Private - Neverland (18+)

It was a beautiful summer day in Virginia Beach. The boardwalk was bustling with tourists who came to the beach for a week of spring vacation. The people consisted of families and college students like herself. Katherina Voss was on her week vacation from college. She was studying abroad in America. Of course she carried her true home country with her everywhere she went when she spoke. Growing up in London, England she had that distinctive accent that everyone seemed to adore. All the guys she met told her it was sexy. All the girls wished they could be her. It got old after a while. Although she learned to live with it. There was nothing she could really do about her accent. Speaking with an american accent turned out to be too much work. It was like playing a role in someone she wasn't. Once in a while she would purposely hide her accent until it began to slip out naturally. As the girl with long brown hair walked, she walked up to a vendor selling smoothies. Strawberry smoothies were her absolute favorite. She didn't drink them very often and kept them as a treat to herself. Today for some reason she was feeling rather blue. She had a dream about reuniting with her brother Damien Voss. As it was only a dream she knew it was next to impossible to making that come true. The last time she saw him was when she was thirteen. She didn't know where he was or had been sent to. Her parents always told her that he went off to Neverland. When she first heard that answer, she would often plead for them to send her too. However, they would always say they loved her too much to do that. It was complete bullshit if you asked her. They just wanted the two siblings to stay separated.

While she waited in line, a little girl passed by with her family wearing a black shirt with Tinkerbell on it. The shirt said "Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust." Katherina couldn't help but smile when she saw it. She loved Peter Pan and Tinkerbell and everything about the story and movies. Her college dorm was decorated with a Peter Pan bed spread complete with matching pillow cases. Her phone background was a picture of the live adaption of Peter and Wendy dancing together with the fairies flying around them. It was safe to say that she was a true Peter Pan fan. At night, she would sit on a bench and look up at the night sky hoping to find the second star to the right that would take her to Neverland. Of course she knew that no such thing existed. Peter Pan was suppose to come to her window long ago and ask her to go live with the Lost Boys and be their mother. She was grown up now. She was twenty one now. There's no way she could ever go to Neverland as the rule was no grown ups allowed. She could only ever go there in her dreams. Her thoughts were snapped out of it when she heard the man working calling for the next person. Reaching into her pink plad purse, she pulled out her green wallet and pulled out her debit card. "Hi there! I was hoping to get a regular strawberry smoothie?" The man nodded and turned to make what she requested. Once he came back, he pressed buttons on the register and put the cup in front off her. "That'll be $4.99." Katherina nodded and gave him the card. She watched him swipe it before returning it to her. Taking the receipt, she smiled and took her drink and walk off to the side. Putting her wallet back into her purse, she checked the time on her phone. It was only 2:00pm. There was really nothing left for her to do. She didn't feel like going swimming or heading over to the little amusement park. Besides those places were a mess of people.

In the end, she decided to head to an outdoor cafe. Making her way over there, she took a seat t a table with two chairs tucked in. While one chair would be occupied, the other would be empty. She didn't really care. Placing her drink on the table, she put her purse next to it and proceeded to go digging for her phone and pink earbuds. It was too nice of a day to go back to her hotel and spend it inside. After all she wanted to catch some sun and live in the heat. The one good thing about America was the weather was good. In England it would often rain and be cloudy. Once in a while England had its good days. Virginia Beach however was the perfect summer town. The sea salt all around which each deep breath she took. It was rather relaxing. She only wished she could spend some time with her brother. Even if it was to only talk to him for a minute or two. She just wanted to know how he was doing after all this time. Sometimes things just weren't fair. Shaking her head, she didn't want to think about that anymore. Putting her earbuds on, she put on her playlist which she called her Neverland. These songs talked about superheros an of course Peter Pan. Often when she felt down, this playlist is what usually helped her to bounce back from whatever it was she was thinking about. There was a small breeze that blew her long brown hair around covering her face for a moment or two. Taking her hand, she moved the loose hair behind her hair. Sometimes she thought about cutting her hair, but she remembered that her brother liked her with long hair. Once in a while she would get it trimmed but most of the time she kept it at the same length.

Holding up her phone, she opened up a blank text message and began typing in it. She used to see a therapist that told her to send text messages to her lost brother. She smiled at that thought. He truly was a lost boy. These text messages may not have been sent out, but it gave her some peace of mind. She liked to pretend that he would read them wherever he was. Perhaps the magic of Neverland would somehow get those messages to him. One could only hope for that to happen anyway.

@Camus Varic

 

He only smiled when he had been around her, those were the only times that his smile were real. His photographic memory came in handy when it came to the tales of Peter Pan and Neverland. It wasn't like he could always carry the black book with golden letters with him at all time. It would be hard enough to sneak himself out of the place-- but with a book, it was hard. It was Katherina's favourite tale, a fact that neither of their parents would know truly. They got what they wanted if they wanted it, hell even he did. He was meant to live some perfect life, but it was Hell. Hell that he hid from his sister.

She was too young, she was innocent to know what their father did. So every time he had an injury he would tell her some lie on how he had gotten it. He remembered the first time that he had read Peter Pan to her. He was eight, it was also around the same time that their father had started to take his aggression out on his son, He was a creative eight year old, he made the story entertaining for his then five year old sister. He had read it prior to telling her the tale and had decided he would make the tale more interesting.

His favourite character wasn't Peter Pan, God forbid that it would be Tinkerbell. No, his favourite character was Captain Hook. He was a little boy and no little boy wanted to be dressed up in tights with elf ears, they would prefer to be a pirate. He played his part well, making sure to keep his sister entertained-- this including character voices and jump scares. He had even begged to go as Captain Hook for Halloween one year, the hook that he used for his hand was actually to hide a bruise that his father had given him prior. The long red coat hide the various scars that decorated his arms. Not a soul asked anything at all, they didn't know.

"The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.”

~~~​

“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.”

