Chapter 2: Neverland

Disclaimer: I do not own Peter Pan or anything related to him…except for Evie

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She awoke to the feeling of sunlight on her face. Groaning a little under her breath she wearily opened her eyes, taking notice first to the pain in her back, the slight headache throbbing in her temple. It felt as though she had gotten hit by a train…or fallen out of the sky. Which, as she was about to find out, was disastrously true.

She knew that something was wrong before her eyes could even adjust, and she was sure that on some unconscious level she must have been aware of it too, for the feeling of trepidation was strong in her gut, her aching head and back, frightening her. She had expected almost anything…

Except the place she found herself. When she managed to tilt her head away from the sun's blinding rays—a clear indicator that something was wrong, since the sun had long since set in London—her first view of this alien world she found herself on was of a coconut tree. She furrowed her brows for a moment, gawking at it a little. A coconut tree…Somewhere tropical…

As though following her thoughts sudden sounds arose from the foliage that surrounded her, the screeching of tropical birds, the hooting of monkeys and, to her fear, the occasional roar of a lion. Indeed, Evie sat up to find herself in the center of a jungle, the sun beating down directly on her from the cloudless, crystal blue sky, the green brush around her waving languidly in greeting under the guidance of some gentle breeze. Immediately she felt faint again, the throbbing in her head increasing as she fell back down to lie again. She just could not understand—could not fathom how—why—

She reached out a shaky hand and touched the lush grass that was beneath her, the moist dirt, and brought it to her face to study it. It was painfully real, the grass like cool velvet on her fingers, the dirt like brown sugar. It made her want to laugh and scream at the same time, but she settled for just lying there prone, processing, computing—or at least trying too—like she was prone to do, like she was taught to do.

Ok, so she was in a jungle somewhere and…She glanced up and around her. Alone; she was alone. The thought made her shudder involuntarily. She tried to think back to her last memory before she had awoken to this…place, closing her eyes from the bright, cheery world around her to fold into herself, back into her thoughts—another tendency of hers.

She recalled Jake in detail, and felt a pang go though her heart. Jake…What would her little brother do without her? She had to get home, if not just for him. Without her she could only imagine what the bully Lily was doing to him…But now was certainly not the time to worry—not yet, at least.

She also remembered the conversation with Jake that she had. What had it been about again? Some dreams that he had had, a strange boy taking him away to some place…

What had it…? It hit her like a punch to the gut, and she inhaled sharply as she remembered it in one single moment of clarity.

Peter Pan. Jake had told her about Peter pan whisking him off to Neverland at night, and she had tried to make him believe by telling him about…about the book!

It all came back now, one terrifying scene in her mind. Opening that book, reading that beginning paragraph and then…and then there had been light, appearing almost heavenly, and it had grabbed her and pulled her down, down towards the book, the light, where she had fallen…To end up here. The color drained from her face and she was pretty sure her heart almost stopped. It was illogical but somehow, in someway, she was in the book Peter Pan. It was just…She didn't know how to handle it. As she raised herself up shakily to look around again she again took notice to how real everything was, and began panicking.

She was not one to believe in magic but, what other explanation was there, really? Unless she had fallen and hit her head… But no, that just didn't make sense; she clearly remembered the feeling of the leather book in her hands, and everything was far too vivid and realistic to all be a dream, a subconscious world of sorts. The book theory was her only option, and the panic inside of her rose even higher. If she was in a book, how the hell was she supposed to get home!?

She looked around her frantically, and saw nothing but trees. Should she call for help? She bit her lip; for some reason that seemed like a very bad idea. Maybe she should search for a body of water of some sorts or…She didn't know anymore. But she did know one thing—she had to get going somewhere. Evie was not one to be idle, especially under stressful situations, and this was beyond stress!

She wished the stars were out; maybe then she could follow the North Star home. She almost laughed at herself at the thought. To follow a star…She considered it nonsense of course, rubbish. It was only tactical planning that would lead her home, and a cunning eye for danger. She had to always be vigilante…

How ironic it was then, that as soon as she thought of this, taking a step towards the trees, she was ambushed. Oh yeah, she was vigilante all right.

She barely had time to scream before she found herself pressed back into the ground, a jagged dagger pressed to her slender throat. She whimpered to herself before looking up at the man—no boy—currently pointing a weapon at her.

The boy seemed to be no more than Jake's age, perhaps a year or two older, and scowled down at her with big doe like brown eyes which, despite the situation, had her automatically melting inside. He wore the outfit of a buccaneer, the classic brown pants and white shirt that instantly had her thinking of Huck Finn. In fact, she wondered of that was this boy's name; she was all ready in one book, why not venture into another?

"This here's a lass!" the boy exclaimed, and from behind him she heard murmurings. So he wasn't alone? She managed to get a glimpse past him to see the other boys, roughly six of them, all appearing similar in their ragtag clothes and dirt smeared, gaunt, young faces. She blinked at them, startled, forgetting the boy currently threatening her life as she gasped in astonishment, making some of the children scowl at her.

"Yes, Nibs, but she's a grown up lady!" one of the boys replied, "And rude at that; look at her gawking at us!"

