Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Chapter 4
When I woke up the next morning, mom was already dressed. She was reading the postcard of Miss Peregrine and has another letter in her hand. After I changed and washed, she handed me the letter without words. I started reading the letter.
~ Dearest Peregrine:
I don't wish to alarm you... but one of my informants sent me this. It would appear that some of Mr. Barron's group were in Blackpool, England. If I recall, Miss Avocet has a loop there. Please warn her and suggest that she makes a new one right away. Well hidden. And take the greatest care yourself.
With Love, Abe.
January 2016. ~
When I was finished, I looked up at mom. She was looking at me with worried eyes. I thought back at what I had just read.
"Ma, who is Mr. Barron?" I asked her. She stayed silent for a moment, before looking down at the postcard. I waited, seeing her sigh, before she looked back at me.
"Your grandmother would be the most indicated to explain you everything." she told me, her voice low. My eyes widened, not understanding what she meant.
"Wha… My grandmoth… Ma, you know grandma died." I told her. 'How could she forget?'
"Not Autumn. I meant my mother." she told me, lowering her eyes once again. I stood there, not knowing what to say.
"Your… mother?" I asked her, trying to make sense of what she just said.
"Jacky, please, don't hate me for not telling you this before. I didn't want you to know, but I pretended to be normal for too long." she told me, making me even more confused. "I am an Ymbryne, that is true. But I was born like this, like all Ymbrynes are. The thing is that, for an Ymbryne to be born, she has to be birthed by another Ymbryne." she explained, causing me to gape at her. "Every Ymbryne is a different bird and, like her, all the daughters she will have will be the same birds as her. My maiden name is Maryann Alma Peregrine. I was born in Cairnholm, Wales, in the loop." she told me, which left me with no words. I kept silent, not knowing what to say to that. "Please, don't hate me." she begged me, her eyes filling with unshed tears.
"I-I'm not going to hate you. You're my mom." I told her, speaking the truth. 'Just because she hid her past from me, doesn't mean she doesn't love me.'
"Oh sweetie." she said, standing up to hug me. I hugged her back.
"Wait, so, Miss Peregrine is my grandmother?" I asked her, to which she nodded. We decided to go back to the loop, I absorbed my pups once again, feeling more alone than ever, without them. We arrived to the loop, before mom stopped just outside of the crack. I looked back at her, not understanding why she had stopped. She had a scared look on her face. "Ma, what's wrong?" I asked her.
"Jacky, baby. I-I… I haven't seen my mother since I was sixteen." she told me, her voice trembling.
"Ma…" I tried to say, before she interrupted me.
"I wanted to grow up, to have a family. I didn't want to be a teenager for the rest of my life. I fought with mum, and went away. I then went to look for your grandfather, having heard many stories about him from Emma. When I met him, he welcomed me in his family and, after some time, I fell in love with his son, your father. But I never went back to the loop." she explained me, tears falling from her eyes. I hugged her, wanting to give her some comfort.
"Ma, it will be alright." I told her, moving away but keeping my hands on her shoulders. "You're not alone. We'll go together." I said, smiling at her. She nodded and dried her cheeks, before giving me a small smile. I took her hand and we entered the loop. We then walked to the house and I knocked. The door opened and Bronwyn was there.
"Jake, you're back! Come and play!" she said, smiling and lifting me up, spinning me around a bit, before putting me on the ground. "Who is she?" she then asked, looking at my mother.
"Hello, Wyn." mom told her, smiling. I saw Bronwyn's eyes widen before a big smile appeared on her face.
"Annie!" she exclaimed, lifting her up as she did with me. As she put mom down, mom knelt down and hugged her. Once they separated, Bronwyn moved to let us enter the house. I saw Emma near the stairs, looking at us with wide eyes.
"Little Ann?" she asked, taking a step toward us. Mom nodded, standing up. Emma ran up to her and hugged her, shedding some tears as she did. "I missed you so much, baby girl. Oh my, you are a woman now! And you have a daughter! Wait, that was you! The falcon!" she said, moving back to look at my mother, who nodded at her words.
"I'm sorry, Em." mom said. Emma shook her head and smiled.
"There's nothing you have to feel sorry about. You did what your heart asked you to do." Emma told her, before hugging her once more. She then took Bronwyn's hand and they went upstairs, probably to spread the voice. Before they went, Bronwyn turned and said "If you're looking for Miss Peregrine, she is in the kitchen.". I took mom's hand and pulled her to the kitchen, where Miss Peregrine was seated. In her arms, a little bird was being fed.
