Love, Elsie | Enoch O'Connor

Five

"Miss Peregrine, I'm sorry I didn't know I was being followed." Jake said as we sat down on one of the two sofas in a large room.

Bookshelves lined one wall, either side of the door. The main focus of the room was the fireplace, in which the two dark leather sofas sat adjacent, opposite each other with a small tea table separating them. There was a thick book, nothing like I had ever seen in our library, edged with gold and beautifully bound with a taupe brown leather. It looked ancient.

Miss Peregrine didn't look mad that I had followed Jake, nor did she seem surprised. On her face was an expression I couldn't read, the corner of her mouth slightly veered up and her eyes blinked slowly. There were few creases around her eyes, and her skin did not look aged considering that she must be very old; the picture being from 1943 would make her at least one hundred years old yet she looked no older than forty.

There was no hint of grey in her hair, only dark blue that was tied back in a tight bun at the back of her head. She was the most mystical person I had ever seen.

"Elizabeth," she said matter-of-factly, "you've arrived. It's such a pleasure to meet at last."

She put her hand out in a gesture of good will and I took it, shaking with a firm grip. I had no idea she had been expecting me and how she knew my name, but I was not doubting her confidence and knowledge. Miss Peregrine seemed like a woman who knew most things and to question her would be ridiculous.

"It's nice to meet you, but how do you know who I am?" I asked. Jake smiled and then glanced at Miss Peregrine, secrecy lingered in between them and it seemed I was the only one left in the dark.

"I've been keeping an eye on you on your side of Cairnholm, making sure you are safe. You see, yourself, Jake and I, along with the rest of the children here, are known as peculiar, in common parlance." She smiled and placed her cup of tea down, "It's a recessive gene carried down through families. Peculiars are often mistreated by normals, so as an ymbryne, my job is to ensure all peculiars are safe."

I shot a look of confusion and she clearly understood as she continued.

"You maybe asking yourself, what this all means, and I will explain everything but too much all at once, I fear will shock you. I'm sure you saw Jake here, run far away."

I was nothing like Jake; whatever the headmistress had to tell me, I knew I could just accept it. However, before listening to the rest of her story, I politely excused myself and asked for directions to the bathroom, in which I got told it was upstairs and to the left.

Taking the steps two at a time, I retrieved my phone from my pocket and once again attempted to turn it on. I wanted to tell Hattie all about what had happened despite her disapproval. As much as she is not the adventurous type, I know she has some sort of a curious mind and she herself, would like to know what it is like in the children's home. Or what she knows of the remains of the home, I wouldn't be too certain on how to tell that I had essentially time traveled to a period where the house had not yet been destroyed.

After paying no attention to where I was going, I had entered a room that was definitely not a bathroom. It was a maze full of shelves of jars just like the ones I had seen on the grass by the boy. Except this time there were more and I had the opportunity to get closer.

A strong vinegar smell lingered around them, and it took a while for my mind to process that the jars were filled with active organs, all different shapes and sized hearts, livers, brains. Behind the shelves was a table with the clumps of clay and doll heads, with the same tools I had also seen. Someone was clearly trying to craft a monstrosity.