locusta (enoch o'connor)

one

october 3rd, 1937

     aurelie was inconsolable; her favorite grandfather, claude, had just died. in etrétat, when someone passed, everyone knew about it. the town was far too small for a loss to go unnoticed. so 7 year old aurelie had to mourn her grandpa's death, avoid the prying questions of various townspeople, and ensure that her 2 year old brother, nolan, knew what was happening. it was all too much.
     at dinner on the night of claude's funeral, aurelie, nolan, and their parents, margot and adam, sat quietly. with a heavy sigh and the drop of her fork, margot broke the silence.
     "children, it's important that you know what a great man your pépère was. but he's gone now, and we must move forward." nolan stared at his plate with a pout while aurelie's lip quivered.
     "no! it isn't fair maman! why did he have to leave?" aurelie was yelling through her tears, which were falling thick against her bright red cheeks.
     "because, mon petit chou," her father spoke calmingly, "he had to go away. it wasn't his choice, and he misses you both very much."
     nolan wiped tears off with his sleeve as he attempted to hide his sniffles. aurelie wasn't just sad anymore, she was livid. in her frustration, she threw her now seemingly scalding-hot spoon onto the floor and stomped upstairs to her bedroom. she sobbed into her pillow until her heavy eyelids finally gave in to sleep.

•••

     when aurelie awoke in the morning, she still had tear stains running down her face - evidence of the previous night's tantrum. the small girl lazily made her way into the main area of the small house, where she was greeted by a cluster of local policemen.
     "maman?" aurelie muttered, grasping onto her mother's skirt. margot looked down at her daughter with panic deeply set into her brown eyes.
     "oh, aurelie, something very bad has happened." the woman crouched down in front of aurelie, holding onto the young girl's shoulders gently. "monsieur muller from next door came by this morning to talk about your pépère. he noticed the spoon that you threw was still laying on the floor. when he picked it up, he fell onto the ground. he is in the same place as grandpa claude now."
     aurelie could barely contain herself. she didn't want anymore people to die. she just wanted everything back to normal.

•••

     within hours of the policemen leaving aurelie's house, her parents had made a drastic decision. they had come to the overwhelming conclusion that monsieur muller's death was caused accidentally by aurelie, and that she had cursed the spoon that killed him. so, margot and adam quickly packed a bag for each of their children. aurelie was to be sent to a girl's orphanage in paris, and nolan was to stay with margot's sister in versailles until everything had settled.
     aurelie was just old enough to understand what was happening. on some level, however, she knew that she would see her brother again. still, the child wept until she arrived in paris, and she only wept harder when her parents left with nothing more than a kiss on the cheek and a somber goodbye.
     aurelie was alone. abandoned by her family and given away as a curse. she had no one.

•••

     when aurelie wasn't doing her mandatory chores, she spent her time reading. in the six years that she spent at the girl's home, aurelie knew why her parents had given her up. she knew with every fiber of her being that she was a peculiar. of course, they'd only been written about as myths and fairytales, but aurelie was certain. and overtime, she knew what her peculiarity was; she had the ability to turn any object into a deadly poison.
     once aurelie had turned 13, the girl's orphanage that she was in could no longer care for her, so she was sent to a home for older children, but she didn't care. she had made no lasting friendships and the woman that ran the institution was harsh and unforgiving. aurelie stayed in the home for older children for another 3 years. the place was comfortable and the others were kinder to her than in her previous home. but when aurelie turned 16, she was labeled as hopeless and kicked out of the children's home.
     aurelie had no idea what to do or where to go. she was alone on the streets of paris. her distress was crushing her, and she'd broken down multiple times in only the few hours that she'd been homeless.
     for the following four nights, aurelie slept in alleyways and ate what food she could find. during the day, she would search for work in local shops, all of which had denied her. finally, on the morning of her 5th day of displacement, she was approached by a middle-aged woman.
     "hello my dear." the woman spoke poor french with a heavy english accent, but it was french all the same. "my name is miss tern. this may sound strange to you, but i have sensed your misery for the past week, and i have come to help you. what is your name?"
     aurelie answered, but shifted at miss tern's words. her french was barely understandable, and luckily, aurelie had been taught english while in her first orphanage, so she chose to speak that instead.
     "i'm sorry miss, i'm not sure what you mean, how could you help me?" miss tern smiled kindly at the girl before speaking again.
     "i own a children's home and you would be well-suited -"
     "sorry, miss tern, but i do not wish to stay in another orphanage only to be thrown out again in a few years."
     "aurelie," the woman spoke more sternly, "i do not run an orphanage," miss tern leaned closer to aurelie as she whispered to her, "it is a home for children like you - peculiars."
     aurelie's mood improved greatly at miss tern's statement. maybe she would finally have a home.
     "i would love for you to come stay in my loop, but i'm afraid that it is quite full." aurelie felt like bursting into tears, everything always fell apart for her. miss tern noticed the child's sadness and spoke up again, "but i do know of another ymbryne that you can stay with. her name is miss peregrine, and she lives in wales."

•••

A/N: while some words are italicized for emphasis, french terms will be as well, and they will be defined at the end of each chapter!

pépère: a name for a grandpa, similar to "papa"
maman: an informal name for mother, similar to "mama" or "mommy"
mon petit chou: an affectionate name for a loved one, literally translates to "my little sweet bun"
monsieur: mister