Chapter 7: Mind(y) Games
Mindy regretted it almost as soon as she had taken the plunge.
But she was in too deep (no pun intended) and could do nothing but commit to her decision to follow Mister Smee all the way to the Jolly Rodger since she was moving way too slow to be able to catch up to the longboat like she had originally planned.
Nevertheless, she was persistent, she was determined, she was…sinking.
Wait, what?
Her pathetic doggy-paddle combined with her shortness of breath was causing her to slowly but surely sink deeper into the frozen murky depths of the water. Her lungs were working overtime as she pushed to keep herself afloat. Driblets of cool sweat oozed down the sides of her face as she rapidly thrusted her shoulders and hips forwards in an almost mechanical rhythm. Her arms and legs were starting to feel like dead weight, and the harder she flailed them around, the more she felt like she was swimming in a pool of thick tar.
No…no… Mindy defiantly kept her chin above the water. I don't care if this was a stupid decision, it was MY stupid decision. I haven't come this far to give up now. I have to keep going…no matter what happens I have to get home to my friends…back to safety…back to where things just make sense.
She spoke this mantra (or quite possibly her epitaph) aloud to herself through chattering teeth as she splashed her outstretched limbs through the ever-churning waves. Her lids started to close for a split-second, but she snapped herself awake at the last minute.
I am the biggest idiot in the history of all idiots who ever existed.
If Mindy kept this up she would die of hypothermia…unless, that wasn't an option for her in this animated environment. However, her drooping eyelids told her otherwise. A few bubbles gurgled out of her open mouth as she aimlessly bobbled to-and-fro across the sea bed and her thoughts as well as her arms and legs numbed.
She fought as hard as she could to maintain consciousness, but all her efforts were in vain as she succumbed to the boundless void of oblivion…
The lulling of someone playing what sounded like a piano caused Mindy's eyes to creak open.
She coughed as a few droplets of water squirted out of her mouth and spilled onto the carpet… as her vision started to clear, she took in her new surroundings with a groan. Mindy…Would it kill you to take one day off from NOT being a gigantic dummy dumb, dumb, dumb head twenty-four-seven?
It was as though she had entered a Princess Dream Suite.
Everything from the paneled stain glass window, to the king-sized bed she'd been lain on top of was made out of pure 14-carat gold. The carpet was blood crimson, and the walls were ordinary lackluster wood. A full-length mirror was in the corner, and a writing desk was placed in the dead center of the room with various papers and maps scattered across it. Bookshelves lined almost every wall, and a dining table with two chairs was off to the side. Lastly, an elegant chandelier hung from the ceiling with brightly lit candles illuminating the room.
"Ah, you're awake I see."
She shut her eyes and counted to ten before sitting up and turning to face her captor.
Captain James Hook smiled at her from his place at the harpsicord.
She attempted to hide how terrified she was by smiling back as he plucked out an unfittingly spritely tune on the instrument. However, it was painfully obvious that she was in no position to even feign confidence as her eyes flicked across the room meticulously.
But of course, there was only one exit.
And OF COURSE the pirate was conveniently positioned to where he was blocking it.
Stupid subconscious and your stupid authoress mindset! Mindy chastised her sleeping self. You just had to create conflict in your dream in order to make it more interesting, when you've in fact made it more difficult for me!
"You seem tense… care to explain why?"
The urge to puke enveloped her, but she forced herself to swallow the rising vomit in her throat and replied with a cold: "I don't have to explain anything to the likes of you."
"Oh! You've cut me quick to the core Melinda!" He placed his hook over his heart with a look of mock devastation as his only remaining hand continued to dance across the keys, "I just so happen to save your life, and instead of thanking me you go on to insult me?"
She clamped her mouth shut before spitting out a spiteful: "Thanks."
"What's this? A sign of gratitude? For me?" Hook's tone appeared to be laced with honey, "Believe me when I say that I'm appalled by your uncharacteristic behavior as of late."
Mindy narrowed her eyes, "You don't know me."
"On the contrary, I know quite a bit about you my dear."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well for starters, I know that you were telling the truth earlier." She flinched when he ended the melody with an abrupt dramatic flourish, "You don't remember anything about The Dremesphere, do you?"
