A Peculiar Time in 1944 - A Millard Fanfic (Miss Peregrine's Home) #wattys2020

Chapter 59

"The train pulled out of the station without us, our best hope for saving Miss Peregrine steaming away into the distance." {Jacob Portman, pg 161 book 2}

Aurora instinctively ducked when she heard the gunshot and without thinking, ran in the opposite direction that the train was moving. While the others had tried to keep up with the train and hop inside the distance between Aurora and the group grew. When she turned back there was a uniformed soldier standing on the platform with a rifle aimed at the others. Glancing from afar Aurora could see everyone, it seemed none of them had made it on the train before it sped up and took off. We were so close.

She watched as the wight approached them aiming his gun, ready to fire if any of them tried to run. He barked an order and they all dropped to their knees, her heart jumped into her throat as she noticed Millard still among them, the hood of his jacket thrown over his head. If he looked at the ground no one would know he was invisible, everything but his face was covered; but the wight had already seen him and would make sure he wouldn't take off.

The fake soldier took out his radio and talked into it, not taking his pupil-less eyes off the others. Aurora tried to think of a plan, she was the only one who hadn't been caught, maybe she could cause a scene like Olive and Millard did when Jake first came to the loop and they had to rescue him from an angry mob. But looking up and down the platform there was only the man in the ticket booth, the few who had been around had gotten on the train. If the platform had been crowded it would have been easy to make a scene, cause some confusion and mass panic then run through the crowd and not be seen by the wight, but she'd find no such luck here.

Then someone did show up, but that wouldn't help her now. It was a man in a uniform just like the wight, he came up behind her and roughly grabbed her arm, she tried to struggle and get out of his tight hold but he pushed his gun into her side and looked down at her with pure white eyes. Just like that her window of opportunity had been slammed shut.

"Come 'ere you!" the second wight snarled at her as he pulled her toward the others, still on their knees at gunpoint. Aurora tried to think quick on her feet as she struggled, her peculiarity wouldn't help her but was there anything else she could do that might make the wight let her go? Maybe long enough to reopen her window so she could help the others? Then a light bulb went off in her head, only dimly, but it was better than nothing.

MILLARD P.O.V.

At least Aurora got away. He'd thought looking around and not seeing her with them. But he'd thought too soon and sure enough a moment later another wight joined them pulling Aurora down the platform.

"Laisse-moi partir!" she shouted in french (let me go), "Je n'ai rien fait. ( I didn't do anything) Que se passe-t-il?" (what's going on?)

He was sure the worry in her voice was real, though she was putting on an excellent act, a confused immigrant in a country where no one spoke her language in the wrong place at the wrong time. He just hoped it worked.

"Caught her down the platform." The second wight explained, "Think she's with them?"

"Not sure." The first wight said, keeping his gun on them but giving Aurora a once over, looking for any cracks in her mask. She trembled and let a few tears fall down her face.

"S'il vous plait, laissez-moi partir." (please let me go.)

Then the wight looked to the one holding her, "Better safe than sorry." He shrugged, "Dispose of 'er." He nodded to the gun pressed against her side.

"No!" Millard shouted. If the wight had been bluffing, it worked. Millard's reaction confirmed she was with them and peculiar or not that would be enough for the wights. The first one gave them a maniacal grin while the other one looked at Aurora with a sneer.