"Is she an Ymbryne?" I asked her, making her look at me.
"Jacky, you're back. How wonderful!" she said, smiling at me. "Yes, she is the Ymbryne Horace saw in his dream. Enoch found her as he was coming back last night." she explained me, looking down at said Ymbryne.
"How is she?" I asked her, curious and a bit worried.
"This is Miss Avocet. Her loop is in Blackpool, England." she explained me.
"Wait. Miss Avocet?" I asked, to which she nodded. "Grandma was in her loop." I told her. She furrowed her eyebrows. "My mother was Autumn." I said.
"Autumn Denveport?" she asked me. I nodded. "I see. That's why your peculiarity looked so familiar." she told me, a smile on her face.
I nodded, before looking at mom. She stood frozen by the door.
"Miss Peregrine, I would like you to meet my mom." I told her, causing her to move her eyes to my mom. I saw them widen, the smile disappearing from her face.
"Mary?" she asked. Mom nodded.
"Hi, mum." she said, before looking down. Miss Peregrine handed me the Ymbryne and went close to mom. She raised her hand, making mom step back and close her eyes tight. Instead of slapping her, like mom probably thought she would, she caressed her face. Mom opened her eyes and looked at Miss Peregrine.
"My baby, my poult." she whispered, before hugging mom to her. I saw mom close her eyes and hug her back. She had tears running down her cheeks. "I'm so happy to see you alive." I heard Miss Peregrine say.
"Mum, I'm sorry. I should have come back, or at least written to you. That way you would have known I was safe." mom told her, as they separated. "I stayed with Abe." she told Miss Peregrine, as an explanation. Both of the women then turned to me. Mom then turned to Miss Peregrine once again. "Mum, we need to tell her everything." she said, making Miss Peregrine turn to her. Her eyes were dark.
"No. An Ymbryne's duty is to protect children, especially my granddaughter." she said, taking Miss Avocet from me and going out. Mum ran after her, leaving me alone in the kitchen. I went into the hallway, seeing Olive and Enoch there.
"Enoch, Olive." I said, smiling at them. Olive smiled and hugged me, before moving away and letting Enoch come close to me. He smiled and hugged me, kissing my temple. I hugged him back and kissed his cheek.
"Did you hear my mother?" I asked them, once Enoch and I separated. They both nodded. "Do you know what she was talking about?" I asked. Enoch nodded, sharing a look with his sister.
"It been Miss Peregrine's rules not to scare you off with the old stories." Enoch told me, his smile disappearing. I frowned. 'What old stories?'
"My grandpa told me stories about monsters with long arms, no eyes and tentacles coming out of their mouths." I told them, making their eyes widen.
"Those are the stories." Enoch told me, before taking my hand and tugging me along. "Come on now, I want you to meet Victor, or what is left of him." he told me, going to the stairs. We went in the only room I didn't see. Olive was following after us, trying to stop Enoch.
"Enoch, don't do this!" she begged her brother, but he didn't stop. We came to the door but, before Enoch could open it, Olive put herself between them.
"Move, Olive." he told her. She looked at him, hr eyes angry.
"If you're going to be like that, then I don't want to be your friend anymore." she told him, walking away. I then saw Fiona coming to us.
"Enoch! Leave Victor alone. It really upsets Bronwyn." she told Enoch, anger in her voice.
"Stop fussing, Fiona. Don't you think Jacky should know the truth?" he asked her, eyes dark.
"He's trying to frighten you away, Jacky. Come and play with us instead." she told me, a smile on her face. Enoch looked at me, his eyes cold.
"I'd quite like to meet Victor." I told her, a small smile on my face. Enoch smirked, patting Fiona on the head, before tugging me into the room. Inside the room, there was a bed with white sheets, a white veil covering it. We got near the bed, where I saw a boy lying down on it. I went closer and recognized him as Victor. He was pale, dark shadows under his eyes.
"This is Victor, Bronwyn's older brother. He was my best friend, the only one, beside Olive and Miss Peregrine and your mother, to not be weirded out by my peculiarity." he told me, looking down at Victor. "He was killed by one of those monsters. His eyes were ripped out and eaten." he said, his watering eyes moving to me. I gasped, before hugging him. He hugged back, before moving back a bit to look at Victor's body once more. "This is what those monsters do, they kill the Peculiar to eat their eyes." I explained to me, making me look at Victor's body. I felt tears in my eyes, but I pushed them back. I turned to Enoch and dried his tears. "Come on, we need to get down." he told me, taking my hand once again and pulling me out of the room. I descended the stairs to see Miss Peregrine and my mother there with all the other children.
