Lies, Mistrust and Fairy Dust Read online

Our ship smoothly hits the water pulling up to an empty dock beside two ships that are parked with passengers disembarking. The one on the left is about the same size as ours, but is painted white with gold trim. Admiring the high class feel that's radiating off of it, I'm not surprised the woman leaving it is sporting a golden gown. Her skin is the color of coal while her eyes are slanted like a cat. They're bright yellow, which matches her curly hair. I try not to stare as she slips on a pair of elegant sunglasses, but it's hard not to. What is she? Seriously! Wait. That's not a very polite question. But it's accurate. She's clearly not human, but...I've never seen anything like her in a story book either. I open my mouth to ask, when I see her significant other extend his hand out for her to take. He's got the most glorious copper colored complexion, dark brown shaggy hair, and a very beautiful stoic face that's covered in hair. While his beard is magnificent, it's the thick hairy forearms that grab my attention.

  When he flashes his teeth, I swear I see fangs. “He's a werewolf!”

  The two of them shoot their attention at me, both look highly unappeased. Justin quickly drapes an arm around my shoulder and calls out to them, “She didn't mean anything by it! Her first time here!”

  The answer seems to satisfy them at the quick rate they return to whatever conversation they were having.

  Peter finally puts his phone away on a chuckle. “God, it's like taking a child to the zoo.”

  “Did you see him?” I ignore the comment, but make sure to lower my tone. “He was a werewolf!”

  Eiden politely corrects, “The correct term is lycanthrope.”

  Confused I try to repeat the word, “Ly-can't-a-rope.”

  “And now she sounds like a child at a spelling bee,” Peter's judgment proceeds.

  “You know what-”

  Justin intervenes, “Look Peyton, yes he was a lycanthrope. They're quite common really. Neverland is home to all sort of races and creatures-”

  “And it's best not to blurt out racial slurs at the top of your high pitched annoyance you call a voice. Especially not to a creature who could rip your lungs out through your chest without breaking a claw.” Peter's words actually hurt.

  I didn't mean to yell it. I really didn't mean for it to be a racial thing. I don't have any problems with werewolves—er—lycanthropes. Other than what's on T.V. shows and movies I know nothing about them. And now that I think about that, those things probably aren't reliable.

  The realization that I'm once again in over my head starts to stir. Sweetly, Justin lifts my hand and plants a small kiss on the back of it. “It's gonna be alright.”

  Pushing down the fear of what lies ahead, I try to turn the attention onto other things. “Why aren't we getting off?”

  “We haven't been cleared yet,” Eiden answers moving towards us. I can't help but notice the small booklet rolling around in his grip. “This is like being at the airport back in your world. We have to clear 'customs' before we can enter. Officers go from boat to boat, do a sweep, check papers, and then either welcome you to the world with a grunt or kick you out.”

  “And you can't just land anywhere else? You have to land here?”

  “You can land anywhere you like but there are officers of this great world of ours everywhere. And if they catch you and you have not been officially cleared here the repercussions are brutal,” Aiden says pulling out a similar booklet to his brothers.

  Cautiously I ask, “How brutal?”

  “Depends on their mood.” Peter shrugs. “Confiscating your ship. A beating. A hanging. Jail. Prison. Leaving you on one of the secluded islands for the crocs to eat you. The possibilities are endless...”

  A terrified look comes on my face and Belle snaps, “Really Peter? Could you give the girl like five minutes without trying to turn her into a basket case?”

  “I'm just being informative. She asked the question.” All eyes land on him and he huffs, “Oh! What! I'm the bad guy because I'm the only one not sugar coating what this experience is gonna be for her?”

  Not enjoying being pushed Belle props her hands on her hips. “You wanna talk about your first time here?”

  Peter quickly looks less confident and shakes his head. “No.”

  She pulls out a similar booklet from inside her shirt, though it's slightly smaller and pink. “Then how about you leave Peyton alone?”

  Backing off he pushes his hands in his pocket and looks back at the dock that's busy, full of people, or what I assume are people, and creatures shuffling off and on ships like this is an everyday occurrence. I guess to them it really is.

  “Here.” Justin hands me a folded pink envelope. “Temporary pass.”

  “Thanks.” He nods as my eyes try not to stare out at the crowd, afraid I'll shout something at the top of my lungs again, like a moron. My eyes wander up to the sky that seems to be shifting from the bright baby blue to a dark shades of blue in a swirling fashion, never leaving the color the exact same shade for too long. That's pretty awesome!

  Finally I hear an officer grunt, “Papers?”

  I look back to the dock where what I could only label as a giant, since he's hovering at 9 feet and some inches at the very least, is heading up to our ship. Holy crap! He makes Peter look like a tinker toy for a small child.

  Peter slips it to him as he cockily smirks. “What? No miss me Kylar?”

  Kylar lowers his dark black eyebrows and adjusts his sunglasses. “I miss you like I miss the 'croc that gets stuck between my teeth Pan.”

