Hope (Enoch O'Connor x Reader)

Chapter 12: The stars give you hope, but you give me hope

I walk out of Enoch's room and find out that Emma actually hasn't been gardening with Fiona, but really has been hanging out with Jake. Mm hmm, I can see something going on here. And trust me, I am going to find out what it is.

+ + +

After lunch, Jake goes off to do stuff with the other peculiars so I get Emma all to myself. We sit in the Parlor on the window seat and tell each other about what has happened in our lives since we last saw each other in the Stone Age. Hearing what she has been through, unimaginable horrors, it's amazing she can still smile. It's truly amazing that we can all smile with the shit we've had to put up with, the shit we've had to see. I start to get sad about it, so I quickly change the subject to the topic that has me extremely curious.

"So... is it true?" I say cheekily, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" She asks, not catching on.

"You and Jaaaaaaaake!!" I say, drawing out his name teasingly.

"No..." She replies with a day dreamy smile.

"No?" I push.

"No." She says, snapping to attention and looking more... convincing. If one thing hasn't changed, it is that Emma is a bad liar.

"NO?!?!?"

"FINE, YES!!" She exclaims as she hits me with a pillow.

"I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I shout in triumph.

"Shhh... I don't really know why, but it just happened. I swore off love when Abe left, but Jake... reopened that door for me." She says really dreamily.

"Aww, well the romance report says that it is likely that you two are gonna kiss."

"Romance report?"

"Fine. Horace's dream last night, remember?"

"Oh yeah. That was a little embarrassing. It's not the first time he has dreamt of us kissing."

"Have you kissed Jake yet?"

"Well, no. The thing is, the night you arrived, Horace projected a dream of Jake and I kissing. It nearly happened in real life, but I stopped it. I wasn't ready then. I wasn't even sure what my feelings were for Jake. But now, let's just say that if another opportunity to kiss him comes along, I'm not going to waste it."

We laugh but a loud sound, like a bowling ball falling down the stairs, sounds. Emma and I race over to see Jake running down the stairs, continuously looking over his shoulder as if he is being chased. He runs into me.

"Jake, what's wrong?" I try to say as calmly as I can. What the fuck happened!?!?

"Enoch did it. No eyes. The boy has no GOD-DAMNED EYES!!!"

Emma gasps beside me. "Did he wake Victor? Oh he is such a dead shithead!"

"Where is Enoch?" I ask Jake. He shakes his head.

"Don't go up there. No eyes. Forget it. He's got no eyes!!" Jake says, very traumatized. I let go of him and jog up the stairs taking two at a time. I reach the long hallway and am met with the sight of Bronwyn crying on the floor.

"Where is Enoch? I'll fix this, I promise." I ask her, crouching down.

She simply points at the doorway at the end of the hall. I step around her and run to the door. I open it to find Enoch seated next to a sterile, white bed. And sitting upright in that bed is a boy that looks around seventeen with slicked back brown hair and empty eye sockets.