"Ah, there you two are. It's time for our daily walk." Miss Peregrine told us, smiling and beckoning us out of the house. Enoch didn't let go of my hand. Olive came up to my other side and looked at me with worried eyes.
"You are not going to run away now, are you?" she asked me, her voice low. I shook my head and smiled at her. She relaxed and looked at Enoch. "Sorry." she said. He smiled at her and nodded. I saw Claire taking Olive's hand and tugging her forward. I looked at Emma, who was walking with Bronwyn. I then looked back to Enoch, who was looking at me.
"Enoch, the people with the white eyes. Where they responsible for Victor's death?" I asked him, see his eyes widen.
"Why do you ask?" he asked me.
"I saw one the night my grandpa died. A man." I told him, making him stop.
"If it really was one, you have to tell Miss Peregrine. Could you recognize him from a photograph?" he asked me, looking at me.
"Do you have one?" I asked back.
"I don't, but Emma does." he told me, tugging me forwards. We reached Emma, stopping her. "Emma, can you bring Jacky to your secret hideout?" he asked her, making her eyes go wide.
"Why?" she asked, looking between the two of us.
"She saw a man with white eyes the day Abraham died." he told her. Her head whipped to me. I nodded.
"Okay, come on." she said, taking my hand and bringing me to the beach. We undressed until we were in our underwear and we jumped into the sea. I saw that my tattoo of the pups wasn't there anymore and I got scared. I then saw two identical tattoos on the inside of my forearms. There were two identical wolves' faces. One was blue-white, the other black. I let out a sigh in relief. As we swam deeper down, Emma turned to me and blew some air in my direction. The bubble of air came to me and I was finally able to breathe again. We came to a ship. I remembered the cruise that sank into the sea near Cairnholm. We went in, and Emma started to blow air. She was able to make the water leave the room. We finally breathed again with no problem and she walked to the table. "Welcome to my secret hideout." she told me, smiling.
"How? How did you..." I tried to ask, eyes wide with awe.
"Air. My peculiarity. It does what I want. Jacky. Before your grandfather retired, he asked me to keep this safe." she said, taking out a metal chest. She gave it to me and I opened it. I found a map inside, with many points on it.
"This is my grandpa's old map." I told her. She nodded at my words.
"It shows you where the loops are." she explained, before taking out some old photos. I saw one of a man with dark skin and white eyes.
"That's him, that's the man I saw. Who is he?" I asked her, pointing at the photo while putting the map inside the chest.
"That's Barron. He is the Leader." she told me.
"Leader of what? Who are these people?" I asked her.
"Bad people... bad peculiars. Abe dedicated his life to hunting them down. These are the ones he never found." she explained me, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"What do you mean 'hunting'?" I asked he, confused.
"They raided loops. Whole homes full of children left for dead. Abe took lives to save lives. He only retired when you were born to protect you." she told me, eyes kind.
"From what?" I asked her, trying to understand.
"Jacky, your grandfather wanted to protect you from the horror those monsters did." she explained me. "You are like him, and that's why he told you those stories. He probably told you what kind of monsters they were." she said, causing me to nod. "He told you so that you could recognize them. Come with me." she told me, taking the chest and putting it away. We then left the room and then the ship. Once we arrived on the beach we redressed and went back to the house. Emma blew air at the both of us to dry us. Enoch was there, waiting for us. He took my hand and we all walked to a hedge wall. We climbed on it and looked on. I saw Miss Peregrine walking to the water, a crossbow in her hand. Mom was standing behind her, a dagger in her hand. I watched as my monster came out of the water.
"Ymbrynes usually pick the perfect date to create a loop. But Miss Peregrine had to do this in a rush." Emma explained me.
"September the 3rd, 1943 wasn't perfect. The thing that killed Victor came back." Enoch told me, nodding to the monster.
"Wait, watch out!" I tried to warn Miss Peregrine, before the others stopped me.
"You can see it, can't you? No one else can. It's invisible, Jacky. That was Abe's greatest gift of all. He could see the monsters." Emma told me, looking at me with a small smile. I turned back and saw Miss Peregrine shoot an arrow at the monster, hitting it in the head. He fell down, dead. Mom and Miss Peregrine then came back. We climbed down and Enoch took my hand, tugging me to the house. We entered the living room and waited for mom and Miss Peregrine to come. Once they did we all took seats. Enoch and I were seating on a sofa, Miss Peregrine on my right side, Enoch on the other. Emma was seated on the armrest of the couch, near Miss Peregrine. Mom was seated on the table in front of us.