"You've got to be kidding me!" Damien would exclaim as he looked at the text on his cellphone. He had just got up to an annoying buzzing of his cellphone against the nightstand. He just wanted to sleep, but the damn thing didn't shut up in the slightest. He was having a good dream to. He dreamed of his sister and wondered if she still had silly little obsession with Peter Pan. Those were the good memories he missed, this place wasn't that much of a Hell-- but it was lonely. The text was from his asshole of a manage at the local cafe he was force to work at. Something about he had to earn his keep, Rudger hated him.

So maybe it was a little dramatic, he was twenty four and still being forced to live with the guy. He would never truly be able to be free, the red and black collar that was around his neck was proof of this. He kept it on because of the slight fear that Rudger actually brought forth in him. He hid behind a smile, but he was a cruel and scary man. His father had been something, but this man was a demon. He had been more or less sold to this man when he was sixteen and had been living with him ever since. It was lonely, but he had gotten to travel. It didn't make this any easier on him though. He would sigh and go to get dress. He had to go to work because the asshole had scheduled him again. He wasn't even supposed to be working today, but someone called in sick and who did he call in-- him.

As he looked at himself in the mirror he began to wonder something to himself, thought he did so out-loud. "Wonder if she still is in love with Peter." The British accent that would always follow him was there within his voice, his tone almost sarcastic like. He wondered what his sister had grown up to be like, it was something he would never know at all. He had pocketed his cellphone within the pockets of his dress pants before moving from the floor length mirror. "To die will be an awfully big adventure" he spoke as he went to open his door to lead him out into the hallway. It was a quote from Peter Pan. He could get that in the world of Terra. He already was having such a fun time, what was better was he got to get out of this Hell he lived in.

The cafe was full when he got there and he grumbled to himself as he went to punch in. He had left the house and Rudger had been home which made his start worse. The man went on about some business meeting he was having. He had gotten a call and as he left he could hear something about an orphanage. Whatever, it was none of his concern anyways, he could care less what that demon did. "Go to table two" the managed all but yelled at him the minute he had punched in. "Geeze I'm going" he muttered under his breath, though he wanted to call his manager other things.

He wasn't even suppose to be waiting tables, his attire clearly showed a difference than the others that worked here. He worked where he was needed, but mostly ended up stationed in the kitchen. Shorthanded or called in because meant that he was usually on table duty. He rolled his eyes as he went towards table two. A girl with long brown hair sat there, she looked as if she was engrossed in her phone. Perhaps she was waiting for someone, he had no clue who she actually was. He offered a fake smile he brought out the small black notepad and a pen.

"Welcome to Dreamland. My name is Damien and your wish is my command. Might I recommend our chef's special today herbal pork chops with garlic buttered vegetables " he spoke the required monologue. His red-brown eyes trying not roll. A part of him died each time he had to say such a ridiculous saying. It was no secret why why his in game character of Camus was the way he was with the way his life was.

“Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.”

 

Typing on the phone and reading the words showing up on the screen was all the girl could think about. Her therapist told her pretending to write to her brother would help her cope with missing him. It really didn't do any good to do it anymore. She didn't know where Damien was and he'd never read the messages. He'd never know about her accomplishments, her goals in life, what she dreamed about. It was all pointless. She didn't know why she continued to keep on doing the exercise. At this rate it was like she was using her phone as a diary to write all her thoughts down in. However, once it was all written out, she would delete the text to be lost forever. She just had to face reality already. The siblings were never going to see each other again. For two people to be reunited only happened in disney movies. Most importantly, it only happened to the main leads in the movie. Katherina was not a main character. Not even in her own life did she think like that. If anything, she thought of herself as a supporting role. Nothing too bad or too good ever happened to her. The life she lead was boring and out of routine. She and glanced over at the menu in front of her.

Sitting at a cafe and not ordering anything was considered rude to some people. Especially if she had something already with her. Picking up the menu, she skimmed it over quickly. She wasn't all that hungry to begin with. The strawberry smoothie would be more than enough. But she wanted to be considered a good customer to serve. Although eating lunch wouldn't be a bad thing. On her days like this, she would often forget to eat. Whenever she felt upset or blue, she mostly starved her body. It was like food was the last thing she wanted to think about. When her brother was sent away, Katherina just about went on a hunger strike for about a week. Nobody could get her to eat anything. Her mother thought about sending her to a rehab center for anorexia. That wouldn't of worked since she wasn't anorexic to be begin with. It was how she dealt with being upset. It was far from being healthy. Over time, she made friends who made sure that times like this she stayed taken cared of. If her brother ever found out about what she did, he would scold her for sure. Katherina knew he wouldn't do it to be mean but because he cared for her so much. It really wasn't fair to grow up in a world without your sibling. Some people were so lucky to have an entire family. Her family might as well be classified as broken.

Her train of thought was broken when she heard the voice come up to the table and ask to take her order while telling her the special. Was the cafe called Dreamland? What a coincidence. Katherina chose to go to that cafe because the set up looked cute. She compared it to the music video that Taylor Swift did once. It was for the song Mine. Katherina liked Taylor Swift because a few of her songs mentioned princes and princesses. Fairytails that would always grow strong. One of her classmates once compared her to a princess that always seemed lost.

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Sitting at her desk in class, the instructor was talking about fairy tails. She talked about how love always triumphed over evil. Some of the best movies ever made had that climatic turn. It was the type of movies that made you cheer for the underdog and hate on the villain. Sometimes it was hard to hate the villain especially if they were good at the role. Nowadays when writers wrote the role of a villain, they usually made it easy for them to be defeated. "Alright students, I want you all to think of a movie that has a hero, a damsel in distress, a comedic character and of course the villain. Oh but here's a catch, no repeats. Once you hear a student shout it out, you best change your answer." The students groaned while others agreed. Katherina didn't waste any time to think of the movie she would list off. Quickly she rose her hand and waited patiently for her to be picked on. One student said Lion King. Another said The Little Mermaid. "Yes Katherina." Putting down her hand, the long haired girl stood up. "I choose the movie Peter Pan. Peter is the hero. Wendy the damsel, The Lost Boys for comedic relief and of course Captain Hook as the main villain." The instructor nodded and smiled. "Very good Katherina. A very good example."

