A fog eerily crept around the sleeping girl, just a shadow huddled against a darkened forest floor. She was shivering, shaking terribly, yet she would not wake. She wore a simple cotton dress; nothing suitable to shield her from the wet and rotting leaves. Her brown hair was shaken into her eyes, matted to her forehead by the cold sweat forming.
She heard her mother's voice. It called to her ever so sweetly through the pines. Her voice surrounded the shivering girl like a warm blanket, something so familiar and tender. It plucked at the young girls heart strings, and she stretched herself awake.
"Mama?" She said sleepily, raising her hands high above her head as she sat up from the forest floor. A yelp escaped the girls lips as she opened her eyes not to see her beautiful mother, but a hooded figure standing in the distance, lurking inhumanely still. Her brown boots kicked up clumps of dirt as she threw herself backward until her spine hit the wood of a tall tree. The figure remained, unwavering and silent.
"Who are you?" She called, her blue eyes wide with fright. "What do you want?"
The figure persisted.
"Why are you here?"
The figure barely made a noise as it raised a glimmering silver scythe, thumping against the ground where the figure placed it.
The girl could still hear her mother's voice. Her mother was calling her name. Calling out to her.
Calling for help.
•••
Ashnar flew upright in her bed, hastily throwing the covers off of her and standing. The cold air hit her legs and the wooden floor was not comforting beneath her feet. It caused her to shiver. Panic welled up inside of her and she felt a lump forming in her throat.
Ash had just fallen asleep when the dream came to her. She couldn't say why she had started down the stairs, she just knew the dream did not feel right. It was almost as though something had visited her as a warning, and she was determined to find out what the warning was.
She went directly for Miss Peregrine, surely she would know a way to help the young girl. At this time of night, it was still early for Miss Peregrine. Her head was constantly stuck in a book or her writings. Ash never knew what the book was about, nor what was interesting enough to be writing about, yet it was what the older woman was always doing in her study late at night.
Yet, when Ash rapped on her study door, she got no welcoming. Ash found it odd, the woman was always there around this time. Ash looked left and right before pushing the door open.
"Miss Peregrine?" Ash called softly into the study. There was no response, yet there was a warmth in the room indicating that the woman had been in there. The fire was lit, and her chair was pushed back, as if waiting to be occupied again. Ash decided she would just wait for her there, she needed to know whether she was in danger or not.
When Ash took a seat on one of the velvety chairs before Miss Peregrines desk, her eyes glanced sheepishly over all of the pages scattered over the mahogany surface. Toward the end of the table sat a stack of off white papers bound together by twine. She took note of the artwork on the top and leaned forward to closer see the familiar handwriting scribbled on the top of the papers. They were letters.
"Mama," Ash whispered. She fully stood, going around the desk and delicately pulling the twine to release the stack. There were dozens of them, all with the same beautiful cursive ink on their faces. Ash looked toward the door to ensure no one was there, before gingerly sliding the paper out of the envelope.
11/28/69
Dear Alma,
I remain having no words to say for how grateful I am that you've given my precious children solace. Are they well? I wish nothing more than to be there with them; to be there with you all. I fear I am getting worse, yet do not worry, I am getting treatment. Have you gotten any more children in? I wish I could know them. Let my children know they are loved. You do not have to tell them I wrote, just let them know.
With love,
Elizabeth Jane Apiston
Ash's breath quickened and she haphazardly shoved the letter back in its envelope to promptly pick up another one. The most recent one.
12/22/69
The townsfolk have began visiting me. I hear they are preparing a grave for me. My legs have given up on me, so I write from my rocking chair. You've given me a great life, Alma. You've given me all I could ever want, and I praise you. You were not my first mother, but you were my mother. Now I fear I am returning to Mother Earth. Do not tell Hugh and Ashnar. Do not worry their minds. I love my children with my whole soul, and they will be my dying thought. I wish I could see their beautiful faces. I wish I could tell them. I do hope you understand my decision to not tell them. Do you think it is wise, Alma? I want to save them from all I can, for they are my heart, and they are the living parts of me. Before I sign this, this may be my last. I hold love for you, Alma. Continue your kindness for the rest of these children. The peculiars shall be eternal.
With love,
Elizabeth Jane Apiston
It was written just the day before. Tears welled in the young girls eyes. Her mother was dying? How could this be? She couldn't recall her mother as anything but strong and beautiful.
"Oh, Ashnar." Ash heard a sigh from the door. Ash did not look up at Miss Peregrine. She couldn't. From the height of the stack, she could tell she had kept it from her for a long time. Ash threw down the letters in a fit of anger, her fiery eyes glaring at Miss Peregrine.
"How could you have not told me?" Ash managed to bite out, her hand having a death grip on the table to keep her from falling.
"I am keeping her word." Miss Peregrine spoke, hesitant with her words.
"Does Hugh know?" A dark feeling welled into the young girls chest.
"Darling," Miss Peregrine said, taking a hesitant step toward the girl who was about to explode. Her arm was turning black and the wood under her hand was rotting. "Why don't you take a seat."
"No." She said with all the spite and bitterness and her soul. The corners of the wooden desk were crumbling off, and the potted plant on the opposite side had wilted and browned.
Miss Peregrine was taken aback, no one in the house didn't respect her orders. But now wasn't a time for scolding. "I just wasn't sure how you would take it. I'm hurting for her too."
"You weren't sure how I would take it? How I would take my own mother dying!?" She cried, tearing out of Miss Peregrine's study, leaving a blackened handprint on her door. Ash stormed past Emma who was seated in the kitchen, ignoring Miss Peregrine calling her name.
She started up the stairs, almost grabbing the banister, before she leaped off and bolted out of the door. Miss Peregrine called after her, then yelled for someone in the house to go after her. Enoch had come from his room, curls messy from the head gear he was previously wearing.
"What happened?" He asked simply to the frazzled lady.
"Get Hugh from the fields. Be hasty! Ashnar has run off!" She pointed to the door, pushing him to run.
Miss Peregrine flew into a state of panic, one the peculiars hadn't exactly seen. The woman had a million thoughts running through her mind, fearing for an end result in the likes of Victor's. As she heard running footsteps bolt out the door, she leaned on her desk with her palms flat out, staring at the now blackened plant sitting in front of her.
YOU ARE READING
Change in Heart ▪ Enoch O'Connor
Fanfiction"All you need to do is change the coldest of hearts to make the world a better place," She whispered. "You really believe that?" He questioned, looking down at her. "Of course I do," She replied, smiling with shining eyes.
