"I see that you finished dinner," A voice asks from behind me.

I hold myself back from gagging. Pan Flute.

"That's very observant of you. Congratulations." I mock, keeping my back to him.

"So you probably are wondering where to sleep then? Now that it's nearly night."

"I wasn't actually." I correct. "I didn't plan on staying here overnight."

"I didn't plan on bringing such a disagreeable person to Neverland," he says. "Yet here we are."

I roll my eyes and turn around, having decided Pan Flute is all bark and no bite. If he had bite he definitely would have had me murdered by now. I'm not scared of him.

"Where am I supposed to sleep?"

"There's a tent back there were all the News will be sleeping in." He says, and points behind him.

I walk past him, refusing to look him in the face, heading over to the row of tents. The one he pointed to is the one at the end, on the edge of the clearing. I walk inside.

Inside the tent, six hammocks are strewn all around, hanging on to seemingly nothing. They are all strung up in the air at awkward angles, slightly diagonal instead of parallel to the ground. They also hang at different heights. While some hammocks are only a few feet close to the ground, others are loom far above my head. There's no order to it.

There are four boys inside the tent already; Max, Lyle and Thomas, as well as another boy, the one with the Scottish accent. His name escapes me. It doesn't seem to matter though, because he struts over and sticks his hand out to greet me.

"I'm Marcus," he grins. Definitely Scottish. "And you are?"

"Charlie," I say, shaking his hand.

"Still in shock then, or excited as I am?" He asks.

"Excited?" I almost choke.

"To be here," he explains. "In Neverland, with Peter Pan. Isn't it exciting?"

"Have you talked to him yet?" I ask, trying to assess the boy's mental health.

"So he isn't like he is in the stories. All the better if you ask me. Much more exciting." He continues to smile.

I shrug as another person enters the tent. Johnny. He walks over to Marcus and myself.

"You're Marcus, right?" Johnny asks. He seems to be distracted, looking off at the Max and his friends.

The boy nods. "Don't wear it out. You were one of the people who got the boars, right?"

"Yep, I did." Johnny answers.

"How was it? Fighting out there in the wild. I bet it was amazing. I can't wait to get out there myself. Of course, we're stuck in training all day tomorrow, so that doesn't seem like it will be happening to soon."

"Training?" I ask.

"All the people who are new have to do it. Bit stupid if you ask me, best training we can get is out in nature, fighting actual things, but never the less, it's worth it." Marcus shrugs.

"What kind of training?" Johnny asks, suddenly interested in Marcus. "Like combat?"

"You bet it's combat. What else would it be?" Marcus smiles.

"Why do we have to learn combat?" I ask.

"To fight of course!" Marcus continues to grin. This kid sure likes fighting.

I'm going to have to fight.

"Alright boys, it's lights out!" Pan Flute's voice shouts from behind me.

"How did you get in here?" I ask. "Did anyone see him come in here?"

Everyone else seems distracted by his orders, running around and struggling to get into a hammock. I looked over at Pan Flute, who was still smirking. I sigh, giving up, and climb into a hammock.

"Goodnight boys. Remember, don't leave the tent. Unless you really want to that is." His voice calls out. I have my back turned to him, so I can't see him. I hear the tent doors flap shut.

I feel like that was a warning. I get out my hammock and move to the exit, when I feel Johnny grab my shoulder. He hangs above me and shakes his head.

What kind of day am I having if Johnny is the voice of reason?

I sigh, trying to get comfortable, which is impossible without taking off my hat. It's not a bonus either that hammocks are a death trap; one wrong turn and I'm on the ground. I look up at the top of the tent. I hadn't realised how tired I was until lying in this hammock. These boys exhaust me.

I wake up to screams outside my tent. I quickly struggle out of the hammock, rolling on to the dirt floor. I reach up, ensuring my hat is still firmly on my head. I got lucky, it's secured firmly in place.

A few of the other boys stir in the tent. Marcus, Johnny and Lyle show no signs of waking, but Max is tossing and turning. Thomas is the only one who is awake. He looks at me from above, eyes wide in fear, breathing heavily.

