manipulate // enoch o'connor

12 // warning

  CLARA KNEW FROM HIS VOICE, HE WAS GENUINELY UPSET. You just fucked up big time. "Enoch, I'm sorry! I don't mean for you to worry. It was meant to be a joke! Enoch, talk to me!" She asked him, chasing him as he ran away from her, "Enoch, please!"

"FUCK OFF!" Enoch exclaimed, slamming the front door as he went inside. Clara ran her fingers through her hair. Fuck, I'm fucked up. I've fucked up. I've fucked up.

"Don't astray from the plan. You understand me, Prescott?" Barron told her, "You do that, you're digging everyone's grave. You don't want that, don't you? You have more blood on your hands, don't you think that's enough?"

Clara leaned onto the wall and slowly started sliding down to sit down. She just started, but it's already killing her. She can't do this. She can't. She thought of the plan and Barron's threats only. The jokes she made were only to ease the pressure she had on her, but it fucked other people.

"You really know how to fuck up someone, don't you, Prescott?" The sentence repeated through her mind. At this moment, she's forgotten the plan. She only felt pain, guilt and remorse. Before she knew it, she was sobbing.

"Don't let other people tell you of what you should do. Follow what you know." She remembered something Augustus would tell her often. She wiped her tears. This time it didn't matter if she had to die. Barron, for once, didn't bother her. Nothing but her own actions did.

✧ ✧ ✧

  ENOCH WAS PISSED AND GRUMPIER THAN USUAL. The only person he could talk to without getting sarcastic was their ymbryne, Miss Peregrine, the rest got his sarcastic remarks. Even Emma can't take his bullshit, and he was fine with it.

"Your plan seems to be working, but Prescott's really fucked up in the head, she's starting to fuck up mine more." Enoch told Emma, scoffing after, "I'm not doing this bullshit anymore. Get Portman to do it." 

"Wait, what happened exactly?" Emma asked. It was the night after Clara pulled the most fucked up trick yet. Everyone was asleep and he was inside Emma's room.  

"I did what you said. I remembered her saying she'd bring me to some place she found amusing. I asked her if she can take me there. Portman caught us and showed his concern. That's where I started to do it. Your plan. It seems to work, she was surprised. I could tell she thinks I'm genuine." 

"That's brilliant! You've just started, why end now? She'll get suspicious once you started caring and ended it immediately." Emma told him, which got him angrier than he even was. 

"She manipulated me into seeing she fell from a fucking cliff! She made me remember of Victor's death, and I hate her for it." Enoch admitted, rubbing his temples to try and calm himself down.

"This is great then, she'll start loosening up." Emma said, completely ignoring what he said, "You're doing good." She said. Patting him on the shoulder.

Enoch caught her hand before it could make another pat, "Aren't you listening to me, Emma? She's fucking me up! I'm not doing this! Do your fucking plan but without me!"

"Enoch, wait!" 

Enoch took another shot of the whiskey from the cabinet under his desk. Victor. He hasn't thought of him for long. No. He was always at the back of his mind. He just didn't bring him up often. He's been in his room for quite sometime now, and staying there that long suffocated him. He knew exactly what to do. He grabbed a jar of heart and left his room.

While walking upstairs, toward Victor's room, he saw Fiona stopping Portman from getting any closer to the room. Fiona saw him, and said, "Enoch! Make Jake stop please!" She turned to Portman, "Jake, nothing in here is important!"

Enoch scoffed and went closer. "You're really are a rat, aren't you Portman? Lurking around placed that doesn't concern you." 

"I-Uh, I want to know what you're hiding in there. Ever since I got here, they showed me everywhere but there. If I'm staying here, I want to know everything." Portman told him. His eyes shifted to Fiona, who's been staring at the jar of heart he had in his clutch.

"Let's go then. Let us through, Fiona." Enoch said, placing a hand on Fiona's shoulder and pushing her aside. He grabbed Portman and they continued walking to Victor's room.

"Enoch, no! Enoch, please! You know how Bronwyn would feel! Enoch!" Fiona protested. She ran in front of them and spread her arms. This time, he remembered Clara's fake fall, which made him angrier again. He pushed Fiona away again, "Enoch, no!"

He opened the door to Victor's room. That moment, everything he concealed himself away from Victor and their memories together came back. He felt nothing but rage and pain. To Portman, it was just a boy, sleeping in his room. To Enoch, he was another corpse. Corpse of his beloved best mate.

Enoch started his work. He placed the heart inside of Victor's chest, and waited until he has control of it. Portman watched him as he did. Victor bolted up to sit, looking at Portman with his eyes gone, "Hi, Jake, do you want to know what killed me?" Enoch made Victor said. 

Jacob looked horrified, Without another word said, he ran away from the room. Enoch took the heart out. "I miss you, mate. Wish you were here." He muttered to him while he fixed his bed again. 

✧ ✧ ✧

  CLARA CLIMBED A WALL AND FOUND A BEACH SHORE. It's been too long since she have been in one. She dug her feet into the white-ish sand and breathed the smell of the beach. She felt peace for the first time. "I'm going to turn myself in. Tell them everything I know. I don't care if they kill me, but I can't take this anymore." She muttered to herself. 

While she was busy admiring the sea, she lost focus of the surroundings. Suddenly, she heard, "CLARA!" She turned around and was immediately lifted on the air. Hollowgast. She knew exactly. She covered her eyes, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I won't do it, I won't--"

"This is a warning from Barron." The hollowgast whispered to her. She fell from its grasps. Breathing heavily, Miss Peregrine shot the hollow with her crossbow. She looked at Clara, "Miss Prescott. What on Earth are you doing here?" 

"I-- I.. I was e-exploring. I-I didn't know.. I--" She couldn't string words to tell her. Miss Peregrine helped her stand, and they went back to the children's home. Jacob was the one who called her. She remembered he can see them. 

"I have my fellow hollowgasts to follow you and kill you if you snitch." She remembered Barron saying. So, it wasn't a hoax then. "W-why is there a hollow here? How did it get here?" She asked Miss Peregrine.

"It's always been here. Every time I reset the loop, it comes back there at that exact time. So, I have to go and kill it again and again. Don't go places you don't know next time, Miss Prescott. Mister Portman, please take her to the kitchen and get her some tea."