Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Chapter 5

After some time, we finally arrived at the port. During the trip, Emma and Olive did their best to help me with the wound on my neck. It hurt, and sometimes it made it difficult for me to focus. We stopped the ship and I gathered the others around me. "Okay. Here is the plan. Phase one: Emma, Millard and I will go into the tower and provoke Mr. Barron to send the Hollows after us. We will bring them to the Ghost Train, where the youngest will use snow and sweets to make them visible. This way you will know where they are." I told them, seeing them nod. "Then, once we have all the Hollows together, Enoch will use the hearts he brought along to bring some of the skeletons back to life ant they will destroy the Hollows." I said, turning to Enoch. He nodded, eye worried. "Phase two: we'll get into the Blackpool tower and stop Barron. He probably has friends with him, so we have to be ready to fight against more the one bad Peculiar." I told them.

"How will we be able to defeat them?" Claire asked me. I turned to her and saw her eyes wide. I knelt and hugged her to me.

"Together." I told her, making her nod and smile. I then stood up and turned to the others. "I want Claire and the twins on the higher floor, so that they will be less noticed. Bronwyn," I said, turning to her. "I need you to take over Barron if I'm not able to, but be safe while you do." she nodded at my words. "Phase three: once we defeated Barron and his friends, we'll go free mom, granny and the other Ymbrynes. After that, we'll get back to the loop and find another beautiful home for all of us." I told them. They all nodded and smile. I then hugged the children, before kissing Enoch on the cheek as I went. Emma and Millard where following after me and we arrived to the entrance of the loop. I entered the loop, stopping before the exit. I turned to Millard. "Millard, there's something I need you to do first." I told him.

"Alright, I know." he told me, starting to get undressed. We then exited and I looked around.

"Look! There's the tower. It's not far." I told them as we walked.

"Easy for you say! I'm freezing." Millard told me. I beckoned him closer and he hugged me, mindful not to let people see something strange. We reached the tower and hid from view. We then went over to the higher floor and hid behind the chairs there. I looked down and saw Barron with four Hollows and four people. The Hollows were three males and a female, same with the humans. The people were seated on chairs, while the Hollows were standing.

"How many Hollows can you see?" Emma asked, from my right side.

"Four. It's good news." I told her, relieved.

"I think you and I have a very different definition of good news." Emma told me, voice shaking. I turned to her.

"It means Barron's other friends haven't arrived yet. Means they haven't started the experiment. We're not too late." I explained to her, causing her to nod. I then took the rope Millard handed me and looked at Emma. "Ok Emma, you ready?" I asked her, to which she nodded. "You know what to say." I told her, tying the rope around her waist while she untied her shoes. She then floated up and I kept a tight hold of the rope, not wanting to risk her floating to the ceiling.

"Hey! You down there. We killed your Hollow friend Mr. Barron and now we've come for Miss Peregrine. Bring her and all the other Ymbrynes to the end of the pier in five minutes. Or face the consequences." Emma spoke, gaining the attention of the Hollows and Barron's friends. She spoke with stealth in her voice and that made me proud of her. I then tugged her down and we ran. We exited the tower. I looked back to see two of the men with the four Hollows behind them looking for us. As I ran, I felt something stop me. I turned back and saw Emma stuck in the cables of the rain binary. "Jacky, I'm stuck! Hurry up!" she told me, scared. I tugged her down and was finally able to free her. "Let's go." she told me. I looked back to see one of the men, the thinner one, being ran over by the train. I ran to the Ghost Train, where we all entered. Emma stopped and Millard handed her back her lead shoes. As she was tying them, I left Millard with her, so that he could dress up once more. I went out and saw Enoch waiting by the ship.

"Enoch, now!" I told him, watching as he went back into the ship. The children then followed me and I brought them to the other side of the loop, where Emma and Millar had taken some sweets and snowballs on the roof of the Ghost Train. I helped them up and took my crossbow, moving to the side of the Ghost Train. "Go, now!" I ordered to the children, seeing them taking the snowballs and throwing them at the nearing Hollows. They then started throwing sweets at the Hollows, who were now visible to everyone. "Emma! Go!" I told her. She moved behind the cotton candy machine. Olive took off the lid and Emma blew over the cotton candy, making it fly over to the Hollows. Suddenly, many skeletons ran out of the Ghost Train and to the Hollows. They fought and killed three of them plus the last man. I then saw the fourth Hollow being thrown off into the sea by a carousel horse. We then reunited. I checked to see if everyone was here and sighed in relief when no one was missing.

