“You’re a pirate!”

        He spins his scythe on his shoulder. “Not just any pirate, love.” Felix the lost boy disappears, replaced by a tall man with black curly hair and dark eyes. His clothes are worn, but elegant.

        A silver hook peeks out from his left sleeve. “Captain James Hook at your service.” His bow is followed by a wink. “Known to some as Jas. Known to most as the dreaded pirate Hook.”

        “Hook!” I scream. I try to fly off of the ledge, but I cannot move my legs. He has frozen me here, like Peter has done before.
        “A nifty trick, isn’t it? Taught it to Pan myself.”
        I glare at him, my heart beating wildly inside me. “Peter said you were dead.”
        “Dead? He banished me, he didn’t kill me. Silly boy.” Captain James Hook fingers his namesake. “But I am not a boy, I am a man and I was here long before that Peter Pan. This is my island and always has been. Your lovely Pan has been playing you, just like I’ve been playing him.”

        I was right! I knew there was someone else behind it all. Why wouldn’t Peter believe me? Maybe because Felix, the one he trusted the most, was poisoning his thoughts. “You cursed this island. You created this darkness!”
        “Of course I did.” Hook steps onto my ledge, the wind ruffling his long black hair. He looks like I imagined him-a rough beard and unruly curls, but his clothing has an almost gentlemanly look.
        How long has he been disguised as Felix? Since the darkness? “So there never was a Felix?”
        “Actually there was. He’s just been busy.” Hook’s pale lips stretch. “And now he is probably confused that I have momentarily returned his own body to him.”
        He switched bodies? Anger swells inside me.
        “You-!”
        Hook places a thin finger on my lips. “Ah-ah-ah. The only reason why I haven’t killed you yet, is that you played your part too well. Better than I could have wanted.”
        I strain against the invisible force that ties my boots to the slippery ledge. “What are you talking about?” I need to keep him distracted, surely Peter will be here soon.
        “No matter how much Peter Pan hurts you, you still love him and want to save him. But now the rules have changed, Wendy. You aren’t just saving him from himself, or from some faceless curse. You are saving him from me-or should I say, trying to save him. I am the creator of nightmares and this is the island of dreams. Neverland is mine. But you’ve become a valuable player. Welcome to the game.”
**
        I am confused. And worried. Why hasn’t Peter come yet? I know he’s distracted by the fire-but how long will it take for him to realize that both his second in command and his prisoner have disappeared?
        “No need to worry over Pan. He’ll come when I am ready for him.”
        I gulp and remind myself that he can’t hear my thoughts. I am just predictable, like Peter said. Of course I would worry about Peter.
        A scene flutters through my mind. A tall boy in an alley playing the pipe. My first glimpse of Neverland. I came here as a mistake. So Hook couldn’t have expected me to return.
        “I heard the music. I wasn’t supposed to.”
        “Actually that song was for you. Kelvin was merely the distraction.”
        Heat stirs under my skin. “Kelvin was a part of this all along?”
        “No, I was merely using him. He heard the music because he was a lost boy.”
        I roll my eyes. “And I heard it because I’m a lost girl. We’ve covered that.”
        Hook rests his hand on the sword belted to his waist. My heart catches in my throat. He is a dangerous, ancient enemy and Peter isn’t coming.
        “Oh, Wendy, Wendy. You are always several steps behind. There are many lost girls in the streets of London. I changed the music so that it would only draw you and Kelvin.” He sneers. And yet his face still looks strangely perfect. Handsome in a sick, otherworldly way. “I wasn’t looking for just any girl. The fairies knew that there was only girl out there who would love Peter Pan even though she saw how evil he was becoming.”
        He is lying. There is nothing special about me. Oh, right, except for being the daughter of a fairy queen and all that. But how could he have known when I was still just another orphan?
        “I am not the only one who has loved Peter. Tigerlily said she-”
        “Tigerlily loved him long ago, before the curse and darkness. Her love was never strong enough to be true. But you…you loved Peter Pan and the lost boys even when they pushed you away. You stayed to try and save them. You found a way to love Peter Pan during both day and night.”

