The expression on Hook’s face was of a man who had spent literal centuries surrounded by imbeciles.
Pulling the gun from his waist sash, he shot the pirate dead in the chest.
“Any other questions?”He shouted at the others.
Everyone muttered a series of “no-sirs” and quickly went about their business, ducking their heads and getting ready for the evening’s work.
“I thought not.” Hook grinned. “Tonight, we end this Peter Pan business once and for all.”
Sasha couldn’t help but appreciate his conviction.
Looking out at the island, she could only hope her sister was okay. And if she wasn’t? The only way to keep the score tied at zero was to throw herself to the crocodile. Or hope Peter Pan ran her through.
Sasha’s stomach twisted in a knot at the idea of killing herself. She didn’t want to die. Fake or not. The idea was horrifying. Could she do it? Feed herself to the proverbial wood chipper as part of a “strategy?” She didn’t know.
But something told her she’d have to find out. If not here in Neverland, then…soon.
“Mr. Smee!” Hook shouted at her from across the ship.
“Yessir!” She rolled her eyes. “Coming, Sir!”
This fucking sucks.
Sidney didn’t knowhow much blood a person had, but Peter’d been bleeding for awhileby the time the tide finally brought them back to where the Lost Boys were waiting for them.
Like, for at least two chapters.
That had to kill a person, right?
Sasha would know the name for that. What was it? Plot armor? She didn’t know. She just followed after the boys in their grubby excuses for clothing as she hopped barefooted through the jungle, wincing as she stepped on every goddamn piece of pointy sea grass and rock.
Yeah. Fuck everything aboutallof this.
She really hated being barefoot on pointy surfaces. It was like her least favorite thing in the world. She suffered the whole way through the march back to the tree that they called their home. When they finally were there, they rolled the hidden door away.
Tinker Bell didn’t waste a second before she came rocketing out of the door, jingling and shimmering and likely swearing her ass off, buzzing around Sidney’s head, obviously blaming her for everything.
“I don’t care what you think, I had nothing to do with any of this!” She swatted at the fairy. “Go away! I don’t want anything to do with Peter Pan, I just want to go home. You can have him! He’s yours!”
That seemed to catch Tinker Bell off guard. The fairy hovered near her, looking at her in stunned surprise.
She glared at the fairy. “Yeah. You didn’t even ask me, you just assumed. Well, screw you, you uptight little bitch. I just don’t want him to die, because he’s my only hope of getting out of here alive. So sue me. But I don’t want anything todowith him!” Storming into the tree, she followed after where they brought Peter. They’d laid him down on a cot, and were unwinding the bandages from his chest.
“Are any of you a doctor?” She highly doubted it.
“No, but I can pretend to be.” One of the boys smiled proudly,picking up what she assumed was an invisible and imaginary doctor’s bag.
“I…don’t think that’s how it works.” She cringed. Peter was so fucked.
“It is in Neverland,” another boy nodded sagely. “In Neverland, if you believe, it’s real. We have whole feasts of food that exists because wemakeit exist.”
She couldn’t tell if they were just gaslighting themselves or if that was literal magic. Hard to tell with a fairy hovering in the air near Peter’s head. Six of one, half dozen of the other.
Either way, she wasn’t cut out for this shit. And she wasn’t about to watch a tween stitch a guy’s chest shut with invisible thread. “Cool. Knock yourselves out.” Turning, she walked out of the room, shaking her head. “I’m going to bed.”
Abducted by a book. Meeting demigods. Getting stuck in Peter Pan as Wendy. Flying. Making out with mermaids. Nearly being murdered by said mermaids. Watching her sister almost die from a killer electric crocodile. Almost dying herself from said crocodile. Floating around in a deus-ex-bird’s-nest until dawn.
Yeah.
