Chapter Two

The sun shining down on the Vampiress' face was just beginning to bring her back to her senses when she felt a hand on her thigh. She knew instinctively that the hand did not belong to her husband and stilled her body as she concentrated. The lustful Pirate did not see the fire sparking at her fingertips until suddenly, just as he was nearing her core, the woman shot up and slammed both fists into him, catching him instantly on fire. He screamed and fell back, beating at the flames.

Delvira managed to scramble to her feet while he was still trying to extinguish the fire. "Never . . . try that on a woman!" She was summoning her fire again when a bullet shot through the Pirate's back. He fell, and she found herself looking at a mustached man she did not know.

"Sorry about that, ma'am. James Hook is my name. I'm the Captain. He's just a lowlife." He scooped off his coat and handed it to the beautiful, naked woman. "It's all I have, ma'am. I hope it'll do."

Delvira accepted the coat and assured him even as she was shrugging into it, "It'll be fine, Captain. Thank you. Tell me," she then proceeded to ask, "have there been any survivors found?"

"Even as we speak, ma'am, but you're the only female who's been awake. We have them in two places." He motioned toward the back of the ship where Angel was lining out his folks and to the other area the Pirates had first started laying them in.

Delvira's black eyes followed the Captain's motions. She quickly dismissed Angel's group, but as she started toward the other, a wave of weakness hit her. She stumbled in the sand but managed to stay standing.

"May I assist you, ma'am?" He offered his arm to her. "Who are we looking for?"

She looked into his eyes before taking his arm. James Hook tingled a bell somewhere within her mind, but she was not yet coherent enough to place the name with the man her husband had told her about. Still, she could tell he meant her no harm. "A man," she told him. "My husband. He has long, spiky, blonde hair. He's probably naked. And a woman who looks like me. She might or might not be dressed. And the others . . ." Her voice trailed off as she glanced at him a second time. "Goblins, Fieries, those sort of things."

"That explains it! I didn't know what kind of creatures we'd been uncovering! Orange, feathery things and some of the ugliest things you've ever seen with big noses. They're over here. We've also got some other furry creatures that appear to be half human and half cat of some kind." He pointed those out to her, as well.

Delvira nodded but dismissed the cats for the time being with but a glance. "They," she indicated the Fieries and Goblins, "are my husband's people."

"My Gods, ma'am! Your husband's a Goblin?"

"No," she said, too weak to snap the answer. "He's a man, as human as I, but he's the King of the Goblins."

"What's his name?"

"Jareth," Delvira replied. She was about to say more and was still scanning the bodies when Hook exclaimed.

"Holy crap! It can't be the same one!"

"Same one what?" Delvira asked. Yet before he could answer her, she spoke a second question. "Wait a minute. You're not one of Salem Saberhagen's men, are you?"

James looked downward at his feet. "How do you know of us, ma'am?" His eyes darted back up to look at hers. "I'm not ashamed of being one of his men, only of getting caught."

Delvira smiled sadly. "My husband would say about the same. He told me about you all, but if you are that poor Captain who got thrust out to that damned Neverland, please help me to look for them. You know what Jareth looks like; Elvira's identical to me."

"With pleasure, ma'am," James said, and he began to look around, hoping to spot something that would be big enough to hide a whole city of Goblins. "Let's dig over here," he said as he led her toward the big pile.

"Oh, and, Captain, I know this isn't the best of times, but Salem is here somewhere too."

"Oh my Gods! Salem is here!" James said quite reverently. "I thought perhaps they had killed my old friend! I never knew what happened to any of them!"

Delvira continued to talk to the Captain even as she knelt by the pile and began to dig, her long, black fingernails scraping hurriedly through the wood. "Jareth was condemned to be the King of the Goblins, but Salem . . . You won't recognize him, James. May I call you James?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but of course, you may call me James. What did they do to Salem?" He braced himself to hear the worst.

Delvira was about to answer him when she uncovered a small bundle of black fur. She checked his heartbeat first, then lifted him out of the pile and toward the Captain. "James," she spoke in complete seriousness, her eyes meeting his, "say 'hello' to . . . to Salem."

James took the small bundle of black fur from Delvira. Very gently, he cradled him in his arms. "SMEE!" he called. "COME QUICKLY!"

Delvira continued to dig, beginning to uncover a naked girl and a clothed boy whose hand she still held tightly to, even as Smee came running. "Captain?"

"Samuel, this is Salem. Please take care of him. Don't let him go, and you stay out of the digging! I don't want something big to fall on you and hurt you!" He smiled at Samuel.

Smee took the cat with great care but could not help asking, "Salem? Are you sure?"