"Alright, good job guys. It's time for Step 2." I told them, making them nod.

"Save the Miss Peregrine and Annie." Bronwyn said, excited. I smiled at her, shaking my head.

"That's... sort of step 3. First, we've got to deal with Barron. Come on." I told them, before we walked to the tower. We entered and hid. The children went to the higher floor, while Enoch, Emma and I hid behind a fake elephant. Olive hid behind the curtains. We were waiting for the right moment to attack. We heard the woman tell Barron he was not serious.

"Do I not look serious? Do I not look like a man who has trudged the globe looking for just one more eye to eat in hopes of regaining sufficient humanity to return to his research? A man who spent years hunting Ymbrynes in preparation for this night. And 2... no... 3 days in Wales pretending to look at birds. I assure you I will not stand idly by to see my destiny derailed." Barron snapped at his two friends who were still seated. I saw Barron moving closer to us told Emma to blow air at him, pushing him against a round table, one that was used as a target for the daggers. I then shot him an arrow, hitting him in the right shoulder. I missed, since I was aiming at the heart. The woman and the man came to us when Barron said "Get them!"

"Hugh, do it now!" I ordered him, whispering. He nodded and let his bees out and they attacked the two. They tried to shoo the bees away. The woman ripped her gown, revealing pants and animal legs. They looked like monkey's legs. She climbed on one of the metal pillars and took hold of one of the ropes. She then threw herself down and, with the help of her tail, she stayed attached to the rope while also taking a bucket full of knives. She then jumped on another metal pillar and started throwing knives at us. We hid as best as we could to avoid them. I heard the man throwing himself in the little pool of water and staying under it. Before I could move to stop him, Enoch jumped out of our hiding spot and attacked Barron, who got free from my arrow and was walking toward me. Barron took him down, making my heart stop. 'Enoch…'

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to look at Emma. I loaded the crossbow and shot another arrow, missing once more. "Bronwyn!" I whispered to her. She ripped one of the chairs and threw it at Barron, hitting him in the head. He was able to get it off and stand up once more. I didn't move my eyes from him when Barron started talking once more.

"You think you can stand in my way? You Jake, content to age and die as if you had not the gift of peculiarity, at all? I am a higher being. I hold a secret to eternal life." Barron taunted me, making me angry. As he did, Olive ran behind him. I could see the anger in her eyes. She took off one of her gloves and touched Barron's shoulder, saying "Sorry to interrupt.". Barron's coat was on fire and he tried to move away. He then took off his coat and threw it at Olive, making her fall. I then moved to shoot another arrow but, before I could, he threw a rope around it and took it from my hands. I then took another arrow from my jacket and went to stab him myself. He hit me on my neck wound, reopening it and making me fall down with a scream. The pain was almost unbearable. He then moved to the Ymbrynes.

"Don't let him get to the birds!" I said, trying not to cringe when my throat burned with pain. Horace moved in the way of Barron are tried to blind him, which worked for just a few seconds, before Barron moved closer to him, putting his hands on Horace's shoulders, laughing. He then touched Horace's jacket, and looked serious.

"You must put me in contact with your tailor." he told Horace, before harshly throwing him on the ground. He then kept walking. "Ymbrynes... Ymbrynes... Here I come!" he sang on the way. I felt hands helping me up and turned to see Emma. I stood up with her help, then we ran after Barron, my wound making it difficult for me to keep my balance. I knew the wounds had started bleeding once again. I stopped, leaning on the wall for support. I started having vertigos and tried to breath. Emma came closer and untied the bloody foulard from around my neck. She then squeezed the foulard, making some blood drip down. She then tied it back, tighter enough to stop the flow of blood. It also helped with the pain. We then kept following after Barron. We reached him and I shot him another arrow with my crossbow, which I had took back before following Barron. Unfortunately, the blood loss was too much and I missed, shooting the arrow to the wall near him. This, of course, made him turn to me. Before he could say anything, Emma came to stand in front of me.

"I'll hold him as long as I can." she told me, before blowing air at him. He was pushed back into the wall and I made my way into the room where the Ymbrynes where kept. I entered and locked the door behind me. I turned around and saw a big cage in the centre, with five Ymbrynes perched inside. I then looked around and found the cage where my mom and granny were perched in. It was on the right side of the big cage. I put the crossbow near the door and reached the cage. I touched it, trying to find the lock. I didn't find it. I then moved around, before I felt something hit the door. I looked around and she Barron taking down the door with his hand turned into and axe. As I turned around, I saw an electric machine. I went to it and unlocked the cage. I then moved in front of the cage and looked at the Ymbrynes.

