14: In Ruins

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I knew.

The moment Horace had burst into the room asking for Victor, I had known.

I jumped off the bed. The corners of my vision a little blurry, I had to find him.

"What do you mean?" I asked Horace, "has no one seen him?"

"No one's seen him for hours and he's not in his room or anywhere either," Horace said.

"Are you sure?" asked Enoch's worried voice from behind me.

Before Horace could reply I ran out of the room looking for Miss Peregrine. 

I found her almost immediately, she was downstairs in the entry hall with Claire. Everyone else had gone to look for Victor. 

"Miss Peregrine, Miss Peregrine," I called out panicked.

She took me around the corner so Claire wouldn't hear, she could sense something was wrong.

"I didn't tell you but weeks ago Victor told me about his thoughts of leaving the loop, I'm afraid that's where he's gone," I said as quickly as I could.

"Oh my birds," was all Miss Peregrine said and she strode over to the front door.

"I'll be back soon," she said, her face etched with worry.

The door slammed behind her as Claire began crying. My ears were ringing but I ran over to comfort her and we sat in a heap on the floor. Horace joined us soon after but Enoch never came. 

This was a nightmare. An absolute nightmare.

Victor...

Had a hollow found him already? If it had he would be dead.

Maybe he was just outside the loop? Maybe nothing had gotten to him and Miss Peregrine could convince him to come back? It was the last piece of hope I held onto. 

Minutes turned into an hour. 

I sat there hugging Claire as she cried. I felt too numb to cry. 

I was reliving what had happened to Lotte. 

In the scenarios I was playing in my head, Victor and Lotte's faces kept merging. 

The blurriness at the edges of my vision was threatening to consume me into darkness. 

Darkness. 

Dark.

Dark.

Dark.

I sat up.

The creak of the front door. Feet pounding. Several feet. The rest of the children must have seen Miss Peregrine come back.

Did I dare look up?

Would I see Victor's smiling face? 

Would he apologize for scaring us and life would go back to normal?

Or...

The darker, colder option.

Victor's lifeless drained body slumped on the wooden floor. 

His beautiful green eyes that once twinkled in the sun, gone. 

Gone.

His life, his energy, the happiness he gave everyone. 

And his eyes. 

I think I knew.

I did know. 

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