Embracing Darkness

For the first time, Wendy awoke before Hook. She rolled over from their spooning position to face him, and gently brushed a curl back from his face. She struggled to accept that this man, the man sleeping silently beside her, the man that gave her everything last night, was the same man that held her captive within the ship for no other reason than revenge against a child. She closed her eyes tightly, replaying the night in her mind, while her face flushed with the memory of her brazenness. When she opened them again, she was staring into the blue depths of Hook's eyes. His expression appeared peaceful, almost hopeful. When she pushed away from him though, his gaze clouded back over into an unreadable mask. Without a word, he stood and donned a robe and then turned to face her once again. After several moments of not speaking he set his jaw and cleared his throat.

 "My lady, I suggest you put on a robe unless you desire for yet another pirate to see you in such a state of undress." Wendy's face paled, and then turned red with embarrassment.

"Shouldn’t you be leaving to attend your duties now, Captain?" She spat out, her voice dripping with venom. Hook merely smiled at her and nodded in response.

 "Of course. I shall dress and then leave you to your, whatever you do in here during the day."

"Dreaming of when I can watch you suffer as you make others suffer." Wendy yelled in response, anger hardening her normally feminine voice. In an instant, Hook was standing next to the bed, her chin in his hands.

"If you only knew the meaning of suffering..." He placed his hook in front of her face. "Do you know what I see in people's faces when they look at me? Revulsion, pity, fear, you name it! While laughing like it was all a game, Pan stripped me of my dignity, of my humanity. No matter what I do, people will always see me as a monster. If I am already a monster in people's eyes, my actions might as well mirror my title. You with your society life, do not presume to tell me what suffering is. The world has already watched me suffer, with the same glee that I saw in Pan's eyes." With that, his pants were on and his shirt in his hands. Wendy drew back, fearing that he would strike her, and then placed her head in her hands when she realized he was leaving. He strode out the door and slammed it shut behind him. How was it possible that she be torn between hating this man, and pitying him? She saw such humanity within him at times, and could not help but be drawn to it. His violent side frightened her. He was a living paradox, a contradiction. She was fascinated, but feared that any fascination could prove lethal. She steeled her heart against such sympathetic thoughts, and went on with planning her escape.