"Find your children. Create new loops." I told them, before I turned to the door. Barron was able to create a hole in the door. He smiled at me.

"So, Jacky, I see you've inherited your grandfather's peculiarity. You're just as annoying as he was. Speaking of Abe, if you should see him in the afterlife, give him my regards." he told me, entering the room and walking closer to me. As he did, I opened the cage and moved to the side, near the cage where mom and granny were in. I saw the Ymbrynes attacking Barron and I turned to my family. I opened their cage and looked at them.

"Please, we can't risk him taking you again." I told them. I turned when I heard the Ymbrynes fling away. Barron looked at me and came closer. But, before he could touch me, mom and granny flew out of the cage and scratched him on the face. They then flew out, making me let out a sigh in relief. 'They are finally safe…'

"You've lost Miss Peregrine. You've lost everything! It's over!" I taunted him, as he came closer. Before he could do something, we heard a female voice call "Jacky?". 'Emma… No, go away…'

"Jacky?" I heard Enoch's voice, making my heart fill with joy at the knowledge he was safe but making it sank with the fear Barron might hurt him again. Barron turned to me and smirked, before changing into a perfect copy of myself.

"Jacky?" I heard Emma call once more, before both her and Enoch entered the room. My eyes widened as I saw them freeze at the sight of two Jacky.

"Emma? Enoch. Wait, that's not me. It is Barron." I told them, walking closer to them.

"Don't listen to her. She is Barron." Barron told them with my voice.

"I'm Jacky. That's Barron." I tried to make them see the truth. Enoch looked at us and took the crossbow from where I had left it and aimed it at the both of us.

"Well, I got better shot than Jake. So, neither of you move till we sort this." he said, voice hard and eyes cold. I was scared. 'I have never seen him like this…'

"Listen to me. I'm Jacky. I grew up in Florida and I wanted to be an explorer. I never thought nothing would ever change because I was ordinary." Barron told them, making my eyes widen.

"That's Jacky. Get Barron." Emma told Enoch, pointing at me.

"Wait! I told him all of this. She was my psychiatrist." I told them, seeing their eyes widen.

"Look. You deal with her. I'll go find Miss Peregrine." I heard Barron tell them, making to step forward, but Enoch aimed the crossbow at him.

"Jacky would want to kill Barron herself…" Enoch said, voice low. His words reassured me a bit. Before I could try to say something, I saw a Hollow, a male one and soaked, walking toward us. I looked at him. 'He's the one who was thrown into the water by Bronwyn.'

"Wait. I can prove that I'm me." I told them, looking at Enoch with pleading eyes. He stared at me, before nodding at me, letting me continue. "Because I am not ordinary. I can do something that no one else can." I told them, looking back at the monster, before looking at Barron. He was looking at me with wide eyes. "First of all, I'm an Ymbryne." I told him, seeing his eyes widen as he didn't copy the lines around my eyes. "And second, I can see the monsters." I told him. He turned around, trying to see where the Hollow was. Before he could, the tentacles the Hollow put around Barron's neck tightened and raised him up.

"Wait, it's me!" Barron told him, turning back into himself. I looked at Emma and Enoch and saw them staring at them. I looked back and saw the monster stab Barron's eyes, before taking them out and eating them, letting Barron's lifeless body fall on the ground. The Hollow then turned to me and made to attack.

"Enoch!" I said. He threw me the crossbow and I shot the last arrow, hitting the Hollow in the head. He fell down, dead. As I lowered my weapon, Enoch came to me and hugged me, before kissing me. I stood frozen, before closing my eyes and kissing him back. It was awesome. It was like millions of fireworks exploding in my chest. After a few moments, we heard a troth clear and we turned to Emma, who was looking at us with a smirk and a little blush on her cheeks. We separated, before I took Enoch's hand. He squeezed my hand and smiled at me. We followed her, as she went out of the room and toward the Ghost Train. As I was walking, the blood loss took its toll on me once again. I felt lightheaded and Enoch put an arm around my waist to help me walk, his free hand taking a hold of my left one. We reached the entrance of the loop, before Enoch stopped and turned to me.

