Disclaimer: Haven't done one of these in a while…but I still don't own him. A lovely orphanage in England does, actually, and I wouldn't dream of stealing from children…so no one pay me, got that?! I MEAN it, now,…hehe.
Interlude
I don't really remember much of the trip from the clearing beneath the Lost Boy's tree to the deck of the Jolly Roger, and I don't at all doubt that the Captain's hook through my hand had everything to do with that. Oh yes, he kept it there the entire way. Every step jostled me into near unconsciousness, even when I was trying to walk so carefully, he'd yank me forward faster, and cause my sight to blacken around the edges. But I didn't pass out, I wouldn't let myself. I couldn't imagine the damage that would have been done to my hand had he been made to drag me to his ship. Ick.
But I was there, marched to the boats on the beach and pulled in, seated right next to the Captain. Here, the gallant pirate tried to entertain some small talk with me, which was not at all well received.
"So, Mary, is it? I'm sure you'll find your stay aboard my vessel comfortable. Short, yes, but hopefully comfortable none the less." Hook sneered at his own joke. The men in the boats around us chuckled with malice, obviously unable to think for themselves. I didn't answer, only swallowed hard as my breakfast once again tried to make its way back up my throat.
Hook laughed at my green face. "Sea-sick, love? I do hope that won't be an issue," He stood up as the boat knocked into the side of the largest sea-going vessel I'd ever seen up close. The ladder up the side swung dangerously as the filthy pirates crawled up it one by one, loud thuds announcing their arrival on the deck above.
Hook turned to me. "Up we go, then. I'm afraid you'll have to climb up yourself, I can't do it for you, so do try to keep up." Hook raised his left hand and right foot, putting it on the ladder in front of him. I gaped at him, he couldn't be serious, he wouldn't make me…
Oh. Right. Scary, evil pirate. Of course he would.
And he did.
I cried out sharply as he tugged my wounded hand up, using the protruding end of the hook to help him climb the ladder. I had no choice but to grab onto the side of the ladder and hoist myself up with only one hand and both scrambling feet. "Holy God," I moaned in horrible pain.
Hook only laughed. "Afraid he can't help you here, my beauty. Keep going," he jeered. "You're doing well."
"Why are you doing this?" I cried, my will to remain obstinate finally cracking under the torturous pain that was now running from my hand all the way up my arm.
Hook sneered and continued climbing, forcing me to climb along with him up the side of the unsteady rope ladder. When we reached the top, he yanked me over the side and I fell at his feet like a broken marionette doll. "Stop it! Fucking please, stop it…" I nearly sobbed, hating myself for begging, but hating the pain even worse.
"I plan to, lass. That's why you are here." Hooks voice hissed above me. I looked up at him, tears rolling unchecked down my cheeks. Seeing my confused face, Hook yanked me around and forced me to face the starboard side of the ship, towards the island. "Look, Miss Mary, tell me what you see."
I didn't answer, nearly delirious now with pain, and faint with blood loss. He grabbed the back of my head, his left hand fisted in my hair, and forced my drooping head up. "An answer, please. What do you see?" I grunted at the added pain, and slit my heavy eyes open.
"I…an island," I panted.
"Yes, and what else?" Hook continued, still yanking my hair.
"I don't know, a…forest…trees…what the hell do you want me to see?" I asked, frustrated.
"I don't want you to see anything, girl. I want you to understand what you see. This, this Neverland, as you innocent call it, this paradise for Pan and his little followers, it's not a faerie tale, it's not a carefree utopian dream adventure for the young at heart, and it is certainly no paradise." Hook released my hair and I put my head down, letting the abused muscles in my neck relax. "It's not a pretty faerie playground either, or any of the other magical things I'm sure you thought it would be when one of Pan's creatures lured you here. Tell me, Mary Lynn Darling Bennington," Hook jerked me up by my punctured hand, closer to his face. "Do you still believe in faeries?"
"Go to hell," I moaned, so close to unconsciousness…
Hook leaned closer to my face and yanked his hook up again, bringing it and my hand between us. "This is my prison. My men's and mine, and it will be for all eternity until Pan and this fantasy Island nightmare are destroyed. And that's just what is happening, love! Until you came along to try and spoil it, Neverland and Pan were fading away nicely from existence. I'm afraid I can't let you do anything to jepardize the inevitable outcome because you see, I'd rather be blinked out of existence than spend another second in this place, with that demon boy. This is hell, puppet, so welcome to it." He then grabbed my wrist and wrenched his hook from my hand.
^_^***^_^
Peter jumped and turned around from where he'd been leaning on a table surrounded by the other Lost Boys, who had also reacted to the tortured shriek that had just pierced the wind outside.
"Jesus," Grinz whispered, "Sounds like a flamin' banshee's loose out there."
"That was Mary," Teaken gritted out, his sore leg in front of him, wrapped with strong fern fronds. "I'd know her scream anywhere, I heard it enough." He mumbled, looking round at the other boys' questioning faces.
Peter narrowed his eyes and turned back to the table the Lost Boys and he had been gathered around, planning. He sighed and placed his forearms on the table. He lifted his head and looked at Nibs, who was their resident strategist. "Make it fast, Nibs," Peter said in a low and determined voice. "Make it fast, and make it good."