  The giant snatches his passport away from him, scans it, and directs another officer to move past us to check the rest of the ship. With a grunt he shoves it back at him. I watch as he adjusts the handcuff badge on his black uniform shirt that matches the one on his belt buckle as if Peter's taunting disrupted it.

  Peter does his best to provoke him while Kylar checks Belle's papers. “Come on... it was rough without me for a few days...”

  “And yet somehow I managed.”

  “A few days?” I whisper in Justin's ear. “Is he nuts? You guys were in my city for a few months and Landlin was at least a week.”

  Justin leans down and casually responds, “Time moves differently between our worlds. So while yes Peter is slightly insane, it's not because of a time difference.”

  After Aiden, Eiden, and Justin are cleared, it's finally my turn. To my surprise he stops and turns to Peter who's waiting patiently against the railing of the ship. “Hey Pan, I got a question for you.”

  “Yes, I always look this good.”

  Of all the people to try to provoke, someone who could haul you off to jail for blinking the wrong way doesn't seem like the one to go after.

  “How is it even though you were gone, Dust still managed to make it's usual delivery to all the local party spots?”

  Dust? Like fairy dust? I remember vaguely it being illegal and Eiden mentioning that they were the biggest dealers in it, but what exactly does it do? From the way he says it, it sounds like it's a drug. It can't be a drug! It's too sparkly!

  Innocently Peter shrugs. “And what you makes you think it's me or my crew who is pushing Dust?”

  “Because of the cocky P you put on the pills you arrogant bastard.”

  Still smirking he responds, “That sounds very circumstantial.”

  “Circumstantial? How about you take your circumstantial and-”

  “Clear!” the other officer calls out, heading down the stairs of the ship.

  “Of course it is...”

  Peter waves a hand in the air. “Why wouldn't it be? I'm a law abiding citizen.”

  “I know you are.” Kylar nods and lowers his sunglasses to Peter. “But the question is whose law are you abiding by? Neverland's or yours?”

  Like the pompous jerk he is Peter smirks. “And isn't that the billion dollar question?”

  Irked even more now than before, he grunts, and turns around so his voice booms at me. “Papers.”

  The giant snatches the temporary pass out of my hand and sighs, �
�You're from The Other World? Another one Belle? Really? Why do you insist on picking up strays?”

  Slightly offended my jaw bobs as Peter chimes in, “We didn't pick this one up. It attached itself.”

  “Thanks,” I sigh trying to hide my hurt feelings while he returns my pass. “You know I-”

  “Kylar,” another male interrupts, this one looking familiar. Like really familiar. His features are all black, including the stubble that's making itself known on his stone cut face. His skin is the perfect shade of bronze with a KH tattoo on the side of his neck, his body more human height at 6'3 or 6'4, and his build is like that of an MMA fighter. He looks good enough to stop my sentence alone, but I feel like I recognize him from somewhere.

  “You're late Kendall.”

  “Complication-”

  “And?”

  “Green-”

  “Understood.” Kylar looks his direction, hushing him quickly. Confused by their obscure code I simply furrow my eyebrows. I guess all cops have some sort of code normal people can't figure out. He tilts his head back towards me. “Look what the scum dragged in.”

  “More scum?” Kendall questions, his face finally turning towards me, his emerald eyes looking as cold as his attitude. I’m sure I know him from somewhere. Now this is just frustrating. “At least this one's nice to look at.”

  Justin stiffens behind me as Kylar snorts, “If you don't mind them puny.”

  Embarrassed at the insult, I fidget with my outfit as Kendall speaks again, this time directly at me. “Nice bracelet.”

  Unsure, I adjust it and cautiously say, “Thanks.”

  “Especially that gold cloud.” He folds his arm across his chest. Now beside Kylar, who looks no less terrifying than he did a few minutes ago, he informs, “In fact, it looks an awful lot like the original love token forged by Prince Roads on the star Josbetty. The same one we had on display at the Neverland Collections Museum until a few weeks ago when it disappeared.”

  His description causes me to grind my teeth in anger. Unbelievable! First I was in a sand prison, then subjected to Peter's ridicule, and now I'm being shook down by the police like some bad episode of Law and Order.

  “Well I couldn't have taken it after all I just got here.” I snatch my passport back from Kylar and politely smile at Kendall who attempts not to smile back at my smart-ass remark. “But I will definitely keep an eye out for a look alike.”

  Peter leans against the railing. “Are we done here?”

  The giant doesn't find that worth a verbal response, but a mere wave of the hand for us to get moving.

  “Let's move people,” Peter instructs, hopping over the edge of the railing while the rest of us use the ramp.

  Justin attempts to put an arm around me as Peter does to Belle. I shrug him off and glance back at Kendall who's still staring at me, this time with a seductive smile on his lips. Why do I know that look?

