Once Upon a Time 1. Chapter 1: Free

The moon boldly shone through the curtains into the room where a girl was holding her hands over her ears to try and hide from the screams and shouts down the stairs. She wasn't screaming yet, but she knew she would be soon. Soon it would be her turn.

She grabbed a pillow and slammed it over her ears, "Please get me out, please get me out, please get me out!" She repeated, whispering in the quietest voice she could. She could still hear him though. He did this every now and then, but no one mentioned it. The neighbours ignored the sounds, pretending it was just a TV show or something. The other children were broken, they wouldn't say a thing incase he found out. She wasn't broken…was she? She thought that if she got away, if she got to safety, then she would tell someone. She would get this all sorted.

…But then where would she go? She was trapped. What's to say that another home would be any better than this? This was the third place she had gone to. At least at this one she wasn't being forced out. In some part of herself she believed that the man, now heading up the stairs, cared for her.

"Don't be ridiculous!" She shouted in her head. She knew that she didn't believe that. She knew that this man only cared about the money he gets for keeping them. He made a pretty good profit out of it. Keep ten children, get lots of money, give the children just enough food and drink to keep them alive, and spend the rest on yourself. It was an easy way for him to make money. He could even integrate it into therapy sessions allowing him to really force that anger out of him.

Emma could hear him coming down the coridoor. It was coming close to her turn. She quickly jumped out and grabbed a chair and rammed it infront of the door. She started to grab anything she could to reinforce it, grabbing her clothes (that were normally just sitting in the corner anyway, their rooms were not well furnished with just a bed, a chair and a light above that sometimes worked). She pushed the bed over towards the door, trying to wedge everything in.

But she had done this before, and it didn't end well that time.

She turned and looked over at the window, hearing his footsteps come closer and closer. She ran towards it and pulled the curtains across. The moon was high in the sky and a reflection shone against the lake that looked beautiful…she would have thought if she was not trying to escape the man ready to teach her a lesson. She tried to open the window, but it was jammed shut. She knew it was useless, she had tried it before, but she still rammed against it with all the strength she could muster in her small arms.

"Please get me out!" She continued to whisper as she continued to hit against the window. She then stopped. She could hear him breathing. She could hear the key going into the lock and starting to turn.

She didn't care anymore. She grabbed a shirt and covered her fist in it. She then punched at the window pane and it shattered, spreading glass outside. She then heard the angry vocalisations of the man as he started to push the door open. Emma looked at the broken window. There wasn't enough space for her to get through. Even if she smashed all of the panes of glass she wouldn't be able to get through, there was a wooden frame that made all of the gaps too small.

She knew what was going to happen. She faced the door as the man continued to shove and closed her eyes.

"Please…get me out." She whispered silently as tears started to roll down her face.

She then felt a chill go through her. She hadn't felt the cold before then, but she then heard a great gust of wind pass through the window. She turned and saw a shadow start to pass through into the room. She knew it was in the room because of a pair of white eyes that spread through the room, heading over to the door. It must have passed through the keyhole, as the lights disappeared and she heard a deafening scream from the man and a sudden thud.

She was scared and amazed at the same time. What had happened? What did she do?

She heard the other children shouting in their rooms. They must know what has happened. She headed over to the door, but as she did the white eyes reappeared and the shadow entered her room. The two stared at each other for a minute, trying to figure out the other one.

Then the shadow held out its hand towards the girl. She stood for a second looking at the hand, and then smirked.

She jumped at the door and opened it quickly, then ran. She ran out down the corridor as fast as she could. She knew that no matter what just happened, even if that shadow had just saved her, she was not going to trust it. It just murdered someone! There was no way she was going to grab it's hand! Who knows what it would do to her.

But somewhere she knew that she would not be fast enough.

The shadow stormed across the sky above her. She saw it chase after her, gaining on her quickly. She managed to get out of the door and lights shone down on her as she activated the infrared detectors. But this didn't stop the shadow that had passed to the other side of her. She tried to back away from it, but it was getting closer and closer to her, penning her in like an injured wolf.