"We call them 'Holocaust'. Hollows for short." the Headmistress started.
"My grandpa told me about people who turn into monsters. Is that what they are?" I asked her.
"I will explain everything, Jacky. I fear it's my duty now considering... But you should know that in doing so I'm breaking a solemn promise." she told me, looking at me with serious eyes. I nodded at her. "I knew you were peculiar when you were born. But your grandfather forbade me to tell you anything. His dearest wish was for you to have an ordinary childhood." she said.
"Well I definitely had that." I told her, nodding.
"He intended to tell you the truth when you turned 18. He hoped his bed-time stories would pave the way. Here's my book." she said, as Emma handed her a thick book.
"Many years ago, a splinter faction emerged among our people disaffected peculiars tired of living in loops." she started her explanation, I turned to a page where I saw a picture of a group of people, Mr. Barron among them.
"That's... That's Mr. Barron." I said, looking up at them. Mom nodded at me, face sombre.
"He believed that by harnessing the essence of an Ymbryne's powers, he and his cronies could gain immortality and be able to live outside loops. He devised an experiment. He kidnapped an Ymbryne not knowing or caring whether she would survive at the experiment. But the fate of Barron and his group was more horrifying still." Miss Peregrine explained to me, turning the pages as she did.
"Why didn't Barron turn into one?" I asked her, frowning.
"He did. But years later he found a way to reverse the effects... to regain humanity. They had become not immortal gods but Hollows. Invisible beasts. Dangerous, cold-blooded, deadly! Remember I told you they raided loops? This is why. Barron discovered that by consuming the eyes of other peculiars... Especially children. He began to change. Consume enough, and a hollow can fully regain its human form." she went on explaining. I gasped, before feeling a hand on mine, I looked down and saw Enoch squeezing my hand. I squeezed back, before turning back to Miss Peregrine. "Just as Barron and some of his friends did." she finished, taking the book and closing it shut.
"The rest of them are stuck as Hollows." my mom told me, making me look at her.
"Are you saying that Barron ate my grandp..." I started to say, before mom interrupted me.
"He needs no more eyes himself, but I fear he led a Hollow to your grandfather, yes." she told me.
"After the first attacks on loops, we all got better at hiding making new loops... keeping our whereabouts secret. The Hollows grow more desperate every year and Barron wishes to help his friends." Miss Peregrine told me. I looked at her, my eyes wide and scared.
"Miss Peregrine! Come quickly! Miss Avocet's awake." Olive said, running into the room. We all stood up and followed her. Enoch never let go of my hand. We arrived and she was seated on a couch, the children around her, and she was telling them what she saw. She was trembling. 'So, this was grandma's Headmistress…'
"Oh, Miss Peregrine! They found my new loop. The children... I tried to save them but there were so many Hollows... I don't know how I escaped." she said, as Miss Peregrine sat next to her and hugger her.
"You are safe now." she told her, trying to reassure her.
"None of us are safe." miss Avocet told her, moving back. "They set up the machine in my loop. They put it in the cellar at Blackpool Tower. They're still there..." she told our Headmistress.
"The machine?" Miss Peregrine asked, frowning.
"The experiment. They intend to do it again!" Miss Avocet explained.
"This time, he's using more Ymbrynes. He still wants to be immortal." Olive said.
"Do Hollows only attack peculiars?" I asked them.
"Of course not! They're monsters, sweetie, they'll slaughter anything in their path." Miss Peregrine told me as she stood up. I widened my eyes at what she called me, before continuing.
"While we were walking here, I saw some sheep on the island. They were killed." I told them, making mom come near me and putting her hands on my shoulders. Enoch squeezed my hand. Miss Peregrine turned to me, eyes full of worry. "You don't think they're here already, do you?" I asked them.
"Have you seen anyone with white eyes?" Miss Avocet asked me. I shook my head, mom doing the same.
"I'm sorry children, we can't remain here." Miss Peregrine told us, shocking the children. "We leave on the first ferry, off the island tomorrow. Pack anything of importance. And eat your sandwiches and lead you to bed." she continued. Questions raised from the children as they followed her out.
"Ma, what will we do?" I asked her, turning to her. Enoch too moved closer to us.
