Except One

The memory of Hook’s words swam around Regan’s mind as she hovered above the surface of the sea. Her surroundings faded away and she was stuck, lost in thought and the horror of the spoken truth. She could barely seen anything but Hook’s grim face, his brown eyes gleaming oddly as he realised he had struck a cord within the girl. The sounds of the battle on the deck faded away so all Regan was left with was the drumming sound of her own heart, and the heavy weight of the sword strapped to her side was the only reminder of where she was, and what she was supposed to be doing.

“Come Regan, beautiful Regan”, William murmured to her, his hand inviting her back onto the ship. She flew weakly closer to him, staring at him through the port hole. His hand was clean of dirt, so unlike Peters, who was always dirty from his adventure of the day. The back of Hook’s hand was decorated with thick, wiry hair as all men’s hands were, also unlike Peter’s whose arms and hands were clean of thick hair but had the smooth baby hair of a boy. Stubble lay on William Hook’s jaw, and it shaped his mouth and lips perfectly with a raw edge giving him a masculine attraction. Peter’s jaw was smooth, he would never have the stubble of a man’s beard because he was a boy. He would always be a little boy.

Kisses and hugs were all just a game to him. It meant nothing to him but the harmless adrenaline it could bring. He knew nothing about love, and he knew nothing about the life and feelings of a grown up. It was his biggest pretend.

A tear trailed down Regan’s cheek, and it curled towards her lips where she could taste it’s salty freshness. She still hovered, between two worlds staring at Hook,

“Come Regan,” William said again, an edge of impatience marring his voice “I can give you everything you want, power, a husband…children. It’s all yours, just take my hand and come back inside.”

Regan hesitated and then slowly, she reached her small hand out and placed it into William’s. He smiled at her then and she allowed him to pull her from the air and back into the small kitchen, where she had previously rescued the Indian girl. His hand was warm in hers and it was much bigger than Peter’s. But his touch was not unfamiliar as she remembered her time with a tail, when they had done more than hold hands.

Hook released her hand and then traced his finger down her pale cheek, and wiped away the tear stains “No need for crying anymore my girl, you’re with us now…”, he smiled at her and tilted her head up, placing his lips delicately down onto hers.

Regan gasped into the kiss, and Hook’s hold her became stronger as he gripped her wrists. The sudden feeling of suffocation came over Regan, and she struggled as she had struggled against her step-father. She did not feel safe here, not like she did with Peter. She needed Peter…

How had she allowed herself to be tricked?

Regan turned her head away, trying to push the weigh of Hook off her body but she was caged against the wall and he was too strong “leave me alone,” she whispered “I do not belong to you, I will never belong to you”.

Hook smiled and his handsome face contorted with malice and cruelty “I’m a pirate girl, my life work is completed by taking things that do not belong to me. You are Peter’s prized possession, you can see he values most just by how he looks at you. You will be how I defeat him.”

“No!” Regan yelled and struggled again to get away “You lying, evil, disgusting old man! Let me go!”

Her struggles were useless however, and Hook just laughed, his grip on her arms painful and bruising “Poor little Peter will have no happy thoughts left when he realises his heart is dead”,

Regan’s blood ran cold at the words and with the last of her strength and using every happy thought she could muster she rose up quickly into the air and tried to escape. She kicked out at Hook’s head, catching his shoulder and throwing the pirate captain off balance. She zoomed towards the door, but the surroundings were too small and cluttered for an easy escape. Hook recovered on time and with a brutal force he caught Regan’s ankle and threw her backwards.

Regan yelled in fright as she span through the air for a mere second, and she crashed against the wall of the kitchen, her head hitting the rough hard floor and her arm landing awkwardly beneath her, making the girl cry out in sudden pain. She blinked, and struggled to rise but already she could see Hook unsheathe his long silver sword and bring the hilt down towards her head.

She sucked in one last breath, and allowed Peter’s face to fill her mind,
“I love you Peter”, she whispered before the pearl enamelled hilt smashed against her skull, causing the girl’s eyes to roll back into her head to darkness and her whole body to become limp. Blood began to leak from the head wound, and Hook wiped it from his hilt before grabbing Regan’s body, and arranging her in his arms. He was surprised by how light she was, and it made it easy for him to rearrange her deathlike features, her hair falling perfectly like a silvery blonde waterfall over the crook of his arms and the blood stream down her face. Her legs dangled and he smiled, satisfied and began his trip back up to the deck.

With a frown, Hook noted the amount of dead pirates on the deck of his ship exceeded that of the redskins. But not for long, he would have Peter and he would watch pain fill the boys eyes as he cut off his hand. He would listen gladly to the boy’s screams fro mercy as he fed him piece by piece to the sharks and crocodiles.

But for now, Hook would satisfy his lunacy by watching Peter’s eyes fill with agony when he realised his girl Regan was dead.

Hook stood a mere moment on the deck, shoulders thrown back, the limp girl in his arms before the fighting men around him took notice. The pirates stopped fighting the Indians, realising their Captain was up to something and the Indians muttered quiet prayers to their spirits as they noted the body of the girl in the Pirate’s arms.

Peter was last to notice, his infectious laughter echoing around the ship as he fought a pirate, teasing him and flying about him until the man was wobbling in dizziness. Peter quickly got a rope tying up the pirate and turned to see what the quiet crew behind was for.

