Before Neverland

Nobody knows why he is this way. Nobody knows of his loss or even of his gain. Nobody knows what Peter did to him, and why he has been hunting him down ever since. Nobody knows how he lost his hand, though many think they do. Nobody knows how he lost his mind, either. Well, one person does. She isn't without loss either. She hasn't spoken since he hurt her. Until now. My job is to get the story out of her, as much as she knows. It's tough, but she's given me a start. That start is all I need, and that start is a ship.



The Jolly Roger was all alone on it's sparkling expanse of ocean. The only noise for miles was the shrill of seagulls and the harsh flapping of the Roger's flag. Upon a closer listen, the faint clink of chains could be heard as the ship's prisoners shifted on their splintery bench. In the midst of the captives, a small child was quietly sobbing into her lap. Her thin wrists and ankles were rubbed raw and were oozing blood onto the grimy deck. A larger pair of shackles next to her were bloody and empty.

"C'mon now, miss," a crewman rasped to the woman in front of him. Her knees knocked together as she took a hasty step forward, away from the blade at her back. Two more of the crew were lifting a series of ropes towards her. She moved forward a few more feet before she was grabbed by a fourth sailor. Her tender ankles and wrists were tighly bound, and she was thrust to the edge of the ship. The first man attached a towing hook and rope to the back of her canvas shirt. The woman squeezed her eyes closed. With one shove, the sailor knocked her over the edge. She screamed as the rope tightened and she stayed hanging from the mast. She wriggled wildly as she was slowly lowered towards the ocean.

The little girl on the wooden bench cried out to her mother, and turned away. She buried her face in the shoulder of another woman that sat beside her. The woman snapped back from whatever far off land she was in, and looked down at the frightened little girl. She placed a comforting, shackled hand on the girls arm and hugged her closer. The woman listened as one of the crewmen whistled to the open sea. Almost immeadiately, the sharp snap of heavy jaws came from beneath the dangling woman. She shrieked in terror as she was lowered ever closer to the beast's teeth.

A similar shriek came from the woman's daughter as violent splashes and crunches drowned out everything. The girl pressed her face harder into the shoulder of the woman beside her and the woman stroked her short, red hair.

Above the scene on the main deck, two men stood, looking over the railing of the upper deck.

"Captain," a small voice said. The Captain turned his head slightly to glance at the man behind him. His hands rested firmly on the railing of the deck that over looked the main deck.

"What is it?" he asked cooly. The man behind him fidgited a bit before answering.

"One more, sir?"

"Yes." The Captain surveyed the row of captives below. The dead woman's daughter was making a racket. "Her," he said to the man behind him. "The croc' will only need a small one." The man nodded fervently and scurried away. The captain looked back at the little girl. The woman beside her was looking up at him. He met her gaze for a moment. Her eyes were cold and he couldn't hold eye contact for very long. Turning away, he rubbed the stubble on his chin and made his way down to the main deck.

The little girl screamed and cried as a burly crewman unlocked her chains and pulled her away from the other captives. Down the line, another girl, no older than 13, with frizzy, ginger hair stood up. She tugged at her chains and screamed at the men.

"No," she shouted, "please, she's only a girl! Please take me!!!" The sailors paused and looked between the two girls. The leader, the Captain's first-mate, nodded and the men re-chained the youngest girl.

"Wait," the Captain interrupted. The entire ship fell silent. Even the wild-haired teenager was quiet. The thud of the Captain's boots on the wooden floor echoed across the deck. He walked towards the sobbing little girl and stopped directly in front of her. She looked away from him. The Captain's eyes wavered slowly between the girl, and the woman beside her. He took a quick step to the left and looked straight at the woman. She glared solemnly back up at him, clenching her jaw.

"You," he began, "you are her sister?" He gestured to the little girl. The woman nodded. "And her?" the Captain asked, pointing down the row at the standing teen. The woman nodded again. The two girls looked wide-eyed at her. The older girl furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head.

"No, you're-"

"We can't lie to him," the woman interrupted, throwing the teen a look. "It's no use." The Captain smirked and stepped away from the woman.

"Take her," he said to his crew. "Her sisters can watch her die." The silence lingered as the woman was tied up and hung over the railing. The little girl cried ever harder as the rope began to lower. Taking his place back at the railing of the upper deck, he watched the woman get lowered down to the snapping jaws of the crocodile. She looked up at him from her position on the end of the rope, and glared. The Captain furrowed his brow and watched as she came closer and closer to the blade-like teeth in the crocs mouth. The woman took a deep breath and closed her eyes one last time...

"Wait," the Captain called again. The rope stopped and everyone turned to face him. "I've changed my mind," he announced, "he doesn't need any more to eat today. Always leave when wanting more." He motioned for the sailors to hoist the woman back up. As she the rope was drawn back in, the Captain descended to the main deck once again. The woman, still bound, was shoved towards him by one of the men. With a small uff, she landed face down at his feet. One sailor cut her free and stood her back up.

"Get off me," she snarled, yanking out of the man's grip. Her brown hair was a mess, long strands hanging about in her deep brown eyes, and her clothes were ripped and blood-stained. The Captain examined her with tedious attention to detail.

"She will be the first," he informed the crew quietly, "in four days." The men nodded and laughed under their breaths. "She will stay," he continued, "in the cabin beside my own." The crew stopped laughing.

"But, but Captain," the timid, mouse-like man began.

"I have a few things she and I need to...discuss." The woman gave him a hard look.

"And my sisters?" she insisted. The Captain returned her stare.

"Keep them with the others," he said. The sailors nodded and dispersed. One grabbed the woman's arm and followed the Captain to his cabin. On the splintery bench, the chained captives watched in horror as their fellow prisoner disappeared behind the door that closed with a click.