A/N: Again, thank you for all the favourites, follows, and reviews!
A lot of questions I get is if I'm going to write this or that character, which is nice, because like I people taking an intrest, but it frustrate me that a lot of them are guest reviewerts and I can't answer them, so therefor I decided to put out my schedule for the next few chapters here:
Chapter 4 (this one): Hugh Apiston
Chapter 5 : Horace Somnusson (Approximatly v.43, around 30 September to 3 November, prewritten)
Chapter 6 : Bronwyn and Victor Bruntly (Approximatly v.45-46, mid-November, started writing)
Chapter 7 : Millard Nullings or Emma Bloom (Late November to early December, unwritten so far)
Chapter 8: Millard Nulling or Emma Bloom (Early to Mid December, Unwritten as of now)
Hugh Apiston
"ugh!" Bronwyn groaned, swatting her hand near her head, and Miss Peregrine resisted the urge to do so too, only to give in a second later. It was unrefined and highly unladylike behaviour, Alma knew that, but the bees were as bothersome for her as they were to her children, and she simply couldn't help herself.
A bee flew up and landed on Alma's shoulder, and she tensed, barely daring to breath out of fear that it would sting her. Alma was not an easily scarred woman, but seeing as she was extremely allergic to bees, she couldn't help the panic that hit her when she had to be in areas heavily populated by them. Only one sting could be enough to put her life at risk, and that was something she'd rather avoid.
"Are you okay Miss Peregrine?" Bronwyn asked, the empathic little girl of course having picked up on her headmistress sudden distress.
"I'm…" Alma watched carefully as the bee lifted from her shoulder and flew off into the sky. She sigh. "...Fine."
"She doesn't like bees, genius." Enoch muttered, glaring at his headmistress. "By the way, Miss P, that is a very ridiculous fear!"
At that moment, Alma hated the cynical little boy with all she had. It wasn't often that she outright disliked her charges, but Enoch's comment had hit hard and she felt deeply insulted by him calling her out for something he knew nothing of. It was both disrespectful and embarrassing for her, and she could feel the anger welling up inside.
"Manners, Mr. O'Connor! It's rude to say things like that!" She exclaimed, letting her anger get the best of her as she scolded her charge. "And I am actually not afraid of bees, so you were lying as well!"
She knew that she was really the liar, but she needed to establish rules and boundaries, and it'd be a cold day in hell before she admitted fearing anything in front of her charges. It went against all her opinions and rules she had, both for them and herself.
"So you are okay?" Claire asked, the innocent little girl looking at her with big, pleading eyes from where she was sitting on Victor's shoulders.
"Of course I am. Now, who's up for a nice day in the park?" She smiled, small and reserved as always, holding up their picnic basket for emphasis. No matter what, she was determined not to let her fear of bees destroy her children's afternoon outside the loop.
As a response to her question, the children cheered happily, and soon they were all running around and playing games in the soft grass, as happy and satisfied as could be, while Alma rested in the shadow of a large oak tree.
Occasionally, they pushed each other around or made someone trip, but it was mostly not on purpose, and Alma let it be. Millard and Enoch, however, did trip their friend on purpose several times, and eventually Alma felt as though she needed to warn them of that they would be forced to sit with her and only watch the games if they didn't stop, seeing as they were ruining it for the others with their cheating.
Despite this warning, though, the boys of course continued, and eventually Alma did pull them aside, making the sit down to watch with her and Olive and Claire in the shadow of a big tree. It was a decision that none of the boys liked, but they complied still. They knew better than to go against their headmistress, just as Alma raised them to, and were most likely fearing being sent back to the loop early if they didn't behave.
"This is boring" Enoch complained, visibly annoyed and every now and then swatting his hands around his head to chase of some pesky bees that were also seeking refuge from the sun in the shadow of the tree.
"It is your own fault Mister O'Connor. I would not have put you here if you listened when I warned you." Alma reminded, knowing very well that this was the only way it could have ended anyway, and that he would never have listened to her. But that was why he got punished, too.
"AAAAH MISS P HELP!" Sudden screams pierced the air, and despite protests from her limping leg, Alma quickly got up on her feet. She recognised her charges voices in the mix of terrified noises and shouts, and it made her feel sick to her stomach as she looked for them.
The Hollowgasts could have found them.
What if wights and Hollows were chasing her precious little children at this very moment? Half her children might very well be dead, and all because she decided to get them out of the loop for once. Because she thought a few hours outside wouldn't be as risky as staying out there. She's an Ymbryne for bird's sake! She should have known so much better than to ever leave the loop with her peculiares in tow, as if the Hollowgasts wouldn't care about them, just because they were going back into the loop in a few hours. She was supposed to be old and vise and should know how to not do this kind of mistakes, but she didn't, and now it might have cost her charges their lives.
She could feel the tears pressing to come through, but she swallowed them painfully. No battle was lost till you had given up, that's what Miss Avocet taught her, and it was the lesson Alma had come to use the very most while working as an Ymbryne.
