Ghosts - Millard Nullings

Memories

Millard and Iris were currently in Iris' room. It had changed a lot since she'd got to the children's home. What used to be lilac walls, were now a forest green, all of the furniture that used to be white had been replaced with furniture that was made out of cherry wood. Her room, like Millard's was now filled with books, and the walls were almost entirely covered. They were covered in small bits of poetry, some that Iris had written, some that she had read, photos that she  had taken in the prior years with the children, though most of them where of her, Millard, and Emma, drawings that she had made, a majority of them being of what Millard looks like to her, but some being landscapes, flowers, and other things that she can see every day, she also had excerpts from books that had been written in Millard's comforting handwriting. None the less, her walls were almost completely covered in things that Iris enjoyed. Her desk was cluttered, and books were everywhere, the window was still letting light in, as she decided to get rid of the curtains entirely. Her door had been equipped with a full body mirror, because sometimes she forgot that she was invisible, and needed to be reminded. 

Iris absolutely loved her room, but she would prefer to be in Millard's, it was probably because it smelled like him though. To her, Millard smelled of love, he smelt of books, and writing, and a rainy forest in the fall, he smelt of old cologne, and  pumpkin spice, he smelt of cinnamon, and happy tears. She didn't entirely know what he smelt like, but whatever it was, she found a home in it, and anytime she had the chance, she would snuggle up to Millard, just to get that comforting warmth and smell, that Millard always had.

The two were laying down on Iris' bed, Millard's head on her chest as she read Romeo and Juliet out loud, so that the both of them could be engrossed within their favorite book. Millard loved it when she read to him. Her voice was a melody that he would never get tired of, it was comforting, and a sweet sound that he would forever love. 

Jake had been coming back to the house for a few days now. It's not like they didn't like his company but, they liked each other's better so they decided not to get to close, because they figured that he wouldn't be staying anyways because of his dad, and his friends in the future. They didn't mind much though, they were both in their own little world when they were together anyways. Jake had just left not even 15 minutes ago, he was going to check on his dad because of some talk about hollows on the island. The children were all supposed to be packing at this point, but because of Iris and what she had gone through, she made sure that Millard and herself had bags packed with the necessities, just in case. They had food, clothes, water, and a few books, they had things to remember their life here by, such as photos, pressed flowers, and letters that they had written to each other just in case they ended up getting separated. 

The both of them knew that they would end up having to leave the loop eventually, due to the fact that most other loops had been raided, meaning that it was almost guaranteed that they would have to leave due to the same reason. Because of this, they didn't really feel the need to be sad because they were leaving, they just hoped that they would leave before a hollowgast got to them.

The two looked at each other because of a sudden sound breaking through the children's hurried feet, it was a loud knock at the door. They quickly got up, and got their bags from the corner of Iris' room, Iris put Romeo and Juliet in her bag hurriedly, they put them next to the window, which would be their escape plan, Iris went to go get the children's bags from their rooms, using her peculiarity to be entirely invisible and silent. While she was doing this, Millard joined the others at the landing of the stairs, only to see Barron. He was standing there with a wide smile, and an open cage. He had Jake by the neck, with his hand shifted into a sharp blade. To his left he heard a breath hitch, and a soft hand intertwine with his, meaning that Iris, had finished the job, and had joined them on the stairs.

"Children," Mrs. Peregrine said in a kind, yet sharp tone. "come downstairs, Mr. Barron here wishes to take me to his rendezvous in black pool. He wants you all to be secured in a lockable room such as the parlor as I insinuate bird form and make my way into the cage that he has brought with him."

Barron looked slightly shocked and nodded his head as Mrs. Peregrine stated exactly what he wanted. Iris always admired Mrs. Peregrine, she was kind, wise, and always knew what she wanted. She was a mother figure to Iris, and the thought of her leaving for good, and likely to her death was almost enough to make her cry. Though she understood, why she had to go. It was because of Jake, he could see them, and that would be a powerful asset to have, as Barron always has a travel companion. 

As the children went into the parlor, Iris whispered into Millard's ear, "I'll meet you all in my room," and with that she kissed his cheek lightly, let go of his hand, and silently went up the stairs, just to make sure everyone had everything that they would need.

She assumed that they would all be going to get Mrs. Peregrine, so she went to Enoch's room, she held a bag in her hands and carefully place hearts of various sizes in it. Though she knew Enoch would have already packed a couple, she knew that it would be smart to have more than a couple, if they were going to save Mrs. Peregrine.

When she finished she hurried to her room, hoping that Millard was going to get them here in time. Their was a crash sounding from downstairs, and she hoped that the children were coming up the stairs to her room. Millard must have told them to head here. She couldn't go and check though because she promised him. 

Moments later the door slammed open causing Iris to jump, it was only Emma and the kids though, Millard included. She opened the window, and instructed Fiona to carefully grow the branch of a nearby tree for their escape. As Fiona was doing so Enoch, Olive, and Jacob joined the group. Once the branch was long enough, Iris and Jake helped people slide exit the window, to join Enoch and Emma at the bottom, the children were hurriedly making their way across the tree and to the ground where Millard stood to catch the younger ones. Olive was the last, and then would go Jake, and then Iris. This, of course was against Millard's better judgment, but it was for the best, Iris knew that the children would have a better chance of survival being able to see the monsters. 

As Iris was sliding the children's belongings down to Emma, Jake, and Enoch at the bottom, the locked and blocked off door, slammed open to an invisible mass. Quickly Iris slide the last bag down and then slid down herself. Quickly phasing through the roof, to the ground, awaiting to catch the last of the luggage. Enoch climbed down the tree, as Jacob and Emma threw the bags to Iris and Olive. The familiar sound of the war planes overhead rang through the frantic air, the loop was about to close. The last bag was thrown to Olive as the bomb that destroyed the house dropped above. A second before the bomb made contact with the house, Jake jumped from the roof, holding Emma's shoes in one hand and Emma tied to a rope, floating above in the other, he looked to be having trouble with Emma's shoes, but at least everyone was safe. They were all safe, that's the thought that Iris had as the house that she had known for years caught fire, taking all of the memories that had happened in it along with it.

A/N: Don't you love how I say I'm going to do something and then don't do the thing that I said I was going to do. I don't. I'm very sorry about that. Anyways, I don't know how good this is going to be, considering took 6 melatonin tablets an hour ago and then had the motivation to write another chapter on this. I do hope you enjoyed it though. Remember that you can always message me if you need to vent, Love you all <3.