Healing - Book One

twenty

Oliver Kingston was quickly sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and attempted mass murder. He confessed that he proposed to his 'fiancé' as a sickening excuse to get all of her peculiar friends in one place. No remorse was shown on his face during his trial. She took a bullet for her niece, therefore saving all others in the church that fateful day.

The ivory of the piano keys feel cold against my gloved hands - everything does now. Never before have I had such a miserable birthday celebration in the aftermath - there wasn't a crumb of a birthday cake. However I cannot be sure I would be able to consume it. A black net covers my face, pulled further down than it would originally sit to try and hide the mascara drips which I found no point in wiping away. At this present moment, I sit in a shapeless black outfit in front of the grand piano in the smoking room, tinkling out forlorn melodies without purpose. Even after five days I am distraught. Violet Louise le Doré should be the one in the coffin, not Agatha Rosemary Elliot.

A single teardrop falls onto the piano from my tired eyes - I have not had a proper night of sleep since Aggie's murder. I spent one night sobbing in the the bathtub so not to wake Emma or Olive, not that they could sleep either.

"Would you like some toast before we go, Vi?"

"No thank you, Fiona. Thanks anyway." I know it is Fiona immediately - for such a little girl her heart outweighs her body.

"Alright," she wraps her thin arms around me, briefly filling me with a rare heat which I have not felt in days. "We are all in the entrance, when you're ready to go."

I nod, holding back more tears. I hear her hesitate a moment, before slowly stepping out of the room.

I reach under the netting and wipe my eyes vigorously, making the delicate skin underneath burn a little. Hooking the curl of the veil underneath my chin, I rise from the piano stool and, with a deep exhale, proceed out of the door.

My heels against the tiles slices through the silence in the lobby, turning all heads towards me. Patches of black scatter across the cluster of seats - many of the familiar faces are also cubic through netting which hangs off hats and headpieces work by the female members of the group.

As I get closer, I am enveloped quickly by Emma.

"It will be alright, you'll do great." She whispers into my ear, moving me as Fiona did so much that tears deep from my eyes, however reluctant I am to let them show.

Even though I am desperate not to let my emotions show, I needn't have worried. Many of my friend's faces are shiny with tears.

Through the cluster, Enoch approaches me. We come face to face, the air solemn between us.

"How are you feeling?" I ask, out of politeness. Although he is my friend I am finding it difficult to have a conversation with anybody at this time.

"Not as bollocks as you must be." He pauses, pressing his lips together and sliding his hands into his jacket pocket. "I-I am always here if you need me."

"Thank you, Enoch."  I say, almost in a whisper. Spotting Miss Peregrine beckoning me over from across the room, I take a step past him. I raise my hand to his face and let it linger on his cheek while I walk away - I feel it burn at my touch.

Ignoring the surprise I feel from the boy's immediate reaction, I shuffle across the ruling towards her where I become protected by her arms. The headmistress pulls away, holds me at arm's length and inhales sharply, most definitely holding back her tears for my sake.

"Your parents have sent us cars, and they have also arranged for the party to be at your home afterwards-"

"This is my home, Miss Peregrine. With you, my friends. Please don't make me go back." I bite my lip anxiously. "They...they will try and bring me back." My voice cracks, sending shivers throughout my body. Miss Peregrine's eyes open the flood gates, sending tears rolling.

"Violet, I will never make you go somewhere you do not want to go, do you understand me? Never."

Never before have I seen the headmistress so upset. I take her arm and we lead the way out onto the steps. A line of slick, black automobiles lie in wait. My breathing increases as we defend onto the gravel.

"Once all this is over, both she and us will be at piece." Miss Peregrine says proudly over her sniffling. "We can bring you home."