Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

     It all started when Miss Peregrine sent the kids out to gather Abe’s grandson from outside the loop.  Enoch knew how excited the others were to meet him.  Emma hadn’t stopped talking about it since Miss Peregrine told them he was on the island.  Enoch had opted out of the little meet-and-greet, stating that he didn’t want to scare the kid off with his natural disposition.  This was a lie of course, and Miss Peregrine knew that.  Enoch wanted nothing to do with Abe’s grandson, he knew that the others would get attached, and he knew that Jake would eventually leave just as Abe had.  Jake could live outside of the loop, he did live outside the loop, he had a life and family, there was no way he would stay; but Enoch knew his friends would get attached to the kid, and be crushed when he left.  Enoch could frame it in his head that he was looking out for his siblings, but deep down, he really knew he was protecting himself; protecting himself from the hurt that Abe had put him through, protecting himself from the pain that seeing jake would stir back up.

     Enoch was heading down the stairs to gather new jars of animal hearts when he noticed Miss Peregrine, Olive, and Jake in the kitchen.  Olive was pouring Jake a glass of hot water for tea.  Enoch was particularly protective of Olive.  He was protective of all his family members, but Olive was special, she was his security blanket, the person always by his side to help him regulate his emotions and guide him through uncomfortable situations.  Olive took an interest in his interests and she didn’t make him feel weird for them. 

     Enoch snuck a peak at the crowd, he only saw the back of jake’s head, which saved him from any painful memories of Abe, mainly, the one where Abe left and never came back.

     “Let me help you with those, Enoch.”  Olive said when she noticed Enoch using his chin to balance the jars. Enoch stopped, considering this for a short moment, but something about the situation made him upset. It felt as though everyone had already gotten to know Jake, while Enoch had never even seen the boy’s face.  He knew this was unfair, after all, he had conflicting feelings about Jake and had chosen not to help retrieve him. 

Jake snapped his head around to look at Enoch and Enoch was immediately filled with rage.  Jake didn’t look as much like Abe as he had been expecting, but he did see similarities, enough similarities to give Enoch a visceral response.  Enoch wanted to get to know Jake, he wanted to have the excitement of meeting a new person.  Enoch hadn’t met anyone new in over 70 years.  Yet, something inside of him screamed ‘run’.  Enoch had to protect himself and his family from getting attached to a lost cause, no matter how intriguing that lost cause might be. 

     “Don’t bother, wouldn’t want to interrupt your tea party.”  Enoch retorted jealously.  He hadn’t seen the others come back with Jake, and no one had told him that Jake was here.  Enoch was a little hurt by this, but then again, if anyone had told him, he would have made some snide remark and refused to meet Jake, so they weren’t really to blame.

     Enoch stormed up the stairs, leaving Jake confusedly staring after him and Olive chasing behind.

     Enoch made his way to his room and placed his jars down on his table.  Olive soon arrived behind him. 

     “What was that?”  She asked.  “It didn’t make me feel good.”  Olive knew that she had to outright state her emotions to Enoch for him to understand sometimes.

“I’m sorry.”  He said, even though he wasn’t.  “I didn’t mean it toward you.”  That part was honest.  All of the venom in his words were directed toward Jake.  Enoch had never meant to hurt Olive, and he felt bad that he had, but he didn’t regret what he said.

     “Why did you act like that? What’s wrong, Enoch?”  Olive pushed.

     “You know what’s wrong.”  Enoch said, they had had this conversation last night.  Enoch was worried that the kids would get too attached to Jake and be devastated when he inevitably left.  He had asked her to be careful around Jake, guarded.  Enoch was naive to believe Olive was capable of such protection, of distancing herself from others.  “You’re getting too attached already Ol, I can see it.”

     “He might want to stay.  You can’t know that he’ll leave.  He’s peculiar, like us!  This is where he belongs!”  Olive retorted.  She was much farther gone than Enoch had realized.  How could Olive truly believe that Jake would want to stay when he had the ability to live with people he loved, in a world full of amazement and wonder, every day something different?  Why would he choose to live with people he had just met and give up all of that? 

     “He’s not going to stay, not when he has a life outside of one miserable day.”  Enoch looked away.  He saw Jake and Emma in the garden out of the corner of his eye. His face contorted at the sight.

     “There’s something more to this, isn’t there?”  Olive asked, watching Enoch’s expression and following his gaze to the window.  “You’re jealous.”  She stated, it wasn’t a question, she was telling him.  Olive was always good at picking things up about Enoch that even he hadn’t noticed.

     “What do I have to be jealous of?”  Enoch snapped, through gritted teeth.

     “Emma.” Olive said.  “Well, it’s not just Emma, it’s all of us.  You’ve always been jealous that we can make friends and get along with each other.”  Olive was right.  Enoch had always had trouble making friends, he had trouble letting loose and not taking life extremely seriously.  He lived his life in a cycle.  Something or someone would scare Enoch, he would lash out, then, Enoch would become embarrassed and ashamed of lashing out, which just led to more lash-outs. 

     Enoch refused to look at Olive.  He just walked to the window to stare out at Jake and Emma.  Olive knew she had figured it out, leaving her satisfied with herself.

“Enoch.” She said, calling his attention back to her. “why don’t you meet Jake, properly this time?” She suggested. 

“Why would I do that, Ol?”  Enoch asked.

     “Because, if he is going to stick around for a while, maybe it’ll be more bearable if you actually enjoy his presence? You can still prepare for his departure, Enoch, I’m not saying get attached, I’m just saying, get to know him so you can enjoy his company while he’s here.  We can all play together, you, me, Jake, and the kids.”

     “Fine.  I’ll meet him.”  Enoch had to admit, he was looking forward to the idea that he might have another person to share his interests with.  Enoch didn’t have many interests, and not many people shared the ones he did have.  Abe had never liked his peculiarity, he thought it was weird and it made him uncomfortable.  Enoch had looked up to Abe like an older brother, yet he had to admit, they didn’t have much in common, nor did they interact much outside of family gatherings since neither of them were interested in much of the same things.  Yet, still, Abe had been intelligent, handsome, and good with people, easy to get along with.  Enoch had admired him, he looked up to him, and he was extremely jealous of him.

~

     “Would you help me with this? Enoch usually does it, but, like I said, he’s off sulking somewhere.”  Emma told Jake, holding the rope out toward him.

“And is that because of me?”  Jake asked.  He somehow felt guilty for what had happened in the kitchen.  Jake didn’t really understand what he had done to upset Enoch, but for some reason, the kid seemed to hate him.

“He’s…possessive.”  Emma responded.  Jake didn’t know how to feel about this response.  It didn’t give him much of an answer, though he assumed that it meant Enoch had a thing for Olive, so he decided he would try to steer clear of her as much as possible and only interact with Olive when she interacted with him first.  He would try to stick by Emma, she seemed to enjoy his company anyway, and he enjoyed hers.  She was easy to get along with and had a warmth about her that made him comfortable.  Something about her was very familiar, which made him feel at ease.  Jake supposed he felt that way since he had grown up hearing stories about her. 

~

When Jake was done helping Emma, he was walking through the halls of the upper level of the house, exploring a bit, to see where his grandfather had lived.

“Jake! Come and meet Enoch properly.”  Olive called, looking excited in a doorway.  She slowly disappeared into a room and Jake decided to follow. 

The room was filled with jars of small animal organs decorating massive shelves that covered the majority of the space.  Enoch was sitting at a table, fidgeting with a heart and a creepy doll that looked like it was straight out of toy story.  He moved his fingers and arms like he was creating a masterpiece.

“Well you must feel pretty out of place.”  Enoch said, his eyes not leaving what he was working on.  Something inside Enoch told him to keep pushing Jake away, even when he was trying to meet him.  Something deep within his heart told him not to get too close, to keep his distance; and if actively pushing Jake away was the only thing that could appease that feeling, then that was exactly what Enoch was going to do. 

“Don’t worry, I’m used to it.”  Jake responded.

“Oh, no, I wasn’t worried.”  Enoch retorted.  “Some advice for you though.  Man to man.  If you’re thinking of staying just because you like Emma, don’t bother.  You see, she swore off romance decades ago, when she got her heart broken, and she’s never gonna change her mind.”  Enoch said.  Something about the idea of Jake sticking around to hurt everyone, just because of a crush on Emma, bothered him to his core.  The level of selfishness that someone would have to have to destroy an entire family just because of a childish crush, was insane.  Enoch justified his actions in that moment as protecting Jake from a crush that would inevitably hurt him, but he knew, even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself, that he fully blamed Jake for any pain that was to come. 

“Enoch, I wasn’t trying to-“ Jake trailed off as he noticed Enoch placing a heart inside one of his creepy dolls.  Jake wanted to defend himself, wanted to explain that he had no nefarious plot, but he got distracted by the disturbing scene unfolding in front of him.  “What are you doing?”  That question seemed to take precedent in his mind.  Olive smiled excitedly from behind Enoch.  Clearly, she had to be seeing something different from what Jake was seeing.

Enoch stretched over the table to place something inside a second creepy doll’s head.  Seconds later, the dolls started to move.

