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Chapter Two: Dazed and Confrontational

"This one is older than we have had in years!"

"Shhh! Do you want to wake him up?"

"Where's Felix?"

Stirring a little, Piper feels a little of the cold receding. Everything still feels hazy though and she absently wonders if this is a dream. She relaxes a little, comforted by the thought. Of course this is a dream! Shadows don't move on their own and their touch isn't icy cold. Shadows don't make anyone feel anything except normal for having one.

Could you imagine never having a shadow?

"What is going on here?" A monotone voice asked but there was an edge of command to it. Immediately, all the whispers stopped and Piper felt slightly uneasy as the drowsiness lapped at her some more.

"The shadow's brought us another boy! We were on patrol when it swooped down and just dropped him here. What should we do? I think he is unconscious." Piper could gather from the confused boy's words that he thought she was a boy. A small ember of offended anger tried to burn but it was smothered by the continuous tug of drowsiness.

"Why would the shadow bring us another one?" A different boy piped up, sounding so much younger than the others.

"And why would he be so old?" Piper felt exasperated and drowsily angry but she couldn't wake up completely. Why couldn't she wake up? She felt as though her limbs were filled with cement and no matter what she did, she couldn't fight her way free.

"Quiet, you two. I don't have all the answers but we know who does." The boy with the dead voice said. A low whisper swept through all the boys and Piper felt drowsily confused. What were they saying? It was a whisper, creeping through her body until it rang in her ears.

"Pan will know. Peter Pan always knows. Peter Pan..." Piper should have felt scared but all she felt was confused. Peter Pan? The little boy dressed in green tights with a mop of red hair that harassed pirates with all the wit and cleverness of a Ravenclaw? He wasn't real. But then again, neither were shadows that moved on their own.

"Look! The shadow's back!"

"What's he doing?"

Almost as though it knew she were awake and wanted to torture her even more, the icy cold touch landed on Piper's ankle and dread roiled through her. If she were fully awake, she would have burst into a spitting, hissing ball of anger as she clawed at it. As it was though, Piper could only feel a sick sense of dread as the ice crept through her veins and knocked her out again.

"Oy! Wake up!" A poking and prodding made Piper groan, a small jolt of pain going through her. What was she being poked with? It felt like a stick...It better not be a stick. "C'mon! You can't still be sleeping!" The voice sounded exasperated but Piper didn't really care.

She wasn't icy cold anymore and she wanted to enjoy it. That icy cold feeling had scared her and she wasn't used to feeling that way. Piper had felt that way after her mother died and she was alone on the streets when she was only seven years old. It wasn't until she was so tired of feeling helpless that Piper began to nurture that burning rage that always lurked behind her happy little mask. Piper has a dark side and she isn't ashamed of it but she doesn't do everything to broadcast it either. She knows the value in being seemingly helpless and weak.

"Get up!...You are going to piss Pan off. His shadow wasn't supposed to bring any big boys here. I wonder why he brought you?" Piper stiffened when she sensed the boy leaning closer. She didn't like to be touched. Not casually anyway. Not if it couldn't benefit her. The boy leaned closer, the leaves he was sitting on crinkling as he shifted. Piper's blazing dark eyes snapped open as he gently brushed her face. Reacting instinctively, Piper snatched his wrist, tightening her grip cruelly as her lips twisted into a feral snarl.

She tried to speak but a low, guttural snarl is the only thing that emerged from her throat as searing pain burst through her. Abruptly, Piper remembered screaming until her throat was raw and sore and then screaming some more. She must have damaged her vocal cords. It seemed to be working to her advantage though.

The boy's wide, brown eyes were blown open with panicked fear swirling in the depths. A strangled shout emerged from his throat as Piper deliberately bared her teeth, tightening her grip on his wrist. The delicate bones in his wrist ground against each other and a high shriek burst out of him. He seemed younger than her, she absently noticed. Maybe around sixteen years old.

"Let the boy go." The dead voice from before ordered and Piper slowly turned her head, the dark dirt caked on her face so that only her blazing dark eyes showed. This boy's face was shaded by a hooded...cloak? All the sight did was give Piper pause for a moment before she deliberately tightened her grip. The boy dropped his wooden spear, scrabbling frantically at her hand, a high, pained yelp bursting out of his throat as she dug her nails into the tender space between the veins in his wrist. Blood welled up, warmly coating the tips of her fingers as the boy cried out again. "Let him go or one of these arrows is going in you." The boy ordered, a hard edge creeping into his emotionless voice.

Piper tried to clear her throat but a wince of pain washed over her before she hid it again.

"Please." The boy whimpered and Piper narrowed her dark eyes, shooting him a contemptuous look before abruptly shoving him back as she released him. The boy fell and scrambled away, clutching his wrist to his chest.

"Smart choice. Now get up." The hooded boy ordered, his pale hand tightening on a wicked looking...club? How...Neanderthal-ish. Moving warily, she slowly rose to her feet, keeping tabs of the other boys surrounding her. She could spot a few in the trees with wicked looking arrows pointed at her, a few boys hidden in the bushes with more arrows and then the obvious ones with pointy sticks. Feeling something sticking out of her chest, she frowned when she saw the lump. Watching the boys out of her peripheral vision, she pulled out...Cortez's large black knit sweater.

It only took her a second to go through the facts.

I am the only girl. I am surrounded by males. They are all of or around the age where they hit puberty. They think I am a boy. I do not want to get raped.

She quickly slips the sweater on, feeling the cold press of the dagger she had stolen against her belly. The ties on the sheathe had gotten tangled on the ties inside her pants to keep them on her thin waist. Not wanting to give the advantage of her hidden weapon away, she gives no sign of it, shooting Mr. Neanderthal a dark look.

