Preserve (An Enoch O'Connor story)

Proof is in the Pudding

The next morning, it was Ren who was up, shaking Jake awake. When she had opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the flower. It was still alive while the one that was in Jake's jacket had died, crumbled into dust. "Jake! Jake!" she whispered, trying not to wake up her uncle. "What?" he mumbled and Ren shoved the flower into his face. "Look! I can still use my peculiarity after all." Her smile was so bright and happy that even half asleep, Jake had to be happy for her. She hadn't been so cheery in years.

"That's great, Ren," Jake mumbled and rolled over again. Ren shook his shoulders. "Come on, Jake! We have to go now." Jake chuckled and sat up. "Alright, fine." The pair of cousins quickly got dressed, left a note for Frank, and left the inn. Ren was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet the whole way toward the cave. Jake couldn't help but laugh at her.

Ren pulled Jake through the cave with a giggle. "Come on, Jake!" Jake laughed at let his cousin pull him. At their pace, it didn't take them long to get back to Miss Peregrine's. The Ymbryne herself opened the door. "I had a feeling you'd be back. Ren, Enoch is in his room with Olive." Ren thanked her and made her way to Enoch's room. "Knock, knock," she greeted in a sing-song voice.

Enoch didn't even look up, but Olive grinned. "You came back! I hoped you would." Ren laughed. "Of course I did. I had a great time meeting you all. Plus, I just had to see Enoch's face when I showed him this." At that Enoch finally looked up. Ren leaned one arm on his table and held out the flower with her other hand. "The proof is in the pudding, right?" she asked, her lips turning into a smirk. Enoch reached over and gingerly took the flower. Ren winked at Olive and skipped from the room.

Olive giggled a little. "Enoch? You okay?" Enoch blinked and nodded. "Hand me that rabbit heart, would you?" Nothing else was said as the two went about their business. Olive could sense something different in Enoch. She thought it was probably something to do with the fact that no one ever reacted the way Ren did when it came to Enoch's sarcasm. Olive thought it was pretty funny actually seeing Enoch at a loss for words.

Enoch wouldn't admit it, but he was on edge. He rarely slept, as was evident by the dark circles around his eyes, but he had managed to catch a few winks the night before. Unfortunately, those couple of hours were plagued by nightmares. Nightmares of Horace's visions about the Wights and Ymbrynes. He was worried about what would happen if the Wights and Hollows found their loop. He was also worried about the parts Jake and Ren played in that. He didn't trust Jake at all. Ren, he trusted a little more, but not much.

"That was your last rabbit heart in here, Enoch," Olive told him and he groaned. He stood up and made his way downstairs. He moved to his cabinet to grab more hearts. He passed Ren who was having a conversation with Bronwyn. She glanced up at him when he passed. "Hey, Enoch. Whatcha doing?" she asked. Enoch wanted to ignore, but she got up and walked over to him. "What's it look like?" Ren shrugged. "Do you only bring dolls to life or what?"

"Why are you so interested?" Ren laughed and shrugged again. "You're a mystery. I like a good mystery. You're the only one who hasn't really talked to me other than to be sarcastic and question my peculiarity. You've captured my interest." Enoch sighed. "No, I don't just bring dolls to life. I used to bring the dead in my parents funeral parlor to life. And I make homunculi." Ren cocked her head to the side. "Can you show me?" Enoch's shoulders slumped in defeat. Somehow he knew she wasn't going to give up.

"Fine. Come on." Ren beamed at him and he was taken back. People weren't so positive around him usually. HIs attitude took care of that for him. The two returned to his room where Olive was waiting. Enoch pulled out one of his own creations and put a heart in it. "I'm afraid they don't last very long. A couple minutes," he told Ren, a frown on his face. "You know a smile increases your face value," Ren told him, plopping down on a stool in Enoch's room. Enoch just glared at her and brought the homunculus to life.

The clay soldier got up and began marching around the desk. Olive giggled and clapped her hands while Ren watched in amazement. She saw such potential in Enoch's gift. "Will it react to anything?" Enoch shrugged. "If I tell it to." Ren set her hand on the workbench. Enoch took the hint and told the doll to march into her hand. Ren grinned. "This is really something, Enoch." Enoch glanced down at his lap and tried to hide the smile on his lips.

When he looked back up, he was surprised to find the homunculus climbing up Ren's arm toward her shoulder. In all honesty, it should have collapsed by now. Ren laughed at the clay creation as it sat down. She looked over at Enoch and Olive to find them staring at her. "What?" she asked, her brows together in confusion. "I didn't tell it to do that. It should have worn out the heart by now." The creation seemingly looked up at Ren while she just continued to look confused.

"Maybe it's responding to Ren's peculiarity. You said it works on animals, right?" Olive asked and when Ren nodded, she continued, "Well you used a rat heart. A rat is an animal." Enoch and Ren's eyes widened in surprise. "One way to find out," Ren said. She reached up and carefully picked the homunculus off her shoulder. She handed it to Enoch and got up. She left the room. Enoch glanced down at his creation that was now limp in his hand.

"Could you leave too, Olive." It wasn't really a question. Olive looked a little hurt, but left the room and went after Ren. Enoch kept his gaze on the doll. Ren's peculiarity had somehow enhanced his own. It was something he'd never seen before and would probably never see again. He couldn't help but smile. Maybe having Ren as a friend wouldn't be too bad.