The Peregrines

Chapter 33

{Pic is mine}

{ Edited - 26th April, 2024 }

Jake and his father had to leave within a few days, and this news had a slight impact on Emma, especially. Emma passionately argued multiple times, trying to convince Jake to stay. However, she failed to acknowledge the life he would be leaving behind, no matter how modest it seemed. She also didn't consider the potential effect on his parents or the suffocating feeling she herself admitted to experiencing inside the loop. Her only plea was, "With you here, it'll be better."

Jake took the initiative to approach Miss Peregrine, but unfortunately, she wasn't very helpful. She simply stated that she couldn't make the decision for him. However, it was clear that she wanted him to stay.

Not only would his presence in the loop ensure his own safety, but it would also contribute to the safety of everyone else. Eventually, we had a private conversation in my room where Jake opened up and shared everything. He explained that joining the peculiar children meant sacrificing the opportunity to finish high school, attend college, or engage in any of the typical experiences of growing up.

I had to constantly remind him that he wasn't like everyone else. With hollows on his trail, living outside the loop would likely lead to a short life filled with fear and paranoia. Waiting for them to return and end it all sounded much scarier than missing out on college.

He spent days pondering over the decision of staying or leaving. Meanwhile, at the peculiar children's home, Miss Peregrine implemented strict measures. It felt as if martial law had been imposed: the younger children were not allowed to venture out without supervision, and the older ones had to move in pairs, with Miss Peregrine keeping track of everyone's whereabouts. Even obtaining permission to step outside became a challenging task.

Sentries were assigned to take turns keeping watch over the front and back of the house. Throughout the day and into the night, you could catch glimpses of weary faces peeking out from the windows. If they caught sight of anyone coming near, they would pull a chain that rang a bell in Miss Peregrine's room. This signalled that whenever Jake showed up, Miss Peregrine would be ready by the door to question him.

What was happening outside the loop? Had he seen anything strange? Was he sure he hadn't been followed?

It was no shocker that the kids started getting a bit wild, but the younger ones had a whole different reaction - surprisingly rowdy while the older ones were more subdued, just as I predicted. However, the grumbling about the new rules was loud enough for everyone to hear.

You know, when I was under the watchful eyes of Miss Raven and Miss Crow, they made it a point to keep all of us kids inside the mansion at all times. But there was this one particular child, me, who had ended up on their watchlist of troublemakers. However, they weren't usually awake early enough to catch me in the act. But things took a turn when I stayed over at Jake's house. I hardly ever left there, not even once.

It's like déjà vu being back here, stuck in this house with the other kids. Nothing really changes, except for the occasional news update. You can always tell when Millard enters a room by the dramatic sighs that follow.

Hugh's bees buzzed around and stung folks until they were kicked out of the house, leading Hugh to gaze out the window, his bees guarding the other side of the pane.

Emma, who insisted that she had lost her heavy shoes, decided to crawl on the ceiling like a nimble fly. She mischievously dropped tiny grains of rice on unsuspecting heads, waiting for them to glance up and spot her. As soon as they did, she would burst into uncontrollable laughter, causing her levitation to waver. To prevent herself from tumbling down, she would quickly cling to a nearby chandelier or curtain rod.

Enoch was the oddest of them all, retreating to his underground lab to conduct bizarre surgeries on his clay warriors. He would remove limbs from two soldiers to create a monstrous spider-man out of a third, or stuff four chicken hearts into one chest cavity in hopes of crafting an unstoppable super-clay-man.