At that Evie promptly shut her mouth, swallowing hard and smiling tentatively at them. "Oh, um, I'm sorry, I just…Did not expect this…"

"How could you not expect this?" the one above her, Nibs, scowled, "Everyone knows of the Lost Boys, right gentlemen?"

The boys all cheered and woofed rebelliously, rather offensively, and Evie winced a little when she heard one of them exclaim, "Damn right!" Children, in her opinion, shouldn't be using such vulgar language! But she kept her mouth shut, wondering if she should elaborate on why she didn't know them as they all looked back at her, their cheering dying down.

"How do you not know of us lady?" one inquired, and she smiled again.

"I'll be happy to elaborate if you can get your friend to stop pressing that dagger to my throat; it's rather distracting you see…"

Nibs scowled darkly at her again but reluctantly drew his dagger back, keeping it at his side as he in the others watched her wearily as she sat up and cleared her throat nervously.

"Um…Well you see, the funny thing is…I just woke up here."

"Just woke up here?" one of the boys asked, turning to the tallest one next to him. "What do you say to that Slightly?"

"I say," the tallest—Slightly—snorted, "That that is cod wash! Only Peter brings visitors like you here lady; you can't just wake up in Neverland!"

"Neverland?" she squeaked in a faint voice, the mention of both it and Peter making her grow weak. So she was in the book… "Oh dear…"

They were all eyeing her in faint curiosity now, and Nibs, who still stood in front of her, lowered his dagger into a more relaxed position.

"Hey fellas," he said, "Do you think Peter maybe dropped her off here? You know, having not wanted her anymore?"

"I can see why!" Slightly chimed in, "Look at her, she's an adult! Adult's aren't allowed on this island!"

Evie tried not to look insulted from that. She wasn't old or anything; Heck, she barely even was an adult by age standards!

The shortest and youngest of the boys took a step towards her, his big eyes smiling at her. "Well I think she's pretty. She reminds me of Wendy!"

Wendy? Evie raised her brows. Had another unfortunate girl been caught on this island too? The thought made her fell slightly better…but only slightly.

"Don't say such things Tootles! Wendy was much fairer and prettier, and a far better person! I mean, look at the girl's clothes!" one of the two twins piped up, and Evie followed her gaze down to her attire. She wore her floral skirt from school still, and the matching white blouse that had the first three buttons undone, revealing a lace camisole underneath. Crossing her arms defensively over her chest in an attempt to hide her outfit, she sent them all withering looks.

"What about my outfit? It's normal where I come from!"

"It's ugly," Slightly added, and all of them giggled at the, well, childish joke. Boys…

"So what do we reckon we do with her gents?" Nibs asked, and they all looked down in thought as Evie felt herself pale, her eyes automatically flying back to the dagger at Nib's side. Would they really…kill her? They were just children, and she was an innocent…

At length—after several moments of Evie squirming on the ground thinking of bolting—Slightly, the obvious leader of the group of hooligans, stepped forward and pointed at her, ordering a command that had her blood chilling. "Tie her up."

Again she was caught unawares when all six children pounced, their rough little hands grabbing her wrists and bounding them together with a rope before she could react. Gasping, she strained against her restraints, throwing a glare up at the now smirking boys as they stepped back to admire their work. "Why you little-"

Her sentence was cut short when Slightly roughly pulled on the rope that he held that extended from him to her bound wrists like a leash, a tether, and she was yanked to her feet with a slight groan of pain. The little bastards had tied her hands tight!

She tried to struggle when they began to lead her off into the woods, but they all, working together, easily overthrew her, and she was taken aback by their strength, by the small but prominent muscles she saw flexing in the little arms. These boys had certainly been here for awhile!

"Where are you taking me?" she demanded as they lead her through the foliage, weaving their way through exotic plants she had never seen before. "Hey, where are you taking me!? I asked you a quest-"

"Nibs, shut her mouth!" Slightly exclaimed with a huff, and Evie could only stand there and weakly struggle as a dirty handkerchief was stuck in her mouth. Really, couldn't they have used something clean!? No one but Tootles had the couth to look ashamed by what they were doing as they led her bound and gagged onwards, trekking through dangerous territories, always moving at a fast pace.

By the time they stopped in front of what appeared to be a gigantic oak tree her mouth was dry and she was all but literally gagging on the gag, and it came to some relief when Tootles, against the wishes of his group mates, stepped forward to take the handkerchief out of her mouth. "We're here anyway guys" he lightly admonished, giving her a slight smile before backing away, allowing her to swallow and gasp for breath.

"Where is 'here' exactly?" she grumbled, and was surprised when she actually received an answer. Unfortunately, it was not one she was happy to hear.

With a gesture of his hand to the stately oak and a grin, he announced in an imperial voice the last thing she wanted to hear. "Welcome to the hideout of the Lost Boys lady! It's time for you to meet Peter Pan; he'll decide if you stay or go!"

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Hey, I'm sorry if the ending was abrupt or if this chapter was rushed. I'm stuck studying Advanced Topics and Algebra (fun, I know), and I really wanted to post this tonight, cuz I really like this story; it's relaxing!

As always, please Review, and wish me luck on that killer algebra test tomorrow, gah!

--Cat