  Once we're out of ear shot of the people dying to arrest my so called friends, I stop and jerk Justin into my line of vision. “I asked you if you bought me this bracelet or stole it, and you said bought!”

  “I did buy it,” he argues with me. “I bought the bracelet.”

  “Justin.”

  “And all those stars-”

  “Justin!”

  “Hm?”

  “You gave me something you stole!” I snap in a lower whisper. “You lied to me!”

  “That's what made it so special.” Seeing the shock on my face he quickly slides his hands in his pockets. Trying to win this fight he counters, “Plus, I technically didn't lie. I bought the bracelet.”

  My lips press tighter together as dread clogs my throat.

  Seeing the heartbreak in my eyes he sighs, “I didn't lie.”

  “Like always, you just abused the truth.”

  “The truth is rarely pure and never simple,” the words fall from his mouth causing an all too familiar unease in my stomach.

  “Oscar Wilde.”

  “How'd you know?”

  “My dad used to say the same thing to me and look what happened to our relationship.”

  The jab causes Justin's jaw to jerk open.

  How can one person spend so much time being deceitful to someone they swear up and down they care about? That they love? That they want to be with? I thought love meant honesty, not finding new ways to lie without lying.

  “Let's go,” Peter hums glancing over his shoulder, arm still around Belle.

  I quickly turn my body to catch up with the crew as Justin reluctantly does the same. At the pace Peter has us moving it's clear he knows where he's going and is on some sort of time schedule. I do my best to observe my surroundings anyway. Everything seems to be extraordinarily bright colored here. I mean neon colors. After exiting the docking area I immediately noticed the sidewalks were a neon yellow and the roads a metallic silver. Now that we're moving towards the city I can see how the buildings vary in size and color, constantly shifting shades similar to the way the sky does. I'm beginning to wonder if the sky and buildings work like a mood ring.

  Before I know it we make a sharp right turn down a flight of stairs into an alley. Doing my best to keep up I watch as walls seem to disappear to let us through and immediately pop themselves back up. Increasing in speed we take a quick left down another empty road this time taking a flight of stairs up to what looks like a completely different city. This one isn't bright and beautifully colored. Every building is sleek, gray, and intimidating to even glance at.

  Knowing better than to ask questions, I merely follow them to what reminds me of a subway station. Entering it I read the sign quietly to myself, “Father Time.”

  “Travel station,” Justin explains.

  My attention turns towards him which is when I notice everyone heading in separate directions. Odd. We've been stuck together like some walking army yet suddenly they all just split? Belle wanders off towards the bathroom according to the black and white sign she seems aimed at. Aiden heads towards the ticket booth. Eiden's lingering by a set of girls who are all wearing black business casual wear, while Peter is leaning against a set of gray lockers.

  Justin gently pulls me towards him. “This way.”

  After flinching off his touch I ask, “What about-”

  “In a sec,” he cuts me off as we park ourselves on a very uncomfortable steel bench farthest from Peter. Grabbing a magazine from the stand beside us, he attempts to hand it to me though when I refuse, he shoves it at me anyway before grabbing another.

  Annoyed I look down at what has to be a fashion magazine by the different titles plastered on the front. “Make Your Wings Look More Fabulous Today!” and “Do Those Leggings Make Your Horns Look Big?” Weird. I mean, really, I guess all fashion magazines are kind of foreign to me. I lack fashion. Suddenly thoughts of Nick begin to fill my mind again, the magazine just one more reminder of what I did to him. How I left him. How heartbroken he possibly is. He lied to me once about something sexually related, but I lied to him how many times? For days? God, am I a bad person? Of course I am. But how bad? On a scale of one to ten. Can't be ten, because Peter's a ten, which makes Justin easily an eight. Maybe even a 9 now. So that makes me-

  “First of all,” Justin interrupts my thoughts in whisper. “I didn't lie to you.”

  “This again? Really?”

  With a heavy sigh, he turns the page in the magazine. “Fine. We'll bury that for the time being. Second-”

  “Oh there's more on the topic?”

  I watch his eyes roll around in an annoyed state before continuing, “Second, we don't ever travel to the home together-”

  “Can't all fit in a car? They don't make SUVs in this world?”

  His patience with me looks as thin as it’s ever been. “Are you done?”

  I wave my hand for him to continue.

  “It's too easy for everyone to track us when we're all together. No one knows where the hideout is. They got that part in the storybooks right.”

  Sudd
enly the playful, cocky look has returned on his face. I roll my eyes and sigh in a slight disgust.

  “We're also here because Peter's got a deal to handle, which requires eyes all around the situation. We don't usually do business in the day let alone out of our controlled environment, but Peter was informed this deal was too good to pass on.”

  “What kind of deal?”

  He leans back and turns the page of the magazine. “The kind of deal that makes Kendall and Kylar say our names with disdain like they do.”

  “I say Peter's name with the same resentment.” The comment gets Justin to shoot me a crooked smirk. “Is this the kind of deal that has to do with Dust?”