He turned and peered curiously at Hook, and the body in his arms. He froze, his feet coming to meet the ground as he recognised the long tangled hair, the tunic of leaves made by the faeries, one of only two in the whole of Neverland. He walked forward, one step, two steps and with a hypnotic look in his blue eyes he watched the steady drip of blood hit the deck…drop after drop.

His body became pale, and his eyes began to sting with the expectation of sudden tears. His hands balled into fists, and his short sword shook in his grasp. He shook his head “No,” he whispered.

William smiled, and for a moment Peter believed he was staring at James Hook, that was the malice that lay in the mans eyes.

“Ah yes Peter, I’m afraid your Regan is simply…no more.”

“No….NO!” Peter yelled in fury “You did not kill her, you did not!”, and tears sprung from his eyes in angry spurts, matching his anger and denial.

And then William began to laugh, his whole body shaking with apparent happiness. His joy only angered Peter further and he stalked towards him.

“I will kill you Hook. I will kill you as you killed her….”, Peter’s voice was low and menacing, a strange sound that had never been heard in his words before. The surrounding Indians shivered in the icy tone, and they waited anxiously to see the outcome.

“Well by all means you can try little Peter Pan, but I will see you fall before I submit myself to death.”,

Peter yelled and jumped towards Hook, their swords met with a loud clang and soon the clash of metal against metal was all that could be heard.

Tinkerbell and Felin flew towards Regan’s body, which Hook had thrown mercilessly aside, she lay in a heap, her limbs entangled, her face decorated with blood. Tinkerbell touched her finger, and Felin began to cry, his fiery wings and hair spitting against the water that leaked from his tiny eyes. He sat on her chest and cried for his laugh, the laugh he believed he would not hear again.

And then as Tinkerbell pushed her face in a tender gesture onto Regan’s limp thumb, she felt the faint pulse underneath and she sprang up, tinkling with delight. Felin looked up from between his hands, and shook his head, no his Regan was dead.

But Tinkerbell would not listen to him, and slapped him furiously around the head. She grabbed his hand and brought him to Regan’s mouth, and they both bent over it anxiously and waited. Felin fizzed with delight as the weak breath hit him as it was released from Regan’s lips and he began to fly around. But how could they wake her?

Tinkerbell grabbed a hat from a fallen pirate and with the help of Felin carried it towards the water where they dipped the fabric into the sea. With a struggled they heaved it back up towards Regan, Tinkerbell anxiously looking towards Peter locked in battle with Hook. They squeezed the hat, so drops of water began to fall on Regan’s face in a cold release. Felin patted her cheek and Tinkerbell tugged at her hair and wet the girls lips with the salt water. They both waited anxiously as Regan’s fingers twitched and she began to stir.

~

“Would you like to know what happened before I killed her?”, William whispered to peter above the sound of their clashing weapons.

Peter did not answer, his lips set in a firm line, his emotion raging internally. He had never wanted to kill someone so much, and it was scaring him.

William continued “She was remorseful, filled with regret she had come her, and stayed with you Peter. Because you were never able to give her anything. You are just a little boy, but girls like Regan have no time for little boys. They need men, men to love, men to marry and men to give them children. Girls like Regan, and girls like Wendy don’t want to stay here with you, because you’re a selfish little boy Peter Pan, who can offer them nothing.”,

Without realising it, Peter stopped fighting and he stared at William with eyes filled with agony “You’re a liar”, he whispered.

Hook shook his head “I lie not little Peter. Why do you think they all leave you? They don’t want you Peter, they use you. Regan would have left, as did Wendy and Jane and even the Lost Boys. Maybe it’s time you grew up Peter Pan.”

Peter attempted to fly up, to surprise Hook in an attack so quick he would not be able to shield himself but he could not. His happy thoughts were gone, they had died along with Regan,

“You’re a liar”, he whispered again, his legs feeling weak and he stumbled backwards.

“You’re the liar Peter Pan, you are the pretender. You pretend to love, you pretend to care for them but you only care for yourself and you love nothing. You are only a little boy and little boys know nothing about love. You should never have fooled Regan, you should have given her a chance, a chance to grow and become a woman. She is dead because you Peter, are a liar.”,

Tears were hot on Peter’s cheeks as he fell backwards, the world appeared a blur, he was numb with everything and with the words of Hook. He didn’t even notice Hook raise his sword for a killing blow, until he heard the sweet, angelic voice he thought he’d never hear again;

“He is not a liar! He is the great and wonderful Peter Pan!”,
Peter turned his head in shock to see Regan standing, swaying slightly, her face still marred by blood but holding her sword in steady hands. Tinkerbell and Felin were dancing by her shoulders.

“You are just an old man and a codfish!”, she said to Hook who roared with the indignation and turned to strike Regan dead once and for all.

But he was too late, as Regan swung her sword around in a terrific arc and it landed straight into Hook’s chest. He froze, his eyes widening and staggered back, falling onto the ground as a stain began to spread outwards. He wheezed Regan’s name once before his eyes froze forever fixated on the girl who killed him.

Regan wobbled, her head swimming and she fell backwards in time to be caught by the familiar arms. She smiled up into his cornflower blue eyes “Oh Peter,” she sighed, and then fainted in his hold.