^_^***^_^
Michael Bennington sat up straight in his bean bag chair as a distinct chill raced up his spine. He dropped the play station controller that had been glued to his hand for the past two hours, failing to notice as his character was sliced in half on the screen because of his negligence. He walked towards the window, and looked out once, down to the street below.
"Mary?" he asked quietly, not expecting an answer, but just voicing his thoughts on the reason for the unnatural chill in his blood. "Where are you?"
Michael heard footsteps approaching his room, and he jumped away from the window, slamming it shut as he did so. He went into a rolling dive for the safety of his bean bag chair and had just grabbed the controller when the door came open.
Great Aunt Heidi stood in the doorway. "Playing games already, Michael? You've barely been awake for two hours, why don't you and your sister-"
"Mary's in the bathroom." Michael answered automatically.
"Come and eat-what?" Heidi asked, confused.
Michael, nervous now, didn't answer.
"Michael, where is your sister?" Heidi understood at once the reason for Michael's tense body…and the reason he was holding his game controller upside down.
"In the bathroom, like I said." Michael repeated, eyes glued to the screen, in which his character was being pummeled over and over again by an enemy because of Michael's inability to hit the correct buttons on the wrong-side up controller. He winced and tried to nonchalantly turn his controller right side up.
Heidi rolled her eyes, and checked her watch. She knew very well what 'in the bathroom' meant, and her heart sped up a bit when she realized what time it was. Mary was usually always back by day break, and here it was, nearing eleven in the afternoon…
"Michael, what time did she leave last night?" Heidi demanded.
"I…don't….know what you're….talking about?" Michael tried, wincing at the obvious falseness in his voice.
"Michael Bennington, you tell me the truth this instant, or I'll throw that contraption out of the window."
Michael gasped, horrified that anyone could even speak such blasphemy, and clutched the controller to his heart, turning around to stare at his Great Aunt.
"I mean it, Michael. Where is your sister?" Heidi said, her eyes hard.
"I…I…" Michael's little boy heart was torn between not wanting his older sibling to get into any more trouble, and not wanting his reason for living to be tossed out of the penthouse's window. He hesitated.
Heidi made a move towards the game consol, and Michael broke, throwing himself over the play station, shielding it with his body as he cried out. "I don't know where she is! She left last night and said she'd be back by morning that's all I know I swear don't hurt my play station you said you wouldn't if I told and I told so you can't hurt it!"
Heidi blinked, taking in the rapidly spoken information. "Did she say where she'd be going?"
"No," Michael said quietly, still hugging his game consol protectively.
Heidi was quite stumped. She'd never been faced with such a thing before. Mary acted out, yes, but she'd never done anything like this. She was always home by daybreak, always. And now…Heidi supposed that it had been coming to this for a long time.
"If she's not home by noon, I'm calling the police." Heidi declared out loud, the authority in her voice comforting her a bit, thought not nearly enough.
"OK," Michael said slowly, confused, but also relieved as Heidi left the room. He turned back to the television, nervous again. "They can't take my play station, can they?"
^_^***^_^
"No, Nibs, there's too many of them for that-"
"I'm telling you, as long as Slightly does his job, it'll work-"
"Yeah well Slightly ain't exactly as slight as he used to be, genius. How long d'you think he'll go unnoticed aboard that ship, hmm?"
"Well, I mean…damn it, Slight. You've ruined the plan!"
"It's not flamin' my fault I'm huge, you wanker!"
"You mean you didn't have a back-up plan? Just what the hell kind of strategist are you, Nibs, anyway?"
"Yeah, who hired Nibs? I could do better in my sleep-"
"I'd like to see it, you bleedin' tosser!"
"Would you, now? Well then c'mon over here and I'll bloody show you-"
"QUIET! All of you, SHUT UP!" The squabbling Lost Boys quickly stilled as Peter shouted angrily. "This is getting us no where, and I don't know if you've noticed, but the girl whom we need to save our lives is being tortured into screaming on Hook's ship. The only girl who can save us, got it?"
The Boys all nodded, heads bowed in shame.
"Grand. Now, Nibs, we know Slightly can't sneak aboard the ship anymore, so the plan needs tweaked a bit, but other than that, I think it looks good. We just need a different diversionary, right?"
Nibs beamed with pleasure at Peter's compliment, and nodded quickly. "Yeah. We could send one of the twins," He suggested after a pause. "They're still pretty small."
Peter looked over at the twins, who stood, as always, side bye side. Matching evil smirks grew on their faces as Peter smiled knowingly back at them. "We could send one of them," he started. "But two heads-"
"Are better than one." The twins finished together. They grinned excitedly, their perfectly matched gaps between their front teeth showing as they chuckled.
A.N. Sorry for the ridiculous short-ness of this, it's really only like an interlude of sorts, I guess. I'm off to Europe again in 2 days! I'll be in London for a week, working on an independent study I'm doing, and then it's off to Italy to visit Florence and Rome, and then to France for a few days in Paris. I'm SO incredibly excited about the trip, but I'll be gone for the next 2 and a half weeks, and wanted to at least give you all what I had so far. Sorry if it's kind of a cliffhanger, but it's all I could get ready for you guys before I leave, and I won't have the time to write again until February probably, with the term paper that's due at the end of this Independent study…0.o
You all have been so incredibly wonderful to me in your reviews, I can't express in words what they mean to me, really. You're all wonderful, and I wish you loads of Happy Thoughts, and I'll bring you all back some faerie dust…and tell Peter you said hello. ^_~