"Alas, but I am sure!" James cried. "I think they have done to him worse than they did to any of the rest of us!" He turned to look at what Delvira had just uncovered and saw a woman with long, dark hair and a boy about the age of his own two boys. "Are they . . . ?" his voice trailed off. He hoped they were not dead.

Delvira had stopped digging and was staring at the dried blood on Faith. She had not realized how hungry she was until she had seen the blood. "They're alive," she told him for she could see their chests falling and rising and hear the faint beats of their hearts. Yet, instead of digging any further, she began to back away from them.

"What's wrong, dear lady?" James asked.

Delvira looked at him for a long moment before finally whispering to him, "If you were not who you are and did not mean to my husband what you do, I would not tell you. But the girl . . . and the blood . . . "

"You're a Vampire?" James queried. "Always wanted to meet one, and now I've met two in one day! Just grab one of the Pirates that's already dead, ma'am. Help yourself. Or I'll kill one for you if you need fresh."

Delvira looked at James in surprise. "Jareth was right," she commented with another sad smile. "You are something. But dead will be just fine, and thank you, Captain."

"We'll find him, ma'am. Don't you worry." He turned his back toward her so that he did not have to watch her eating the Pirate.

With James' back turned toward her, Delvira quickly drug one of the fresh corpses out of sight. She nearly stumbled over another body but managed to catch her balance just in time. Looking down at it, she could tell immediately that it was drained and knew that Angel must have been hungry, as well. Turning her attention back to her own meal, she dug her fangs into his neck.


Wolf stirred and tried to move, but the tremendous weight of the pile he was under did not budge. He wondered if he had enough room to wolf and then felt something soft and cuddly next to him. "Elvira?" his word came out as though his mouth was full of cotton and was a squeak instead of a normal sound. Was she awake? Was she able to help him? He prayed that she was not hurt too badly.

"I can't . . . " Elvira whispered weakly to him, her eyes opening to return his gaze, " . . . move it . . . " Not for the first time did Elvira wish she had Delvira's talents. She knew her sister would not have allowed herself to stay trapped once coming to, but she could not channel the Vampire the way Delvira could.

"I'm going to wolf. Hang on tight." He closed his eyes and concentrated. He could feel his body distorting and becoming the wolf. He felt the debris fall away from him as though it was so much newspaper, and he bounded out, carrying Elvira and never realizing that he was naked at the time. He tried to howl, but even it came out as a squeak. He came out right under the nose of Frederic who screamed and ran back until he collided into Connor, knocking them both to the ground.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Connor demanded and landed a punch on Frederic. Soon, the two were beating the crap out of each other.

"DAMN, BOIS!" James yelled as he strode purposefully forward. Grabbing both of them by a handful of hair, he snatched them apart. "STOP IT! FIGHT LATER! Right now we've got people counting on us to save them! Don't make me angry! If you do, I might forget that you're my sons . . . " He let his voice trail off, glaring at both of them.

As soon as James let go, Connor ran like Hell around to the other side and started digging in the pile. He did not look back at Frederic. It seemed that Frederic was always getting him into trouble, and he just couldn't help himself to stay out of it. He did not want James mad at him. He concentrated on digging but couldn't help muttering underneath his breath, "Damn that boi and his sense of his duty . . . "

Frederic sniffed. "Don't even go there!" James commanded. "Now get busy!" He threw Frederic toward the pile-up. Frederic started digging down and soon found a woman. He laid claim to her immediately, pulling her up out of the debris and carrying her over to the line-up. She did not stir. He checked for a heartbeat and was relieved to find a weak one. He couldn't help but to sit on his haunches and stare at her. He thought she was so beautiful!

Frederic did not know how long he had been staring at the lovely creature before him when her eyes finally began to slowly flutter open. Dazed brown eyes blinked awake and stared at him. "Who . . . " The girl ran her tongue over her lips, wetting them, and then tried speaking again. Still, her voice came out as a faint, barely audible whisper. "Who are you?"

"Frederic!" he replied with a grin. "And you?"

"Dawn," she managed.

"I'll see if I can find some water for you, Dawn. I won't be gone long." He walked back down to the water's edge and gazed out toward the ship. Something was wrong. The men should have been back by now. "Captain? How long does it take to fetch water?"

James looked at him and then out toward the ship. "They do seem to have been gone an awfully long time, but there's no way that we can find out as they took the only boat."

"I need some water for a woman I rescued."

"There is no water, Frederic. Like idiots, we came to the island without water!"

"What are we gonna do?"

"Nothing right now. Maybe the men will return soon. Continue with your digging, Frederic. There are a lot of people down there somewhere."

A snarl was heard, and a set of claws poked upward from the debris. Wolverine jumped forth, wondering where Ororo was. "'Ro?" he called, hoping she would answer. He looked around, hoping to see Jack as well, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Jack?"


