8: Answers and Strangers

I left the tent and saw the boys going about their usual business. Peter sat in the center when his eyes met mine with amusement. He was busy sharpening his dagger and keeping a watchful eye on all the boys.

A Lost Boy blocked my pathway to him. I tried to go around him, only to be pushed back. His brown eyes seemed to catch fire as he looked at me. 

"Move out of my way Aaron," I growled at the Lost Boy. 

Aaron laughed saying "Make me." 

I shrugged saying, "I won against Devin, I can easily beat you." 

Aaron laughed and didn't move. 

"Let me rephrase myself," I started, pulling out my dagger, "Move out of my way if you want to see the next sunrise."

Aaron stopped laughing and stepped back to let me through before disappearing into camp once again. 

I walked through and watched Peter for a minute before he spoke up. 

"You can't sneak up on me if that's what you're trying to do." 

The demon turned his head around and smirked at me deviously. 

I rolled my eyes annoyed telling him, "That's not what I was trying to do and you know it."  

He nodded his head with a wild grin, "You never know." 

I scoffed, "Trust me, I know." 

I took a seat on the log across from him. Now the hard part was going to begin.

"Something tells me you have some answers I'm looking for." I started and Pan stopped sharpening the dagger to look up at me. 

"And so what if I do?" He said challenging me and I frowned at him replying just as sneaky "I'll get something out of you." 

Pan laughed at me and made a face "Oh, I'd like to see you try." 

I sighed annoyed at his replies. He shot me a wink saying "You still got a lot to learn, Lost Girl." 

"Quit playing games, I'm not in the mood," I mumbled.

"My my aren't you persistent," he chuckled and gestured for me to take a seat.

"As you know, this is Neverland. A place where kids never grow up. I was the first to discover it as my shadow had taken me here. I am also known by another name if you haven't known," Pan said to me and I raised an eyebrow. 

"Who?" 

"The Pied Piper and you know why?" Pan snapped back and I shook my head.

He pulled out his Pan flute. 

"This pan flute is enchanted. Only certain people can hear it. Mainly boys of course. Those are the boys who feel lost, abandoned and alone. Perhaps you would like a sample of its power."  

He blew into the instruments and its eerie tune spread throughout the camp. The Lost Boys started to dance around them in a ring. They hollered and banged sticks against each other. Peter lowered the pan flute and seemed surprised that I stood there unfazed. 

"Do you not hear it?" He asked puzzled.

"I hear it," I reply, "But I don't feel like dancing."

"Interesting..." Peter said and sighed, "Let us continue with our conversation now uninterrupted, shall we?"

He added a log to the already burning fire, 

"It was long before you came here when that witch came to the island. I met her when I lured her brothers to the island. She somehow chased after them and arrived here."

Pan paused at the memory, 

"I first met eyes with her and was astounded. She was the first girl in Neverland to have come from another realm. I decided to keep her and her brothers here. She was wary of me at first and protective of her brothers. I showed the trio all of the wonders Neverland had to offer. We grew close the longer she stayed in Neverland. However, her heart still longed for home. And after a while, the sweet facade faded away giving rise to the monster. She soon became corrupted and began to thirst for power. And that was it."

"You're lying Pan. That isn't what the stories depict."

Pan looked at me skeptically, "The stories are just a beautiful lie, something that one wishes to hear. It is like a dark message mixed into a child's lullaby."

I frowned and then recalled Peter's previous words from last night.

"I can't kill you..."

"Why did you want to kill me?" I asked him.

Peter took a sharp breath and he stared at the ground emotionless, "To get revenge."

"On whom?"

"Your mother."

"My... Mother..." I let the words fall out of my mouth. 

All my life I've been in the orphanage with no knowledge of how I was found or who my real parents were. I was left to wander for answers, answers that would never be found. 

"Ignorance is bliss," Peter said to her, "I can tell you what you want to hear, but you might not be ready for the answer."

"When is someone ever ready?" I reply sheepishly.

Peter grinned, "I thought you would be. Your mother's name is Wendy Darling."

And then I felt myself faint.  

"Jessica," Emma called out rushing up to the loft where I resided temporarily. 

It's been a month and I was still adjusting to Storybrooke and its peculiar ways. 

"What's wrong Emma? Is Henry in trouble?" I asked worried. 

Emma shook her head.

"No, Henry is perfectly fine."

"What's up then?"

"I'm getting there. We found your mother."

I widened my eyes shocked and covered them with my hands. 

She then handed me a folder containing papers of what I believed to be about my biological mother. 

I snatched the files and read over them. It showed records of money exchange, birth certificates, and photos. 

"Are you like some bail bond person?"

"Something like that. I know how to find people."

I stared at the picture of a woman with long honey-brown hair and light brown eyes.  

"Who is this?"