Taking her seat, Katherina looked over at the boy beside her Benjamin who was smiling at her. "Talking about all these movies, I can see you as the lost princess from Tangled. You even have the long hair for it." Katherina smiled and shook her head at him. "No, if anything, I'm a lost girl. No even better! I'm the girl who'll always be beside Peter Pan." Benjamin laughed and shook his head. "Come on Kat, you need to get over your obsession. Peter Pan isn't real nor is Neverland." That made the girl frown. "Oh Ben, let me ask you....Have you ever seen a million dollars? What about a spaceship? Perhaps you've met Big Foot." Ben made a face and shook his head. As he was about to open his mouth, Katherina cut him off. "Just because you've never seen them doesn't mean they're not real."

*********************​

"Welcome to Dreamland. My name is Damien and your wish is my command. Might I recommend our chef's special today herbal pork chops with garlic buttered vegetables " Putting down her phone and looking at the menu quickly, she looked up at the waiter, she smiled at him. "Hi! I was wondering if I could get a regular club sandwich with a side of fries and a coke." She had no idea that the male she was talking to was actually her brother. She wouldn't know especially she didn't know what he looked like now that he was much more older. "Oh and on the sandwich, please make sure there's no tomatoes on it." Katherina smiled up at him as she handed him the menu. "Thank you!"

 

Wow, she actually had responded and put down her phone. He hated people, and more than anything he hated this job. Why had it been this job? Rudger must like torturing him, it had been his idea to come here. Who wanted to work as a cafe called Dreamland and be around smelly food all say. Yes, he did enjoy being in the kitchen slightly, it was better than when he had to be out here on the floor. Those were the moments that he despised the most. He had a tendency to get the rudest of people and he couldn't even do anything about it.

He had his suspicion that the owner of said place was someone Rudger knew. Why else would Rudger suggest this place in particular and more or less state that he 'had to work there'. Life was unfair and he hated it. He had thought upon seeing the phone that maybe this girl was just like the other's. The ones who didn't have the time of day to stop texting or talking upon their phone to even give him some kind of order. What was even stranger was the fact that she didn't have some stereotypical American accent. He was getting tired of the Southern accented people trying to look cool just because they were here on Spring Break (usually).

Then he knew the locals, but usually this place catered to the college crowd and the tourists. There were a few locals that braved the stupidity but not many. Even they were stupid though. He just didn't have a high opinion of people at all. The old people were usually the wild cards. Sometimes they were nice little elderly couples and then some were just plain bitter. He was sure he had a handful of complaints about his work ethic when he did wait tables. That is usually when he wanted to scream that was why he worked in the kitchen and wasn't a true waiter. Though who would expect someone like him to be brilliant with people. He had literally been more or less sold to pay for his father's mistakes-- didn't give one the warmest of feelings around people.

He had wrote down the order of the girl. "Of course, we'll have your order right to you." Who was she? He had to wonder this when he walked away from her. Sure they had a handful of exchange students , but usually they were from countries like Japan or China. Those he usually saw from the back, once he had to wait tables and his manager had given him the table full of Asians and one white dude and told him to take their order... alone. There was probably at least twenty people at that table. The manager was being an extra big dick that day and had given him said table because he was 'foreign' himself.

He walked into the kitchen and hung up the order for the chef at the time. "Why the fuck does Valentine always do this to me" he asked the current chef as he went to go get the red cup to fill up with the requested Coke. "Damien, you're just bitter because you got called in today." He grumbled as he pressed the button for the Coke to dispose. "You don't seem to get it Aidan. It isn't just because he called me in today, but he always puts me on the floor when he knows how much I hate it." He had tapped the glass slightly to get the fizz from overflowing the glass. "Damien it is just a task like being back here. It isn't the end of the world and you know it." He rolled his reddish-brown eyes and took the glass back out with him.

He forced that same fake smile as he went back to the girl and placed the cup down before her. "Here you go, your food will be ready soon." Luckily they weren't that busy at the moment, though something told him that it might change all the same. He looked around, thankfully his manager wasn't walking about and so he decided he would ask one question. "What part? What part of Britain are you from? I'm from the London area, I miss it. It rare to find someone from Europe in general coming here." Why the hell did it feel like he could talk to her. He felt safe.

Before she could reply though, a hand had gone to touch his shoulder. It made him jump slightly. "Damien Voss are you bothering customers." Fuck, where did Valentine come from? He shook his head. "No, and I don't classify talking to someone as bothering them. Wasn't it you who told me to talk more" there was an edge to his voice that was being hidden, but Katherina might be able to hear it. He was being shoved away , Valentine bowing slightly "I'm sorry miss, he won't make you wait any longer than you have to." He huffed as he was pushed all the way back into the kitchen.

"What the hell was that for" he had to bite his lip to stop from yelling. "Now try that again" Valentine was watching him with amber eyes. He grumbled "it isn't like I'm like Kevin or anything. I don't flirt with any woman that moves. Whatever" he stated as he spotted the plate that Aidan had just finished and went to take the order back out to her. "Sorry, my boss is a bit of an asshat" he had half whispered that part when he placed the food down before. "Here you go, I hope you enjoy." He hadn't walked away yet, something was stopping him from doing so.

 

The brown haired girl had watched the male server get pulled away from his boss. Katherina wondered why. He hadn't been rude to her at all. He was asking a basic question of what part of England she had been from. The real rude one was the boss. He pulled Damien away before she could even speak to him. Why were those in charge always have to be like that. Doing things because they could. It didn't make them any better of a person. Just because they had power over their employees didn't mean they had to abuse it. She found it annoying and uncalled for. If this had happened with another worker, then Katherina would of been able to report to the boss as a concerned customer. Unfortunately, this happened with the boss and therefore reporting it was out of the question. She only hoped he would return. After all, she was his customer and he was suppose to take care of her. She reached for her glass and took a sip of her cold refreshing coke.

