He went right beneath our noses!' Slightly gasped.

'So, we go to the pirate ship? Show him who's boss?' Nibs smirked.

'Yes, yes we will. And we'll prove to him and his friends that we're not to be messed with.' I smiled deviously.

Henry POV

I was sat at the end of the long table at dinner time opposite my dad. He hadn't spoken a word to me yet, he sipped at his red wine in his glass and I focused on the roast dinner laid out in front of me.

'Have fun at the party?' He finally said, staring at me, his wine glass below his eyes. I looked down, I knew he'd find out.

'How'd you know?' I asked.

'It's my ship, I know everything, a boat was gone. I interrogated your little friends, it wasn't hard. They sang like birds except loyal Price.' He dabbed his napkin at the corners of his mouth. 'Did you know it was her?' I presumed he was talking about Coretta.

'Yes…' I whispered, hearing the building rage in his voice.

'Why did you kiss her then?' He growled. I shrugged, avoiding any eye contact. 'She does that you know.' He said, I looked up at him and he nodded. 'She strings men along to make them believe she loves them and then,' he stabbed the roast beef with his knife with a bang and I flinched. 'She kills them.'

'But, she didn't know who I was…' I tried to deny that she would ever hurt me.

'Henry, you're so naïve. Of course she knew. She's smarter than everyone makes her out to be, I'll give her that. She was luring you in.' He scoffed. She was… it all made sense now… Her trying to get me to tell her where I lived and wanting me to take my mask off to know she had the right victim.

'How could I be so stupid?' I muttered to myself.

'You let your guard down, to a girl.' He taunted me. My blood heated up as the rage coursed through me, she played me. She thought me a fool who would be an easy kill. 'I warned you about her.'

'You were right.' I gave in. He was right, she was the enemy.

'I always am.' He smiled triumphantly taking another sip of his wine. Smee then burst in panting. 'What is it Smee?'

'Coretta, Capt'n! She's on the ship…' My dad's eyes widened and he put his glass down.

'Put Henry in his room and fetch me my sword.' My dad said. But I stood up from my chair and grabbed a sword of my own.

'No. Let me see her. I want to face our enemy.' I said as I admired the sword of my choice.

'Henry, no you-'

'I want to fight her, I'm good enough, I want this blade at her throat.' Rage bubbled in my blood, she'd thought me weak, I would prove to her that I was not weak and follow in my father's blood thirsty footsteps. My dad gave a small, proud smile and nodded his head.

'Very well but stay close…' He said and we headed for the deck. The deck was hectic, pirates shouting and shooting cannons, a few pirates were fighting her crew but she was flying somewhere. I'd catch glimpses of her brown hair swishing in the wind, before I knew it she had floated down to face me and my dad.

'Hello Henry.' She smirked.

'Coretta.' I replied.

'Think you could fool me huh?' She breathed.

'I believe you are the evil temptress in this situation.' I glowered at her. 'Lest we forget last night?' She stepped closer, her hot breath against my cheek.

'You were a shit kisser.' She hushed.

'You couldn't do any better.' I chuckled darkly. 'You know what, I've seen girls like you before…' She tilted her head confused. 'Whores.' I spat. She clasped her hands around my neck and slammed me down on the deck. She crawled on top of me and pinned me down with her knees either side of me. 'Control your urges.' I winked, that earned a knee to my crotch and I groaned in pain. I managed to gather up my strength and flip her over onto her back, pinning her down with my knees.

'That's my boy!' My dad cheered me on as did the other pirates.

'Daddy's boy…' She chuckled under her breath and I kicked her side with my knee, making her shout in pain and anger.

'Not so tough now.' I laughed as she writhed around beneath me. She spat in my face, hitting me in the eye, I wiped her saliva away with my hand.

'You think you can defeat me, but you can't.' She laughed.

'Oh really?' I smiled as I put my sword to her neck. She gulped and looked to her side panicked, her eyes caught sight of someone.

'Slightly!' She screeched and I was hauled back and held down by someone grabbing my shirt. He had a hard expression on his face, baring his teeth like a lion, but then his expression softened. I tried to kick him off as he studied my face intently.

'Peter?' He whispered.

'What the hell are you talking about?!' I yelled at him. I looked over at my dad to see his enraged expression. Coretta had got to her feet and stared at me too.

'Let's go guys…' She ordered her lost boys away. They all dove into the water swimming away and she flew away. The ship was silent.

'Why'd he call me Peter?' I looked up to my dad.

'He's confused son, he's not over that wretched brat's death. He saw your brown hair and likened it to Peter's.' He explained and I nodded. 'Not bad Henry, for your first fight.' He praised, helping me up off the deck. 'Not bad at all.'

A/N: I meant to get this out sooner but you know. . . Busy busy. Next one out soon.