“Isn’t he amazing?”  Olive fawned. Yep, she had to be seeing something different from Jake.

“What did you do?”  Jake asked, extremely unsettled, which was evident in his voice.  Hearing Jake’s discomfort, hurt Enoch a little.  He supposed he shouldn’t have been expecting anything other than disgust, as that’s the reaction most of the children had toward his peculiarity; but he had to admit he was disappointed. 

Jake’s reaction gave Enoch just another reminder to distance himself from the boy, to try to stay unattached, and if that meant actively hating him and pushing him away, so be it.  Enoch had been trying to leave his mind open to the possibility that he and Jake could be friends, that if Jake took an interest in Enoch and Enoch’s interests, Enoch could accept Jake as a friend, as a part of his families lives, but Jake’s reaction sent that tiny space in Enoch’s mind crumbling into a million pieces. 

“This?  Jake, this isn’t even the fun part.”  Enoch was trying to scare Jake away at this point. He was feeling vulnerable and wanted to make Jake leave, but he also wanted to make him hurt a little.  Enoch wanted to make Jake hurt for the hurt he felt right then.  Jake, inadvertently, without realizing it, was rejecting Enoch’s attempt at friendship. 

Enoch hated feeling ashamed for his peculiarity, he personally really liked it, but he placed other’s opinions of himself in a high spot in his mind, leaving Enoch extremely vulnerable to judgement.  Enoch reminded himself that Jake was new to this world, to peculiarities.  “Do you want to see the fun part?”  He asked. This was half of a genuine question.  Enoch was still giving Jake a little bit of time to adjust.  Hoping that if he gave the boy enough time, Jake would actually appreciate his abilities, maybe even enjoy his peculiarity.  Maybe if he got to see them fight, Jake would come around to the idea and enjoy himself?  Enoch had never been to the future, he didn’t know that Jake was accustomed to much more entertaining entertainment and he had almost forgotten that the radio used to be something enjoyable before he memorized all of the words to every available station. 

Enoch stared at the dolls for a moment, willing them to fight one another.  Olive clapped her hands excitedly.  She loved watching his creations duel, it made Enoch feel accepted and appreciated by at least someone. 

“They’re like poppets.”  Enoch said when the fight was won.  He had gotten too enveloped in the battle that he forgot to keep his barriers up for a moment. “Just…do anything I tell them.”  He watched as the champion of the fight nudged the dead one, to make sure it was sufficiently dead.  Enoch immediately put his barriers back up the second he noticed they were gone. “It’s even more fun with people.  You should’ve seen some of the epic battles I used to have, at my parents funeral parlor.”  Jake looked uncomfortable, it was clear he didn’t know how to react.  Enoch purposefully scared people sometimes.  When Enoch was afraid of being hurt by someone, he would often try to scare them, because if he was the scariest thing in the room, no one would be able to hurt him.  If people were too afraid of him to get close, they wouldn’t be able to hurt him, intentionally or not.  Enoch immediately felt embarrassed by the silence Jake was giving him.  Part of him wanted to scare Jake, but the other part desperately wanted to be accepted.  Olive looked between the two, noticing Enoch’s Eyes dart to the table to avoid seeing Jake’s face.

“Jake! Why don’t you find Emma?  She’ll help you find clothes for dinner.”  Olive interjected, rescuing her brother.

“Oh-I-uh…Okay.” Jake turned to walk out but paused in the doorway.  “It was nice to meet you, Enoch.”  Jake had almost forgotten his manners. Those dolls were very creepy, and the thought of humans ripping each other’s limbs off, made him extremely uncomfortable.  Jake wasn’t trying to be rude to Enoch, he hoped he would get on the guy’s good side, He thought he may have just screwed that up, however.

“Yeah, whatever.” Enoch said.  Yep, Jake screwed this one up big time.  At least Emma wasn’t protective of Enoch. Emma seemed to know what Enoch was like, so Jake felt good that she wouldn’t judge him for getting on Enoch’s bad side.  He did, however, feel like he let Olive down slightly.  He could tell how much she wanted them both to get along.

Once Jake left, Olive turned to Enoch.  “It’s okay Enoch, I’m sure he’ll come around to your peculiarity.  He probably just didn’t know what to say.  He’s new to this whole thing.” 

“Yeah, cause I don’t have a pretty power like Emma or Fiona.  I’m not helpful like you and Horace.  I’m weird like the twins and Hugh.”  Enoch shot back.

“Enoch that’s mean!  Hugh and the twins aren’t weird! And neither are you!”  Olive scolded.

“I make people uncomfortable and you know it.  I’m unsettling.”  Enoch said.

“They just don’t understand you.”  Olive retorted.

“They don’t give me a chance.”  Enoch said.

“You don’t give them a chance!”  Olive shot back.  This caused Enoch to get upset and stand up with a huff.  He knew she was right, but he didn’t want to admit it, not even to himself.  It was much easier to blame other people for the problems he created for himself.  Enoch started making for the door to leave.  “Why won’t you tell people how you feel?”  Olive’s question stopped him.

“Because they laugh.”  Enoch said after a long pause.

“That was one time, Enoch, and you Know Abe didn’t mean it like that.”  Olive was tired of Enoch’s excuses.  Every time she would ask him that question, he would give a different answer, none of them ever seemed to be the truth.  Maybe Enoch thought it was the truth in that moment, but she didn’t see how something so small that happened one time could stick with him for that long, dictating how he interacts with everyone.

“I opened up to someone one time, and I was laughed at.  He said it was ridiculous.”  Enoch said bitterly.  The truth was that Enoch never really knew why he was feeling the ways he was feeling, people always wanted to know why something bothered him, but he really didn’t know.  So when he would tell people the reason that was the easiest, the most logical in that moment to him, to appease them and make them stop asking, later on, after the fact, he would realize it wasn’t the true reason and he had been wrong; so Enoch decided to never talk about his feelings, that way, he could never be wrong about them, that way, he would never tell people something that wasn’t the truth.  

“He meant that your reasoning was ridiculous.  He didn’t handle it well, I’ll admit that, but he wasn’t laughing at you, he was laughing at your reasoning because, to him, it was illogical.  I know it still didn’t feel good, and he should have never laughed, but at some point, you need to let that go.”  Olive explained.  Enoch huffed at this and stormed out.  He wasn’t very upset with Olive, only slightly irritated.  He was done with the conversation, there was no more he could add and there was no more that he would hear from her, so he decided to leave before she frustrated him to the point of actual anger. Olive knew when a good time to follow Enoch was, and this was not one of those times.  She understood he wanted to be alone, and she hoped that leaving him to think about her words on his own, might make him more susceptible to internalizing them.

“Don’t forget to clean up before dinner!” She called after him.

~

     Dinner started.  Emma and Jake walked into the room later than everyone else.  Emma sat next to Bronwyn and Jake tried to sit on Millard, not realizing he was there. 

     “Hey! What are you doing?”  Millard shrieked.  Jake jumped out of Millard’s lap, startled.

     “Millard.  Go and put some clothes on.”  Miss Peregrine scolded.  “Polite persons do not take their supper in the nude.”  She chirped.  Millard scoffed.  Jake stood there looking around at everyone seeming very lost.  Good, Enoch thought, if he felt as though he didn’t belong here, he would leave.

     “Alright.” Millard whined, getting out of the chair and stomping toward his room.  The rest of the children giggled around the table.  Enoch found the whole situation amusing.  He liked seeing Jake embarrassed, it served him right for embarrassing Enoch when he rejected him earlier. 

     Jake stood at the table awkwardly for a moment before starting to sit by Emma again. 

     “You can sit… here… Jake…”  Olive offered, so he wasn’t stealing Millard’s seat.  However, she trailed off when Jake looked at her with a scared expression.

     Enoch glared at Jake.  He didn’t like the fact that the kid had just arrived and was already cozying up to Emma.  He would never admit it, but he did wish to know Jake better, like the rest of his housemates seemed to.  He wanted to have a new friend, someone who was new and exciting, someone who would share his interests and tell him all about the new technology of the world.  He wanted someone to spend hours a day with. Someone who could keep him company when Olive couldn’t. Someone who could keep him from going to the dark places in his mind he didn’t want to explore, the places that only came out when Enoch was alone and too weak to stop them.  Enoch enjoyed being alone, but there were times when being left alone wasn’t in his best interests.  There were times when being alone put Enoch at risk for travelling to uncomfortable places.  There were times when he needed company, and Olive wasn’t always around to be there for him, after all, she had her own household duties to attend to.

     “Look at Enoch.  He’s jealous.”  Horace teased.

     “Why would I be Jealous?”  Enoch said, leaning forward and glaring at Horace, trying to intimidate him enough to get the boy to shut up.  “Olive can go marry Jake for all I care.”  He shot.  Olive was too comfortable with Jake, and he had to admit, he was scared of losing her to the boy.  He was scared that Olive would start acting like Emma had with Abe, completely attached to Jake to the point where she hardly interacted with the others when Jake wasn’t around.  He couldn’t lose his safety net, his only friend.  Enoch considered everyone in the house his family, but Olive was the only person he could also call a friend. 