She tried to get away, pushing off of the wall of the building to get past the shadow, but it grabbed her. She was ready to bite the shadow's arm, to try and get it to let go, but suddenly they flew up into the air. Emma looked in horror as the world disappeared under her and she was pulled higher and higher into the dark clouds.

They were flying. She didn't know how any of this was happening. She was eleven years old! She knew that magic shadows and flying without a plane was not possible. She knew that fairy tales did not exist, apart from the dark ones where children get abducted and are never seen again, where wolves eat little girls and the eternal youth who killed his followers when they started to grow up. She imagined that if the world would allow her to be beaten repeatedly by the person who was meant to protect her, then these stories were probably true too.

Maybe this was one of them. Maybe this was going to be her story. She couldn't believe it, but it was happening right infront of her eyes. She looked up at the shadow, which was focussed on their flight.

They had been flying a while and now they were over an ocean. She had decided at this point that panicking wasn't going to help her and she instead viewed the scene. It was in some way quite beautiful. It was then that she noticed a ship speeding through the water. She was tempted to struggle free and drop over near that ship, but she knew that it would not go well. She knew that if she did then she might end up with even worse people – and while she knew that shadow wasn't to be trusted, it had saved her life.

They continued streaking through the air, until she saw an island appear on the horizon. It was a dark place, full of overgrown plants and jagged rocks, but in some part of her it felt homely. She didn't understand why. The place looked cold, but maybe it was the fact it looked uninhabited. Maybe she was going to stay on this island with this shadow and no one else. No one else was going to come and bother her.

The shadow was still staring straight ahead, it wasn't one for conversation as she had found while trying to talk to it earlier. It didn't respond verbally to anything she said, but it would occasionally glance over at her. It was listening, even if it wasn't communicating back.

Their altitude started to drop as the shadow seemed to be heading straight for the island. Emma knew that this would be her best chance to escape it, to get into the jungle ahead and lose it among the mass of woodland, but she knew that it would find her again, "I'll stay with you for now shadow!" She shouted, though her voice was lost as the wind cut past them. They then started to slow down and they dropped beneath the trees. She saw beneath her lights, "A fire?" She thought. And then heard the calls and shouts. They got closer and she could see that beneath her were a group of boys dancing around the fire. She then noticed one boy who was not dancing, but was infact staring at her. The boy's elfin appearance, with his pointy ears and his piercing green eyes that seemed to match the strange green outfit he was wearing, stood out instantly. The shadow was starting to slow down and lowered Emma down infront of the boy.

She collapsed onto the floor upon landing. After having to hold herself up for the entire flight she was exhausted! But she didn't let it show, instead staring up at the boy, ready to run if she needed to.

The boy laughed, holding out his hand towards her to help her up, "Hello Emma. I've been waiting a long time to meet you."

Emma hit the boys' hand away, and prepared to run, but felt something in the ground pull her down. She felt paralysed as the boy laughed, "You're a feisty one aren't you? I like that. I think you'll make things quite fun around here Emma."

She was shaking as the boy sat down next to her and put an arm around her, "Who are you?" She asked, fear more evident in her speech then she intended.

"You can call me Peter. Peter Pan. Welcome to Neverland." He beamed, as Emma knew that she was now in a fairy tale, one she wanted to get away from as soon as possible.


	2. Chapter 2: Survival

Emma sat awake, as the bodies of the sleeping boys lay around her, sobbing noises coming from each of them. She wasn't going to sleep tonight. She would have considered running away, but she could see Pan sitting in the middle of the camp by the fire, staring at her. She knew that the moment she tried, he would stop her. She considered whether this was worse than before, but there wasn't an easy way to compare the two due to this situation being something that she never thought would be possible half a day ago.

While she thought about this, she realised that she had been awake for a long time. She knew that she would collapse of exhaustion soon, but she didn't want to. She wanted to watch this boy for as long as she could, ready to act if she needed to. Ready to run if she had the chance.

