Preserve (An Enoch O'Connor story)

Ren's Peculiarity

After several moments of tense silence, Olive piped up again. "Why don't you show her your peculiarity, Enoch?" Enoch didn't even look over at the other redhead. His eyes were still glued to Ren's, waiting to see if she was going to back down. He didn't realize that Ren wasn't that kind of girl. She never backed down unless she knew she was wrong.

Finally, Enoch looked away and turned his attention back to the dolls on the table in front of him. Ren watched in fascination as Enoch took a tiny heart and put it into one of the dolls. It suddenly sprang to life along with the doll next to it. "Whoa," Ren breathed. Obviously she'd never seen anything like it. Enoch smirked again and whispered to the dolls. The two began fighting. There was something beautifully grotesque about it and Ren couldn't look away. They fought until one pulled the heart out of the other.

"That was..." Ren began and Enoch's gaze froze on her again as she finished her sentence, "Amazing. That's incredible." Olive giggled and clapped her hands while Enoch just stared at the girl in front of him. No one thought what he did was incredible. Well, no one except Olive. Most people were put off by it. "Come on, Ren. I'll find something for you to wear for dinner. If we get there early enough, you can sit next to us. See you later, Enoch." Ren was pulled from the room, Enoch's eyes still on her.

Once the door closed behind the girls, Enoch crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't trust Ren. In his mind, his little family was perfect the way it was. Now two new people have entered the loop in as many days. Jake was definitely sweet on Emma which certainly didn't help Enoch's feelings toward him. And then Ren showed up. Another new peculiar who had a life outside the loop. But that wasn't even his problem with her. Enoch's problem with her was that she wasn't like the other girls in the loop. She was different, even for a peculiar. She took his gloomy attitude in stride and that shocked him.

Olive was humming softly as she lead Ren to her room. "You know Olive, you shouldn't be so subtle." Olive stopped and cocked her head in confusion. Ren giggled. "It's pretty obvious you like Enoch." Olive waved her hand and shook her head. "Of course I do. He's a good friend." Ren arched her brow. "Uh-huh. A friend. Olive, I can tell it's more than that."

Olive's face turned almost as red as her hair. "Well, I-" Ren put her hand on Olive's shoulder. "You should tell him how you feel, Olive. If he's not getting your hints, maybe a straight forward approach would work." Olive shrugged. "I don't know...Enoch is complicated." Ren smiled at her. "Alright. I'm not going to force you, especially since I barely know you. It's just some friendly advice. Now, I believe I was promised a spectacular outfit for supper?" Olive laughed and began walking again.

Olive handed Ren a cute little dress and Ren squealed. Normally she wasn't all girly, but the 40s and 50s were her favorite eras of fashion. "This is adorable!" Olive shook her head at Ren's silliness and left the room so Ren could change. Once Ren was changed, she opened the door and Olive smiled at her. "You look great!" Ren flushed. "Come on. If we hurry, we can make it to the dining room before everyone else." Ren nodded and followed Olive and the two chatted.

Olive and Ren were the first ones in the dining room. Olive added another chair at the table. "You can sit here. Enoch sits at the end of the table and I'll sit next to you. The twins can switch seats with me." Ren agreed but asked why Olive didn't sit next to Enoch. Once more, Olive blushed but didn't reply. Ren just smirked as Miss Peregrine entered with Emma right behind. "Olive would you please help bring dinner to the table?" Miss Peregrine asked and turned her attention to Ren. "You look lovely Ren. And it looks like Olive found you a seat."

Ren thanked the Ymbryne and moved to sit down. Emma stopped her however. She came over to the other side of the table and put a flower into Ren's red hair. "There." Ren felt herself blush at the unusual attention. Back home, Ren was the quiet girl in the corner that no one really noticed. She got good grades and participated in the arts, but she kept to herself aside from Jake and a few close friends.

Olive came in again with a few plates on her arms. "Let me help you, Olive," Ren offered. "Nonsense. You're a guest." Ren shook her head, but let Olive handle it anyway. The others started filing in. Ren and Olive had just sat down when Enoch sauntered in. He stopped short seeing Ren's seat next to his. After what had happened in his room, he thought she'd want to be seated as far away from him as possible.

Jake arrived a few minutes later, with a dressed Millard in tow. "Can't make it anywhere on time can you, cuz?" Ren quipped, earning a playful glare from the blue-eyed boy. The others around the table giggled. Even Miss Peregrine let out a light laugh. "Alright. Dig in." Everyone started eating, quiet chatter all around. Then, Horace spoke. "Forgive me, but may I ask what your peculiarity is, Ren?" Ren paused, fork half-way to her mouth.

"Nothing dies around her," Jake answered for her. "That's not true, Jake," Ren corrected softly, "I mean, not really. My peculiarity doesn't work on people. But yes, I can preserve things. Prevent them from dying or decaying for long periods of time." Fiona, who sat across from Ren smiled, "So you're peculiarity is kind of like Enoch's." Ren shook her head. "I can't bring anything back from the dead like Enoch. I can only keep them from dying for a little while longer than normal."

"Prove it," Enoch said suddenly, making everyone look at him. Ren rose a brow. "And how do you propose I do that, Enoch?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes and smiling sweetly. Enoch stared at her for a moment. He hadn't expected her to retort that way. Now everyone was staring at him, waiting for his answer. Miss Peregrine and Horace both wore sly smiles, as if they knew something he didn't.

His eyes wandered to the flower in Ren's hair. "Take that flower with you when you leave. If you come back, it should still be alive, right? If that's really your peculiarity." Ren's smirk deepened. "You know, I'm tempted to come back just to rub it in your face, Enoch." Without waiting for a reply, she turned back to Olive continuing the conversation they were having before Horace interrupted.

In truth, Ren was worried. It had been so long since she'd used her peculiarity. When she was in middle school, she learned that kids were a lot more mean. They poked fun at her for being weird and she didn't want to give them any more ammo to use. So, she didn't use her peculiarity if she could help it. She kept it buried deep within herself. Now, she wasn't sure she'd even be able to use it on a simple flower and, for some bizarre reason, she really wanted to be able to. She felt a desperate need to prove to Enoch, to all of the children in the home, that she was just like them. That she belonged with them.