It's dawn when the ferry docks.

The sunlight feels warm on my cheeks, the air less humid. I can hear the splash of waves crashing on top of eachother and my back doesn't ache despite being propped against the hard surface for hours. My eyelids flutter open, spotting empty space where Aaron used to be.

I stand up, brushing off my jeans.

I walk up to the windows where I find a beach with sand as white as sugar. Beyond the sand are pebbles and rocks with no jagged edges. They're smooth and round, some tinted green and purple - the kind of rocks I'd collect if I was still a little girl. Farther out are luscious green fields that extend past what I can see. They go up hills that loop up and down like a quirky staircase to the top of the land.

My fingers slide down the glass. I feel like a visitor at a zoo, admiring something too wondrous and exotic to be part of my everyday life.

I hear shuffling from behind me. It's Aaron.

"I was about to wake you." His smile is even brighter in the daytime. His hair is disheveled from our nap but it suits him - like it's how his hair is meant to be.

"What is this place?" The awe I feel oozes out of every word in the sentence.

He chuckles, standing beside me to take in the view. "This island has been forgotten by the state so it doesn't really have an official name."

The island looks as though it has emerged from the sea today, glowing in its newness. I want to see every inch of it. I have even given up the goal of living somewhere far from the sea. If the rest of the island looks anything like what I'm seeing now, I wouldn't mind being surrounded by the sea. Forget the trauma the ship has inflicted on me, this place is amazing!

"What do you call it?" The skin beneath his freckles turns red like he's flattered that I care what he thinks.

He releases the name like a dove.

"Neverland."

"Neverland," I repeat, trying the name on my lips. It suits the whimsical scenery. "How'd you come up with that?"

Aaron gets this kind of sparkle in his eyes that makes me wonder if he can glow in the dark. "I make a promise to the kids here that they'll never have to go back to the life they had before. I am now extending that promise to you."

I want to believe him - and maybe I do because as we exit the ferry everything is in HD.

The captain gives us a wave and disappears into his booth. I feel like I should have said something more to him, at least a thank you. It was his boat that got me here and he did lie to the police for us. But he's making a speedy getaway so I decide I'll save my thank you for Charlie who made all of this happen.

Charlie.

I think back to a few hours ago and how I trusted Aaron only because he said Charlie had sent him.

"Did you ever actually speak to Charlie?"

He gives me a sheepish expression as we walk along the beach. My sneakers are already coated in sand. "We couldn't risk telling him too much since he lives with the enemy."

To be honest, it's crazy that they even took a chance on letting someone who was so close to Nakpuna know about their operation. Strategically speaking, maybe the risk was calculated. Charlie knows things about Nakpuna that even his employees at the lab wouldn't know. Having him on their side could work well but it also means putting him in more danger, which I'm not a fan of.

I squint at him, using my hand to shade myself from the rising sun. "Does that mean he won't be able to visit me?"

"Well, it might be a while before it's safe for any movement between Neverland and the mainland." Aaron picks up a pebble and starts playing with it, throwing it up and down like he did with his ring last night. "We do have phones you could use. Though, you'll have to limit how much you use them to avoid raising suspicion."

I told Charlie to leave this stuff alone because I thought he couldn't help me but he has gotten me as close to freedom as I have ever gotten. I owe him an apology. Aside from that, if I don't get my daily dose of sarcastic insults soon, I might explode.

"It's a little early for most of the boys to be up so you'll have to wait a bit to meet them. They're all night owls who would sleep until noon if left unchecked - which is most of the time." He takes my hand and we make our way up the first set of hills. There aren't any paths or streets paved out so it almost feels like we've been dropped in the middle of the woods. I picture tents lining a campground on the top of the tallest hill or even log cabins. The scenery is too majestic for something as startling as concrete.

I assume the boys he is referencing are other rescuees. I feel giddy at the thought of meeting them. What will it be like to finally be around people who understand me? I wish with all my heart that I'll fit right in. I need to.

"Who takes care of them?"

"Who? The boys?" Aaron shrugs. "We take care of each other."

"You keep saying 'the boys'. Are there no girls here?" I can get along with boys just fine as proven by my strongest friendship but the thought of only having boys around is a little disappointing.

"There's one other girl. Willow was the first rescue." Aaron places the rock he's holding into his pocket, shaking his head. "She's going to love you. I'll have to leave you with her for a while once we arrive at the castle but no worries, she'll take care of you."

I pause on our hike, not only because I'm out of breath but because I think I might have misheard him. "Did you say castle?"

He drops his jaw, shooting his eyebrows to the top of his forehead to mock my expression. "Yeah, I did!" He charges up the hill and when he gets to the top, he extends his arms like he did while we were riding the moped. His shout echoes in the surrounding area. "And I'm the king!"

