Separate Entities//Miss Peregrine AU

Chapter Five

The next morning, I was feeling much better, though I still had frequent coughing bouts throughout the morning. All through our breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon burnt to a crisp and coffee that was too bitter and probably had some sort of alcohol mixed in, Jacob and I remained silent, having a conversation with only our eyes. We had decided before going down to the bar that we would go back to the old house regardless of the weather. Fortunately, the rain had stopped overnight.

When Jacob and I finally left the Priest Hole, almost immediately a large, blueish hawk swooped down right in front of us, scaring the living shit out of Jake and causing me to let out a loud shriek. "What the fuck was that?" I cried when I'd regained some sanity.

"I don't know," Jacob replied, still breathing deeply. "Judging by the blue feathers and yellow beak, I think it was a peregrine falcon." I gave him a quizzical look. Since when did he know so much about birds? "What?" he asked, his voice rising in pitch in defense. "My dad was really into birds for a while. It kinda rubbed off on me, so what?" I only shook my head and laughed before continuing on.

We were barely in the forest when I grew uncomfortable and had to stop. "Ugh, that bed was hardly comfortable. My back's killing me." Jake smirked.

"Tell me about it - and you got the good bed." I smiled sheepishly in response, and Jacob returned the gesture. We continued on through the forest, left over mud puddles making the trek more treacherous for our cleanliness. We carried on in silence for a while before I broke it.

"So, what did you find yesterday?"

"Nothing. The place is empty. Well, I mean, I didn't check the upstairs because I wanted to get back quick. I didn't check the basement either. It was dark and creepy. You took the flashlight back with you, so there wasn't much I could do." I nodded.

"I guess that makes sense. But you did a shit job of actually looking around, y'know."

Jake chuckled a bit at my response. "Well, yeah, but it didn't feel right doing it without you. We came here together so we could both get answers. I want you to be with me every step of the way." He paused for a second, thinking about what he'd just said. "Damn, that sounded cheesy."

"Yeah, but I know what you mean. We're like siblings. I didn't think it seemed very fair either." Jake nodded, then turned to me again, shoving his hands deeper into the pockets of his hoodie.

"Are you gonna be alright? I mean, they're all dead, so there are gonna be a bunch of ghosts-"

"I know, Jake. I've been thinking about it all morning. I'm not going to be fine, but I'll go through with it. I'm not a baby; I can do things for myself."

Jacob raised his hands out of his pockets in defense. "Alright, alright, I was just checking." He put his hands back in his pockets and I hid my hands in the only slightly too-long sleeves of my hoodie. "I can't say I understand how you feel, but I know it'll be tough. I mean, they're dead, yeah, but they were only kids. That's gotta be tough."

"Just shut up, alright? You're not making anything better for me." I was getting sick and tired of all the sympathy. I'd rather be alone with my thoughts, and that was saying something, seeing as my thoughts weren't always the nicest. I just wished Jake would shut up already about the ghosts. Telling me that there would be ghosts was like walking up to a person with a broken leg and informing them that their leg is, in fact, broken. It's a shitty waste of time.

Before long we took a sharp turn in the path and broke through the trees. There it was, in all its glory, Miss Peregrine's orphanage. In ruins. It was clear to me that no one had lived here in years. The hill the house sat atop was littered with weeds. Trees were growing through windows and vines had taken over the crumbly brick walls. Parts of the roof were completely collapsed, the wooden front porch was rotting, and the windows were all cracked and shattered.