It was more of a statement than a question, and her lack of response confirmed that it was in fact a correct one.
Hook stood and crossed to his desk while murmuring to himself, "This couldn't be more perfect…the princess of the Dremesphere within my grasp, and she doesn't even realize what she's done by returning while she's this vulnerable!"
Taking advantage of how distracted he appeared to be, Mindy made a mad dash to the door, and tugged on it. To her chagrin, it was locked. Unwilling to give up so easily, she placed her foot on the base and yanked the handle as hard as she could. She grunted as she pulled with what little strength made up her noodle-like arms, but all of her efforts were for naught as it refused to budge even an inch. The captain watched her do this multiple times in silent amusement until she took a couple steps backward whilst breathing heavily.
"Oh come now, there's no need for that." Hook chided, "I only wish to have a civilized conversation…have a seat won't you?"
Mindy threw her head back with an over-exasperated groan as she tugged on the strands of her muddy brown hair. She then stomped over and plopped herself in the first cushioned chair she saw.
The captain nodded in satisfaction as he settled into his seat, "Now let's get down to business-"
-To defeat, the huns! Ugh,Now's not the time brain!
"Quite recently, a little birdie told me that you got into a bit of an argument with Pan." Hook explained, "I had just sent Smee to go out and fetch you when I noticed your unfortunate predicament…you were floating up against the hull of the ship barely conscious and cold as ice. If I hadn't stepped in, who knows what would have happened. That was when I realized that you weren't Melinda…at least, not the Melinda I know. The real Melinda would have flown here instead of recklessly tossing herself over the side of a cliff…there's obviously something wrong with you, and you and I are going to get to the bottom of it!"
"Uh, no the hell we are NOT!" Mindy protested, "Why do you care so much about my problems? Aren't you more concerned with catching Flyboy?! You know what! Let me rephrase that, my problems should be exactly that! My problems!AndI'll sort through MY shattered memories myself without YOUR help! Thank you, buh bye!"
"You don't have much of a choice in the matter." His mouth slithered into a smirk of satisfaction as he twisted his mustache on his golden hook, "You see other than our dear Peter Pan, I know the main narrative of your time spent in this world and-"
"-of course you would since you're nothing but an extension of my subconscious. Therefore, that automatically makes you an extension of me." Hook scowled at having been interrupted, to which Mindy shrugged in response, "Well it's true."
"So sorry to disappoint you." The captain spoke through clenched teeth, "But I am very much my own person with my own train of complex thought and emotion. The point is, I appear to be the only one who's willing to provide you with the answers you so desperately seek about your forgotten past."
"Uh huh, I have a feeling that those quote-on-quote answers won't come cheap." She shot back, "And on top of that, I highly doubt that you'd give reliable information…knowing you and how your brain works, you'd most likely twist the truth in order to manipulate me into joining your crew to get back at Peter. Here's a newsflash for ya, he already hates me so pinning me against him would be entirely pointless! Ha! So guess what pal? Your mind games aren't gonna work on me because you're talking to the self-proclaimed Queen of Disney Trivia." Mindy then raised the roof with a tiny, "Whoop, whoop!"
In her peripheral vision (though she stupidly felt the need to glance over her shoulder for clarification), Mindy noticed Tinkerbell inside of her lantern prison balancing inside of the porthole. She immediately snapped her attention back to Hook, and tried not to avoid eye-contact as she rose from her seat.
"Alrighty then!" She clasped her hands together as she discreetly backed towards the window, "If I was right about everything (and I'm ninety-eight percent sure that I was), I'll just take what I came for, and be on my merry way then!"
Surprisingly, Hook didn't stop her when she grabbed the lantern and held it up to her eyes.
There was no denying the straw-yellow hair that was pulled up into a messy bun, the leafy green dress that rested just above her knees, or her marketable cotton ball slippers. Her face was like a porcelain doll with rosy pink cheeks, and round baby blue eyes. Her wings were drooped, and the golden aura around her petite frame seemed to flicker slightly. Her microscopic hands were pressed up against the glass as she stared up at Mindy with terror-stricken eyes.
