by Xavier Neal
“What's-” is all that makes it out of my mouth before he pulls us off the cliff towards jagged, sharp pointed rocks.
Why is it whenever an escape involves just Justin and I we're always leaping to our doom? If we survive this, we're definitely having a little heart to heart about these little adventures that involve us jumping from heights I can't fathom falling from.
As I scream Justin veers us to the right before thrusting upward towards a small opening on the bottom of the boat. Abruptly, we land with a loud thud, the sound of course, being the back of my head hitting the cold wooden floor. The two of us let out a heavy sigh and a deep groan of discomfort. God I hope we get to Neverland soon.
Chapter 2
“How could we be wrong Tim?” the whispers are heavily coated with tears. “Everything said she was right there!”
“I know!” My father tosses off his brown trench coat and flops down on the couch next to my mother. Wrapping his thin arms around her, her cradles her, as the tears grow in numbers. “I know what Arnett said. I know how it looked. I know she should've been there...but she was gone Faith.” In a defeated tone he sighs, “Again.”
“Why Tim?” her voice trembles as the tissue in her pale hand falls to the ground. It looks like she's given up all contact with the sunshine by the way her once glowing timeless tan skin now looks washed out. “Why would she leave us? Why would she do this to us? She's our daughter for God's Sake! Our only daughter!”
His mouth opens to respond yet nothing comes out.
“Tell me why she left, Tim!”
“It's hard to say.”
Angered by the answer she shouts, “Then tell me when she'll come back!”
“I-”
“Tell me!”
“I-”
“Tell me Tim! Tell me when will our princess come back to us?”
After a soft kiss on the side of my mother's head, his falls on top of hers. Suddenly he turns as if looking directly at me. As if I'm standing in the room. As if I'm only a breath from them. “I don't know.”
On a sharp gasp, my body shoots up off the bed in response to being shook. Immediately, relief washes over my cold sweat covered body at the sight of Justin's face hovering over mine. “You okay?”
My eyes struggle to take in my surroundings. There are dark wooden panels on every wall in the room, though the one next to the door is currently opened, revealing a selection of weapons that Justin prefers. Crossbows. Daggers. Beside them on a hook is his black suit jacket and matching fedora. His fashion style reminds me of the classic gentleman. In the crazy modern world we live in, it makes him stand out. Which is perfect considering how unique he is. Why wouldn't his style match?
Rubbing the back of my neck I spot my luggage neatly seated in the corner beside his one suitcase, as if they're cuddling for the long journey to Neverland. First us, now them.
“Love,” Justin's attempts to snap me out of my own head. “You okay?”
“Um...yeah. Sorry. ” I clear my throat and toss the thin navy blue blanket off of me, unsure how a person could produce that much sweat under such a small amount of coverage. The full sized mattress underneath me is home to liquid proof that I am all but okay. I guess it's a good thing he wasn't asleep beside me when the nightmare occurred. Can you imagine how disgusted he would be to be sleeping in my sweat? Gag!
He folds his arms across his chest with a skeptical look on his face. “Peyton...”
I look up into the eyes of the man I love, the guy I gave it all up for, the guy who part of my gut still tells me I can't trust.
“I'm fine really.”
“You're not fine.”
“No really I am. Nothing to worry about. Just a bad dream.”
“About?”
The echoes of my parents’ voices and tears overwhelm my entire system forcing me to shake my head in hopes of making it all disappear. Quickly I reach for my hair tie from the bedside table, desperate to get the sweat covered hair off the back of my neck. “You know...I'd rather not talk about it.”
“The things that often haunt us in our dreams are the very things that we ignore when we're awake.”
I offer him a half-hearted smile while trying to brush off the quote that I know was meant to be helpful, yet managed to just upset me more. Rubbing my forehead, feeling a throbbing headache coming on, I wince through the pain.
“Need some aspirin?”
Denying him with a shake of my head I question, “Why'd you wake me up? Are we about to land?”
Justin extends a hand to help me to my feet. “Sort of.”
Once I'm up he escorts himself over to the wall where the weapons are displayed and flips a switch. Suddenly the panels on the wall closest to the bed slide apart revealing an empty storage space. I watch him casually slide our luggage inside. My eyebrows rise as I watch my belongings disappear behind the wall giving an illusion it was never there.
Pointing at the space, I roll my finger around, poorly gesturing my question. “Why-”
There's two sharp pounds on the door, causing Justin to yell, “On our way up.” Turning to me he merely tilts his head. “Come on. I'll explain up top.”
Justin grabs his fedora and jacket from the opening before shutting it tight as well. Quickly we head to the main deck where I get my first glimpse of something besides the stars we've been sailing past. In the distance appears to be a very secluded, private island surrounded by water so crystal clear I swear I can see straight to the bottom of the ocean. The sight of the golden sand, I mean sand made out of actual gold or something that looks close to it, causes my jaw to hit the ground.
