Chapter 2: Looming Shadows
The girls were left to clean up the garbage dumped on the floor, while Maimie and George went into the bedroom to talk. It had all been a blur since their father's arrival, they weren't sure when the awkward silence had stopped and when he and Maimie walked solemnly into her room.
They listened, thinking their mother of all people would inevitably start screaming to give them context clues. But for now, a pin dropping would've echoed through the apartment. Seeing their mother change moods rapidly wasn't unusual, but the girls were used to seeing her go from up-and-at-'em perkiness to bottled up rage. Quieter moments had to be earned, and sometimes alcohol-induced. Their mother suddenly acting like a rational adult and gently asking her ex-husband to come talk to her in the next room for a bit was, frankly, the most terrifying part of the whole day.
The girls managed to clean up the trash, mop the floor, and take showers worthy of scientists studying radium without any hint or word of what was happening. Neither of their parents had come out. Jane and Angela were just left sitting on the couch, their arms crossed protectively as the tension built up.
"Maybe she killed him." Jane said, half-heartedly trying to ease growing ache in her chest that she suspected was shared with her older sister.
Angela just gave her an annoyed look before staring back at the bedroom door.
There was only more silence for a while.
Jane tapped her fingers against her jacket sleeve. She'd been wanting to bolt from that house for hours now, but wasn't willing to leave Angela alone. She kept praying that her sister would say something, anything to indicate she wanted out-then she could hop on the bandwagon and they'd go.
Then a sound. The raising of voices was heard, muffled and unintelligible at first, but then Maimie's voice finally broke the barrier.
"What do you think you'll do?! Get down on your knees and beg for mercy!"
Jane shared a look with Angela. Mercy didn't sound like the right word for this. Forgiveness would make sense, if they were talking about the family as a whole. But then Jane thought she heard something about "one day" and "a last ditch effort." None of which gave rise to confidence in this reunion.
Finally, Angela turned and asked, "Do you wanna get food?"
"Yes."
They sprung up like their feet were on fire, grabbed their mother's car keys and ran out the door.
It was already sunrise by the time they settled in to eat their McDonald's breakfast platters in the parking lot. Angela got their parents each a meal of their own to cover for their absence. But, truth be told, they weren't going to rush back.
"Ann?" Jane said, nursing her coffee cup.
"What is it?"
Jane looked on the verge of tears, "He came to the restaurant."
"Dad? He came to you first? At Hooters?"
With a nod of her damp, red hair she replied. "Yes. But, it was an accident. I think he was looking for you. He called me "Angela", and I…"
"Oh God…" The twenty-year old wrapped her arms around her younger sister. Jane let tears flow and her head rest on Angela's shoulder.
"I was gonna tell you first, I swear! It wasn't meant to be this way. I just didn't expect-And Mom, she-I'm so sorry!"
Angela blinked back a few tears of her own, "No, you don't have anything to be sorry for. This is NOT your fault."
"I just-" Jane snorted in between, "He can't be bothered to raise us, he can't be bothered to even call to see how we are. He left us alone with that crazy bitch! And now, he can't even be bothered to remember which daughter is which! I just-I hate him! I hate him so fucking much! I wish he was gone, again. I wish he was dead and that we'd never heard about him except to find out there was a suspiciously familiar looking body on the side of the road!"
Angela just stayed quiet as she let Jane rant. Jane took that to mean that her sister shared her, or at least had similar, thoughts.
*BACK AT THE APARTMENT*
"There is only one way to get out of this."
"No, there isn't! We are not talking about this!"
"You brought it up! What did we have those girls for if not as attempts to give Pan his replacement?"
"Well, mistakenly, I thought we had children because we wanted a life together-"
"I thought so too!"
"What changed?"
"Us! For God sakes, how is that so hard for you to grasp?! We're not the teenagers we were in Neverland. We have so much more to think about now! We don't even have each other anymore… It's gone. It's dead."
"No, it's not. It's not, because we're here. Together. Now. And we'll… Have another chance, when the shadow comes tonight."
