Chapter 12; Archery Practice & Hide And Seek

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"A child sees the infinite potential that life is, not because the child is ignorant, but because the child is free from a conditioned view."

~ Jungblom Patrik

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Peter's P.O.V (a few hours before)

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    I hear Alice's melodious laughter from afar. I wonder what direction it's coming from as I do not see her with the other Lost Boys. I scan the area for Cassie, thinking that she'd be with him as she has taken a liking to the young boy. But to my disappointment, she isn't with him.

    The laughter soon gets louder and I can finally pinpoint where it's coming from. I cran my neck towards the sound, wondering what she's laughing about when I spot an odd figure coming out from behind the bushes. It's Alice, sitting on Ray's back. Ray says something to Alice and she hops off him. My blood boils as I see Alice kiss him on the cheek.

    I narrow my eyes at Ray. After a few seconds, he looks in my direction and notices the death glare that I'm sending him. He swallows nervously at the sight if me.
    Good. He should be afraid.
    Alice is mine and he needs to know that.

****

    "You seem to have gotten very close to Ray," I say to Alice.
    "We're just friends," says Alice, looking towards Ray's direction.
   
    She is silent but that doesn't fool me, I know that she's trying not to talk back to me.

      "Alice, remember how I told you that the reason why you're here is because you're lost and unloved?" I ask.
    "Yes," she replies, turning to face me.
    "And remember how you asked me to prove it?"
    "Yes?" she replies again, slower this time.

    "I can prove it," I say.
      "How?" Alice asks.
    "With this," I answer, taking my flute out of my pocket. "only lost childen can hear its music."
    Alice squints at it for a few seconds then realisation washes over her.
    "A flute?" she asks, furrowing her eyebrows in the cute way she always does when she's confused.

      "There's more to it than meets the eye." I say.
    "How so?" she asks.
    "I'll show you," I reply, putting the flute to my lips.
    I blow the first few notes to the song and watch as Alice goes under the flute's spell.
    "You can hear its music, can't you, Alice?" I ask, smirking.

      "Yeah!" she replies enthusiastically.
    My smirk widens —if that's even possible— when she says that. Alice gets up and starts dancing around the bonfire with Ray, whom was already under the flute's spell. One by one, the other Lost Boys join the two of them until Felix and I are the only ones left.

    "I told you that I'd get her," I say to Felix, whom was seated next to me.
    "I never had a shadow of a doubt," replies Felix, grinning.
    "I know," I say, smirking as I look at him.
    "After all..." I say, trailing off, knowing that he'd finish my sentence.
    "Peter Pan never fails," finishes Felix, smirking.

****

    After awhile, I notice that Alice has to strain herself to catch up with the Lost Boys' dancing.
    "Come on, Alice," I say, walking towards her. "It's time for bed."
    She yawns as I pick her up and carry her towards her tent, bridal style.
    "I told you that you were a Lost Girl," I say, smirking. "My Lost Girl."

      She then rubs her head against my neck as I tighten my grip on her petite frame. I duck under the eave of the tent as I walk inside, headed for Alice's bed. I place her onto the bed and pull the covers up to her shoulder. She looks so innocent and helpless when she's asleep, less... Feisty.

      I smirk, remembering how she disarmed me during our duel earlier today. She's a natural, she'll make an excellent swordsman in the future. Now if only she could control that temper of hers. I really didn't want to steal her memory of William but I had no choice, she refused to obey me and had to be punished.

    I wonder if she'll ever push me far enough to make me erase all her memories of her friends. I don't want it to come to that point, but I won't hesitate to do it if that's what it takes for her to fully submit to me like the other boys.

    "You're mine now, love," I say, kissing her forehead. "And I'm never letting you go. Ever."

  ****

      "Wake up, Alice," I say, shaking her awake.
    She groans and pulls the covers over her head, but that is her only response.
    "Alice, I swear to God, I'm gonna tickle you if you don't get up now," I threaten, knowing that she's very ticklish.

    "One..." I say, counting down to three. "Two... Th—"
    "Okay! I'm up! I'm up!" exclaims Alice, throwing the covers off her.
    I chuckle as she bolts up.
    "Get dressed, I'll be waiting for you outside," I inform her as I leave the room.

      I cran my neck up and look towards the heavens. I stare at the beautiful sunset, the sky is currently a bluish, orangey hue. I raise my hand up to sheld my eyes from the the light rays of the early morning sun.
      Alice soon emerges from the tent dressed in a black singlet -she wears a flowy white shirt over it- and black tights.

    "Come on, Alice," I say, nodding towards the trail. "Let's go."

****

    "What are we doing today?" Alice asks as we approach the clearing.
    "Take a guess," I say, gesturing towards the items on the grassy ground.
    "Archery?" asks Alice with shocked expression on her face.
     "What's the problem?" I ask, turning to face her. "You don't like archery?"

      "No, it's just—" her voice breaks and she sighs. "My late mother used to take me with her to her archery lessons when I was younger."
    She pauses for a few seconds and I gesture for her to continue.
     "I just— I always wanted to take it up but I'm always reminded that she's gone whenever I pick up a bow," she finishes.

