Everland(85)

He hangs his head, anger twisting his features. “I couldn’t go back to Germany like this,” he says, holding up his infected hand. “I’ve destroyed England and possibly all of humankind. If I returned to my mother infected … she already sees me as a monster, but this …” He stares at his stump. “Now I can never go back.”

The rain washes away my disdain for this boy, sympathy replacing it in the hollows of my heart. My soul shattered when I lost my mother, but I found her, was reunited into her loving arms. Hook, on the other hand, has never known nor will ever know a mother’s love.

“I’m so sorry,” I say, the words catching in my throat as I hold back my tears.

He smiles weakly and crumbles to the ground. “What have I done?” he whispers.

Despite my reluctance and weak stomach, I force myself to look at his stump. I have never purposely hurt another, not until tonight. “What have we done?” I whisper.

An explosion in the distance rocks the ground beneath us, drawing my attention to the wall of fire surrounding us. My pulse races and I search for an escape. Pete’s face appears in my vision and he is shouting, but his voice is lost. He places a hand on each of my arms and shakes me. “Let’s go!” he yells.

“We can’t leave him here,” I shout, gesturing toward Hook, who has curled into a ball around his ruined arm.

Pete glances at the wounded soldier. Hook stares back, unblinking, unmoving. Defeated.

“Come on, Gwen,” Pete says, tugging my arm.

I shake my head, my wet hair clinging to my face. “He’ll die if we leave him.”

“We have to go. Your family is waiting,” he says, wrapping an arm around me. He leads me away, but I don’t take my eyes off the wounded boy.

Everything around me distorts in a fuzzy haze. I blink and I am running, Pete leading me by the hand. Ahead, Doc sprints, waving to us to follow him. I stop at a set of double doors and look back at Hook. He’s curled in a crimson puddle, and he holds his bloody arm to his chest. He gives me one last sad glance, and my heart sinks as he is swallowed by the rainstorm. The palace doorway blurs as I run through it. The ground is littered with the bodies of soldiers. I blink the rain from my lashes again and I am racing through the garden toward the zeppelin fleet. Many of the ships are ablaze and the Marauders are nowhere in sight.

The whir of a zeppelin in the distance calls to me. A girl stands on the deck of the zeppelin, a girl waving to us. As we draw closer, I can see her wet, dark hair sticking to her face. Her black-and-gold sari hangs limply with rainwater. It’s Lily. Behind her, Lost Boys run about, preparing the ship for its departure.

We sprint up the ramp. Lily extends a hand out to help me board. “You didn’t really think I was going to leave Everland without you, did you?” she says with a smug smile.

“How did you know?” I ask her, helping Pete onto the ship.

She shrugs. “Because you’re one of the most courageous girls I’ve ever met. A bit mad, but courageous nonetheless. To face Hook all on your own? Now that is brave.”

Pete slips his hand into mine. “Agreed,” he says.

“And there was no way Pete was going to leave Everland without you,” Doc says as Lily helps him aboard.

Lily spins and shouts orders. I am greeted by my mother, Joanna, and Mikey. They wrap their arms around me tightly. From their embrace, I scan the royal gardens. The palace is ablaze. In the dancing light of the flames, a figure sprints toward the palace. The lanky boy turns to us. It’s Jack. He takes one step toward the zeppelin and looks back over his shoulder at the palace.

“Take your places!” Lily shouts, her gloved hands gripping the steering wheel.

The whir of the zeppelin’s engine vibrates beneath my feet. Across the garden, Jack spins, sprinting to the unguarded double doors. With a last glance at the ship, he places a hand behind his ear, touching the mark of the Marauders branded on his skin. Finally, he dashes inside the burning palace.

Lily calls to me, “Everyone is in place. Are you ready to leave, Gwen?”

Taking one last look as Everland burns to the ground, I turn and say, “Let’s get out of Everland … for good.”





All hands on deck!” Lily shouts.

Dozens of Lost Boys take their positions, cranking handles, feeding boilers, and pulling ropes, leaving the inferno of Everland in our wake. The zeppelin whirs with a subdued energy as we travel north toward what I’ve ached for over the last year, a place of promise for safety and peace.

Everland becomes just an orange flicker of light in the distance. Pete joins me by the rail.

“Will you miss it?” I ask as we fly away, leaving what’s left of Everland and the storm behind us.

“I don’t know. Absence makes the heart grow fonder … or forgetful,” Pete says, frowning.

I peer up at the star-adorned sky as we travel north. Pete slips his hand into mine. The warmth of his touch soothes the anxiety that lies beneath the surface of my optimism for safer lands.

“What are you thinking?” Pete asks, whispering in my ear.

I drop my gaze from the stars and smirk. “I was just thinking about when you pointed out the second one to the right. It was a point of hope, a means to bring my family back together.” I glance over my shoulder. Behind me Joanna and Mikey giggle as Gabs flaps his arms, teaching them a dance. My mother sits behind them, watching Gabs’s dance moves. She catches my gaze and smiles, but it’s mixed with relief and sorrow.