The argument was cut short when they heard the door open and close. Looking through the window, the former couple realized that it was almost 7 o'clock in the morning. They had to tell their girls now, they had mere hours before they would get a frightening housecall. So they walked out the door to reveal their daughters, frozen in place at the sight of their parents.
"Girls." Maimie said, uncharacteristically quiet, "We need to talk. And you're not going to believe us."
"You're batshit." Jane said, pacing the room, "Both of you. You are both, fucking batshit!"
"Jane!" Angela tried to calm her sister before Maimie interrupted.
"Don't use that kind of language to me, Missy! I don't care what you think you know, but your father and I are telling the truth. And if you were half as smart as you think you are, you'd know that we have no reason to lie about this! You don't know the hell we went through to get you girls."
George sat uncomfortably next to Maimie on the couch, across from his pacing daughter and the eldest who was curled up in the comfy leather chair.
"You're saying that, you two met in…"
"Neverland." George finished for Angela.
"Right. And how did that even happen?"
The couple looked at each other. George explained, "Neverland isn't just, "Second star to the right", it's a place where you can go in your dreams. Children who visited in their dreams, the other Lost Boys and I called them Dreamers. And your mother was a frequent visitor."
Maimie recalled, "I had these fantastic dreams every night. I was never sure why they felt so real. Until, one night, your father asked me if I would like to come to the island in person. I said yes. I didn't believe it until the Shadow showed up the next night."
Jane paused, standing with her arms crossed in front of her. She closed her eyes and asked, "I'm not saying I buy any of this. But, there's a plot hole. How were you already on the island?"
"I'm not from this world-"
"Agreed, you're out of it. But that doesn't answer my question."
"I'm not from this world, originally. I come from a land with magic, with people… You would recognize them as fairy tales." George stopped momentarily when Jane rolled her eyes in disbelief, "I met… Pan, in my village. He seemed like just a boy playing for coin. But only I and a few other boys could hear it. He told me that if I came with him to Neverland, I would never had to grow up and I could spend eternity having fun."
"But then you met Mom?" Angela nearly smiled.
George nodded. "Then I met Mom. I loved her-I wanted to be with her. So Pan made us a deal. We could leave together, and when we had a son old enough, he would take my place on the island."
"But, we only had girls."
"And yet, no shortage of dicks in this house." Jane was met with a shove into the nearest chair when that quip left her mouth. Maimie stood tall and angry over her.
"Do you think this is a game? You think we're making it up?!"
"Yes!" Jane stated defiantly.
"Jane-"
"Ann, wake up! How are we expected to believe this crap?! It's ridiculous, it's absolutely insane!"
"Exactly! What other purpose could they have in telling us all this? There is literally nothing they get from lying to us here."
Jane glanced from her sister to her parents, chuckling without any trace of authentic humor. "You're right, Ann. It's true, because what they just admitted to, in the godforsaken plot dump of our lives, is that they were willing to sell off any Y-Chromosomes they produced without a second thought. The tragedy only came in when they got us." Jane turned to her father, "Is that where you've been all this time? You're gonna tell us that you bailed because you had to settle things with a toddler in green tights?"
"He's nothing like you've seen in this world! He's not a child, he's a monster!" Maimie said, "And he's coming for us tonight!"
Jane paused, "Tonight? Why?"
"I wasn't in Neverland all this time. When I left, I thought I could wait it out, but I just can't anymore. He gave us until Angela's 21st birthday to have a son. We're out of time, and out of options."
"What options?"
George sighed, "I don't know. The shadow comes tonight. But maybe I can bargain with it."
"George, Pan doesn't want to bargain with us, he wants to play his games as always." Maimie said, her hands shaking slightly in her lap, "Peter Pan never fails."
"Cool slogan. Thanks for the family stories. Goodbye." Jane walked towards the door, then stopped, turning to see Angela not moving. "Ann, come on. Let's go."
"Go where? There's a shadow that wants us, where would be safe?"