I move as fast as I can to meet him at the top, which isn't very quick because of my leg. The smile doesn't leave his face as he waits for me.

When I finally make it, he leans towards me, nearly touching his nose to mine. "Lucky for you, I might be open to the idea of a queen."

The wind sends my hair all over my face, expertly hiding my blush. "Is that so?"

Back home, I was never hit on. You would think being on the cheerleading team and being moderately attractive would be enough, but I've never so much as had a guy ask me to a school dance. Maybe it's because of my lack of experience but I have a hard time deciding if Aaron is being a massive flirt because he likes me or because he lives on an island with only one other girl around. Maybe I'm just shiny and new.

But maybe not.

We continue our hike in a comfortable silence. My mind is racing at all the possibilities of what life on this island could be like. I can't help myself from dreaming up the best of scenarios and latching on to them. Charlie would tell me not to get my hopes up. He'd tell me to expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised if things turn out better. This kind of logic would be sound if I was back at home but with this change of scenery comes a change of thinking. The air is magic and maybe that's because I haven't gotten a full night's rest or because the drugs put into me have made me crazy - but I don't want to let go of that magic yet.

I see the castle before we are done going up the final hill. It's brick is a faded reddish- brown with vines weaved into them. The vines stretch out across the whole exterior, hanging over the two black gates pulled apart to let people in. The structure is three stories with four towers growing out of it's corners. A water fountain without any water is planted in front of the doors.

It's not something out of a Disney movie but maybe it's better. It holds a timely charm that something perfect and polished couldn't. The worn down exterior holds the promise of many stories to be discovered. I'm curious about them all.

"It used to belong to a nobleman," Aaron says, as if he was reading my mind. "Then it was a private boarding school. Later it was abandoned and now it's a home for us runaways."

He tries to pull open one of the doors for me. I can tell it's heavy by the way he digs his heels into the ground to pry it open. When I start to help he objects and I'm left to stifle a laugh at his huffing and puffing. When it's almost halfway open, it becomes easier and soon he is pulling it with ease. Or at least, he thinks he is. A figure stands on the other side. The curvy silhouette shoves it open the rest of the way.

"Did Aaron really think his scrawny ass could open this door all by himself?"

The girl is tall, probably only an inch shorter than Aaron. Her hair is a golden brown that cascades down her back in loose waves. The entire length of her forearm houses a tattoo of flowers and her thigh has two names on it that I can't make out from where I'm standing.

"Willow! Don't embarrass me in front of our prettiest recruit!" I wonder if Aaron's simply being playful or if he's flirting. Something tells me that with a personality like his, it'll be hard to tell. With Charlie, if he ever calls a girl pretty, I know he's either in love with them or has a very high fever.

"I'm Dovie," I say, with a small wave.

All of a sudden, I'm shy. It's like it's my first day of summer camp and I desperately want all the kids to think I'm cool. Willow isn't intimidating in posture though and that eases my nerves. She smiles at me sweetly, not sizing me up with her gaze like I'm used to when meeting new people.

"It's great to meet you. You have no idea how nice it is to have another girl on this island." Something in her tone tells me she isn't exaggerating. "Come on, I'll give you a tour of the place."

She wraps an arm around my shoulders as easily as Aaron reached for my hand. She doesn't stiffen as we bump hips and I bet that from an outsider's point of view, we look like we've been friends for years.

"Don't go and form some kind of alliance against us boys!" Aaron calls as we leave him behind. 

The massive door echoes shut. It's the sound of my new life being sealed.

The papery scent of books wafts over to us, intertwined with the scent of pine needles. I want to capture it in a bottle and keep it forever.

"How was the journey over here? Aaron didn't give you a hard time, did he?"

"Not at all." I can't imagine a world where he gives anyone a hard time.

The inside of the castle is even more magnificent than the outside. The ceilings are high and there are floor length windows that arch into beautiful nooks. They wear curtains that are faded brown and let the light seep through. The entry room has a chandelier hanging above head but Willow describes it more as a safety hazard than the beauty it is. She takes me up winding staircases, never placing her hand on the railing. I soon discover that is to avoid coating her hands in a fine layer of dust. I wipe my dirty palms on my jeans.

There is very little furniture left in the castle. We come across the occasional side table in a hallway or an antique chair with a uniquely designed cushion but that seems to be it. The castle is pretty much hollow. I imagine that the boarding school cleared out a lot of their old stuff - at least, the things that had value - and whatever money this group has to provide for themselves doesn't need to be spent on furnishing a giant place like this.

Willow tells me that Aaron and her have each claimed a room in the first two towers for themselves. The rest of the boys sleep in the dorm rooms of the former students.

"They tend to bunk together so there are plenty of empty rooms for you to choose from," she says. She shows me the best one.