After a few more minutes, Pan stood up and walked over to her. He sat down and put his arm over her shoulder, "You're cold Emma." He commented. He held up his other hand and a blanket appeared in it. He put the blanket over Emma, who was starting to expect the unexpected when it came down to the boy, "Here. Now it's time to get some sleep. You have to be fresh for tomorrow. We'll teach you all sorts of things so you can survive here, so you can take down pirates and hunt down animals. It's going to be great Emma."

Emma tried to fade the voice of the boy out, tried to ignore him, but as she did all she could hear was the sobs of the children around her. Their cries that Emma knew to be the cries for the lives they left. The tears for the families that had abandoned them. The families that they abandoned…

"Of cause, this is your first time hearing it isn't it Emma?" Pan was smirking as he continued to hold her, "The cries of the lost. It shows that you are special, only those who have been lost can hear them. It means that you are one of us Emma."

Pan then leant over and put his hand near her head, it started to glow slightly as Emma started to feel faint, "It's time to rest now Emma. You have a busy day ahead of you." She fell asleep looking at that grin that swallowed her.

She slept soundly that night. It was actually the first time she had slept without dreams for a long time. There was just nothingness and space with no one, "This is what I wished for…right?" Some part of her thought as she slept. She didn't reply, but simply rested.

The next day Emma woke to find herself alone in the camp. The fire was still burning, and it was still dark, but there were small beams of light piercing through. Emma could tell that it was daytime. She made her way towards the fire and noticed a small piece of paper lying on the ground. She bent down, picked it up and started to read, "Come find us."

She looked around her. This was a part of that training that Pan was talking about. She couldn't see anyone. She was about to start running but then she felt something, like eyes in the back of her head. Of cause she wouldn't be able to escape. Pan was watching her, and from what she knew about him he would be able to find her and stop her as soon as she started.

Emma knew what she needed to do. She needed to play along for now, and earn Pan's trust. Once she has that then maybe he wouldn't be looking for her and she could escape. She knew that it wouldn't be easy, and that Pan would probably suspect that she was planning this; he seemed to understand a part of her, that if she got the opportunity to run then she would take it. She would survive.

So Emma started to look for the boys. She was lucky to have previously received some lessons from another child in care over the years. The child had been a boy scout or something like that and had learnt how to track people. He was pretty good at it, leading the two to play games of hide and seek using clues to track the other down. It had been quite exciting for Emma at the time, but like with most things it didn't end well. The boy had been beaten because of some reason, Emma couldn't keep track at the reasons that had been given over the year, and he became hospitalised. Soon after social services investigated and she was moved to another foster home and the two had been separated.

The lost boys had left her some clues to find them, Emma could tell that they purposely broke some branches and left footprints in the mud – but Emma could also tell that they didn't mean to leave some clues. There were a few things that were less noticeable unless you knew what you were looking for. Emma smiled upon noticing this. At least she would be able to use this to outsmart the average lost boy, to stay out of their way if she needed to.

Emma continued to track them down until she came to an opening in the trees where light shone down. There she looked for more clues but found that the trail had run cold. She looked around for any signs she might have missed but then heard a call like a whistle up in the trees.

She scanned the trees and eventually saw the reflection of…something. The boys were in the tree. She then saw something glow up above. It was Pan, who was smirking upon her noticing him. He then looked away and lifted his hand nonchalantly signalling to one boy who jumped down from the tree and stood infront of her. He was brandishing a quarterstaff. Emma slowly backed away from him, but then noticed something gleaming as it dropped through the air.

A blade struck the ground next to her, and then she heard steady clapping. It seemed to echo all around her, as all of the boys (apart from the one who was advancing on her) starting to repeat the noise. She grabbed the sword from the ground and there was a cheer from above. The cacophony was overwhelming, but Emma didn't have time to be overwhelmed. The boy infront of her lunged with the staff and Emma ducked and rolled across the ground, out of the way. She then leapt up and readied the blade. She then heard a tutting sound; somehow it was as clear as the clapping that continued.

