“Your strength astounds me, my love,” I confessed before a man wearing a dodo-feathered hat—my hat—caught my eye. Michael.
He grabbed Bell by her collar and threw her to the ground like she weighed nothing. Her head hit the boards, knocking her out cold.
“Lay another hand on her ever again and I will remove it from you,” I exploded, staring into his possessed eyes.
“What a glorious idea,” Michael mocked, smiling in a manner that reminded me of that demented blond-haired lad. “She was my darling first, and then you corrupted her.”
“She was never yours,” I retorted.
His eyes locked on mine in a deranged way I’d never seen them before. “Wasn’t she?” The words he spoke didn’t belong to him even if they leapt from his tongue. I looked over at Peter, who was resting on his elbows in a pool of his own blood. His shirt was tattered with bullet holes, yet he glared back at me with a dark, menacing stare. I could handle his insane glare; but when his attention turned to Bell and the hunger in his eyes surfaced, I dug my feeble hand into the railing and prepared to storm them both.
Without further hesitation, Michael pulled my sword out and brought it down on my injured wrist. An agonizing fire erupted at the joint. It crept up my arm, engulfing my body. I watched in horror as he retrieved my hand and tossed it to Peter.
“Lay another hand on her and I’ll collect the other.” Peter’s words hung in the air. Another gunshot went off as I plummeted into the angry water below. My first mate stumbled away. The last thing I saw before the waves crashed over me was her eloquent face. The last thing I heard was my name on her lips.
Her love was the last thing I felt before being pulled down into Davy Jones’ Locker.
2 MISS BELL
Present Day
Fire fell from the heavens like rain. It burned my skin, but I could not move. My body betrayed me. My legs gave out. My arms shook as I braced myself against the rail. He couldn’t cross over to the afterlife. Not yet. My life was tied to his, and life without him…I couldn’t bear to even think it. The horrific sense of desolation washed over me as the thought of my captain being dead solidified.
He was the reason I saw life so differently than I had when I inhabited Neverland. He’d rescued me from myself. And now the waves cast over him, pulling him lower and lower into the abyss. Now it was his turn in need of rescuing, yet I stood back helplessly watching as the water claimed him. My world went up in flames as he was pulled under the surface of the sea.
“I will avenge you,” I promised. My throat was raw, but I didn’t hear my screams. My fingernails bled, but I didn’t remember digging them into the railing of my captain’s ship. I didn’t recall climbing over the side and leaping, or hitting the cold water to save him. And I didn’t remember saving him because that flying bastard plucked me before I touched the water.
“I have plans for you,” Peter whispered in my ear like he was still my lover.
“No! No! No!” I screamed in horror, staring at the place my captain went under. “Release me!” “Oh, how I have missed the sound of your voice, darling.” My entire body shook. He coaxed out the rage I had buried deep inside my soul. “I am not your darling anymore! Release me. Now!”
He leaned in close and answered flatly, “No.” I refused to waste time exchanging words with him. I clawed at his face, my fingernails digging into his flesh. I couldn’t kill him, but I could ruin him piece by piece.
He grabbed my hands and twisted them away from his precious, youthful face. Holding me up by my wrists, he stared at my neck like he was envisioning my strangulation.
“Your captain is dead,” Peter seethed. A single tear trickled down my cheek, freezing my hot skin. I hated how much his words stung. Peter’s eyes narrowed, watching the tear drop from my chin with an exorbitant amount of curiosity. Then he let out his maniacal laugh. “You truly do love him. I never thought I would see the day when you would have your heart tamed.”
“I am not tamed,” I yelled. My hatred hung on every word, howling like the wind in a storm. It felt like a lifetime ago that my heart was consumed with hatred. I needed to protect myself and recall the way Neverland’s dark magic corrupted everyone to the bone. My soul was no longer encased in a hardened sheath. I used to see my evil as a weakness. Now I understood it was my strength.
