Caged Bird

Part Five

-Set around fourty minutes before the children arrive-

Miss Peregrine flew out of the cage. She was happy to finally be able to spread her wings without the restricting metal bars blocking her. She flew around the room a bit until she knew she had to change back.

In a second, she'd stopped flying and changed back into her human self. She landed on the floor safely and let out a breath. She'd hadn't been in her bird form for that long since Blackpool.

A shiver ran down her spine and she turned around to see Joseph standing behind her, uncomfortably close. Miss Peregrine took an immediate step back to gather some space between them.

"There, I'm in my human form. Now what do you want with me?" Miss Peregrine snapped at Joseph. The latter looked mock-shocked at her brashness but quickly schooled his features.

"I want to do some tests, that's all. Then I'll consider letting you go back to your... children," he explained casually as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Miss Peregrine tensed, briefly remembering Blackpool and Barron, and the wights, but she pushed those thoughts aside to concentrate on the present. The promise of being able to see her children if she let him run his tests was tempting, but if he discovered peculiars- ymbrynes themselves- who knows what he might do. And was she really going to go so low as to allow someone to run tests on her?

"No. I won't allow you to experiment on me. No matter the reward," Miss Peregrine decided. Joseph looked taken aback.

"Not even for your precious children?" He asked.

"My decision is for the benefit of my children," Miss Peregrine informed him with finality. Joseph's face warped into one of anger and he nodded briefly before exiting the room with determination, leaving Miss Peregrine alone.

Quickly, her mind working fast, she strode over to the window and pushed aside the net. A black handle was at the bottom of the window and Miss Peregrine pulled it up, unlocking the window. She pushed it open as wide as it would go, allowing crisp air to enter the room and make her shiver. She then took a step back and prepared to turn into her bird form so she could escape.

The door slammed open and in walked Joseph. This time he wasn't alone. He was with Mr Smith. Miss Peregrine cringed internally and tried to continue her change as it would be much easier to escape if she were in bird form, but Joseph rushed forward with speed and wrapped his arms around she waist, pulling her away from the window.

Miss Peregrine immediately tried to pry his arms from around her slim waist, finding it hard to breathe with how strong his grip was, but no matter how much she clawed at his skin with her sharp nails, he held fast. Mr Smith had closed and locked the door in the time Miss Peregrine and Joseph had been struggling.

As the pair continued, Mr Smith the went to the operation table and removed the cage, placing it neatly in the corner of the room. He then moved over to Joseph and Miss Peregrine, and grabbed the latter's legs to stop her from kicking.

"Let go of me!" Miss Peregrine ordered, fuming. Joseph and Mr Smith ignored her and started moving her to the table.

The entire way, she fought as hard as she could, but in the end, she found herself being strapped down to the table with the leather straps. A well deserved kick hit Joseph and Mr Smith as they tried to strap her ankles down. Another one hit Mr Smith, but unfortunately, Joseph succeeded in strapping her down.

"You can't do this," Miss Peregrine stated as Joseph helped Mr Smith up off the floor. They ignored her once again and moved over to the trolley holding surgical items.

Joseph pulled it over and placed it beside the table. Miss Peregrine eyed the multitudes of sharp items on the metal tray, but was ultimately distracted by another strap being fastened around her waist. She looked down at the brown strap then gasped when Mr Smith tightened it as much as he could. The breath had been knocked out of her, almost winding her.

Mr Smith walked behind her head and the clanking of thin metal informed her he was grabbing another strap. This time it was put over her forehead, keeping her entirely locked down to the table.

Miss Peregrine wanted to cry, to scream, to insult the disgusting men. But girls didn't cry. That's what her parents had said when she was a girl. They'd beaten it into her. Girls. Did. Not. Cry. She hadn't cried when Caul and Myron had bullied her, abused her. Hadn't cried when Barron had made incisions in her back just for the sake of torturing her. And she wouldn't cry now.

"I'm proud of you, Joseph," Mr Smith said, patting Joseph on the back.

"Thank you," Joseph replied with a proud smile.

"I wouldn't have ever believed you if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes," Mr Smith continued, to which Joseph nodded his own agreement.

"Now then," Mr Smith said and clapped his hands. He put on a pair of blue surgical gloves and reached for a tool- a needle. Miss Peregrine closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

oOoOoOo

The children walked quietly through the hallway. The place was quiet and occasionally one or two of the dim lights would flicker.

The younger children, mainly Claire and Bronwyn, would gasp and tense at any noise. Especially the strange noises coming from the floor above.

Eventually, the group reached the door at the end of the corridor and they stepped aside to let Bronwyn 'open' it like she had the other doors. The door came off easily and this time she was careful about setting it down so it wouldn't make so much noise.

They climbed the stairwell and when they reached the first floor, they decided to split up and check every room so the floor would be covered and they could find Miss Peregrine much quicker. All twelve peculiar children spread down the hall and chose a room each to search. A couple of the children searched the same room as there were only a few rooms in total.

Loud crashing sounds came from down the hallway and some of the peculiars poked their heads out of the rooms they'd been searching to see what the racket was.

Seconds later a man was thrown- quite literally- out of one of the rooms by Bronwyn, followed by another being kicked out by Millard and Enoch. Unintelligable shouting was heard and it took both Bronwyn and Millard to stop Enoch from killing the cowering men on the floor.

"What's going on here?" Jacob shouted and ran down the hallway to meet the struggling Enoch being held back by Bronwyn and Millard.

Jacob's eyes drifted to peer inside of the room the three had come from and he paled.

"Oh god," he muttered and held his stomach, praying not to throw up then and there.