It wasn't long before he had returned with her order of food. As he placed it down and she looked at it, the sandwich looked good. Although he was still standing there and hadn't walked away. Reaching for a fry, she bit into it. It was hot with the right amount of salt on it. It was delicious. "London. London England. Once I finished high school, I came over to America to study abroad. I guess you could say, I was looking for something that might feel like home to me. However, even here doesn't feel like home. Nothing will ever be like the home I once had." She'd been talking about her parents and her brother. But if anyone was the real home, it was her brother. Now she might as well be an orphan. Her mother and father felt like strangers to her. They didn't know anything about her, and they never cared to ask. It was Damien that knew everything about her. When the thunderstorms were bad, he'd let her crawl into his bed and cuddled. He'd read Peter Pan to her every night. Sometimes he would try to suggest a new story but her answer remained the same. One night they even played Peter Pan. Damien was Peter and Katherina played herself and became the very first lost girl. Oh how she would miss those moments.

Once she finished her fry, she picked up half the sandwich and took a small bite. It tasted very good. She could tell how hungry she was. Her stomach had been growling and telling her to feed it. While most days she neglected what her body told her, this was a rare day that she actually listened. Putting down half of the sandwich, she picked up her napkin and wiped off her mouth. Then she grabbed her coke and took a drink of it. "It's going to be okay...." At the sound of those words, she could hear her past self saying those same words to Damien. Even if they did nothing, somehow they made him feel better. That was something she could never understand. Even now it was all a mystery. The situation could of been brutal but he would smile and agree with her. Why would he do that? Had he been putting on an act to not make her worry? If that was the case it seemed to work. Sh never really worried about him. He made it seem like everything was under his control. On the nights, when Katherina heard him and his father fighting, she would cower and cry in a corner. Once the trouble was done, Damien was there to hold her close. Despite him comforting her, she didn't feel it was right for her to receive all the comforting words and soothing gestures. So she would constantly tell him that everything would be okay.

Thinking of her brother, she could feel her appetite slipping away from her. Her eyes began to fill up with her tears. Before she knew it, one tear escaped her eye and then another and another. She had tears flowing down her cheeks. Quickly, Katherina tried her best to catch them and have them go unnoticed. As she grabbed for a napkin, she knocked over purse on the table as everything fell out of it from not being buttoned closed. Her green wallet, her phone, a charger for her phone, pocket mirror. Some make up for her eyes such as eye liner and some lipstick. In case she needed to touch up anything. Among those possessions, the one thing that stood out was a red feather key chain. The key chain was from her brother just before he left. It was worn out and looked to be as old as it was. She had it for as long as her and her brother had been apart. Katherina hadn't seen the feather fall off the table and land by Damien's feet. However she did pick everything else up on the table and put it back into her bag.

Now that she felt sick to her stomach and lost her will to eat yet again. Katherina felt herself become nauseated. "I'm sorry...But I should go. I don't feel good all of a sudden." Getting up, Katherina placed down the money on the table. "Please keep the change." She hadn't gotten far from the table when a party of people got in her way and keeping her in sight of Damien.

 

He knew that staying standing around her was probably not the best thing in the world-- though he couldn't explain why he hadn't left. It ended up working in his favour to say the least, as she had continued to speak to him. She was actually answering his question from before his boss had so rudely pulled him away. It wasn't like him to actually talk to customers, but it wasn't like he was doing what his boss was accusing him of doing. It ticked him off, a lot of things about this place actually ticked him off, but he doubted Rudger would allow him to walk away from this place.

London, well it was a big city and it wasn't uncommon for others to come to America for study abroad. It was suppose to be this land of opportunity and freedom, but personally he would have given anything to go back to England. "I can understand that , here doesn't feel like home at all." It was like this person and him understood each other. It hadn't clicked to him that this was his little sister. It wasn't like everyone girl who just happened to have some family issues and came from London was his sister or anything. He might have smarts, but not even he was a mind reader. He couldn't be , those things existed in shows, books and games but not in real life.

She had spoken something out loud , they were simply words. She looked like she had gone into her own world, he knew that far out look within her reddish-brown eyes. He would of course assume that those words weren't meant for him, but damn did they sound so familiar to him. Katherina had always told him that, but she never knew just how cruel life was with their parents. He had kept her from learning of that. He had to wonder what she was doing now. It was like a needle in a haystack for him to ever see her again. He bet she was beautiful now, he would have been so proud to have been around her and to have grown up with her.

He could imagine it, even if the abuse from their father might have lasted-- it didn't mean they couldn't have built lives for themselves. She would have probably ended up being some fantasy writer , because he had a feeling she still was in love with Peter Pan. He would tease her, but if anyone dared to even look at her wrong, he would go after them. Eventually they would end up finding partners of their own and... he had gotten lost in his own world so that he hadn't noticed her tears until the last moment. She had tried her best to catch them so he wouldn't notice, but something in him wanted to comfort this girl.

Why should he care about some random customer of his? 'Though she is crying, you aren't heartless' he had a tough life but he wasn't heartless. He had gone to move closer to her, but she was trying to grab her purse quickly and leave. The contents had fallen out , and he saw it. He would have helped her to pick her things up, that was if his eyes had not caught the red feather key chain that had come floating down. The thing finally landing by his feet and she was leaving in such a hurry. Katherina.... this couldn't be Katherina.

She was running off, and as fate would have it people got in the way to close off her path. He picked up the feather key chain and had half ran to catch up with her. "Wait" he would call out as he had gone to chase after her. "Kat... Kattie... Katherina" he didn't care what people watching might think at all. He didn't care what his boss thought or anything at that moment. His heart was pounding against his chest and he had to know. How could he have been so stupid. Yes, there was a million of girls who might have some red feather key chain in their possession, but nothing was like this one.

He had given her it before he had been taken away, within it was a small star charm. It was something he had actually gotten at the wall and he could feel it as he clutched it in his hand as he ran. This was the same key chain. His arms wrapped around his sister for the first time in years. Surely she had heard his name when his boss had dragged him away-- unless she had zoned that part out. His body was trembling, his heart thumping hard and tears threaten to fall. "Rinabell I'm so happy" anyone might have randomly hugged her, but no one would have thought to call her that name. It was his name for her, a name that he had ended up calling her one of the times they had been playing Peter Pan. It had flowed from his lips so naturally and it had been her special name from him.