As we approach an older gentleman in board shorts, a bushy gray beard, and a gray, buzzed haircut, I lean over towards Justin. In a whisper I question, “What's going on?”
Loosening his black tie that's lying on top of his white button down, he turns so his back is resting against the railing, “Technically, our ship would be considered illegal in Neverland.”
I sigh, “Illegal?” Do we ever follow the rules?
Justin briefly hesitates before he continues, “As well as the items on board. So, we hide our ship here, and switch to one that we know officials are going to let pass through Main Shore.”
“How do you know this one is going to pass?”
“Because he's a cop,” Peter's sly voice slides in my ear while his body lands beside me, glowing in a bright green button down with a black suit jacket covering it. Odd. My eyes wander over to Aiden who is in a light tan dress shirt and Eiden in a dark brown one, both with black suit jackets covering theirs as well. Confused I take another look at their matching ensembles. They're all wearing black dress pants and ties with the exception of Peter. Instead of a tie the top two buttons are opened. This is really weird. They never look this uniformed. This united. I feel like I should be afraid. Very afraid.
The ship lands gracefully in the water allowing us to make an exit.
“You have cops on your payroll?”
He winks cockily. “Baby, I have everyone on my payroll.”
Justin twirls his fedora onto his head before wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Not everyone.”
“Everyone,” Peter argues in an aggressive whisper.
Ignoring Peter he finishes, “However, he does own quite a bit of this world.”
“Under my thumb,” Peter calls back to us as Belle attempts to wrap her fingertips with his only to be nonchalantly brushed off. “Tony!”
The man in the board shorts shakes his hand. “Peter.”
Immediately he turns his attention to Belle who's beaming so beautifully in a hot pink high waist short leather skirt and a black mesh long sleeve shirt that's open in the front all the way down to where the skirt starts. Her pink and black wings are fluttering gracefully, glistening in the sunlight, looking bigger and bolder than I remember. And in her bright pink stilettos that match, she looks dangerous, sexy, and perfectly mischievous. I glance down at my loose jeans and baggy red sweater. I feel h
orribly under dressed. I tug on the sleeves self-consciously.
“Belle, if you get any more gorgeous I might have to arrest you for disturbing the peace.” His compliment is followed with a small chivalrous bow and the kissing of her hand.
“Tony...” she coos and bites her bottom lip at him seductively.
Clearly annoyed by the attention his girlfriend is now receiving, Peter clears his throat, wraps his arm around Belle, and asks, “My ship?”
He cuts his gray eyes back to him. “Your ship is down on the right. BR dropped off your payment this morning. I expect you'll be back to pick up your luggage and packages before check point.”
“Of course.” Peter gives him a gentle punch in the arm before placing a bright red round lollipop in his mouth. “Have I ever let you down?”
Tony crosses his arms against his chest and gives him a long hard stare.
Quickly he caves, “Oh what? Other than that one time-”
On a low growl he reminds him, “They almost took my badge, Peter.”
“Almost isn't taken now is it?” The mocking of the situation doesn't seem like a good call to me. I may be new here. I may be new to the whole paying off people of importance thing, but something inside of me is screaming that it's a terrible idea to piss off the one guy who can hide your stuff when you need him to.
Not entertaining Peter with further argument he repeats, “Clear your ship before check point.”
“Scouts honor,” Peter replies cheerfully as we head towards our replacement ship.
“You weren't a scout,” Justin mumbles, his arm pulling me in closer.
His free hand waves Justin off. “Minor details boy.”
We march across the sand that feels as soft as a feather, but as thick as snow. Not quite the way I remember it in Landlin. Not even on the private area near Nick's beach home. A gnawing sensation tickles the back of my throat. I still feel a little guilty for the way I left him. I'm hoping I don't have to run any more long cons like that ever again or at the very least anytime soon.
“Everything is a minor detail to the king,” Justin sighs in a disgusted voice. The change in temperament indicates to me that Peter is a much bigger deal in this world than he was in mine. Maybe I'll get to learn exactly what makes Peter so damn arrogant and brash, because it's not his looks alone.
The six of us board the ship that looks identical to the one we departed. Eiden wastes no time lifting us back in the air to takes us back the way we came. Still in Justin's embrace I find myself still looking around at my new family who is dressed to impress, cloaked in solidarity. I feel like the newbie. The outcast. The very poorly dressed sore thumb.
Justin redirects his attention to me. “What's wrong?”
My eyes roam over my attire once more. “I just feel...a little under dressed?”
“You know it was once said, 'You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or their fancy car...but because they sing a song only you can hear.'.” And with those words he drops a soft kiss in the middle of my forehead. His eyes meet mine and mischievously smirks. “Belle...”
