I smelt fire when I came to. The searing pain first hit me in the head, then my shoulder, making me flinch awake and groan. There was a huge amount of dirt in my mouth, which I tried to spit out as I blinked open my eyes and peeled my face from the ground.
Next to me was Lox, her face bruised and dirty, some parts of her braids a mess, roasting a little animal over a campfire. I briefly thought, Please, don’t let me be stuck in hell with her, but then I realized it was just dark out and the disheveled ground around us had only given off the illusion that Lox was a devil.
Or maybe it wasn’t an illusion?
I grimaced as I sat up, and Lox turned to look at me, eyes wide. “Oh, thank Neverland.”
Squinting, I rubbed my face where my head throbbed. “How are we alive?” I asked, coughing up more dirt and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. Classy.
Lox left her post and grabbed into her pack to give me my canteen, this time waiting for me to accept it instead of throwing it like she was in the next Superbowl.
As I drank, she explained, “I don’t know what happened, but I do know we walked right into a Nephilim’s turf and somehow…” Her head shook in astonishment, going back to sit on her small log. “Somehow, Rose, you beat the thing. You killed it.” When I didn’t respond, seeing my shocked expression, she snapped her fingers in front of her to bring me back. “Did you hear me, kid? You killed a giant, Lacey. Fire and everything.”
Instantly, I reached up to grab for my necklace with my good arm, blinking in shock down at its simple, inactive form. Instantly, I thought back to when I was first pushed around by Zane, and somehow, the fire had appeared in the belly of the Jolly Roger. Had my locket tried to save me that time too?
Lox let out a breath, going to turn her roasting animal. “I don’t know how you did it. You, of all people, killing a Nephilim that size? It’s unheard of.”
“I-it was this,” I stuttered. Shaking horribly, I lifted my necklace so she could see it shine in the firelight. It was dark around us, but the glint of the jewelry kept shining like a beacon of hope amidst it all. For the first time since arriving in Neverland, I felt like, with my mother’s gift safely around my neck, I might just be safer than I thought.
When she saw what I was talking about, Lox’s eyes widened. “That? That’s how you beat that thing?”
Shrugging my shoulders in honesty, I let the locket drop back to my sternum and tried to steady my rapid breathing. “It has some sort of… power. It first came to life when I met Zane I think, and then again when Peter and I were training yesterday. I have no idea what it’s capable of…” I stopped, peering out into the darkness. Because it was so dark, I couldn’t see the dead giant—Nephilim—where it fell before I passed out, but the familiar pit in my stomach told me it was still there, even if it wasn’t alive anymore.
I’d killed that. I, Lacey Rose, had saved us both from becoming squashed Merlin visitors. And all thanks to whatever weird, completely crazy power my mother’s necklace possessed here in Neverland.
“Well, whatever you did back there, you should do it again if we run into any more…” Lox had a leg of the dinner she’d made—something that resembled a bird, thank goodness—between her fingers, peering at me before she took a bite. She spoke with her mouth full, wiping her chin with the back of her sleeve. “Creatures.”
Though it only lasted a few milliseconds, I noticed a look in Lox’s eyes that I hadn’t seen in them since arriving in Neverland: respect. Then, as soon as it had appeared, it was gone, and she went back to eating her food sloppily. “Oh, by the way, I popped your shoulder back into place.”
Getting woozy at her comment, I tried to steady my stomach with the fact that I was starving. So much for a sweet moment between us.
After the initial shock wore off, I soon found out what our dinner was, since we would be making camp here for the night (Lox assured me no sane person or monster would come within a mile radius of a Nephilim—just us, apparently—so we’d be safe for now). In the time that Lox had awoken, seen the giant killed with me passed out twenty feet from his large, rocky feet, and realigned my shoulder, she also had shot down three dodo birds for our supper and made a fire to roast them on as night drew upon the land.