"This is not our problem. Peter Pan doesn't want us. That's the whole point of this!" Jane pointed to them, "They were the ones who screwed up!"
"Hey! We did this for you! Without us, you wouldn't exist right now!" Maimie said.
The redheaded girl spread her arms sarcastically. "Is this much better?!"
"Jane!" Angela shouted, finally standing up. "I'm not leaving."
There was a brief glance of disbelief between the two. Pursing her lips, Jane ripped off her coat, threw it across the room before heading to her own-slamming the door behind her.
*SEVERAL HOURS LATER*
The rest of the time had been spent preparing for the arrival of the shadow. It took some convincing, including of the shadow's existence, to get Jane to help set up the apartment for it's arrival.
Every lamp, every candle in the house was lit until it practically blinded you to walk in. The plan was to leave only the fire escape untouched, and keep the main room alight to prevent the shadow from entering. That way, they could negotiate.
"Well, if these two are lying, I feel better knowing they'll end up with the most epic utilities bill ever." Jane blew out the match she was using when the last candle was lit.
Shyly, Angela said, "Thank you for staying. I know this is hard."
"I didn't stay for them. I stayed for you."
"I know."
"It's the least I could do, I didn't want you spending your birthday this way. Speaking of which-" Jane pulled out the finished purse from underneath her bed, holding it out. "Happy 21st Birthday."
Angela looked at the purse, it's silk-like fabric of bright yellow. It was lovely fabric from a dress that really shouldn't have been made. But it was much better as an extra-large purse. Jane had used the sleeves to make the strap and, as evidently her needlework improved, she had embellished the sides with embroidered roses.
"It's beautiful, thank you Jane!" She hugged her little sister.
"I wanted to add more flowers and leaves, but I ran out of time. Plus, roses are the only things I know how to make right now."
"I love it." She assured.
"I thought you could use it for your work out stuff. I measured it to fit your yoga mats and weights. And I found some fabric to line it with that won't tear, but you can still have the pretty outside."
"Where do you learn this shit? First it's sewing, then it's Spanish, then those Primitive Technology videos-I mean, seriously, we live in Queens where are you going to build a grass hut or whatever?" They laughed at the thought.
"Well, I could say the same for javelin, but you did that anyway." Jane pointed out, "To emulate a Roald Dahl villain of all things."
"Hey! Say what you will about Ms. Trunchbull's school policy-"
"As well as general ethics, theft of property, penchant for murder AND child abuse." Jane said, while thinking, Jeez, no wonder we related to that movie so much.
Angela replied through laughter, "Yes. But, she was underrated as a female icon for physical empowerment and competitive accomplishment."
"It's your birthday, so I'm going to half-heartedly reply with, "Of course, Angela! Ms. Trunchbull is a wonderful role model!" Though, I will say, I prefer the superpowers to physical strength, so Matilda is my role model."
"Basic bitch."
"Hey! She could move anything with her mind, people included!"
"Well, what do you need telekinesis for? We're like two degrees from Peter Pan."
"Yeah." There was a pause, "I'll be honest with you, as crazy as this story is, it does explain A LOT about our childhood."
"Yeah, you weren't around for this, but when I first saw Peter Pan at a sleepover-well, let's just say, that was the last Mom and I ever saw of Rebecca Madden and her family."
"Given that I have never heard the name Rebecca Madden until this very moment, I'll take your word for that." Jane agreed.
"And Dad's insane outdoorsy skills that he refused to talk about."
"What about Mom's great american novel to our schools about-"
"Peter Pan being an inappropriate material for English due to it being written by a man of questionable morals? Yes!" The girls practically sang in unison.
The second that Maimie heard her eldest was reading Peter Pan for an English class, she took it upon herself to write a near 15 page petition to ban the book from the school, and managed to get a bunch of other mothers to sign it along with her. By the time Jane had gotten to school, she had prepared a revised edition that was double the number of pages it had been before. Single-spaced. Being the unwilling test audience, Jane and Angela knew it by heart.
