Chapter Twenty three

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They had been in Miss Wren's loop for almost a week, and they were preparing to leave

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They had been in Miss Wren's loop for almost a week, and they were preparing to leave. Fiona was staying behind with Claire, whom had become rather ill, and Hugh was not impressed that he would have to complete the quest without Fiona, but there was nothing they could do.

Leo was sat outside the house they had been staying in, he was thinking about everything that had happened, and didn't notice when Melanie came and sat beside him.

"I get how you feel." She told him. He looked at her and sighed.

"What are we supposed to do?" He asked her, she shook her head.

"What can we do? You're in love with a guy who tried to kill you, and I'm in love with a demon." Melanie sighed, she linked her arm in his and leant her head on his shoulder.

"Do you think we'll win?" He asked her, she looked up at him.

"Honestly? No, no I don't. And if we do, I doubt we'll all make it." She answered. He sighed.

"I should have left, I should have left when Evangeline did, she said we should get out, we should have listened to her." Leo sighed.

"At least now we have each other." Melanie told him. He smiled at her, she linked her hand in his.

"I suppose we do."

^^^
"You're stressing." Cameron pointed out, as he stood beside Enoch, waiting for Jeanette.

"I'm not, I'm just... worried." She answered. He sighed.

"Jenny, it will be fine." He answered.

"Cameron's right, what could go wrong?" Enoch told her, uncharictaristically optimistic.

"Optimism really is weird on you." She mused, he laughed and shook his head.

"Come on Jenny, I imagine everyone is ready." Enoch concluded, she sighed and nodded.

"Alright, let's go." She mustered a smile for her two friends.

"There's our Jenny." Cameron laughed as the three walked out of the building, where everyone seemed to be gathering.

"Are you ready to go?" Emma asked them, meeting them outside.

"Yeah, we're ready." Jeanette smiled weakly.

"We're just waiting for Horace, I don't know where he's gone." Jacob added.

"We'll go find him." Enoch said, glancing at Jeanette, who nodded, she looked distinctly worried.

"Alright, please hurry, we need to get a good distance before nightfall." Jacob advised.

"Relax, we'll be quick." Enoch assured him.

The two walked towards the graveyard, where Enoch seemed to beleive Horace was. Indeed they found him there, staring at a scorch mark on the floor.

"Horace." Jeanette said gently, exchanging a worried look with Enoch, before kneeling down beside the distraught blonde.

"What if this was him?" He asked quietly.

"Oh Horace, I don't think he's coming back." She told him gently.

"He has to, I saw it!" He answered. "Right here! He came back right here!"

"Horace, please. We need to go." Jeanette said.

"What if he comes back?" Horace argued. Enoch sighed.

"He won't. We met her, she won't let him go anywhere." He told the blonde.

"Enoch, please can we just wait another hour." He asked pleadingly.

"Horace, he's gone and we need to save peculiardom." Enoch told him. Horace sighed and stood up.

"Okay." He agreed. Jeanette smiled at him and gave him a quick, comforting hug.

They reached the group ten minutes later, earning some questioning looks regarding Horace, but all three ignored them. It was time to hit the road.

^^^
Three hours worth of travelling and they had made little progress. Forest after Forest, field after field, and they had gotten basically nowhere.

They had stopped every hour, barely talking, hearing a few sobs, but no complaints. They couldn't bring themselves to complain, they'd faced worse than a lengthy hike.

They had a lot of light left, but the silence was killing them.

"Jenny, I'm hungry." Nathan complained, he had gotten too tired long ago, resulting in his cousin stepping up and carrying him.

"We'll take another break soon, I'm sure." She said comfortingly, but she wasn't running this show, Emma was in charge, so Jeanette didn't know what was happening.

"I'm scared." The boy murmured. Cameron looked worried, but he did not let his cousin see that.

"We'll be okay." He assured the boy, after a sympathetic smile from Jeanette.

"We will, we have one another after all." She nodded, Nathan smiled at her.

"I wish Evie was here." He murmured. Jeanette nodded sadly.

"As do I."

"Do you think we would be able to find her?" Enoch murmured to Jeanette, who shrugged.

"Even if we do, she may not want to help us, this is not her fight." She answered, he looked at her skeptically.

"Do you know where she is?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I have an idea, but do not tell the others. I don't want to evolve her unless necessary, she will not take kindly to fight to save someone she ran from." Jeanette explained. He sighed and linked his hand in hers.

"You hold many secrets, and they aren't all yours, are they?" She shook her head, her eyes sad.

"I know too much Enoch, I am cursed with knowledge I never desired to have." She answered, he sighed.

"You're not alone though, I'll be here." He told her, she looked at him in surprise, sometimes his spiky act convinced even her. "For whatever, through whatever, I'm here."

"Enoch..." She didn't know what to say.

"Our Icarus will get too close to the sun soon, when he does, the lights won't take too kindly to him." He told her.

"Why Enoch! That was almost poetic." She exclaimed with a laugh.

"Almost? Miss Wilkinson, I'll have you know that I am a poet." He told her grandly, earning a laugh from the girl beside him. He smiled at her laugh, glad he had managed to change her sombre expression.

"Are you indeed?" She raised a brow at him.

"I am." He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him, almost protectivly.

"Are you good enough to give Apollo a run for his money?" She challenged. He smirked at her.

"Of course."

A strange peculiarity || Enoch O'ConnorWhere stories live. Discover now