"We will stay with your grandmother." she told me, before we too went out. Enoch went to his room to pack while mom and I went to look my Miss Peregrine. We found her in the kitchen. "Mum, we have to go back to the hotel and pack." Mom told her, making her turn to us. She nodded, before coming to us. She hugged mom, before she came to me and did the same. I hugged her back.
"Be safe, both of you." she told us, moving back.
"We will, Miss Peregrine." I told her.
"Granny, sweetie. I'm your grandmother, after all." she told me with a smile. Mom then took my hand and we exited from the loop. As we were going to the hotel, we saw many people on the beach. I went down to see what was going on, but stayed a bit far away. We saw a body on a rock. Mom moved back and hid, before a beautiful brown peregrine falcon flew out. She flew a bit, before she came down and hid once again. She turned and came to me, taking my hand and tugging me away.
"Ma, what?" I asked her, as she kept tugging me away.
"That's the hotel's manager's uncle. His eyes were eaten. We need to go, now!" she told me, making me follow her back to the loop. "Come on, poult, run!" she told me, as we came to the crack.
"What we didn't know, was that we were being followed."
We entered, before we heard someone else in the loop.
"Hello! Hello!" a male voice called out to us.
"You came through? You're peculiar?" I asked, moving to take a look closer.
"Oh yes, and I'm extremely grateful to you. It's terribly hard... to find loops these days." he told me.
"So, you followed us from the beach on purpose?" I asked him.
"Oh no. I've been following you much further than that!" he said, before the shadows obscured his form.
"Dr. Golan?" I heard mom ask, once the man came out of the shadows as my psychologist.
"Sometimes... when it suits me... The breadth of my peculiarity is purely limited by my imagination. The only thing I can't change... is my eyes." she said, taking out contact lenses. We saw her eyes white, under the lenses. 'They must have been coloured lenses.'
She then moved in the shadows once again, before I saw the same black skinned man from the photos.
"Mr. Barron, how do you do? I saw you, at your grandfather's. I was hoping to get Miss Peregrine's address from him, but alas my travelling companion got to him before I did. and as you know, there's just no stopping a hungry Holocaust." he told us, mobbing closer to me and chuckling. Mom got angry and moved to attack him, but he raised his hand, which was now a blade, to my neck. She froze, looking at me with wide eyes. "Speaking of my travelling companions... They're coming. And believe me when I say to you, you don't want to be here when they arrive." he said, looking at my mother, before turning to me, then back at my mother. "An Ymbryne, and her not-so-Ymbryne daughter." he smiled. He then turned to me and said "So, let's be on our way... shall we? My dear," before turning to mom. "why don't you show us the way?" he asked her. She hesitated, before he moved the blade close to my neck, touching the skin and causing me a small cut on the side of my neck. Her eyes widened, before she turned and started moving, glancing back at us every now and then. I tried to be strong, not wanting Mr. Barron to see my fear and trying to reassure mom I was alright.
We were close to the house. I tried to move, to stop him in some way, but he put a hand on my shoulder and brought the blade even more closer, widening the little cut to a little wound, it was not life-threatening but it still bled. I could feel my clothes getting wet with blood and mom gasp. I shook my head at her as much as I could when I saw anger in her eyes. She turned back and knocked on the door. Granny opened the door, her eyes widening as she saw my clothes and the man behind me. I saw Emma near the stairs, the others standing on the steps.
"Miss Peregrine, what a pleasure to meet you, at last! May we come in?" Mr. Barron asked from behind me. She moved away letting us enter. Mom went near her, her eyes never leaving my face. "Children, would you make your way down the stairs please?" he then asked the children. They started to get down, but granny stopped them, angry.
"I give the orders in this house, Mr. Barron!" she told him, glaring. Mom too was glaring at him, hate filling her eyes.
"Not today. You should know that Jacky has served her purpose. If you value her life" he stopped to bring the blade across my neck, widening the wound and causing even more blood to flow out. "I suggest everyone does as they are told! Children!" he snapped at them, before granny interrupted him.
"Shush! No one tells my children what to do." she told him, before turning to the children and telling them in a kind voice "Children, come down here, please."
"Miss Peregrine..." Mr. Barron tried to say, before startling when granny snapped "I thought I told you to be quiet!". The little movement made the blade press even more on my already wounded skin. I gasped out in pain, the strength of my pups finally fading to let me feel the pain the wound caused.