"GET THESE BEES AWAY FROM US!" Turning her head to the side at the second shout, she suddenly saw her children come running, screaming and terrified, and she also saw that that the danger was in fact not a wight or a hollowgast, but a huge swarm of bees. They looked like a big, dark cloud plowing to through the sky, and it took all her willpower for Alma not to scream as she was faced with her own worst nightmare. Panicked welled up inside her, but she fought the fight and flight reflex best she could. She couldn't afford to act as though she was a terrified child when her children needed her.
First and foremost, she was always an Ymbryne, even in the face of her greatest fear.
As Bronwyn, who had been at the back of the group, came running past them, Enoch, Millard, Claire and Olive quickly joined her, and so did Miss Peregrine. She tried not to look back as she ran, knowing all too well that if she got stung by but five of all these bees that were currently chasing them, she would be forced to fight for her life as a result. She quickly told the children to pick up the pace as she started looking for a solution, for somewhere they could hide, but felt disappointed as she found none.
They had been having their little outing in a large field, and as a result, closest tree or bush big enough for any of them to hide in was too far away for their already tired group to make it to before the bees were upon them. Returning to the oak wasn't an option, either, as they were chased from behind. They were dropping in speed, and the bees were getting quicker, and soon Alam realised she would have to resign to the inevitable fate of both her and her charges getting stung by all these vermins that were for an unexplainable reason chasing them.
"These bloody things are going to get us stung sooo bad!" Enoch shouted, panting and tired but still angry. "What the hell did you even do to anger them!?"
"We did...ah...nothing!" Bronwyn screamed back, tired and panting too as she was almost coming to a stop. She had long since picked up Claire, who simply couldn't keep running, and the heavy burden was starting to take it's toll on her, even though she had unbelievable strength. Her brother was there by her side, of course, encouraging her to keep running and offering to switch burdens so she was carrying Olive instead, but it was of little help as their energy inevitably were running out. Alma didn't think she would be able to keep running for long, either. With a limping leg was hard as it was, and keeping any kind of speed was painful.
Alma looked ahead, and she could see that they had far too long left to go to get to even the sparsest shelter, and soon they would be standing completely still. They were absolutely doomed, and while she fretted the most for her children, she felt concern for her own safety as well. The children should be able to survive getting stung relatively well, but she might not, and without her, they were all doomed. There was few to no other loops in Wales, and the closest one was as far away as Swansea.
"WAIT GUYS!" A boy's voice suddenly shouted, and though the voice was unfamiliar, she quickly checked all her boys were with them as to rule out that it had been any of the screaming. Enoch, Millard, Victor, and Horace. They were all there and she realised it must have been someone else who shouted, though it sounded like it was meant for her and her children, it couldn't be.
"It came from behind us, from behind the bees! He was talking to the bees!" Olive said, and Alma dared to glance in the direction that the tiny airhead was pointing, back at the wall of bees that had been chasing them.
Only they weren't chasing them anymore. Instead, they had turned to surround a small boy, probably around Enoch's age, who was seemingly controlling them and making them...fly into his mouth? Yes, he was indeed making them fly into his mouth.
"Miss P, why is that boy eating bees?" It's Victor who's asking, his voice kind and his hand barely touching her side as he tried to catch her attention.
"He's...he's not eating them, Mister Bruntly. He's letting them into his body." Alma barely knew what to say. She had seen many peculiarities closely connected to nature, but none quite like this. Perhaps, if she had been any of her other sisters, she would have, but she was such a newly trained ymbryne (one of the few ymbrynes of her generation still alive after the accident they didn't speak of), there was still many peculiarities that she couldn't even imagine in her wildest dream.
"He's storing them...inside him? That's gross!" Claire, who was still hanging from Victor's arm, said, her nose wrinkling as if she was smelling a very foul smell.
"Miss Densmore! We don't say that about other people!" Alma scolded, angered. A peculiare should never look down on someone else's peculiarity, and fi Claire didn't know that, it was more than time for her to learn that.
Being so distracted by scolding Claire, Alma didn't notice the boy approaching the group. In his hand, he was carrying their picnic basket, which Alma in the rush of it all had abandoned under the tree, and as he came up to Alma, he offered it for her to take.
"You forgot your picnic basket, Miss. Wouldn't be right to leave all this food would it?" He said, his voice polite and his face light and honest. He was boy of maybe eleven or twelve, with honey coloured hair and pale green eyes. On his hat he had a pair of old pilot glasses that matched very well his checkered shirt and pants with straps.
"Thank you. I didn't think of taking it, for we got into some trouble with a swarm of bees." She said, her voice equally polite, but a disapproving frown gently resting on her lips. She could tell her charges was watching her and the boy with interest, and that it would be important for her to show dominance over the boy, so that they didn't lose their respect for her.
