I had forgotten how peaceful the forest was. How quiet and how loving it was. How it felt like it could wrap around me, some sort of warm embrace of nature. And goodness was mother nature beautiful.

As I walked down an unmarked path, I let one hand run along the trees, and the other twirled a match between fingers. I wondered if the boys were around like they said they would be. We had a plan after all. They promised they would be in the trees, flying above and keeping watch. I paused and listened, using the small part of vampire in me to enhance my ears. I could hear the rustling of the wind and – there they were. The rustling of leaves, of them stepping on tree branches. I could even hear Marko laughing a bit and then David shushing him.

We had been searching through all of Max's old books. He had been their old master, and he had an entire library in his old house. Thousands of books he had acquired over his years of living. Apparently he had been extremely smart, and he knew more than anyone else they had ever met.

After searching for what felt like months, we had found an entire collection of books dedicated to their species. And we had read through them next. Tens of books.

Then, Dwayne stumbled across something the other night, something that could explain the situation. Something that could help us. It was in a little book, one that smelled of dust and citrus and looked like it had been through a bit. It talked of their species, the lost, the ones that created the tale of Peter Pan, and it talked of a Wendy. A girl who belonged to them, but never fully, and as I read about her, it reminded me of everything the fox had told me.

I stopped again as I heard a different kind of shuffling. The kind of distinct shuffling that only meant one thing. The lost. And there were only a few sets of feet. At most ten.

I turned as I heard a twig snap right behind me, and I was face to face with the fox. Their mask's nose almost touching mine. I took a step back. "You're here." I hadn't expected to see him so soon.

The fox chuckled. "Where have you been, little dove. We've been looking for you." Their hands moved and settled on my hips. I grimaced and pulled away. "Where have you been stowed away." The fox's voice was eerily quiet, and also eerily calm.

"It doesn't matter. I'm here now, and I have questions." I tried to sound confident, I truly did, but I sounded weak. I was weak.

The fox tutted. "What makes you think I would answer your questions?"

"Because I have something you'd want." I reached into my pocket and pulled out a necklace, dangling it in front of their face. It was a lightweight chain with a locket at the end. "This is yours, right?" The fox was silent, and they didn't move. I opened the locket, staring at the picture inside. A boy, looking barely sixteen, and a girl, both smiling brightly, wrapped around each other in a hug as they stared at a camera. "I came across this the other day. Dwayne was reading from a book, and one of the pages reminded me of this little thing right here. Of course, you're the Peter Pan, right, and she was your Wendy."

The fox quietly pulled back his hood and then removed his mask. I held my breath, not knowing what to expect, but I was met with the face of the same boy from the picture instead. He was pale, paler than I thought someone could be, and he had harsh, red burn marks along the side of his face, but he was the same boy. His hair was a tousled mess of dirty blonde, and I could see tears gathering in his eyes. The moonlight made them look a bright blue, clearer than any eyes I had ever seen.

"I was your Wendy."

The pieces had fallen into place two days before. After all, the girl in the picture's resemblance to me was almost uncanny. We were the same girl but from different times. We were different people, yet we were the same. In a different life, perhaps the fox and I were lovers, at least, that's how it seemed. Every time he had tried to get close to me. Every time he had broken one of my bones. Every time he spoke of how he needed me. Every time he spoke of how I was his, but never fully. It all made sense. Everything clicked.

And the necklace? The necklace was a family heirloom, something that had been passed down through generations. Something that had been stowed away in my mother's belongings. I was supposed to get it when she thought it was time. Now was as good a time as any, I suppose.

A tear fell down the fox's face, and he nodded. "You were my everything."

"Why," I whispered, my voice so quiet I figured only he would hear it. "Why would you hurt me? Why would you torture me? Why did you break me down until I thought I wouldn't live to the next day?"

He looked down. "Because it was the only way I could get close to you. I want you. I need you. I've searched for you for years, waiting for you to come back to me. And then, I saw you, and I watched you, and I waited, and they took you from me. They took the only thing I had ever cared about." His hands shook as he grabbed my face. "Don't you understand? I love you! But I can't have you, right? Because you'll never choose me. You never did. You never will. But you're all I want."

His grip on my face tightened, and his fingernails dug into my face. "Let me go, Peter."

He shook his head. "You don't even remember my name. My Wendy doesn't even know my name. How cruel fate is, it seems."

"What are you going to do? You're never going to have me."

He shook his head. "I never said I would give up so easily."

I yelled as I felt three pairs of hands grab me and pull me back. As I was pulled, he snatched the necklace from my hand, and my match fell from my other. His face curled into a grin as I thrashed. "Let me go!"

"I don't think you understand, Ivy. I have waited centuries for you to come back. You left me those years ago. You watched me burn, and soon…" He paused, a sick grin crossing his face. "Well, doll, soon, I'm going to watch you burn. When the moon hits its peak. Because - because if you burn, baby, you'll be one of us! One of the lost. And don't you just love the idea of that?" Tears streamed down his face as he grinned. "Oh, little bunny, I've missed you so." He stepped forward and gripped my chin. "And I know you've missed me, too."

He leaned forward to kiss me, our lips touching for barely a second before he was pulled back. Snarls, animalistic snarls, filled the air, and I fell to the ground as the other three were pulled off of me. I could hear Peter yell obscenities before they all disappeared in thin air. I watched as David gripped his collar before falling against the ground as he disappeared in a flash of smoke.

I took a deep breath before clamping my hands around my throat. I couldn't breathe. I felt like smoke from flames had clogged up my lungs, making it impossible to breathe. I faintly heard one of the boys call out for me, and someone had scampered up to sit beside me, but I couldn't see. My mind was hazy as I tried to focus on getting air into my lungs.

And then I heard his voice faintly in the back of my head, barely loud enough to be heard. 'Oh, how I've missed you, bunny.' Then, I could breathe again, and I turned over just in time to throw up. I hacked and hacked, watching as what looked like embers fell from my lips to the ground below me. I felt someone's hand rub my back, and David was whispering encouragingly in my ear.

"You're okay, we're here," he whispered. "You're okay, I promise."

I hacked a few more times before falling over onto my side. I felt my head get picked up and placed in someone's lap. I groaned and turned onto my back. I was laying on top of Dwayne. David was running his fingers through my hair on one side, and Marko and Paul were sitting on the other side.

"'m sorry, boys," I mumbled, taking deep breaths. "I know I didn't get all the information you needed."

"You did wonderful. We got enough, I promise. We can work with it." Dwayne spoke with a reassuring smile, and David leaned down and kissed my forehead. "Come on, let's go home."

David held my hands and helped me stand. I leaned against him and gave the other boys a lazy smile. I tried to speak but failed to do so. Instead, I coughed incredibly loud. So, instead of speaking, I raised my hand and signed 'I love you' like David had taught me. The boys' faces softened, and David tugged me forward a bit, leading me out of the forest.

"Y'know," he spoke up, looking over at me. "When this is all over, and you're safe again, we should have a picnic in these woods. It's nice."

I nodded and chuckled a bit in response. That would be nice, I thought. That would be wonderful.