When asking her, “But aren’t dodo birds extinct?” she threw one of the birds’ undressed carcasses toward my head and replied, “Nothing’s extinct in Neverland.”
So thoroughly grossed out and put in my place, I stayed quiet for a while and hesitantly bit into the cooked bird’s wing because I was too hungry to protest anymore. And honestly, it wasn’t half bad.
After dinner, Lox helped fit me into a makeshift sling so my shoulder could rest while the pixie dust did its work in healing it correctly overnight. As she sprinkled the golden dust particles on my bare muscle, inflamed with pain, I winced but soon calmed as the magic powder began to do its job. It sounded like a drug, sure, but honestly, it was a lifesaver when it came to pain relief. And I wasn’t even feeling delirious as Lox slid a small cookie into my hand in the shape of a heart.
Before I could make a snarky comment about it, she narrowed her eyes at me in challenge. “It’s a ginger cookie, to help with the nausea from the dust.”
Feeling sheepish, I ate it in silence and instantly started to feel more healing coursing through my body.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, hoping she didn’t hear me, but she acknowledged my gratitude with a bland-faced nod.
“Yeah, whatever.”
After a few minutes of watching the flames in silence, I cleared my throat to cut through the awkward tension. “So why aren’t you on the evil side?” I asked.
Back home, I didn’t have very many friends. I was quiet at school, so people didn’t really talk to me. So it felt strange trying to talk and open up to this girl who was supposedly helping me but also seemed to hate my guts a lot.
“Peter,” she said and shrugged. “He impressed me from the first moment he told everyone about his ideas to change Neverland after so many years of turmoil. Almost everyone else, though, thought he could never be the savior of the island. But not me. Peter is the true Neverking, and no matter who says otherwise, he’ll still be the best person to save this land. I’ve seen his affects on Neverland—it’s a part of him. His heart is what keeps this place living.”
“Do you think, for some awful reason, Peter were t-to die—”
Her gaze was serious. “Neverland would die with it. That’s another reason why I signed up for this job. If I can keep the heart of my home alive, then it’s worth every babysitting job he puts me on.”
I rolled my eyes while she chuckled to herself. “That’s a lot of pressure. So if Peter’s okay, why are all of these monsters turning evil?” I asked, not knowing who she meant.
“Darkness tricks. It comes like a light, deceiving even the most loyal of Peter’s followers. The Naiads used to love Peter, not love him on top of also wanting to drown him,” Lox said, shifting her position to sit cross-legged. “Things like that. Neverland was always chaotic, but the minute kids stopped believing in it was the second it was consumed by the dark side of chaos instead of our side, fooling its people. Now, Peter is trying to save it, and them.”
“And I’m supposed to be his secret weapon?” I asked.
She laughed slightly, shaking her head. “You know, I guess he thinks so,” she said. “And until today, I thought he was crazy. But… if you really killed that Nephilim all by yourself…” She set down her dodo bone with a frown. “Then I don’t know. It doesn’t seem that farfetched.”
Thinking that was the closest I’d ever get to a compliment from her, I felt myself smiling like an idiot when she wasn’t looking. “I have no idea how I could help any of this, but thanks, I guess.”
“Don’t get too cocky just yet, Mainlander.” Lox rubbed her nose and then sneezed, her thick blond hairpieces falling around her face in a tangle.
“Bless you,” I said instinctively.
She pushed some of he
r braids over her shoulder and stared questionably at me. “What does that mean?”
Oh, that’s right. The weird customs we had in “real life” probably didn’t make sense here.
“Don’t worry about it.” I sighed, pulling my legs up to my chest. My eyes were getting heavy, and I wanted to lie down, but I was too scared. I kept thinking monsters were going to pop out of nowhere and kill me. It was my seven-year-old nightmare, but I was actually living it now.
“So do you have parents?” I asked, trying to start a conversation again.