     Jake was extremely uncomfortable by the glares constantly being shot at him, however, he eased a little when Enoch made the comment about Olive.  He felt like he understood a little.  Enoch was jealous that Olive had taken an interest in Jake.  Jake was positive that Enoch and Olive were an item, or at least, Enoch wanted them to be an item.  He figured that if he just stuck to Emma, the one he was actually interested in, Enoch might leave him alone.  However, he then remembered Enoch’s comment about Emma, maybe he wouldn’t leave him alone?  Was Enoch possessive of all of the kids?  He didn’t seem to have a problem when Jake interacted with the younger kids.

     “Don’t be mean, Enoch.  She doesn’t want to.  She’s just excited to have a visitor.”  Fiona stated.  She was right, and Enoch knew it, but it didn’t stop his fear of being left by the only person who accepted him for who he was.  Enoch was afraid that Jake would be more interesting than him and steal his family away.

     “Nobody is marrying anybody.”  Miss Peregrine chimed in.  “Now eat up your food before it gets cold.”  Everyone started eating on Peregrine’s command.  Hugh accidentally let out his bees and was forced to put his net on.  Clair was uncomfortable eating in front of Jake, but with his encouragement, she gleefully chowed down.  Enoch was a bit upset by this.  Jake was fine with her peculiarity, but Enoch’s creeped Jake out.  Enoch, however, was ignoring the current look of discomfort on Jake’s face.  It was always hard for him to look at things objectively, to not let his feelings take control of how he perceived the world and others.  His insecurities dictated his world view, clouding his judgement, and he tended to project onto others.

     “So, Jake, what’s your peculiarity?”  Horace asked.           

     “Oh, I-I’m not…peculiar.”  Jake answered.  Just another reason that he didn’t belong there.

     “And that, my friends, is why he will not be staying with us, no matter how hard we try to persuade him.”  Enoch said, trying to remind everyone to slow down and not get too attached.  Enoch was frustrated with his family for consistently ignoring his concerns.

     Jake looked down, away from Enoch.  He felt bad about probably bringing old memories back for a lot of them, just to leave like his grandfather had.

     “We’ve talked about this.  Jake is just visiting.”  Miss Peregrine cleared up.

     “He might want to stay?”  Hugh spoke up.  “Don’t you want to stay, Jake?”

     “Tonight…or…”  Jake asked slowly, being cut off by Claire.

“Forever! You should stay forever!” The little girl said excitedly.  This was exactly what Enoch was worried about.

“Why would he if he doesn’t have to?”  Enoch spoke up, being a little harsher than he needed to be.  “He can live out there, grow older, have a good time instead.”  Enoch didn’t enjoy being trapped in the loop, not as much as some.  The others seemed to be used to it, but Enoch felt like he wasn’t living.  Nothing ever happened.  He was stuck doing the same activities every day.  While Enoch enjoyed a certain level of consistency in his life, and hated a large amount of change, living the same day, over and over again, with the same people, all day, every day, was too much consistency, even for him.  He didn’t understand why someone would choose this life if they didn’t have to.  “He’ll leave, just like his grandfather did.”  There was venom in Enoch’s words.

Emma stormed out of the room.  She hated when Enoch brought the subject of Abe up.  She hated the idea that Jake was like Abe, yet that’s all she wanted him to be.  Emma simultaneously wanted Jake to be his grandfather, her first love, but she didn’t want the pain that came with that.  Enoch knew that he screwed up by mentioning Abe’s name, but he was never good at correcting mistakes after he made them.  Genuinely apologizing to people was a difficult task for him, and he hardly did it, it left him vulnerable, showed people he had feelings, he had remorse.  Olive was the only person Enoch regularly apologized to, and even that was infrequent. 

“Emma!”  Miss Peregrine called after the girl.

“Excuse me.”  Millard said as he passed Emma. “Where’s she going?”  He asked.

“That wasn’t nice Enoch.”  Miss Peregrine scolded, she was harsher than normal.  A tone she almost exclusively saved for Enoch.  He didn’t seem understand her any other way, yet, the harsher she was, the worse Enoch acted.  “You know perfectly well why Abe left us.”  Enoch looked down, embarrassed for being scolded in front of everyone.  He played it off as annoyance, but it was obvious he was embarrassed.

“To join the army.” Hugh spoke up, pointing a finger to add to Miss Peregrine’s scolding.

“And then he met a nice lady, and had a nice wedding cake, and a lovely little baby.”  Bronwyn interjected.

“Children.”  Miss Peregrine cut everyone off.  “I know you’d all like a new friend.  But I’m sure Jake has plenty of his own back in Florida.” She looked over at Jake.  Enoch hated that she was agreeing with him while simultaneously undermining him.  It’s what parents did he supposed.

The phone rang and interrupted dinner, as it always did.

“I think, you should all get ready for movie time, while I answer that.”  Miss Peregrine told the kids. 

“But you always let us stay for it.”  Claire complained.  Miss Peregrine didn’t say a word, she just walked slowly into the other room. 

~

     They all settled in for movie time.  Jake and Emma sat next to each other on the couch, While Olive, Enoch, Bronwyn, and Claire all settled onto the couch opposite of them; with the others on the floor, save for Horace, who was in his signature chair.  Millard brought Jake a cup of hot chocolate, only to be scolded by Emma for not wearing pajamas. 

     Horace projected his dream onto the wall.  Enoch watched as Jake and Emma whispered about something.  He wasn’t watching the movie, he was too focused on watching Emma and Jake.  He hadn’t noticed but he was glaring.  Horace started dreaming of Jake’s arrival.  And that snapped Enoch out of his glaring session.  He turned his attention back to the dream, watching the events of earlier that day unfold.

     Suddenly the dream shifted to a dramatic scene involving an ymbryne.  Enoch noticed the kids chattering with concern.  Just as suddenly as the dream had arrived, a new one took its place.  This time, it focused on Emma and Jake.  All of the children looked over toward the two sitting on the couch.  Emma and Jake intently watched the screen.  Jake leaned forward on the couch in anticipation, as the dream versions leaned closer together for a kiss. Enoch glared at the scene, he was jealous, not of jake, but of Emma.  He didn’t understand why, he didn’t even fully understand what feelings were boiling inside of him, he just felt angry.  Emma looked down from discomfort and Miss Peregrine shut the projector off.

     “I should probably get going.”  Jake stated, starting to get up.

     “You could stay the night…If you wanted to, rather than walk home in the dark.”  Miss Peregrine offered.  Enoch could tell Miss Peregrine had alternative motives.  There was something Miss Peregrine was hiding from them.

     Emma retorted Miss Peregrine’s offer by saying the island was safe.  She clearly didn’t want Jake staying the night. Miss Peregrine suggested that Emma show Jake the way home because of…Potholes.  Enoch could tell something was off with Miss Peregrine, but he didn’t quite pick up on the fact that it was fear.  Alma was terrified, but hiding it well to everyone but Emma and Horace.    

“Will you at least stay for the reset, Jake?  It’s really quite spectacular.”  Olive asked.  Enoch threw his head back on the couch and let out an exasperated sigh.  He was getting sick of all this excitement around Jake, perhaps it was because he was starting to feel it too now, and that made him uncomfortable.  He didn’t want to like Jake, he didn’t want to know Jake, he wanted Jake gone and out of his life forever, as he was already going to leave anyway. 

~

     They all made their way outside to watch the reset.  There was a victrola covered by an umbrella to protect it from the rain that Miss Peregrine started playing music on.  Miss Peregrine liked to do things with flare.  Once they were all in an orderly pattern, they put their gasmasks on.  What looked like red lightning started flashing in the sky, and Jake could hear airplanes approaching.  They quickly passed overhead.  Lines of bombers right after the other.  One of the planes finally dropped a bomb.  Jake watched as it fell toward the house. Right before the bomb hit, Miss Peregrine stopped her pocket watch.  Everything froze but the children and Miss Peregrine.  The rain and the bomb all stopped, the airplanes frozen in air.  Miss Peregrine started dialing back her pocket watch, and everything started in reverse.  Soon the night turned to day, the day turned back into night, and everything was normal again.  Miss Peregrine was the first to take her mask off, the rest followed in suit.  They all filed back into the house, leaving the victrola behind.

     Once they were inside, Jake changed back into his regular clothes and left with Emma.  Making his way back to his time, his family, his life.

~

Jake came back again.  Enoch saw him walk up the driveway.  Olive convinced Enoch that they should greet him, so they went down the stairs. Enoch only followed Olive because he didn’t want her alone with Jake, he didn’t want her to fawn all over him like Emma did.  Before they reached the doorway, Enoch stopped Olive.  He heard Jake and Miss Peregrine speaking of the ymbryne and of Abe’s death.  Enoch pretended to hate Abe, he was mad at him after all. Enoch never got over the betrayal of Abe leaving.  Enoch and Abe fought a lot, but Enoch had always looked up to Abe, it hurt hearing about his death, and he was curious about what had happened. 

