Extra Darling

Chapter 31: Frost

I jolted upright in a gasp, a sensation of suffocation forcing me awake. A thick fabric laid on top of me and I shoved it off as my back straightened. My lungs burned with a vivacity that made me double forward and take deep, uneven breaths. I pressed my hand against my chest and felt around my neck, having to convince myself that I wasn't actually suffocating. When I opened my eyes everything was fuzzy. The room was spinning, as was my head, but I immediately recognized that something was wrong.

I looked down to my left, where I had fallen next to Arthur, and was abhorred to see that he wasn't there. A brown blanket rested over my legs, folded in half from where I pushed it off. I couldn't remember why it was there, but I could remember everything else.

I remembered exactly what happened. Just as Arthur and I had come to the conclusion that it was Skye who helped Hook reanimate himself in Peter, the Lost Boys dropped down. Arthur fell as well, and finally, after I came face to face with the traitorous worm himself, I fell. When I closed my eyes, I was surrounded by the unconscious bodies of my friends and family, but now that I was awake, they were all gone.

"Arthur?" I said aloud, pushing myself up in a flurry.

A quick glance around the room showed that it was completely empty. Not a single sign of movement.

The chairs were knocked over, the fire still burning, but I was the only person in the room.

"Wendy?" I called, running into the hallway of the burrow and down the passageway, "John? Michael?"

I poked my head in every room, every closet, under every blanket, but there was nobody.

"Slightly? Nibs? Tootles?"

After a full sweep of the burrow, a cold dread settled in my bones.

They were all gone. Every single one of them. And it could only mean one thing.

Skye had taken them all to Hook.

I refused to call him Peter, even though he was in Peter's body. The Peter I knew and once despised would never do the things he did. This was Hook. It was undeniable.

I sat on the edge of one of the beds and put my hands over my face, trying not to let the panic of the situation overwhelm me. Yes, Hook was now in possession of everyone I loved, and yes, I was still in the burrow and clueless as to where they were, but that meant they were still alive. I could still do something about it. I just had to find them.

"I will not give up on them." I vowed, standing and walking down the hallway, "I will find them, and I will save them."

As I passed the living room, my focus on the stairs ahead, I heard a soft whimper. I froze mid-step and tuned my ears to the noise. It came again, louder and sounding more like a bark, from inside the room.

Cautiously, I re-entered the room and peered under the table, where I heard the sound.

With her head between her legs and her tail tucked around her, Tala looked at me with big eyes. She had curled herself in a small ball and was hiding beneath a chair's legs, crying.

"Tala." I cooed, reaching my hand out as I bent down.

She wiggled over to me, her head lifting slightly, and allowed me to pet her. This close I could see that she was shaking. She was frightened, and with good reason.

"We're going to get them back, Tala. We're going to save them, and we're going to make our enemies regret the day they decided to cross our paths." I stood up, watching as she also stood, "It's their turn to suffer."

I grabbed my black cloak from a hook near the wall and dashed up the stairs, fastening it around my neck as I lifted the hatch. Tala followed at my heels, standing beside me as I slammed the hatch shut again, anger fueling me.