"Hey, it's okay." She found herself assuring the pixie in a surprisingly calm tone, "I'm not gonna hurt you…I'm getting you out of there, alright? I promise."
Mindy stiffened when something cold planted itself onto her bare shoulder, "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep...it's bad form."
She shut her eyes with her next question, "What do I have to do to get her out of here?"
"There's nothing you can do I'm afraid." Hook answered, "Besides, she shouldn't be your main priority at the moment."
"What do you mean?"
"Other than the fairy, I've taken someone else whom you care about deeply."
"Let me take a wild guess, you kidnapped Mickey Mouse and are holding him for ransom?"
Instead of answering, the captain brushed past while beckoning for her to follow him. Skeptical but still curious as to where he could be going with this, Mindy complied. Her right eye twitched when Hook proceeded to push the door open...
"Are.You. KIDDING ME?!"
She grumbled incoherently to herself for a moment before following her captor out onto the main deck. She briefly considered making a break for it, but shot that idea down when she blanked on how she was going to acquire one of the longboats all by herself. Instead, she blindly trailed behind Hook as he led her to a steel hatch on the floor.
The captain then bent down, eased it open, and gestured for her to go in first.
Mindy turned to face him with a disbelieving stare. Dude, no… I've watched millions of horror movies so I KNOW how this type of scenario ends.
"Melinda if I wanted to hurt you, I would've done so already." Hook flashed an almost amicable smile in her direction, "Trust me."
Out of all of the decisions she had made thus far, this one should have been the easiest.
She should have yelled: "SCREW THAT!" and tossed her crusty self over the side of the ship before high-tailing it back to the island. Despite her brain pleading with her to flee while she had the opportunity, she remained stock-still. There was a prickling sensation in her gut that said whatever Hook wanted to show her would be worth her time in some sick, demented way.
So, sucking up her courage (and using Tink's light as a guide), Mindy climbed down the rickety wooden staircase, and into the foreboding darkness. Hook followed a bit too close for comfort, and even went as far as to put his right hand onto her shoulder. She immediately shook herself out of his firm hold to which the captain released a throaty chuckle in reply.
Mindy rolled her eyes. Creep.
Luckily, they continued their descent in relative silence.
When Mindy reached the bottom, a dimly lit passageway awaited them.
She involuntarily shuddered as she padded past the jail cells lining either sides of the wall. She cupped a hand over her mouth to bite back a scream. She could've sworn that she'd caught sight of a skeleton inside one of them but she forced herself to quicken her pace in order to forget that she'd seen it.
Sweat started to trickle down her temple as her once tan complexion turned a pallid shade of white. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and make a break for it, but how could she when the villain was practically breathing down her neck?
Mindy inhaled when Hook once again took hold of her shoulder, and spun her around to face one cell in particular. Her already-heightened anxiety levels escalated when she noticed the silhouette of a person huddled in the corner. She took a moment to compose herself before taking a hesitant step forward, and bringing the lantern up to peer into the chamber…
Tears welled up in her eyes when she saw that the figure was Dakota Davenport.
She opened her mouth to call out to him, but his name got clogged up in her throat. She had a plethora of questions, and she didn't know where to begin. How did he get here? How did Hook find him? Is Scarlett in here too?
Mindy scanned every inch of the cell, but saw no sign of her ever being there.
She shifted her attention back to her battered-up friend, and managed to croak out, "Dakota?"
"Mindy?" He adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses as he stared at her in total disbelief, "Is that you?"
"Yeah…yeah it's me." She kneeled down and reached through the bars to grab ahold of his hands, "God, what are you doing here inside of my mind?"
"W-what?" Dakota stammered, "What are you talking about? The last thing I remember is seeing you getting swallowed up into the swirling rainbow portal, and I must've blacked out or something because I fell in with you… The next thing I knew I woke up in here. Mindy, where are we? Why am I locked up? And who is he?"
"Oh where are my manners?" Hook stepped out into the light, and tipped his hat, "Captain James Hook of The Jolly Rodger at your service… What a pleasure it is to meet you at last my dear lad!"
