…One Week Later…

'Felix, you have to let me see him.' I demanded for the tenth time that day. Peter was alive but we were told recovery would be a long process after the nightshade. It was the first time today that we had been given the news that he was conscious. The only people who had gone in to see Peter were Felix and Tiger Lily.

'You have to stop nagging me - Pan is resting. He's barely conscious, give him a moment to catch his breath before you go charging in.' Felix slouched and put his weight on the right side of his body, tilting his head smugly. 'And may I point out - Pan has not asked to see you.' His words stung as he spat them out at me with a cruel smirk. 'Now, get out of my way.' Felix shook his head disapprovingly and strode past, knocking his shoulder purposefully into my arm as I gazed on at Peter's tent. I mumbled a pained grunt; my body was still in agony from the wounds I had sustained on Cas's ship, minor in comparison to Peter's but still sore. Tiger Lily and Sophie were the two who cleaned my wounds, the only two in this whole camp who seemed to ask if I was ok.

Tiger Lily was in there, giving Peter some more herbal remedies to counteract the poison in his system. Tiger Lily won't turn me away if I go in now, I thought and I carefully walked up to Peter's tent. I was a good ten feet away before someone agonisingly grabbed my elbow and dragged me back.

'Ow!' I barked out as their grip put a stinging pressure on the cuts on my arms, 'Jesus Christ, Emilia, what the hell is wrong with you?'

'I'm simply doing my job. I'm on guard duty, to stop annoying little recruits like you pestering Pan when he is getting some much-needed rest.'

'Well, Felix just told me Pan has asked to see me,' I lied, folding my arms and looking her in the eyes to feign honesty. She narrowed her eyes at me with a cold, condescending smile.

'Nice try… I just spoke to Felix and he told me to get you stop lingering around the tent. Besides, from what I've heard Pan doesn't want to see you.'

My heart came to a cold, grinding halt as she repeated what Felix has told me. I turned on my heel and wandered slowly and mindlessly back to the centre of camp. I thought back to that awful day, the last time I had seen Peter.

Camp felt surreal as we stumbled in; it was hushed, tense and in defence mode. Felix had gotten to the front of the group and was closely followed by Tiger Lily's friend who was cradling Peter's body against him.

"Make some goddamn room!" The recruits timidly parted like the Red Sea as Felix charged in shouting for everyone to get out of the way. My vision was blurred with hot, terrified tears. Everyone's face was a haze and their voices were nothing more than unintelligible groans as I could only focus on Peter being carried into his quarters. I scurried behind the charge of Felix until we reached Peter's quarters. His body lifeless; limp and pale in the arms of the Native, as they disappeared into the confines of his tent. Before I could enter Felix spun to face me and put his club gently to my sternum.

"You," he uttered, "you need to stay out here." His face was stony and fierce as his eyes glared into mine. I took a step back and he understood this as submission. Felix shouted for members of Peter's guard to come into the tent and I was swiftly pushed to the side as others rushed in to tend to their fallen leader.

I stood there helpless, unable to move, as everyone rushed around like panicked animals in a forest fire. I jumped as a pair of hands fell onto my shoulders and pushed on them lightly, guiding me to sit down on the carpet of dead leaves below us, near the warmth of the fire. A blanket was draped over my shoulders and I saw the comforting glow of silky red hair appear in front of me. I could not have been happier to see her tranquil blue eyes in front of me. Sophie hugged me gently, her arms lightly placed around me, careful not to touch my battered form. I rested my chin on her shoulder and closed my eyes briefly, finally embracing the sanctuary… I was away from Cas's ship.

Over the next few days, I presume; I slept for a long while, out of sheer boredom, I didn't want to speak to anyone. The only person I wanted to see was Peter, but he was not asking for me. When I woke the cold sting of that reality hit my chest like a blunt knife. I remembered the look on his face when Cas told him about my plans to leave. The empty kiss he had given me, the last time our lips touched, and it was hollow. How quickly he had pulled away and the glimmer of distrust that flickered over his face for a split second. I knew in the back of my mind that Peter's indifference to seeing me was probably because of this, I just didn't want to admit it to myself. I spent my time sat at the edge of camp, picking at the ends of my hair that broke off into feathers as these thoughts paced in my mind like caged animals.

Finally I saw Tiger Lily enter camp, her eyes scanning the area, her head stopped turning when she cast her gaze over me. She gave me a small smile and strode over to me gracefully. I stood to my feet and she took me in her arms. As she pulled away her fingers ran down the scars on my body. 'They are healing well.' She uttered with a relieved sigh.

'How is he?' I blurted out, wringing my hands in anticipation. She quirked an eyebrow shrugged.

