LIFE 13: TILL MORNING

"Another drink Hook?" That smarmy bastard said as he always did, the bastard just holding the bottle out as I walked into his pub, for he knew I'd be back.

"Go fuck yourself Symon." I just growled out as I shrugged out of my coat, the heavy leather leaving my shoulders aching as I settled at the bar, the Scotsman merely laughing at me in turn as he began pouring me a glass.

"Now then, lemme guess. The Governor refused ta give ya a Privateer commission, again." Symon McCarns said with an empathetic grimace then as he just set the bottle beside me and he encouraged me on then as I could only nod in turn.

I had been aching to return to the sea in this life, believing my business on the water was still unresolved.

Yes, I could pursue any manner of living, perhaps using my talents to work my way into a King's graces or some other route to nobility.

However, the spirit that I had taken on in this life howled within me, for a desire to travel the seas like no other had ever done, and to seek out the nightmare of any sailor.

I had by some grace of fate survived, a merchant freighter spotting me in the waters after the Sea Devil had sunk, and had been more than glad to send me on my way to England.

My heart had warmed at returning to the country of my birth, but everywhere I went I heard whispers and mutters, both of myself and the fate of my fellows.

Of how I survived where others had not been so lucky, death having smiled on me where it had not been so kind to others.

Why did I survive where others had met their horrid fates to a demon of the deep?

I kept my words short on the shores, refusing to speak of the beast of a child that had driven my time as a pirate short, spreading a tale of piracy and cruelty.

I had found that while men of the sea understood superstitions and the supernatural, the monarchy and those in power refused to believe in monsters.

In the King's eyes, the real monsters rested in the hearts of men, and he would not pay mind to a monster of a boy that slaughtered noble men and pirates alike.

However, after being maimed by the little bastard, I was determined to kill it, as I had done to many demons and spirits through my years.

If I could kill the personification of Suffering, I could kill a monster kid.

However, my late childhood had been wrought with pain and gruffness as not a single person thought me capable.

A worker with only one hand was not worth keeping around at all, and not a single governor or viceroy would make a captain of a man with a single hand.

Of course, I had debated making a hand via the Argent Manu conjuration, but with the risk of silver poisoning in the blood… it was a risk too high, along with ensuring I stood out in this world.

In this age of grime and crude mechanics, a sophisticated metal hand would draw too many questions… so I had followed the advice of a woman that had given me company on a cold and lonely night.

I got a hook.

It wasn't nearly as useless as I had thought, my soft and intricate talents serving me well as I practically layered the thing in Runes, ensuring that it would remain ever sharp and deadly.

As well, upon a single thought it could transform into a nimble and swift blade, ensuring I could always catch my enemy unaware and pierce their chest with nothing but surprise in their eyes.

When locked blade to blade in combat, your enemy never expected a second blade where once there was none.

"Yes Symon, the Governor refused. He says that a Captain with one hand is not a captain at all." I growled out as I took the shot of rum, my eyes closing in relief as I let my shoulders relax as the barkeep began pouring me another.

Of course, I could always Imperio the Governor into signing me on, I could be a Captain by the night's end, but I would not stoop that low.

The Imperius made a slave of any man that stood before me, and as the last to know the spell, it fell on me to let it be forgotten and never to be used again.

"I've no clue why that fool says no. I've seen ya fight with that hook, never seen somethin' like it, and besides, Capn Hook has a ring to it, doncha think?" Symon asked of me then, that familiar twisted smile on his face as I just let the barb fly over me and just rolled my eyes.

Ever seen I had come to Oxfield and I had introduced myself, not a single town's person called me Harrison Black.

No, how dare I even try to get them to call me something else, because there was only one name on their lips when I passed them, my head tucked down as I always heard the same thing.

Look at him go, Harry Hook, the boy that wasn't Lost.

And wasn't that a thing to learn?

In the years since the Sea Devil went down, across England, a passing trend began to occur.

During the late hours of the night, children would open their doors and windows, and disappear.

No one knew what exactly would happen, or why, but it was always the same.

Always boys, never older than twelve, always ones that held active imaginations and dreamt of adventure.

They would disappear in the night, a fearsome fog having enveloped their homes the night before, and according to some rumors… a figure of a boy would appear in the gloom, a boy in green with blazing eyes.

Some called him the Piper, leading the children of Britain away with his honeyed words and talks of dreams and treasure.

However, this was no mere legend, as then the horror stories had become real.

Each and every time a boy would go missing, a year to the day of the disappearance, the boy would appear before his parents.

His skin would be pale and lifeless, his eyes blood red and furious as a horrible and awful grim would split his face from side to side.

He would hold a rusted blade and introduce them to the boy in green, before killing his father with no remorse, starting from the navel and carving his way to the jugular.

The skin would be loosened from his gut, and then be peeled away as the boy bathed in his blood, the crimson tide being absorbed into the boy's flesh as their mother would be left crippled and confused as without fault, she would go insane.

Then, with their parents left destroyed in more ways than one, their son would take hold of the other boy's hand, and the two would fly off into the night.

And he would become Lost, lost to both life and family, and he would never be seen again.

