"My emotions throw me into an whirlpool I can't escape."

~ @tenwordspoem / / Twitter

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Henry's P.O.V

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    "Where did The Bloodlust Trio go?"
    "Could you not call them that?" Ray asks, the tone of his voice telling me that he's making an effort not to shout at me over the phone.
    Most people wouldn't understand why he's defending them. After all, they did make his life a living hell when he still lived in Neverland with the other Lost Boys. But I understand him.

    He's just realized that his life has been a lie and that it wasn't always that way. Finding out that my closet friends for two years once would've done anything to beat me to a bloody pulp if they were given the chance would've made me lose my mind. He's confused and emotionally unstable right now, which is understandable. I think I can say with confidence that anyone in his position would've reacted that way too.

    "Uh, yeah, sorry about that," I apologize, scratching the back of my neck. "So, um, where did they run off to?"
    "I don't know," he replies. "They just took off."
    "They won't do anything stupid, right?" I ask.
    "I just realized that my close friends are the people who hate me the most in the world."

    "Yeah." I nod. "Who knows what they'll do now."
    A silence soon settles.
    I clear my throat. "So, what are you guys going to do now?"
    "Lewis and the twins are mostly alright, but I'm going to try and get Alice to talk again."
    "How is she?" I ask.
    "Still shell-shocked, I don't know if I'll ever get her back to her usual self."

    "It'll take awhile for her to take it all in," I say. "Just make sure she remembers to eat."
    "Will do."
    I begin to hang up stop when I hear Ray's voice on the other end. "Henry?"
    I bring to phone to my ear again. "Yeah?"
    "If a boy by the name of Will comes to your apartment do me a favour and show him the book, okay?"

    "Sure. Who is he, again?" I ask.
    "He's my brother," Ray replies before hanging up.
    "How are they?" Mary Margaret asks as I place the phone back on the stand.
    "Not so good," I reply, sitting on the couch.
    "How's Alice taking it?" Regina asks.
    "She's still in shock."

    "It'll take awhile for her to accept what she just found out." Regina shakes her head. "I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost Robin."
    I get up to leave the room, but stop when I hear the sound of the front door being knocked.
    "I'll get it," I say, making my way over to the wooden door.
    The hinges squeak as the door old door swings open.

    "Is Alice here?"
    The first thing I notice about the stranger are the bruises on his face. His hair is disheveled and his eyes look bloodshot, like he's been up all night. His bottom lip is split and has dried blood on it. I inch back, looking at him like he's a time bomb that could go off at any moment.
    "Who's asking?" I question, not taking my eyes off the dangerous-looking boy.

    "Will. I'm her best friend," he replies.
    I open the door, gesturing for him to come in.
    "I was just on the phone with your brother, he told me that you were coming," I tell him, closing the door behind us. "They left half an hour ago."
    "What happened to Cassie?" he asks.
    "I think you'd better sit down," Mary Margaret says.

    Will looks like he's on the verge of lashing out at me and demanding for answers like Alice did, but he maintains his composure and does what my grandmother suggested instead.
    "Is Alice alright?" he asks as I make my way over to the kitchen counter.
    "It's... complicated," I reply honestly as Regina hands me my Storybook.
    "Not to be rude or anything, but why'd they come to you for answers?"

    "Because of this," I say, handing him the my Storybook.
    Will glances at the book before facing me. He gits his teeth. "This is no time for jokes. My nephew is missing."
    "It isn't a joke. Just-" I take a deep breath. "Read the book. It'll explain everything."
    The older boy gives me an annoyed look, but proceeds to open the book away.

    "Oh my God."

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Hunter's P.O.V

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    "Jerome!" I yell, desperately trying to get my brother's attention before he catches up with Andrew, who left the sheriff's house in a hurry, muttering something about needing sometime to think. Which of course lead to Jerome following him out the door and leaving me behind.
    "Jerome!"
    He ignores me, turning a corner as Andrew did so a few seconds earlier.

    "Jerome stop!" I repeat, placing my hand on his shoulder.
    He spins on his heels, turning to face me. "What?! What do you want?!"
    "Jerome," I begin, making an effort to keep his temper in check. "I know you're angry and confused, but you have to think things through. Pan's dead. We don't have to listen to Andrew's anymore."
    "But he's right."

    "About what?" I ask.
    "About them." Jerome looks in the direction of the sheriff's house. "They aren't- They aren't our friends."
    "Jerome, do you even hear yourself?" I ask. "Alice and Ray, they've been nothing but kind to us during these past two years."
    "That's because we all had our memories taken," he states. "We both know that the runt would've been more than happy to see us dead."

    "The runt?" I question.
    "Ray."
    "I know his name, I just stopped saying that. And since when did you start calling him that?"
    "Since I got my memories back," Jerome says. "That's all he is to me. A runt."
    "So, you're saying that they wouldn't have helped us if they remembered us?"

    "You know that they wouldn't, Hunter!" He yells. "They would've left us alone to die just like we would've done if our roles were switched. Andrew's right, they have to pay for what they've done."
    "What they've done?"
    Jerome nods. "Yes. They-"
    "I'll tell you what they've done, they gave us a home! They helped us! Treated us like family! And nothing you say will ever change that fact!"
   
    "Yes, but they've also humiliated us! They made us look like- like fools to Pan. And nothing you will ever say will change that!" he yells, throwing my own words back at me. "They made Pan question our loyalty to him. They-"
    "Jerome, Pan's dead. He's dead and it doesn't matter anymore."
    "Tell that to Drew," he replies, before turning around to walk away.

