•MPHFPC ONE SHOTS•

<=BACK TO THE ROOTS=> (Part 1)

[SPOILERS FOR THE DESOLATIONS OF DEVIL'S ACRE!! This is an alternate ending of TDoDA]

He felt like the air was being pulled out of his lungs. No. Like he was getting torn away from himself.
Bits of his soul flying into the hands of a girl, her skin glowing brightly from the rest of him. She was struggling to hold it all in, though.
Just give it back to me, he wanted to say, but he couldn't find the strength.

He felt himself shrink. It should've hurt, but it didn't. He was too weak to feel pain.
Caul caught a glimpse of two familiar green eyes, fearfully staring at him from a distance. Alma. He raised one of his awful hands, wanting to grab her. But he froze as he watched each of his long fingers break off, like wood splits in a fire. He looked back at his sister, panic creeping into him. What is happening to me?
His sister wasn't looking at him anymore, though. She grabbed the girl's shoulder, shouted something and nodded and the girl ran off, toward the exit. Everyone else followed and left Caul behind. He felt so tired and empty, he didn't even try coming after them. Emptiness was all there was, just like before.
Something was pulling on his legs, dragging him deeper into the pool behind him. Legs. He had legs again. This isn't right.

"Jack." a familiar voice said, not too far away from him. With great effort, he turned to spot the owner of the voice. It was his brother, Myron, embraced by a blue outline, which was slowly fading. But it was all wrong. He was young, a boy, around fifteen years old, wearing a torn suit and hat that were way too big for him.
"Mum and dad called for us, Jack!" he said again. "We have to go!"
Caul was so tired. He just wanted to give in to the water pulling him into its depths behind him. The ocean behind him. What? The ground underneath him loosened, turning to sand. Wind ruffled his hair. Seagulls seemed to laugh down at his demise. They were at a beach. He gave his brother a confused and helpless look.
Myron shielded his eyes with one hand and watched the waves in the distance. "They're pretty far out already!" he shouted over the sound of the wind. "We should really go. They're waiting for us."
"I don't want to." Caul managed to say, but then gasped at the sound of his own voice in surprise. He, too, sounded fairly young.

"But we have to follow them, Jack. We have no other choice." Myron said and now he was looking back down at his little brother with a sad expression. And then, right in front Caul's eyes, Myron seemed to rapidly grow older and taller. His expression was saddening more, his face mirroring a horrible and long forgotten past. Then he repeated his words, his voice deeper, bitter and less innocent. "We have no other choice."
The seagulls overhead disappeared to make way for a brewing storm and it began to drizzle. Both of the brothers were startled by the sound of thunder, but strangely, the rumbling never stopped. It kept going, until the ground beneath them joined in and shook from the noise, making the sand dance. Caul struggled to keep himself on the shore even more, as the waves grasped him.

Myron pointed his face toward the sky. He took off his hat in awe, revealing two antennae sprouting from beneath his hair and brought his hat down to his chest, almost hugging it. He hummed and said, "I don't think this is supposed to happen."
A lightning lit up the dark and stormy horizon. "No, we certainly can't go in the water now." Myron said, shaking his head, then turned and looked at something on the dune. He spread his arms as if a dog was running toward him. "PT, come over here! That's a good boy!"
In the distance, a bear grunted. That was the last thing Caul heard and the last thing he saw seemed to be the dark clouds falling from the sky, crashing down on them. And then there was nothing. Only the deafening sound of silence. No one else was there. Not even his brother. Only he was. Alone behind his eyes. He had passed out.

[—]

They all woke up to the sound of thunder.
Gasping and wide-eyed, they searched the place around them for their friends.
"Noor!" Jacob shouted and then a hand grabbed his.
"I'm here." Noor said, right next to him.
They looked each other up and down, asking if they were okay, coming to the conclusion that, yes, they were alright and that they weren't dead. Jacob carefully and slowly stood up. "We're back." he said. It was Abe's house, its porch and yard, to be exact.
"But how?" Noor asked, standing up, too.
The bushes surrounding the yard rustled and they both held their breath, in fear of whatever was over there could hear it. But then they heard their friends' voices and then saw each of their heads pop out of the bushes. They came running over to them, shaking leaves off their arms and legs on the way.
"I hit the button on the Expulsatator right when Caul appeared!" it was Emma, holding up a little black thing. "We made it!"
But then Hugh came running, Fiona hurrying over alongside him, their hands linked. "He's still here. And alive." he said, in between heavy breaths. "Fiona just saw him." Hugh pointed in the direction they came from.
"Come over to me, children!" Miss Peregrine called out, her voice wavering. Together, they all backed away to the porch and anxiously watched the woods ahead of them.