Wendy hovered over Petra, "Petra? Wake up, please?" Concern written all over her face.
John and Michael stood over Wendy's shoulder, not knowing what to do. They whispered different outcomes to each other, each one with a happy ending, but something in their minds kept tugging their thoughts to sad ones.
"Please, wake up. Somebody, please, help me!" Wendy yelled. "I'm going to help you. I'm going to get help." Wendy chanted as she wrapped her arms around Petra's delicate frame. She strained to pick her up, but once she had her in her arms she began to walk forward. "I'm getting help. Don't worry. Everything is going to be all right." Wendy murmured, saying those things mostly to comfort herself.
"Will she be all right?" Michael tugged at John's shirt. John shrugged, he didn't know what to do. No one knew what to do.
Wendy carried Petra out of the tent and into the packed crowd of the circus and carnival. "Someone, help me. Excuse me?" No one heard her small voice over the loud cries. Tears came to her eyes as Petra still didn't wake. Wendy began to wonder, what if her eyes never opened again? What if she never smiled again? What if she never got to hear her laugh again? What if she was never warm again? Tears quickly grew to sobs as Wendy, finally Petra's weight getting to her, fell to her knees. "Help." She whispered.
A shadow loomed over her, Wendy gasped and wrapped her arms protectively around Petra. She looked up. It was a young man, silhouetted by the sun behind him, she couldn't see him clearly. Then, he bent down, and she could see his face. He had a normal face, one you could easily forget, but there was something about him. Maybe it was his curly hair? But he reminded her of someone she knew in a far away memory that wasn't her own.
He held his hands out, "Let me help you." He began to wrap his arms around Petra, but Wendy shielded her from this stranger. He sighed. "I can help. I have a car, I can take you to a hospital."
Wendy shook her head. "No hospital."
"Back to your house?" He offered.
Again, Wendy shook her head. "They're watching."
"Who's watching? Where do you want me to take you?" He asked.
Wendy scrutinized his face, he seemed trust worthy, but you can't always judge a book by it's cover. "I'll give you directions." She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't work.
He held his hands out, "I'll carry her."
Wendy let the man hold her, but she kept a hold on Petra's hand. She followed him to his car across the street, and climbed into the back-seat where she thought it would be safest. He got in the driver side and started the car. The sound of the locks clicking made Wendy jump.
He noticed, "I'm not that kind of guy."
Wendy almost had to pinch herself to keep from snorting. All guys were that kind of guy, she thought to herself.
"So, where to?" He asked after driving for three blocks with no information.
"Keep going straight, then after two more blocks turn right." She began. "After that there should be a parking lot, go through it, then park in the second story of the parking structure."
He chuckled, "You sure do know your way around."
Wendy didn't respond. When they reached the parking structure, and the ignition was off the man turned to face Wendy. He began to reach toward the back-seat, and Wendy flinched.
Holding up his hands again, "I'm not going to do anything. The seat belt in the back is hard to open. I'll help you with it. Okay?"
He reached over and clicked and tugged, and after a few minutes it came loose. "How did it get like that?" Wendy asked when she was out of the car.
"Too many parties in the back-seat." He shrugged.
Wendy held her breath. He looked at her and laughed, "Just kidding. No, it was like that when I bought it. I never bothered to get it fixed, seeing as I never use the back." He sighed, "So, where now?" He picked up Petra again.
She started to walk toward the stairs, and began to climb up. "The rest of the stories were boarded up because of a fire." She explained. "You can only park up to the second floor. The third floor is too close, and the fourth is just a wreck, so I let them stay on the fifth and sixth floor. Those are the safest." Wendy turned to face the young man. "Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm Dale." He said.
"Can I trust you, Dale?" Wendy asked, he nodded. "It's just, my brothers live here now."
Dale scoffed, "You're brothers?"
"Yes, they're Lost Boys I found. I gave them a home." Wendy reached the fifth floor of the parking structure to be greeted by a multitude of cats.