Enoch overheard Jake describing Abe’s death.  Hearing that Abe was attacked by a hollowgast brought up feelings of victor.  Enoch protected himself from those memories by shutting his feelings off and pretending to be desensitized by death.  Enoch had been desensitized to death, but not to the deaths of those he loved.  Just as Enoch had never gotten over Abe’s departure, he had also never gotten over Victors death.  His death was traumatizing and terrifying.  Victors death had forced Enoch to grapple with the reality of what death meant.  Death wasn’t a permanent state to Enoch, as someone who could raise the dead, death never felt permanent to him, however, after losing Victor, Enoch had tried to necromance him many times, but, he never came back, not in any substantial way.  Victor had been just like the inanimate objects Enoch brought to life, he had been an empty vessel for Enoch to order around, there was no real person inside of him anymore.  Victor’s entire situation made Enoch feel helpless, a feeling he had trouble handling.

Jake walked into Enoch and Olive in the doorway after Miss Peregrine left him with no more information than that of which he come with.  Enoch wasn’t expecting Jake to see them, and it sent a shot of anxiety through his body from being spotted snooping.  He was terrified that Jake would be able to see through him, that Jake could see that he was vulnerable, emotional.  Jake had startled Enoch out of intense emotional thought, something that no lucky person would ever do.  Enoch quickly gathered his composure and lashed out. 

“Oh, how frustrating for you.  Between Miss Peregrine’s rules and my housemate’s little pact not to scare you off, it’s like, no one’s telling you anything.”  Enoch teased slightly.  Jake looked frustrated and determined.  He stepped forward, a little too close to Enoch for Enoch’s comfort.  Jake was attractive and it made Enoch uncomfortable.

“Well why don’t you then. It’s not like you want me here.”  Jake said.  Enoch looked down avoiding the eye contact Jake was determined to make with him. A small part of him wanted Jake to stay; what Enoch didn’t want, was for Jake to leave, but since he knew it was inevitable, he wanted it over with faster, before he cared.  He felt slightly bad that Jake thought Enoch wanted him to leave, however, he wasn’t entirely wrong.    

“Enoch, you can’t. You promised.”  Olive said, seeing him consider the offer. 

Enoch looked back up at Jake, into his eyes after feeling Jake watching him intently, if Jake wanted a staring contest, he would get one.  Enoch didn’t want to seem intimidated, so he glared at Jake.  “Olive’s right.”  Enoch said, creating a plan in his mind to scare him away for good.  He was getting too attached to this kid already.  “I do know someone who can get away with breaking rules though.”  Enoch said. “Want to meet him?”  He asked.  Enoch was using Victor as a way to prove to himself and those around him that his death didn’t faze him.  Enoch was almost doubling down, trying to prove how little he cared about Victor, or anyone else for that matter, to cover up how much everything affected him.  For someone who pretended like nothing fazed him, inside, Enoch felt like everything affected him more than they should, more then they affected other people.

Jake nodded and Enoch turned around, leading him up the stairs.  Olive knew where he was going, and she tried desperately to stop him.

“Enoch! Don’t do this!”  She pleaded.  “Please!”  It was too late, Enoch had made up his mind.  He wanted Jake gone.  He hated the way he felt when Jake looked into his eyes, he hated the anxiety that washed through him and made him want to vomit.  Enoch hated the vulnerable place Jake being here put him in.  He hated the affect Jake had on him, the emotions Enoch had to hide.  Jake had to go.

“You want to spend time with me and Jake, “we can all play together” That’s what you said, remember?”  Enoch responded as he stormed toward Victor’s room.  Olive stood in front of Victor’s door and put her arms out to stop Enoch from going inside.  “Well, here we all are. Move, Olive.”  Enoch warned.

“If you’re going to be like that, then I don’t want to be your friend.”  Olive stated before storming off.  This hurt Enoch a lot.  She hit his insecure spot exactly.  He was going to lash out, and Jake was about to feel the brunt of it.

“Enoch!”  Fiona stormed up to him.  “Leave victor alone! It really upsets Bronwyn.”  Enoch leaned down and put his hands on Fiona’s shoulders.

“Stop fussing Fiona.  Don’t you think Jake should meet everybody?”  He asked.  Fiona looked up at Jake.

“He’s trying to frighten you away, Jake.  He was always jealous of Abe, and now he’s jealous of you! Come and play with us, instead.” Fiona tried.  Jake looked between Enoch and Fiona.  He knew Enoch was up to something, but if it gave him any answers as to who killed his grandfather, he had to follow the necromancer. 

Jake considered what it would be like to get along with Enoch, maybe if he followed him, they could become friends?  Enoch didn’t seem like a bad person to Jake, he seemed to really care about people, he just seemed to have an issue with Jake, specifically.  He desperately wanted to get on Enoch’s good side.  There was something about the boy that intrigued him, maybe it was his dark curls, or maybe the stare that could turn him to stone; of course not literally, Jake had heard that the twins could actually turn people to stone, Medusa style, this was more of an emotional freeze that Enoch could lock Jake in. 

“I-I’d quite like to meat Victor.”  Jake said to Fiona, earning a smug smile from Enoch that was directed at Fiona.  Enoch reached out and patted Fiona’s head condescendingly before opening the door and motioning for Jake to go inside.

“After you.”  Enoch said.  Jake walked in the room toward the bed.

“Uh…hello, Victor.”  Jake said as Enoch messed around in a dresser-drawer.  “I-I’m Jake, I’m sorry to disturb-“  Jake stopped when he realized victor wasn’t alive.  He was starting to get scared of what Enoch had in mind for him.  The sight of Victor’s eyeless sockets brought back flashes of his grandfather in his mind.  

“Yeah, he can’t hear you.”  Enoch said.  He knelt down next to victor with a heart in his hand.  He unbuttoned Victor’s shirt delicately, slowly sliding the heart inside Victor’s chest.  Enoch leaned back when he had finished, watching Jake intently.  Jake was on edge, and it was evident, Enoch knew his plan would work.  He focused on Victor, on the heart inside his chest, and soon enough, the heart started pumping, and Victor’s chest started moving up and down.  Enoch made Victor sit up abruptly.  His head wobbled on top of his body, as if his body was animate but his head was a ragdoll.  Victor looked up at Jake, eye sockets empty.  “Hello, Jake.  I’m Victor.”  Enoch supplied in a funny voice, as Victor’s mouth moved up and down like a sock-puppet. “Do you want to know what killed me?”  Jake was visibly uncomfortable, the sight of Victor’s eyeless sockets brought back flashes of his grandfather, laying in the woods, eyeless, trying to warn Jake of something.  His mind raced, it felt busy, and Jake couldn’t get control of his own thoughts. 

Jake ran off, needing to get away. Enoch let Victor lay back down.  Jake was in fight or flight now.  He decided that was it.  He wasn’t going to try and interact with Enoch again.  He didn’t care if Enoch hated him, he could live with that, everyone else seemed to like Jake.

Enoch had an internal struggle happening inside of his head, he was happy that his plan had worked and he had scared Jake off, yet, he felt guilty and sad that Jake was leaving.  Enoch was ashamed that he messed with Victor, Bronwyn really did hate it.  But, the plan worked, which made it worth it…he hoped.  Enoch hoped his guilt would disappear soon when everyone went back to normal.  He hoped that there wouldn’t be a permanent rift between him and Olive or him and Bronwyn, even.    

Jake rushed down the stairs to find the entire inhabitants of the house by the door.  “Oh, there you are!  Is Enoch with you?  It’s time for our daily walk.”  Miss Peregrine stated.  Jake just shook his head. “Would you mind fetching him?”  She asked.  Jake did mind, but he didn’t want to tell her what had happened, for some reason, he didn’t want to get Enoch in trouble, he just thought that would make things worse.  He sucked it up and walked back up the stairs. 

When he reached Victors room, Enoch was putting the heart back in the dresser.  Jake cleared his throat.

“Uh…Miss Peregrine wants you to take a walk.”  Jake said shyly, stuttering a little.  Enoch turned around in disbelief.  Jake wasn’t gone!?

“Why are you still here?”  Enoch asked sincerely, there was a small amount of bitterness in his voice, but it was overshadowed by genuine curiosity.

“Uh…I-“ Jake just left it at that and walked away.  He decided to stick by Emma for the walk, far behind Enoch.  He didn’t want his back turned from Enoch at that moment. 

Jake had been getting used to the others peculiarities.  He thought he would be able to get used to Enoch’s, if he was around it more, but he had vowed not to try, not after Enoch tried to scare him like that.  It crossed a line, a line only put in place because of Abe’s death.

~

After the walk, after Emma had showed Jake her shipwrecked hideout, after Miss Peregrine had explained about the Hollowgasts and Barron, Olive called Miss Peregrine into the other room, the Ymbryne Emma had found was awake.

     Jake followed Miss Peregrine and Emma into the next room where all of the kids were listening to Miss Avocet explain her escape.  Jake stood next to Enoch.  He was slightly uncomfortable, but he had calmed down and was no longer as upset as he had been.  Enoch was desensitized by death because of his powers, maybe Jake was overreacting, maybe Enoch wasn’t trying to cross that line?  He knew in his heart that wasn’t true, Enoch wanted him gone for reasons Jake didn’t understand.  He wished Enoch would just tell him why he hated him, instead of making Jake guess.

