Andy made her way back to Pan's compound, walking with a certain, non-transparent air. She had never experienced this type of adrenaline, not even during any of her missions in all her years as an assassin. There was something radiant about the way she walked. There was a certain twinkle in her eyes, which no longer seemed vacant or detached from her reality in Neverland. Her brown eyes were illuminated with a certain light, warming into the depths of her thought to be cold, dispassionate soul. Wait. I'm happy? Andy couldn't remember the last time she had felt that emotion; it had to be before she arrived in Neverland. She had to stop and recollect herself; she needed to remind herself that her encounter with Hook was real and their "allegiance" was real. Sometimes, she had a hard time differentiating real from illusory. Despite her sporadic moments of happiness, she had sporadic moments of doubt blockading her free flowing conscience. What if it really is a trap? What if Hook is just using me? What if he breaks his promise? What if Pan finds out? Andy's stomach flipped at the thought of the latter. Andy couldn't imagine what would happen if Pan found out. If Pan was only keeping Andy around long enough until he found a reason to kill her, this would be her end, her error in judgement.
Was her unguaranteed freedom really worth her guaranteed safety on the island? In other words, were a pirate's words worth her life?
As Andy began to near the camp, she could sense Pan's smugness. Standing atop a tower of crates, which Andy had tediously hauled in the other day, was Pan, who was most likely asserting his authority over the crowd of enamored Lost Boys. Pan's eyes brightened at the sight of Andy entering the compound. Confident at the sight of her arrival, Pan announced, "Ahh! Here she is! Our favorite Lost Girl. Welcome back, A." He approached her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, almost possessively.
Andy furrowed her eyebrows at him. "Pan," she began, "what the hell are you wearing?" Andy surveyed his appearance. He wasn't wearing his usual forest attire. Instead, he was dressed in jeans, tennis shoes, a navy blue peacoat, and a red scarf. His hair was even messier than it was this morning, inducing an even more devilish appearance.
Pan simply grinned, mischief twinkling in his eyes, and for some unknown reason, Andy's stomach flipped. Was it out of fear? Absolutely not. Andy was not afraid of Peter Pan. Perhaps she was afraid of what he was capable of, but she was nonetheless unafraid. Pan pulled her in closer, pressing his forehead against the side of her head and burying his face into her messy brunette waves. Lips inches from her neck, he whispered, "We're going to play a little game. I know you miss those." His hot breath danced along the surface of her exposed skin. The heat rushed to Andy's face, and she felt a clench in her stomach at his warm proximity, his lips lingering above the curve of her smooth neck. Aware of his effect on her, Pan's grin widened. "Glad you could make it. I missed you this morning."
Andy's breathing hitched. How could she possibly respond to that, especially after her encounter with Hook this morning? Although she might be the cold-hearted assassin, Andy had never been a traitor. Helpless in her situation, Andy responded, "Yeah. I missed you too."
Pan was slightly aback, removing his face from her sweet, perfumed brunette hair. He was expecting some snarky or acerbic remark from the Lost Girl. Andy was never the one to concur with Pan because she never wanted to give him the satisfaction. She never submitted to being the recessive one in their relationship or association; their actual alliance wasn't exactly explicit. Her passiveness was unusual. His expression slightly softened, and his smugness gradually lightened. Something was different about her.
Pan shook these suspicions away. He had a larger plan to attend to and could invest no time in other distractions. He removed his arm from around her shoulder and cleared his throat. "So A, what findings can you report today?"
Andy diffused the noticeable tension between the two of them by stepping atop the tower of wooden crates, addressing the Lost Boys like a natural leader in a loud, clear voice, "The Savior is finding difficulty in accepting who she truly is, meaning their group is becoming extremely frustrated, especially the Evil Queen. My assumption, based on my observation of their arrival, is that the Evil Queen is emotionally the weakest link although it appears she may be physically one of the strongests based on her ability to practice magic. She has a temper. My prediction is that she'll feel rejected and alienated from the group given her past. She'll be the first to snap, meaning she'll resort to magic."
"Oh, but that's not fair," Pan pouted with a sardonic tone in his voice. "That's cheating. We don't like cheating, do we boys?"
The Lost Boys grunted a loud, "No!" in response.