Blue eyes blinked open to complete darkness, and then she felt the weight. Though it was really only debris from the ship, she thought it was bodies pressing down upon her, and the stench of their rotting corpses filled her nose. She screamed, and as one scream followed another and then another, she began to claw frantically at her imprisonment.


Wolverine heard 'Ro's scream and immediately began digging down until he could reach her. "Hush, little darlin'! I'm comin'!" he called out, knowing that she could hear him even if she couldn't see him, yet the response he got was another scream just as panicked as the first. It only took him seconds to dig down to her, but it seemed like a lifetime. "Open your eyes, little darlin'," he said as he finally reached her. "I'm here."

Ororo was trembling like a leaf in a hurricane and her bleeding hands were clawing at empty air when Logan called to her and his voice finally sank through the memories. She continued to tremble but managed to open her eyes to find him gazing at her in deep concern. She tried to voice his name, but no sound would come out. Instead, she flung her arms around him and held to him tightly as tears dripped down her cheeks.

He pulled her to him and hugged her close. "It's okay, 'Ro. You're safe now." He didn't know what kind of nightmares she had had before. All he knew was that she was terrified of tight places. He picked her up and carried her to a wide, open space, hoping it would help.

She continued to tremble against him even as she fought to gain control of her mind. They were all right, but what of the girls, her godchildren? And what of his Jack?

As if in answer to her very thoughts, Wolverine told her that he had not found the others yet. "It's slow goin', 'Ro. We have to dig down, hopin' to find some one. Sometimes ya get lucky; others, ya don't."

She knew she needed to concentrate and calm herself but did not want to let go of him. She clung to him as though he were a second skin even while admitting, "I . . . I have to calm down. I can get them out from under there . . . Well," she amended herself, "I can at least free them, but I have to calm down first." She pulled back just enough so that she could look into his eyes. "Thank you, Logan." She whispered the last so that only his ears could hear her.

"What do you need me to do, 'Ro?" He believed in this woman and knew that she could do many unbelievable things. If she thought she could do this, he believed she could, and all he wanted to do was help.

"You can't," she told him solemnly, shaking her head. "Only I can. I just have to get my mind past that . . . past the memories . . . "

He nodded. "Then do it, little darlin'. Anything you can do to help will be better than doin' nothing. We dig and dig; sometimes we find some one. Sometimes we don't." He knew he had just told her the same thing but did not know if she had been coherent enough to understand him then. He watched her. If she looked like she was going to faint, he was going to pick her up and carry her. Meanwhile, he was just going to stand beside her if she needed him.


As Ororo fought to gain control of her mind, another fought to awaken. When finally he was rewarded with the cool air washing over him and consciousness being returned, he snapped his eyes open and jumped to his feet. His movements were a little too swift and caused the world to swirl around him, but the thoughts of those he cared for kept him standing. He turned on bare feet and scanned the area with keen eyes. He recognized many of those who had already been rescued and was thankful for each that had lived, but his heart dropped far below the sand beneath his feet when he could catch no sign of Prue or Jack.

His eyes turned back to the pile, and he knew they had to be in there somewhere. If he could just use the wolf long enough to free them, some one would be able to knock him out. When he caught sight of Wolf, he knew the other Werewolf would be able to take him down. Not even the thought that Wolf did not appear to realize that he was naked helped to cheer him; instead, he thought only of his brother and the woman who, though she knew not what she did, had already won his heart.

Turning his attention away from Wolf and back to the pile of debris, Brendan began to concentrate. His brown eyes shifted to yellow slants, and he started sniffing. He smelled several of the other crew members but ignored them all in his search for Jack and Prue. It was Prue's scent he caught first, and he ran toward it. He fell on his knees beside the debris and began digging instantly. Soon, claws dug away the wood rather than hands.

When he finally reached Prue, he found himself staring down at her beautiful form, but she seemed so still that his heart skipped a beat and nearly stopped completely. Her hands that were so much smaller than his were clinging determinedly to an old, leathery book, and Brendan started to reach out for them, planning to check her pulse. He stopped when he saw his paw reaching out for her hands and cursed himself instead. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Do you want her to get eaten, you idiot!

Wait a minute, he interrupted himself. I'm thinking coherently . . . yet I'm wolfing? Or am I the wolf already? He shook his head. Doesn't matter. It'll be out of control in a moment regardless. He forced himself to back away from Prue and turned his attention to Wolf. He tried to call to him about Prue, but his words came out in a long howl. Brendan saw Wolf look up at him and heard two shots from somewhere, but he ignored them. Trusting Wolf to understand and care for Prue, he picked up one of the nearby boards and begun slamming it against his head.