     “The experiment.  They intend to do it again.”  Miss Avocet explained. 

     “This time he’s using more ymbrynes.”  Enoch spoke up from next to Jake.  Jake looked over at him.  He felt surprisingly comfortable around Enoch when Enoch wasn’t focusing all of his hatred on Jake.  When Enoch was distracted with other things, he was surprisingly easy to be around.  Jake couldn’t feel the waves of anger wafting off of him anymore.  “He still wants to be immortal.”  Enoch continued.

     “Do Hollows only attack peculiars?”  Jake asked.

     “Of course not.  They’re monsters, Jake.  They’ll slaughter anything in their path.”  Miss Peregrine informed. 

     “Well, some sheep on the island were killed.”  Jake said.  “You don’t think they’re here already, do you?”  He asked.  Jake was worried about his father, he was worried about his new friends.

     “Have you seen anyone with white eyes?”  Miss Avocet asked.  All of the children turned their attention to Jake.  Jake shook his head.

     “I’m sorry children.  We can’t remain here.”  Miss Peregrine said. 

     Jake and Enoch were now shoulder to shoulder, neither had realized but Enoch had been leaning closer to Jake the entire conversation.  He was stressed and longed for the comfort of another human being.  He had subconsciously been trying to obtain the comfort that Jake brought, just by being a body near him.

Enoch wanted some change in his life, but not this much.  He hated when things were out of his control, and moving houses, moving loops would be too big of a change, nothing would be in his control. 

     “What!?” Enoch protested.

     “We’ll leave off the first ferry off the island tomorrow.”  Miss Peregrine stated.  “Pack anything of importance.  Then it’s sandwiches and early to bed.”

     “Are we leaving for good?”  Hugh asked.

     “When are we coming back?” Fiona asked.

     “Never.  If Miss Peregrine’s not here to reset the loop tomorrow night, the house gets bombed.”  Enoch responded.

     Jake watched the scene feeling out of place.  He didn’t know how to help. Everyone was in so much distress, he didn’t know what he should be doing, what he could be doing. 

~

     “Once this loop closes, that’s it.  I can’t get back to my own time.” Jake told Emma as she frantically packed her bags around him.

     “Well you didn’t seem very happy there.”  Emma said.  She could see the signs.  She was about to lose him just as she had lost Abe.  She was trying to bargain with him.  Jake would leave her, and she would never be able to correct the mistakes of her past.  Emma would always be living in regret.

     “I can’t just leave! I have a family.”  Jake retorted.  Jake had a life, he had a family, and if there were monsters out there, if he was truly the only one able to see them, he had to be with his family to protect them.  Jake had always felt ordinary, he never felt like he fit in, like he never belonged anywhere.  Jake wasn’t special, not like the others here, at least he didn’t feel that way.

     “And you felt ordinary, like nothing you do changes anything, and-now you have the chance to do something that changes everything!  Jake, We’re in danger.”  Emma shot back.  She was pleading at this point “And- you’re the only one who can see the hollows.”  Emma felt defeated.  She felt helpless to save her own family.  She couldn’t do much, but the one thing she knew she could do, convince Jake to stay, she was failing at. 

     “Yeah, I see them, sure! But- I’m not my grandpa!”  Jake said. “I’m not-and I can’t fight…I can’t kill somebody.”  Jake knew he was able to see the monsters, he knew that they needed him, and it killed him to have to walk away, but he didn’t know how to fight, not even in self-defense, especially against giant tentacle monsters with razor sharp teeth and spears for hands and feet.  Jake would only put them in more danger, he wasn’t used to their world, he barely knew anything about his powers, about their powers, about what the Hollows were capable of. 

Jake couldn’t leave his family without some sort of explanation.  He couldn’t abandon his parents when they were so worried about him.  Emma walked across the room, turning her back to Jake.  The mere mention of Abe hurt her.  She knew he wasn’t Abe, but deep down, she hoped he was, she wanted him to be.  “There’s only one reason that I’d stay here.”  Jake said. 

     “Please…just go?”  Emma pleaded.  She couldn’t do a long goodbye.  She couldn’t wish Jake to be someone he wasn’t.  Emma couldn’t say goodbye again. 

~

Enoch wasn’t surprised when he saw Jake leave.  He had been packing his clothes and necessary jars into a bag when, through his window, he spotted Jake leaving. It had been what Enoch was expecting since the boy arrived, yet, something inside of him hoped that Jake would stay, hoped that Jake would help them fight.  Enoch didn’t want to be left alone to protect his family.  The more people capable of fighting, the better, especially expendable people like Jake.

Enoch heard the doorbell ring after a few hours of venting to Olive as she finished her own packing.  Enoch had been struggling with the idea of leaving his home behind and Olive knew he would be a difficult person to deal with during the massive life change.  Enoch would be even more on edge than he usually was.  Something as destabilizing as this was going to be difficult for all of them, but Olive knew they would all make it through.

Enoch made his way to the stairs with many of the other kids to see who it was, part of him was hoping it was Jake.  Enoch wanted Jake to protect his family from the Hollows.  He wanted Jake to be their warning system before someone else lost their life.  There was a small part of Enoch that wanted the visitor to be Jake because of his own abandonment issues.  Enoch wanted Jake to come back, to prove Enoch wrong, to prove the part of his brain that told him he wasn’t worth loving, the part that told him he was worth leaving, wrong. When Miss Peregrine opened the door, Enoch saw Barron holding a bladed hand up to Jake’s neck.  This was bad, the expendable had become Barron’s ticket inside.

What hurt the most to Enoch was that Jake had come back, but he hadn’t come back of his own accord.  Jake didn’t want to come back, he was forced back.  Enoch told himself he hoped Barron would just get it over with and kill Jake already, but he didn’t actually want that.  Enoch really wanted Jake, and everyone else, to be okay.  Enoch wanted everyone to survive this. He just wanted this all to be over and his life to go back to normal. 

“Children! Would you make your way down the stairs please?”  Mr. Barron asked.  The children started to step forward but were stopped by Miss Peregrine.

”I give the orders in this house Mr. Barron.”  Miss Peregrine retorted.

“Not today.”  Barron shot back. “You should know that Jake has served his purpose.”  Barron said, looking at the boy trapped in his arms.  “If you value his life, I suggest that everyone does as their told.”  Barron stared at Miss Peregrine for a moment before shouting for the children once more. 

Miss Peregrine promptly cut him off with a “Shush!” and a pointed finger.  Barron looked confused.  “No one tells my children what to do.”  She said sternly. “Children?”  Alma asked in a soft voice. “Come down here, please.”

Enoch hesitantly followed the others down the stairs.  Miss Peregrine watched the children slowly make their way to the entrance room.  “Children…for Jake’s safety, we’re going to do what Mr. Barron asks.” She said. “He wishes to take me with him to his rendezvous in Blackpool.  So for his protection, he’d like me to assume bird form, preferably caged, and he’d like you to make your way into a lockable room such as the parlor.”  The fear in Miss Peregrines voice was evident.  “As he won’t release Jake if he fears an attack will be mounted upon him once he loses his leverage.”  She looked at Barron.  “Correct Mr. Barron?”  She asked rhetorically.  Barron stuttered.

Enoch stepped forward.  “You’re sacrificing yourself and all of us…for Jake?” Enoch was hurt by this.  Why was Jake more important than every single one of them?  More important than him? 

“Because Mr. Barron travels with a Hollow, Enoch.”  Miss Peregrine looked at Enoch pointedly.  “Once it arrives here, we’re all dead.” She stated, hoping Enoch would get the hint.  He didn’t.  Enoch didn’t pick up on hints well and Horace knew that.  Luckily, Horace explained it in Enoch’s ear.

“Enoch.  Only Jake can see them.  She means he’s our only hope.”  Horace reminded.  Enoch reluctantly complied.  He walked to the back of the group to make sure every one of the children made it into the parlor.  He stopped when he got to Miss Peregrine to put his hand on her hand.  It was his way of saying goodbye.  He hadn’t established a touching routine with any of his siblings aside from Claire, which meant, he felt awkward touching them in any meaningful way, as it wasn’t an established thing that he and any of them did, so he would only do it during important moments such as this.  Enoch never hugged anyone but Claire in that house, the most he could muster was a hand on Miss Peregrine’s hand for a split second.

Enoch made his way into the room with the rest of the kids, waiting for Emma to finish hugging Alma.  Enoch had to admit he was slightly jealous of the way Emma could hug people at will, she didn’t need a significant moment or immense pain to feel comfortable showing physical affection. Enoch wanted to hold Olive’s hand, he wanted the comfort of knowing his sister was by his side, but he didn’t know how to initiate it. What if she rejected his hand?

Miss Peregrine shut them in the parlor with Miss Avocet.  Not long after, Jake was shoved inside by Barron who slowly shut the door behind him after giving them all a menacing wave and smile. 

Jake immediately made his way next to Enoch and Emma.  He trusted them both to be the most competent in this situation. 

“It’s getting dark, you won’t even be able to see their shadows.”  Jake said.  “We have to stay inside, it’s the only place we stand a chance.” 

“He’s quite right.  Now, where does Miss Peregrine keep her weapon?”  Miss Avocet asked.