“Well, not really. When narrators tell stories or authors write them, the characters don’t always have to have parents. And in my case, I don’t. But a long time ago, someone twisted my story where I was kidnapped from my family but escaped and then made my way to a bear cabin instead. There, Mother Bear and Papa Bear took care of me like their own. So I guess you could say they were my parents,” she said. Her face morphed sourly at the thought. “But they weren’t exactly the best role models and all.”
“Wow,” I said because I didn’t think stories were that complicated. Then I started to I wonder how many variations of Peter Pan there had been, and that really blew my mind.
“So every character ever written about, they come here?” I asked.
“Yes.” She smiled. “They’re all sent here, to Neverland.” Then she turned to me. “So how about you? Do you have ‘em?”
“Parents? Well, yeah—” I paused. Should I share any of my secrets? I’d just met this girl, and for all I knew so far, she hated me. She could kill me in my sleep if she so happened to feel the urge.
My fingers prickled, unsure. Looking around at the dark forest, I realized she was finally being friendly to me, the one person that hadn’t tried to eat me in the past few days. So I sighed, giving in. “Um, I have a dad, yeah, and my mother died when I was six.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” She stared at me with sadness. I turned away from her to reach up to touch my necklace because I couldn’t take the pity. I pinched it, feeling the divots and cuts in its metal, which reminded me of home. At least one thing felt right; my necklace made me feel safer.
So absorbed in the remembrance of my mother, I’d gone quiet.
“You all right, Mainlander?” Lox asked, shadows playing over her features in the light of the fire.
There was no reason for me to tell her that much about me. I was beginning to feel like I might be able to trust her, but not yet, not with something so personal. I rested my chin on my knee, letting out a sigh of defeat. Every part of me wanted to be back home and safe—grounded but safe. “No, I’m fine.”
There was only the sound of the fire now.
After a moment of silence, she pressed forward, her eyes shining with interest. “Can you tell me more about yourself?” It was like she’d never met someone from the real world before. Maybe she hadn’t.
The “real world.” It seemed so childish to even think it.
“What do you want to know?”
“Just… more about the mortal world. And about you. It’s so… fascinating.” Her eyes flashed.
“Okay, well, where do I start?” I thought for a minute. She was asking to hear about the most boring person on the planet. “I’m sixteen. I lived in England for six years of my life and just recently came back to America, which is where I was born,” I explained. “But I would rather be American than in England. That’s where my mom died. And they don’t have s’mores.”
“I have no idea what any of those things are, but I’m sorry,” Lox said and frowned, picking at her fingernails. She looked up at me again and flicked her wrist. “Go on.”
“Well, my father moved me to Wisconsin when I was seven, and I was homeschooled for about two years. Then he had to find another job. So we moved to Chicago, Illinois, and I had to go to public school. I was in a supermarket, getting groceries for my dad, when some scorpion thing attacked me, and Peter came and whisked me away, bringing me here through a magic mirror.”
“I’m surprised he was able to find that melodramatic reflector. Ever since he closed the second star, characters from all over the land were searching for it. It’s the only other known way to get to the Mainland from this world.”
“How could someone close a star?” I asked, though it probably was a dumb question knowing the place I was in. “Why would you close one in the first place?”
Lox sighed. “Heartbreak can make you do crazy things. After the last of the Darling bloodline came and went, I think he couldn’t take another Mainlander visit. He didn’t realize they’d broken his heart until it was too late, and it almost ruined Neverland as a result. So Merlin found a way to cut the portal between worlds to make sure it didn’t happen again. But then, of course, he met you and just had to break the rules. Funny how feeble men can be.”
“He’s your boss,” I pointed out.
She shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I can’t point out the truth. Women are his only weakness—or practically, every man’s weakness. I mean, the roles are reversed, too. I know for a fact every girl in the forest could only dream of knowing Peter, let alone being personally picked up by him after sealing the second star to get rid of said Mainland girls that became his weakness. I might be lucky he accepted me to be his apprentice, but you…”
“I mean, it’s not like tha—”
“The war—it’s coming. And Peter doesn’t choose his allies wantonly,” she said, as if she could sense the future, and maybe she could for all I knew. “He brought you here for a reason. What that is, I haven’t the slightest idea.”
