Hey! Here we are, chapter 4. I'm sorry for the delay, but I had to reinstall windows on my computer, and it was just a big mess. Ugh. Anyway, kudos to my reviewers, love you!
Kimberly-A: Awwww thanks so much for reviewing my chapters! You're so sweet! I love your stories!
Em- Thanks!
Bamaslama- What else can I say? You're so loyal to me! Thanks a bundle!
Elkalili- Thanks, hope you enjoy the rest!
Hold Me Up- Another loyal reviewer! Thanks, and you know what. weird as it sounds, pineapples and mustard are yummy together, especially on ham. lol
Leah- Yeah, it was a difficult pregnancy for poor Aunt Millicent, which is why Wendy tends to the baby at night. Thanks for the review!
Chapter 4: Surrender to the Pain
"Wendy."
Wendy knew he was behind her without even having to turn around. She felt his sour breath on the back of her neck, and waited for his putrid words to slice the air. She felt a wave of bile rise up in her throat as he placed his hand upon her shoulder. Lightly at first, but he increased the pressure when he spoke her name again, "Wendy."
She closed her eyes as if willing him to go away. Why must he destroy her happiness?
"How long dare you keep your back on me?"
It was no use. Wendy couldn't will him away if she was a brilliant scholar. She was caught, and she'd soon have to surrender her memories. her beautiful, wonderful memories of a childhood she wanted to be a part of again.
Of a love she wanted back in her arms.
And of a kiss that had transformed her from a child to a young woman, a kiss that had cursed her in its own right. For she was not in Neverland, and time did not still for her and Peter, no matter how she wished it would.
"To keep my back to you, Uncle, is as safe as if you held a dagger."
He tightened the grip on her shoulder ever so slightly at her words. Wendy wheeled around to face him. "What do you want with me?"
"Always so poetic," He said, lightly lifting his hand to her face and pinching her chin. But his eyes were cold. So cold. "Your words are like honey from the serpent's mouth."
Wendy folded her arms. "Uncle, it is very late, and I do need my rest. What would Aunt Millicent think of me being awake at such hours?"
She had touched a nerve.
William stalked to her, backing her into the windowpane. If only Peter were still out there. He raised one shaking hand, and brought it down upon her face. "How dare you threaten my authority!"
All Wendy wanted to do was cry out, to tell Aunt Millicent, beg her to believe her. But Millicent knew that Wendy was a rambunctious young thing, and coughed up her bruises to the girl's own clumsiness.
But Wendy was hardly clumsy. She was an adventurer, and to her calling she had become rather graceful.
William gripped her arm hard, so hard she was sure he would shatter the bone. She gave a small yelp of pain, and he grinned, "It is clear that our previous sessions haven't worked! And I thought I was finally getting somewhere with you! But THIS!" He ripped the acorn from her neck. The leather cord she had used was pulled so aggressively, it felt like a whip against her porcelin skin. "WHAT IS THIS?" He bellowed.
"Nothing," She said. "Nothing, I just like the smell of it, is all."
But she knew she might have well said it was a gift from her beau. Anything she told him would be useless. She wanted to kill him, strike him dead! She never hated anyone so much in her life. She had sword fights with many pirates back in Neverland.
But this wasn't Neverland, and she knew if she laid a hand on her uncle, Aunt Millicent would send her somewhere far away, somewhere that was worse than living in the house she was supposed to call her home.
"Don't lie to me, you filthy little wench! You aunt and I have been most gracious to you, and this is how you repay us? By regressing back into a child?" He threw her hard to the floor. "Only the finest things for you! The finest dresses! You must GROW UP!"
Wendy got shakily to her feet. "I AM growing up," She hissed. "What is so wrong for me to have memories?"
Wrong answer. He smacked her with the back of his hand. "The finest schools! The finest tutors!" He smacked her again. "Now tell me, DEAR GIRL, what is most important to you?"
"PETER!" She screamed before she could stop herself. "Peter Pan!"
William growled, and advanced on her.
It went on for almost an hour. By the time William left Wendy's room, she was bloody, and beaten, and was crying herself to sleep. She had to forget. And by doing that, she had to stop having nightly visits from Peter.