Enoch looked between Emma and Jake.

“In the…” He pointed to the room behind him.  Enoch’s mind was racing with anxiety, forcing him to struggle to find words.     

Jake and Emma followed Enoch into the conservatory while Miss Avocet instructed the younger kids and Olive to barricade the house.  Enoch led Jake and Emma to the gardening tools.  Giving Jake a hoe and Emma a pitchfork, however, the phone rang, tearing their attention away from the task at hand. Emma sent Jake to answer it. 

“Why are you doing that to him?”  Enoch asked.  He didn’t understand how talking to Abe might help Jake find closure. 

“Because, he needs to talk to Abe one last time.  It could help him.  I’m not being mean.”  Emma was being slightly selfish as-well, she hoped that Jake would warn Abe of what was to come, and maybe Abe would survive?  Emma looked at the expression on Enoch’s face.  “I’m not! I’m trying to help.  He might gain some closure.  Not everyone shuts down completely when they’re faced with difficult emotions, Enoch.”  Enoch scoffed and continued gathering tools for the other children. 

When Jake was done with the phone call, he found Miss Peregrine’s crossbow conveniently resting against a wall. “I’ve got the crossbow, let’s get back to the parlor.”  Jake informed Enoch and Emma when he walked back into the conservatory.

Emma and Enoch followed Jake into the parlor, closing and locking the door behind them.  Bronwyn then barricaded it with a couch. 

Jake threw the crossbow to Miss Avocet once everything was set in place.  “Now children! Now that you are all here, there’s a few rules. Your primary job is to stay safe.  Leave the Hollow to me.  I don’t want to see any heroics.  Now, those of you with garden tools, I must insist that you-“  Miss Avocet was quickly pulled out of the room through the door by the Hollowgast.  Jake ran forward and grabbed the crossbow.  He stayed low to the ground, ducking under a table. 

The Hollow was standing in the doorway eating Miss Avocet’s eyes. Enoch looked around, but he couldn’t see anything.  It was unnerving.  If there was anything more out of his control than a monster he couldn’t see, Enoch surely hadn’t heard of it.  The Hollowgast made its way inside, standing to reveal its massive size to Jake.  Something about the hollowgasts reminded Jake of Slenderman, but now was not the time to be thinking about that. 

Jake scuttled back as Enoch pushed Jake behind him to face the monster himself.  Enoch had thought Jake was expendable, so why now, when they were faced with life or death, was he placing Jake’s life above his own?  Enoch justified it in his head that Jake was the only one who could protect his family, but that explanation didn’t feel right.  Enoch couldn’t bring himself to consider that maybe Jake meant more to him than he realized, more than he let on, more than he let himself believe.   

“No! Enoch, get back!”  Jake yelled, reaching his arm out to grab Enoch’s wrist.  Enoch looked back at Jake for a split second and was taken by surprise when the Hollowgast grabbed him by the waist with one if its tentacles, lifting him up into the air and shoving him against the walls, windows, and mirror, anything the Hollow could reach to disable Enoch from fighting back.  Enoch tried to fight the Hollowgast, but without being able to see it, he didn’t know where to hit.  He tried just thrashing around, but the Hollowgast had too good of a grip on him.  Enoch felt helpless.  He could move, but none of his movements made any difference.  He could hit, but there was nothing to hit.  Enoch thought he was about to die, the same way Victor had gone, the same way Abe had gone.  Enoch was doomed to be just another Hollowgast meal.  Enoch wondered if this was how Victor had felt right before he had died, helpless, alone, scared. He knew Abe would have had a different experience, as he could actually see the monsters, giving him a fighting chance. 

Jake pointed the crossbow at the Hollowgast, but he couldn’t get a clear enough view to not hit Enoch. Jake had never fired a crossbow before, and he knew Enoch would never forgive him if he accidentally hit Enoch and Enoch survived.

“Go! Get to the attic!”  Jake told the others.  Emma led the group away.  Bronwyn broke the door open, allowing the group a path out of the parlor. 

The Hollowgast finally held Enoch still, trying to take his eyes. This gave Jake the opportunity of a clear shot at the Hollowgast.  Jake shot the Hollowgast in the shoulder, and Enoch fell to the floor. 

Olive and Jake rushed over to help Enoch up before the Hollowgast could regain his stance.  “Go! GO! Get out! Get out!”  Jake yelled at Enoch and Olive.  “Olive! Come on!”  Jake encouraged Olive to go faster.  Enoch grabbed Olive’s arm and drug her up the stairs.  Jake quickly followed behind them.  They all made their way to the attic when Jake heard the planes in the distance. 

“Oh crap! It’s almost reset!”  He said, opening the window. “Fiona.”  Jake said when he noticed a tree.  “Is there anything you can do with that tree?”  He asked.

“Yes.”  Fiona responded quickly.

“Be careful.”  Jake told her.  Fiona climbed out the window to stretch the tree branch over toward the house.  “We’re going through the windows.  Come on! Let’s go!” Jake instructed.  “Quickly!”

Emma dropped out of the window after Jake.  Jake caught her from falling off the roof due to her metal shoes.  Enoch slipped out another window, holding his arm out for Claire to climb into.  Once everyone was on the roof, they all started making their way to Fiona’s tree branch.

As the group made their way to the tree, the Hollowgast broke through the window.  Jake and Emma turned to face the monster, Jake pointed his crossbow at the Hollow while Emma noticed the bomber flying overhead.  Emma quickly unbuckled her shoes as Jake shot at the hollow.  She threw the shoes off the building and grabbed Jake.  They floated to the ground as the bomb hit the building, killing the Hollow.  They watched as the loop closed, time trying to adjust itself around them.

~

Jake and Emma made their way to the beach to meet up with the others.  They figured out that Barron had taken Miss Peregrine to Blackpool by boat.  He and Emma showed the others Emma’s shipwrecked boat, giving them a way to find Miss Peregrine before it was too late. 

Jake and Emma searched Abe’s map for the nearest loop.  They found Miss Avocet’s loop in 2016 in Blackpool, England.

“With Miss Avocet gone, it can’t be reset.” Jake said, pointing to the spot on the map.  “Won’t the loop close?”  He asked genuinely.

“Then it’s back to real time.”  Emma thought out loud.  “Jake! You know what this means don’t you?”  She said excitedly.

“You’re gonna die.”  Jake said, sadness in his voice. 

“That’s not what I mean.  We have to get to our own time, but you don’t.  You can continue to live in 2016.”

“But…Why would I do that?”  Jake asked.

“If we kill Barron, he’ll be gone, but time will carry on.  He won’t go to Florida.  Abe won’t die! And you can go home.”  Emma needed Abe to be alive.  She still loved him, no matter how much time had passed, living the same day with the same people, it offered no room for closure, no room for a healthy goodbye.  Everything had felt the same as the day he left for so many years, she never had a chance to get over him, to move on.

“I can see my grandpa.”  Jake realized.  “Listen.  I can explain, everything to them.  I can persuade them to take me to the island-wait…will you-will you still be there?”  Jake asked. 

“Our old loop’s gone…for good. We wouldn’t see each other again.”  Emma responded.

“I thought you wanted me to stay?”  Jake asked.

“I know you’ll choose Abe.”  Emma answered.  She knew she would choose Abe, always. “If I minded, I wouldn’t have told you.”  She said.  Emma was clearly upset, but did truly understand. She wished he wouldn’t leave, she wished she could have a second chance, a chance to do love right, but she understood why he couldn’t and she knew she would do the same thing in his situation.

Jake moved toward her, just like in Horace’s dream, closing the distance between them. They stood there for a moment, close together, silent.  Enoch burst the door open, startling the two out of the moment they had been sharing.

“So. Have you found Miss Avocet’s loop on the map yet?”  Enoch asked.  He was very oblivious to what was happening, and very blunt with his tone. 

“It’s here, but it’s new.  She made it early this year.”  Jake said, bringing the map over to Enoch.  “That’s my year.  If we don’t get out before it closes, we’re stuck in January 2016.”

“Great! So…time catches up with all of us, we all die, except you.  Plan?”  Enoch snarked.  He was using humor as a defense.  Enoch was terrified, but he had to keep himself together as much as possible.  To keep anyone from seeing how scared he was, Enoch tried to use aggressive humor to disguise his fear and vulnerability. 

“The loop closes at 4:30.”  Jake said.  “That means we need to get in, rescue the ymbrynes, and then get out.” 

“Yeah, if we’re not already dead.”  Enoch said.  “Miss Avocet said that the machine is in the cellar of the Blackpool tower building.  That means we’ll be indoors, with hollows.”

“No.  We won’t.  I’ve got a plan.”  Jake retorted.  “But I’m gonna need your help.”  He looked at Enoch.  Enoch looked back at him questioningly.  “Follow me.”  Jake said.

Enoch followed Jake outside of the room away from the kids where Jake stopped him.  Jake had a plan, but he needed to make sure it would work before letting the others in on it.  He didn’t want to give them hope just to tear it away.