"Can you believe she got people to sign that thing?"
Angela stared, mystified, off into space, "I still can't believe she got the school to do it!"
"Public Education: Where Logic and Common Sense Go to Die."
"Didn't stop me from corrupting you with the smuggled in DVD."
"And I appreciate that." Jane threw an arm around Angela's shoulders, "If I'm being honest, I get a sadistic pleasure even more now, knowing that one of our childhood icons was secretly the tormentor of our crazy mother and responsibility-challenged father."
"Jane."
"Angela, stop we've had this conversation before."
"Only because you never listen to me."
"I listen, just not about them."
"You need to give them a chance. You were too little, you don't remember what it was like when he was around. He and mom were always fighting." Jane didn't respond. "It might've been even worse if he stayed. But he's here now. He's here because he wants to be."
"No he's not-"
"Yes, he is. He was telling me, if he can just get out of this deal with Pan, he's not backing out again. He wants to get to know us, be there for us. And maybe he and Mom can work things out. It could give her some closure and she'll finally get help."
Still nothing from Jane.
"Can you just promise me that you'll give him a chance? Maybe it's too late with Mom, but you don't even know Dad. Promise me that."
"Please don't ask me to do that."
"Why not?"
Jane sighed, "Because if you ask me to, I'll have to do it. You're the only one in this damn family I care about… And it's kind of a dick move to ask me to do this on your birthday."
"If the ends justify the means…" Angela smiled, waiting patiently for her sister's response.
Jane turned to look her in the eye. She, herself, looking very much like a guilty little girl reluctantly promising to do her chores like she was asked. She gave Angela a hug, whispering, "I'll try."
Angela tightened her grip around her little sister. "I love you, Janie."
"I love you too, Ann."
"Girls! Get in here! The sun is nearly down!"
Without a word, the girls ceased their embrace and started out towards the door. Although, Jane lingered, grabbing the near-empty packet of cigarettes from her footlocker and putting them in her pocket. She had the sensation that, if she was going to try and tolerate her father, she was going to need them by the end of the night.
When she finally got outside, Jane saw said father and Angela in a tight hug. She stayed by the doorway and watched. The look on her face was so cold it could've frozen the flames of the candle solid.
"Thank you so much, baby." George told his daughter before catching sight of Jane. SHe had to resist quirking an eyebrow at that.
He smiled, walking over with his arms outstretched to her. He missed the twitch of at the corner of her mouth when he pulled Jane in for a hug like he'd given her sister. While his arms were wrapped loving around her, Jane's arms stayed right at her sides. She hadn't even bothered to move her chin out of the way, resulting in her mouth and nose being almost completely squished into his shoulder. Blue eyes darted to find two sets of encouraging brown eyes from the two remaining women. With great reluctance, Jane reached a single hand up to tap her father on the arm in a bare-minimum show of affection. Maimie was annoyed by the lackluster effort, but Angela smiled-understanding that was, in Jane's way, a good step forward.
Finally pulling away, George said, "Are we all ready ladies?"
There were a few low-spoken words of agreement as the family crowded into the sitting room.
"What exactly are you going to do?"
Maimie told her youngest, "We're going to bargain."
"I know. I just don't understand what you're going to bargain."
That's when Maimie's eyes turned down to the table, refusing to look anybody in the eyes. George had a similar expression, though Jane noticed he how he fidgeted with his hands.
"The deal was to give Pan a son. We don't have any of those." Jane clarified.
"Honey, we're working that out. That's why we're negotiating." Maimie snapped.
Looking to her sister for a reaction, Jane noticed Angela had also taken on an appearance similar to their mother and father. Except she looked briefly at Jane, a sad little smile nipping at the corners of her lips. Jane's heartbeat sped up, her eyes widening. She looked accusatory at George.
"What do you have to bargain?" She demanded.
George looked up, confused, "What?"
"What do you have to bargain to Pan that he would want in exchange for the son he was promised."
"Jane, trust us-" Maimie tried.
