Chapter Seven
Peter and Henry were gone for a long while. Abigail sat by herself, watching the fire. She knew that something had happened during that kiss but she didn't know what to think about it. It was as if she could feel the memories in her veins, like they were part of her blood. It was as if, at that moment, she had never left. But the most terrifying thing was that for a moment, she had wanted it all back again.
The lost boys played as they always did but every now and then they threw glances in her direction. They remembered too. And they had seen the kiss. They were afraid that she had remembered. The only Lost One who refused to look at her at all was Felix. He was acting as though she wasn't even there.
She was so confused and the longer she waited for Peter and Henry to come back, or for Henry's mothers or her dad to burst through the trees, or for anything to happen, the more confused and lonely she felt. It was strange. While part of her was fighting to get back home and away from Peter for good, another part of her believed that she was home already.
Finally, they returned. Henry appeared unharmed, if a little bewildered. Peter looked immediately over at her but she kept her head down. He didn't let that intimidate him and strolled over, dropping down to the rock beside her. She still kept her head down.
"Where did you go?" she asked as if she didn't really want to know.
"That's between Henry and I," there was an awkward pause, "I didn't hurt him."
"Good."
Another silence echoed around them. Peter cleared his throat.
"I have a surprise for you."
Abigail rolled her eyes. Great. Another Peter Pan surprise. Just what she needed. Why couldn't he just leave her alone?
He continued, "I don't suppose you remember – the shadow brought a lot of people back, but there was one who was a little different – do you remember the other girl?"
She started, looking at him quickly. There had only ever been one other girl brought to Neverland. Although they had only known each other for a short time, and they didn't exactly get off to a brilliant start, they quickly became close. She was probably the closest thing Abigail had ever had to a best friend.
"Wendy?" she asked, her eyes wide, "Is she here?"
"I saved her for you."
She noticed the smugness in his voice, "What do you mean? Where is she?"
He just stood up and held out his hand expectantly. Too caught up in anticipation to realise what she was doing, she allowed him to pull her to her feet. Only, he didn't let go as he started to lead her through the jungle. And she didn't even notice that they were still holding hands; she was too excited at the promise of seeing her old friend again.
It was not a very long walk, but it was long enough for it to be difficult to sneak to. She tried her best to note the various twists and turns through the trees that he led her through, but after a while she began to forget. She supposed that he was making the journey as difficult for her to remember as possible.
But the moment they reached a small clearing, her heart gave a painful lurch. Before her hung three cages made of entwined pieces of wood. They swung gently in the air from tall trees, attached with ropes.
"Oh, Peter, please tell me she hasn't been locked up there all this time," she breathed, feeling her eyes tingle.
He didn't say anything as he strolled over to a nearby tree and unhooked the rope to manoeuvre one of the cages down. The first thing Abigail saw of her old friend was a pair of small hands clutching the bars and a snippet of white from her dress. Gradually, as the cage was lowered, her face became visible. She looked exhausted. Her skin was pale and drawn, her hair unkempt and like straw. Her eyes, that used to be so wide and naïve had become dark and shadowed.
"Wendy!" she cried, running to the cage as it finally hit the floor.
A beaming smile lit up Wendy's face as she recognised her old friend.
"Abby, is that really you?"
"Yes," she said, blinking back the tears to smile. She felt awfully aware that Peter had leaned against a nearby tree to watch their conversation. "I thought you'd gone home. He told me – he promised."
"Well, I did. But then I came back."
Abigail blinked in horror, "Why? Why would you willingly come back to this place?"
"To save Bae."
Abigail paused. Baelfire had left the island while she was still on it, but she had watched Wendy leave Neverland much longer before that. Surely, she should have aged. The realisation struck her cold. Peter had lied. Wendy had been hidden on the island while she was still there. All that time when Abigail had been running away, finding new hiding places, possibly even when she was still in power, Wendy had been right there. She could have found her, rescued her. They could have got away together, or at least given each other some company.
She rounded on Peter, "You liar!"
He lifted his hands, a bemused smile on his face, "Well, you left. I had to find some way to entertain myself."
