Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
The boys vanish into the gloom, and after a pause, but not a long pause, for things go so briskly on the island, came the pirates on their track.
“We’re going out to make sure all the cave entrances are secure for the full moon tonight.” Coy sits across the kitchen table from me.
“Cool. Take me with you. I’m tired of being cooped up in here. I hate to say it, but it’s getting boring.” I yawn. I shouldn’t be tired after nearly four days of rest, but I am. I just need to get out and get some air, and I’ll be ready to help with the Hook situation.
“Can’t do it, Moira. Sorry.” He stands and walks to the stove, then pours over the last of the coffee.
I only got two cups from the handful we got from town.
Though I haven’t told Peter yet, if I don’t get more, I might turn into a homicidal maniac.
Actually, chances are looking good if he truly intends to keep me in this cave until he’s finished with Hook.
“Here.” He carefully sets the cup in front of me. “Just take it easy while we secure the cave, all right?”
“You made me coffee to preoccupy me, didn’t you?” I frown at him as I take a sip of the nectar of the gods.
“Maybe.” He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll be back in a little while.” He squeezes my shoulder.
“Hey.” I cover his hand with mine. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he answers too quickly.
“Is it because of the full moon? Peter said we’d all be safe down here.” Once the full moon is over, I’m going to have a talk with him about everything—the plan for Hook, the future of the island, and me getting out of here for good.
“We will be.” He pulls his hand away. “Once I make sure all the entrances are covered. Wouldn’t do to have a wolf or the last neverbear tromping around in here, would it?”
“I’m glad the neverbear is still alive. Hook’s minions couldn’t manage to kill it. That’s a win.”
“It is. Just sit tight.” He strides out as I sip my coffee. “I’ll be back soon.”
Curly passes through, a wooden hammer in one hand and some planks in the other.
“Where you off to?” I ask.
“Boarding up the trees.” He sniffs the air. “That coffee stuff smells good, but I’ll tell you what, I gave it a taste—just a pinch mind you—” He interjects when my eyes narrow. “—and it is absolutely awful stuff. I don’t know how you manage to drink it.”
“It’s delicious, and you can’t tell me any different.” I take a swallow just to show him.
“Gross.” He bops the hammer on the table. “All right. I’m going to get this done and then settle in for the full moon.”
“Okay. See you in a bit.”
He dips his chin and continues through the kitchen, disappearing into the hallway.
All the Lost Boys seem to be on high alert, and there’s a current running through them. Maybe through the cave and the entire island. It’s like a constant hum of anxiety, of things to come.
“Hi.” Hands land on my shoulders, and I feel Peter press a kiss to my crown.
“Everyone ready for the moon?” I ask as he sits beside me.
“I hope so. Slightly and Nibs are disguising all the entrances that are too wide to brace, and Coy and Foy are shoring up everything else.”
If the moment when the moon is high in the sky is any indication, a full moon at full height might make the entire island go haywire. A flash of fangs and claws races through my mind and disappears into the dark recesses.
“Don’t worry.” He wraps an arm around me. “Nothing can touch you down here.”
“What about the shadows?” I ask.
“Those aren’t real. Geo just got spooked by the beasts that roam on nights like this. That’s all.” He points to my coffee. “Is it good?”
“It’s a delight. I’d offer you some, but I refuse to waste a drop.”
He laughs, the sound rich and deep. “Fair enough. That’s one of the things I love about you, Moira. You’re honest to a fault.”
“There’s a lot of things to love about me.” I take another sip.
“I can’t dispute that.” He rises and kisses my hair again. “I’ll make one final round, and then we can all settle in for a story, all right?”
“Sure.”
“I really want to hear more about the one you told about the miners who find something evil in the deep ground. It’s been my favorite.”
“Dark.” I smile into my coffee. “That’s one of my favorites too.”
“Then we both have good taste.” He raps his knuckles on the table then leaves.
I finish my coffee slowly, then head toward the map room.
I’ve been curious about a few things—like if it shows how the Nevertree is connected to the rest of the island.
Peter and Coy have mentioned that its roots go all the way to the sea on all sides.