My eyebrows furrowed, holding the weight of so many questions in my head, but not knowing how to say them.
Lowly, Lox spoke, picking up a nearby stick and drawing a figure in the dirt. “I guess you’re just a lucky girl, Mainlander. Go you.”
Everyone on this island wanted a piece of Peter, and I was beginning to think maybe he wasn’t going to help me get home. He ruled this mysterious place, and everyone knew of him. That couldn’t be a good thing. And why did he need me, of all people, to help him? Did he even need me at all? What could I do to help his people, this land? I could barely cut my own meat at the dinner table. He couldn’t seriously expect me to fight, and win, a war for him.
I leaned back and looked up at the stars. They were beautiful here, now that I could see them. My dad always used to say in London, the stars would never show because of the city lights and the haze there, and when we moved to Chicago, that reality didn’t change. But here, in Neverland, it was like I could almost reach out and touch the galaxies themselves.
The thought of my dad made me feel homesick. Even though he was lonely and he still mourned over my mom, it wasn’t like I hated him. Duh, I loved him. He and I… we just didn’t get along. And because he spent every living moment on his laptop or at the institute, we rarely saw each other. But whenever he and I did talk, we fought. And it made me sad we couldn’t be like a “normal” family, like before my mother passed away. If she were here, she’d fix things. And I probably wouldn’t be feeling so alone in the world, lost in this place that was full of things I didn’t understand.
I’d never really been one to adventure past the bricks of my house, and if I did, I was always called back, grounded by my father. He never let me leave to hang out with others or go for walks. It was like he was worried I’d never come back, like my mom. But now that I thought about it, I wondered if he even missed me as bad as he missed her.
“What about you, Goldilocks?” I asked her to get the thoughts out of my head.
Raising an eyebrow at me, she laughed, chewing on her nails now.
“Nothing much. I’m Goldilocks. I’m sixteen, like you, and I have a mom and dad and a little brother. They’re all bears.” She flashed a toothy grin. “And I’m really glad I ran away from them.”
“After everything I’ve seen this last week, I honestly don’t think I can doubt you, or anyone around here, ever again.” I shook my head with a sarcastic
laugh. Then, sensing the seriousness of the conversation, I questioned, “Why’d you run away?”
“Darkness has taken over this land, even when the sun shines during the day. And I didn’t want any part of it, which they didn’t agree with. So the second I turned my back on them… they did the same to me.” Her sadness was briefly evident. Then as soon as it had appeared, she laughed it off. “Besides, this job really has great perks. I get to babysit Peter’s little pets all day long.”
Finding her teasing funny, I let her reclaim some of her pride by staying silent.
“It’s almost like… now that you’re here, Neverland is… changing.” Lox pulled her legs around and lay on the ground with her head in her hands.
I followed suit, lying on my back and closing my eyes, feeling the fullness of my stomach and the exhaustion of the day finally hitting me. But my skin itched with the thought of bugs or other creatures touching me in my sleep, so I moved around a lot, trying to get settled.
“Yeah, well, I doubt that.” I squirmed some more, still uncomfortable. I sighed in defeat, knowing I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight with so many thoughts racing through my brain. “There’s nothing special about me. I mean, besides a magical locket or something, I’m pretty useless in a place like this.”
Peering up into the sky again, Lox shrugged. “You’d be surprised. Stranger things have happened to stranger people in the past,” she said quietly before yawning.
I yawned, too, unable to think of a good response.
Soon, Lox’s breathing was steady, and she began snoring softly.
Neverland was so hectic. How could I possibly just plop down and go to sleep?
Mere Phantasy Page 16