'He is doing ok,' she said, 'almost back to normal, so I am going to head back to my neck of the woods now. My assistance isn't needed here anymore.' She laughed lightly.

'Thank you.' I exhaled. I was so grateful for her and everything she had done for me, for all of us. 'For everything.' She shook her head with a modest smile.

'Please don't be a stranger, come see me,' she said as she took my hand in hers and gave it a comforting squeeze, 'anyway… my business for coming into camp is because Pan is asking for you.'

'He is?' I gasped involuntarily. 'Can I see him now?'

'Yes, go to him; but, Anya…' Tiger Lily said hesitantly and put a hand on my shoulder as I was heading to his tent. I looked at her and frowned, worried about what she was going to say. 'Just… mind his temper. You have done nothing wrong.' I bit my cheek. I was probably not going to be met with a very happy Peter.

I walked slowly towards his tent. I had imagined this moment being very different, my heart would be fluttering and I would be running towards quarters. But instead I was filled with dread and my stomach was churning more and more with each step I took. I felt like a dog with its tail between its legs. As I approached his tent I was met by Felix who was there guarding the entrance with his trusty club by his side. He rolled his eyes as he caught sight of me and he entered Peter's tent to announce my presence.

'She's here.' I heard him utter in a poisonous tone. Peter then grumbled for Felix to let me in and dismissed him back to camp. I waited outside of the tent until Felix reappeared. 'Good luck.' Felix scoffed with a sly smirk and I glared up at him. I pulled back the fabric and slipped inside his dimly lit quarters. Peter was lazily sprawled out on his hammock. He was in his trousers, his top off, and draped on his shoulders was a long, deep green velvet night robe which was opened to reveal his pale, chiselled chest. His eyes flicked up to meet mine, and to my surprise, they were unreadable. There was no anger, but no happiness either. He didn't say anything. He just stared at me lifelessly. I walked closer to him and he shifted his body to be sat up properly. He blinked and looked away from me, staring off into space, his jaw clenching as he exhaled through his nose. I decided to break the silence as it was becoming unbearable.

'Why didn't you call for me sooner?' I asked, looking to the floor as I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear to distract myself from letting a tear fall at his indifference. 'I was really worried about you.' I said quietly.

'Were you?' He muttered monotonously, still not daring to glance over at me.

'Of course, why on earth wouldn't I be?' The corners of his lips twitched slightly as he gave a small cold laugh as he looked to the ground.

'Yes… why on earth would you hope I not make it through.' His emphasis on that word earth struck me like a slap across the face. He pushed himself up from his hammock, and swung his legs round, standing to his feet and stretching his back. He was still weak, just this small movement made him short of breath. His velvet robe fell around him and grazed the floor as he walked over to his table. 'What were you doing on Cas's ship in the first place?' He asked firmly, leaning his back against the table, his voice hoarse and his green eyes narrowed as he finally looked at me with a glare. My fears were confirmed; he was definitely angry about what Cas revealed. I drew in a deep breath trying to keep my cool.

'Being held there against my will?' I uttered rhetorically. I was frustrated that he chose to let Cas's words get to him.

'But you were going there anyway, weren't you?' Peter tilted his head at me patronisingly, spitefully playing dumb.I rolled my eyes. I knew this was going to end up with me taking Wendy's role.

'I knew it was going to come to this…' I gave an exasperated sigh. 'Peter, I know you have been hurt but-'

'Hurt? Bit of an understatement when I have been in here fighting for my life!'

'I meant from your past experience! I know how it might look to you, but this is a different story, I am not Wen-' He clutched his hands up to his forehead and grabbed fistfuls of his dark blonde hair.

'Not everything is about that bitch and you need to stop obsessing over her!' He barked, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes for a moment.

'It's obvious Peter, as much as you're trying to deny it, I see right through you…'

'No, you don't! You betrayed me! You saw your opportunity to go home and you took it!' His green eyes were getting darker and angrier.

'I knew from the moment Cas told you that you wouldn't let this go. It was written all over your face. You didn't even listen to the fact that I tried to come back-'

'How noble! You ran back to me as soon as you knew you were in danger.' Peter spat venomously as he turned his back to me and snatched up the goblet of water on the table that had been poured out for him. He downed its contents and slammed the cup back down; still facing away from me with his palms placed on the table, his head hung down as he spoke coldly. 'Was everything between us part of your grand scheme with Cas to let my guard down? Did you ever feel anything? Or was is all an act?' His words were untrue and they equally hurt as much as they made my blood boil. He turned to face me and paced a few steps towards me. 'Did you ever even care?' Those words stung and stunned me into silence for a few moments. Peter had a spiteful smirk on his face and he opened his mouth to spout out some more callous words before I cut him off.

