by R. L. Weeks
Red screamed loudly. Peter shoved his hand over her mouth but she bit him. ‘Ouch!’ he shouted, pulling his hand back. He made a root go over around her mouth. ‘Create the cage,’ he said to the fairies that were surrounding them. ‘Then take her to Wendy and let her rot there!’
They nodded and flew over to her. Around her a glittering cage grew larger and larger. Beneath her a metal sheet grew until she found herself locked inside the cage. The roots broke apart and Red tried to escape, but nothing she did made even a dent on the bars. ‘Please, I need Rapunzel,’ Red screamed after Peter.
He turned back to look at her with an orange glint in his eyes. ‘She won’t be your Rapunzel for much longer! Goodbye Red.’
***
As Peter walked back to the treehouse, he noticed that Neverland was changing right before his eyes. The air was chillier than usual and the fairies were more scarce than usual. How had he not noticed? Perhaps he had been focusing his attention onto Snow too much.
He worried that Gallisa was behind the changes. Last time she was there the lost boys had started doing things that resembled their previous lives. He shook his head and walked toward the dimly lit windows that sparked from behind the leaves.
He could hear laughing coming from the clearing by the treehouse and peered through the branches.
Croon’s gaze flitted to Gallisa. He caught Snow looking at him and turned away quickly. Snow grinned and lifted up her cup. ‘This tea really is delicious.’
Croon smiled in reply and emptied the tea strainer. The sun blinked its goodbye as it set over the hills, leaving Croon, Gallisa, Snow, and Rapunzel sat in darkness. The lanterns lit up around them, as they always did right on time, covering them in a dewy glow. The round table rocked as Croon stood up and adjusted his jacket. He was wearing a red, sleek blazer with gold buttons. Matched with green, fitted trousers. When he had told Snow what he was designing, she laughed thinking that the outfit would look awful, but surprisingly he pulled it off.
Gallisa knelt down next to a red and white toadstool and smiled at one of the fairies, which then flew onto her palm and twirled around. Her aura was almost sparkling in the dark and Croon couldn’t help but steal glances at her as she instilled kindness into everything around her. ‘Want to see the mermaid pool?’ he asked.
‘Oh,’ Gallisa smiled and placed the fairy back onto the toadstool. ‘I was down there earlier actually.’
‘Not that one,’ he said. ‘There’s another one. The merpeople there have been feuding with Peter since before I was here. I think you’re the perfect person to bring an end to that feud.’
Gallisa raised an eyebrow. ‘Why are they feuding?’
‘Because,’ Peter’s voice boomed out as he walked out from his hiding spot and into the clearing. ‘They are wretched beasts who have no regard for any of us!’ He looked around at the dainty china cups, at the little cupcakes that were piled neatly in the centre of the table, and at Croon, who was dressed in elaborate, yet handsome clothing. ‘What’s going on?’
Croon gulped and sat down. Snow put her cup down and moved it away from her, and Rapunzel stepped forward. ‘We’re having a tea party.’
He stepped backward, turned, then stomped back to the treehouse. Gallisa walked over to Croon and squeezed his shoulder. ‘What was that about?’
‘I told you,’ he said, pouring the last of his tea away, slamming the cup on the table. ‘He doesn’t want any of us to do anything that resembled our previous life, and this,’ he shouted, throwing the cakes to the floor, ‘is!’
Croon marched into the forest. Snow went to run after him but Gallisa put her hand in front of her, ‘don’t,’ she said. ‘He needs time to cool down. I think the one you should be talking to is Peter.’
Snow nodded and walked over to the treehouse. She crept up the ladder and heard shouting from the living room. She edged her way to the door and listened. ‘I can’t believe you’re doing it too!’ Peter shouted.
‘I-I’m reading?’ Snow heard the unmistakable voice of Tide stammer back.
Peter huffed and Snow heard something smash. ‘Well, you all may as well bloody leave then! Go on, get out of Neverland. All of you.’
She heard footsteps and quickly climbed down the ladder just before the door opened. Peter looked down at Snow. ‘What do you want?’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘I came to talk to you, but I can see that you’re in the middle of a tantrum so I won’t bother!’