His hand, which wasn't holding the feather, had found itself stroking her long brunette locks. It was meant to be one of comfort "please don't cry, everything is going to be okay" for the first time since he had left he actually thought it. He pulled back and he smiled his first real smile in years. Thanks to the rushing, the collar of his uniform had undone itself a little bit to show off the red and black collar he was forced to keep on.

 

"Wait....Kat... Kattie... Katherina" Katerina heard the words calling towards her. Her name. She hadn't said anything to the waiter or his boss. Her name wasn't something common either. If anyone read her name, some people might mistake it for Katherine. Or there would be a mispronunciation error of her name Katherina. Turning around at the voice who called out to her, she realized it was the one called Damien. He knew her name but how? How?! The only one who really knew her name was her brother Damien. Was it really him? Had she just met her brother after all these years? She didn't know what he looked like. She even forgot the sound of his voice. It was then when he hugged her that she knew the feeling of these arms. These arms that protected and cared for her when she was a child. "Rinabell I'm so happy" Rinabell. She remembered the name well. He gave it to her one night while they were playing Peter Pan. He was the only one who would ever call her such a name. "Damien?" She could feel his arm around her and his other hand stroking her hair. "Damien?!" She couldn't believe it. She was shocked. "D-Damien!" Katherina threw her arms around him and hugged him back leaning into him. Her breath was caught up in her throat. She didn't know how to speak or even how to breathe.

"Oh my god!" The girl had tears streaming down her face and yet her cry was silent. She dreamed of this moment reuniting with her brother. Each dream she had was always different but the scene never changed. They embraced each other tightly and rejoicing in the feeling of finally being together. How did he know? How did he figure it out? She didn't even know it was him. Did that make her a bad sister for not recognizing her own sibling? Her mind had to remind her that she was so young when he was taken away from her. People changed over time and grew up. He had grown up and she'd done the same. Pulling away, she sniffled and touched his face with both of her hands. "It's you? It's really you?! I'm sorry I....I didn't recognize you. Please please forgive me." She begged him before pushing herself into his body for another hug. Her own body was shaking now. Biting her bottom lip, she closed her eyes as memories flashed through her mind of all the times they were together when they were younger. Comparing to how they looked now from then, really was a big change. She shouldn't be too hard on herself. She once said that she'd always know him no matter what he looked like or where he went. Had she lied? No. This was an honest mistake that couldn't of been stopped. With the events that took place earlier in their lives, this reunion was bound to happen over the time.

However all the emotion was too much for her to handle. Her body hadn't been feeling well. It had given her plenty of warning signs to check out. The fatigue, dizziness, the constant feeling of always feeling like she'd become sick. They were all implications that she hadn't been taking care of her body very well. She was thin, too thin. People were constantly worried over her an her health issues. Katherina never wanted to look weak and frail in front of anyone. Whoever accused her of something, she'd push it off and come up with some type of excuse. She never used to be like this. At one time she was happy and healthy. One thing this cruel life had taught her that all good things come to an end. There were no happily ever afters. Life was different. Some people compared life to hell. Heaven was something better and easier to live instead of this place called life. Katherina became this way after Damien was taken away. Her parents didn't care too much to do anything about it. She was good at hiding the physical and emotional pain they put her through. Her smiles were fake. Her laughter showed no true meaning of happiness. It was like the color in her picture book had been taken away leaving her a black and white world. It was truly hell on earth.

Pulling away from him, she looked around at the world around her. Everything seemed to slow down. The voices and noise that filled the cafe faded away. It was hard for her to hear anything. Soon the room was moving this way and that way. She never felt like this before. The feeling was scaring her. Was this another dream where everyone and everything would disappear and leaving her by herself. Looking at her brother, she put her hands down and kept her eyes on him. "I'm-I'm not okay..." Those were her last words before the girl collapsed and fell backwards on the ground. Her brown hair sprawled out on the floor while some of it covered her face. The world had gone dark and silent. Everything was gone. She couldn't see or hear anything anymore. The people in the cafe gasped as they witnessed the girl the waiter had been holding suddenly fall to the ground. The room was filled with concerned voices. "Somebody call an ambulance!" A woman had her cell phone out and quickly put it to her ear. "Hello? Yes I'm at the Dreamland Cafe where a girl suddenly collapsed. I don't know what happened, I didn't see how it happened. Yes...Okay, thank you." Hanging up the phone, she looked over at the two siblings and called over to Damien. "She might need a hospital. The ambulance is on it's way!"

 

To think it was really her. He had never been so happy, well since he had last been around her. He had given up hope of seeing his dear little sister again. Though there was always fears when those who loved one another reunited. For him that fear was named Rudger. He had been the one who had been taken by the demon-- and Katherina was here now. What was it to say that Rudger couldn't keep both of the siblings and go about his merry way with them. He could just imagine what would become of his sweet Katherina should she have to meet Rudger. If he had gotten away with just being collared like some slave-- Katherina would be used to satisfy the demon's desire and he couldn't take it. The bastard would make him watch as he defiled his sister, watch and not be able to do a thing to help her.

His arms wrapped around her "Rinabell, it is fine. It happens" his voice soft as he softly stroked her long brunette locks. She looked terrible, like she had starved herself. 'She probably have, she could die' there it was the inner demon of his. It had been formed after all the years of abuse he had to suffer at both the hands of his father and Rudger. He had never gotten a break. He half expected his boss to come around the corner and tell him to stop harassing customers. Good thing he didn't because he would have decked the guy in the face without a second thought and he wouldn't have felt bad for it at all. His boss when on the dick scale-- well he was just an average sized dick. An asshole, but not a true bastard like his father or Rudger were.

He allowed her to pull away. Why had he done that. As she fell, it was in slow motion and the inner demon gave a whistle within his head. 'Timber!!' His reddish-brown eyes took in the scene of his little sister on the ground, her hair sprawled out almost as if she was a fallen angel. He was in shock of his own and his hands had gone out to catch her-- too late-- but it was a shocking moment for him. 'See what you do, you made her faint. Wonder if she died. Kick her and see if she twitches!' The inner demon gave a sick cackling and he could hear the concern voices all around him. He needed to snap out of it.