'You want to accuse me of not caring? May I remind you that you practically abandoned me on that ship. You took your damn time to show up to even come help me, you weren't willing to come so soon as you could and fight to get me back. You sent your lap dog for me, and when that failed you left me there for weeks! Weeks being tortured and tormented, it hurt so bad that you fucked about for weeks trying to pluck up some energy to come get me. So, if you want to accuse anyone of not caring it's y-'

'Do you know how many of my recruits have died at the hands of my enemies because I have known it was a trap? You wouldn't even be able to comprehend how many times I have had to sacrifice someone else for the greater good of the island, to put myself first.' He pointed his finger at his chest as he edged closer to me. 'To make sure the others back at camp still had a leader, someone they could look up to, who could provide for them. Does your tiny little brain even understand how much I fucking care about you to show up on that pirate ship at all? I don't risk my life for anyone. So, don't you fucking dare stand there with that look on your face and tell me I don't care.' Peter pointed his finger in my face like a parent scolding their child. His words were far from comforting, insensitive, and completely out of touch with reality. I narrowed my eyes spitefully before spitting my words out.

"My hero." I uttered scathingly and cleared my throat of the rising lump creeping up. My words earned a bitter scoff from Peter.

'You're impossible, Anomaly.'

'And you're an ignorant asshole if you thought any of those words you just said would move me, that they would fool me into believing that you cared about me as much as I did you.'

'Did.' He repeated with a venomous sigh. 'You feel nothing now?'

'I feel everything.' I barked at him. 'I have so many emotions about you that I want to scream and scream and scream. My head hasn't had a break from all these thoughts about you. I love you. And I hate you. I want to slap you so hard across your smug face, and at the same time I want to kiss you. I want to be as far away from you as I can, but I know that if I ever left your arms I would be broken, an unfixable wreck.' I exhaled as a tear rolled down my face. 'And, as much as I hate you right now, the overbearing feeling I have for you is unfathomable and unconditional love. And hat makes me so angry at myself.'

'Unconditional?' He stepped closer, smoothing my cheek with the back of his hand. 'And… your love for me is deeper than your want to go home?' He uttered shakily; his green eyes struck my heart as I shook my head at his question.

'You say want as if I had a choice to come here.' He said nothing to this, he bit his lip and frowned, looking to the floor. I rolled my eyes, wiping away a stray tear on my cheek and pulling my face away from his touch. I turned on my heel to leave his tent, I couldn't deal with him right now. I felt him grip my wrist firmly and I halted in my stride. He pulled me back toward him, I turned to face him and shove him off of me. His other arm wrapped around my lower back, his grip on my wrist loosened and his lips met mine. His hand moved up from my wrist into my hair. My lips naturally moved with his until the anger in my stomach began to bubble again and I fiercely pulled away.

'You can't just kiss me and think all my thoughts will magically be sorted-'

'For five minutes,' he said softly, and with desperation, as cupped my face with both hands, 'can we not argue?' His lips locked onto mine again and I shoved my hands round the back of his neck, pulling him in closer. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into his firm chest. He guided me towards his makeshift bed of pelts; pulling away from my lips for a brief moment, with my back to his bed, he lightly pushed me down and I slumped onto his bed. I slipped down onto my back as he crawled on top of me, his hands in my hair and his legs straddling my waist. His lips moved to my neck as he bit gently and muttered heated nothings to me. He pulled away, looking me up and down, his eyes following the scars and bruises that Cas had marred my body with. I saw guilt begin to plague his face and I ran my fingers over his full lips to comfort him, my anger gone as I saw regret fill his eyes as he took in my battered form.

'I love you, Anya.' He blurted out as his intense green eyes bore into mine and he moved back to my lips, his kiss was bruising and affectionate, his iciness towards me had melted away. I closed my eyes in ecstasy, he still loves me, I smiled to myself through the kiss. He pulled away and rested his forehead against mine. 'I'm so sorry.' I was about to tell him it was ok, everything was ok, and that I loved him with every fibre of my being. Until I felt a sharp scratch deep in my neck.

My hand snatched up and touched the sore spot. Peter rolled off of me and lay beside me, smoothing my hair gently as he cradled me closer to him. I realised then that he had tears trickling down his cheeks, and he had a dart in his hand, I had seen a dart like that before. When I was brought here, when I was caught by Cas and his crew, I knew what this would do and I only had moments of consciousness left. 'What are you doing?' I whispered, my lip quivering.