“You will never be a man like Captain James. Not in this life or the next because I promise I will find a way to end yours,” I swore, relishing in the fact that his grip tightened on my arms, for it meant I was getting under his skin. “You’ll never be any more than a boy who couldn’t man up.”
“My immortality is because of you, darling. You made me this way. It was because of the evil festering in your soul that I am who I am today. And you will not spend eternity with your dear captain. You will spend it with me, evermore,” he snickered and then let go.
An involuntary scream tore from my throat. I stared up at him as I fell. I anticipated a watery crash, but the impact was much harder. I slammed into the floorboards of the ship. Air fled my lungs. I couldn’t muster a single breath. Splinters burrowed into my skin. Rolling over, I gulped until I could finally draw a breath.
My entire body and soul ached, but I couldn’t give up. Not yet. I needed distance between me and this pathetic boy. My body would waste away if I didn’t mend the injuries soon.
Pushing myself up, I took off running for the water. I’d take my chances with the crocodiles rather than with Peter. But before I reached the railing, Michael staggered in front of me. His skin was drained of all color, apart from the icy blue of his lips. And his eyes, oh, sweet stars, his eyes were almost completely red—bloodshot in the worst way. Blood dripped from his shirt and trickled down his leg. Gripped in his crimson hand was the bullet. No more was needed to take him down. Death would claim him soon enough. However, in his other hand was Smee’s gun.
He raised his shaking hand and aimed the gun at me. “You are the reason for all of this!” Michael roared. “John wouldn’t have cared so much about the magic of Neverland if it wasn’t for you!”
“What he saw in Neverland couldn’t be unseen.” I clenched my chest, wishing my heart didn’t ache for him or for my captain. “But I could have deafened him from Peter’s septic words. I could have mended wrongs before he betrayed your captain.”
“He slaughtered my brother!” Michael cried and fired the gun. The bullet zinged by my side. He pulled the trigger again, but the gun was empty. However, that didn’t stop him from squeezing the trigger over and over again. Finally, he collapsed hopelessly to his knees.
“He did it out of mercy.” My voice caught. “Couldn’t you see how much it pained him to do it? But by the time I realized what had happened, John was completely possessed and I couldn’t free him of Peter’s hold.”
“It was what you did that destroyed him!” Michael bellowed, glaring up at me like I was a demon that should be eradicated from the world. “Peter tried to help him.”
“Peter is a creature of evil!” I yelled.
“He says…” Michael slurred, “He says the same about you.” I spun around at the sound of the floorboards cracking behind me. Peter had landed. He wasn’t as light on his feet as I had been when the ink had been attached to my back.
“I’m afraid I cannot let you go. Not quite yet,” Peter objected and then jabbed his thumb toward Michael, who remained collapsed on the floor. “You did shoot the acting captain of the ship after James went for a swim. I predict the rest of the crew will have words to say about it.”
“You manipulated him,” I accused. “You turned him against James.” Peter walked around me with his hands behind his back. “Accusations of manipulation? Come now, is this how you use your words now? Certainly you can do better than that.”
My fingernails dug into the palms of my hands. However, blackened blood spattered across my lips instead of dripping from my hands. “You will know what true suffering means if you do not let me pass,” I swore as I sealed a
curse that would eat at his insides.
Peter’s lips bled red for a moment but then faded. He wiped his thumb across the side of his mouth and chuckled. “Are you really going to work such childish magic?”
“I should have let you die the first night we met, Peter.” “Yes, you should have.” He folded his hands behind his back once again and circled me, taking his sweet time to leering at my figure. A smile spread across his face, enjoying what he saw. His body shuddered as he stared at my blood-stained lips.
“I’ve never known anyone whose kiss tasted as addicting as yours,” he boasted. “You tended to nibble on my lip when you were worked up—”
“Enough!” My knuckles cracked when I balled them up. “We’re not in Neverland anymore.” “Exactly! And since you insisted on never showing me how to find my way back, you must see why I still need your assistance, darling.”