It's on the opposite side of the castle to the boys and Aaron but a short walk to Willow. The room is bigger than my actual bedroom and seems even bigger because of the lack of furniture. There's a queen size bed frame in the center with a purple canopy over it that has porcelain vines sliding down the bars. The mattress on top of the frame is twin size, not a perfect fit but seems clean. The only other furniture in the room is a fancy chaise lounge chair with a white sheet thrown over it and a wooden wardrobe that stands out like a sore thumb in the midst of such regal decor.

"I was so sure you'd end up picking this room that I went ahead and filled the wardrobe with some extra clothing we had." Willow walks over to it and opens its doors. She leans against it as I take a peek at my new clothing. "Nothing too glamorous but no one will judge. We're all a little raggidy here."

I smile at her. Even though she's in a worn tank top and shorts that have hole's in them, she doesn't appear the least bit raggidy. The manner in which she carried herself up the stairs and through the hallways, her chin held high and her shoulders back, I would believe her if she said she was royalty. I'd believe this was her castle.

"I'll leave you to relax for a bit. I know it must have been a long night and you may need some time to take things in." She tucks her hands in her back pockets, making her way to the door. "I'll come by later to pick you up for lunch."

Our shared experience hangs in the air between us. I know she's been held and tormented on that ship, she knows I've been through the same. Strangely, I'm relieved she hasn't brought it up. It's like she's affirming that the worst of it is behind me. The Jolly Roger, as Charlie and Aaron call it, doesn't have to define me.

"Thanks, Willow."

I change into something new and collapse onto the mattress of my bed, ignoring the cloud of dust that rises in reaction. Everything that happened last night happened so fast. With the time stretched out in front of me, I am left to let my mind run wild. I think of questions that I probably should have asked before taking Aaron's hand. Will this be a permanent move? Is there a second phase to the plan of escaping the 'Jolly Roger' or am I doomed to live on this island - even with its beauty - forever? Or until I age out of the contract?

I think myself to sleep and only wake up when I hear the squeak of shoes against the floor.

I was in the middle of a nightmare. Dr.Nakpuna was torturing Charlie to tell him where I went. He was making the nurses inject him with all the faulty serums, making him scream and whither in pain. I have his name on my lips when I see the stranger peering in from the doorway.

I shoot up from the bed, crossing my arms in front of my chest. The nightmare has left me filled with rage. "Don't you knock?"

With his lips pulled into a grimace, the boy lifts up his arm. They're big and covered with inky black tattoos that give him a whole sleeve. When he knocks, I give him a tight grin along with a sarcastically sing-songy voice.

"Who is it?"

He walks over to the lounge chair and sits. His hood is only covering the back of his head, revealing a buzz cut. His monolid eyes are staring lasers at me from across the room and suddenly I feel like I'm the one intruding.

"Dovie Scarlet," he says, spitting it out like it tastes sour.

I give him a patronizing smile. "No, that's my name."

He clenches his jaw. "You think you're funny? You think putting all of us in danger is funny?"

I don't like this intimidation tactic he's trying. If there's anything I've learned over the years, it's that you can't show people like him a sign of weakness. They'll exploit it. I scoff, taking a few steps toward him despite his less than friendly mood. "What are you talking about? Do I even know you?"

He stands and I have to look up at him in order to see his face.

"I heard your friend is that sicko's nephew. He was the one that hooked you up with us, right?"

Charlie? Why is bringing Charlie into this?

He doesn't wait for me to answer.

"Dr.Nakpuna is not an idiot. Your friend begs him to let you go and then a few days later you go missing. He's going to know your friend has something to do with it."

I think back to the nightmare I had just woken up from and my skin crawls. He isn't wrong. He's criticizing the plan that got me here and he might have grounds for that but I didn't orchestrate this. He's coming to the wrong person.

"If he breaks, he can spill who the mole is. Once Dr.Nakpuna knows who the mole is, it won't be hard to start connecting the dots. You've given him a way to find us!" He's yelling with so much fury that his voice echoes.

I match his volume. "What do you want me to do?! I'm already here!"

"You better hope -" he says, jabbing a finger into my chest, " - that Dovie Scarlet is worth all the trouble this can get us into. You better hope that they don't find us because if they do, you won't have to worry about them taking you back. I'll kill you myself."

I'm speechless as he kicks the side of the bed frame and stalks out of my room. It weighs heavily on me that this is an island full of young boys who have everything to lose. This island, this safe haven, is their everything. It is all they have and me being here might have taken that.

I told Charlie not to mess with things.

Still, I don't find myself wishing to undo the last few hours. I might have put a whole group of people in danger but all I can think about is being strapped down to a metal chair, folding in agony on a cold tiled floor, and having to compartmentalize it all so I could keep up the charade of having a normal life. I'm glad I was brought here and I don't want to go back.

I won't go back.