Free Neverland Academy by Daelynn Quinn Page B

be one of those under-whatevers,” said Trick.
    “Undercover
cop?” said Hangman. “Nah, she’s too young. Look at her.”
    “But
Belle said—”
    “I
know what Belle said. But she must have been wrong.”
    “Is
she hurt?” Toot wondered aloud.
    “Of
course she’s not you idiot,” Kevin grumbled. “It’s not like she fell off the
bell tower. It was just a few feet.”
    Toot,
being the smallest and least intimidating of the five, stepped forward and nudged
her with his foot. The girl kicked him away.
    “Don’t
touch me!” she screamed. Daphne shot up to her feet and hooked her fists in
front of her face in an exaggerated boxer’s stance. She was small and
outnumbered, but she wouldn’t go down without a fight. Every time one of the
boys neared her, she swung her fist out. They played this game for several
minutes, the boys cackling with laughter at her display of false courage. She
probably would have laughed too, had she witnessed this scene from anybody’s perspective
but her own.
    “Daff?”
A voice tumbled down the tunnel. “Daffy? Where are you?”
    As
Trick stepped forward to taunt her he lost his focus and she slugged him across
the chin. “Ow!” he cried, jumping back.
    “Finn?”
she murmured. Louder, she cried, “Finn! Over here!”
    All
at once the boys turned their backs to Daphne. As their lights met the end of
the tunnel, Finn had just rounded the corner. “Daffy, I told you to
stay—oh.” His eyebrows shot up, a little surprised to see the crowd that
was waiting for him. “What’s up, guys? Start the party without me?” Finn
grinned.
    Daphne
pushed her way through the boys and ran toward Finn. Just before he caught her,
he noticed a flash of red on her chest and pushed her back to examine it.
    “What’s
this?” he murmured as he dipped his finger in the drop of blood and rubbed it
against his thumb. Finn stood stiff and his eyebrows furrowed.
    “What
happened?” Finn’s voice no longer sounded like a high school dropout, but as a
commander, firm and resolute. The boys cowered in his presence.
    “We
didn’t know,” Toot hollered.
    “They
chased me,” Daphne squeaked. She felt that childish need to cry, but held it
in. She couldn’t let these boys see how vulnerable she felt. “They had a knife.
Finn I was lost; I couldn’t find my way out! Why did you leave me there all
alone?”
    Finn
wrapped one arm around Daphne’s shoulders and turned her to face his band of
boys. “I bring you an ally and you try to kill her? What the hell!” Finn was
fuming now. Even in the darkness Daphne could see his fair skin flush red.
    “It
was a misunderstanding Finn,” Kevin called out. “Belle told us a cop was
snooping around the grounds.”
    “She
said she saw the cop go down the tunnel,” Trick added.
    Finn
seemed to calm down. He scratched his head thoughtfully. “Now why would Belle
go and tell you that? No cops come around here. If they did Trappe would be
shittin’ his pants. And besides Belle knew where I was tonight. If she saw
anyone go into the tunnel she would have known it was Daffy and me.”
    “It’s
Daphne,” she clarified, placing a hard emphasis on the ‘ne.’
    “No.
As long as you’re with us, it’s Daffy.”
    “But—”
    “Don’t
worry Daffy,” Hangman said. “We all have nicknames here. None of us uses our
real name anymore.”
    “But
why?” she asked.
    “Tell
me something, did you give yourself that name?” Finn asked, turning her so that
they could return down the tunnel.
    “Of
course not. My parents named me.”
    “Exactly!
You didn’t get to choose your name. They did. You’re free now, Daffy. You can
have any name you want.”
    “But
I like Daphne.”
    “Okay,”
Finn challenged. “Let’s try a different scenario. When your parents wake up
tomorrow and find you missing they are going to alert the police. There’ll be
news bulletins, amber alerts, countywide searches. Hell, they’ll probably even
dredge the lakes for you.