She struts over to me her bag in hand. “You ready to change?”
“You knew she had an outfit planned for me?”
Justin simply winks and lets me go.
The transformation from casual art girl to glitzy con diva is not quick nor painless. Belle, like the fashion genius she is, expects excellence from me and will not settle for less. Once she's squeezed me into a tight pair of black leather shorts, a white tank top with a black tie settled on top of, black peep toe heels, my hair slightly waved, my makeup natural looking but flawless, she hands me a more feminine fedora with a smirk.
“Seriously?”
“He'll love it.” She giggles and rushes up the stairs, her bag safely in her possession.
I stare at the accessory. The simple yet sophisticated trademark of my beloved. From the moment he fell into my chair wearing one of these, I knew my life would never be the same. Honestly? Never imagined it'd be like this.
With a soft smile, I slip it on my head and relocate myself to the main deck where I spot Justin chatting with Eiden. Clearing my throat I stroll over to him, his lips parting in astonishment. He always gets speechless when he sees me all dressed up. The way he behaves it's like it's the first time, every time.
Innocently, I fold my hands behind my back. “What do you think?”
Eiden glances away from steering and tries not to smirk. “I think it's like looking at the female version of Justin.”
Aiden chimes in from across the deck, “I couldn't agree more.”
My anxiety quickly begins to show. “Is that a bad thing?”
“We really don't need two of him,” Peter says shifting the lollipop from one side of his mouth to the other, as Belle wraps both her hands around the railing. “We barely need one of him.”
Justin shoots him his middle finger before placing his hands securely on my waist. When our eyes meet, I fall into blue eyes that are shimmering so brightly they almost match the blue sky behind him. “Peyton you look...perfect.” His hand softly strokes my face before his soft lips slip onto mine igniting the inexplicable magic inside of me. Every time we kiss I swear it feels like I'm being injected with some sort of supernatural poison that makes me fall faster and harder in love with him. The kiss is brief, I assume because we have an audience. Pulling away he tilts my fedora down so it' shading my face the way it usually does his. “Nice hat.”
“Main Shore on the horizon,” Eiden states. My attention turns to the busy view ahead that has its name written in the clouds like permanent sky writing.
Confused I start, “I thought Neverland was one giant place-”
“Neverland is one giant place. Just like Earth,” Aiden responds.
“So Neverland is a planet?”
“Not exactly. It's not really anything you're used to,” Aiden's explains, relocating on the other side of his brother.
“Neverland is a series of islands all across this beautiful place.” Justin moves to grip the railing of the ship. I follow, anxious to stay close to him. That smile I was sure couldn't get any brighter, does. “I love it here.”
“You and me both,” Belle happily sighs, swinging her legs over the edge of the railing, her hands gripping it so she doesn't fall into the water beneath her. She's got wings, so I guess it wouldn't matter if she did. Unexpectedly Belle yells at the top of her lungs, “Whooohooo!”
I giggle as I watch a beautiful transformation happen. Belle's beautiful blonde bob begins to extend from it's cute high location down to her butt, shedding the pure blonde look with highlights of hot and dark pink. Suddenly her skin stops being the tan color it was when we were in Landlin and begins to shimmer complimentary shades of pink and gold.
My jaw hits the ground. The second I gain my composure I whisper to Justin, “What's happening to her?”
There's a soft reply in my ear. “She's home.”
Turning around I see Peter adjust the lollipop in his mouth, attention on the cell phone in his hands. How can he be ignoring her? Sure it's not the first time he's seen it, but it's still so captivating! He should be staring at her! Drooling over her! Worshiping at the feet of her beauty! Ha, Peter worship something other than his own reflection? Fat chance.
Sweetly Belle tosses her face at me. “This is what I actually look like. What you saw, that's sort of like my permanent disguise in your world. This is my actual look. My true colors. Kind of have to tone down in your world.”
“You look beautiful,” I compliment her. Justin nods in agreement. The fact Peter has not acknowledged the change or the fact he has the most beautiful creature I've ever seen to this day as his own pushes me to poke the situation. Looking over my shoulder I say, “Don't you think Peter?”
Not looking up, he merely hums, “Mmhm.”
I roll my eyes and look back at Belle whose eyes are staring at him as well, giving me the chance to notice they've changed colors as well. “Y
our eyes are pink!”
Belle immediately looks back to me and giggles. “They sure are.”
“They weren't pink before.”
“You're quick,” Peter grunts under his breath.
“At least she pays attention to me.” The words force his face up at the same time she swings her body back around, heels landing on the floor.
Like a good friend, I back her up. “Someone should.”
He returns his face back to what he was doing. “Well at least you're finally making yourself useful.”
I open my mouth to retort when Justin's lips land next to my ear. “Let it go Peyton.”
