Chapter Forty

                                    

                                          
51st day in Neverland
                          
I was in complete darkness. Suddenly, the prisoner's face loomed in front of me. Her pale white skin seemed to glow in the darkness, her wild eyes scarier than ever.
                          
I'm dreaming, I realized.
                          
Suddenly there was light. We were standing in a green, lush jungle that resembled a lot like Neverland's. Mist rolled on the watery soil, leaves shone from the dew. Light filtered through the canopy of leaves, giving the scene a majestic, surreal quality to it, like in a fairy tale.
                          
But the two people standing in this forest didn't pay any attention to the beauty around them. They seemed immersed in an intense argument. I frowned. Arguments weren't fit for such a place, they shouldn't taint this purity with their negative vibes by arguing. I stepped closer to understand what they were talking about.
                          
The prisoner was facing towards me, but she didn't notice me. She was talking furiously to the other person. He, for it was obviously a man judging from his silhouette, was covered from head to toe with dark leather and an aura of evil emanated from him. 
                          
"Is it really necessary to attack now? Aren't there still things to be perfected? You know we can't take any chances, a single mistake and we're done for," the prisoner said.
                          
The dark man made an inhuman sound, that could one be described as a snarled angry hiss that made the hair in the back of my neck stand on end.
                          
"You're having second thoughts," he hissed in a low, raspy voice.
                          
The prisoner bowed her head in fright. "Of course not, Dark One. I am simply cautious."
                          
I took a step back in recognition. The Dark One. The enemy Pan had talked about. The one I had to elude at all cost.
                          
My foot landed on a twig and it snapped. I cringed at the sudden sound in the silence, and although she didn't react, the Dark One whirled around. I couldn't see anything of his face as it was hidden in the shadows of his dark hood.
                          
"Dark One? Have you heard something?" The prisoner asked, her head peering over his shoulders at me, or rather through me. I realized with a start that she couldn't see me. But the Dark One could.
                          
"We have a visitor," he rasped, and by the tiny twitch in the shadows under his hood, I could guess that he was smiling, which of course, did nothing to appease my terror.
                          
I didn't say anything, I just stood there in fright, hoping that he couldn't harm me in a dream.
                          
"Perfect," his voice was so malevolent that I shuddered. "Might as well start now."
                          
He turned to go and she followed him dutyfully, shooting startled glances in my direction, still not understanding what had happened.
                          
I heard tolling bells in the distance, loud and deep but I didn't spare them a second thought. Just as the two figures were about to get swallowed up by the pearly mist, the Dark One turned back to face me and what he said chilled my bones.
                          
"Might as well wake up. Oh, and I can't wait to meet you in person, Alianna."
                          
***
                          
I shot out of my bed, breathing hard. The first thing I realized was that the bells hadn't been part of my dream; they were really tolling, somewhere above. They rung in my ears so loud it made it hard to think. I was surprised that the noise hadn't woken me up earlier.
                          
I wiped the sweat off my forehead as I remembered what I'd seen in my dream. The Dark One was going to attack the camp! I had to warn them! No, wait. That's what the bells are for, they already know.