"Boys, who makes up the rules in Neverland?"
"Pan!" they chanted.
"Who never fails?"
"Pan!" they chanted.
"Who is going to show them what we do to dirty cheaters who think they are above my rules?"
"Pan!" they chanted.
"If that's the way they want to play, we'll play their game. Rally up boys!" Pan yelled. "To the abandoned camp!"
The Lost Boys, frenzied, cheered and yelled. They imitated loud Indian calls, wildly jumping around, hungry for the kill. They disappeared into the Dark Jungle, their calls and chants fading away into the shadows. Pan grinned and laughed with satisfaction at this feverishness. Andy stood calmly, arms crossed, indifferent to this immature hysteria. Pan noticed this and sauntered over to her. "You know, you can be apart of the game too."
Andy shrugged. "You know me Pan. I'm not one to party," she responded.
"I know you A. You're the singular type, the wallflower. We're actually very similar," Pan noted.
"Ha. I hope not," she scoffed, but Pan's tone remained serious.
"You like working alone because you take pride in your work. You like being the center of attention, indirectly."
"I'm not sure about that," Andy rejected.
"A, who am I?" he asked.
Andy rolled her eyes. "Peter Pan."
"And Peter Pan-"
"Never fails," she finished. "I know. You literally said that 2 minutes ago, and you literally remind us everyday."
"Precisely. Rote memorization is advantageous towards success."
"Just because you never fail, doesn't mean you know everything," Andy pointed out.
"It actually does, Princess," he grinned, smugness augmenting. "I know everything." Andy swallowed her saliva nervously. Does that mean he knows? "Come on, A. You know what? I'll give you an extra special task for tonight. If you succeed, I'll reward you."
Oh great. Does he mean he'll reward me, or himself?Well, it's not like I have much of a choice in the matter. "What do you want me to do?" Andy sighed deeply, exhausted from his endless requests.
Pan reached into the hollow of a nearby tree trunk and pulled out an oak bow and a quiver of arrows. He handed the weapon to Andy. "I know you're more of dagger and knives kind of girl, but you've got a dead shot." He reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a vial of a dark liquid. Andy's breath stopped for a second at the sight of it - Dreamshade. "I want you to dip an arrow into this and shoot one of our main targets, excluding the Savior. Brownie points if you kill one of them in one shot, but extra brownie points if you don't kill them."
Andy's eyebrows furrowed at his contrasting requests. "Why?" she asked.
"It would be better if you simply injure one of them. Let the poison sink in and watch them suffer, torture over instant escape," he explained.
"Always the sadist you are, Pan," Andy commented.
"It adds more flavor to the situation," he explained with a mischievous grin.
"You love all the drama, don't you?" Andy sighed.
"Of course. What would Neverland be without all the fun?"
"I don't know what Neverland would do without you," Andy added with a sarcastic tone.
"Actually, I have another request to add," Pan said.
"What else?"
"There'll be an even larger reward for you if you injure our favorite pirate friend - Hook."
Past
"The curse! It's here!" a soldier announced at the top of the eastern tower of the Moorland Palace.
King Stefan and Queen Leah stood quietly in the nursery of their daughters, Lilliana and Aurora, watching them intently for the last time. They were in their separate cribs, smiling brightly at their parents, whom they would never get to know or remember once the curse hit. King Stefan gently placed a hand on his wife's shoulder, using the other one to gently comb through her soft, blonde locks. "They're beautiful," he said softly. "Our daughters are beautiful."
"They'll never remember us," the Queen pointed out with a vacant stare in her brilliant eyes and a melancholic mood to her voice. "They'll never know us. Maleficent, she has won." Queen Leah's voice was monotone, and her voice was stoic. She was tired.
"Leah, no," King Stefan objected. "You must have faith in our daughters that they will break this curse."
"But we'll still be dead. It won't change the fact that we will never see them again."
"As painful as this is, we have to accept the present reality in order to have a dream for the future," he told his wife. "Have faith in our daughters. We may no longer may have a future, but at least our daughters will. Remember? Our daughters, have faith in them. Have hope." King Stefan gazed into his wife's brilliant eyes one final time before they were lost in a haze of purple smoke.