Before long mothers across the nation would be left insane and weary, their minds shattered and childlike as the world passed them by, yet they would not care in the slightest.

Due to their ruined minds and friendly nature in their delusion, some began to call them Fairies, their smiles warm as they spoke of worlds beyond ours and holding wonders beyond understanding.

And yet, they spoke of Him.

The Piper, the Boy, the horrible monster that had taken my hand and been responsible for the deaths of so many…

They called him Peter.

And I had long since decided that he would die.

"Thanks for the drink Symon, but I have places to be." I said with a small smile to the man, grabbing my coat then as I threw a pound to him as he just nodded in turn as he looked to the door waywardly

"I'll be seeing ya, but do be safe Hook, bad things on the wind lately."

"I welcome them to try."

"Governor Darling, what a surprise to catch you out this late." I said with no small amount of snark in my smile as I cornered the pudgy man outside his office, the man obviously wanting to be off and home before nightfall.

However, I had been denied too long to head back to the Maidan's Embrace for the night, and wanted that beautiful Privateer's commission.

The governor merely looked at me in disdain then as I laughed and fell in beside him as we walked through the town square, Mortimer Darling likely wishing he had anyone aside from me at his side.

"Of all the filth and cretins to encounter in the night, of course I find you Hook…" The man said with scorn in his tone as I just laughed and let a sense of anger fill my eyes and began to scratch my chin with my hook, the edge softening then as it became no worse than a prop before sharpening as soon as I let it fall.

"Now then Governor, that's not polite. I thought you claimed to be a man of honor and valor, and yet to refuse me of that which I deserve for the stupid reason of believing me useless, yet if you merely looked at me truely, you would see me more capable than all the ship rearing fools you employ." I snarked back at him then, his eyes taking their turn to roll as we strolled forward, a light rain beginning to dispel from the skies as we went on towards the Governor's estate.

"We have been over this time and again Black, no captain can sail with only a single hand, and I will allow no weakened man to serve under my banner, let alone a loose cannon to pillage and voyage freely such as yourself." Darling said then with no facade to his words, his eyes firm and sharp as he made it clear and evident what he truly thought of me, merely a disabled ex-pirate in his eyes.

I suppose that is what I would be, if I had not held the soul of a pseudo-immortal that held knowledge and powers beyond that of the mortal realm and secrets than any man would beg to know.

"Loose of a cannon I may be, Governor, but you have need of me in such troubling times. You have heard the tales Darling, just as we all have, and you know well enough the threat that we face. I have seen the Boy, he left me to die in deep waters and doomed me to a fate that you yourself help force upon me, and I will not rest until he pays for his misdeeds." I explained them with a fire to my eyes that I had few times before felt, pushing aside the disbelief that filled the man's eyes at the mention of the supernatural terror that plagued us, and I would not allow him to cling to this misguided avoidance of the truth.

He was much like Fudge in that regard and I would not allow him to run Oxfield into the ground by ignoring the obvious, as whereas a boy would disappear once a month, it had evolved to a child a week.

I knew that if this did not end, it would become a boy a day, and in no time at all England would fall to that bastard's hands.

And Britain would be Lost.

"Piper Peter is a myth, made up to excuse the loss of runaways and grieving parents, and I will not entertain your wild conspiracies Black, and I will ask you to leave me be. Do not bother coming around my office or home again, for I will not sign you a commission. Goodbye, Captain Hook." The bastard said with a sharp grin then as we stood before the estate, the wrought iron gate slamming shut behind him as he marched off in the fog and I was left alone in the shimmering night.

"I will not let you ruin this nation." I said to the wind then, my eyes tracing the dark clouds then as I swore I saw a figure soar past the moon's light, and I knew I was watched by a figure beyond the understanding of close-minded men like the Governor.

I was not ready yet, as he had said years before.

I found myself more times than often drinking away in Symon's pub, the Rigid Siren being a welcoming place despite the name and the barkeep's equally abrasive personality, but it was a warm place of kindred spirits and none there judged me for my machinations.

It was then as I swore and complained of Darling's stupidity and the fact that as he stalled me, more and more of Britain suffered and bled as that flying fuck stole away children for his army of the undead, that I found a man joining me at my usual booth.

An older man clear to see from the gray tainting his brown locks, I looked past his crescent moon glasses to see an interested, yet tired man.

And yet, he gave this uncertain and determined smile to me.

"I don't believe we've met, dear sir." I said with a slight laugh then as he made himself comfortable beside me, the man pulling free a small book of sorts, a photo album from the seems of it judging by his flipping past of fogged photos.

He stopped then as he landed upon a photograph of two young boys in sailor suits, one standing over the other as they smiled so warmly and softly, the younger blinking his eyes likely from the camera flash as the older held back a laugh.

It was clear to see they were brothers judging by the closeness I felt from the photo, but I understood now why this stranger had approached me, as I recognized the curve of his face in the older of the boys, guessing that the boy couldn't have been older than twelve years.

The age that the Boy tended to ignore.

"He took your brother, didn't he?" I asked quietly and softly as the man tucked the album away, his sorrowful eyes finally meeting mine as I began to pour him a drink from the bottle Symon had left as I was sure my new friend would need one.

