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’ sake!’
Rapunzel heard Peter and Snow arguing as she ran after Gallisa. ‘Where are you going?’
‘Home!’ Gallisa admitted.
Rapunzel looked back at the tree house. ‘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 upon 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 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 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, break 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 potion. I need you to both return and pretend 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 Peter, the boys, and me. 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 Bell’s 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. Mud and slime would soon cover traces of their visit through the swamp. Huge clouds of gnats swarmed 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 farther 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, highlighted by the slight glow from the moonlight that now shone through the branches. 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 tangled in some weeds. A crocodile snapped its jaw 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 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 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, and the trapped souls 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 them both, tears pricking in 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 for 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. His beautiful melody just reminded her of everything that she didn’t have—freedom, companionship, happiness.
Wendy had contemplated taking her own life many times. Trapped and 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 bars, but it did nothing, just 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, and 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!’
Wendy nodded sympathetically. She understood how being imprisoned felt more than most. ‘I understand. I was imprisoned here against my will. Peter said he cared for me, until everyone started acting like themselves. I broke free from his enchantment, and I tried to help the fairies escape. He hated me for it; he felt like I betrayed him. To teach me a lesson,’ she said as tears fell down her dirty cheeks, ‘he killed most of them. Then whenever any of them tried to help me or do anything he didn’t want them to do, he would slaughter their entire family.’
Redell looked at the cage floor. ‘Well, that makes my problems sound like nothing.’
‘Not at all,’ she said through sobs. ‘Just because someone’s problems seem worse doesn’t make yours any less relevant.’
Redell smiled. ‘You have a lot of wisdom for someone so young. How old are you?’
She shrugged. ‘Lost count. While here, everyone stays young, never growing old. I was eighteen when I came here.’
‘You’ve been here for a long time then?’
She nodded, wiping her eyes. ‘Too long. The days just sort of blend together now. Sometimes, I feel like I’m going insane.’
He laughed. ‘Sorry; it’s just you’re the sanest person I have met.’
She half-smiled. ‘You mustn’t have met many people then.’
He shook his head. ‘No,’ he admitted. ‘Anyway, I’m here to get revenge on Ruby.’
‘She calls herself Red,’ Wendy stated.
‘I gathered,’ he said. ‘Probably because she was responsible for her family’s death, by me. I admit, I am no angel, but when I care about someone, I will do anything for them.’
Wendy smiled. ‘I can see that. You’re not bad, but revenge won’t solve anything. Red has been crying for almost the entire time she has been here. It seems she is tortured enough without you hurting her even more. How many years ago did she hurt you?’
‘She was seven,’ he stated.
Wendy’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Seven! No wonder she was scared. She was a child and probably confused. Hell, I’m confused by it all.’
‘I guess so,’ he admitted. ‘I am so angry, though. I have been stuck in there …’
‘I know,’ Wendy said and grabbed the bars so she could be closer to him. ‘I have been trapped for a long time too, but if you seek revenge, you will end up empty. What happens if you leave her body without another host?’
‘I die.’
‘Oh,’ she replied. ‘What if I told you that I know the perfect person for you take over?’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Who?’
‘Peter,’ she said. ‘He doesn’t deserve what he has. You’d make better use of his body than he ever would.’
Redell rested against the bars and slunk further along the floor then sighed. ‘He would have to make a deal with me, knowing that I’d take his body. Nobody would agree to that.’
Wendy jumped up. ‘I have an idea. You said you were a wolf, right? Why don’t you take another wolf’s body?’
He shook his head. ‘Impossible. No wolf would make a deal with me.’
‘Well,’ Wendy said and smiled. ‘We have a time to think
up a plan. Apparently, some people are on their way to set me free. I will ask them to set you free too, only if you promise me not to get your revenge.’
He looked over at Wendy, who was possibly the most intelligent, sweetest person he had encountered. ‘Deal.’
***
Gallisa climbed into the tree house, followed by Rapunzel. Peter looked over at them and scowled. ‘I said leave!’
Gallisa crossed her arms. ‘No. My friends are here, and I don’t care what you say, Peter, you are my friend too. I care about all of you. I’m not leaving because I want to stay here with everyone. I love it here, I’ve never been happier,’ she lied.
Peter looked from her to Rapunzel suspiciously. ‘You’ve just decided this then?’ he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
‘Yes.’ Rapunzel gulped.
He lifted his feet onto the table that sat in the centre of the sofas and rested his hands behind his head. ‘Fine.’
‘Where’s Croon and Snow?’ Rapunzel asked.
Peter cleared his throat. ‘Croon is being punished.’
Gallisa’s eyes widened. ‘For having a tea party? Do you have any idea how insane you sound?’
Peter jumped to his feet and walked over to Gallisa. ‘Who are you to dictate what is sane and insane?’
Rapunzel looked at Gallisa and gave her a look. Gallisa sighed. ‘Of course, Peter. Sorry, he is one of your Lost Boys. You should decide the appropriate course of action.’
He nodded. ‘That’s right. Now, I’m going to find how Snow’s getting on.’
‘Where is she?’ Gallisa asked.
Peter smirked. ‘She’s the one punishing Croon for me.’
Rapunzel nodded at Gallisa. She took his hand. ‘Can I speak to you in private?’
He rolled his eyes. ‘Quickly.’
They walked to Peter’s room, and she sat on the edge of the four-post bed. ‘I missed you when I was away. I’m sorry I left. You were so kind to me before.’ She stopped and blushed. ‘I actually really liked you.’
His eyes widened. ‘In what way?’
She pressed her lips together. ‘I think I fell for you, Peter.’
He took a deep breath and sat next to her. ‘I liked you too, not loved, but I cared for you. It hurt when you left.’
Journey to Neverland (Haunting Fairytales Series Book 2) Page 11