'If you love something, set it free.' Peter breathed out and pressed a kiss against my temple. 'You're not going to be easy to forget. I am certain that I never will, Anomaly.' I narrowed my eyes and shook my head, not making sense of the situation as he kissed my forehead. His lips lingered there as his tears spilled onto my skin.

'No, no…' I mumbled but my speech was beginning to slur. My vision started to blur with tears, and then my eyes started to darken as I began to lose consciousness. Fear washed over me before I was consumed into the darkness, not knowing where I would awake.

The smell of rain-soaked concrete was the first thing I awoke to.

My eyes fluttered open slowly and I saw the sky was pitch black, clouds covered the stars like a thick, weighted blanket. I was lying on my side, the hard floor digging into my rib cage. I couldn't move my body. I felt paralysed. My eyes glanced around and I looked up to see a dark figure towering over me.

It was a young woman. She was wearing what looked like jogging gear, her fleece was a light turquoise and her leggings a lime green colour, her short black hair tied tightly in a ponytail. She was accompanied by a small black Staffordshire terrier who was panting so hard it looked like he had a huge grin on his face. I scrunched up my eyebrows as I began to feel my body become mobile again; I shifted on the hard, uncomfortable concrete. She was on the phone giving a location her dog saw me moving and started tugging on the lead as it licked my cheek. I groaned and she gasped looking down at me.

'Oh she's awake!' She exhaled loudly down the phone. 'It's ok, police are on their way! Try not to move, I've put you in the recovery position, ok? Ronnie stop!' She tugged lightly on the dog's lead and he stopped licking my face and sat obediently by her feet. 'An ambulance should be coming as well.' I lay there absolutely still, dazed, my thoughts foggy, my cheek against the cold, wet tarmac. No thoughts ran through my head as I tried to process what was happening.

Red and blue lights soon filled my surroundings, the sirens pierced my ears and made me shudder as they screeched. Torches were shone in my eyes and fingers were pressed against my neck to feel my pulse.

'I found her lying on the pavement, I don't know if she was hit by a car?' The lady in the jogging gear was babbling to the police. It got very loud as more and more people arrived. Lots of different voices asked me what my name was, what I had taken, where I was from. It all sunk in.

This was all a dream. What drug had I taken?

'She's got a lot of cuts and scarring,' someone said to who I presume was their colleague, 'do you know how that happened love?' They took my wrists and muttered about the scarring from rope burns. 'Look here… it's like she has had something injected into her neck… look right there.' If you love something, set it free. The realisation that this was not imagined finally kicked in.

I was with Peter.

The sharp pain in my neck came back and triggered thought after thought.

I started to sob. The tears didn't stop coming down my face and I began screaming, scratching my nails down the concrete. My heart felt bruised and it ached with a pain that was unbearable. I clutched my chest as I wailed. I was held down and I tried to shove them off of me as I grabbed at the ground. My nails tearing down the rough pavement, blood staining the grey surface as my fingers became raw. I was then forced to have some sedatives by the paramedics who were arriving steadily to keep me sane, or maybe just to keep me quiet. All the voices still echoed around me and I wanted everyone to shut up and leave me be against the cold concrete.

'I think it's that missing girl? Her name is Anya?'

'Maybe, we have to be sure before we contact the parents, get her to talk first.'

'First and foremost, she needs a hospital.'

He let me go.

I was clearing out under my bed and I found a notebook. I opened the first page and found all my notes for this story. I remembered that I had never completed and published the final chapter. So thank you whatever possessed me to clear out under my bed.

Thank you for your continued support, patience with my terrible posting times and dedication to this story. There is scope for a sequel, although I am working on other writing projects and creating a portfolio for a creative writing course (a lot of poetry, if you're interested for a read PM me) but I have so many ideas for a sequel for Anomaly. They just need to be refined and thought out more.

I would also love to revisit this someday and edit it, re-write some parts now that my writing has matured, and hopefully it might end up as a published story, that would be a dream.

I know it's not a happily ever after ending, I'm sorry my loves. when i was writing and editing the final chapter I put together a playlist of songs that I thought fit this story well, as a little parting gift (and to say sorry for the sad end) here is my Anomaly mini-playlist:

Once Upon a Dream – Lana Del Rey (Cover)

Pure Imagination – Maroon 5 (Cover)

Dream Fortress - Grimes

Femme Fatale – King Princess (Cover)

Flightless Bird, American Mouth – Iron and Wine

Talk Me Down – Troye Sivan

I can't help falling in love with you – Haley Reinhart (Cover)

Take Me To Church – Sofia Karlberg (Cover)

Go Your Own Way – Lissie (Cover)

Enjoy the Silence – Denmark + Winter (cover)

when the party's over – Billie Eilish

Saturn – Sleeping at Last