"Idiot!" Wolf said when he came running by. "Stop that insanity! Want to give yourself a headache? You're not going to knock yourself out with a plain board, Brendan!" he looked intently into his friend's eyes.

"Wolf, I have to . . . before it gets out of control . . . " He paused in striking himself to look at his friend. "Unless you want to do it for me?"

"No, and you don't need to either! Rather you realize it or not, you are already in wolf form, and you have control! You're talking coherently. You're able to reason. You, my friend, are finally in control!"

"For how long?" Brendan returned. "I'm not going to take that risk, Wolf! Especially not where she's concerned!" He jerked a furry paw back towards Prue, who Elvira was then tending to.

"If I see you getting out of control, I'll knock you out myself, Brendan. In the mean time, why don't you see if you can find Jack?"

Brendan could not deny Wolf's reasoning, though he wanted to. "If I find Jack, will you knock me out then? I don't want to wait until it might be too late!"

"It's not going to be too late, Brendan. I'm watching you. Get out of control, and I promise I'll knock you out." Wolf's words were brave, but he wasn't exactly sure how to knock Brendan out without the silver cane.

"But . . . " Brendan started to protest only to be cut off by Elvira.

"Look! You've got a nose; now use it! Find your brother! Once you've done that, I'll make sure Wolf knocks you out or he won't get screwed!"

Wolf's mouth fell open in surprise at Elvira's boldness. The way she had been handing out screws, one would have thought it was Christmas, and now she was going to cut him off! That would never do! But if she wanted to believe that enough to make Brendan believe it, he could go along with it!

Brendan stared at Elvira and Wolf.

"Don't just keep standing there! Get moving, Wolfboy, unless you want this high heel rammed up your tail so far you won't ever have a chance of having puppies!"

Wolf shook his head in disbelief and headed off in another direction, trying to use his nose to locate Jack. He could tell Brendan was right behind him. He looked at Brendan and shrugged. "Guess who got up on the wrong side of the coffin today?"

Elvira could hear Wolf's parting remark and growled fiercely under her breath. "Oh, it just so figures! Get rid of an idiot and piss off the wrong one at the same time! MEN! Are they even worth the screws . . . ?" She stopped talking as she felt Prue starting to come too. Looking down at her, she spoke much more softly. "Hey, girl."

Prue's eyes opened, but she had trouble focusing. "Elvira?" she asked.

"In the flesh."

"Who'd you piss off this time?"

"Our wolves. Brendan was being a butt again -- no offense -- so I used a little womanly knowledge and ended up getting him going but pissing Wolf off too!"

"Well, men will be men," Prue managed to rasp out. "I need some water."

"Don't we all?" another voice answered. "Are you okay? Would you like to move to be with the others?" James looked down in concern at the young woman. "James Hook at your service, ma'am."

"Oh, thank you, James. I would like to move from this spot. It gives me the creeps laying here, like I'm laying in a coffin."

He scooped her up as though she didn't weigh anything. His hook glowed in the sunlight, but Prue was not afraid of him. "I can't leave the Book."

"Don't you worry about it, sweetie," Elvira quickly assured her. "I've got it right here, and if anybody thinks they're touching it while it's next to my bosom, well, you know what they'll get." She walked beside Prue and James but not before glancing at Wolf's back and sighing softly.

Turning her attention back to the other two, she stepped closer and whispered to James. "I know those two idiots were too busy to notice, Captain, but thank you. They are Werewolves, but they're both good men."

"Well, my crew were all bad men. One thing you can count on, whatever you told them, they did exactly the opposite and they paid for it with their lives. I told them not to bother anything here, and there he was about to kill the younger one! I will not tolerate such!" He carried Prue carefully over to the group they had been collecting. She was happy to see that both Paige and Phoebe were there along with Joxer and Carl, but there was no sign of Piper. "Has any one seen my other sister, Piper?"

"We'll find her, Prue," Elvira assured her. "You just rest here and keep the Book safe."

"If I just wasn't so tired, I could help you to look. The last time I saw her, she was with Cole Turner, and they were going to look for the Captain, so they could be anywhere." It was at just that moment that Cole shimmered in, carrying Piper. He laid her on the ground beside Prue.

Elvira smiled. "See? Nothing to worry about."

Prue smiled. "Thank you." She reached out and touched Piper's face, reassuring herself that her sister was merely sleeping and would return to her quickly, she hoped. "Thank you, Cole," she told him.

He smiled at her and said, "It was my pleasure, Prue. I think what she needs now is rest, and then she'll be coming back to herself."


Wolf continued to sniff the air from time to time, hunting for Jack. He had about given up looking in the area that he was in and was about to go around to the other side when he heard Brendan howl and begin to dig. Must be Jack, he thought and hurried around to join his friend.

To Be Continued . . .