The ambulance? The hospital? It would be a good thing if they had gotten an ambulance here, but he didn't need Rudger finding out about it. "Its... its... okay. Just shock, that is all" he got out as he went to kneel by his sister and scoop her up into his arms. He was a ghostly pale at the thought of Rudger seeing her. He had kept the feather charm with him, he would give it back to her when she was able to function again. What if something else was wrong with her and he was doing the wrong thing here. He knew that the hospital would be the safest bet, but Rudger would be called. Rudger was the bastard who was on all his paper work , the only thing was that his last name hadn't been changed-- but he might as well have some brand on him that said property of Rudger on him.

"Rinabell, it is gonna be okay" tears were at the corner of his eyes. Though they weren't tears of pure joy, they were of fear. "I'm takin 'er back into the cafe, it is at least betta then bein out 'ere" his accent had started to fade back into an almost Cockney style dialect. Something Katherina would never have, he had made sure she hadn't gone to wall like he always did. It only came out for him in times of stress or anger, though aside from that his average English accent held true. He carried his sister into the cafe and into the back. His boss had tried to stop him, but he had shoved pass him without a second thought. 'She could die in your arms. Wouldn't that be romantic. Oh wait, you would hate to have her death on your hands. It isn't like Terra where you actually don't care.'

"Shut up!" he shouted out loud then rather then thinking it as he put Katherina down on a couch in the back. The area was meant to be staff only, but like hell did he actually care about that, He sat down next to her and softly stroked her hair, a soft humming leaving his lips. It was nothing like when he was in Terra, it was soft and calming. "Don't go to the second star, please. I can't lose you.. not again." If Peter Pan happened to come to take her off, he would fight to stop his little sister from having to leave him. So maybe he did share some pulls to the story still, but in this version he knew that Peter Pan was actually Death taking those who were children ,or had childish auras about them, to Neverland. "You can't have my sister."

 

Katherina felt like she was put into a black sound proof room. Why had the world suddenly disappeared on her? She had seen her brother for only a moment not even. They had so much to talk about and catch up on. She was kicking herself for recognizing him. He had gotten older and become so handsome. With his English accent and looks, she wondered if he had a girlfriend after all these years. Looking around the dark room, she banged on the walls. "No! Bring me back! I wanna go back! I need to be with my brother!" Was her mind protecting her from him? He wasn't some kind of perverted stranger. He was her brother! She hadn't seen him in years. Out of the corner of her eyes, the image of her avatar appeared. Katherina could tell it was just manifestation of her game avatar. "You need to take good care of yourself kiddo. The shock that might of only lasted a couple of minutes really took its toll on you. I'm afraid you might be out of it a little longer than expected." The brown haired girl turned and glared at her avatar spirit. "Screw you! I'm not going to stay here, I refuse!" She had to think of something. Being trapped in her own mind even if it was protecting her body wasn't apart of her plan. "Damien! Damien!!" She called out as she constantly banged on the pitch black walls of the room. Sighing, she dropped to her knees and looked down. "Why? This isn't fair."

Her avatar walked over and crossed her arms. "Then you need to change your ways. The path your on now is heading towards a gravestone with your name on it. Unlike Terra, you can't come back after death." Looking up at her avatar, she knew it made sense. She hadn't been taking care of herself. Perhaps she really did have an eating disorder and needed help with it. "Please let me go back. I know your trying to protect me, but you belong in Terra not here! This is the real world!" The pinkette shook her head. "I'm not really here Katherina. I'm your subconscious looking like your character in your game. You needed something to communicate with and thus I appeared." The brunette sighed as she leaned back against the black wall. Was this the end for her? Was that all she got for a reunion with her brother? Life could be cruel. A bunch of scenes popped up and showing how she took care of herself. Barely eating and pushing herself too hard. A mirror rose up in front of her. The girl stood up and looked at her reflection and she saw how terrible she truly looked. She was starving herself. Reaching out to touch the glass, she could see how fragile she looked. It looked like if she fell to the ground, she would break into a million pieces. She knew that she felt as bad as she looked. She was destroying herself unintentionally. If she kept up on this path then she would have a one way ticket to Heaven.

Katherina nodded and looked over at the spirit beside her. "I promise to try and take care of myself. Please....Just please send me back so I can be with my brother. I need him and he needs me. It's always been like that." The pinkette nodded as she looked through a window showing Damien and Katherina. "This is a warning to you now. Get some help and fix yourself up. Or the next time this happens, it won't go as smoothly as this." Katherina could only nod to her character as she watched her player fade away. Looking around, the black room was crumbling around. She could hear her brother's voice telling her not to go towards the second star. As nice as that would be, she would never got to Neverland unless he was with her. He would forever be her Peter Pan. She would forever be his Rinabell. The brunette layed there on the couch for a good twenty minutes before her eyes twitched and began to open. The world was blurry and fuzzy. The room was bright and unkind to her eyes. She felt dizzy and weaker than normal. Her body was hurting from her fainting spell. She wouldn't be surprised if she was already bruising on her body. She would be even luckier if she managed not to break anything. Hopefully she wasn't too bad. The male figure in front of her focused finally and she took in the sight. It was her brother. He truly was with her. She wasn't just dreaming it. He really was there sitting next to her. How had they found each other? Perhaps Fate finally said it was time for a reunion between them. Hopefully the reunion wouldn't be cut short.

"D-Damien...." Her voice was soft and weak as she reached up to his hand petting her head and held it in her hand. "I found you at last." A small smile formed on her dried lips. It was a dream come true. She waited for this moment for God knows how long. She dreamed of this moment every single night. "Damien Pan." Pulling herself up slowly, she reached for him and embraced herself in his arms. She wanted to be held and take everything in. His scent, how he felt, the way he looked and sound. It was time for her memories to update the Damien she knew of into and older version. "I thought I would never see you again. They told me you went to Neverland but I didn't understand then what they meant." As she gotten older, she was able to figure out all the secrets that were kept from her. She had done her own investigations of her family. Once she learned the truth, she told them that only Damien was the only true family member she had. She would disown the others. Katherina couldn't help the tears that formed so quickly and ran down her cheeks. Her small cry suddenly turned into sobbing. "I thought you were dead. I even prayed that I would die too just to be with you. You're my only family member now. I left our mother and father."