"Children, for Jacky's safety, we are going to do what Mr. Barron asks. He wishes to take me and my daughter" granny said, nodding to mom "with him to his rendezvous in Blackpool. So, for his protection, he would like us to assume bird-form, preferably caged... And he'd like you to make your way into a lockable room, such as the parlor. As he won't relieve Jacky if he fears an attack could be mounted upon him once he loses his leverage. Correct, Mr. Barron?" she explained the children, turning back to Mr. Barron at the last phrase.
"You are sacrificing yourself and all of us... when we could try to kill him instead?" Enoch asked granny while both he and his sister glared at Mr. Barron.
"Mr. Barron travels with two Hollows, Enoch. Once it arrives here, we're all dead." mom told him, urgency in her voice. They all started walking to the entrance of the parlour, careful not to go near Mr. Barron as they did. They waved at mom on the way. Olive looked at me, her eyes wet, before going into the parlour with Claire. Enoch stopped, taking granny's hand, before glaring at Mr. Barron. He then looked at me and I could see the worry in his eyes. He then entered, followed by Emma and the twins. She hugged granny, the twins hugging them on the sides. Granny smiled at them, and went to close the door, once Emma too entered.
"It's been my privilege to care for you all. Goodbye, my children." she told them, crying. She then closed the door and turned to us. "Now, let her go." she ordered Mr. Barron. He let me go, mobbing closer to a cage I hadn't seen before. I brought my hands to my neck, trying to stop the blood. Mom came and hugged me, kissing my temple repeatedly. She then moved away and granny came to hug me. She then moved back and took a blue foulard out of one of her pockets. She tied it around my neck, tight enough to act as a bandage, but not too tight as to hurt me. She then raised her hands and cupped my cheeks. "Promise me one thing, Jacky. That you will try to look after them all." she begged me, her eyes full of tears.
"I promise." I told her, nodding. She then walked backwards, mom following after her, and they both turned into peregrine falcons, mom was brown and granny dark blue. They flew a bit, before entering the cage. Mr. Barron closed it. He smirked at me and roughly took me by the shoulder and dragged me to the closed door. He opened it ad threw me in. I fell in Enoch's arms, which were held wide. I turned to Mr. Barron as he went out, scaring the children as he did. I turned to the others, mindful of Miss Avocet's presence near Olive. "It's getting dark. You won't even be able to see their shadows. We have to stay inside. It's the only place we stand a chance." I told them. Enoch nodded at my words from my right side.
"She's quite right. Now, where does Miss Peregrine keep her weapon?" the elder Ymbryne asked.
"In there. Let's go." Enoch told us, pointing at the living room. Him, Emma and myself went there to take the weapons. As we were taking them, the phone rang. We all stopped, before Emma looked at me.
"Jacky, I think tonight you better answer that." she told me, taking a weapon from my hands. I nodded and went to answer. As I did, I saw granny's crossbow and arrows near the phone. I took the phone and brought it to my ear. "Hello?" I asked.
"Hello. This is Abe. Who is that?" a familiar voice asked me. My heart stopped and my hands shook. 'Grandpa…'
"You... you don't know me. I'm Jacky." I told him, my voice breaking.
"Ah! You're new. Well, welcome to the family Jacky. Now I can't talk long, so just tell Miss Peregrine that I'm at the airbase, and I'm fine." he told me, his voice kind and warm.
"I just wanted to say that, I miss you and if I disappointed you, I'm sorry... and you're the best grandpa in the world." I told him, tearing up a bit, before ending the call and taking the crossbow and arrows. I went back to the others in the parlour.
"Miss Avocet!" I called put to her, throwing her the crossbow. She caught is and turned to us all. Enoch handed me a dagger, keeping close to me. We were standing in line, like little soldiers.
"Now, children, now that you are all here, there's a few rules. Your primary job is to stay safe. Leave the Hollow to me. I don't want to see any heroics. Now, those of you with garden tools, I must insist that you..." Miss Avocet told us, before tentacles got her and pulled her back, breaking the wood shutter and the window. I didn't even have time to warn her. I saw the crossbow lying on the ground and gave the dagger back to Enoch, before I threw myself over to take the crossbow. I aimed it at the hole on the shutter and saw a Hollow, one of the two, eating Miss Avocet's eyes. He, from the clothes I could tell it was male, came in and opened his fanged mouth to us. His tentacles came out and I moved back. I couldn't aim at him from the ground as he was tall and the table over me stopped my view. Enoch charged at him, weapon raised.