Present
"Hook?" Andy questioned, raising an arched eyebrow. "Why Hook? Why him?"
"Remember how I told you Hook and I were associated at one point?" Pan began.
"I remember you telling me that he did your dirty work at one point, but I never got the chance to meet him," Andy replied, wary of the tone of her last words which were lies.
"Yes. Well, it seems like that opportunity has presented itself again. Hook is a valuable player to Neverland; he adds flavor to the game. There are changes coming to the island, and I'm interested in another partnership with him. I want you to injure him with Dreamshade because the only way to cure Dreamshade is-"
"The water of Neverland," Andy finished in a grave voice, knowing its consequence.
"Yes, on Dead Man's Peak," Pan added.
"You're not giving him much of a choice though," Andy protested, panic rising in her voice. "You're not offering him a deal; you're basically coercing him into your control. That's not fair."
"I make the rules, remember?" Pan reminded with a smug smirk.
Andy's heart raced rapidly. Hook was her only hope of leaving Neverland. Pan was doing this on purpose, sealing Hook's fate in Neverland; Pan knew everything. Pan raised an eyebrow at her silence and began to circle her. "Why are you so concerned about my association with Hook? What did you discover today?" he asked slowly, carefully.
A lump formed in Andy's throat. Crap. "Other than the fact that Hook is a highly pretentious pirate, I discovered nothing," she reported in a calm voice, trying to shroud her deception as strongly as she could. Pan stared at her a bit longer before shrugging off her unusual behavior.
"Well," Pan began, breaking the silence, "we don't have all day."
"But time doesn't move in Neverland," Andy contradicted, earning a satisfied smile from Pan.
"There she is, my little assassin," Pan grinned. "I was a little worried about you earlier. Now, we have to catch up with the rest of them because the show's about to begin. Let's play."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Andy remained motionless atop of the branch of a tree, concealed in a veil of leaves and shadows. She held the handle of the bow nervously. She felt out of her element because of two reasons. One: she wasn't accustomed to attacking in order to deliberately not kill because it seemed pointless to her, especially since she was an assassin meant to kill. Two: she honestly had no idea which side she was playing for. Andy held a high sense of hope in Hook's promises, but also a sense of doubt. On the other hand, she felt exhausted from the humiliation of being Pan's puppet, but also felt a sense of security and stability. What was the right answer here? Andy's cloudy thoughts dispersed in a gentle wind of muffled words coming from below.
"No one's here," she heard a voice complain. Andy's eyes followed the sound, detecting the woman with a pixie cut hairstyle - Snow White. "Maybe your spell was wrong Regina."
"Yes. Blame me...again," the Evil Queen sighed irritatedly.
The Storybrooke group came into full view as the emerged out of the shadows of the jungle and into the clearing of the abandoned camp. David, or Prince Charming, led the group, protectively wielding a sword. Andy immediately spotted Hook, walking behind the Savior with a questioning look upon his face at the sight of the camp. It's too easy.
"Guys, hold on," Emma requested, looking suspicious of the area. It's too quiet. Then, she saw him. Her eyes brightened up with both joy and fear at the sight of the boy's back, wearing a navy blue peacoat, hands in his pocket and standing awkwardly. "Is that...? Henry!" she cried out, running straight towards him. "Henry" turned around, revealing a smug smirk on his face - Pan.
Emma's eyes flashed with panic at the sight of him, stopping dead in her tracks. Pan knew everything. "Hi Emma," he greeted with a grin. The Storybrooke group stared up at him in awe and alarm, bodies braced for the beginning of the battle,
"Where the hell is Henry?" Emma demanded with a firm tone.
Pan began to parade atop the hill. "You broke the rules. That's not fair. Bad form," he scolded in a mocking tone. "I expected more from you, Captain."
"Aye, and you'll get it," Hook growled, his menacing tone making Andy's skin go cold.
"Give Henry to me," Emma commanded.
"Sorry. Can't." Emma glared up at him as did Regina. "Don't you know? Cheaters never win," Pan reprimanded, anger coating his words, which almost made Andy lose her balance. The Storybrooke group members' eyes were illuminated with panic as multiple Lost Boys emerged from their hiding places in the jungle, armed with torches and weapons and ravenous to temporarily quench their insatiable blood lust. Arrows from all around circled the Storybrooke group.