“Call me that again and I’ll rip out your tongue.” I tilted my head to the side. “Then you wouldn’t be able to voice your opinion through other people’s mouths.”
He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Oh, how I’ve missed our friendly banter back and forth.” He reached for my face as if to stroke it, but I slapped him away. The thought of his hand caressing me—I hated it! I refused to allow him to erase the feeling of my captain’s touch on my cheek.
“Feisty,” he chuckled and turned his back to me like he wasn’t afraid of me.
That was his mistake. I tucked my hand into my pocket and quickly withdrew the pocket watch I’d carried for years even though it belonged to my captain. I clasped it in my fist, glad that the crackle of the fire hid the sound of the chain. I waited as Peter bent over and pried the gun out of Michael’s hand. Michael’s chest barely rose. Death wasn’t coming fast enough. The soft ticks of the watch counted the seconds as he struggled to breathe.
Turning on his heel, Peter faced me. He pointed the barrel of the gun at me and mouthed, “Pow.” I didn’t react. That seemed to annoy him as he tossed the gun to the ground and then leaned on the railing. “Fine, I will play by your rules, Bell. That is what you go by nowadays, isn’t it? I remember when you carried a longer surname.”
“I’m not that person anymore.”
He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth, considering me. “Sure you are.” Clenching my fingers around the watch, I concentrated on the second hand. Time barreled forward. Humans could only measure its length; however, I was anything but human. I trapped a second of time like one would try to contain air with their bare hands. Neither was visible by the human eye, but it didn’t mean they didn’t exist. Conquering a second was as difficult as harnessing a year, but it didn’t mean it was impossible. One simply needed the right tool, and this watch was just that. It measured time, but the hands could be manipulated. So I anticipated the tick of the hands, memorizing their beat against my skin.
Peter pushed off of the railing, studying me as he approached me like I was a wild animal. If he only knew what I was capable of, he would run away. Far, far away.
“What I wouldn’t give to know what you are thinking right now,” Peter admitted and then chuckled at the sound of someone cocking a gun. “Hello, my darling, Wendy.”
I cringed at the pet name that was apparently interchangeable between women. And I didn’t have to turn around to know it was Wendy who had her hand on the trigger.
“Michael?” Wendy cried and then raced over to her barely breathing brother. Her light brown hair cast over her eyes, shielding the anguish on her face as she held him in her arms. “Who did this?”
Peter jabbed his thumb in my direction. “I told you she was a force to be reckoned with.” “You were supposed to keep us from dying!” Wendy screamed. “Make us immortal! All of us! Now, before I lose Michael, too!”
I shook my head no. She didn’t know what she was asking. But before I had the chance to explain, she pulled the trigger.
I had been trying to compose myself to keep from becoming the monster Peter accused me of still being. I had promised myself that even though I sought vengeance, my humanity would remain intact. However, when the gun blasted and the bullet hurled my way, I no longer cared to suppress my fury.
The bullet was not going to miss me. I was tempted to let it hit me so I could welcome the afterlife. It was tempting—oh, so tempting. But I had made my captain a promise to avenge his death. I always made good on my promises, so it was now or never.
Before the bullet was able to strike me, I pressed down on the timepiece. The glass covering the face of the clock shattered. When the second hand should have moved again, it didn’t. Nothing moved. Time stopped. It took a great deal of my energy, but I harnessed time.
Gasping for a breath, I stumbled to the ground. Panting, I raised my head. Suspended in the air was the bullet that was meant for my heart. On the opposite side was Wendy’s contorted face. Michael lay motionless in her arms while one of her hands pointed the gun at me. It appeared that Peter was also physically trapped in that second; however, he was still watching. His eyes were full of life, whereas everyone else’s froze. Immortal beings were affected by time differently, and it pleased me that he was still aware of his surroundings.
