Chapter Nine

(Brief lyrics in this chapter is from "Secret" by The Pierces, and the song "Here We Go Another Plan" from the movie "Peter Pan in Return to Neverland".)

Siren laughed at the image in her crystal ball. Danny was tossing and turning in his bed, and visibly shaking. If the nightmare she planted in his mind didn't drive him over the edge, she didn't know what would!

Captain Hook then arrived, bowing with a flourish of his hat. "Siren! Lovely to see you, my dear!"

The villainess quickly sobered up, and waved her hand over the crystal ball, making it blank. "What do you want, Hook?"

"I just wanted to say that unlike, Silver, I will not disappoint. I will take that little brat far out to sea and feed her to a sea monster. Now can I just leave her body to rot in the belly of the beast, or do you still want proof of her being dead?"

"Do what you want with her," said Siren waving her hand at him, "And believe me, I'll know if you've done the deed."

With another bow, the pirate left her alone.

Danny was still trapped by the mirrors. Siren had vanished a long time ago, and Aralyne's bloody body remained on the floor. The song played on an endless loop, pretty much driving him insane. And to make matters worse, the mirrors continuously replayed Aralyne slitting her own throat over, and over, and over again. He had tried using his ghost powers to escape the torment, but he was stuck there.

"Got a secret

Can you keep it?

Swear this one you'll save

Better lock it in your pocket

Taking this one to the grave

If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said

'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"

"No!" he shouted out placing his hands over his ears, but the tune seemed to be inside his head, and when he shut his eyes, he could still see Aralyne killing herself, and all because she was angry with him.

"Why do you smile like you've been told a secret?

Now you're telling lies 'cause you have sworn to keep it

But no one keeps a secret

No one keeps a secret

Why when we do our darkest deeds do we tell?

They burn in our brains, become a living hell

Because everybody tells

Everybody tells"

"It's not my fault! It's not my fault! It's not my fault!"

"Got a secret

Can you keep it?

Swear this one you'll save

Better lock it in your pocket

Taking this one to the grave

If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said

'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"

"But it is your fault," said Aralyne's body slowly sitting up and turning to him, "and all because you kept the secret from me, Danny."

"Danny."

"Danny! Wake up!"

The teenager's eyes snapped open and he found himself in his room with Sam leaning over him, looking worried.

"You were having a nightmare," she said brushing his black hair out of his face. She quickly pulled back with a frown. "And you're covered in sweat!"

Danny sat up feeling nauseous, and suddenly puked over the side of the bed.

"Got a secret

Can you keep it?

Swear this one you'll save"

The song! It was still in his head!

"Oh my gosh! Danny! I'll be right back!" Sam left the room to get who knew what, leaving him completely alone.

"Better lock it in your pocket

Taking this one to the grave"

If he told Aralyne the truth, she would hate him! If she found out on her own, she would hate him! What was he to do? No matter how he looked at it, the result remained the same. He threw up once more.

"If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said

'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"

I had left Nesidy, ignoring everyone that called out to me, and ended up going on a hike through the woods - alone. It was something I did before I had discovered Incantationen. Any time I was upset, I would just go for a hike up in the mountains or surrounding forests of New Mexico. I don't know how long I was gone, nor did I care. I only reluctantly turned back when I was too tired to carry on. Starving, too, but I didn't want to get food from people I could no longer trust. Returning to the Benbow Inn, I stormed up the stairs without saying a word to anyone.

Thankfully, no one followed me, and I slammed the door shut. It was still pretty early to get to bed - sometime in the late afternoon, I'm guessing - but I didn't care. I was exhausted from my hike. I changed into my pajamas: a large pink shirt and a pair of black shorts, and crawled into bed.

"I can't believe they're all hiding something from me!" I grumbled out sinking deep under the covers. Angry tears then began pouring down my face, until I eventually cried myself to sleep.

Rain clouds had filled the sky over Nesidy, and many black birds were circling the building ominously, when suddenly the Jolly Roger appeared behind it. Ropes fell from the ship, carrying Hook's pirates down to the inn. Hook himself, peered inside the first window to see a young woman with short dark-brown hair asleep in bed. He stuck his hook between the crack and undid the latch.

Hearing a slight creak, I woke up, and sleepily looked at the floor to see the shadow of pirate open my window. Now wide awake and gasping, I sat up, but didn't see anything unusual other than the window being wide open. How did that happen? I was dreaming? I crawled out of bed and went to the window, closing it. Hearing a floorboard creak behind me, I turned around, and this time found myself surrounded by sinister looking pirates.

Not again!

"Hello, Aralyne," Hook sneered, twirling his mustache with his hook.

I opened my mouth to scream, because I didn't have Excalibur with me (where was it, anyway?) and I had to sound the alarm. Unfortunately, I had been gagged by someone standing behind me and felt my hands being tied behind my back. Through the cloth, I screamed, anyway as loud as I could, and kicked the floor.

"My apologies, miss," said Mr. Smee, putting a cloth sack over me.

The others still working in the inn, were doing last minute cleaning when they heard a muffled scream, and a thump from upstairs. They all exchanged glances and looked up at the ceiling, a sense of dread falling over them.

"Aralyne?" Mrs. Hawkins called out, running upstairs, the others following closely behind. "Aralyne, what's going on?!" There wasn't a reply. "Aralyne, anser me!"

I heard Mrs. Hawkins calling out to me, as well as multiple footsteps running up the stairs. They were coming to my rescue!