    "Jerome stop." I grab him by the shoulder.
    I feel him tense up and the next thing I know I'm pushed up against the wall with Jerome's forearm pressed to my throat. His eyes display a variety of emotions. Anger, betrayal and hatred being the strongest ones.
    "J-Jerome-"

    He increases the pressure on my throat when I fight in his grip, and I close my eyes as a strong wave of pain hits me.
    "Jerome, please," I gasp, clawing at his arm.
    Black spots begin appearing in my vision and I feel myself slowly going limp. Jerome releases his hold on me just before I lose consciousness and I drop onto the cement, coughing.

    I wait until I've caught my breath before glancing up at my younger brother. Jerome remains in front of me, his gaze locked on the building that Andrew had walked into. I slowly get to my feet, using the brick wall for support. I can't believe how much has changed in the past two years. We had gone from working for Pan to living with the very people we hate to this. Whatever this is.

    "Jerome." My voice comes out raspy.
    "Don't." He holds his hand up. "Just don't."
    "Jerome, I'm fine," I say, a weak attempt to ease the tension in the air.
    He looks unconvinced.
    "I am," I lie, hiding the fact that I'm struggling to stand up straight. "It's alright, considering the circumstances. I shouldn't have grabbed you like that."

    "Don't bullshit me, I nearly killed you."
    "But you didn't," I state, standing up straighter to show him that I'm alright.
    Jerome still towers over me by a few inches despite the fact that I'm older than him and standing upright. He clenches his fists and looks down at his hands, avoiding my eyes.

    "Listen carefully, brother. I'm with Andrew, I want revenge for what they did to us and we're not just gonna let them get away with it."
    I shake my head in disbelief.  "What would mother say if she saw you now? I promised her that I'd protect you! That I'd keep you away from people like Andrew!"
    "Oh, and you're doing such a great job at that," he replies sarcastically.

    "Don't act like you didn't enjoy it," he says. "Don't act as if you didn't like how the Lost Boys respected us."
    "Respected us? They were terrified of us! Mother would've-"
    "Don't bring mother into this conversion! You may have been the one who looked after me and kept us together, but I was the one who kept us alive! I was the one who made sure no one messed with us! And I'm going to continue doing that!"

    "Jerome, you can't be serious. You can't expect me to follow you down that road."
    Jerome clenches his teeth. "If you're not with me then you're against me, and that makes you my enemy. And I won't hesitate to hurt you if you get in my way."
    He then turns around, headed for the building and I remain rooted to the pavement in shock.

    I've seen Jerome hurt other people, I've seen him steal, lie and cheat, but never in my nineteen years of life have I ever thought that my younger brother would ever threaten to hurt me. It takes me a few seconds to recover from the shock.
    I'm not losing Jerome. Not again.
    And with that thought in mind I run after my younger brother.

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Ares's P.O.V

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    I punch the dashboard with my fist. "Damn it!"
    I mutter a curse under my breath as the pain registers, adding on to the throbbing pain in my knuckles. I can't believe that bastard got away. I should've taken the shot when I had the chance. Now he's gonna rat me out and tell everyone. I grit my teeth.
    Maybe I should just go straight to his house and kill him.

    I shake my head, dismissing the stupid idea. No one would believe him anyway.
    But what if they did?
    My eyes dart towards my handgun lying in the open glove compartment.
    Should I?
    Beep! "Hey!"
    I slam the door of the glove compartment close when I hear the sound of someone calling me.

    I crane my head to the side view mirror, catching a glimpse a rather angry looking man glaring at me and flipping me off. I glance back towards the road and see that the traffic light has turned green. I pull the hood of my hoodie down, covering the blood stains on my shirt before stepping on the gas pedal and driving off. I glance at my rearview mirror, checking to see if anyone's tailing me.

    I wait until I'm sure that I'm not being followed before making a detour and heading back into town. You can never be too careful, especially with everything that's been going on recently. My phone beeps, causing me to momentarily take my eyes away off the road. I almost reach for the phone but shake my head.
    It's probably just a text from my landlord.

    The next two beeps make me reconsider. One text means my landlord. Two means my sister. And three means trouble. I reach towards the seat for my phone, keeping my eyes on the road even though I'm the only car on the highway. I quickly type in the five number code into the keypad then click onto the text icon to read the message.

    I immediately turn the car around as soon as I've read the messages. I reopen the glove compartment and reach for the handgun, clicking the safety off.
    The messages flash in my head as I step on the gas pedal.

    They know what you did.

    They're coming.

    Leave now.

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Hey guys, I'm back 😄 Did you guys miss me? Probably not since I left with that cliffhanger 😂 I know I should be sorry for leaving another cliffhanger after that last one but I'm not 😂 Is it bad that I like leaving cliffhangers? Anyways, I'm doing much better now, thank you to everyone who sent me DMs asking if I was alright, I love you all so much 💜 You guys never fail to put a smile on my face ☺ which is the reason why I decided to update this chapter.

My exams have just started so I won't be able to post until mid October. In the meantime, you guys should definitely check out my little sister's book (and follow her while your at it) It's called Pan's Game Trilogy Edits and I've given it my seal of approval 👍  [OneTrueDivergent]

Btw, I was originally planning to name this chapter "Uncovering The Truth" but it sounded kinda lame so I changed it to this. Comment below if you know what tv show it's from for a free cookie 🍪 Welp, I'm gonna listen to ThePianoGuys bc their videos are amazing and calming so that's all for this A/N, bye guys ☺

~ Alice xx

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What do you think of my cliffhangers? Are they annoying or do they make you eager to read the next chapter?

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Vote, comment, rate, do whatever you want <3

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