Home || Enoch O'Connor

04 // Meet The Peculiars

The home was different.

Livelier.

An actual house.

Miss Peregrine was incredibly welcoming. She talked about how Jake had only been so young the last time she had seen a picture of him, and explained everything. Well, most of it.

"How come I'm able to pass through the barrier into the loop?" I enquired curiously.

Miss Peregrine shrugged, "Only Peculiars can."

I raised an eyebrow, "I'm not a Peculiar. I mean, I don't think I'm one."

"I don't think you're one, either," Miss Peregrine muttered. "I would know, if you were. There's another way that allows you to enter the loop. If you possess a bond with a Peculiar that is unnaturally strong, you come off as another Peculiar. The loop lets you in. Your bond with Jake must be exceptionally strong, though there's only ever been stories about these sort of bonds, and I've never firsthand saw them myself. Now I believe I have."

I glanced sideways at Jake, who has remained silent the entire time.

"Cool," I said to him, elbowing him roughly. "We're practically attached at the hip now."

Jake winced, before glaring at me.

"Well, let's go meet the rest of the children, shall we?"

Miss Peregrine brought us out of the house, to the back, where a flurry of activities were being carried out. A girl came running up to us.

"Fiona," Miss Peregrine acknowledged, voice stern. "You're late."

"Sorry, Miss Peregrine. How many carrots do you need?" Fiona replied, shooting both Jake and I polite smiles.

"One will do." Miss Peregrine told her.

I watched in awe as Fiona harvested a carrot at incredible speed. And that carrot was huge, probably my height.

Another girl appeared shortly after, this one a little younger.

Miss Peregrine smiled, "Bronwyn, right on time."

Bronwyn grabbed the carrot, heaving it onto her shoulders, before walking off.

I wasn't that appalled at her strength, I've already seen her lugging Jake's ass back to me when he concussed himself back at the cave.

Miss Peregrine turned to return her attention to Jake and me. "You see, I'm a Peculiar called an Ymbryne." She told us.

I arched an eyebrow, while Jake excitedly said, "You can turn into a bird."

"I'm sorry, what?" I questioned, not quite sure I had heard it right.

"She can turn into a bird." Jake repeated to me, only for Miss Peregrine to chuckle.

"Well, yes, but that isn't very helpful. No, Ymbrynes have the capability to manipulate time. We create loops. Like this house right here, right now, is a loop. A safe place, on a safe day. A loop preserves the last twenty-four hours of the day. Reset the loop, and you get to live the day over and over again."

Jake gave me a confused look, while my eyes widened in realisation. "That's why this house isn't bombed. You reset the loop before the Germans drop the bombs." I got a smile from Miss Peregrine as confirmation.

We continued walking.

A group of children came into view.
The two creepy children who wore cloths as masks ran past us.

"You've met the twins." Miss Peregrine introduced.

"Just 'the twins'? Not like, George and Fred?" I questioned rhetorically, and Jake nudged me.