confined space » hollowheart

» day one «

The first day of lockdown was the most unpredictable. Most of the smaller children, who weren't allowed outside ran around the house, knocking things down. A few vases were broken, and almost a window; which was luckily stopped by an observant Peregrine.

Olive took off her shoes, floating to the ceiling in order to keep the children entertained. Emma had to help Olive with her task, which left Jacob to wander the house practically alone.

This caused Jacob's curiosity to wander. And this curiosity brought Jacob to the door leading to the basement.

"I should warn you," Millard's voice appeared from an empty, which isn't so empty space. It made Jacob jump, retracting his hand from the doorknob. "If you go down there, Enoch may not be in the best of moods."

"Meaning?" Jacob was skeptical of the others reluctance to Enoch, he seemed dark and mysterious, yes, but not to the degree everyone acted like.

"Enoch has been known to, how to put this, be violent." Millard finished, patting Jacob's shoulder with an unseen hand, before walking away.

Jacob listened for the last of Millard's footsteps before he turned back to the basement door. He placed one hand on the door, and the other on the doorknob. He stayed silent, listening for movement behind the door, which Jacob could hear, before rapping on the surface. The sounds stopped, suddenly, which made Jacob hesitant to open the door.

But, he does.

Or rather, as he goes to open it, its being open from the other side already.

"What do you want?" Enoch's sharp voice demanded, as his deep brown eyes caught Jacob's cobalt. His hand was resting on the door frame, which would have effectively blocked Jacob from seeing what was behind him, if Enoch wasn't as short as he was compared to Jacob.

"I-I, um," Jacob wasn't sure how to respond. He didn't want anything, rather he was just curious. Enoch raised a brow, looking bored.

"Did the Bird send you to watch me?" He sounded accusing, as though she'd done it before. Which, from the way the others talk about Enoch, has probably happened.

"N-No. I was just, um, curious?" Jacob didn't sound sure and he wasn't. Enoch smirked, his cocoa hair falling into his eyes slightly.

"Curious? About me, or what I do?" He asked, pushing his curled locks from his face, a smug look about him.

"Both." Jacob responded.

Enoch paused, before giving a soft scoff. He shook his head, seemingly mumbling something under his breath as he walked back down the wooden steps; leaving the door wide open, granting Jacob a welcome to enter.

So, Jacob took those shaky steps down into Enoch's space, after entering and closing the door. Effectively caging himself. It was musty with dust, and cluttered. Objects littered the floor and shelves, along with the jars of organs lining the shelves.

Jacob had been down here before. Both in the future and past. However, he hadn't gotten a good scan of the area. What caught his eye however, was the large group of clay figures on Enoch's desk. Most had been carved, their chests wide open. Mouse organs like lungs and hearts were pressed into the cavity, and it soon became clear to Jacob what Enoch was planning.

"Where do you get so many?" Jacob asked, not noticing what Enoch had been setting up in the next room.

"So many what?" Enoch questioned in response, placing a toy house on the floor.

"Orga- What are you doing?" Jacob stepped over to stand next to the exposed door frame, eyes tracking around the small makeshift village Enoch was constructing.