Their mother and father had made the world dark than what it really was. Sure, sometimes Katherina wished she had a family like some of the other students had. They could have conversations with their fathers and spend time with their mothers. The brunette knew that was a dream that would never come true. They were horrible, horrible people. Selling their own son. She still didn't understand why they did such a thing.

 

It seemed like forever that he continued to stroke Katherina's hair, he had continued to hum the whole time. He was afraid, his heart kept pounding against his chest. The little demon was right for once, it wasn't like Terra where he didn't care if people died-- here he cared. So maybe he didn't care about everyone, it was just his little sister that he cared about. His little sister was all he needed in his life, it had been so empty without her there. Now they had reunited and he was scared that he might lose her again. Except this time it might be forever. Death was forever after all, it wasn't Terra or some fairy tale or fictional world-- the dead didn't come back to life. So he hoped and prayed to a God he didn't believe in that Katherina wouldn't die. There would be nothing to live for, not that he had known what had become of his sister before-- but if she died in his arms... he would die with her.

'Romeo and Juliet, one dies and then the other will follow. Maybe you should just end your life now. Oh wait, the little slave cant' do that. What will you tell her.' He was about to yell out loud at the little demon when her soft and weak voice entered his ears, her hand softly going to reach his and hold it to her. He smiled, it was fake but it wasn't happy either-- it was a sad and weak smile, especially when she called him Damien Pan. He didn't want to be Death. It was clear that Katherina loved Peter Pan, but he couldn't love Peter Pan when he knew what the story really was. Though for her, he would always go along with the story, he couldn't shatter her world anymore. He didn't know what had happened to put her in such a state, but he couldn't shatter it anymore than it already was. He needed to protect her, no matter the cost. 'This is your fault.' The little demon didn't have to tell him that it was, he knew it was his fault.

He embraced her and held her close to him, not wanting to let go. He was afraid to let go, if he let go she might disappear. Though as he held her, he was gentle because he didn't want to break her either. Her words... it didn't surprise him at all. They preyed upon the young and innocent mind of his sister. A thought he never had finally bubbled up, they would pay. He would pull something that he would only do in Terra and he would bring it to the real world. He was smart, he could easily get away with. He just had to cover his tracks and make sure no one was the wiser. His parents had to die for what they had done to his sister. Her condition was because of them, they had done countless things to him but it was the final straw where it happened to Katherina and not him. They would die and he would make sure of it even if he had to make a deal with the Devil he lived with to make sure it was possible. 'You will forever be a slave. Once death is on your hands, you can't go back. ' That was the first time the little demon had two voice... no one was the little demon and than it became a softer voice.. maybe his subconscious.

He hadn't once let go of Katherina, and she was sobbing now. He pulled back and lightly wiped her tears away. "Fuck our parents, we don't need them. We never needed them! I'm here now and I'm not ever losing you ever again." He was faintly aware of what Rudger did in his spare time, his business-- that would be his future if he took the deal. Though his parents would die. This was the first time the little demon had made him crack this much, but the sad thing was-- it wasn't the little demon who had pushed him over the edge. It was the state that Katherina was in that pushed him over the edge and made him think of murder as a means to the end. He started to stroke her brunette locks once more "shhh I'm here. Karma will get them, Rina." He heard the little demon stir than 'so you intend to be karma. Welcome to the dark side!' He didn't push the little demon away this time, his mind was becoming a dark place. Though his features didn't show it at all, he had always hid behind a mask even in the real world-- it was being used to the full potential now.

"We are together again and nothing will rip us apart again." Except Rudger, but he wasn't even thinking of the Devil trying to come between him and Katherina. No he would use the Devil to get revenge for everything. "I'm staying by your side. First and foremost we need to get you some help. Dying will not happen on my watch! I will feel better if you would get checked up and get some help" those words were spoken with his voice slightly shaking. He didn't even want to get help but he was asking Katherina to do do. No it was different, he didn't have an eating disorder that caused him to faint. 'You just have multiple fractures within your body from all the abuse.' He shoved that voice away , they didn't have to see his internal issues-- they just needed to help his sister. "Could you promise me to take better care of yourself. I don... I don't want to see my... my little sister" he couldn't even say the words.

 

The brunette pulled away from her brother and looked down at the ground. Her eyes were far away and her mind somewhere else. None of this seemed real. A dream maybe. She only had to wait for the this dream to become a nightmare. His words didn't seem to alarm her. Their parents were horrible terrible people. Who would have children and treat them in cruel ways. Selling one away for money and amusement while the other developed an eating disorder from a different kind of abuse. Katherina found that when she looked in the mirror, she couldn't recognize herself anymore. The little girl that thrived off of hopes and dreams had been killed by the parents. Who she was now was nothing but a corpse clinging to life. Her parents had only ever lied to her. Once she found out the truth of everything, she changed. How would starving and abusing her body and health bring back her brother? How would it make anything right? It wouldn't yet her parents didn't stop it from happening. If anything they only watched and watched as she slowly was destroying herself. Like she was doing their work for them.

When it came to Terra, she was happy that nobody would ever know who she really was or ever see her in real life. She looked horrible. Skin and bones, whiter than a ghost, weak. Leaning into Damien again, she sighed softly and closed her eyes. "How could they do this to us? What did we ever do wrong? I just...I just don't understand." Katherina had stopped trying to understand. It was a puzzle that couldn't be solved. Their parents were sick mentally. They weren't fit to raise children but the damage had already been done. Looking down, she closed her eyes. "I can't remember when I started doing this to myself. I thought that....If they saw me going through a hard time, they would try to bring you back to me." Katherina felt like Simba being torn away from Mufasa. The truth of it was, they were both born into a house where love, loyalty, caring and friendship never existed in the world. The only things that did was hate, darkness, greed and power. The brunette shiver slightly feeling the cold of the air conditioner run across her skin creating goosebumps. "There's no such thing as Neverland or magic." For awhile Katherina had kept convincing herself that Neverland did exist. Peter Pan, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys all of it was real. However there was always a small voice telling her that there was no use in hoping and believing in something that would never exist.

