Hello anyone reading this! I got the idea for this story on the day that I watched MPHFPCan idea , I hope that you enjoy it.
Please R & R. It will give me an idea if you guys want this continued.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own MPHRPC *wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh* *sigh* but I do own any and all own characters that may be introduced in this story, Please no plagiarism, I had this Idea fair and square. Now please ENJOY.
Harried footsteps thumping on earthy land, a faint choked off cry trailing behind a hooded figure; followed by bone chilling squelching sounds. The figure took a sharp turn to the left and almost skids on the mossy forest floor, but quickly rights themselves and carries on at an even more of a rushed pace.
A roaring in the distance forces the person to veer shakily to the side, disturbing the treasure in their arms. The person runs for a long time, taking turns and twists in stride. Anything to get away from the predator lagging behind. They stop near the end of the woods, the trees and mud diverging to a dusty road, just long enough to catch their breath. They take down their hood, revealing a balding man with grey hair, and piercing grey blue eyes, holding something close to his heaving chest.
He looks down, at the cherubic face standing out from the bleak colors of the evening, and his eyes soften."So young" he whispers "So young, to have lost so much" The words are tinged with agony and longing. Staring down at the face, memorizing it so he would never forget it, he allowed himself to mourn his losses; his son, his daughter, their families'. Gone because of him and his selfishness, his inability to leave things alone. He may have continued to say something else, if not for the bounding rumble of feet closing in. Eyes widening, and blood pumping he held the precious cargo tighter and vaulted off of the ledge of grass he stood on, racing down the chalky pathway.
The thud of something immense in weight alerted him that the Hollow was out of the forest. Breath coming out in labored puffs, coloring the air with mist, He hastens his pace and sprints to the last hurdle. Willing his old bones not to give out, to get him to the loop in time to save his grandson. He runs over a small creek, scrambling to the other side while trying to protect the babe from the harsh landing, He jumps up a small hill, and almost collapses in relief at the sight of murky pond water.
Looking over his shoulder, he trips up the uneven outskirts surrounding the lake, and picks his way to his once home, hyper aware of the danger so close by. stumbling over debris, he picks his way to the back door, put off by what the once proud house was reduced to, but does not stray for long, knowing that it is an illusion. Striding through the wreckage of the broken house to the back garden, he clutches the bundle even tighter, treasuring what could be his last moments with his grandson, rushed as they were.
The loud clang of something metal falling over pushed him out of his thoughts,He climbs up the conveniently placed ladder, and jumps over the wall. He walks down the uneven path leading to the beach at the bottom of the cliffs. His grandson takes that moment to wake up, striking blue eyes filled with tears as the salty smell of the ocean filled his wrinkly nose. Hushing the baby so as not to draw the attention of the hollow any more, he reaches into his pocket and brings out a ragged blue bear, the size of his palm, and places it in his grandson's view. Quieting immediately the baby reaches out with stubbly arms and smiles a gummy smile at his bear. The heart warming moment was broken by the quake of the hollow jumping to the cliff's ledge and smiling as it smelt it's prey, the macabre imitation of happiness twisted to fit the grotesque face.
Diving feet first off the last couple of steps, and landing on the soft sand, he propelled himself forward to a cave opening. Smiling in glee at the sight, and ignoring the baby's sudden rise in sound, he didn't notice the looming shadow until it was too late to run.
A thin, but firm tentacle weaves around his waist loosely, shocking him enough that he stumbles forward in in surprise, he shouted, and twisted, managing to detach the appendage, and, without looking back, attempts to dive into the loop, a tentacle grabs at his ankle, halting his movements. He's pulled back, inch by inch, and with a baby in his arms, he couldn't do anything to stop it. Gazing down at the squalling baby, he makes a decision... He lets go.
Throwing himself backwards at the hollow, making as much noise as he possibly could, he attacked it; ripping, tearing, biting, kicking, anything he could to keep his baby safe, to buy them both some time for the others to get here, hoping that they were hearing the commotion. Even with his old bones, he dealt a lot of damage to the hollow, black blood streamed from open wounds and bruises bloomed for the hits that had connected.
The power imbalance quickly reared it's head, the hollow was bigger in size, stature and strength. Looking death in the face, Abe Portman did something never done before. He looked into the space where the hollow's eyes would have been, and as a last ditch effort of survival, his voice barely above a whisper, he spoke. "Die.
For one split second, nothing happens, the hollow and man lock onto each other, one pair of eyes, on smooth skin. And then, the hollow crumples, taking the old man with it. Being crushed under the limp hollow, Abe's brain was trying to process what was happening, disbelief and awe battled sluggishly at the forefront his mind. Just as shouting became prominent to Abe's drained, frail form over; the flapping of wings was heard from above him.
