𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 | enoch o'connor

𝐢𝐢𝐢. trips to the village

The day had passed fairly quickly and Siren soon found herself sat by a small wicker table outside playing tea party with Claire, Fiona, and Bronwyn. The younger girls were adorably sweet and had been so excited when she'd agreed to join them.

"Are you allowed to go out of the loop?" Siren asked lifting the teacup to her lips.

"Yes sometimes we play games like raid the village." Bronwyn exclaimed adding an enormous amount of sugar to her own cup.

"Raid the village?"

"We smash it up, chase people round, take what we like and burn things down. It's loads of fun. Emma and Claire don't go." She explained.

"It's scary." Claire whined.

"Well we've got to practice our skills somehow." Bronwyn huffed. "In case we ever need to defend ourselves. Otherwise we'd get rusty." Siren nodded in understanding.

"And there are rules. We aren't allowed to kill anybody. Just scare them a little. And if someone does get hurt, well, they're back right as rain the next day and don't remember anything about it."

"Sometimes the older kids go into town to buy food and clothes." Claire added, tugging nervously at a stray curl. Fiona didn't speak much but looked happy enough as she poured herself some more tea.

"Enoch promised to get me more ribbon when he goes to town." Claire added.

"You should go with them Siren!" Bronwyn shouted, putting her cup down with a lot more force than necessary. She hummed, pleased with the thought of leaving the loop even for a little while. Siren was surprised when her wish came true that very evening. Miss Peregrine had sent herself, Enoch, Olive and Emma out to buy food and any other necessities. They all grouped together in a horse and cart with Emma taking the reins and set off.

"Slow down, Emma." Olive yelled as they turned another sharp corner and Siren went flying directly towards Enoch who caught her around the waist before she fell of the cart.

"Sorry." She laughed extracting herself from his hold and sitting next to him. He just nodded and looked away, his hands tightening their grasp around the edge of the cart.

They made it to the village without any further mishaps and dismounted the cart easily. First they headed to a butchers to get meat and parts for Enoch's experiments. The shop itself was small and smelled unpleasant, Siren just wrinkled her nose and pressed herself closer to Olive to avoid the stench.

Enoch ordered for them all using a list that Miss Peregrine had provided and Siren was pleased that they could leave the shop relatively quickly.

They walked down the streets huddled together, avoiding the menacing glances from passers-by to find a shop that sold ribbon for Claire. It took a while but eventually they came across one and purchased some pink ribbon and fabric to repair clothes. After that they loaded everything back into the cart and took a walk down the beach to enjoy the nice weather.

"What was your loop like?" Emma asked curiously.

"It wasn't that different from here. There were less children and there was no village so it was quite boring."

"Do you feel an urge to jump in the ocean?" Enoch asked, his sudden question startling her. "You know because of your tail." He explained when she looked at him for an explanation.

"Not really it just appears in salt water and I'm fine staying on land for as long as I want really."

"I think you're tail is really pretty. You're like a real life mermaid." Olive sighed, making Siren blush.

They continued walking down the shoreline, while Siren picked up any sea shells that she thought the younger girls might enjoy, until the sunset and they headed back to the house.

Siren had to admit that changing loops was nerve wracking and she still couldn't shake the urge to constantly glance over her shoulder to look for any signs that the hollowgast had followed her to her new sanctuary. It was nice to meet new people after decades of living the same day on repeat but she couldn't help but mourn what she had already lost.

The clouds darkened as though they could feel her melancholy thoughts and she watched as the first smattering of rain descended on them.

"Oh, quick let's head back before it gets worse." Emma said tugging at Olive's hand.

"You're not going to melt. It rains every day." Enoch scoffed as the rain plastered his hair against his forehead but he didn't resist when siren pulled him in the same direction as the others. She noticed that his hand was firm and much larger than her own as he interlocked their fingers and started running towards the cart, dragging her along with him.