I lift a flap in the tent and nod to Thomas to come with me. He shakes his head rapidly, but nods for me to go out. I run out of the tent and into the clearing, boys shouting and rushing about all around me. It's a mad panic. Darkness surrounds me, the only light coming from torches that have been lit along the sides of the path. I fight through the crowd to get to what it is that everyone is running from.

I stop, in my tracks, boys shoving past me, wildly screaming, to get away from the danger. The tiger looks at me. The tiger. The tiger from the bridge is back, and it has a boy between its teeth. The boy is screaming. He's still alive.

I run up to the tiger, and pull my dagger out of my pocket, charging the tiger. It takes one look at me as I'm charging and it knocks me aside. I land on the dirt to the far left, at the mouth of the tent. I can't breathe anymore, the air has been knocked out of me. I feel quite dizzy, as I struggle to see through the dim light. I try to flail my arms as I wheeze and breathe heavily. I feel arms around my back. They lift me up and prop me against something, as they disappear. My vision begins to return.

I see the tiger looking straight at me, blood dripping from its fanged mouth, only ten feet away. I try to lift my arm up and point the dagger at the tiger. I can't move my arm, a searing pain rips through it. I see the dagger a few feet behind the tiger, covered in blood. My blood? I refuse to look down at my arm, fearing the worst.

The tiger suddenly roars to its left. I look over and see a boy charging it, his dark brown face contorted in rage. He has a spear in his clenched fists, aimed directly at the tiger. He aims the dripping black tip at the tiger and launches it into the air. The tiger roars on his hind legs.

The spear doesn't hit. Instead, it is caught by Pan Flute.

"Well done Dominque," he smiles. "You know, I think you deserve to rejoin the hunting party."

The boy, Dominique, begins to whoop loudly. Another boy comes up beside him and tackles him to the ground. I flinch, waiting for a fight, but the two actually seem to be celebrating. Pan Flute grins, and throws the spear away behind him. The tiger has vanished. The boys begin to come out of hiding.

"Is anyone injured?" Pan demands, looking around the clearing. He has suddenly become serious, something I haven't seen on his face yet. He makes eye contact with me and looks me up and down.

"Jared, go patch up Charlie. I'll deal with Evan." Pan Flute finishes.

I'm immediately helped up by a boy. He has pale skin and ginger hair, and bright green eyes that are filled with warmth. He helps me hobble over to a tent. I can't see very well; I'm incredibly dizzy. He lies me down on something inside the tent. It's too dark to see. I hear a match lighting, the boy lights a lantern above my head. I can see.

"I'm Jared," he beams, a warm southern accent coming out of his mouth, "the resident medic. Give me your arm."

I shake my head back and forth, groaning. He begins to unbutton my cloak but I keep grunting. The table shakes beneath me, as I thrash my legs up. He can't take off my cloak. He can't know I'm not a boy.

"It's okay, I won't touch you," Jared soothes backing up. "I'm just going to check you for a concussion."

He grabs something from a nearby table and shines it in my eyes. A flashlight. I blink. He puts the flashlight away and then begins talking again.

"Are you feeling dizzy? Do you have a headache? Do you remember my name? Do you remember yours?" He presses on.

"I'm a little bit dizzy, I'm sore but no headache, and your name is Jared." I groan. "And my name is Charlie."

He steps back, satisfied. "Well I doubt you have a concussion. If you feel nauseous or are having headaches, come back to me later, I'll help you. Now for your arm."

He reaches back down over top of me, grabbing the buttons of my cloak. I thrash about again, clawing him in the face with my working hand. He stumbles back and crashes to the ground.

"Damn it!" He cries, cradling the spot on his forehead that I got. "Why would-"

He cuts himself off and takes a second to breathe. He stands up and lowers his hand from his face. I see a small cut along his hairline.

"Sorry," I muster, though I'm really not.

He breathes in, still trying to relax. "It's fine, it's not the first time I've been attacked by someone. Don't worry about it." His tone is as calm as his words.

He walks over to me and pulls a knife out from his own cloak. He grabs hold of my left arm and begins cutting the fabric. I scream out in pain, as the itchy fabric scratches against my cut. I shut my eyes tight, breathing heavily, trying to overcome the pain. He drops my arm, my eyes still glued shut as I wince in pain.

