Millard Nullings: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Part 3

Jacob, Millard, Fabian and Gideon were palying Go Fish outside and talking. It was nice until a football hit Gideon in the back of the head. The girl with the design on her face had been the one who had kicked it.

"Little help, Horse?" she asked

Gideon's expression turned dark. Fabian looked a little scared and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, Giddy."

"Come on, Horse! Give me the ball back." She yelled.

Why was she calling him Horse? Millard wondered. The grass around Gideon started turning yellow rapidly. Gideon's eyes were shut tight. Millard knew something bad was going to happen.

"Don't call me Horse, Payton." Gideon said softly.

"Come on, Horsey! What's the matter?" Payton yelled.

"Stop it Payton." Fabian said. It didn't sound like a command. It sounded more like a warning.

Payton walked over to Gideon and took the ball back.

"Does me calling you Horse bother you, Horse?" She taunted.

Fabian got up and motioned for Jacob and Millard to do the same. They walked about 20 yards away from Gideon.

"What's going on?" Jacob asked.

"She doesn't call him 'Horse' for no reason. It's just better if we stay back right now." Fabian said.

That didnt clear anything up, Millard thougt.

"I am asking you one final time. Dont call me Horse." Gideon said, slightly louder.

"Oh, what are you gonna do, Horse?"
Payton said.

That, apparently, had been the last straw.

Gideon let out a terrible scream. A wave of red energy shot from him, and Millard felt a sudden urge to punch Jacob in the face, and did.

They fought until a second, pale wave of energy rolled off of Gideon. Millard and Jacob stopped fighting, as they both became terribly hungry. Millard bent down, tore a clump of earth from the ground and devoured it. He felt he hadn't eaten in a lifetime, and tore up another clump.

A third wave came, a sickly green. Millard broke out in hives, became nauseous and vomited. Jacob was also puking. Millard was shaking terribly. Payton had it the worst, and was vomiting up blood. Gideon was continuing his terrible shout, fueling the energy waves. Fabian was next to him, shouting something to him, uneffected by the energy.

A final, black wave came rolling out. It cleared Millard and Jacob's hives, and stopped their puking. They both felt fine. Wherever the wave passed, the grass and flowers died. The wave had been directed towards Payton. She turned pale and fell to the ground. Gideon stopped screaming, and opened his eyes.

Millard understood why Payton had called him Horse. The waves of energy were War, Famine, Sickness, and Death. Gideon had the power of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He looked at Payton, and knew she was dead. Millard, who was already beat from what had just happened, saw that and blacked out.

Millard woke up in the softest bed he's ever been in. A damp washcloth on his forehead. He opened his eyes to see himself in a rather small room. It had just one bed, a dresser, a bookshelf packed with books, and lots of modern looking posters.

He sat up, and found a clean outfit on the end of his bed. His own clothes were covered in dirt. He quickly changed into the outfit. It was a large comfy t-shirt with the words "Dont Panic" on it which he thought strange, and a pair of old jeans that fit him perfectly. This wasn't one of the hospital beds in the big hospital room he had seen on the tour earlier. This must've been one of the kids' rooms. Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." Millard answered.

Alice walked into the room, and Millard's heart skipped a beat. This was her room.

"Sorry you couldn't stay in the hospital wing with the others. Gideon's episode got to almost everybody here." she explained "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." that was a lie. His head and stomach ached. "How come you're okay?" He replied.

"Gideon's peculiarity doesn't hurt people he knows well and wouldn't want to hurt. I've known him and Fabian since we were kids. Don't take it personally, he only just met you."

Millard was about to continue the conversation when Gideon and Fabian walled in the door.

"Miss B is making me apologize to everyone I affected. I would've apologized to you even if I wasn't forced to, though. Sorry I hurt you." Gideon said sheepishly.

Fabian walked over to Millard and looked him over. He put his hand on Millard's head and stomach. They felt instantly better.

"Peculiar twins always have opposite peculiarities. Giddy's got the Four Horsemen, and I have Peace, Non-Hunger - I really need to find a better name for that - Healing, and I can bring back the stuff he's killed. Cool, right?" Fabian said cheerfully.

"How's Payton?" Alice said to Gideon.

"Recovering. She'll be recovering for quite some time."

"So did you actually kill her?" Millard blurted out.

"Yep. Unfortunately, Fabe brought her back. She's just in a coma now." Gideon said lightly.

Someone called for the twins downstairs, and they quickly left. Millard was once again alone with Alice.

"So....nice room."

Alice laughed. "Thank you."

Millard looked at the bookshelf, and noticed that several books were on the floor.

"Why are those ones on the floor?"

"I ran out of room on the shelf. I need to put the overflow books back in the library."

"Library?" Millard hadn't seen a library on the tour.

"Yeah. Want me to show you?"

Millard had to stop himself from shouting yes.

"Yes please."

They walked their way through the house until they came upon a plain white door that simply read "Library".

"It's filled with old books, so I'm really the only one who comes in here."

Alice opened the door to reveal the most beautiful room Millard had ever seen. It had floor to ceiling shelves, filled with books of various shapes and sizes. It had two spiraling staircases on the left and right, and a rolling ladder to help reach the books. There were couches and chairs and even mattresses to read on. Every window had a chair next to it. Millard was in heaven.

After he had stopped staring at the room, he looked for Alice. She was pulling a large, leather bound book off of a low shelf. It was very old, judging by it's appearance. She heaved it onto the floor. Millard sat next to her and looked into the book.

"The Map of Days!" He gasped.

It was extremely detailed, and seemed like the largest edition.

"This is my favorite book. My goal is to read every book in here. I'm about 1/23rd of the way through."

Millard was in awe of the Maps before him. He and Alice looked through it and discussed. They had been talking for quite some time when Millard heard a strange noise behind him. Gideon and Fabian were at the door making kissing noises.

"Alice and Millard, sittin' in a tree...." They started.

"Oh, shut up you two. What're you doing in here anyway?"

"Miss Peregrine was looking for Millard. We figured he was with you. We then had to look for you, which wasn't hard because you're almost always in here looking at your map book." Fabian teased.

"I'd better go." Millard said, getting up.

"Alright. If you need me, you know where to find me." Alice said, eyes still glued to The Map of Days.

Millard left the library.