Her mouth fell open. Wendy was blushing and avoiding her eyes. Abigail felt heat rise to her face. An urge enveloped her to hit the amused smirk off of Peter's face as his eyes watched her reaction carefully. She stepped away from Wendy's cage, clenching her fists in a huge attempt to keep her emotions under control. It didn't matter. She didn't like Peter. She had no reason to feel the bitter jealousy that was colouring her vision red and grinding her teeth together.
"I'm so sorry, Abby," Wendy implored. With great effort, Abigail looked at her with as friendly a smile as she could, but it must have looked more like a grimace.
"It's ok, Wendy. I get it."
"No, Abby, I truly am sorry. You don't understand."
"I do," she said in a voice that sounded much too chirpy, "I completely understand. You and Peter. Wow, no, I get it, I do. It's not your fault. He manipulated you too."
She turned around and, without looking at Peter, stormed away.
Before.
Abigail was lounging on the beautiful bed that the lost boys had built for her, studying her dirty nails as she rested her head on Peter's shoulder. It was one of their rare moments of peace. Peter hated peace and quiet; he enjoyed danger, adventure and boisterousness. But he knew that she often got tired of the boys' constant mischief, so he succumbed to her calmness every now and then.
Peter was clearly bored but he put up with it, enjoying being close to his queen. He rested his own head on top of hers and she closed her eyes happily. They stayed like that for a while, their fingers interlocked. But suddenly she felt his shoulders stiffen and he pulled away. She looked at him with bleary, dreamy eyes.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, absent-mindedly.
"The shadow's brought someone to Neverland."
"A new boy?"
He was frowning, "I don't know. Something's different."
He swung his legs off the bed and Abigail scrambled to join him, wrapping her black cloak around her bare arms as she did so. They travelled through the jungle together until they reached the top of a cliff where the lost boys had gathered. They were crowing and causing such a raucous noise that even Peter was scowling at it.
"What's happening?" she asked the nearest boy.
He pointed to the sky, his face lit up with excitement, "A bird! The biggest bird we've ever seen. We're trying to shoot it down."
She looked up to where he pointed and saw it too, but it was not a bird. That was definitely the long, lacy white nightgown of a flying girl. A strange feeling twisted in her chest. She bit the inside of her cheeks as she pushed her way to the front, taking the crossbow from the boy whose turn it was.
Ignoring Peter's requests for her to stop, she lined it up perfectly with the figure on the tail of the shadow. She knew that he was going to stop her so she let the arrow go without hesitating just as his hands snatched the crossbow away. It was too late. The arrow soared through the air and everyone stared as it brushed the girl's shoulder.
It could hardly have been more than a graze but it was enough to knock her out of the grip of the shadow. With a piercing scream that tore through the air and shook the grins off of the lost boys' faces, the girl-bird fell.
"What did you do that for?" Peter asked with anger in his voice but amusement in his eyes. Abigail's smile was smug as she watched the white figure fall and fall closer to the choppy waves that threatened to swallow her up. The shadow dived down at the last minute, sweeping her up, and she let out a disgruntled groan.
The shadow swooped down over their heads, dropping the girl on the floor a short distance away. The lost boys and Peter immediately crowded around her. Abigail stood back and watched with narrowed eyes. She didn't want another girl on the island. What if she tried to take Peter away? What if Peter liked this new bird thing more and cast her aside like she was worth nothing?
"She's alive," Peter announced, "But wounded. Felix, find her some Folicur. I'll take her to rest."
At first, Abigail thought nothing of that but as she followed him and the unconscious girl in a direction different than to camp, she felt the twisted feeling in her chest intensify. He was taking her to her house.
"Peter, stop," she snapped, and he hardly glanced back at her, "What are you doing?"
"Taking her to rest."
"But where?"
"Your bedroom of course. It's the nicest place in Neverland."
She had to bite her lip for a moment to stop herself from crying out in frustration, "But why can't you put her in the camp?"
"That's no place for a girl."
She stopped walking, glaring daggers at his back.
"So what am I?" he ignored her, continuing to walk. She shouted louder, "Am I not a girl then if you allow me into the camp?"
He continued walking. This time she did not hold back the cry of frustration and turned to storm off in the opposite direction, yelling over her shoulder, "I'm going to go jump off the cliff to see if you notice!"
No response. Abigail hated that girl.
Now.