I suddenly here a gasp. I open my eyes and see Jared staring at my chest. My cloak is unbuttoned. He looks up at me and back down. He quickly pulls the cloak off of my arms and I squeal out in pain.

He grabs a vial and some bandages from the table. He quickly dumps the vial out on my arm and wraps up the cut as I scream, and scream and scream. He grabs my cloak, peeking back at the enterance, and quickly picking up his knife and cutting the material on my cloak. He throws it back around me, so that my left arm hangs out completely uncovered by fabric. He rapidly buttons it up

"Wow, you scream a lot," he whispers out. "Well, your cloak is ruined now, but at least I didn't have to completely take it off your body. That would've been much more painful. You don't seem to have any nerve damage or anything, just the flesh wound. It'll be healed by tomorrow night."

I've stop yelling, tears are flowing out my eyes though. I look up at him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Helping you?" I looks at me. "I'm the doctor here. It's my job to make sure nobody gets hurt. If you died because of that silly little arm, I'd never forgive myself."

I make eye contact with the boy. He has kind eyes. He nods his head at me and leaves the tent.

I don't move, thinking about Jared. Did he just agree to keep my secret? Why would he do that? He also implied that I would die if it got out that I'm not who I say I am. He's keeping me safe. Now I really feel bad for clawing him in the face.

After what feels like an hour of sitting in silence, the tent flaps open and Harry comes in. His face is slightly red. He smiles at me.

"Heard you got stabbed in the commotion." Harry smiles down at me.

I roll my eyes. "I stabbed myself with my own dagger, trying to fight that tiger. I'm so stupid."

Harry shakes his head. "No matter what anyone else says, you aren't a plunter. Did a ruddy lot more than the rest of us did."

"What's a plunter?" I ask.

"A screw-up." Harry sighs. "I'm sorry you got hurt though, it's kind of my fault really. It was my shift to watch Lily when-"

"Lily?" I ask.

"The tiger," he explains. "Anyway when I saw her out of her cage instead of stabbing Lily or doing anything, I ran off to get the others to evacuate. Went to the tent, and wouldn't you know it Alex wasn't there. So I ran off to look for him, hoping it wasn't him Lily got. I didn't even go tell Pan."

"Who did the tiger get?" I ask.

Harry's face flushes again. "Evan, the guy whose duty I was switching with. Died five minutes ago, he did. We'll have his funeral in the morning."

"I'm sorry," I look up at Harry. "I tried to help him."

He shakes his head. "He was the New until you came along. Only been here a few weeks. Nothing anyone could've done. I didn't know him to well, but Jared said he kept having to treat Evan for being sick all the time. I think he let the tiger out himself, you know, to end it all."

I look back at Harry. He looks broken. "How many people have died this year?"

He looks down at me, "I don't know when a year ago was. Since I've been here, two boys."

"How long have you been here?" I ask.

"I don't know what year it is." He sighs.

"It's 2011. October, 2011." I tell him.

He shakes his head. "It's been eight years."

My eyes widen. "That's a lot of boys to die. One every four years?"

"Well, it use to be much less frequent, when there were less boys. I came during the boom."

"The boom?" I ask.

"Yeah, it was like a boy came every couple months, and then a boy died every couple years. I'm not really the person you should be talking to about it. There are a few longs who'd know more than I do; Jared, Alex, Devin, and Keaton. They've been here longest, other than Pan and Felix. Jared's your best bet though, the others are touchy." He rambles.

"Touchy?" I ask.

"Jared saved my life when Devin and Alex were going to let me die, great friends they are. You've met Alex, he can be-"

"An asshole?" I ask.

"A bit rude." Harry ignores me. "I've known him for eight years, apparently, and he still won't tell me about anything before ten years ago."

"What happened ten years ago?" I ask.

"The beginning of the boom," Harry answers. "Anyway, I have things to prepare for tomorrow. A grave to dig in the graveyard. A raft to make for the river. Lots to do, so I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Harry." I call out.

"Goodnight Charlie," he answers back, leaving the tent.

I continue to lie on my back. Exhaustion hits me in the face.

