locusta (enoch o'connor)

four

aurelie settled into her new room quickly. she organized her clothes perfectly, as was required in the previous homes she'd been in, and decided to take a short nap. before she fell asleep, aurelie thought of the brooding, angsty boy that was currently just a room away from her. she felt blood rush to her cheeks, after all, aurelie had had little experience with boys in her short life, and nearly every interaction flustered her.
before she fell asleep, aurelie's mind wandered to thoughts of her brother; would she ever see nolan again? she was living a new life, in a different time, far from home. for all she new, they could've been dead. for what felt like the first time in ages, aurelie allowed herself the comfort of weeping over her family. as her eyes grew heavy, her sniffles quieted and she fell into a deep sleep.
enoch, being so close to aurelie with only a wall between them, wondered why the girl was weeping. he worried that he'd been the cause of her discomfort. of course, he'd be scolded for it by miss peregrine and he felt badly for possibly hurting aurelie. enoch put up a bold front, but since abe had left, enoch was vulnerable. he didn't want anyone else to barge into his home and leave his family in ruins, as abe had done. enoch chuckled at the thought of such a delicate french girl hurting a group of practically immortal superhumans.
enoch smiled again at his recollection of aurelie. her dusty blonde hair, full lips, and large brown eyes were refreshing. he was so used to the same faces that he'd forgotten what it was like to meet someone properly. perhaps though, he'd ruined his chance to befriend the pretty new girl.
the muffled sound of knocking made its way to enoch, and he soon recognized emma's soft voice.
"excuse me," she started, "dinner is ready, if you would like to come down." enoch realized that emma wouldn't have been speaking to him in such a cautious tone, so he opened his door to investigate.
standing in front of aurelie's closed-off bedroom was a timid looking emma with her hands clasped patiently. she turned to enoch, giving him a smile to which he responded with a scowl.
"she's sleeping," he muttered, "and she was crying earlier." emma's face fell.
"poor girl, probably overwhelmed with it all."
enoch nodded to the blonde, trudging his way downstairs for dinner.
     "did you say something to her?" emma blurted, causing enoch to turn around.
     "she thanked me for putting her bags away." emma raised her eyebrows with a roll of her eyes.
     "i mean," she drawled, "did you say anything to make her cry?"
     enoch glared back at the girl. just as he was about to speak, aurelie's door opened and she stepped out with tired-looking eyes. she looked between the two teenagers perplexed.
     "if she's sensitive," enoch said gesturing to aurelie, "it's not my fault."
     with that, he turned abruptly to continue downstairs, leaving both girls confused and annoyed in his wake.
emma scoffed at enoch's behavior before turning back to aurelie and giving her a warm smile.
"i'm emma, it's nice to meet you," she greeted, "i can control air." emma gestured to her heavy metal shoes, causing aurelie to smile widely.
"well, i'm aurelie, and i can turn anything into a poison." emma nodded, noting the girl's fairly obvious french accent.
"remind me not to get on your bad side." the girls laughed lightly, remaining in the doorway of aurelie's room awkwardly.
after a brief moment of silence, emma began walking toward the stairs with aurelie close behind.
"i know that you're probably exhausted," emma said with a sigh, "but miss peregrine wants you down for dinner. y'know, introductions and all."
aurelie nodded with a small grin.
"oh, i really don't mind, i'm excited to meet everyone." the girls beamed at each other as they reached the table.
aurelie was greeted by a collection of wide-eyed children, all focused eagerly on her. emma, not seeming to mind, walked to her seat and motioned for aurelie to sit in the open spot next to her.
aurelie was amused by the straps that emma had to use in order to stay seated, but while she was distracted with emma's daily routines, everyone else was staring at her. even enoch had been looking at the girl with intrigue, but a frown nonetheless.
miss peregrine broke the silence with a
cough to gain everyone's attention.
"children, this is aurelie," she asserted, "you will all go around the table and introduce yourselves. you may ask aurelie one question each."
the first question was asked by a boy with a net sitting over his head. "i'm hugh," he declared, "and i have bees living in me." hugh gave aurelie a wide grin, which she happily returned.