He jumped down, not bothering to climb down the ladder. ‘I think you and your friends should leave!’
Gallisa and Rapunzel walked over to Snow and Peter. Snow’s eyes brimmed with tears. ‘What happened to you wanting everyone to stay here with you? To wanting me here, forever?’ she asked.
His face was bright red and turned to Gallisa. ‘I’ve changed my mind. Ever since you have come here, everyone has started acting…’
He paused, looking around.
Gallisa’s hands tightened into fists. ‘Acting like what?’
‘Themselves!’
She turned, gritting her teeth, and walked down the beach.
Snow turned to Peter. ‘What about me?’
‘You say you love me, yet you’re here allowing this behaviour.’
Her eyes widened. ‘It’s a tea party for goodness sakes!’
Rapunzel heard Peter and Snow arguing as she ran after Gallisa. ‘Where are you going?’
‘Home!’ Gallisa admitted.
Rapunzel looked back at the treehouse. ‘We can’t go. We don’t know where Red is.’
Gallisa lowered her head. ‘I can’t help you, or them. I don’t know what to do.’ They both turned around on hearing chatter from the bottom of the beach. Night had fallen and the moon casted the figures shadows up the golden sands. Three of them walked toward the forest. ‘Who’s there?’
‘Who is that?’ asked Lori as they approached the treeline. As they grew closer, Rapunzel noticed Lori. Lori laughed. ‘Escaped your tower then?’
‘You evil gargoyle! Why are you here? Are you responsible for Red going missing?’
Lori laughed. ‘Oh dear, let your wolf off of its lead then?’ They stopped in front of each other and Stilt stepped forward. ‘We should calm down. We don’t want any trouble.’
‘Why are you here?’ Gallisa asked.
Lori rolled her eyes. ‘Who the hell are you?’
Gallisa continued to smile, regardless of the attitude from everyone else. ‘I am the Snow Queen. I do not want any trouble either. In fact, I am leaving. If you’re here to see Peter, I wouldn’t bother. He’s changed. He doesn’t want anyone to act like themselves. He wants everyone to leave.’
Hook raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh, someone finally got to the brat then? Who was it?’
‘Me,’ Gallisa admitted. ‘I have been talking to Croon and the other Lost Boys, helping them to remember who they are. Peter wasn’t happy.’
Hook laughed deeply. ‘He wouldn’t ask everyone to leave just because of that.’
Rapunzel pressed her lips together. ‘He has been spending a lot of time with Snow.’
Lori grinned. ‘Really? Well, we’re not here to see Peter.’
‘You’re not?’ Rapunzel asked, looking perplexed.
‘No,’ Lori replied. ‘We are here to destroy Neverland.’
Stilt looked at Lori wide-eyed. ‘Why are you telling them that?’ he spat.
‘Because,’ a smiled spread across Lori’s face, ‘they’re going to help us.’
Rapunzel snorted. ‘Not likely.’
Lori shrugged. ‘Fine, don’t ever see Red again then.’
‘I knew you had something to do with it!’ Rapunzel screamed.
‘Nope,’ Lori shook her head. ‘But I can guarantee that Peter has. From what you all have said, he is trying to make everyone stay here with him. Red never seemed the type to obey to others plans. We are here to find Wendy. If you both want to help your friends, you’ll help us. We will bring down Neverland, and in doing that bre
ak the enchantment on your friends.’
Gallisa nodded. ‘Peter’s enchantment never worked on me. Being a Queen and fairy has its perks.’
Rapunzel furrowed her brows. ‘Am I enchanted?’
Hook shook his head. ‘I’ve been here a long time and I can tell when someone is. You’re not, yet. I don’t know why.’
Gallisa smiled. ‘I do. She does witchcraft and she has magical hair. I think that’s prevented the enchantment. Okay, so what do you want us to do?’
Lori swirled her hand in the air and a cupcake appeared. ‘This is spiked with a sleeping draught. I need you both to return and pretend that nothing is wrong. Then, give Peter this cupcake. Do you think you can manage that?’