        Why did Peter have to take away my dagger? Even if I did have it-I’d still lose to Hook. I force strength into my words. “If you are really in control, then why hasn’t the darkness touched me?”

        The endless night changed me but not because of a curse. I have not become evil yet.

        The captain raises his eyebrows. “Peter Pan is my greatest weapon, but you-you became his greatest weakness. I never let the evil touch you. It would only work this way, if you were struggling against Pan, not with him-that way he would stay distracted. You will always be the best distraction. And your part isn’t over yet.”

        I will not play his game. But I am too scared to be brave. This isn’t Peter or even Felix. This is Captain James Hook and he takes no prisoners.

        Hook grins. “Ah…Peter’s finally got the fire under control.” His eyes stop on me. “Things are about to get interesting.”

        He flickers back into Felix.

        My feet loosen, but I do not fly away. Felix holds answers I desperately need. My mind races. “Magic always comes with a price. What is your price, Hook? What did you give up?”

        “Love.” Felix’s leering grin tugs fear up my spine. “But a pirate doesn’t need love. It was no sacrifice for me.”

        I open my mouth, but in that moment Peter Pan flies in through the gaping eye.

        “Wendy?” His head snaps back. “Felix? What is going on? Why are you here?”

        “It’s her, Pan! She’s been lying to you the whole time!”

        I gasp. What is Hook’s plan? “Wait, Peter-”

        Felix shouts, “She freed herself from the vines! I went to check on her to make sure she was okay, but she wasn’t there! She was here!”

        Peter turns on me. “Wendy? How?”

        “He is lying to you. Don’t listen to him!” I wave my hand wildly, pointing at the tall blond boy. “He isn’t Felix, he isn’t a lost boy. He’s Hook!”

        “Hook? You’re the liar, Wendy. Felix has always been my right hand man.”

        “No, it’s a trick.” I can’t believe this. Hook is only a few feet away from Peter-but he won’t believe me!

        “Pan, she never told anyone who her parents are. She’s not an orphan, she’s a pirate.” Felix gasps. “Hook’s own daughter.”

        “That’s impossible!” Peter snaps. “Hook had no daughter.”

        Felix shakes his head. He’s a very good actor, he’s almost convinced even me. “How can you be sure? He has been gone for centuries.”

        “Because I banished him.”

        “But you didn’t kill him.” I shout. I point at Felix.

        Felix yells. “Did you hear her? She knows Hook is still alive. And now he’s found a way back in-through his daughter. She cast a spell on you and manipulated you with her soft words and enchanting beauty-”

        ‘Enchanting beauty’? I roll my eyes. Really? If Hook disguised as Felix is going to lie, then he could at least make it believable.

        Peter eyes shift between us. And I know that even though I am telling the truth, he won’t believe me.

        I focus on every word. “You’re Peter Pan. But you aren’t Neverland’s monster. He is!”

        “That’s enough, Wendy.” Peter says quietly. “Leave us, Felix.”

        “But, sir!” Felix’s eyes widen innocently.

        “Now!”

        Felix flies away, but not before he shoots me a grin behind Peter’s back.

        Worry spills over my words. “You can’t let him go! The lost boys are in danger.”

        “What happened to Hook’s crew?”

        “I banished them along with their loathsome captain.”

        Which means they might still be working for Hook. Hook left me here to distract Peter. And his plan is working. Why won’t Peter believe me?!

        Maybe because I carried a dagger and was told to kill him.

        Desperation shakes my words. “You have to believe me, Peter Pan. Please. Felix is lying to you!”

        “Why would Felix lie to me? What he says makes sense.” He pulls a knife out, his eyes darkening on me. “You. All along you were the one who was acting. Pretending to care, pretending to be too scared to use that silly dagger. Can it be true? Don’t you dare lie to me. Not again. Are you the daughter of my sworn enemy, Captain Hook?”