      "It's alright, Alice," I say, wiping her tears away with my thumb. "You don't have to take it up if you don't want to."
    "No, it's fine. Let's just start my training, shall we?" she says.

****

    "Neverland is a dangerous place, you need to have the skills if you need to survive here," I say to Alice as she pulls the bowstring back to her cheek the way I taught her.
    She raises the bow and focuses on the target. I notice that her stance is wrong, so I walk towards her to correct it.

    She flinches as I place my hands on her hips.
    "Your stance is wrong," I inform her as I shift her body to the correct stance.
    She nods her head and lets out a shaky breath. Then, she takes a deep breath, turning her head back to face the target.

    Breathing out, she let the arrow fly. I hear the familiar twang of the bowstring as she relases her hold on it. The arrow cuts through the air, headed straight for the target.

    I soon hear the satisfactory sound of the arrowhead hitting the wooden target. I watch as Alice walks towards the target, eager to see where her arrow had landed.
    She widens her eyes in surprise when she nears the target.

    It's a bullseye.

****

    "Faster?" I ask Alice.

    "Much faster," she replies, running past me.
    "I can't believe I let you talk me into this." I say, shaking my head.
    "Oh, come on. Don't be like that." she says, playfully pushing me.
    "But hide and seek, Alice? Seriously?" I say, groaning. "Out of all the games they could've chosen they just had to choose this one."

      "They're kids, Peter. Besides, you ought to know that they'd choose this game." says Alice.
    She's referring to Asa, Isaac and Cassie. After dinner, the three younger boys had approached us and asked us to play with them. Alice agreed with them... No surprise there.

    I'm not surprised that Alice is the only person on this island who can get Cassie out of his shell, she's good with children.
    We can still hear Asa and Isaac counting down from sixty nearby. "Five, four, three, two, one!"
    "Ready or not," Asa shouts.
    "Here we come!" Isaac finishes.
    We stop next a thicket and Alice crouches behind it.

    "Why am I doing this again?" I ask, crawling after her.
    "Shut up, I can hear them coming!" whisper-shouts Alice.
    "Fine, miss bossy," I grumble, crouching down next to her.
      "Where do you think they are?" Isaac asks.
    "I'm not sure. But they're definitely around here," replies Asa. "I heard Pan's voice coming from here."

    Alice gives me a "I told you so" look.

      I roll my eyes.

    "Shut up." Alice whispers.
    "I didn't even say anything," I protest.
      "Wait..." says Alice, raising her hand. "Something's wrong."
    "What?" I ask.
    "It's quiet," says Alice, looking around suspiciously. "Too quiet."

    Only then do I realise what's different. Asa and Issac have stopped talking.
    "Do you think they've left?" she asks me.

    I open my mouth to say something, when I am abruptly cut off.
    "Boo!" exclaims Asa and Isaac, jumping out from behind the thicket.
    Alice jumps and pretends that they've actually scared her. I smile to myself at her act and decide play along.

    I may be cruel to the older Lost Boys but I'm not as mean to the younger boys.
    "Where's Cassie?" asks Alice, breaking my train of thought.
    "I don't know," Asa says, shaking his head.
    "We couldn't find him," adds Isaac.
    "I think I know where he is," says Alice, heading back to camp.

    I watch as Alice heads towards the campsite, holding Isaac and Asa's hand in hers. She makes her way to the weapons table near one of the huts. The weapons table is bare, save the green tablecloth over it. Alice bends down and lifts the patched tablecloth up. Under the table lies none other than Cassie, sleeping soundly as he sucks his thumb.

    "Looks like someone's sleepy," says Alice, chucking as she picks him up.
    "I'll bring him back to his tent," says Alice, shifting Cassie so that his free arm is around her neck and that he is sitting on her hip.
    "I'll join you," I tell her.
    Then I turn to face the twins. "You guys should probably go to bed."

      They nod their heads obediently and leave, headed for their tents. By the time I've caught up with Alice, she's already tucking Cassie into bed.
    "Sweet dreams, Cassie," she whispers, kissing him on the cheek.
    "You'll make a good mother for the younger boys," I tell her, my hand lingering on her waist.
      "They deserve the best," says Alice. "They're good boys."

    I notice that she doesn't fight my hold on her, instead lets me hold her in my arms.
    Maybe she's finally accepted that she belongs to me, I hope silently.
    I kiss her on the head.
    "I think it's about time we turned in for the night," I say to her as I open the flap of the tent.

      Alice nods her head and follows me out of Cassie's tent.
    "Goodnight, Peter," says Alice, standing by the entrance of her tent.
    "Goodnight, Alice," I say.

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Oh my Gods, this is a long chapter... It's almost 2000 words long. What did you guys think of this chapter? I might write in Peter's P.O.V again -I'm not sure yet but- I'll see first. What and/or whose P.O.V should I write in more often? Once again, feedback is appreciated.

~ Alice ☺

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

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Edited: 21.11.2017

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