Jack's pale blue irises frantically scanned the room for a good place to hide, however the pitter patter of little footsteps told him that he was quickly running out of time. Swiftly moving next to Peter and I, Jack gnawed at his bottom lip as his body lightly quivered. Peter and Jack exchanged a fearful glance which only made the knot in my stomach squeeze tighter. All three of us may never be able to escape whatever laid ahead of us. Latching onto Peter's hand, he gave my palm a tight squeeze.

As we heard a light squeal escape the mystery person, all three of us pushed ourselves as close as we could to the wall. Too bad we weren't able to blend in with it because that would've been highly beneficial at this point in time. As my heart paced in anxiousness, part of me wished I was back at my old high school where blending in with the wall seemed to be an effortless talent of mine.

A shriek escaped the depths of Peter's chest as a person emerged from the entrance of the treehouse.

With a head full of thick, long black hair, a little toddler pulled herself into the treehouse by the strength of her tiny elbows. Struggling as she scrambled to pull herself inside, her round eyes curiously studied over the three of us. When her emerald green eyes locked with mine, a shudder was sent down my spine. What was going through this child's mind? Was she going to cause a scene?

Yet within those innocent little eyes laid an eerie familiarity. Her eyes possessed a majestic quality that intrigued me, wanted me to figure out the pieces to her little puzzle.

There was absolutely no doubt that she was a petite, beautiful little being. Her lively green eyes continued to curiously peer at the three of us who were packed like sardines against the main wall. Cocking her head to the side, her gaze stayed transfixed on Peter as her expression turned serious. Her jet black eyebrows scrunched up to the middle of her forehead, sending shock waves of fear through all of our nervous systems. What was she capable of and what in the world was her little mind planning for us?

"Hi!" She stated as her serious expression randomly cracked. The little girl cheerfully giggled as she plopped down and sat cross legged on the floor before us. Looking over my shoulder and at Jack, I let out a chuckle. "She's the dangerous person we were so worried about?"

Nodding, his gaze nor his expression faltered. Frost kept his icy blue eyes glued to the little being before us as if he were waiting for her to prance at any second. Shooting him a glare, he just stuck his nose in the air and ignored my gesture. Clearly he didn't trust this girl, but how could someone who was this tiny and adorable have as much power as Jack had stated?

The little girl giantly grinned, pushing up her full cheeks and enhancing the light brown freckles that were sprinkled across her face. Her eyes filled with joy, she tried to take in the event of having unexpected company. As if she were as confused as we were, she took the occasional glance at Jack and I as if she were trying to figure us out. However, Peter seemed to be the main interest of her attention at the moment as her eyes nearly twinkled every single time they studied him.

"You know," she started. "Mom says I shouldn't talk to strangers but you seem nice, mister." Her eyes transfixed on Peter, my gaze faltered between the two of them. I shifted uncomfortably as I realized that the reason her eyes seemed so familiar was because they were the same exact shade of emerald green that Peter's irises are. Her little eyes even had the same dazzling quality of his, as they were rimmed with thick, jet black lashes.

"Oh, really?" Peter asked as he smiled he put a hand through his light brown hair.

Cutely nodding, her innocence shone through her words. "Yeah. My parents always told me not to talk to strangers, but we've met before so I'm sure they won't care," said the little girl as she picked up a stuffed dog from a pile of stuffed animals and began to wiggle her tiny fingers through the faux fur.

Jack and I exchanged a glance and if it weren't because we both wanted to know what in the world she meant by that, we would've probably jumped head first out of the treehouse.

"We have?" Asked Peter as he clenched a sweaty, shaking fist while doing the best he could to conceal how terrified he was at the few words this toddler uttered. His face began to drain of its color by the second as he sat before the tiny little being.