"Woah." Dale gasped. There were tabby cats, big ones, small ones, dark ones, light ones. Multicolored cats, striped cats, tortoiseshell, fluffy cats, short-hairs, wire-hairs. All different cats and cat types you could ever imagine were pouncing and bouncing. "These, are your brothers?"
Wendy glared at him, "Set her down there." She pointed to a small cot in the corner.
Dale set her gently down on it, then checked her pulse. "Oh." He gasped.
Petra yawned and stretched her arms. Her baby blue eyes opened, "Wendy? Is it morning?"
"What?" Wendy asked, concern disappearing.
Dale sniffed Petra's clothes. "Hmm. Chloroform."
"What's that? Some kind of flower?" Petra asked, stretching again. "I feel sleepy, Wendy lady."
Wendy patted Petra on the head, "Then go to sleep, dear. I'll be here when you wake up."
"Hey, I'm just going to explore the cat realm." Dale said. He stood up and left to wander around.
Wendy began to hum a little lullaby to help Petra fall asleep. "Hey, Wendy? What happened? I remember you screaming for me." Petra began to remember.
She only smiled, "It was all a dream. Go to sleep now, dear."
"I hope it was a dream." Petra snuggled closer to Wendy and sighed. "Will you kiss me goodnight?"
Wendy kissed her on the forehead. "Better?" She had another far away memory, it was just like when he was a child.
Petra shook her head, and suddenly became serious. "No, I mean a real kiss."
Wendy sniffed and leaned in, "Okay." Then kissed Petra lightly on the lips. "Go to sleep now, dear."
Petra sighed and closed her eyes, "I love you," she murmured.
"Me too." Wendy replied. After an hour past, and Wendy was sure Petra was sleeping deeply, she stood up and stretched. She began to wander around looking for Dale. She found him leaning against his car. "I want to thank you, for what you did." Wendy said.
"No problem. It was my pleasure." He added, "Do you mind if I take a cat home? I think one of them likes me, it followed me I swear." A small white headed kitten jumped around in the back seat of his car.
She smiled and laughed, "Sure, you can have him. Consider it a thank you for your help."
"Thanks. Are those all boys?" He looked up, and Wendy nodded. He thought her heard her say something about making sure they were all boys, but he overlooked it.
"What?"
Dale didn't realize he was staring at her, and before he could stop himself he asked, "Are you free Saturday night?"
Wendy flinched back.
"I know this is sudden, I'm not sure myself." He asked again. "Would you like to go out? There's this one dance thing, it's more like a hangout, but it's cool."
"Would this happen to be at your place?" Wendy asked.
He shook his head, "No. It's at the park."
Wendy thought about it, it was a crowded place. Why not? "Wait, how old are you?"
He stiffened, "Does it matter?"
"Yes it matters!" Wendy nearly screamed at him.
"I just turned twenty last week." He replied.
Wendy gaped at him. "You do realize you are asking a high school girl, out to a dance at the park?"
He merely nodded. Wendy sighed, "Fine, I'll go. But don't try anything funny! Or I'll get my cats to eat you!" She threatened. He smiled. "Now, give me a ride home."
"No problem." He held open the passenger door, but Wendy sat in the back-seat with the kitten instead.
When she got home, her mother was screaming and crying, and the police were at her house again. Wendy sighed, her brothers were home, they were all safe. She held her mother as she cried and sighed. She was secretly looking forward to this Saturday, but then she realized how this would affect Petra. "I just won't tell her," she decided.
--
Yay! So many ideas and adventures running around in my head! It's not even near finished! lifeless shell
I've had another idea for a Peter Pan and Wendy story, and in that one Peter is still a guy! Only he's in a gang. . . Once I get more time, and probably finish one of the stories I'm working on, I'll upload it. lifeless shell Trying to keep all these updated as much as possible is hard with crappy internet.