Emma paused before answering me.

"Jessica, your mother is Wendy Darling."

My eyes opened as I gasped. I noticed I was back in Peter's tent. He sat on a tree trunk beside me and watched as I woke up. 

"Rise and shine sleepy head," he told me with a boyish grin.  

I moaned and wanted to fall asleep once again, but I didn't seem to want to. 

He shook me shaking his head, "No more sleeping for now. You fainted after I told you. You were out for a few hours. Did you get the answer you wanted?" 

I nodded my head and said softly, "Wendy Darling was my mother." 

Pan flinched a little hearing the name and recovered quickly, "That she was."

I faced him saying, "She's not my mother."

I felt angry at the very thought. 

"That woman was never there for me for sixteen years. She has no right to be my mother. All she was was the woman who gave birth to me and nothing more. If I see her traitorous face again. She's gonna get it from me and things won't be so pretty."

Pan's eyes lit up at the thought of killing Wendy Darling. 

"That's the spirit my lost girl."

I sent him a glare and he challenged me with a daring grin. I may be furious, but I wasn't stupid to stand up to Peter... Not now anyways.  

"What about my father?" I asked him.

"That is a topic for another day," Peter smirked. 

More mind games, I thought to myself. I sent him a glare which he returned evenly when we overheard voices and we turned to see Felix come over to us holding his club. The dancing had stopped which worried me a little. 

"Pan, we found a boy who was brought ashore by one of the mermaids. We managed to knock him out. What would you like us to do with him?"  

"We'll bring him here," Pan ordered and pulled out his dagger. 

My eyes widened,  "You're not going to kill him right?" 

He looked at me with wild eyes, "No Jess, we're going to play a little interrogation game. You in?" 

I rolled my eyes, "Like I have a choice." 

Pan smirked at me "That's the spirit."

We all headed towards the beach where the boy was. I walked with Peter with my Dagger out in case something went wrong. On Neverland, you never know when another beast will attack. I did feel Peter's eyes on me as I walked ahead of him. Now that I knew who my mother was, it made me wonder if Peter would ever go through with trying to kill me. He said so himself, he would make it long and torturous. 

"I can't kill you..." 

His words rang through my brain again. Could the demon himself have a heart? It made no sense. His hatred towards my mother was real. That was the one thing I was sure of. There were so many thoughts spinning in my head that it was beginning to overwhelm me. A hand placed on my shoulder snapped me back to the current situation.

"Are you alright?" Peter asked.

I blinked at him and gave a silent nod. His green eyes lingered on me a little while longer before he broke out from the jungle and arrived at the beach.

Waves crashed into the shore and the crystal blue water glistened. If this wasn't Neverland, I would consider taking a vacation here. I could pack an umbrella and enjoy the tropical escape. A figure was on the sand unconscious. When I got closer, I saw it was a boy. 

He had a mop of hair and wore a red bathrobe. He looked to be my age at least. He was soaked from floating adrift in the sea. 

"The Shadow dropped him on the way here," Felix debriefed Peter, "Is this the boy?"

Peter's face was scanning the boy on the ground. His forehead wrinkled as he stared at the boy disheartened, "It is not."

"What do you suppose we do with him, then?" Felix asked.

"We can hand him to the pirates to make him walk the plank," one of the boys suggested.

"The mermaids have been feeling ravenous," another chimed in.

"He can be a target for target practice."

"No, feed him to a never beast."

The ideas from the boys repulsed me. They were just as cruel as their leader. Peter's eyes lit up at the boys and their harsh treatment of the boy. The boy brought a hand to his chin in deep thought.

"Don't tell me you are considering those inhuman ideas," I frowned.

"Neverland is not a place for the faint of heart," Peter responded coldly.

"That doesn't mean you should condemn an innocent to death," I hardened my gaze.

We had a stare down and the other boys stepped back. Based on their reactions, no one ever stood up to Peter's power. I felt his demeanour grow darker and that only made me more determined to save this boy's life. 

"I'd advise not stepping out of line, Lost Girl," Peter stepped closer to me. 

"And I advise you to get your morals in check," I snapped back.

The boys whispered around us and I could hear their remarks. 

"The new girl is scary."

"She's challenging Pan."

"He looks mad, I feel bad for her."

Peter's frown then turned into a wicked grin. My face turned into a worried expression. 

"You're right," Peter smiled, "There are worse things than death. I think I know what we should do with him."

He walked around me and stood beside the unconscious boy's body. My uneasiness increased as my eyes darted between Peter and the unknown boy as he delivered the final verdict.

"Lost Boys," Pan began and then glanced at me and smiled "And Girl." 

Everyone glanced at me for a minute before turning to Peter again. His look was mischievous and it scared me. He finished his answer with the words that I hoped he wouldn't say, but he did. 

"Let's play."

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