Abigail had been walking through the jungle aimlessly for a while. She knew that she was being watched; Peter wouldn't be so careless as to let her wander around when her dad could potentially be anywhere. She was confused about her feelings. She had lived for a long time in hatred of Peter Pan, only for most of that to slide right out of her mind the moment their lips met. And then she had resented herself for forgetting her hatred, only for that to be forgotten yet again at the slightest mention that he had gotten over her, and a jealousy had taken over that would only make sense if she still had feelings for him.
With the beginnings of a headache throbbing in her temples, she sighed and slumped against the trunk of a tree, sliding down to the ground. She wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her head on them. How long had she been in Neverland? She wasn't sure. Time stood still on the island, and days and nights merged together. She knew that she had already spent too much time there for her to be able to escape easily. Neverland was rooting itself back into her veins, its juices were beginning to run back into her blood again. She knew it, and Peter knew it. It was getting to her just like it had last time.
Suddenly, she heard voices. They were the voices of men and they were ahead of her, nearby. Her heart soared as she scrambled to her feet. A grown-up man in Neverland! Surely, it could only be her dad. And then she was running. Branches, sticks and leaves crunched noisily under her feet. She tripped and stumbled, grazing her arm a few times, but she never cried out or slowed down. Her heart was so full of determination to get to her dad. She missed him so much. He had come to save her just as she thought he would, and he was going to take her – and Henry – away from this dreadful place.
But as she broke into a clearing just a little away from camp, her heart sank as heavily as it had soared. The man was not her dad and he was not in any position to rescue her. He had been caught and was being led through the jungle by Felix. But as his voice reached her ears, her heart beat quicker again.
It was impossible. She stopped at the edge of the trees, just staring. He was dead. She was certain of it. Neal – or Baelfire as she had known him as child – was dead. He was shot and fell through a portal. He was gone. She had seen the evidence in Emma's heartbreak. Was it a trick? Could it be that this was some sort of game Peter had thought up to mess her around even more? She didn't know whether she should rush out to save him or avoid him and pretend to have seen nothing.
Before she had made up her mind, however, Felix stopped and turned to her. Neal obediently stopped too, but did not turn around.
"I know you're there, princess. You can come out."
After a brief hesitation, she withdrew from the trees and walked over to them. Neal turned around and his eyes widened.
"Abby! What are you doing here?"
She looked at him wearily, "I could say the same to you. I thought you were dead."
"No! No, I was shot but I'm alive. I'm here. Why are you here? Have you seen Henry? Or Emma?"
Felix broke in, "She's here because Pan wants her to be here."
Neal's face whitened, "Are you ok? Has he hurt you?"
She frowned, "I'm fine," she said not entirely truthfully, and stepped closer, more assured that he was the real Neal, "You've come for Henry, haven't you? Have you seen my dad? Is he here looking for me?"
Before Neal could say anything, Felix grabbed him roughly and dragged him away. Unfortunately, for him, Neal put up more of a fight than had been expected. At some point, the ropes around his wrists had loosened and with a horrifying crunch, he swung his arm around and punched the lost boy in the jaw. Felix staggered back and fell.
Grabbing Abigail's hand, Neal ran in the other direction to the trees, "Run!"
So they ran. Someone had finally come for Abigail and she ran away, leaving Henry, Peter, Felix, Wendy and all of the Lost Ones behind her. She could almost hear Peter's cry of rage as he felt her slip out of his grasp.
Review Responses
First, I just want to say sorry to all of those I haven't got back to. I got a bit of backlog and can't reply to everyone. But I'll try to reply to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and I'll reply to everyone who reviews this one.
ElektraMackenzie: haha, I know right? But I don't think Henry's one to hold grudges for very long. Still, Abby is kind of running away without him now so... *shrugs* :)
NeverlandxWarrior: You are so awesome. I've already PMed you but your review just absolutely made my day. I love talking to you on tumblr too. Someone needs to write a fanfiction of our trip to Neverland with the group of lost girls :P
Cupcakexo: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. :D
If anyone wants to talk to me, you can find me on twitter [/bethyXmae] and tumblr [bethy-mae10 . tumblr . com]
Please, if you're enjoying this story, let me know. I love nothing more than getting cool reviews from you all. You're all so amazing.
Love from Beth :-) x