"Watch out for their arrows; they're laced with Dreamshade," Andy heard Hook warn, feeling a pang of guilt in the pit of her stomach. Where did her true loyalty lie? In her present with Pan? Or in her future with Hook?
Metal collided with released arrows. Andy watched the spectacle from the safety of the trees, her eyes glued to the scuffle between Hook and Felix. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pan watching the battle with amusement. His green eyes locked into her brown ones, entrancing her in an electrifying gaze. He nodded his head towards the pirate and raised an eyebrow, awaiting her next move. Andy looked down at the bow and arrow laced with Dreamshade in her hands. What will it be Andy? She chewed on her lip; Pan was watching her, waiting. He wanted her to aim for Hook, and injuring Hook meant guaranteed survival. However, it also destroyed any chance of possibly escaping. It only seemed logical to choose the definite over the indefinite, the clear over the murky. She held up the bow, aiming the arrow down below in the clearing and pulled her arm back, stretching the bowstring. The blackened tip of the arrow lined up perfectly to the pirate's position. She inhaled a large gulp of air, holding it safely in her lungs. I really hope I'm making the right decision here.
Just as she released the arrow, she saw Hook's body concealed by the appearance of another's body moving directly in front of the arrow's line of fire. It was David. He had stepped in front of Hook.
The arrow sliced through the cold, night air and ripped through David's shirt, cutting the skin under his right arm, right above his rib area. "Ahhh!" he gasped out in pain, clutching the new wound.
"David!" Snow cried out, trying to help him, but he smiled weakly in protest.
"I'm fine. I'm fine," he reassured in a pained voice.
Andy came to the realization of what had just happened: she had chosen the path towards Pan, her survival, but something had blocked the path and detoured her towards Hook, her escape from Neverland. It had to be clear now, her loyalty.
Yet, it did not feel like that. She still felt confused. She felt lost?
Andy looked down towards Pan, who nodded in approval with a shrug. David wasn't the ideal target, but she had hit a target nonetheless, and Pan saw her aim for Hook, the ideal target. Her secret was safe for now.
Andy released the air which was caged inside of her lungs, watching its ghostly body swim across the dark night sky. Why was she confused about her loyalty? She obviously had chosen her survival, but why did she still feel confused?
It's because you didn't hit Hook. But she had aimed for Hook. But you didn't hit him, which means you still have the option of leaving Neverland. There wasn't a clear closure, that was true. Hook wasn't injured; he wasn't trapped in Neverland, meaning Andy could still leave Neverland once and for all. The lingering question was, is still worth it?
A sharp whistled filled the air, stunning everyone. "Enough!" Pan's voice roared through the clearing, shaking the trees. Lost Boys scrambled from their individual battles, fleeing towards Pan's safety. He looked satisfied with the entire spectacle, especially with the Savior. Emma looked up at him with bewildered eyes. What had happened to her? Andy had forgotten about her. "Remember what I told you. That map will show you where Henry is only when you stop denying who you truly are. I'll make sure to send Henry your regards," he grinned, turning away from Emma who was in complete shock. Pan and the Lost Boys disappeared into the Dark Jungle, leaving the Storybrooke group alone in the darkness of the abandoned camp.
"Emma, are you alright?" Snow asked. Emma was still kneeling on the ground, the same look of shock upon her face. "Don't let Pan shake your confidence. We've all had moments where we felt we couldn't prevail."
"Mary Margaret is right," David agreed, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulder.
"Guys not now. Please," Emma begged, finally speaking up. A look of irritation replaced her shock. Snow, or Mary Margaret, looked offended and hurt. She was trying so hard to reach out to her daughter. Emma got off of the ground and began to walk away with the blank parchment in her hand. David looked towards Mary Margaret, with a helpless look upon his face. She shrugged her shoulders and followed after her daughter, along with the rest of the group.
Andy assumed they were heading back to their camp, so she followed them silently through the shadows of the trees. She carefully danced from one branch to another, occasionally stopping to allow the group to gain a further distance to avoid being detected, especially with Regina in the back. Once they arrived back at their camp, Andy found a comfortable branch, hidden safely in the leaves of the trees. She lingered above the Savior, who sat casually on top of a wooden log, staring at the blank parchment to avoid any conservation with the rest of the group members. However, Mary Margaret, being the stubborn one, refused to tolerate her daughter's aloofness any longer. She joined her daughter on the wooden log.