"No, Enoch! Get back!" I screamed. He looked back at me and the Hollow used his tentacles to pick him up. He then threw him at the walls, making it difficult for me to take aim. "Go! Get to the attic." I ordered the others. Emma and Olive started helping the children as Bronwyn opened the door. They all ran, except for Olive. She stayed behind and came closer to me. The Hollow stopped moving Enoch, tightening his tentacles around Enoch's middle. Two of his tentacles then came forward, moving close to Enoch's eyes. Before they could reach him, I shoot an arrow with the crossbow, hitting the Hollow in the head. He fell down, releasing Enoch. Olive and I moved to help him up and we ran to the attic. As we did, I saw the other enter from the hole and look at his companion. This one was dressed as a woman, meaning it was a she. I ran as fast as I could. I closed the door to the attic's stairs and locked it behind me. I then run to the attic and locked the door there too. Enoch hugged me as soon as soon as he saw me. I hugged him back, before he moved away and Olive took his place. Then Emma came and, after hugging me, she caressed my neck, her eyes worried. I knew we didn't have much time before the other reached us.
"Okay, guys. The other one has come in too. We need to hurry." I told them, going to one of the windows.
"It's almost reset." Emma said, looking at her wristwatch. I opened the window and tried to find something we could use to climb out. I saw a big tree. Suddenly, an idea came to my mind.
"Fiona, is there anything you can do with that tree?" I asked her, beckoning her next to me. She looked at the tree I was pointing at.
"Yes." she told me, before I helped her climb out of the window.
"Be careful!" I told her, as I left her hand. She slipped until she was standing on the gutter. I then saw her starting to grow the tree branch. I turned to the others, finding Enoch near me. "We're going through the windows." I told them. They all moved over and we opened the other window. I climbed out of the window closer to the tree branch and helped Emma out. I was a bit tiring, since she had her lean shoes and the blood loss was starting to take its toll on me. I let Emma go and she too slipped to stand on the gutter, helping the twins down from the other window. I saw Enoch climbing out and helping Claire. He then passed her to me and I hugged her. I let myself go and we both slipped down. I then touched the gutter with my feet and put down Claire, gently pushing her to Hugh. Then, I helped Horace and Bronwyn. I looked up to see Enoch trying to convince Olive to climb out. She was terrified. I climbed up to him and looked at her. "Olive, it's alright. We are here." I told her, trying to calm her down.
"Olive, please. Climb out. We won't let you fall. I would never let my sister fall." Enoch told her, offering her is hand. She looked behind her and I saw her eyes widen before she climbed out of the window. We took her and slipped down. We stood on the gutter, before moving toward the others, who were waiting for us near the tree branch. We started climbing on the branch. Enoch and I were the last one but, before I could climb on, I heard the Hollow breaking out of the window and look at us. I still had the crossbow with me. I turned to Enoch as I took the crossbow from my back.
"Go with the others, protect them." I told him, before aiming at the Hollow. He hesitated, before going to reach the others. I looked back at the Hollow and waited. Once my aim was good, I shoot, hitting the Hollow on the shoulder. I then looked up and saw the Nazis flying above our heads, and threw the crossbow down at Enoch, who was waiting near the tree. I looked back at the Hollow and saw her completely climbing out of the window. I saw the last plane fly and drop the bomb. I turned away and took a big breath. I then closed my eyes and imagined myself flying and suddenly, my bones were changing and I was flying. I looked at myself and saw black feathers. I tried to flew in the correct way and found out that it came natural to me, as if I had always been meant for the sky. I thought about it and it was actually true. I then flew down on Enoch's shoulder. He moved away and we saw the bomb falling on the Hollow. The house exploded before it became normal and then a burning ruin once more.
"The loop closed. It is gone." Enoch whispered, looking wide eyed at the destroyed house. He walked toward the house and took a trunk. He then walked back to the others, with me still perched on his shoulder, crossbow in hand. We reached the others on the beach where Emma and I had gone that afternoon to swim to the cruise ship. The children looked at us, eyes widening when they saw me. I decided to try to change back. After a few moments, I was actually able to and took the crossbow Enoch handed me. He then hugged me and kissed my temple.
"Is there any sign of Barron, mom and granny?" I asked, looking around and waiting for an answer.
"You're Miss Peregrine's granddaughter?" Claire asked me in awe.
"So, it was true." Millard said.
"Little Maryann became a mummy!" Fiona smiled. I nodded at them, still waiting to know.
"They're gone. Barron must have had a boat." Olive told me, answering my question.