She nodded, letting out a big grin. She was missing one tooth on the top left corner of her mouth, which made her all the more adorable. "Yeah! I had a dream with you in it, Peter Pan. You saved me from all of the darkness that was trying to get me! I can't believe you're actually here! You came back!" She screamed as she bounced up and down in excitement. All of a sudden, she rushed up to Peter and gave him a big hug.

"Thank you for coming," she whispered as she clung to Peter's sitting torso.

"I'm happy to meet you too," Peter replied as he awkwardly patted her little back. As soon as the little girl took a step back, he placed both hands on her tiny shoulders.

"What's your name?" Peter asked, trying to see if he knew exactly who this child was. Clearly, he was confused as to who she was as much as Jack and I were.

"I'm Melanie," she stated with another one of her famous toothy grins.

"And it seems like you know who I am already," said Peter, trying to make small talk with her.

While Melanie and Peter made casual conversation in the background, Jack motioned his head for me to come toward him.

"This is too coincidental," he sternly stated, scanning over my face for any hint of emotion.

"What is?"

"How is it that she knows him, but he has no clue who in the freaking world she is? Doesn't that sound a bit weird? I mean, Peter remembers everyone he meets."

Truly taking in the meaning his words, I began to feel uncomfortable. "You're right."

"I'm just getting this really weird feeling because this girl looks so much like Finn," he stated as his eyebrows met at the middle of his forehead.

"Finn....who?"

"Peter's younger brother," he stated as he walked away and left me wanting to know more.

"Peter's brother? How come he never mentioned anything about him before?"

Jack casually shrugged as he looked over his shoulder. "Maybe that's something you should take up with him."

"Uh, Laney?" Asked Peter in a frantic voice, breaking me out of my train of thought. "Come over here," he demanded more than asked.

As I approached him and Melanie, her little eyes looked up at me as her waist length, jet black hair flowed behind her.

Glancing at Peter, all of the color drained from his face and nervousness danced within his irises. "Look," he stated as he picked up the corner of Melanie's shirt. Crouching down to get a better look, realization hit me so hard that it actually felt like it slapped me in the face. Who in the world was this girl and why did she have this?

"What?" Asked Jack from behind us, obviously feeling like a third wheel. Turning my head to face him, I motioned for him to get closer. "Look at this."

As he crouched down beside me, my fingers lightly lifted the corner of her shirt to reveal the abnormal birthmark that sat at the lower left side of her torso just above her hip bone.

"It literally looks like a crescent moon," Jack stated, seeming like he was trying to decide whether it was cool or just plain out weird. "Though it's not really a normal shape for a birthmark, I don't see what the big deal is."

Peter's emerald eyes widened as he nodded his head up and down. "Oh, yes it's a big deal."

"What am I missing here? Is there a meaning behind it?" Jack asked, quizzically glancing between the both of us.

As I took a deep sigh inward, a shudder made its way down my spine. Pushing myself up off the floor, I brushed off my pants and lightly pulled up the corner of my shirt. Squeezing my eyes together, my heart began to run a marathon within my chest. Feelings of confusion floated within my head, coursed their way through my veins, and dispersed outward into every individual cell of my body. None of this made sense at all, there was no explanation as to why this child possessed Peter's eyes and seemed to possess an important part of me as well. What kind of sign was being sent to us and what was it supposed to mean?

"This is why it's such a big deal. Because I have one too."

© Lightning_Stryker 2017

First, I'm terribly sorry that this chapter took so long to write. Being honest, this was literally the hardest chapter of the series to write (and I still feel like it needs to be improved if I'm being honest but I have a certain word count I have to keep to ;-;).

It was intentionally meant to be fast-paced and confusing, so sorry if it felt a little fast.

But either way I AM SHOOK. Melanie is a little twist I've been keeping in my mind for a little while now and she is SUPER SUPER important to the series so YAY TO GIRL POWER! WOOT! Excited to share her with y'all :D

And on the subject of Melanie, feel free to leave your theories here. I want to hear what you guys think! Thanks so much for all the love and support #LostBoys !

~Jay