  “I need you to gather as many things as you can find, necromance them to life, we need expendable fighters.”  Jake said.  Enoch smiled devilishly.  Jake finally wanted Enoch to use his powers.  Jake watched Enoch’s smile intently, it was like he couldn’t turn away.  Jake hadn’t seen Enoch smile before; it was something he wished to see every day.

“You want an army?”  Enoch asked.

“Yeah, basically.”  Jake said.  A different smile popped up on Enoch’s face, this one was mischievous. 

“And you’re saying…you’re not expendable?” Enoch joked.  It was the first real joke he felt comfortable cracking around Jake.  It was the first joke that wasn’t laced with malice or bitterness, it wasn’t a mask he was using to hide behind. Jake had saved his life, and now he was asking for Enoch’s help, Enoch felt included, he felt important, like he was an asset. 

Jake laughed a little.  This made Enoch feel even better about himself, some people didn’t understand his humor and would get offended. Emma used to be offended until she got to know him better.  “I don’t consider myself expendable and I’d appreciate if you didn’t, too.”  Jake said, still smiling, but he figured he should clarify just to be careful. 

Jake liked getting along with Enoch.  Talking to the boy felt easy when he wasn’t glaring daggers in Jake’s direction.  “Do you think you can make an army in the time we have?”  Jake asked genuinely. 

“Yes.”  Enoch didn’t have a lot of words when he wasn’t being mean.  Enoch used words as a defense, a way to push others away or hide his true feelings, when he didn’t need to use them as protection, Enoch didn’t have much to say.  Jake smiled at him and held out his hand for a handshake.  Enoch stared at him for a minute not knowing what he wanted and completely taken off guard by the action. 

“What are you doing?”  Enoch asked.

“Handshake?”  Jake responded, confused by Enoch’s confusion.  Enoch still looked like a deer in headlights, even after the clarification.  He shook his head slightly with his eyes wide, not saying a word.

“You’re not ready for that yet. Got it! We’ll work on it.”  Jake said.  Enoch let out a sigh of relief when Jake left. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to touch Jake, he really did for reasons he didn’t want to explore, however, just like with everyone else, they hadn’t established touching yet.  Enoch had no idea how to react, so he just froze from fear, and then stayed frozen from the embarrassment of being frozen over a handshake. 

Jake realized he had screwed up the second he had said those words.  He should never have said “we’ll work on it” to Enoch. Jake knew that he was going to leave, he knew that he shouldn’t lead Enoch on, acting like he was going to stay; he knew it wouldn’t end well for him.  Jake wanted to hurt the peculiars as little as possible in his goodbye, and Enoch had been distancing himself because of that inevitable.  Jake understood from the amount of distancing that Enoch did from him, that Enoch was especially susceptible to grief, and should not be messed around with when it came to feelings.

~

     Enoch found a room filled with skeletons. This would do nicely.  He got to work stuffing them with hearts and supplying them with weapons. 

Jake, Emma, and Millard all left the boat to scout out and start Jake’s plan once they docked. Emma and Jake led the Hollowgasts back to the loop entrance where the peculiars were waiting.

“Enoch! Now!”  Jake called after Enoch who was waiting outside the entrance for his cue.  One by one, skeletons filed out of the ship.  Jake ran to the other side of the entrance again, informing the kids to start throwing snowballs.

Olive lifted the lid to a container of cotton candy and Emma blew it on the Hollowgasts as the children switched to throwing confetti.  The Hollows were sufficiently visible now.  

“Don’t just stand there! Get them!”  One of Barron’s lackeys called after the Hollowgasts.  Enoch’s army of skeletons, making perfect time, burst through the loop, chasing after the Hollowgasts with their weapons raised in an extremely animated manner.  

Enoch stepped further out into the fairgrounds as Jake trotted up to him.  Jake looked amazed, which filled Enoch with pride; however, he did have to keep his focus to guide any of the skeletons that needed to make a specific action, so he suppressed the feelings making their way to the forefront of his mind and focused on the battle.  Currently, the skeletons were on auto-pilot, they knew that they were supposed to fight, however, if Enoch saw an opportunity to kill a Hollow, he would need to direct a skeleton to do the specific action that was needed.

As Enoch’s creations started getting torn through, consistently losing, Bronwyn noticed the carousel.  She climbed on board and broke one of the unicorns, stretching it back until it was lined up with the Hollowgast.  She let go and the unicorn went flying, skewering the Hollowgast and sending it into the ocean. 

The kids regrouped once all of the Hollowgasts were down.  “Alright.  Good job guys.  It’s time for step two.” Jake told everyone. 

“Save Miss Peregrine!”  Bronwyn introjected.

“That’s… sort of step three. First we have to deal with Barron.”  Jake stated. 

~

They all snuck into a circus tent.  Emma interrupted Barron to blow him into a knife target, while Jake tried to hit Barron with an arrow from his crossbow, making the peculiars presence known.  Being the terrible shot he was, Jake missed.  There was a part of him that wondered if he only missed because he didn’t want to kill Barron. Jake wasn’t a killer, even if Barron was a murderer that would kill any and all of them if he wanted to.  Jake worried that he wouldn’t be able to do this, he wouldn’t be able to kill Barron and everyone he had just learned to love would be eaten by Hollowgasts. Jake worried that when it came down to it, he would be responsible for their deaths.  Jake could talk the talk, he could strategize and come up with the plans, lead the team, but when it came to dealing the final blow, could he do it? 

Barron’s lackeys jumped into action, leading Hugh to send his swarm of bees after them, incapacitating one for a short while, while the other grabbed knives and leaped onto a platform, throwing the knives at the children.  Emma and Jake darted behind chairs to hide from the onslaught.  

Barron started in on an evil speech as the kids hid from the flying knives.  Enoch, seeing an opportunity, lunged at Barron, swinging a bowling pin at his head.  Barron dodged, hitting Enoch in the face, knocking him unconscious immediately.  Enoch had never been good with physical violence, he had always been better at cutting people with words; besides, those were the wounds that lasted anyway. 

“I am a higher being.  I hold the secret to eternal life.”  Barron continues after laughing at Enoch’s attempt.  Olive snuck behind Barron, touching his shoulder with her ungloved hand. 

“Sorry to interrupt.”  She said as Barron’s jacket caught flame.  Barron struggled to take the jacket off, but once it was off, he waved it in Olive’s face, causing her to back up and stumble to the ground.  Jake got his crossbow ready again while Barron was distracted with Olive.  Jake noticed Bronwyn picking up a chair.  He shot another arrow at Barron, missing again, this time on purpose.  Jake was just the distraction.  He was trying to keep Barron’s attention away from Bronwyn so that she could knock him unconscious with her chair.

“Ha! Missed me again.  I take it accuracy is not your peculiarity.”  Barron joked before getting hit in the face with Bronwyn’s chair. Barron fell down for a moment, but he managed to pull himself up almost as quickly as he went down.  Jake couldn’t understand how Enoch could be incapacitated by one punch when Barron was hit in the face with a heavy, metal chair, thrown by Bronwyn. Perhaps he was a higher being, or perhaps Enoch was just more fragile than he looked?

“Abe was a much worthier adversary.”  Barron chuckled at Jake.  That may have cut Jake deeper if he had known about Abe’s exploits for a longer amount of time; but this version of his grandfather that he had only just discovered was still too new to him, he felt detached from that person, he really didn’t know that version of Abe.  Why would Jake look up to a person he had never met?  He knew that with time, and hopefully if he could rescue his grandfather, with interactions, he would grow to know and love that version of Abe, he would grow to look up to him as everyone in Miss Peregrine’s home seemed to, but for now, he felt nothing for that person.  Jake only felt love, admiration, and remorse for the grandfather he had known.  Yes, Jake knew about some of his exploits, but not in much detail when the stories got dark, when it came to the fighting.  Abe would tell Jake about the monsters, he would tell him about his explorations, but he didn’t tell Jake about the battles or the murders.  

“Don’t let him get to the birds!” Jake called to Horace, who stepped in front of Barron to project his thoughts in Barron’s eyes.

Barron simply walked past Horace, making a comment about his tailor.  Horace looked terrified and ashamed that his powers had done nothing to stop Barron; but Horace shouldn’t feel bad, Enoch, Jake, Olive, and Bronwyn had all failed to stop Barron just as humiliatingly.  Jake followed after Barron with the crossbow.

The former Hollow in the pool jumped out and grabbed Bronwyn.  He pulled her under the pool, freezing the top of it.  “Cold? Wait till the blood freezes in your veins.”  He said creepily.

“Hey!”  Fiona shouted at the man.  He turned around to face the girl when Fiona threw a hand full of seeds on him.

“That was your attempt to rescue your friend was it?” Suddenly, the seeds started sprouting vines, crawling up the man’s legs, tangling around him, trapping him in a tight cocoon.

Olive stood up, noticing Bronwyn in the pool.  She took her glove off and placed her hand on the ice, hoping to melt it.  The man behind her, froze the cocoon of vines encasing his body, breaking out and placing an icy hand on Olive’s shoulder, trying to freeze her.  She placed her hand on his in an attempt to thwart his efforts, but it extinguished, starting to freeze, itself. She dropped to her knees. Her body was getting colder and couldn’t maintain the energy it took to stay standing.