"Well, we have to go after them. We know he is taking her to Blackpool." I told them.
"But Blackpool is miles away, and the next ferry doesn't go for hours." Millard told me.
"We'll never make it in time." Horace said. 'Wait just a moment…'
"Not unless we go by boat too!" I told them, looking at Emma. Her eyes brightened and she nodded. "Do you remember the cruise liner Augusta?" I asked them.
"The one that sank in 1915?" Hugh asked, to which I nodded. I saw them nod in understanding.
"Well, Emma knows where it is and she can free it from the water. We will be able to get it moving." I told them, seeing their faces getting happier. We all jumped into the water, with me tying the crossbow on my back. Emma helped us breath and we reached the ship. Emma then started blowing air and after some time, the ship saw free of water. "Olive, go start the ship's engines." I told her. She nodded and went to do what I asked. I went to the control room, where I found the others. Bronwyn then helped me sealing the doors. I then moved to the rudder and held on to it, Claire holding tight on my waist. The ship started moving to the surface, getting in a vertical position. We all had to hold onto something in order not to fall back. Once the ship righted itself I turned to see Olive and Emma coming in. We started the ship and I went back to the room Emma had showed me the chest was. Enoch followed me. I took out the chest and then the map, opening on the table. He looked at it and I pointed to the loop in Blackpool. "So, there's a loop here in Blackpool. It's only six months old. January 11th, 2016. With Miss Avocet gone it can't be reset." I explained to him, looking at his face. He nodded, thoughtful.
"Once the loop closes?" he asked me.
"Then it's back to real time." I answered.
"Jacky, you know what this means, don't you?" he asked me, looking at me with sad, resigned eyes.
"You're going to die." I told him, looking down at the map. He cupped my chin with his hand and raised my head to make me look at him.
"That's not what I mean. We have to get to our own time. But you don't. You can continue to live in 2016." he told me, making me frown.
"But why would I do that?" I asked him.
"If we kill Barron, he'll be gone but time will carry on. He won't go to Florida, Abe won't die and you can go home." he explained, making my eyes widen.
"I could see my grandpa." I said, seeing his eyes getting sadder. "But, I'm an Ymbryne. I belong to a loop. I belong to granny's loop." I told him. He looked at me with wide eyes. "And, besides, I can always go visit him, I'm an Ymbryne, after all." I told him, smiling. He smiled too.
"Your eyes have a black line around them." he told me, making my eyes grow large. I went in front of a mirror that was still hanging on the wall. I saw my eyes. It looked like makeup but it was permanently embedded in my skin. I turned to him.
"Do I still look okay?" I asked him.
"You look even more beautiful than before." he breathed out, walking closer to me. He came to stand in front of me, and we both leaned in. Before anything could happen, the door opened and the others came in. We separated and looked at them.
"So, have we found Miss Avocet's loop on the map yet?" Olive asked me. I nodded at her.
"It's here, but it's new, she made it earlier this year. It's my year. If we don't get out before it closes, we're stuck in January 2016." I explained them.
"Great! So, time catches up with all of us, we all die except you! Plan?" Horace asked me.
"First of all, I'm an Ymbryne. If worst comes to worst, I'll try to create a loop myself." I told him, making him nod. "Second, loop closes at 4:30. I mean, we need to get in, rescue the Ymbrynes and get out." I told them all.
"Miss Avocet said the machine is in the cellar of the Blackpool Tower building. That means we'll be indoors with Hollows." Enoch told me, looking at me with furrowed eyebrows. 'God, he's handsome…'
"No, we won't! I've got a plan, but I'm going to need your help." I told them, making them nod. We moved to the table, where the map still was. We all stood in circle around it. "First step: we need to attract the Hollows outside, so that we could take care of them." I told them. Before I could continue though, Emma stopped me.
"How can we take care of them?" she asked me, astounded.
"We are on a ship full of skeletons. We would need a necromancer." I told them, turning to Enoch. He widened his eyes, before he smirked and nodded. The others too started smiling. I turned back to them.
"Second step: we need to stop Barron, before he can start the experiment. I will need all of you for this, though." I told them, to which they all nodded. "The third and final step is to save all the Ymbrynes and going into the loop before it's too late." I told them. "Any questions?" I asked around. They shook their heads, before Claire raised her hand. "Yes, Claire?" I asked her with a small smile.
"You're acting like Miss Peregrine, you are in charge." she said, a smile on her lips. The others voiced their assent, before we went to the control room. 'Mom, granny, we are coming.'