"Please talk to me," Mary Margaret pleaded, desperately.
"There's nothing to talk about," Emma responded abrasively, eyes not leaving the blank parchment. "We had our chance and we lost. I lost."
"Then you have to keep fighting!" Mary Margaret prompted.
"You heard what Hook said; Pan is a demon," Emma sighed.
"And you are a-"
"What?" Emma demanded, her eyes removed from the blank parchment and looking furiously at her mother. "A savior? A hero? Because if any of that were true, this map would have worked, and we'd be leaving Neverland with Henry right now!"
Mary Margaret stared silently at her daughter, unsure of how to respond. Andy took this opportunity to take mental notes. Snow White's weakness is her daughter. Andy pondered this for a second. Why did she need to know any of this? Wasn't she supposed to be in Hook's alliance?
"Maybe who you think you are isn't really who you are," Mary Margaret wondered out loud.
"What do you mean?" Emma asked.
"Sometimes we think we know ourselves, but the truth is, we need that extra push to see the reality a little more clearly." Andy was slightly taken aback. Is this actually true, what she is saying? Andy was suddenly met with a feeling of uncertainty about herself. Did Andy know who she truly was? She was an assassin, Pan's personal slave, and Neverland's only Lost Girl although she didn't feel lost at all. She was Andrea Lux and nothing more. At least, she couldn't remember ever not being just Andrea Lux. She knew she had a life prior to Neverland, but she couldn't remember because all of the pain had numbed her from accessing any memories.
"That boy with the knife, you stopped fighting him. Why?" Mary Margaret questioned.
"Because he was just a boy."
"No. There's more to it. I saw it in your eyes. Why did you stop?"
Emma stared at the forest floor with hard eyes, as if remembering something painful. "Because I saw myself when I looked at his face. That look in his eyes, the despair, I had too when I was in the foster system. Just a lost little girl who didn't matter and didn't think she ever would. A lost little girl who cried herself to sleep at night because she wanted her parents so bad and could never understand why they gave her up." Andy's expression softened at the sound of this. She suddenly felt a wave of nostalgia, as if she felt the same way, but she didn't have an idea as to why. Her mind was clouding something from her past, something that she didn't want to remember because it was simply too painful to do so. She began to listen to Emma once more. "It's just that on this island, I don't feel like a hero or a savior. I feel like what I've always been - an orphan."
Past
The sounds of infants crying filled the nursery, which was now dark and desolate. A sickening aura filled the air, but the only brightness which filled the room were two twin girls - Lilliana and Aurora. They were alone.
"Flora, what if she catches us?" a trembling Fauna asked, fluttering into the room with the two other fairies.
"Then we'll put up a fight and knock the magic outta her!" Merryweather exclaimed, putting two fists up.
"Not now Merryweather - Oh my goodness!" Flora gasped, taking in the sight of the room. The King and Queen had fallen onto the floor, still and silent, their twin daughters crying loudly and miserably. "Quick! We must take them away from here before she comes!" The two other fairies nodded in agreement.
"If we use magic, she will be able to track us down," Fauna protested.
"But we're too small to physically carry both. We can only take one!" Flora responded.
"And what? We abandon a child and leave her to suffer?" Merryweather criticized.
"We will return in time if we act quickly," Flora reasoned. There was no time to argue. The two other fairies silently agreed and began to carry Princess Aurora from her crib.
"We must take her beyond the forest of thorns to the cottage. It's the only way we'll be safe," Flora instructed. They carried the fair-haired baby out of the room, leaving Princess Lilliana to cry loudly, alone in the nursery.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Isn't she hideous?" the fallen fairy commented to the black raven sitting on her right shoulder. "Oh, I forgot." She flicked her wrist and the raven transformed into a man with slick black hair, dark eyes, and a jagged scar on his pale skin near his left eye. "Isn't she hideous?" she repeated.