Rapunzel nodded. ‘I’ll do anything if it means finding Red. I feel like it’s all my fault. I wasn’t there for her and-’
‘Erghh, yes, anyway, go and carry out the plan,’ Lori interrupted.
THE SWAMP
James and Bell continued to walk through the thickening forest. They were at least ten miles from base. Bell broke the silence. ‘I’m sure Snow will come around. Trust me, I want you two together.’
‘She’s not herself,’ he sighed. ‘He’s done something to her.’
Bell nodded. ‘Things were better before everyone arrived. It was just me, Peter, and the boys. We were happy, but that was never enough for Peter. He will always want more.’
James half-smiled at Bell. ‘Well, I think he’s an idiot.’
She stopped walking. ‘What?’
‘Well, he has you and you’re pretty amazing. He has this incredible Island. He should count himself lucky.’
‘Oh.’ Bell blushed. ‘Thank you. I never thought of it in that way.’
The leaves crunched under James’s boots and Bells delicate slippers. They reached the swamp. James put his arm out, stopping Bell from almost falling into the mud. As they walked on carefully, James looked back and noticed that their footprints filled with water. Traces of their visit through the swamp would soon be covered with mud and slime. Huge clouds of gnats swarmed around them. The air was so thick they felt as if they were breathing in water.
The strange sound of hollowed chimes echoed through the swamp. Bell stopped, slowly sinking into the mud until her slippers disappeared under the slosh. She looked up and gulped. James looked at her confused then looked up too.
The hollowed chimes were not coming from any wind chime. Around them hundreds of hollow bones hung from strings, bashing against each other in the slight wind. They hung from almost every branch of the dead trees around them. Monkeys swung from branch to branch, looking down at James and Bell.
The sweat thickened on James’s neck. The air grew thicker, so much that not even his sweat could evaporate.
James grabbed Bell’s hand and continued to walk through the slush. Each step was more work than the previous, sucking them into the mud. The further they ventured, the more the trees grew smaller, looking disfigured against the taller ones. A layer of mist hung just above their heads. The wind seemed to pick up, the gnats buzzed annoyingly as the light grew dimmer until they were blindly fighting their way through the marshes. The trees trembled as a growl shook the ground. The mud vibrated beneath them, stopping them in their tracks. James fell to his knees. His hands sunk into the putrid smelling mud.
Bullfrogs croaked and hissing from the snakes surrounded them. Everything was so dark that James jumped as he felt a snake slither past his arm.
Bell gagged as the smell of rotting flesh filled their nostrils. The grumbling and growling grew louder. Bell felt a spider crawl across her neck.
They felt their way, on all fours, out of the sinking mud when they landed in dark waters.
Logs floated around them and were highlighted in the slight glow from the moonlight that now shone through the branches, but the logs were so still and did not move with the current. Ahead of them in the swampy waters was a rusty old gate, half in the water, leading to an enormous cave.
James gulped. ‘Where the hell are we?’
Bell’s eyes filled with tears. ‘We may as well just slit our throats now.’
‘Why?’ he whispered. Bell pointed at the logs which were moving slowly towards them. As they grew closer he realised that they were not logs; they were crocodiles. Their yellow eyes locked onto James’s hungrily. Bell moved closer to James and wrapped her arm around his.
Belle’s scream rang through the swamp. ‘Mum,’ James shouted. ‘Mum, I’m coming.’
‘Don’t move,’ Bell hushed as she stepped back slowly, but their feet were sinking into the mud below the waterline. Bell closed her eyes. ‘Sorry.’ She turned into a small orb and flew off, leaving James alone in the dark.
‘What the hell, Bell?’ he shouted, but she was gone.
He grabbed a floating branch and hit the water around him. The crocodiles swam faster as James tried to run, hitting the ones that got too close with the branch. He tripped and went under the water as his foot got caught in some tangled weeds. A crocodile snapped its jaws at him. He closed his eyes and waited for his inevitable death when he was pulled out from the swamp and lifted into the air.
He looked up and saw Bell and hundreds of other fairies carrying him. They dropped him onto the mud and they flew away, all but Bell who turned into her human form. ‘I went to get help. They don’t like me, but I told them that you were in danger, and well, they’re good fairies so feel like they had to help I guess.’