"Ah, yes, I suppose they were mine. I am truly sorry for any inconvenience that might have caused you Miss…." The Boy trailed off, blushing, not only for what his bees had done, but because he didn't know of Alma's name, either.
"Peregrine. Alma LeFay Peregrine." Had it just been the two of them, Alma would have smiled. Now, she kept her lips stayed a straight line and her voice was reserved and cold as she said her name.
"Miss Peregrine. I didn't mean for my bees to chase you and your charges, I didn't mean for them to leave my stomach. I tried to get them to stop, but they are not always very obedient." The boy explained shamefully, covering at the sight of Alma's imposing stature. He was scared, and though Alma could feel her poor heart break she stood her ground, not letting her sympathy show on the outside.
"Are you working on getting your bees under control?" She asked, crossing her arms and ignoring Millard, who apparently undressed at some point for whatever reason, and now was frequently tugging at her arm, invisible but annoying and distracting still. "I'm not talking to you until you get dressed again, Mister Nullings. It's not proper." Her voice got even colder as she said this, because, honestly, Alma did not have the energy to deal with a boy of fourteen who should know what a dress code was by now but didn't.
The little boy with the bees looked up, curious, obviously trying to see who the second comment had been meant for, but of course seeing no one, as Millard was either invisible or not there at all. It was hard to tell when he was undressed, but his masked presence itched in the back of her brain and she assumed he'd backed to the back of the group and was hiding there now.
"I'm training my bees as best I can. I don't expect you to know, but it's a bit tricky. Who were you talking to? There was noone there."
Alma smirked, mischievous and happy, when she heard the last comment. He was a smart kid, this boy with his bees . "His name is Millard Nullings, and he's invisible. Like to undress himself to make it impossible to know where he is, but I try to teach him it's not good manners to do so." Alma's smile widened, she loved her precious little children so much, even when they did things that she couldn't do nothing but disapprove of. It was a love that she tried to hide, but that still burned in her chest every second of every day. It was her purpose. "Boys will always be boys, I suppose."
"But...shouldn't that be weird? That he's invisible, I mean, just like the bees in my stomach is really weird?" The boy, who still hadn't presented Alma with his name, asked, his face twisting in confusion. While he seemed intrigued with the idea of an invisible boy, he was having trouble wrapping his head around the concept.
"Who said you having bees in your stomach is something weird or different? In my home, everyone is like you! Well, not in the sense that they have bees in their stomach, but that they are peculiare." She smiled. It was obvious this boy did not yet have a home among peculiares, and though it would complicated, Alma figured she wouldn't mind welcoming him to her family. All they had to make sure was that he didn't get her stung by one of the bees.
"So, you're like a big family made up of weird people? Are you weird too?" The boy seemed to only have been more confused as Alma attempted an explanation, but once again she could see that he was intrigued. He didn't know how it was possible, but it interested him.
"I am an Ymbryne. My job is to protect 'weird' people like you and my children from monsters who wish for nothing more than to kill you and eat you, so that they can evolve to monsters even worse." Miss Peregrine allowed her voice to drop, become serious and just slightly frightening, for she wanted to make him understand the gravity of what she did. It was still a fight not to crack when she talked, the memories vivid even after so many years, but she succeeded in keeping her calm. "I can manipulate time, as well as turn into a bird. The former I use to create safe heaven frozen in time, a span 24h repeated in infinity. These places can't be reached by monsters, and they are safe."
"You're their protection? You keep them safe in this moment looped in infinity?" The boy asked, sounding baffled and i pressed and something else that Alma didn't know what it was.
At the mention of Cairnholm, their loops and Alma looking over them, the children moved closer to Alma, and she bent down to pick up Claire and Olive on each of her arms as the younger of the two was tugging at her skirt and reaching out in a way that signaled that she wanted to be carried. They quickly snuggled close to her chest when she held them up, she smiled a motherly smile. "Yes, I am their protector. I help those who got everything taken from them get something else in return." Alam had never felt so happy as she did their, in her right element, a soft little girl child rested on each of her arms like life-sized porcelain dolls.
"Can...can I come with you? I really don't have anywhere to be because my parents threw me out a few days ago. They told me they'd gotten tired of getting stung by bees all the time. Even if it was an accident." The boy hung his head, and Alma felt empathy welling up inside her. Another child, abandoned by their loved ones because of being a syndrigast. She herself held a similar back story, and in her mind she wondered when the madness of human minds would stop. When they would stop denying their own children's existence to be able to fit into the idea of a 'normal family'.
"If you so wish, but you will have to try to keep you bees in check for everyone's benefit. If you think you can do that, then you are welcome into our peculiare family." Alma smiled. Once more, her little family had gotten another member, who was goin to bring them all hapiness for years to come. This time, it wasan extraordinarily peculiare boy named...Alma stopped. She'd never asked for the boy's name, nor had the boy introduced himself.
She didn't know the boy's name.
"My name is Hugh, by the way. Hugh Apiston."