"Are you sure…" he started to ask before I interrupted him with a firm nod. He smiled and we walked through the loop, going back to the 1943. We reached the ship, where the others were already waiting for us. They all smiled as they saw me. They came to hug me, one by one, and I was so happy to finally be with them again. I looked around, trying to see my mother and my granny. We all heard two cried and looked up. I did so with a bit of difficulty. I saw two beautiful peregrine falcons flying in the sky. I smiled as the planed down. They turned back to humans and came to hug me. I hugged them back, crying with joy. They kissed me on the cheeks and forehead, before they went to hug the children. Enoch came to me once again. I hugged him, before Olive reached us and I hugged her back.

"I think, we all could use some peace now." she told me, making all of us laugh. We went into the ship and to the control room. We sailed and granny decided to go to Wales once more, to find another beautiful house to turn into a loop for all of us. Mom and granny helped me with the wound, healing it with their powers over time. I then went to look for Enoch. I found him on the deck of the ship and smiled, turning into my animal form. I wanted to make Horace's dream come true and flew over the ship. He raised his eyes at me and smiled. I flew down, turning back into a human and hugged him. Before I could kiss him, he leaned down and put his lips on mine. I smiled in the kiss and we kissed once more, putting all our feelings into it. When we separated, he looked into my eyes.

"I love you, Jacky. My brave Ymbryne." he breathed out, making my eyes widen and my smile to become even larger.

"I love you, too. Enoch. My handsome necromancer." I told him, leaning up to kiss him again. He instantly kissed me back. As we did, we heard cheers and separated. We looked around and saw the children with mom and granny widely smiling at us. We smiled at them, before turning to each other. Our eyes met and we broke down laughing, hugging once more.

-10 years later-

"And that is how he defeated Mr. Barron and his friends." I told Shaw, my little six years old baby boy. He had dark hair and eyes like his father and was sitting on his bed, listening to my story. He reminded me of myself, when I listened to grandpa's stories.

"But, the other Hollows?" he asked me. I smiled at him, kissing his forehead as I stood up.

"I'll tell you about them another time." I told him, tucking him into bed. I kissed his forehead once more. "Good night, my little poult. Sweet dreams." I wished him, a warm smile on my face. He smiled back and called his homunculus to him. I watched as the little clay soldier walked into my baby's arms. 'Just like his father…'

I then went out of the room but, before I closed the door, I heard my little one talk. "Good night, mama." he told me, making me smile as I closed the door without a sound. I then walked back to my room. I thought back at grandpa. I had gone to visit him after we created a new loop.

-flashback-

I was happy to see him alive. I told him everything. When I was finished, he looked at me with serious eyes and asked "Are you happy?", to which I nodded. Then his face broke into a smile and he stood up. I did too and he hugged me. I hugged him back. "Go to them and be happy. This was everything your grandmother and I had ever wanted for you."

I nodded and could feel my eyes full of tears. He kissed my cheeks and I turned into a falcon, causing him laugh. I then flew back home, where Enoch was waiting for me. I smiled at him, telling him about the visit as we went inside our beautiful new home.

-flashback's end-

He did two years later of old age. I was sad when it happened, but not as sad as I was first time I had lost him. I knew that now he was in peace with my grandmother. I smiled as I reached the door. I entered, mindful not to make any noise, and saw my husband waiting for me. He was leaning against the wall and looking up at the moon, already in his pyjamas. He didn't change in these ten years, neither one of us did except for my baby boy, who was growing into a healthy little man. I went to him and hugged him from behind. He turned to me with a smile and kissed me. Our kisses were still as passionate as our first had been.

"Which story was it this time?" he asked me.

"Mr. Barron." I answered him with a smile, laying my head on his chest. I heard and felt him chuckle, before he moved back. He put an arm around my neck and another under my knees and picked me up bride style. I giggled as he brought me to our bed and gently laid me down on it. I moved back to make some space for him and he to laid down. I went near him and hugged him. He hugged me back, before moving a bit. In the end, he was lying on his back, his arms around me as I laid my head on his chest, lying down on my left side. He looked at me and kissed me.

"Goodnight, my Ymbryne wife." he told me with a smirk.

"Goodnight, my Necromancer husband." I replied, my eyes full of love. His eyes showed me the same love. We then fell into a peaceful sleep. 'I love my life.' was the last thing I thought, before sleep claimed me.

THE END, OR MAYBE NOT?