Mindy whirled around to glare at the dastardly pirate, "Let him go! He's done nothing to you!"
"If you truly want him back, then hand over the pixie." He gave her a fiendish smile as he twirled his handlebar mustache, "It's as simple as that."
She stared down at Tinkerbell as she pondered the decision at hand. The fairy's eyes were glistened with tears as she pounded her fists against the glass. Then, Mindy turned back to Dakota. In all her years of being his friend, she had never seen him look so afraid. He was shaking like a leaf, and his usually bright freckled cheeks were now pale as death. His once vibrant hazel eyes were now sunken, hollow, and bloodshot. She inhaled when she felt him squeeze her hands in a vice-like grip.
At that moment, she didn't care if she was about to break the promise she had made to Tink.
All she knew was that she couldn't bear to see Dakota like this.
"So… you promise to let him go?"
"My dear, once you give her to me, you have my word that you and your friend will be reunited."
She lifted Tinkerbell up so she was eye-level with her. The fairy stared up at Mindy with pleading eyes as she shook her head. After a beat, Mindy mouthed: "I'm sorry." before handing the lantern over to Captain Hook.
His mouth curved into a wicked smile. "Wise choice."
Mindy was too racked with guilt to even look at the fairy.
She only stared blankly as Hook unlocked and opened the cell.
Right as she was about to help Dakota to his feet, she was roughly shoved inside. She cried out as she collapsed on top of her friend and the door slammed shut behind her. Mindy scrambled off of him as the captain locked them inside.
"What was that you said earlier?" The captain tapped his chin before his eyes lit up with glee, "Oh yes! Now I remember! Your mind games aren't going to work on me because you are talking to the self-proclaimed Queen of Disney Trivia." He leaned forward with a playful, "Whoop, whoop."
"We had a deal!" Mindy burst, "You said you'd let him go!"
"Yes we did make a deal." he purred. "Only I never said that I'd let him go… I merely stated that you two would be reunited, and Captain Hook is a man of his word."
Mindy panted as tears blurred her vision.
Only, they weren't tears of sadness or frustration. They were tears of pure burning hatred… Mindy had never gotten this angry in her entire life. In the rare instances when she did get mad, she would bite her tongue as to not cause a scene. But after everything she'd been through, she couldn't help but feel like she was encouraged to release her inner emotions.
And she. Was. PISSED.
"Oh." Hook cooed in mock-pity, "Don't cry me dear."
"SHUT UP!" She clenched her fists as she looked up at him, "Shut the hell up you human equivalent of crumbs on a bed! I hope that one of your bedposts becomes uneven so you'll never get a fully horizontal night's sleep again! Seriously why am I only thinking of good comebacks now when I should have been using them earlier?! Why do you give a crap about me when you already have Peter to deal with?! What is the point of capturing me if he doesn't even care about me at all?!" Mindy held her head in her hands as she started to spiral again, "Ugh! Why am I here in the first place?! Why can't I remember?!"
Captain Hook reached through the bars to lift her chin up.
Mindy's jaw tightened as she attempted to remove herself from his grasp, but winced when the tip of his hook pricked into her delicate skin and caused a thin trail of blood to ooze down her neck. "You may not want to listen to me in regards to explanations about your past…but I'm certain that The Projectionist will take great pleasure in filling you in on the details when he comes for you."
This statement made Mindy do a double-take, "The Projectionist? Who's the-"
"-Forgive me for cutting this invigorating conversation short, but I have more urgent matters to attend to." He released her before making his way to the stairs, "Times have changed since you've been away princess…perhaps you should have considered that before you decided to return without your precious memories."
Hook climbed the steps with an over-the-top maniacal laugh, and the clang of the metal hatch being shut reverberated throughout the desolate chamber. The captain's parting words lingered in her ears as she pressed her hand over her now bleeding chin.
Mindy thought that she had made the right choice when she had given Tinkerbell away…after all, now the plot would resume as usual. But she had failed to consider every possible outcome, and she had also forgotten the number one rule to keep in mind when dealing with Captain Hook.
Note to self. Do not under ANY circumstances make an agreement with him.