"His name was Charles, he had been six at the time. Full of life and dreams of working with animals… I loved my brother more than anything in the world, and that little bastard took him from me… I was there the night he took him, that… that boy just looked to me in the doorway, and smiled at me. He said… he said that he would see me again." The man sputtered out then, obviously distraught as I just lay my remaining hand on his shoulder, trying to provide whatever comfort I could give to a fellow survivor.

"And then, he brought him back, some time later… but he wasn't my Charlie, my brother had been eaten up by this monster, a pale spector wearing my brother's face… had come to carve up our father and feed off his life… our mother called him a Lost Boy, and when I asked her what she meant, she said Peter took him to Neverland." He muttered then as he drank of the rum generously as he stared off through the window, the night's shine beginning to creep in as another day went spoiled as figures in the shadows haunted us all.

"Neverland…?" I asked in turn, having never heard of such a place in any map or star chart as the man just grimaced and sat back in his chair, his grey eyes seeking the ceiling above as an odd air fell over us.

"My mother, in this light and soft voice… She used to say that to get to Neverland, one must simply follow the second star to the right, and follow straight on till morning." He told me then, pain clear to see on his face as the thought of his mother so broken and lost must hurt him greatly.

I know if I had experienced such a thing to any of my previous mothers, I would feel such a pain indeed, and I could only pity the man.

"Straight on till morning… I know not of this land you speak of, but I should like to go there, to put a stop to the menace both you and I have been wronged by." I said in turn as I drew the man from his thoughts, a smile growing on him as my words spoke of a strength that he likely had desired.

"I am aware, there is much talk of you Harrison Black. You are popular among the people of England, even if it is because of your foolishness, but I believe you the best bet of my seeing my brother avenged and put to rest." He said with such belief that I almost believed myself capable of getting to this land beyond the land, where monsters and the undead live between journeys to ravage our own.

"You never told me your name, friend?" I reminded him then as we settled into a sense of calm comadary as our bottle ran dry and the world around us drifted back into notice as we now shared a sense of determination.

"No, I suppose I have not. Ellis Smee, at your service sir." He said as he held a hand aloft to me then as I could only return the gesture, a small smile growing on me as did he.

"Well then, I am-"

"I know, Captain Hook, right?"

"I suppose I am."

I had parted from my new friend then, my restless spirit leading me from the pub and far from my home in the inn, and carrying my feet onward and to a place I was told not to tread to.

The Governor's estate sat before me, quiet and solemn as the world around me fell silent and the night drew on as I felt a growing sense of unease.

Letting myself through the gate then, ignoring the sound I left in my wake, I knew that the night was not as usual, and that there lingered a cold within the otherwise stately home.

And yet, this feeling that drew me forward did not lead me towards the door of the home, nor imploring me to enter.

No, my feet found themselves walking around the yard then as the back of the home came into sight along with the elaborate garden that the Governor's wife so carefully cultivated.

It was then that I heard mutterings in the night, sweet whispers on the breeze that had my blood chilling as I knew that voice that spoke of skies and lands unconquered.

"Nothing will stop you… you never have to grow up there… Come with me friend… Neverland awaits…" That cold, unfeeling voice said aloud as I looked to the back door of the estate, often locked and barred (As I had often tried to enter to discuss my privateer commission with the governor) yet now open, and the form of the Governor's son stepped from the home.

Little George Darling stood there in his nightclothes, the boy's eyes dazed and cold much akin to that of the Imperius as he stepped out to face the winds of the night and emerge into the open.

I knew that the horrible bastard that I had sought out now hovered in hiding, as I had heard his whispers and felt his presence, and I refused to allow him yet another victim.

"Incarcerous!" I cried out then in the night as a bright beam of light flew from my palm, the small boy finding ropes suddenly binding his form as he fell to the ground, his eyes growing alert as he began to cry.

The boy now safe and secure, I looked out into the shadows in search of my otherworldly enemy, only to feel a presence exert itself against my back.

I froze as I felt a hand grab my arm then and a face press itself against my back, what would normally be an act of affection now unnerving and tense.

"He was mine. He was MINE. I let you go. The next we meet, I shall not be so kind. I await you beyond…" That horrible, grinding voice said with none of the honeyed sweetness he had used for the child, the cold brutality returned as horrid nails dug into the flesh of my arm.

With my hook turning to a blade, I swung it behind me then in attack, aiming to spear the bastard through the gut… only to find nothing and no one.

Taking a breath then, I merely cast the counter spell onto the young Darling boy along with a warming charm for good measure, whispering calming words as I saw his frightened father stumble out of the house.

"Hook? What happened… His room was covered in blood and…" The man said then in shock as he rushed forward and took his son into his arms, the boy surprised and wondering what had happened and why his father was so afraid.

I just placed a hand on the man's shoulder then as I locked eyes with him, his jaw clenching as his eyes grew worried.

"I believe we have things to discuss, Governor, and time to make you regret telling me to stay away."

"Inside, now…"

" To Tell You That The Dreams You Plan, Really Can Come True…"