locusta (enoch o'connor)

three

september 3rd, 1940

     aurelie was nervous, to say the least. she followed miss tern's directions carefully, her heart weighing heavier than the bags in her hands. finally, aurelie was greeted by a beautiful home. it reminded her of the chateaux in france, and a feeling of relief washed over her as she realized that this was to be her home.
     excitedly, aurelie ran toward the door. just as she was about to knock, it swung open to reveal a tall woman with pale skin, a pipe, stopwatch, and navy blue everything. the woman was smirking, but rather than it being offputting, aurelie felt relaxed.
     "miss baudelaire, you're right on time," the woman spoke, her voice strong yet welcoming, "my name is miss -"
     "miss peregrine," aurelie interrupted, earning an eyebrow raise from the woman, "i know. i'm so excited to meet you."
     miss peregrine gave the girl a soft smile, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder and lead her inside.
     "well then, i shall introduce you to the rest of the home, but first, i need to speak with you in private." aurelie nodded, feeling slightly out of place with her suitcases still heavy in her arms.
     "ah, of course," miss peregrine said, seemingly very aware of aurelie's feelings, "enoch! come help take aurelie's things to her room upstairs."
     within a moment, a boy slightly older than aurelie came down the staircase. it was then that she began to notice other children poking their heads out from around the corners. aurelie spotted two children in particular that unsettled her, as they were both in clown masks. she hasn't realized just how long she'd been distracted until a deep voice cut into her thoughts.
     "i need to take your bags," aurelie turned again to face the boy, enoch - she presumed, who was now much closer to her, "and i can't do that considering they're still in your hands."
     enoch's voice was thick and deep, coated beautifully with an accent that aurelie didn't recognize. his dark hair sat in heavy contrast to his pale complexion, but was balanced by his brown eyes. enoch's solemn glare didn't intimidate aurelie like she knew that he was counting on it doing. he stood at least 5 inches taller than aurelie, and his closeness made her feel inescapably small. aurelie automatically found herself drawn to enoch, for appearances if nothing else.
she was vaguely aware of miss peregrine scolding enoch for being rude to her, but she didn't mind, as the people she grew up around were much crueler at times.
     a blush fell upon aurelie's cheeks as she handed enoch her bags, mumbling 'pardon' quietly and earning a furrowed brow from the boy. without a second glance, enoch carried her bags upstairs and out of her view. miss peregrine touched aurelie's shoulder gently once more, gesturing to a parlor just to the side of the main entrance.
     "children," miss peregrine called, "aurelie and i are not to be disturbed. you will all have the chance to meet her before dinner."
     with that, the two women walked into the parlor, and aurelie heard miss peregrine shut the door behind them.
aurelie was transfixed by her new surroundings, and miss peregrine seemed to find it amusing. she smiled at the girl as aurelie gaped at the architecture and decor around her.
"aurelie," miss peregrine spoke gently, "i've heard some of your story from miss tern, but i would like to hear it from you." aurelie nodded and prepared herself to delve honestly into her backstory for the first time in her life.
after nearly an hour, aurelie had poured out every memory that related to her current situation, with miss peregrine only interrupting occasionally for clarification. it was clear that the travel and emotional turmoil of reliving her past had caused aurelie to grow exhausted, barely able to focus on her conversation.
"i need to ask, darling" miss peregrine murmured cautiously, "have you had any other incidents like the one that you had after your grandfather's death?"
aurelie shook her head quickly, shame creeping it's way into her consciousness, "no, madame, it was only the one time. i think after so many years of pain, i've learned to control it, or at least keep it at bay." miss peregrine nodded in response, seemingly lost in thought.
she met aurelie's eyes once more with a bright grin, "well then, dear, it is my honor to formally welcome you home; cairnholm, wales. september the third, 1940."

•••

     miss peregrine spent the following few minutes showing aurelie around the house and surrounding property, which aurelie found astonishingly exquisite. they'd only run into a few children, all of which greeted miss peregrine casually before being reminded of their chores. aurelie was no stranger to chores, but the thought of somehow using her peculiarity as the other children scared her, so she hoped that miss peregrine would assign her something simple, like cleaning the floors.
     aurelie's bedroom was upstairs, situated just near the end of the hall. a large window allowed light to pour into the room, which was adorned with nightstands and a closet. aurelie was overjoyed to say the least.
     just before miss peregrine left the girl to settle in, aurelie wrapped her arms tightly around the ymbryne, as she'd done so often over the course of the past few days. miss peregrine returned the gesture, murmuring into aurelie's ear "we are so glad to have you here, and you are safe at home now."
     as the pair broke apart and miss peregrine left to go make dinner, aurelie noticed enoch standing at the top of the staircase with jars in his hands and a scowl on his face.
     "hi, enoch right?" aurelie inquired politely, though she already knew the answer.
     "yes," the boy spoke curtly, walking in her direction. before he was able to move past aurelie, she spoke again.
     "merci for bringing my suitcases up." enoch paused, his eyes still boring into aurelie's.
     "it wasn't like i had a choice," aurelie's smile faltered at his words, but she regained her composure quickly, "are you french?" enoch asked monotonously.
     "oui," the girl replied with an upward tilt of her head.
     "well then why aren't you in france?" enoch spoke sternly, "we already have enough here, and france seems better anyway. you should just go back."
     while aurelie was pleased to be making conversation with the boy that she found attractive, she was anxious for it to end.
     "well," she asserted, "then you must not know very much about france, and you certainly don't know anything about my life there."
     the two remained standing there for a moment, just looking at one another. enoch's pride and stubbornness didn't allow him to back down from a potential stand-off and aurelie's eagerness for friends meant that she didn't want to walk away. finally, aurelie gave enoch a smile that he thought was much too kind, considering their previous conversation, and walked into her new room.
     enoch let out a scoff, though it was only directed at aurelie's closed bedroom door, and turned back toward his workroom. he was caught off guard by her beauty, and even further intrigued by her question-mark of a history. though the boy remained skeptical toward anyone new after abe had left, he was interested in possibly giving the cute frenchie - as he thought of her - a chance.

•••

A/N: finally i'm back!! got a lil busy and forgot to write, but hopefully you guys are still interested n all!!

chateau: a luxury french country house or castle
pardon: sorry
madame: miss
merci: thanks
oui: yes