She then looked and next to her was Pan. He grinned as he moved Emma's legs and changed the position that she was holding her sword in, "That's better. Now you look like a real opponent." Emma held the position while staring at the boy, who was edging towards her again. Pan put his head next to her ear and whispered into it, "Now, when he comes at you, swing the sword to deflect."

While Emma thought about the words the staff swung towards her and she quickly threw the blade infront of it and the two collided releasing a metallic clang. Pan nodded as Emma got back into position and the staff came again. This time she knew what she was doing. She threw the blade against the staff with more power causing the staff to deflect more powerfully, slamming it into the mud. She then saw that the boy was open as he struggled to get the staff out of the mud, and so slashed across with the sword towards him.

The boy dodged back, but as he did he pulled the staff up and whipped it against her side. She was flung to the floor and let out a grunt of pain. She took some deep breaths. The pain was unbelievable, causing her head to feel like it was spinning. However she was used to pain. She knew what to do, or at least, she knew what she had wanted to do so many times when she felt such pain.

She gripped the sword tightly and then sprung up into the air. She dived towards the boy, landing before his legs where she slashed across them. The boy was surprised and hadn't managed to evade the cut. He was trained well enough to not grasp at the cut, but his stance slipped slightly, giving Emma an opening. She darted up, moving faster then she knew she could and hit the boy around the head with the hilt of the blade. The boy was forced towards the ground and was then paralysed, as Emma held the blade towards his chest. There was a cheer from the boys in the tree, as Emma stood ready to take the boy's life if she needed to.

Pan smirked as he walked over to her, "Very good. You'll make a fine addition." Pan then started to walk away, but then stopped, "Oh, as for him, you decide what to do with him. It would be a shame to lose him. Well I say a shame. Actually I don't mind. But it does mean finding another boy to replace him, and that takes…effort. That's what it is! It's not a shame; it's just the effort to find a replacement that would be irritating! I love it when I find the right way to express myself."

The boy infront of Emma looked frightened. He was hardened, and had scars over him in various parts of his body, but he still looked scared of Emma at this moment. He was still a boy at the end.

Emma withdrew her blade and then dropped it on the ground. She started to walk away but the boy jumped up and ran towards her with the staff, he went to slam the staff down on her head when she noticed him. She threw herself through the air away from the swing, grabbed the blade off of the ground and then rammed it towards the boys back. The blade went in easily, easier then she thought it would.

She felt an explosion inside of her, as everything was silent.

She wasn't a killer was she?

She had thought about doing it before. She had been in enough trouble to consider killing people. But she never thought that she would do it. In her life, her normal life, the police would have caught her and no good would come from it. But it didn't look like there were police here. The whole situation didn't make sense, why was she doing this? Why was she playing a game with a real sword with consequences like death?

But then something rang inside of her, the reason why she pulled the blade out of the boy and then walked backwards as he fell to the ground, "Survival." A voice whispered inside of her. She needed to live, and this was the way she was going to do it.

She didn't smile as she saw the boy's lifeless body infront of her. She quickly walked away so she couldn't see his eyes with their frozen gaze. She instead looked at Pan's grin as it started to swallow her, "Well done Emma." Pan laughed, "I didn't know if you had it in you. But it seems you do, you are well and truly a lost girl."

There was a roar of shouts and applauds from the trees. Pan took her in for a side hug and she allowed it to happen. A part of her was in shock about what just happened, but it was being silenced by survival. She knew that this was what she needed to do, and she didn't feel sad about that. She couldn't run, so she had to fit in to survive.

And after all, she had dreamt about killing people in the past, maybe this was just who she was. Maybe this was where she belonged.

Meanwhile a teenager watched from a distance. He was somehow hidden from the other people on the island. He watched the girl, as she looked like everything good was being stripped from her. He continued to watch as she was taken back to the camp and was celebrated for the unpleasant deed she had just done, "I can't let this become her story." He thought. He knew he couldn't storm in and get her now, so instead he worked harder with the materials he was given to complete the jobs on the note in his hand. He needed to make sure everything was ready, that everything would make the story perfect.


End file.

Once Upon a Time, Adventure, Hurt-Comfort