I tore my gaze from Peter and turned my attention to the warship. The Jolly Roger was once a magnificent vessel that was now consumed by flames and a panicked crew, all of which was captured in time. Robben had been throwing a fiery fallen sail off of another crewman. Smee had hidden in a rowboat and peeked out at the mayhem around him. The twins, Calicos and Kale, had been pointing to an island in the distance as Cadmus yelled at them like they were idiots. And then there had been John lying in the middle of all the chaos.
I pushed off of the ground, stumbling upon the first step. It took me several tries before I managed to walk solidly over to the only boy who died on this nightmarish vessel. Even now, John was the only serene person in this suspended second. Death had a way of giving rest to a soul.
Nevertheless, I wished he had never awoken that night so long ago… I pried open his hand and withdrew a bronze compass that belonged to my captain. I flipped it open. A circle, no bigger than a raindrop, was smeared on the glass. No matter how many times I rubbed my finger over it, the circle didn’t change. It was as if it were etched in the glass. However, I knew the island moved without reason, for Neverland was not attached to the world. It floated. Hell had no permanent location.
Neverland. Home. Hell. It was all the same to me. But I didn’t take the compass to find my way back even though I couldn’t fly and use the stars one could only see above the clouds to get there. I took it because it was once his and I refused to let Peter get his hands on it.
Tucking the compass safely into my pocket, I faced the pathetic boy who had traded his soul for immortality. As I walked over to Peter, I flicked the bullet that was meant to kill me, causing it to fall to the ground. I was surrounded by those who hated me, who wanted me dead. I should have left, but no— they would all pay for the death of my captain.
Yes. They would pay. They would all regret the day they killed my captain and attempted to kill me, for what I would do to them was so much worse…and it was exactly what they wanted.
Naïve fools. I rose onto my tiptoes to stand eye to eye with Peter. “I have never denied what I am,” I whispered. “But I am more than the evil creature I used to be in Neverland. You have no idea what I am capable of or the repercussions you face.”
My true nature mirrored Peter’s demented behavior, but more so. I had created the monster he is today. And if I truly sought to avenge my captain, it was time to embrace all those parts of me that I loathed.
I drew in Earth’s elements just as I would draw in a breath. The corruption in my bones burned like fire as the evil that I had trapped inside of me was released. Flames licked at my bare feet. The fiery sails dripped from the remaining mast and blew fiercely in the wind. The scent of burnt wood filled the air. But it wasn’t until the ground erupted beneath the sea that I knew I had
drawn enough power from the earthly elements to complete the curse I never thought I would dare work again. As the ghostly screams of the crew echoed in my ears, I utilized my magic to ensure this ship would never sail again…Not for mortals, anyway.
I used the blood of my fallen captain as a medium to do what had to be done. Smudging his blood on the ship’s deck, I concentrated on the souls of the mutinous crew.
“Time will stop for lost souls. May this vessel never reach the depths of the sea. May the souls on board this ship be released into the sky where they will be nothing more than burning stars blanketing the night,” I whispered as I dug splinters from the floorboards and placed them on top of my captain’s blood. Closing my eyes, I uttered the words that would complete the curse. “But may their bodies be tethered to Earth evermore. May they be free of their humanity and their mortality. Grant them immortality.”
As soon as I completed the curse, I collapsed. My body heaved. Every fiber of my being burned. I lay on the deck, writhing in pain while the soulless bodies of the crew became immortalized forever, just like Peter.
If I had enough strength, I would force that second hand backwards over and over again until the moment when I could keep my captain from falling overboard, keep his hand intact, and keep his heart beating. But I couldn’t move time backwards. If it was even possible, I was too weak to utilize all the power necessary to do such a thing. And since I was not immortal, it would surely kill me. What was done was done. Even I knew my limits. Thankfully Peter did not, and I would eventually use that to my advantage. But for now, I lie on board a ship that would forever be ablaze.
I lost my grip on time. It did not move forward nor did it stand still. I stared at the flames—at the destruction I had brought to this ship. Silent tears slipped down my cheeks, for if I had never set foot on the Jolly Roger, my captain would continue to breathe and all his crew would not be condemned.
Neverland Evermore Page 2