"Curses!" Hook swore, "Bring her down! Hurry, Smee!"

I started screaming again, and thrashed around, kicking out as much as possible in my sack prison. Of course, I couldn't see, so had no clue as to what was going on.

"Oh, come on, now. Don't fuss," said Mr. Smee nearby.

Eventually I was lifted up into the air and was tossed, landing painfully on my side so that the air was knocked out of me. I silently gasped from the pain and slowly sat up. Dammit! You would think that after all my training in the army, this wouldn't happen as often any more!

"Cast off, ya mangy dogs!" Hook shouted. "Hoist anchor!"

The sack slipped from my head and I stared about in bewilderment. I was on a ship; a flying ship! And not like the mechanical one I had gotten from Treasure Island, either! Seeing me, a pirate roughly shoved me back into the sack. Finding a hole in the cloth, I peered through it to see we were leaving Nesidy behind and flying out over the ocean. It picked up in speed and within moments, we were so far out, no one could have been able to find us.

"This is simply perfect!" Hook sneered evilly, "Yes, Mr. Smee, with no one to rescue Aralyne, we will be on Siren's good graces. Summon the beast!"

What?!

"Yes, sir, Captain. Right away!" cried Smee with a salute while holding a tub full of dead fish and slops. He then began singing:

"Oh, yo ho, ho, another plan

To try to capture Peter Pan

Captain Hook´s a brilliant man

Who else could think of the perfect crime

And bumble and fumble it every time?"

"Smee!" Hook roared, obviously not happy with the lyrics of the song. Startled, the first mate, tripped and as a result, the tub flew overboard, and the gunk sank to the bottom of the ocean. I rolled my eyes at his clumsiness. A few seconds later we saw bubbles rising to the surface. A pirate grabbed my sack and tied it to a rope so that I was now hanging over the side of the ship. I screamed and began twisting about, hoping to get the ropes around my wrists loose. If I could do that, I would be able to swim away! "Make no doubt, Smee. That girl will be nothing but a memory."

His hat was suddenly scooped off his head, and a child's voice shouted, "Only in your dreams, Hook!"

"Pan!" Captain Hook said in outrage when he looked up to see Peter destroy his hat.

Peter! Maybe I was to be saved after all!

"I didn't know a codfish could talk," Peter teased.

"Blast him!" the pirate leader ordered, and his cronies aimed their cannons at Peter.

"Take your best shot, Captain," Peter taunted with a childish smirk hovering near the mast.

"You're gonna have to do better than that, boy!" Hook sneered when he saw one of his pirates sneaking up on Peter. The child, however, saw this and dodged the sword-swinging villain.

"Whoa! Uh-uh-uh! Three strikes and you're out!" said Peter.

"Come down here, boy. I've a little something for you," said Hook, his sneer widening.

"A present for me? Aw, you really shouldn't have," said Peter sounding half serious now. What could the villain possibly have in store?

Captain Hook replied, "Call it a token of me affection. You see, it is a certain friend of yours."

"Who?" Peter now asked in interest.

"Aralyne," Hook drawled out.

"Aralyne?" Peter said in surprise. Scowling, he pulled out his dagger and snarled, "Let her go, Hook, you black hearted scoundrel!" He attacked the pirate who fought back with his sword.

"You want her?" Hook inquired, "Ha! Well, go and get her!" He suddenly turned and sliced the rope holding my sack up, and I fell towards the ocean, screaming.

Peter dove in after her. The pirates watched the water and waited in silence. A moment later, black ink clouded the water, and Peter's hat floated up to the surface along with a couple of bubbles. "I did it. I did it! I-I-I can't believe it. I killed Aralyne and Peter Pan!" Hook said in disbelief, then smiled, "Mr. Smee, who is the most brazen, bold, and brilliant buccaneer who ever sailed the briny blue?"

"Um, Blackbeard?" Smee answered, looking pleased with himself before being smacked on the head by Hook's hook.

"Boys?" the Captain said turning to the rest of his crew.

The pirates looked at each other nervously before chanting, "Hook! Hook! Hook!"

Under the water, and still trapped in the sack, I didn't know what was going on. I couldn't see or hear anything. Something grabbed me from around the waist and pulled me down deeper. The wet sack clung to me, making it even more difficult to move around. My lungs were starting to burn. Right as my chest tightened form lack of air, whatever had me, let me go, and I was grabbed once more beneath my legs and at my back. I didn't know which way I was being dragged. My body started to convulse and I inhaled, expecting to be drowned, but instead of water entering my lungs, it was air! I gasped in relief, knowing who my rescuer was.

Peter Pan crowed and asked, "Did you miss me, Captain?"

"How did you escape the beast?" Hook demanded.

Again, I don't know what happened, but I felt Peter flying away from the ship with Hook and his pirates cursing at us.

Now that Aralyne had been taken, again, everyone was panicking in Nesidy. Siren smiled evilly as she watched chaos ensue, while hiding in a dark alley. It was time for her to have a little fun.

Seeing Belle run towards the Benbow Inn, Siren took aim and shot black energy at the beauty. It struck Belle in the back, and she fell over onto her hands and knees. For a moment, Belle didn't move, but then she slowly got to her feet, and turned towards Siren. The villainess smirked at her work. Belle's skin had turned a deathly pale, and her hazel eyes had turned an eerie black.

"Go out and kill, my little minion," Siren sneered. The dark Belle nodded once and walked off, moving like a zombie to do her mistress's bidding.