Day: 3

I wake up. I slowly sit up, pushing myself up with my right arm, which is now in a sling. Jared must've returned and put it up. He also changed my cloak, now I'm wearing one made out of a soft green fabric. I don't know if I would've survived the night without him. Suddenly someone enters the tent. Dear lord, it's too early to deal with this.

"You're finally up," Pan Flute smirks. "You're going to help fill a grave today."

"My arm is in a sling." I say dryly.

"Everyone helps fill the grave, even if it's a handful of dirt." Pan Flute doesn't seem to want to budge on the matter. "Besides, the grave's only a foot deep. It's just a formality."

"You bury a body only a foot in the ground? "I ask.

"We send it into the water on a barge that's on fire," he answers, nonchalantly. "You can come in now." He yells out the tent's flaps.

Johnny walks in. He nods at Pan Flute, mutters a thank you, and walks towards me. Pan Flute leaves the tent.

"What happened to you keeping a low profile?" Johnny asks me, his teeth gritted.

"What happened to Pan Flute being psychopathic sadist who should be avoided at all costs?" I retort.

He rolls his eyes. "Pan's going to be all up in our business now because you can't for some god forsaken reason stop being the center of attention."

"Me? You're the one who's been following him around all day, being his little pet." I snap. "I tried to save someone's life."

"You risked your own life for someone who was already going to die!" He shouts. "And look where that got you! A broken arm! It could've been your neck. The medic could've seen your situation!"

"It's not broken, I've just been stabbed." I say. "It'll be healed by tonight."

"Well congratu-fucking-lations on not breaking your arm then!" He shouts. "You happy?"

I really want to snap back but I've nothing to say. He's right, I could've really been hurt. Doesn't mean I'd have done it any other way though. I'm not a coward; weak and frail maybe, but not a coward.

"I'm sorry," I lie. I don't need Johnny to be upset with me.

"It's fine. Let's just please go out and attend the fake funeral."

Johnny helps me off the table and we walk out of the tent. There's already boys walking down the path, headed for a path down the forest. We follow down the long path for maybe thirty minutes until we get to a clearing. The ground is a light and dusty dirt, not like soil. There are thick wooden crosses sticking up everywhere in the ground, all nailed together perfectly. There are rows upon rows, what looks like nearly 10 crosses. This is the graveyard. It seems to be nearly full of bodies. Everyone is silent.

There is a line of boys, which Johnny and I move to stand in. After a few minutes we get to the front of the line. A small hole, maybe three feet in diameter and a foot deep, is being filled with dirt by the boys. Johnny and I each grab a fistful and throw it into the hole. I file into the line behind the grave, as I watch the last few boys do the same.

I look down the line. Alex, Harry and Jared stand together. Jared is crying, tears slowly leaking down his face, but he makes no sound. Harry has his hand on Jared shoulder, silently comforting the boy. Harry's face is extremely red, and slightly puffy. He says he barely knew the boy, but I get the feeling he is lying. Alex has a frown on his face, almost like the entire ceremony is below him. I'm beginning his head could exploded from how big it's getting. He stands next to a boy who I do not recognise, with dark brown hair, who has a straight face. The two are looking in the same direction. I try to follow their eyes, but I see nothing. Maybe what they're looking at is only visible to douches.

Finally, all the boys have gone through and it's Pan Flute's turn. He throws in the last fist-full of dirt, making the hole full at last. He leads us down another path. We reach the end and I can see water. It almost looks like an ocean. I look over at a barge. The chubby boy, with the light brown skin I saw in the mouth of the tiger lies on it. He has no blood on his clothes, or wounds of any kind.

A few boys walk over and pick the barge up, beginning to push it in the water. I turn and walk back before they can. It feels wrong to watch the funeral of someone I didn't know. Even worse to watch the funeral of someone I couldn't save.

~~~~~~

So another super long chapter. I will almost definitely post another chapter tomorrow, but I'll be lucky if I get one up this weekend. I work 9 to 1, then 5 to 10, so not a lot of room to breathe.

Anyway, this is a long chapter, but I had fun with it. I love Jared, he's an angel, and Marcus gives me the creeps. Sorry if I'm adding in too many characters, but keeping track of them gets easier as the story progresses. Please let me know your thoughts, I'd loved to hear from you.

As always, keep doing you. I'll see you next time!