"No, I want to know right now, what do you have that is worth your-"
"Jane, honey, it may not come to that." her mother said, too sweetly. "We're just going to negotiate and try our best."
There was a silence, Jane looked from Angela to her parents. Her mouth hung open slightly, seeming in awe at the thought she had. "One girl is worth twenty boys."
"What?" George looked slightly frightened at the words that came out of his daughter's mouth.
"You have no intention of going to Neverland if he doesn't want to bargain. You would have stayed wherever the hell you've been these last ten years. But why not, when you have two daughters to spare!"
"Jane!" Angela shouted.
George stood up to face Jane, his face as red as his hair with anger. "No! It's not like that!"
"What else could it be?!"
"He's not trading me! I want to do it!"
Jane turned, horrified at her sister. "Is that why you wanted me to give him, give them, a chance? Because you knew they were going to trade you off like a piece of meat?!"
"Let's all just calm down." Maimie said, trying and failing to push George back into his seat before moving towards Angela.
"What is wrong with you?!" Jane shouted at her. She pointed to her father, "This man, who left us without a second thought wants to trade your daughter and you have no problem with this?! Don't you have a fucking ounce of love for either of us?!"
"Yes! I do! But it may not even come to that." She petted the sides of Angela's hair with affection, "Daddy and I are going to negotiate-"
"Shut up, Mom! Just shut up!" Jane screamed at the top of her lungs.
All of a sudden, the lights flickered, steadily, and the air seemed oppressive. It seemed almost instinctual, them turning towards the window on the fire escape. It didn't seem like anything was there, just the city street lights in the darkness. Sunset had barely been half an hour ago, but it seemed darkness had taken over already. The sky was a deep, ocean blue and stars were coming out.
But from the expected lights, came two glowing yellow ones that looked unnatural beside the rest. Once you focused on them, you began to see the outline of a face, and then a body without a human being there to create it's form against the light. It came just to the edge of the window, where the light from the apartment ended. Without moving an inch, the window itself opened, and it was quite obvious the thing they were looking at did it.
Maimie swallowed hard, "We want to bargain with Pan-"
A crackling voice replied, "Pan doesn't want to bargain anymore. He gave you his terms, and now he's sent me to collect. If not a son for a father, then a father for a son."
"What about a daughter for a father?" Angela said.
Before Jane could protest the Shadow replied, "If he wanted a daughter, he would have asked for a daughter. And come now, what is this man to you? He would have traded any brother you had. What wouldn't he do to protect himself? Doesn't he deserve to be on Neverland more than either of you?"
His next words were said to all the women, but Jane felt the eyes focus on her. "Just one push towards me, and you'll never hear from him again."
Taking her eyes off the Shadow's yellow orbs, she saw how close they were to the window. All of them, grouped together. Her father's left arm just in front of her.
"One. Good. Push."
And there was a push, but Jane didn't make it, and it wasn't towards the shadow. Angela had pushed her little sister out of the way, far from the shadow and ran towards it. Jane had just regained her senses as she saw her reach towards the shadow.
"No! Angela!" Jane ran, her hand grasping her sister's shoulder. She felt more hands grab at her, and she thought she heard her father yell something in the scuffle.
When no family member managed to get close enough, the Shadow had had enough of all this. The candles all seemed to extinguish and the lights flickers so often that no one could see a thing. Jane found herself on the floor, looking up at the ceiling.
Between the flickering lights, Jane saw more shadows coming out from the corners of the room, swirling above them, around them and all over. She could no longer tell if the lights had gone out entirely or if the horde simply blocked them out altogether.
For what felt like hours, Jane heard nothing but a void. Something akin to a wind going through an empty train tunnel.
There was darkness, set as the background to a pool of lovely, pale color. Then her eyes naturally began to squint, the pools taking on different shapes, and the colors turning brighter and more distinct. Then in a flash, they seemed to be on fire!
Then in that moment, just after, Jane realized it was the sun shining above her. Then looking about, feeling the sand in her hair and between her fingers, she realized that she was seeing Neverland.