More tears ran down her face as she looked up at the male that claimed to be her older brother. "What if I loose you? I already lost you once. How long will this last for?" In that instant a sound of shattering glass echoed through the cafe. Katherina jumped up alert with wide eyes and panic looking around. She hugged herself and looked around. However getting up too fast was something her body greatly protested against. Putting her hand to her head, she was overtaken with dizziness as she fell backwards onto the couch. She didn't know what to believe anymore. What was real or a dream or a nightmare. She just couldn't tell anymore. Seeing her brother's face, she hugged him clinging on to him with all the strength she could muster. "Don't leave me....Please don't leave....Don't leave me....." She kept repeating over and over again as if she was a broken record. Each time she spoke the sounds of her cries getting clearer. They couldn't leave each other. It wouldn't do any of them good. Katherina felt like a butterfly without her wings to take her anywhere. She was stuck constantly falling to the ground. Feeling the dangers of the world keeping its eyes on her ready to strike when she would least expect it.

The sad thing she knew she and him would never admit was the fact they both were complete strangers. Siblings yes. Strangers definitely. They only knew each other for a short time before they were ripped away from happiness. They would need to learn to bond and know each other again. The memories they had were limited especially in her case. She could only recall so much unlike him who was older and probably remembered more. "I....I feel so lost...." Katherina was finally falling apart and coming undone. Unraveling before her brother. Whatever she had been hiding and kept a secret suddenly broke out from deep within herself. Her own demons were eating her up. She felt like a broken music doll that could no longer pirouette to the soft music that played. All the clockwork had broken. She had to be put back together carefully and slowly. She was once called 'Damaged Goods' from a boy she once dated. He couldn't deal with her issues and the baggage she carried. It didn't keep her from trusting others even if it hurt her in the end. Some part of her didn't want to give up, but it wasn't nearly as strong as it used to be.

"The second star to the right, shines with a light that's rare. And if it's Neverland you need, it's light will lead you there." She sung softly to herself. She closed her eyes and leaned against Damien only wanting to rest suddenly feeling exhausted.

 

He hated their parents even more. An abusive father, he thought he was protecting Katherina from the damage-- but this was his fault. No it was their fault, she clearly stated that herself. She started doing this hoping that they would bring him back. 'Face it, it's all on you. You are going to be the reason she dies. I hope that it was all worth it.' He wanted to cry out and yell at the inner demon to shut up-- though that wasn't something he could do. Not here, not in front of Katherina. He had to be the strong one for her, he had to be be the one who helped to keep her together. That was why the older sibling was born first. Though regardless if he was older, regardless if they were siblings and did share some memories together they were also strangers. He didn't know much about her , he knew that Katherina he had lost behind.

This Katherina wasn't the little girl who believed in magic and Neverland. The one who wanted Peter Pan to come and tap upon her window at night and take her away. He knew that world was just a fairy tale-- though he had continued to play along and make the world real. He had been too smart for his own good, but he had to grow up. He couldn't have a childhood when all he more or less knew was abuse. America wasn't all it was cracked up to be, though he didn't have a home back in England to go back to. It didn't seem like Katherina really had one either. Though all they really needed was each other. They were each other family, their parents were pieces of shit and shouldn't even be in their life at all. Though he had something bigger than their parents now, and that was the lovely collar around his neck.

She was crying more and he was softly stroking her brunette locks. "You won't even have to lose me ever again. I'm not going to let you go through that again." Though if he went against Rudger it would surely mean death for him. It wasn't like Terra where someone could die and simply come back for another life. If someone died here they were dead. Of course there was a few instances where people died and they DID come back, but that had something to do with natural occurrences and medical technology and such. Someone could be brought back to life if they were simply at the break of their life. Though he wouldn't be that lucky, if he was to die by the way of Rudger-- he would be dead. Rudger, from what he had analyzed in his time with him, didn't half ass shit.

On the other hand, if he didn't break free of Rudger-- that meant that Katherina would be under the same if not the worse treatment that he was undergoing. "Shhh I'll never leave you ever again. I can't... I won't, I just got you back and I refuse to lose you ever again." He didn't want to let go, he was afraid that if he did that she might disappear. What if this was some nightmare that he would wake up from and she wouldn't be there at all. What if his sister was actually dead. The little demon took this and ran with and actually started to fuck with what he was seeing. He held her tightly, but what he saw wasn't what was actually right in front of his eyes. He had heard the scattering of the glass and the little demon was using it to its advantage.

In reality he might have been holding her close to him, stroking her hair-- but the environment around them was different in his mind. The glassware that was around them started to fall off the wall and shatter as it hit the the ground. It had started with the things that was by the door and the shattering items were getting closer and closer to them. By the time that it reached them it wasn't the items that was shattering but it was Katherina herself. He let out a cry of pure agony as she shattered apart into pieces within his grasp and drifted off like dust in the wind. The little demon even decided to make it much better by adding music in his mind to the dramatic scene that was happening.

I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone. All my dreams pass before my eyes, a curiosity. Dust in the wind. All they are is dust in the wind

Katherina was drifting off into the wind with the lyrics of the song. He didn't see though the illusion at all. That was when Katherina was signing softly to herself leaning against him wanting to rest. Though he didn't know what was going on within the actual reality. To him he was still hearing the lyrics to the song that the little demon had put on to torture him with. His arms never let go of his little sister, but he was softly sobbing to himself. Unless something happened outside to break him away he would be living what the little demon wanted for him He would end up destroying himself at this pace, the little demon was proud of itself-- this was his own personal hell.

Now, don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky .It slips away...

Both of them was a mess. One had developed an eating disorder and was now sobbing because she feared that her brother would probably disappear. The other was being tormented by an inner demon that had been created by years of both mental and physical abuse. This was all because of their parents, and it wasn't something that they could easily fix by being there within each other's grasp for such a short few moments compared to the years they had been apart. The siblings were strangers although they were siblings that had been raised together. He only held Katherina's closer "please don't leave me. I don't want to be alone again..." The real world sucked compared to Terra.