Tears ran down his cheeks. ‘I thought that was it for me.’
Bell picked the slimy weeds from his hair. ‘I wouldn’t have left you to die.’
He smiled and wiped the mud off of his face. ‘Thank you.’ He jumped up and looked at the gate in the distance. ‘I heard my Mum screaming. Come on.’
Bell shook her head. ‘We are not going through that swamp. Do you have a death sentence?’
‘I don’t care,’ he admitted. ‘She’s my mum.’
Bell sat on the dry mud and bit her lip. ‘Look, when you find her, you’re going to hate me.’
‘Why?’ he asked, sitting next to her.
‘Peter wanted me to make them all stay here forever. I looked into her mind when she was vulnerable and promised her Edward, even though we could never bring him back from the dead.’
He sighed. ‘Well, at least you told me the truth.’
She flushed red. ‘I am sorry. I was blinded by my loyalty to Peter, but if I’m honest, spending time with you has made me realise how much he just uses me, and now he’s using Snow.’
‘I knew it,’ James stated.
Bell lowered her head. ‘He made her an enchantress. Gave her the gift to lure people with her eyes. A gift he promised to me. She’s gone James. I’m sorry.’
He ground his teeth and stood up. ‘No! I am done with all of this. I am getting you, my mum, and Snow out of here, along with everyone else. We’re going to find Red too. I don’t think she just ran off. I’m bringing down Neverland.’ He pulled his sword out of the scabbard and ran over to the swamp. ‘If it’s the last thing I do!’
CAPTURED
Red cried herself to sleep as Wendy looked on, sighing. She rested her head on her elbows and wrapped her arms around her head, trying to drown out the sound. Everything around her for so long had been death and destruction. The flashes of the fairy massacre, the dead bodies, the trapped souls who were in every leaf and branch, swarmed around her head.
Red was in the cage next to her. Daisy sat on a leaf and looked at the both, tears pricking at her eyes. She hoped that Lori, Stilt, and Hook would find and release them soon. She knew Peter would eventually lock Red away. After all, she was a liability to him.
A beautiful melody erupted from the mountains and carried across the islands, reaching Wendy’s ears. Her Piper was playing for her. Usually, it would make her smile, but with Red turning up, everything just seemed sadder. Her beautiful melody just reminded her of everything that she didn’t have; freedom, companionship, happiness.
Wendy had contemplated taking her own life many times. She was trapped, surrounded by death, for many, many years. She was alone.
She couldn’t even tell what was real and what wasn’t anymore. She looked over at Red’s cage who was a few metres from her own. Red moved slightly and then jumped up with such force that Wendy jumped backward.
Red’s eyes turned black as she grabbed onto the bars, growling. ‘R-Red?’ Wendy stammered. She knew Red was depressed. When she arrived, Red told Wendy about Peter chasing her and how she hurt her love, Rapunzel, but now she looked different; demonic even.
Her teeth grew into canines, saliva dripped from them as Red’s gaze locked onto Wendy. ‘Where am I?’
‘What do you mean? Peter locked you up,’ Wendy replied, trembling.
Red licked her lips and around her canines. ‘I am not Ruby, I am Redell, the wolf. I don’t know what has happened. Update me.’
Wendy’s heart raced. ‘What do you mean the wolf? How are you in Red’s body?’
‘Long story,’ Redell growled. ‘She betrayed me, and now I will betray her. What are these bars made of? I can’t even dent them!’
‘They’re enchanted,’ Wendy stated. ‘How did she betray you?’
He growled and kicked the bar, but it did nothing as Wendy knew it wouldn’t. ‘She,’ he growled. ‘ruined everything.’
Wendy stood up and walked over to the end of her cage so she was closer to him. ‘I see that you’re angry, I understand. I don’t know her that well at all. She arrived last night.’
‘Oh,’ he said and sat down. ‘I made her a deal, I helped her. When the deal was done I could have taken over her body for good, but I cared for her, so instead I asked her to find me another host.’
‘But she didn’t,’ Wendy said, guessing the ending.
He nodded. ‘She pushed me to the back of her mind where I have had to live as a prisoner for many years!’