He shifts and his hood slips back the slightest bit, revealing thick, ropey scars on his cheek and down his chin. Startled, Piper narrows her eyes as she gets prodded in the back. Whirling around with another dangerous snarl ripping out of her throat, she glared darkly at the boy. His face pales and he flinches before drawing strength from the weapon his hands.

"M-move on now." He stutters a little before drawing confidence in Piper's lack of attacking. "Pan wants to see you." Confusion flashes across her dirt-caked face and the boy smirks superiorly and it irks her. Debating on attacking him, Piper remembers something and decides to take advantage of it. Raising her hand, Piper showed him the drying blood on her ragged fingernails and fingertips. He pales as a slow, dark grin spreads across face before she turns away dismissively, missing the helpless rage that flashes across his face at her actions. The boy with the scars doesn't move and Piper gets the impression he is scanning for her danger level. Right now, with tension running high and her guard up, Piper is feeling reckless in a way that she hasn't been since she was eleven.

She was considered half-feral for a reason.

People don't just fling words like that around for no reason. Especially caseworkers, the ones who have supposedly seen it all. Piper gave in and became her worst self. She became the dark little monster that everyone has hiding in a corner of their brain. When she became friends with Dolly and Cortez, they both made her promise that she would never revert to that behavior unless she had no other choice. It seems like this is one of those times where she has no other choice. Still, Piper pulled back on the anger a little, hiding it away and causing her face to emanate the same emotionlessness that was in the hooded boy's voice.

She was in a clearing filled with trees and bushes and the boys circling her were leading her into the woods surrounding her. It seemed like it was either sunset or sunrise here, casting eerie shadows on the towering trees. The rage disappeared from Piper and she had to hold back a shiver as it was replaced by the cold. Piper didn't see the creepy shadow anywhere but the lingering icy cold was still there at her ankle, just more contained. Limping a little, Piper cataloged her injuries.

Her body was sore and aching all over. The spot over her ribs held a deep ache and Piper wondered if she bruised or cracked a rib. A throbbing located on her jaw made Piper suspect that the shadow hadn't been very gentle when it had dropped her in with the group of boys surrounding her. Her fingernails ached from the death hold she had on the window frame when she had been screaming for...Cortez.

Oh god.

Cortez and Dolly.

Dread and fear swept over her and Piper felt hopelessly lost and confused. She hadn't been separated from the two except for the week when Cortez had almost been sent to juvie for beating the shit out of a guy for insulting Dolly and Piper in a very crude way. It terrified Piper to be apart from them. There wouldn't be Dolly to distract her from dark throughs and depression. There wouldn't be Cortez that she could lean on when she felt weak. For the first time in nine years, she was alone.

"Pan's gonna deal with him, right Felix?" The boy she had injured piped up, glaring nastily at her. Piper ignored the glare, struggling with burying her fear as far down as she could. It wasn't working though. She was still feeling scared and hopeless, like she was about to snap any second now. She really didn't want to let her friends down. Because the moment she did, she wouldn't be able to look them in the eyes ever again. She couldn't trust herself to not screw everything up and wasn't that the sadest thing?

"Just shut up and keep him moving." Felix hissed, marching ahead. Piper couldn't bring herself to glare. She wanted to hide. Hide from herself. Hide from the memory of her past. Hide from the realization of who she could become. Hide from it all.

The trees began to grow thinner and abruptly, they were in a clearing. There was a group of boys in one part of the round clearing, cheering each other on as they shot at each other with arrows. There was a boiling pot of something in the center over the roaring bonfire. And then Piper spotted some cleverly hidden tents in and around the clearing. This is where they lived. All these boys were young, not one of them looking to be older than Piper.

A few were limping and others had scars on their youthful faces. But there was one thing all of them had in common. Well, aside from the ratty clothes they were wearing. All of the kids...were kids. They were young and Piper had a sudden, wild thought. They were the perfect ages for being Lost Boys. But that was crazy, wasn't it? These little boys couldn't be the famous Lost Boys. For one, they were supposed to be the good guys, led by a good guy. After all, every story and myth has a center of the truth in it.

"Who's the new boy?" A tall, burly boy asked. He had the look of a bully in dark eyes and dirty blonde hair. He didn't get an answer from Felix and turned his angry gaze on Piper. She had the sudden urge to look down but smothered it as the little dark side popped up.

A slow, cruel smirk twisted on her lips as Piper crossed the clearing and she raised her head, a suddenly noble look about her as she met his gaze fearlessly. The boy faltered, clearly not expecting her to meet his gaze. Piper felt a flash of irritation and upped the ante on her deep, dark anger. She remembered the rage that burned in her as the shadow was dragging her away from her chosen family...and the boy paled. Fear and recognition flashed in his eyes and he turned away, burly shoulders tensing up as he refused to look back. Piper suddenly felt sick.

She promised them. And here she is, giving in so easily.

...only if you have to...

She didn't have to.

"Wait here." Felix ordered and he sounded so monotone that Piper had the sudden urge to make him show emotion. Felix didn't notice the flash of emotion though. He had crossed the clearing, up to the thickest tree that was placed at the edge of the clearing. He knocked on the the door and even though nothing about Felix changed, Piper got the feeling he was suddenly anxious. It was weird but she was going to take the warning seriously. If Felix, Mr. No-Emotion was feeling anxious, then she was going to be careful.

Piper was watching as Felix waited. And she swears that the door didn't move an inch. First Felix was waiting, standing there by himself and the next...he wasn't.

Thanks so much to my followers and favers: Rayne2018, SashaPayne56, quiet101 and bittersweet S.

Thanks so much to my first reviewer!

bittersweet - Thanks so much for saying that, I was hoping my idea was original since I have no way of knowing for complete fact. Hopefully you will continue to like the way this plays out. Thanks so much for your review!