My body ached, with every joint stabbing at me like some sort of dagger. I was yet to open my eyes but even so, I could tell I was in some sort of...some sort of...what's the word?

Forest? Jungle?

And then another thought hit me.

I had no memories – I had been wiped clean.

I was more baffled at that in a sense at how was it possible? I had too many questions and upon hearing voices, I let out a stifled groan.

"It's...a girl."

"I can see it's a girl."

"Why would Pan bring a girl?"

"Maybe it was the shadow?"

"This doesn't make any sense."

"What if she has the heart –"

"Enough!"

The ending voice brought the chattering boys to a mute and I heard feet scattering as I gradually opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the moon above, surrounded by dancing stars, twinkling in the dark blue sky like fallen coins in a fountain. I was entranced by the darkness mixed with the light, the pure of heart and it seemed to resonate my future right there and then, as I laid there in a desolate place.

"Do you remember anything?"

It was the same name who had quietened the boys and my eyes painfully pulled away from the sky, locking eyes with those terrifying blue eyes of a beast. The boy had a scar that travelled down the side of his face, blonde hair that had turned into nothing but dirty, knotty curls and a long, pointy face that could cut. Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I shook my head, moving upwards into a sitting position. Despite how much it pained to move, I could tell from the single boy alone that this was not a place to show pain...or fear.

"Not even a name?"

I shook my head again, not hesitating to drop my gaze from his. I couldn't stand to hold my eyes upon his any longer, or I felt as if my soul would shatter.

"Take her to camp," the boy ordered and suddenly, two boys grabbed a hold of my arms. I yelped out an "oi" but of course, it did nothing and it wasn't worth fighting. I simply lowered my head as my feet began to trail behind the obvious leader, trapped between two minions.

The wind blew coolly, occasionally sending chills down my spine. But in an odd sense, it was refreshing: I had expected humid temperatures, bringing undesired sweat and a reddened face.

I was distinctively in some sort of forest, that was for sure, but where? I didn't know and I didn't intend to find out soon. I preferred to know who I was dealing with rather than the where part. The boys trudged me along in silence and I glanced at one of the boy's holding my arm. His gaze was fixated on the path before me and had a mass of blonde, curly hair, similar to the other boy who rose my fear in a peculiar way. The other boy, on my right, had jet-black hair and a similar skin tone to myself: pale and unscathed. In the darkness of the forest, I couldn't quite pick up his eye colour, or any other specialty feature like a scar or freckles. Sighing, I knew why I was so peculiar towards where and who.

I was distracting myself from...myself.

Who was I? Where had I come from? What was my past? Was it important? There were all these questions thirsted for an answer but somehow, I knew I wouldn't find out.

They had been taken for a reason.

+++

I was brought into a camp-like premises: there were logs surrounding a fire but...that wasn't what grabbed my attention. It was the weaponry stalls, the practice dummies cluttered into the corner, the cage that hung upon a tree. No, not a bird cage – an empty human cage.

I couldn't hide my fear and I stopped walking, attempting to pull my arms away from both the boys but their hold was too strong. I wanted to run deep into the forest behind me, to escape and figure this all out on my own but I felt a foot dig into my back, causing me to face-plant the ground below me.

"You're not going in the cage, little bird," the voice from behind me said. I slowly lifted myself, keeping my knees and palms on the ground as I stared at the dirt, my bottom lip dropped. The pain from my back resonated with my entire body like I was some sort of hollow doll and with one more hit, I would break.

"Get up," the same voice said but I sighed, momentarily closing my eyes for a minute. The voices in my head, echoing the same questions over and over again. It was going to drive me insane sooner or later...unless I got some answers.

"I said get up!" the voice boomed from behind and I sneered, "I'm getting there!" A murmured "ooo" passed around the camp, including a few chuckles.

"This brunette has fire, hey boys?" the same voice said and I could hear the grin plastered upon his face.

"Shut it, Daniel," it was that blonde boy from before and I lifted my head to see him glaring at the boy (apparently named Daniel) behind me; he scoffed but didn't reply.

I swallowed down the lump in my throat, all eyes on me, and I heaved myself up back into a standing position, only then noticing that...I was in some sort of gown, but I didn't question it. I didn't need more voices.

My eyes met the blonde's once again before dropping and staring at my dirt-covered gown. Had I been royalty? Had I been rich?

A sick feeling gathered in my stomach and if I could, I would have sat back down with arms wrapped around my torso. But I couldn't so instead, I just waited for an order.

An order...

"Is this her?"

It was a different voice and it didn't come from any of the boys surrounding me. Instead, a boy in a green attire walked forwards. His brown hair was flicked perfectly, his lips plumb as the berries she had seen before. He was looking to the blonde before me and I analysed him in silence. Tall, strong but not lanky, his right-eye redder than usual, eyes greener than the forestry around us. But I couldn't stand in awe. Whoever he was...

"Do you remember your name?"

And I had been lost in awe, jumping a tad upon seeing him standing before me; a couple of boys chuckled and I could feel my cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

Shaking my head, the lump in my throat returned but I did not swallow.

The boy cocked his head upwards and suddenly grabbed my chin. I clenched my teeth together, unwilling to let a sound escape my lips as my eyes dug into his demonic ones. He may be beautiful but he surely isn't a gentleman, I thought to myself.

"Why were you brought here?" were his next words but were said in a completely different tone. The words were light, almost a mumble and it was as if he was in awe, in confusion. It sounded as if he was speaking aloud to himself and he could, because nobody would snap back. He was the pack's leader; I knew that much.

I watched as his eyes wandered over mine and my fragile body before dropping his hold on my chin with force, flicking my chin to the right.

"Felix, get her a spare pair of clothes and show her to a tent. The rest of you, go to bed but Daniel –" the boy paused, a smirk plastered on his face. "You're on guard duty."

I looked over my shoulder just in-time to see Daniel grumble angrily to himself...but he did not talk back or reject.

Before I could think or say anything else, the blonde, who I finally knew his name was Felix, grabbed my arm.

"Come on, little bird," he mumbled and I could already tell that was going to be my nickname until I thought of something else.

We walked in silence but not for long – the tent area wasn't far at all from base camp. They were tents, yes, but they almost looked like cabins. Opening the flap to mine, Felix walked me inside and dropped my arm instantly.

"You either wake at sunrise or someone else will wake you. Pan will decide your fate tomorrow," he said and before he could escape my questions, I grabbed hold of his wrist. His pointed-face snapped over his shoulder to see mine and I could have sworn, in that moment, he knew all my deepest and darkest secrets – ones that I didn't even know myself.

"Who's Pan?"

And when he smirked, I slowly peeled my hand from his wrist in fear, my bottom lip dropping.

"Oh, you've already met him."

And with that, he strolled out.