The next morning at the orphanage was cold, much to the boys royal discontentment. The sound of the heater shook and rang through the night, not that much of them slept anyway. Over half the boys lay awake that night, either from insomnia, or from thinking aimlessly about one subject or another. So when they woke, not one wore a happy face.
On weekends, the boys were ordered to wake up at nine, or chances of eating at all were slim to none. So almost a little earlier before the cut off time, they all sauntered along the tiled floors to a long wooden table with about twenty seats. At nine, if they had plates and silverware, the Headmistress would distribute the processed food of the morning.
"I'm convinced it's only this town that's late on spring time." Flynn said groggily, walking to the breakfast table with a comforter covering his body.
Aladdin, walking behind Flynn, stepped on tail of the comforter that dragged on the floor. The blanket fell to the floor and Flynn shivered. Aladdin threw the comforter over himself.
"Somebody came home late last night." Aladdin walked past him, raising his eyebrows inquiringly. Flynn responded by snatching the blanket off Aladdin's back.
"How'd things go?" Aladdin asked.
"Amazing. We played Xbox for six hours. But then I was shoved in a closet."
"What? Why?!" he laughed.
Flynn began to remember the moment.
Both of their eyes had been red from staring at the screen; Grand Theft Auto was too awesome for the real world to be observed. But Flynn allowed his eyes to wander to the right of him, just a little bit where Rapunzel sat. She did the same, only when Flynn wasn't looking.
Just a she had successfully stole a motorcycle, the sound of a distant car engine was heard.
In one movement, Rapunzel dropped her controller and jumped to unplug the console.
"Wha-why-?" Flynn asked, blinking multiple times.
She snatched his controller and threw it into a drawer that opened underneath the TV.
"Get up get up get up," her voice rose an octave at each 'up'.
Flynn was dragged off the couch, and was pushed from back. They sprinted up the stairs to Rapunzel's room as they heard the front door being opened.
Just as Flynn was catching his breath, his body jolted and he found he was being lead into a purple and gold wardrobe.
"Wait, wait-"
The doors shut. He heard Rapunzel run to her bed.
Two minutes later, he heard a new voice.
"Rapunzel, what are you doing up so late?"
Flynn held his breath, dresses draped over his shoulders.
"Oh, nothing, just studying for my organic chemistry test. Just wanted to be extra prepared!" he could hear Rapunzel reply cheerfully.
"Mmm. Just remember to get your beauty sleep, my flower."
"Yes mother."
Flynn heard the door shut. He flinched at the light when Rapunzel open the closet doors.
"Ok, you need to get out of here."
He stared at her bright green eyes, oblivious to the panic she obviously displayed.
"Can't I just spend the night?" he smiled devilishly.
"Oh, ha ha." she rolled her eyes, and pulled him out as silently as she could, "my mother would literally kill me if that happened. There's a scaffolding on the other side of the tower. Go down that way and you probably won't get caught."
"Probably?"
"Yes," she let out a breath, "my mother is a light sleeper on some days, really heavy on others. So go."
"Alright blondie," Flynn smiled and cupped her face with his hand. She tried to hide the rosebush spreading over her face. She put her hand against his.
"Bye Eugene. I'll see you tomorrow." she winked.
So Flynn climbed down the tower, and rode to the orphanage on his bike without anything from stopping him.
"Why?" Flynn said in response to Aladdin, "because I'm assuming her mother is crazy ass bitch."
Aladdin nodded.
"Understandable."
The two sat down at the table, conversing about Flynn's night and other topics, until all the seats were filled. It was only then did they realize their red-headed friend was missing.
Peter Pan wasn't one to skip breakfast, but the trip to Wendy's school was not going to be short. He know that he said they would hang out after school, but what if he never saw her again? If he wanted to spend a day with her, he might as well make the most of it.
He walked on the sidewalk to Neverland Avenue, observing the frost on the dead grass and the dead trees and the dead air. He couldn't help but to think the town was physically incapable of even getting the seasons right. He rolled his eyes, and crossed the street towards a bus stop.
Out of the entire street, there was a single man. The skies were gray around him, his head ducked low and a top hat hiding his face. He was tall, nearly as tall as the bus sign. He stood leaning against it with one arm, holding another object Peter couldn't decipher. As he got closer, Peter realized the man was black, and wore a strange old timey suit.
And the man held a scepter.
What the hell...
There were plenty of characters in Peter's neighborhood. So he was fairly used to communicating with them. As he approached the bus stop, he gave a small nod. The man lifted his eyes under the top hat to acknowledge the teenager, then stared off in the distance. Peter and the man sat in silence for about five seconds before there was a gasp.
Peter felt the man's brown hands grab his shirt and lift him off the ground.
"You," the man growled, revealing a split between his teeth.
"Let go of me you bastard!" Peter tried to throw his body away from him, but his limbs were stone and his muscles lost their feeling. He felt his heart rush with dread in his ears.
"Where is the he?"
"What the fuck? Who are you talking about?" Peter felt his voice slip, and his cheeks flushed red that he had shown panic.
The man's grip tightened, "the djinn boy! Don't act like you don't know. The cards never lie!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" he shouted in the man's face, but twitched backwards with revulsion when he saw the man's eyes
"Your eyes..."
The roar of a bus sounded. Red brake lights lit the scene.
Peter dropped to the ground. The man stood over him like a tower.
"Yes... they turn that color when I use powers I rather save for later."
At the screech of the opening bus doors, the man had vanished. Peter still lay on the ground,shocked.
"Where you going honey?" a little old lady all dressed in white looked at Peter inquiringly from inside the bus. He slowly stood up.
"Can you take me to Walt Disney High?"
"Sure sweety, hop right in. No Shadowman can get you in here."
Peter nodded blankly and sat down in the back of the bus, haunted by the image of the rage in the man's violet eyes.
Hey guys, I finally finished this chapter, with many earlier revisions. Frankly, the amount of crap I deleted from the chapter was astonishing. As for the super long wait, I went through another moving period in mah life, and it's really strange getting used to another place where you have no friends and aren't familiar with it's customs. Happy late Halloween guys! I love you!