The slight swish of Miss Peregrine transforming lulled him into a sense of security he hadn't felt in a long time, making him open is eyes with difficulty, looking around frantically. Miss peregrine's grim face swam in and out of his view, as his body struggled to stay alive after exerting so much energy, a thought halted all else. Jacob. H struggled to open his mouth and to move his tongue at the same time."J-J-Jacob, wh-where is Jacob?" forcing himself to turn his head, his tense body relaxing slightly at seeing the child wailing, in the hands of a still Emma.
He let out the breath he had been holding, feeling the knot in his gut unfurl at seeing all of his friends surrounding him, one last time. He felt a coldness seep into him, starting from his toes and working it's way upwards. Knowing that he was dying, Abe looked to where Miss Peregrine was standing. He had one last thing to do.
Seeing Abe look at her had Miss Peregrine's breath hitching in grief, as she walked towards him, hiking up her skirt, she sat on her knees and grabbed the hand closest to her, flinching at how cold he was becoming, she took a breath, and waited, waited for him to tell her what he needed to before he- A tear tracked down her face.
"Miss Peregrine" He started "You have taken care of me for a very long time-"He was interrupted by frame wracking coughs, a choked off sob came from one of the boys, she didn't look up to check which one. Once he had recovered enough to catch his breath, Abe continued "I do not have much time left, so please listen carefully. Baron found me, he sent one of his uncured hollows after me and he-he killed all of my family, every one of them had their eyes ripped out, because of me. All, except one, my grandson from my son's side; Jacob. He was at a friend's house when Baron attacked. I got away at the cost of my children and their families' lives. I didn't know what to do, so I took Jacob, and ran here. I know that I am not going to live, so I beg of you, please take care of him, he has my peculiarity. He can see hollows, that will put him in Baron's sights, which puts him in unimaginable danger" His voice grew raspier and raspier as he went on, the coldness was up to his neck now and his hand was like ice in Miss Peregrine's grip.
Taking a breath, Miss Peregrine squeezed his limp fingers, with a voice thick with emotion, she got out "Not to worry dear, we'll take care of him" Seeing the relief in his eyes almost broke her resolve not to cry, but she held on for him, and her children, they would need her when they were grieving, Emma and Enoch especially. They both held a strong affection for Abe, and they would grieve the hardest out of all of them.
His voice so faint she barely heard him, He said "I'm glad, I met all of you. My family" He closed his eyes, and didn't open them.
Not when Emma screamed for him to come back, not when Olive's glove's set on fire from her anguish, not when Millard's tears wet the ground, not when Enoch ran away, or when Victor ran after him, tears in both their eyes. Not when Miss Peregrine hunched over his still form, silent tears wetting his face, not even when Hugh released his bees to try and sting him back to life.
He just lay there. Dead.
Miss Peregrine stood up, wiped the tear tracks off of her face, and cleared her throat "Come now children, we must take baby Jacob back home before he catches cold." She strode up to Emma, and as gentle as she could be, she took him. Emma let go reluctantly and took after Miss Peregrine with the other children, following her like lost puppies.
They edged away from the sluggishly bleeding hollow, and trudged over to the time loop. they went in and out in a uncomprehending daze, following Miss Peregrine with a single mindedness telling of emotional turmoil.
When they got inside, Olive went straight to the kitchen to boil some water in the kettle, Emma walked to her room, Victor had taken Enoch to his lab to give him something to do. Horace, Hugh, and Millard cuddled up on one of the sofas, a strange sight as all three boys weren't very touchy feely individuals, exempt for extreme occasions that called for physical contact. Bronwyn followed Fiona out to the garden, making sure the girl would be alright, and to make them both feel grounded.
Miss Peregrine sat on the opposite sofa to the boys, cradling the passed out baby to her chest, noting similarities and differences between him, and Abe. They both had the same arch of their noses, and their eyes were the same shape, but his lips, full and red must have come from his mother, his father hadn't had such thick lips, neither had his father before him. He had small eyelashes, and small sprouting light brown hairs. He would be a real heart breaker when he was older.
The sharp whistle of the kettle boiling over shook her out of her musing, and caused the babe to twitch and his eyes to open. She holds her breath, waiting for the child to start crying or screaming, but the child does something unexpected, he opens his beautiful blue eyes, yawned at her, and grabbed her index finger with his tiny chubby ones.
Her eyes widened in shocked awe, and she knew. She knew that with that one small motion, she was a goner for this baby in her arms. She felt an overwhelming protective urge for this small creature, she could feel the small, but strong grip he had on her fingers, and could tell that the hole in her heart that Abe's death had created, would be filled and smoothed over by this child.