Timeless (Enoch O Connor x OC)

31: The End

I remember clambering up those dark echoey steps. Winding and winding with a faint light pouring in from the landing at the top. What I had thought in that instance was how it reminded me of a staircase to heaven. But I knew it was the exact opposite and I was climbing up to hell.

The hollow was in lead with Jacob right behind, then Enoch, he insisted he go ahead, then me, Miss Peregrine and Emma. As we reached the top of the stairwell we heard the wights at the top call out.

"Oi, Rodney? That you? Did you get the girl?" asked a squeaky male voice.

"Shut it, mate," said another deep male voice.

"Both of you silent," hissed another man.

As agreed, Jacob sent up the hollow to attack them. The male voices got mixed together in grunts of surprise, confusion and aggression. We heard the hollows tongue extend out onto the wooden floors and a shriek as it grabbed one of the wights.

"There are nine wights up there," reported Jacob, seeing through the hollows eyes, "right now the hollow has one caught in it tongue, so eight left."

"Ready to charge?" I asked and instead of answering we all ran up the stairs ready for the fight of our lives.

The room held eight wights holding different weaponry and one wrapped up in the wights tongue being pulled closer and closer into its cavernous mouth. From the white glass of the clock face the silhouette of the town outside could be seen and scattered around the room were spare sacks and gears for the mechanisms above our head.

Clearly these wights were more trained than the ones downstairs because we hadn't seemed to take them by surprise. They ran at us immediately.

"DO NOT KILL THE GIRL!" shouted one of the wights, "destroy the rest."

One of the wights rushed up to me armed with some kind of makeshift spear. Clearly he had ditched his gun to not accidentally kill me.

He aimed for my head intending to knock me out. I clapped my hands and he was frozen before he could hit me. With a tug I pulled the spear out of his hands, unfroze him and swept his feet out from under him.  With another strong jab I shoved the spear through his shoulder pinning him to the ground.

I saw that the hollow had devoured the wight that had been in its clutches and was now advancing on the wight fighting Emma. She had melted his gun so it couldn't shoot anymore and I saw several spots of singed clothing on him. Just before he could whip out some other weapon the wight curled his tongue around his foot and pulled him away.

There were two wights on Miss Peregrine.
Two on Jacob and one shot in the leg in front of Enoch.

Four down, and four still fighting but hadn't Jacob said there were nine...

That's when I realized the mistake I had made.

A cold sharp feeling on my neck.

Another wight thudded to the floor in front of Jacob.

I saw in horror that Miss Peregrine had transformed into a bird and was laying very still. Strategically she had collapse on a beam high up so the wights couldn't get to her.

In front of me Emma, Jacob and Enoch all stood face to face with the tensing three wights.

"Stop," hissed the wight holding the knife to my neck. Although this voice seemed quiet it reverberated around the room and left a cold feeling in me and seemingly everyone as they came to a halt.

"We have the girl, the final ingredient to bring back Caul," he continued, "finish these three off and the hollow, I'll escort her out." The remaining wights lips curled into a cold amphibious grin.

"June!" my friends called out, their expression dismayed.

It was time. I had avoided it too long. I had avoided it when they had taken me away from Cairnholm, when I had been at Miss Chough's house, downstairs in the church but now I had to. It was final. If I didn't do something now then they would take me and maybe I would manage to escape but they would get me again. They would always find me. And my friends would refuse to leave me and eventually they would all die. I couldn't live out the rest of my days in fear and worry. It was time to take care of it.

"Oh yeah?" I almost whispered at the wight holding me captive, "see if you can make me come with you." And with that I pushed forward into the knife.

It was cold and sharp but surprisingly not painful. It was sudden but I welcomed it. Certainly not a nice way to go out, I thought.

Just as I expected darkness as I went forward into the knife, the cold feeling was replaced by a sharp painful sting as the wight pulled the knife away.

I wasn't dead.

But I was bleeding, a lot.

I saw the horrified expressions on all my friends faces. The wights were in a panic too, they needed me alive. My friends looked shocked and pained. In the chaos Enoch rushed towards me. He held me tight, as I bled out.

"Why would you do that?! JUNE?" he shouted, "June, June. Okay it's going to be okay we're going to get you help. It wasn't that deep, we can still fix this."

"No, Enoch," I whispered into his ear, "I can't live like this. These wights are always going to be after me."

"June, no, we can fight them off, you can be happy, we can be free," he said pleadingly trying to convince me.

"You know that's not true," I said gently.

"June, no, I love you, you can't leave me," he said, "you PROMISED you wouldn't leave me."

"I'm sorry Enoch, I love you too," I whispered, "let me go, please."

"I won't June, no, June, please," he begged, "I love you, please June, please."

"I wish I could reassure, tell you that I will always be there but I know you don't believe in that," I whispered, "just know wherever I go after this, I'll always love you."

With the last of my strength I snapped my fingers weakly and stopped time. Behind I heard Jacob, Emma and the hollow fighting off the wights.

I slipped out of Enoch's warm arms and walked toward the cold radiating off the clock face. With a bang I shot through the glass, with a gun I had collected from the wight earlier. The glass fractured and spiderwebbed.

One last push of strength I thought.

I pushed.

The shards of glass reflected the sun outside yet it was so much brighter than that. I felt stings as the glass cut into my body.

The air enveloped all around me, pulling me down. It was like jumping off something to land quickly on the ground. The rush of air escaping from my mouth. Except I didn't land quickly. It was scary. But I was okay with it.

Falling felt so much slower. Painfully slow, like moving through molasses. Or moving in a dream.

I saw the clocktower above me.

I saw Enoch, now unfrozen, screaming as he saw me fall.

I saw the the blue cloudy sky.

I saw the sun.

I saw Lotte.

I saw Victor.

Finally I saw myself.

As though I was looking at a mirror. My limp body falling and the cobblestone under me.

I hoped Enoch wouldn't blame this on himself.

But it had to end.

This was it.

I felt relieved, almost happy in a bittersweet way.

Goodbye.

A sharp white light.

I close my eyes.