The man leaned over the crib and observed the baby who stopped crying at the sight of him. Her round brown eyes widened in awe and curiosity. He cocked his head in confusion. "No. She's not. She's actually rather small and rather cute," he said, lingering on the final word awkwardly as if he had eaten something disturbing.
"Don't be too sympathetic. Take her," she instructed.
The raven man obstinately obliged, swooping up Princess Lilliana from her crib and cradling her in his arms. He looked down into the baby's brown eyes with a regretful look. "Are you sure Maleficent?"
"Do not question my actions Diaval," Maleficent warned in a cool voice. "Let's go."
The dark fairy gracefully exited the nursery with her raven man following closely behind her with Princess Lilliana, forever separating her from her fallen parents and her twin sister, Princess Aurora.
Present
"The map is working! We know where Henry is!" Emma announced.
"Where?" Regina demanded. Emma handed the map which now revealed the entire island to Hook. He studied it closely.
"We're at the southern tip of the isle in the middle of the Dark Jungle," Hook reported. "Pan's camp lies due north."
"What are we waiting for?" Regina demanded, impatient.
"The terrain isn't filled with rainbows and butterflies," Hook said, earning a cutting glare from the Evil Queen. "There will undoubtedly be some nasty impediments along the way."
"We should prepare," David decided. "We only got out of our last encounter with Pan because he let us. We need a new one."
"Agreed," Emma nodded. "It's time we stop playing his game, and he starts playing ours."
"And if I disagree?" the Evil Queen voice in.
"I'm not going to stop you, but you and I both know that our best chance at finding Henry is if we stick together as a group."
"You better be right," Regina warned, walking away from the group.
"We're going to get some rest," David said weakly, walking away with Mary Margaret and leaving Emma alone with Hook.
"Excellent show of patience love," Hook complimented, pulling out a flask of rum. Andy secretly rolled her eyes at him. He never misses the opportunity to turn on the charm, does he?
"Is rum your solution to everything?" Emma questioned.
"It certainly doesn't hurt," he grinned, taking a drink and handing it over to Emma. "Exactly how did you unlock the map."
"I did what Pan asked," she shrugged.
"And just who are you, Swan?" he asked, leaning in closer. Andy narrowed her eyes at him. What an ass, this pirate.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Emma scoffed.
"I would," he admitted. Emma stared into his eyes before walking away, shaking her head at herself. Andy inhaled sharply, slightly annoyed at her findings. Did Hook seriously flirt with everything that walked? She suddenly felt her confidence diminish to the size of a teaspoon. Was she jealous? Of course not! However, that didn't prevent her from feeling incredibly insecure and irrelevant. Of course Hook didn't care about her as a person. He only wanted her assistance out of a mutual alliance. It's all business, Andy. Do not get involved personally. She moved away from Hook's location, not wanting to deal with him at the moment, and followed after Emma instead.
Andy found her huddled over a bush, collecting its berries into a wooden bowl. She suddenly saw Pan's figure emerge from the shadows. "Don't eat the blue ones," he said, his voice startling the Savior. She didn't meet his eye contact. "Congratulations. You did it, orphan," he said, saying the last word with a smug satisfaction. "You don't mind if I call you a Lost Girl, do you?"
Andy felt a twinge of jealousy at Pan's words. First, it was Hook, and now, it was Pan too? Andy saw absolutely nothing special about this Savior, so why were Hook and Pan so enamored by her? Did Andy mean nothing to either one of them now?
"Call me whatever," Emma sighed, trying to ignore him. "It won't stop me from finding Henry."
"Oh I'm counting on that one," Pan laughed sarcastically. "There's a reason I tested you. You haven't forgiven your parents for abandoning you. Don't even try to deny it. That's good. When you find Henry, you'll understand him." Emma's eyes flicked up towards his, standing up.
"Excuse me?" she asked with narrowed eyes.
"He hasn't forgiven you either," he admitted. "By the time you get to him, he'll never want to leave Neverland."
"We'll see," she spat, walking away.
"And Emma, by the time I'm through with you, you won't just feel like an orphan, you'll be one!"
In that instant, Andy's blood went cold, and it chilled her to the bone. She let out a silent gasp. The clouds within her mind had cleared away and revealed not the shining, bright sun, but the menacing stare of an eclipsed moon. Andy remembered something from her past, something dark and something cruel.