Is that on the map? Or did they somehow figure it out.
When I get there, a low fire is still burning, as if someone has been in here a while ago.
Then I see the small daggers on the map, all of them in configuration around a carved wooden ship.
The Jolly Roger. Peter must be waiting for it to be moored here so he can make his play to kill Hook.
I make a mental note of the location, then look around at the rest of the map to see if the Nevertree is detailed on it. It isn’t, at least, its roots aren’t.
I trace my finger along the coastline and try to memorize the details of the map that might be of interest to me. It’s not as if I can tell directions here, but maybe if I can get some landmarks into my mind, I’ll be able to navigate if I’m ever caught out again.
My gaze flits back to the wooden ship. I wonder when they realized my pirate wasn’t coming back to the Jolly Roger.
I instinctively look down at the wound on my leg, the one the pirate treated with gentle hands despite everything.
Even though Hook wants me dead, that pirate didn’t harm me.
In fact, he saved my life. Now he’s dead.
I rub my eyes again and realize I’ve been in here for a while. The small fire has died down to just embers now. Where’s Peter?
When I turn to leave, the embers spark and spit. I watch them and wonder if I should try to put them out. Then again, it’s not as if the cave can catch fire. They spark more, and that’s when I realize it’s because something is dripping onto them.
I stare and move closer. “What is that?” I see a few more drips of some dark liquid. “Water?”
One more step toward it, and I hear a ringing between my ears. Acid rises in my throat, and something inside me, something primal, tells me I need to get the hell out of here.
Backing away, I gasp when a black shape crushes the embers beneath it. Then it rolls from the fireplace and rises, coalescing into the shape of a boy.
“What the—”
It screams, a high-pitched screech of terror and pain, and then it runs toward me.
I sprint into the hall, my leg aching but my fear in control. “Peter!” I yell for him as I run as fast as I can. Another scream echoes through the cave, and I can’t tell if it’s from the shadow in the map room or if there’s another in here somewhere.
Something darts out of a side room in front of me, and now I’m the one screaming.
“Moira!” Coy grabs me and scans the dark hallway at my back. “What is it?”
“A shadow! Behind me!”
He steps past me, keeping me at his back, and puts his fists up.
“No, Coy! It’s a creepy fucking shadow! Come on!” I yank on his arm. “We need to hide or something.”
“What is it?” Curly calls from somewhere behind us.
“Moira saw a shadow.” Coy peers down the hallways as I keep yanking on his arm.
“Coy!”
That’s when the scream comes again, closer this time, and when I look, the shadow child is there, its eyes burning like embers as it stalks toward us.
“Geo was right.” Coy swallows hard as Curly runs up. “Take her. Lock yourselves in the bedroom.”
“What? No. You’re coming with us. Coy!”
Coy turns to me, his eyes sad. “Moira, I’m sorry. For everything.” He kisses my forehead. “Take her, Curly. Now!” He turns and runs toward the shrieking shadow as Curly drags me backwards.
“No! Coy!” I scream for him as Curly gives up and scoops me into his arms and runs. “Coy!”
The scream comes again and again as Curly races through the tunnels. When we cut through the tree room, another shadow steps out of the darkness and blocks our way.
Curly puts me down and points to one of the trees. “Go, Moira. Go now. Run into the woods and hide. Don’t make a sound. I’ll tell Peter where you are.”
The shadow advances, its eyes burning bright and its hands up and curled into claws. “Curly, what is it? What are they?”
“Moira, go!” He pushes me hard into the nearest tree.
I realize right away it belongs to Nibs, because it has a pulley system and a small platform at the bottom.
Curly backs to the tree, blocking it from the shadow that approaches slowly. “Go, Moira. I don’t know how long I can hold it off.”
I can’t do this. I can’t leave them. Moving to step off the platform, I’m stopped by a golden flash.
“One good turn deserves another.” Tinker Bell bares her teeth as she reaches for the rope that hangs down next to the platform. With a hard yank, she sends me barreling upward as more screams ricochet around the cave.