"that's so interesting," aurelie exclaimed, "do they sting you?"
hugh's expression changed almost immediately at the sound of her voice, his eyes growing wide and his mouth falling slightly agape.
"are you from france?" he inquired, ignoring aurelie's previous question.
she nodded at the boy, prompting a young girl to follow-up.
     "how long did you live in france?"
     aurelie opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, miss peregrine interrupted.
     "introduce yourself first." she reminded with a raise of her eyebrow.
     "sorry, miss peregrine," the young girl stated, turning her attention back to aurelie, "i'm fiona, and i can control plants."
aurelie responded without hesitation, "my whole life, up until a few days ago when another ymbryne found me and brought me here."
     next, a voice emanated from what aurelie thought was an empty chair.
     "i'm millard and, obviously, i'm invisible." aurelie nodded at where she assumed the boy's eyes would be. "what's you're peculiarity?"
     "i can turn anything into a deadly poison," aurelie responded, only causing an increase in the onslaught of questions being thrown at her.
     "i'm bronwyn and i have the strength of 10 men," a young girl proudly declared, "why did you leave your last loop?"
     at this, enoch rolled his eyes, apparently tired of the socialization. aurelie ignored him before answering bronwyn's question.
     "i've never lived in a loop before now," aurelie reiterated, "i was homeless in paris until another ymbryne, miss tern, found me and brought me here."
     from there, the questions ceased. introductions and small talk carried on throughout the meal. while aurelie had spoken to almost everyone, the youngest children didn't say anything at all, causing the others to introduce them.
     aurelie had taken a liking to olive, emma, and horace. horace had spent a good part of their first conversation complimenting aurelie's clothes, gaining an immediate friend. olive had broken an awkward moment when aurelie asked enoch about his peculiarity and he'd refused to respond. olive's kindness was greatly appreciated by aurelie, who had yet to find her place in the household.
     a phone call ended dinner, and aurelie's prying inquiries about the call were cut short by emma shaking her head at the girl, whispering that she would explain later.
     all of the children were ushered into the living room, where horace projected his latest dream.
     horace's dream began in the very boutique where aurelie had bought her clothes. she was scoping through the racks happily. the memory painted a smile on aurelie's face as she watched.
     however, in the following scene, enoch and miss peregrine were both covered in blood. enoch's eyes were glossy as he stared at whatever had been bleeding. miss peregrine's lip was quivering as the pair stood there. from off screen, emma burst into frame, tears running freely down her cheeks and she screamed and wailed 'no' over and over again.
     "turn it off, horace!" it was emma, clearly shaken by the dream sequence. horace rushed to turn off the projection and everyone in the room was tense.
     "children," miss peregrine stated as she walked into the room, "off to bed. i will speak with horace for a moment."
     as everyone stood, bronwyn began to cry.
     "not again," she stammered, "i don't want anyone else to die." enoch carefully lifted the young girl and carried her upstairs, following behind some of the other children.
     the mood was somber, and aurelie was confused. what did bronwyn mean "again"? and who was it that died in horaces' dream? he had told aurelie at dinner that not all of his dreams came true, and she was hoping that this one was just some formation of his imagination.
     as aurelie reached her room and bid her new friends goodnight, enoch returned from putting bronwyn to bed. the pair stood in the empty hallway and stared at each other.
     "i'm sorry," enoch surprised aurelie by saying, "i was a proper jerk earlier. didn't mean it." his eyes trailed on the ground as he spoke, but he was sincere all the same.
     "sorry for what?" aurelie questioned, "for calling me sensitive? because i don't mind that."
     enoch gave the girl a puzzled look, his eyebrows practically meeting each other.
     "i made you cry." he spoke with such conviction that it made aurelie laugh.
     "no you didn't," she said giggling, "i have better reasons to cry other than a boy i just met being a little rude."
     enoch scoffed at this, his scowl reappearing.
     "fine then," he grumbled, "i was trying to be nice and you could've just taken it, but instead you just had to say something back."
     with a huff, the boy quickly went downstairs.
     aurelie was shocked by his overreaction, but decided to set that aside and just go to bed. she'd had too long of a day to fret over enoch.