Enoch woke up to see Olive being frozen to death.  He jumped to his feet, running over to the broken-down elephant ride that had been laying on the floor.  Enoch knew that if he tried to intervene himself, both he and Olive would be dead.  He pulled a large heart out of his pocket and placed it in the elephant.  Enoch had been hoping to puppet a Hollow, but hadn’t gotten the chance.  The elephant’s eyes opened, and it turned its head toward the former Hollow.  The elephant slowly got to its feet, keeping its eye on the hollow as it did.  The metal elephant jumped on top of the man, crushing him beneath its weight. 

Bronwyn broke out of the icy pool while the twins and Claire petrified the second former Hollow that had been tormenting the three.  Enoch ran to Olive the second everyone was dealt with and safe.

“Olive. Olive!” He said, kneeling by her side, gently shaking her shoulder.  “I’m so sorry Olive. All these years I never appreciated you.  I didn’t see how lucky I was.  I got so used to having you there, I never realized.” He leaned down and hugged her.  Enoch had never thought that he could lose Olive. He never realized that someday, she may not be there for him.  He hadn’t realized how lucky he had been to have someone there with him, someone who took the time to get to know him, someone who put up with him when he was being difficult.  

“You never realized what?” Olive asked, starting to defrost.  Enoch stared at her for a moment in shock.  When she moved, he gave a relieved smile.  Olive smiled back.  “Really.  You never realized what?”  She asked again. 

“I never realized I could lose you.  I never realized how much you do for me.” Enoch responded after a moment of speechlessness. “I’m so glad you’re back.  I love you.”  He said, hugging her once more.

“I love you too.” Olive said as she started getting feeling back in her arms.  She noted to herself that this was not only the first time Enoch had Hugged her, well, the second time if you count the one that just happened when she was unconscious, but also the first time he had told her that he loved her.

Enoch knew that this changed everything, he knew that after this moment, he would be able to seek physical comfort from Olive.  Enoch knew that this established a pattern for them, it wouldn’t for everyone, Enoch would probably need more than just one hug to establish a pattern with others, but in his head, this moment changed everything for him and Olive.  Enoch could hug her now, which meant she wouldn’t mind if he held her hand or slung an arm over her shoulders. 

Enoch noticed that Emma and Jake were gone, which meant they were alone with Barron, they would need help. “I have to go help Emma and Jake, take the others back to the ship.”  Enoch told Olive when he let go of her.  He ran off to find the two.

~

Enoch ran down an alleyway running into Emma.  “Enoch! Where are the others?” She asked, hurriedly.

“Their safe.  Olive is leading them back to the ghost ship.”  Enoch informed her.

“Jake needs us, Barron’s too strong.”  Emma said, as she led him down a street.

“Jake?”  Emma called out.  They heard nothing, so Enoch tried.

“Jake?”  Enoch called. Still nothing.

“Jake?”  Emma tried one more time as they turned the corner to the room Barron had been keeping Miss Peregrine in.  She pushed the door open.  Enoch and Emma were face to face with two Jake’s. 

“Emma!”  Jake said surprised, walking toward her. “No- wait, look! That’s not me! It’s Barron.”  Jake 1 said.

“Don’t listen to him! He’s Barron!”  Jake 2 said. 

“No! I’m Jake! That’s Barron!”  Jake 1 repeated.

Enoch grabbed the crossbow that Jake had rested against the wall, when Jake had first entered the room, and pointed it at them both. He didn’t want either of them coming close enough to hurt him or Emma.  Enoch had warmed up to Jake at this point, but he was still more expendable than Emma.  Emma was Enoch’s sister, Jake was just some cute guy who had shown up a few days ago to rescue them out of a terrible situation. 

“Well I’ve got a better shot than Jake, so neither of you move until we sort this.”  Enoch wasn’t entirely being truthful.  He had never shot the crossbow before, but it wasn’t hard to guess that anyone would be a better shot with it than Jake was.

“Listen.  I’m Jake.  I grew up in Florida and I wanted to be an explorer.  I thought nothing would ever change because I was ordinary.”  Jake 2 said.

“That’s Jake! Get Barron!”  Emma said to Enoch, pointing at Jake 1.

“No! Wait! Look, I told him all of this! She was my psychiatrist.”  Jake 1 said, motioning to Jake 2.  Emma and Enoch looked at each other confused.

“Look, you deal with him, I’ll go find Miss Peregrine.”  Jake 2 said, earning a crossbow to the face.  Enoch wasn’t messing around.  He wasn’t letting either of them near Miss Peregrine until he was absolutely sure which one was Jake, there was no room for error in Enoch’s mind.

Jake 1 looked at the corner of the room.  “Wait.”  He said.  Enoch let his guard down slightly at this, lowering the crossbow just slightly.  “Look, I can prove that I’m me.”  Jake 1 kept looking at the corner, his gaze moving toward Jake 2.  “Because I’m not ordinary.  I can do something no one else can.”  He said looking at Enoch, who was still holding the crossbow.  Jake 2 looked behind himself as Jake 1 stared over his shoulder.  “I can see the monsters.”  Jake 1 said after a long stalling pause. 

Jake 2 was lifted into the air by an invisible creature.  “No wait it’s me!”  Barron shouted as he shifted back.  Enoch let down the crossbow, watching the whole ordeal.  The Hollowgast stole Barron’s eyes in the most disturbing way that sent flashes of memories of not only Victor, but the Hollow at the house the night prior.  Enoch felt like he was back in that place, he was being held still by the Hollow, about to be eaten.  He was also back with Victor, watching his brother’s lifeless body being carried into the house.

The Hollowgast turned his attention to the three kids when he was done with Barron’s eyes.  “Enoch!”  Jake shouted.  Enoch threw the crossbow to Jake, snapping out of his thoughts long enough to help, but not really sure why he trusted Jake with the thing.

Jake caught the crossbow and shot the Hollow in the neck before it could grab ahold of him.  Jake smiled as the Hollow hit the ground dead.  He looked over at Emma and Enoch, both were smiling back.  Jake had actually done it.  He had managed to kill the Hollow, and now they were all safe.

  Jake hadn’t seen Enoch with a genuine, non-mischievous, smile yet; he decided to store it in his memories, seeing as he wouldn’t get another chance to see it again.  Jake’s face immediately fell, followed by Emma’s when the reminder that he had to leave rang through their minds.   

“We need to go.  The loop is closing.”  Emma told Enoch.

“Yeah.”  Enoch turned to leave, expecting Emma to follow him.

“Those of us who are leaving.”  Emma said.  She sounded slightly bitter.  She turned around and followed Enoch up the stairs, leaving Jake behind for a moment, until Jake remembered he could still see them off.  Jake jogged after them, catching up within a few moments.  

~

Jake walked them all back to the loop.  The twins gave Jake a hug goodbye.  Claire and Bronwyn looked up at him sadly, but walked into the haunted house regardless.  Hugh, Fiona, and Horace gave sullen head nods to Jake as they walked past.  Millard gave him a hug, quickly followed by Olive.  Enoch almost walked right past him, and Jake thought for a moment that that was exactly what he was going to do.  That Enoch was going to ignore Jake’s existence, but then Enoch stopped and held out his hand for a handshake, surprising Jake completely.  Jake shook Enoch’s hand; it meant a lot to them both, seeing as Enoch hadn’t been the most keen on the idea earlier that day.

When Enoch turned to leave, Olive held her hand out for him to take; he took it gladly, happy to have the comfort.  Enoch had been rehearsing the handshake in his mind for the entire walk back, he was glad it went well, but he could still feel the anxiety that had built up in his body over thinking about the simple act. 

Jake noticed Enoch take Olive’s hand. He assumed this meant that they were officially a couple now.  Maybe Enoch had confessed his feelings?  There was a small pit in Jake’s stomach, but he didn’t know why, he didn’t want to explore it, after all, he would never see them again, so he ignored it, brushing it off as the grief of leaving. 

Emma was the last to say goodbye.  “Emma.”  He said, as she walked up to him.

“You love your grandfather.”  Emma said.  “There’s nothing more to explain.” 

“No.  I promised Miss Peregrine I’d look after you all.”  Jake stated.  “And with her injured, and you without a loop-“  Emma cut him off.

“She’ll recover, and until then, we’ll be in 1943.”  Emma assured.  “We’ll only age one day at a time…like normal people. Which can be no bad thing.”

“And what about the Hollows?”  Jake was looking for a reason to stay.  He wanted to go, but he wanted to stay, his heart was torn in two separate directions.  He knew he wasn’t needed in his time, so if he could reason that the peculiars needed him, he would stay.  “As long as they’re out there, you’re not safe.” 

“We don’t need you to make us feel safe, Jake…”  Emma said with a smile. “Because… you made us feel brave, and that’s even better.” She leaned forward and hugged him. It felt eerily similar to her goodbye with Abe.  She didn’t want to let go, but she knew she had to, she knew he was better off in his own time with his own family. 

Emma stepped away, walking inside the loop.  Jake sat down on the steps to the haunted house.  He pulled out his phone and checked the time.  Mon 11 Jan 4:30pm.  He watched as the loop closed around him.