I crouch down low, holding onto the wood for dear life as I shoot up inside the tree, grazing the sides a few times and tearing holes in my tunic.
When it finally slows and stops, I don’t hear screams anymore. Up here in the woods, it’s growls and roars, predators on the rampage, pulled to violence by the full moon hanging over the island.
I peek out of the hollow tree and see the familiar grove. Nothing is here. At least not yet. But I can’t stay where I am. If a shadow caught me here, I’d be stuck with no way out.
Slowly, I climb from the tree and ease through the grove until I come to a thicker area of underbrush. I pick my way through it, though each beastly roar makes me stop and look around to see if I’m about to be eaten.
I keep going, looking for a good spot to hide while my insides twist with guilt. I should’ve done something. Anything. Instead, I ran.
I gasp when a low branch scrapes against my wound, then have to drop down onto my haunches and breathe through the pain. My adrenaline must be wearing off, because I’m feeling every bit of the achiness I’ve come to expect from my time on the island.
When I start to move again, I spot a familiar sight.
The smoking mushroom. I scurry around in the trees close to it, then creep over to where it sends out its little tufts of gray clouds into the air.
With my ear to it, I listen for the screams or maybe the cries of Coy or Curly.
My heart wrenches at the thought of them being hurt or worse.
“Please be okay,” I whisper as I listen, my eyes on the roughly painted toadstool spots along the top of the chimney cap.
“I’m just fine, lass.”
That voice.
I turn as the pirate reaches down and pulls me to my feet. His blue eyes meet mine, a hardness in them as he stares down at me. “No screaming. Just like last time.”
A shudder races through me as he drags me closer, my body pressed tightly to his.
My heart rages in my ribcage, but I’m caught, completely at the mercy of the pirate who looks down at me with midnight in his eyes. When he glances at my mouth, I lick my lips.
His grip tightens, and I can feel every hard bit of him. The terrifying forest fades, and all I can do is wait for him to drag me to my fate. No matter what roars in the darkness, the pirate who clutches me in his arms is far more dangerous.
“Moira!” Something shoots up from the ground to my left.
The pirate turns and yanks me behind him, his grip on my wrist hard and sure.
Coy struggles out of one of the cave’s secret entrances, blood on his face as he claws his way to his feet.
“Coy!” I try to get around the pirate, but he won’t budge.
Instead, his right hand moves to his side, and he pulls his knife from its holster.
“Coy! Watch out!” I struggle against the pirate, trying to distract him, to stop him from whatever he intends to do.
“Moira, run!” Coy falls to his knees as the shadow rises behind him, the boy with the ember eyes climbing from the ground like a ghoul in a horror movie.
“Behind you!” I scream.
Coy’s gaze meets mine, and I see the fear in him.
Terror lives in his eyes, in the twist of his mouth as he tries to escape the shadow at his back.
It sends a crack rocketing through my heart, and the horrified scream that rips from him when the shadow grabs his ankle chills me to my marrow.
Coy falls onto the roots and old leaves, but he still fights to be free of the shadow.
“Coy!” I scream his name as he kicks at the boy and dislodges its hand.
He rises again and runs toward us.
But everything is moving too fast. Including the pirate.
Before I can even make a grab at his arm, he rears back and throws his knife. It flips end over end, then makes a horrible thunk sound as it sinks into Coy’s chest.
“No!” My scream melds with the sounds of the wild beasts in the trees, the dark creatures who only understand violence and death. “Coy!”
Coy drops to his knees, his gaze still on me as confusion ripples through him. Blood seeps from the edges of his mouth as he looks down at the knife hilt. “Run.” His voice is barely a whisper.
“Coy, no!” My voice breaks on a sob, and I scream again when he falls forward, the knife jutting all the way through his back.
The shadow child disappears, hissing into smoke that blows away under the light of the full moon. I can’t breathe, can’t do anything except scream with what little air I have left.
“That’s enough, lass. It’s done.” The pirate whips me around in front of him, his expression inscrutable as he grips my chin and forces me to look at him instead of my friend who lies dead on the ground. “Now it’s time for you to honor our bargain.”